We had an unusual (for here) snow storm about a week ago which was followed by an ice storm, a wind storm and another snow storm all the while getting pounded with a continuous blast of arctic air. I had enough sense to get my arse to the grocery storm right before it hit, but nobody expected that we would all be stuck in as long as we were. By the end of the week, the fridge and pantry were, of course, looking quite bare. We all had to eat and with no way to get to the store, it was time to bust out my slow cooker and get creative.
I have been itching to use this ground Fenugreek seed that my friend Andrea sent me for the Holidays. We have a small group of moms who are scattered all over the US and Canada who have stuck together since having our kids a couple of years ago. We do a fun secret Santa every year. Andrea knows how much I love to experiment with new flavors so she threw in a couple of spices from Penzey’s like a (much appreciated) surprise!
This soup was born of out necessity but is now a freezer staple. It is extremely easy (hello slow cooker), makes the house smell fantastic while simmering away and yields six 2-cup servings!
NOTES:
- Chana Dal are beans. They are a cousin of chickpeas (garbanzo beans). I saw them on sale at Whole Foods and bought some to stash in the pantry. This link is a great resource to learn more about their origin, nutritional profile and where to buy if you don’t see them at Whole Foods, your local Indian Store or in bulk at the natural grocer.
- TIP: If you don’t usually use the spices in this recipe, just buy what you need from the bulk section instead of picking up jars of each one.
- My slow cooker is 6.5 Quarts. I think a 5 or 5.5 Quart would also work for this recipe.
- I was home so I cooked this soup on HIGH for 4 hours, alternatively you could cook it on LOW for 8 hours.
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!
Chana Dal Soup. Slow Cooker Chana Dal Soup with Spinach. Vegan.
- 2 teaspoons canola oil
- 2 small yellow onions or 1 large, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic chopped
- 3 inch piece ginger root peeled and chopped
- 2 cups chana dal rinsed and picked over
- 4 cups broth
- 2 cups water
- 15 ounce can of light coconut milk
- 14.5 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
- 2 dried chilies
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon curry powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons turmeric
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek seed
- 6 ounces organic baby spinach
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Grab your onion, garlic and ginger.
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Be sure to pick over your dry beans and give them a good rinse. Measure out spices and set aside.
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Heat a medium frying pan over medium heat, once hot, add oil and then onion mixture. Cook approximately five minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Add spice mixture, cook 1 minute stirring constantly.
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Remove from heat and add to slow cooker along with chana dal, broth, water, coconut milk, and crushed tomatoes. Set to cook on HIGH for 4 Hours.
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Add baby spinach in for last 15 minutes of cooking time.
Did you make this recipe? Tag @EverydayMaven on Instagram with the hashtag #EveryDayMaven and please give a star rating below.
I LOOOOOOOOVE your website, and have tried many of your awesome recipes. Made your “Spicy Baked Tofu” (my current favorite snack) for a party last week and EVERYONE raved about it, and wanted the recipe…. I just told them – Everydaymaven.com. 🙂 Making this dish tonight for the first time–I don’t have ginger root, but I do have chopped ginger in a jar. How much in tsp/Tbs would be equivalent to 3″ of ginger root?
Hi Jenni, Sorry I missed this until now – I hope your Chana Dal still came out great! I would have subbed 2 to 3 Tablespoons depending on how potent that jarred ginger is. And thank you so much for the comments – it means a lot to me 🙂
Have a great weekend!
I use lentils instead of chana dal and I don’t add the water. I cook it for about 20/30 mins less and its amazing. It turns into a curry instead of a chana dal soup 🙂 serve with rice and naan bread
Yum Tanysha – that sounds awesome!
This is really good! I had it over rice and added raw spinach and hot sauce (since I forgot to add red peppers).
Thanks Rebecki! I always had hot sauce to mine when I make it as well 🙂
This is a fantastic soup and has become a staple for us. The leftovers are great to keep in the freezer for a quick and filling lunch or dinner. I like to serve this with a little cilantro and FF natural or greek yogurt. Yum!!
Thanks Katy – I love hearing that! It is a staple for us as well 🙂
My wife and I are on WW for a little while and I was happy to find your site. This soup is awesome and will be a staple whether on WW or not! So much flavor in it. We love Indian style foods so this was a no brainer. We only had chick peas (couldn’t find chana dal easily), but we later found black garbanzos, so we’ll try it with that next time. Keep it up!
Hi Scott! Thank you so much!! I bet the black garbanzos will be delicious. I really appreciate your comments because I think of all of my food as “life food” and not WW food!
Before putting in the pot are the chana dal dried, dried and soaked or dried, soaked and cooked?
Just dried and rinsed! No pre-soaking or pre-cooking necessary 🙂
I am pinning this one and I cant wait to try it! Visiting by way of Slow Cooker From Scratch.
Great Danielle – I hope you love it and thanks for visiting!
This looks great, I think I’ll make it today. I did want to add that the points plus are wrong. I started adding to the recipe builder and the chana and coconut milk alone are 7 points plus per 1/6th of the recipe…
Hi Leah! I just recalculated and it is indeed 4 Points Plus for one serving based on 6 servings. Make sure you are using “Light Coconut Milk” and dried beans to calculate the points 🙂
Clipping this in Evernote! Always looking for delicious crockpot stews. The only problem is that I may be the only one in my family who likes food like this. Damn picky eaters!
The good part is you can stash a bunch of servings away and have awesome lunches saved up just for you!
Hey Alyssa! I’m catching up on my blog reading after getting back from vacation! This looks great…full of flavor and warming! I love Indian food but I’ve never done a homemade version of chana dal — bookmarking this!
Thanks Faith and welcome back 🙂
We are slightly obsessed with this recipe – it’s completely delicious and we make it regularly. Thank you from someone else in the UK.
Thanks Alex! So happy to hear it 🙂