linnea, I just made this, its really good from Eating Well.

Indian Mango Dal

6 servings, about 1 cup each

Ingredients
�1 cup yellow or orange lentils
�4 cups water
�1 teaspoon salt, divided
�1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
�1 tablespoon canola oil
�1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
�1 medium onion, chopped
�4 cloves garlic, minced
�1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
�1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
�1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
�2 mangoes, peeled and diced
�1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation
1.Place lentils in a colander and rinse until the water runs clear. Combine lentils, 4 cups water, 1/2 teaspoon salt and turmeric in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, partially cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
2.Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and cook until fragrant and starting to brown, about 30 seconds. Add onion; cook, stirring, until soft and beginning to brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, coriander, cayenne and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, for 1 minute more.
3.Stir the garlic mixture and mangoes into the lentils. Return to a simmer; cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are falling apart, 10 to 15 minutes more. Stir in cilantro.

Nutrition

Per serving : 186 Calories; 3 g Fat; 0 g Sat; 2 g Mono; 0 mg Cholesterol; 33 g Carbohydrates; 9 g Protein; 9 g Fiber; 398 mg Sodium; 511 mg Potassium

1 1/2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 fruit, 1 lean meat, 1/2 fat

Annie

Although they are orange, they're usually called red lentils, and they're better than brown lentils.

Here's our favorite recipe for them:

Red Lentil Soup with Lemon

3 tablespoons olive oil, more for drizzling

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Pinch of ground chili powder or cayenne, more to taste

1 quart chicken or vegetable broth

1 cup red lentils

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

Juice of 1/2 lemon, more to taste

3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro.

1. In a large pot, heat 3 tablespoons oil over high heat until hot and shimmering. Add onion and garlic, and sauté until golden, about 4 minutes.

2. Stir in tomato paste, cumin, salt, black pepper and chili powder or cayenne, and sauté for 2 minutes longer.

3. Add broth, 2 cups water, lentils and carrot. Bring to a simmer, then partially cover pot and turn heat to medium-low. Simmer until lentils are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary.

4. Using an immersion or regular blender or a food processor, purée half the soup then add it back to pot. Soup should be somewhat chunky.

5. Reheat soup if necessary, then stir in lemon juice and cilantro. Serve soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted lightly with chili powder if desired.

Yield: 4 servings.

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Lentil Soup with Lemon

Are they red lentils or yellow split peas? I can't find them anywhere local and have a great yellow split pea soup recipe that I'll post later.

This is my favorite and so easy.
Slow Cooker Lentil Soup

2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
2 medium celery stalks, cut into chunks
1 medium onion cut into chunks
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 cups dry lentils, rinsed and picked over for debris
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper
8 cups chicken broth
4 oz diced Canadian bacon (4 or5 slices) add last 20 minutes of cooking time.

Place ingredients in 4-5 qt slow cooker in order written above.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Uncover, stir in bacon and heat for additional 20 minutes, remove bay leaves

NOTE: to cook on top of stove, cut veggies into smaller pieces, cook at slow simmer for about an hour until veggies tender.
Use vegetable broth and leave out bacon for a vegetarian dish.
Weightwatchers recipe. I usually just leave out the bacon but use chicken broth. Have used all kinds of lentils...red, french, brown all work and all are good.

It may be that these cook up differently depending on if they are split peas or lentils. Look at them closely, split peas will have one curved edge and one flat edge, as each is half of a whole pea; while lentils will have only curved edges and look whole because each is a single entire legume.

Split peas generally will cook up softer and creamier - as in English "mushy" peas. Each lentil will cook up but still result in a single legume on a spoon, the same as a single grain of rice or barley.

JMO - Teresa

Red/orange lentils tend to break apart during cooking, especially if they are over cooked, so they work well in soup to help thicken it, rather than remaining in disks like green/brown lentils do.

I sprout them first and then use them in soup, something similar to cloudy christine's recipe.

Another recipe I use them in:

PRIEST'S SOUP

(source: "The Versatile Grain and the Elegant Bean" by Sheryl and Mel London)

serves 6-8

6 c. chicken stock
1 c. dried peeled split small red lentils, picked over and washed
1/4 c. long-grain rice, either white or brown
3 medium onions, thinly sliced and separated into rings
2 T. finely minced parsley
salt to taste
1/8 t. cayenne
1/4 t. sweet paprika
2 T. olive oil
2 T. butter

In a 5-qt. Dutch oven, heat 4 c. stock to the boiling point. Add the lentils and rice and bring to a boil again, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 10-minutes. Add only two of the sliced onions, stir and continue to cook for 20-minutes more. Then add the remaining chicken stock, parsley, salt, cayenne and paprika and continue to cook for 10-minutes more.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in an iron skillet and add the remaining sliced onion. Saute over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onion is brown and crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels.

Serve the soup in large bowls with a sprinkling of the brown onions and a few grains of additional paprika for color.
-Grainlady

Yellow Split Pea Soup with Spiced Yogurt

Saute in 2 Tbl butter or 1 Tbl each butter and oil:
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1" piece frsh ginger, peeled and minced
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt

Add:
1/2 tsp cumin seed
3 cloves
Stir and cook 3/4 minutes

Add:
1 2/3 c. yellow split peas, soaked 2 hrs
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
6 c. water/stock
Cook 45-60 mins. Puree, return to stove and add more liquid if needed. Season with salt, grated peel and juice of 1 lemon.

Serve with:
1/2 c. yogurt
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp cumin
pinch salt

Drizzle this over the soup.

This is a delicious vegetarian recipe; I actually prefer it to traditional split pea soup. But I can't get the yellow split peas locally. :(

Wow! So many wonderful choices! What I have are definitely red lentils. I use yellow split peas too. Those, green split peas, and brown lentils I use for soup. My husband likes yellow split peas for a Persian dish (geimeh) which is like a thick sauce served over rice.

With a shorter cooking time compared to regular lentils, if I don't need to soak them ahead of time, I could see using these more.

Grainlady, why do you sprout them first? For nutritional reasons?

Thanks so much!

Yep - sprouting increases nutrition, neutralizes enzyme inhibitors and makes them easier to digest. Think of sprouting as predigesting grains/seeds/beans. I also sprout and then dehydrate lentils. This allows them to cook even more quickly, and I also season sprouted lentils before I dehydrate them to use as a snack food.

If I don't sprout them I will do an overnight soak in water and a small amount of whey (from my homemade kefir) to acidify the water.

Back to orange/red lentils... They have been hulled and split, and they cook quickly because of this, but they also lose their shape during cooking much easier than regular brown/green lentils.

Because they have been split, when you rinse them the water will appear "soapy" or "foamy" and the lentils will tend to clump together because of the starch. Red lentils will foam during cooking due to the exposed starch, so make sure you keep the lid on the pot slightly ajar.

-Grainlady

It sounds to me like you have masoor dal. In the link below, there is a photo of the uncooked lentils. If you google "masoor dal" you'll find tons of Indian recipes, similar to what Annie posted.

I was disappointed that the cooked dal was not the warm orange color of the uncooked dal, but more of a muddy yellow. It still tasted good!

Cheryl

Here is a link that might be useful: masoor dal

Dal and rice is a staple in my house.

This is the simplest homestyle dal recipe and everyone loves it, even people who do not like spicy food or indian food. It is well flavored but not hot.

Cook 1 cup dal with 2.5 cups of water and a pinch of salt till soft (you can pressure cook it or cook on a tall pot). Dal is any lentil that is skinned. Most of the time they are split. Soaking it for 15-20 mins saves on cooking time.

Seasoning: This has to be done fast to prevent overcooked/ burnt taste. Keep everything ready and move fast. You need 2TBS of unsalted butter, 1tsp of cumin and 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of cayenne and the cooked dal. In a skillet or heavy bottomed pan, Cook 2tbsp of butter until it is nicely browned and fragrant. Add 1tsp of cumin and it will pop immediately. Immediately add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of cayenne which will foam briefly and immediately add the cooked dal and stir around to stop the browning of cayenne. Add water to dilute to make it more liquid if you want. Salt to taste. The amount of cayenne is up to your taste buds. When my daughter was young she would eat this without any cayenne.

Serve with simple basmati rice.

Any whole lentil with skin on (garbanzo, whole kidney beans etc.. need to be soaked overnight ideally). The whole grains also work better with more spiced recipes with garlic, ginger, tomatoes etc.

GW-I make a similar seasoning using ghee & shallots. I also add any kind of calabaza to the dal. I'm cooking that right now...It's great served alongside dry cooked okra, potatoes, onion, garlic, peas, tomatoes seasoned with a combination of ground spices.

Here's my favorite red lentil soup:

LENTIL-APRICOT SOUP (6 - 8 servings)

2 cups red lentils, rinsed and picked over
8 cups water or more (used part vegetable broth)
2 cups finely minced onion
2/3 cup 1/4" diced carrots
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. dried mustard
2 Tbs. minced garlic
1 cup minced dried apricots
1 1/2 to 2 tsp. salt or to taste
2 to 4 Tbs. balsalmic vinegar (or to taste)
Black and cayenne peppers to taste
Chopped cilantro or parsley for garnish

Put lentils and water or broth in a soup pot. Add the onions, carrot, mustard and 1 tsp. of salt. Bring to a boil; then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the lentils are soft, adding more water if mixture seems too thick.

Add the garlic and apricots and simmer, covered, for an additional 15 minutes or so. Stir in the vinegar and peppers to taste and correct salt if needed.

Note: You can also add whole cooked chick peas for added texture.