Spilt Bengal Gram Soup

After a long work day, with irregular meals, its easy to get indulged in comfort foods. And a bad dinner is one of those biggest disaster you always wanna escape. So to avoid the same but still give myself a treat, it became another hearty soup night.

This hearty soup is made with following main ingredients  -

• Split Bengal Gram : Like garbanzo beans? Go for split bengal gram. Same nutrition..no split :) easily available in Indian grocery store or any international foods grocery store aisle.
• Bottle gourd/Opo : 18 cal in a cup, this vegetable is high in vitamins and fiber and known for lowering blood pressure. Not very popular in western cooking but dominates Indian domestic cooking. Believed to have originated from Africa...and now hopefully in your kitchen. It sure is a round small world.

Recipe                                                          

1 cup split bengal gram

1 cup diced Opo/bottle gourd

1-2 diced tomato

1tsp turmeric powder

3 cups water            

1tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cumin seeds/powder

1 tsp vegetable oil/olive oil

pinch of asafoetida (click on name to read about this spice)

salt to taste

lemon juice to taste (optional)

coriander (optional)

This soup can be made in either a slow cooker or pressure cooker. My favorite is pressure cooker, simple reason being cooking time is less than 10 min. But mom style is slow cooker and it does brings out the best of taste. 

Method

• Heat the oil and add all spices. Wait for 1-2 min to let cumin seeds crackle ( if using seeds). 
• Add all veggies and split gram. Saute for 2-3 min to bring out the aroma. Add 3 cups of water.
• If using slow cooker, let it simmer for 3-4 hrs. If using pressure cooker, cook on medium high and wait for 2 whistles.
• Serve hot with chopped coriander or have it just like that. 
• Add lemon juice to taste in each serving if you like.