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Vegan Persian Stew Chana Dahl

Vegan Persian Stew (Khoresh Gheimeh)

Savory, sweet, a little sour, this vegan Persian Stew is a great entry-way recipe into Persian cooking. It's quick to make, warming and spicy, and wonderflu for cool evening dinners.
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Equipment

  • Two heavy bottomed pots

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup Chana Dahl
  • 1 Medium onion, diced small
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
  • 3 tbsp Tomato paste
  • 3 Persian Limes
  • salt, pepper, any gren herbs such as cilantro/mint, chili flakes to garnish
  • water, to cook

Instructions
 

  • Soak the chana dahl for 4 hours, or overnight. Drain, rinse, and add to a heavy bottomed pot. Cover with about 3 inches of water, add a little salt, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer covered about 20-25 minutes until the dahl tastes done. See the tips at the bottom of this page for more info on cooking time.
  • While the dahl is cooking, heat another heavy bottomed pot and add a quick spray or two of oil. Add the onion in along with a pinch of salt. Bring the heat down to medium low and cover, checking often, until the onion turns translucent and releases some of its juices, about 5 minutes. To the onion add turmeric and cinnamon, stirring well, until the mixture dries up a little bit (about 3 minutes). Add in the tomato paste, and stir well for about a minute.
  • Add in the limes, and 2 cups of water. When the chana Dahl are done, drain them and add them to the mixture as well.
  • Simmer this mixture for about 10 to 15 minutes, until the flavors have time to marry. If it gets too thick to stir, add in a little boiling water.
  • Take out one of the limes and squeeze it into the mixture, and stir well (no need to discard, just leave them in there). Check your seasoning for salt when done. Let the mixture rest 5 minutes, covered.
  • Garnish with chili flakes, and fresh chopped herbs if you have them (mint and cilantro go well with this dish). Also, you can serve this stew with my quick pickled cucumber and onions.

Notes

Soak the chana dahl for 4 hours, or overnight. Drain, rinse, and add to a heavy For BLE portions, I count 6 ounces of this as my protein (women's weight loss portion). Feel free to add a grain if you're on maintenance.
This will thicken when cooled. I reheat by measuring out my portion and adding in 1/3 water, then heating to simmer.