Lentils and rice are such a classic, budget-friendly pairing in so many cuisines, and I’m excited to share a really fun, jazzed up version with you today!
Lentils are tossed with a spiced oil and broiled until crispy, then mixed with Indian-flavored aromatics and herbs. To finish, the lentils are plated over white rice and drizzled with a quick yogurt sauce.
Not only does this dish cost less than $2 per serving, but it’s also nourishing and packed with fun Indian-inspired flavors.
And I’m extra excited to share this dish with you because it’s also the FIRST RECIPE from my new cookbook, Big Vegan Flavor, that I’m sharing on the blog.
If you’re new around these parts, Big Vegan Flavor spans over 600 pages and contains over 150 recipes! But more than that, it’s my attempt to synthesize the techniques behind great plant-based cooking into one resource you’ll turn to again and again.
It officially releases on September 3rd, but if you order now you can get some pretty amazing bonus content for free! Check out the section of this page titled “Bonus content, exclusively for pre-orders” for details on how you can receive all the bonus goodies!
Why you’ll love this recipe
A textural wonderland
When you hear the word lentils, you probably don’t think crispy. You might think smooth and creamy as in dal or lentil curries, or tender with a bite as in lentil salads.
But lentils, like other plant proteins such as chickpeas or tofu, can also be crispy! All you need is a hot oven and a bit of oil to turn lentils into crispy perfection.
The crispy lentils are plated on top of soft, fluffy-chewy white rice and then drizzled with a creamy yogurt sauce, so you get a delightful medley of textures in each bite.
I feel so strongly about the importance of fun food textures that I incorporated an entire chapter into Big Vegan Flavor on how to create the textures we love the most—creamy, crispy, crunchy, chewy—using plant-based ingredients.
Simple ingredients, big flavor
As long as you have a well-stocked spice cabinet, the ingredients in this recipe are quite minimal. All you need are basic brown or green lentils, white rice, a few spices and aromatics, oil, and vegan yogurt.
Don’t let that pared down ingredient list fool you though! The Indian-inspired flavors in this dish are bold, fun, and exciting.
That’s all thanks to the infused oil, which features shallots, garlic, and spices toasted in oil.
This spiced oil brings flavor to the dish in two ways: (1) first, the aromatics and spices infuse the oil with lots of flavor, which is great since that oil is later used to broil the lentils; (2) the aromatics and spices themselves become after being sauteed in oil since these ingredients are fat-soluble.
Checks all the boxes
It’s hard to not love a recipe that is flavorful, nourishing, and budget-friendly. We’ve already discussed flavor, so let’s talk about the other two.
Lentils pack in both fiber and protein, keeping you full for hours. And the spices, chiles, and garlic in this dish bring the antioxidants. Plus, this dish is allergen friendly and free of gluten, nuts, and soy (and of course, dairy!).
On the budget front, according to my very precise calculations (an Excel spreadsheet was involved), this dish costs less than $2 per serving. And given that I live in San Diego, CA (recently named the most expensive city in America 😭), the cost of these ingredients may be even lower where you live.
Tips for making this recipe
Cook the lentils only until al dente.
When you simmer the lentils, cook them only until al dente: cooked through but with a bite, not soft. If the lentils are soft, they won’t retain their texture as much for the broiled lentils.
For brown and green lentils, this means only 10 to 12 minutes at a decent simmer. For French green lentils, simmer for 17 to 20 minutes.
Use a creamy, tangy vegan yogurt.
Yogurt is used in savory Indian dishes to provide a source of acidity as well as to provide a creamy cooling element to balance spiciness.
So a creamy vegan yogurt that’s tart/tangy in flavored will work best. Even some plain-flavored vegan yogurts have a slightly sweet flavor, so I recommend using a yogurt you’ve already tried and like.
My two favorite brands are Culina and CocoJune (coconut based, creamy & thick, tart, and no coconut flavor). I also like GT’s CocoYo and Pillar’s coconut yogurt though it may not be as widely available. For a non-coconut base, try Kite Hill’s plain-flavored almond yogurt.
Read these Tips for broiling lentils!
- If you find that you don’t have enough reserved spiced oil to coat the lentils well before broiling them, just add another drizzle of any neutral-flavored oil and toss to combine.
- Spread the lentils out on the sheet pan as best you can on the sheet pan without too much overlap so they can crisp up evenly.
- Arrange an oven rack in the second shelf of your oven, not the one directly underneath the broiler (to avoid burning the lentils).
- After broiling the lentils for 4 minutes, toss them, and broil for another 2 minutes. You’re looking for the lentils to be crispy with a light crunch, not rock hard crunchy (you don’t want them to be like pebbles!).
- After that 6 minutes, you’ll want to check the lentils frequently to prevent burning. The exact time will depend on the strength of your broiler as well as the variety of lentil. In my experience, green lentils take the shortest amount of time (typically 6 minutes), whereas brown lentils take a minute or two longer (and French green lentils can take closer to 8 to 10 minutes).
Frequently Asked Questions
For me, this is a complete meal that would serve about three people for dinner. But, if you want to add a vegetable into the mix, nearly any vegetable side dish would work.
I think roasted cauliflower or roasted eggplant would be particularly good pairings (there are recipes for quick roasted cauliflower and jammy roasted eggplant in Big Vegan Flavor!).
Or, serve alongside an Indian kachumber salad: chopped tomato, cucumber, and red onion tossed with lemon juice, cilantro, cayenne pepper, and salt.
PS: For folks who preordered the cookbook, check out the Mango Kachumber Salad in the Indian-Inspired Dinner Party Menu, part of the bonus preorder package!
Sure, you can simply roast the lentils in your oven to get them crispy.
Toss the lentils in the spiced oil and salt/pepper as listed, then roast on the sheet pan at 400ºF/200ºC or 425ºF/220ºC for 15 minutes, then toss. Shake the pan to toss and roast for 5 to 10 more minutes until crispy but not rock hard.
Sure, you can. But given the relatively simple ingredient list, the serrano pepper does add quite a bit of flavor (in addition to heat).
If you can handle a bit of heat, I would use a jalapeño pepper (which is slightly less spicy than a serrano) and use half of it.
Or for mild heat, use a jalapeño pepper, remove the membranes and seeds (which is where the vast majority of the heat lives), and finely chop the pepper instead of thinly slicing into rounds.
I hope you enjoy this sneak peek recipe from my new cookbook!
Big Vegan Flavor officially comes out on September 3rd, which means you still have time to pre-order the book! If you’re wondering why you should pre-order before the official publication date, it’s because I’ve created an incredible package of bonus content for folks who preorder! You can read more about what’s inside the book and all the bonus goodies on this page.
To everyone who has already pre-ordered the book, THANK YOU a million times over. Y’all are making my dreams come true, and I am honored by your support. Please visit this page for instructions on accessing your bonus content!
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
Crispy Indian-ish Lentils with Rice & Yogurt
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (150g) brown, green, or French green lentils
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup (190g) uncooked long-grain white rice (or 3 cups (425 g) cooked rice)
- 1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 3 tablespoons neutral-flavored, high-heat oil of choice
- 1 medium shallot, very thinly sliced into rounds (1/8-inch or 3mm slices)
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1.5 inch (3.75 cm) piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced into matchsticks
- 1 small serrano pepper, thinly sliced into rounds (remove membranes and seeds for mild heat)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- Flaky sea salt
For Finishing
- 1/2 cup (115g) good-quality plain coconut yogurt
- 2 to 3 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon organic cane sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3/4 cup (12g) fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems, chopped
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add the lentils and 2 teaspoons kosher salt (1 tsp sea salt). Reduce the heat and simmer until the lentils are al dente (tender but with a bite), 10 to 12 minutes (17 to 20 minutes for French green lentils); they should not be soft. Drain and shake to get rid of excess water.
- Transfer the lentils to a large dish towel to dry. I like to gently run my hands through the lentils so they dry more quickly.
- Meanwhile, cook the rice using your preferred method, or get out your leftover cooked rice.
- Lightly crush the mustard, cumin, and coriander seeds in a mortar with a pestle or add to a spice grinder and pulse just once or twice (see Note 1).
- Place a fine-mesh strainer over a small or medium bowl and line a large plate with paper towels. Heat the oil in a medium or large skillet over medium heat. Once shimmering, add the shallots along with a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally and separating the shallot slices, until the edges are just turning golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the crushed spices, the garlic, ginger, serrano, and turmeric and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is golden and very aromatic, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture into the strainer; you’ll use the oil that drains into the bowl to broil the lentils. Transfer the aromatics to the towel-lined plate and sprinkle with a pinch or two of flaky salt.
- While the lentils dry, make the yogurt sauce. (This can also be made 1 to 2 days in advance.) In a small or medium bowl, mix together the yogurt, lemon juice, sugar, and cumin. Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper.
- Arrange a rack on the second shelf below the broiler. Preheat the broiler on high for about 5 minutes. Transfer the lentils to a rimmed sheet pan, toss with the reserved oil from step 5, sprinkle with a pinch or two of kosher salt and black pepper, and shake the pan back and forth to spread the lentils out into an even layer, using your hands to smooth out any clumps.
- Broil the lentils for 4 minutes. Toss with a spatula or shake the pan back and forth to evenly redistribute them. Broil for 2 minutes and shake the pan again. If they’re nicely crispy, they’re done. If they’re starting to crisp up, broil for 1 minute, then check and broil in 1-minute increments as needed. If they haven’t started to crisp up yet, broil for 2 minutes, then check.
- Transfer the crispy lentils to a serving bowl and toss with the reserved fried aromatics, cilantro, and lemon juice. Season to taste with flaky salt. Serve the lentils on top of rice and drizzle yogurt sauce on top.
Notes
- If you don’t have a mortar and pestle but have an electric spice grinder or coffee grinder, add the spices to the grinder and blitz once or twice to roughly crush them. Don’t have either tool? Add the spices to a ziploc bag, seal it, and use a rolling pin to roughly crush the spices.
This is like crack to me. lol I ate this so fast, although the flavors got better the longer I let it sit. The char and the sugar in the yogurt bring it over the top for me. So many flavors going on that go great together. Thanks Nisha for this recipe! Bought your book too and it’s so pretty and engaging and definitely the heaviest book I own.
Hi Erika, thank you so much for the kind words! I need to try this recipe soon myself, it just looks too dang good!
And I agree on the cookbook- it’s a marvelous work of art! (and a great tofu press too! ;) )
It was too dry – required a lot of the sauce and lemon juice. If I make it again, I would double the amount of yogurt sauce I’m making. I added peanuts to the tadka (oil fried aromatics) step. I found that I had to add a few more tablespoons of oil, probably because of my addition of peanuts, in order to have sufficient leftover for broiling the lentils. Used green lentils and 6 minutes in the broiler was about right.
We appreciate your honest feedback, Silpa. We hope you enjoyed the dish!
This is fantastic! Thank you for the hard work making these recipes.
My son has been asking me to make this over and over. I love that he is exciting about vegan foods!
Thank you for the kind words, Melisa! :) So cool to hear your son is excited about vegan food with Nisha’s recipes, woohoo!
Oh my gosh!!! This was sooooo good. So much flavour!
So I wanted to try this recipe because it’s from your cookbook. I live in Toronto Canada and your book is kind of spendy here. So I thought, if I like this recipe…I will buy the book. This was beyond good. There is so much flavour in those lentils, I was completely satisfied. My husband and I are trying to go vegetarian and hopefully vegan and this dish ticked all the boxes for everything you want in a meal. Not missing anything. I could eat the lentils by the spoonful. The yogurt drizzle just elevates this dish and balances everything beautifully.
I can’t wait to buy your book Nisha. Thank you for all the time you put into making such amazing recipes and sharing them with us.
Question, what’s the best way to store the lentils?
Hi Daniella, we’re honored you are such a fan of the recipe :) Thank you so much for the kind words!
And as for storage: The crispy lentils are best on day 1, but you can store leftover crispy lentils in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days. To revive them, heat a frying pan with a drizzle of oil and add the lentils until warmed through and a bit crisp.
The whole is really delicious and easy to make. I wonder though how crispy the lentils should ideally be? Should they crunch in the teeth or is that too dry? This is how they came out for us. Thank you.
Hi Eva! The lentils should have a very crispy skin, but still tender on the insides. Everyone’s broiler is a bit different in strength, so try a few minutes less the next time you make these!
This is one of my favorite recipes. It is very quick to do and so delicious. I have made this recipe twice. This is my first time making crispy lentils and I am trying to think of more ways to utilise them. I do think I could add some additional items to bulk this up a little more, maybe some blistered cherry tomatoes.
We’re thrilled it’s a favorite of yours, L B! Yes, feel free to add any ingredients you think you’d enjoy with it, flex that chef muscle :)
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe! I am usually not a big fan of lentils, but this was delicious. I really love your recipe blog, I appreciate the time you take to test the recipes and all of the vibrant flavors you come up with.
Thanks for such an awesome review, Clare! It makes us happy to know you enjoyed this Big Vegan Flavor preview, we hope you love the rest of the recipes in the book!
I really enjoyed this dish, Nisha! Thank you so much for such an innovative Indian recipe!
We’re so happy that the recipe turned out well for you, Maneesha. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and for trying out the recipe!
So delicious!!! I’m adding more lentils to my lifestyle (and because my sister buys in bulk) Plus the aromatics made my kitchen smell so good!
Your positive feedback is the best reward for our hard work. Thank you, Gina!
If you buy the cookbook, the creamy tahini lentils are a favorite of mine!!
My list of favourites is growing up! Every time I try a recipe, it’s a great experience! Like always “The Queen” creates pure fantasies, the flavours, the textures are just amazing! When again, thank you!😋😋
Thanks for the wonderful revivew, Annie! Thanks for putting so much trust into the RPL recipes :)