This Madras Lentils recipe is so good you will want to whip up a big pot and stock your freezer with a week’s worth of lunches!
Let’s talk Tasty Bite.
Have you ever tried these delectable little packages?
I adore them. Quick, easy, and seriously delicious.
My favorite is the Tasty Bite Madras Lentils, which tastes like an Indian-flavor-infused hearty vegetarian chili. Which is obviously right up my alley.
While you really can’t beat one-step-one-minute convenience, you CAN make a huge batch for really cheap in just a few hours at home.
Don’t be put off by the time it takes to make this madras lentils recipe. Out of the two hours total, only about 20 minutes is active time.
There’s lots of simmering action, so feel free to go about your day while your house starts to smell completely amazing.
I decided to use a mixture of adzuki and mung beans because they perfectly replicate the texture of this dish. If you have a hard time finding adzuki beans, use regular “small red beans.” The adzuki beans are really tasty, you can find them here on Amazon.
Don’t forget to plan for time to soak the adzuki beans overnight!
Mung beans are green and very round. When cooked they retain their shape and toothiness, so they add lots of great texture.
Unlike the adzuki beans, they don’t need to be soaked so they just get thrown in halfway through the cooking time.
So…. the elephant in the room.
Madras Lentils… without any lentils?
Yep. I tried making this with regular brown lentils, red lentils, and French lentils but it just wasn’t the same.
Trust me on this one and just go with it.
If you want to get really crazy you can double this recipe in a big ol’ 6-quart pot and stock your freezer with your very own instant Madras Lentils.
If you keep frozen prepared naan in your freezer (Trader Joe’s!) you’ll be seriously ready for lunchtime nirvana.
How to Make Madras Lentils
Heat the olive oil in a 3-quart or larger pot set over medium heat. Add the onion and jalapeno; sauté until onion begins to soften, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Add the minced garlic, paprika, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, red pepper flakes, and ground ginger. Stir well to coat the vegetables in spices. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant.
Add the soaked adzuki beans along with the vegetable broth and tomato sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and cook uncovered for 45 minutes.
Add the mung beans to the pot and allow to cook for another 45 minutes.
Stir in the half-and-half, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed.
Optionally garnish with cilantro.
Serve with rice and/or Naan bread.
Check out our other Indian Recipes!
Madras Lentils Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- 1 jalapeno - seeded, stemmed, and diced
- 3 cloves garlic - minced
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3/4 cup dry adzuki beans - soaked overnight
- 1 quart vegetable broth
- 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 1/3 cup mung beans
- 1/2 cup half-and-half*
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Optional garnish with cilantro
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a 3-quart or larger pot set over medium heat. Add the onion and jalapeno; saute until onion begins to soften, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic, paprika, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, red pepper flakes, and ground ginger. Stir well to coat the vegetables in spices. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant.
- Add the soaked adzuki beans along with the vegetable broth and tomato sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low and cook uncovered for 45 minutes.
- Add the mung beans to the pot and allow to cook for another 45 minutes.
- Stir in the half-and-half, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed.
- Optionally garnish with cilantro.
- Serve with rice and/or Naan bread.
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NOTES
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Two problems I’m having…when you say 3/4 red beans, does that mean 3/4 of dry beans that you must soak or do you mean 3/4 of soaked red beans…also, after puting in the mung beans the liquid dried up quickly and the mung beans were still hard…how are they supposed to cook with no liquid…I added an additional cup of broth
Hi Clayton, the 3/4 cup of dry adzuki beans are soaked overnight and then added in step 3. Adding more broth or water should help those mung beans soften up.
3/4 cups adzuki beans before I soak them or after?
Hi Clayton, the 3/4 cup of dry adzuki beans are soaked overnight and then added in step 3.
I thought this had a really wonderful blend of flavors. I too had a bit of trouble getting the mung beans to soften in the allotted 45 minutes, but ran out of time, so they were a bit “al dente.” I also had to add around 2 cups of water to the pot when I added the mung beans because the liquid had cooked down so much. I will soak the mung beans next time and hopefully that will shorten the cooking time. I could not find fenugreek at any of my grocery stores, so didn’t add any. I will order some online and try again. Thanks for this yummy meal. I will definitely be making this again.
Why is this called Madras Lentils when there are no lentils in the recipe?
Madras Lentils… without any lentils?
Yep. I tried making this with regular brown lentils, red lentils, and French lentils but it just wasn’t the same.
Trust me on this one and just go with it.