Quick Curried Lentil & Chicken Soup

There really is nothing better than a good bowl of Indian dal with some fresh, warm naan from the oven.

At least, for me anyway, it is some serious comfort food. It warms up my tummy, and makes my tastebuds sing.

Which is kind of funny considering I'm a girl from the WV hills who only tried Indian food for the first time when she went away to college.  But the palate wants what the palate wants, eh?

I've been playing around with various dal soup recipes for ages, trying to come up with an approximation of a fantastic dal they used to have at a now nonexistent Indian restaurant in Morgantown, WV.  (If anyone has the recipe for the dal they used to serve at Cafe of India, please, please share it!)

I'm still tinkering, but haven't come up with perfection just yet.

Today, though, I'm pulling a quickie version out of the hat because I forgot to throw everything into the crockpot for some homemade soup this morning...and it's too late to make it utterly from scratch now.  (Ooops!  That's what I get for organizing and cleaning up around the house today and forgetting about dinner.  I need an Alice.)

Here's what I've got bubbling on the stove at the moment:


2 cans of Amy's curried lentil soup
1 c. low-sodium chicken broth
2 c. cubed cooked chicken breast
1 zucchini, shredded
1 can petite diced tomatoes, with juice

I added in some additional grated fresh ginger, curry powder and a bit of garam masala, because we like ours with a little kick to it.  It tastes and smells wonderful.

With the soup, I'll serve some garlic and cilantro naan that I picked up at the local Kroger.  I'll heat that up in the oven just before we serve the soup, so it's nice and warm to dip into the soup.  Nummy!

And by grating the zucchini and popping in some tomato, I get to sneak in some extra veggies, too.  In this house, that is a useful skill.  It's not quite homemade dal, but it will do for today.

(Photo via Chiot's Run.  Have to try this recipe next time I make some!  It looks fantastic.)