Indian-Style Black Bean Soup

This soup is modeled after a luxurious and traditional Indian dal in Julie Sahni’s book Classic Indian Cooking. Whereas the original recipe is thick and chililike, this version can be served as a soup with the rich and delicate spice flavors of the original still coming through.

To make this soup, you’ll need tiny beans called black gram beans, which you can find in fancy food stores or in Indian markets, where they’re called sabut urad dal or kali dal