You might think, what is that?

I hear you; horse gram really doesn’t sound inviting or tasty, more like food for horses, which it also is, but more so for racehorses :)

Horse gram is a little easy to grow legume.

It is mostly cultivated in India and southern Asia, as it prefers the warmer climate.

It oozes benefits, and you should give it a go for those alone, but also for its nutty taste and crunchy texture.

I came across this recipe and will definitely include it in my seasonal repertoire.

Here are the ingredients for the delicious horse gram soup:

1 ½ cup horse gram soaked in hot water overnight or at least for 8 hours, rinsed and strained
½ cup masoor dal, red lentils, soaked for about ½ hour, washed and strained
1 cup peeled and diced potatoes
1 cup peeled and diced carrots
1 cup diced zucchini or dudhi, Indian bottle gourd
2 tbsp ghee or olive oil
One small green chilli (optional, omit for Pitta)
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 pinch hing
½ tsp turmeric
¼ cup fresh chopped coriander
1 ½ tsp salt
½ tsp dried oregano
2 pods of black cardamom
2 bay leaves
¼ tsp black pepper
Lemon juice to taste
¼ tsp black pepper
Fresh parsley, basil or coriander leaves chopped for after cooking.

The many Benefits of Horse Gram

This recipe was inspired by the Kulthi lentil stew recipe by Divya Alter.

My late teacher, shreeguruji, swore by kulith soup when we were ill with colds and otherwise. ⁠That soup was made from the flour of the kulith bean, with spices, quick, easy and effective. I used to think that this bean was only available in India.⁠

When browsing through Divya Alter’s book Joy of Balance and was intrigued by a horse gram dish. As horse gram, kulthi, wasn’t familiar to me, I investigated and discovered that it actually is the kulith bean. Different regions in India use different names for the same thing.

Horse gram is already mentioned in the Ashtanga Hrdayam, chp 6, 19.

Kulattha (horse gram) is hot in potency, sour at the end of digestion, cures diseases of semen, urinary stones, sudden shortness of breath, chronic nasal catarrh, cough, haemorrhoids, aggravation of kapha and vata and especially gives rise to bleeding disease.

Other benefits that are associated with horse gram are:

The breakdown of the above-mentioned urinary or kidney stones, but also gallstones, horse gram reduces joint inflammation, dissolves growths, alleviates asthma, helps to lose weight, and cleanses your body.

With these wonderful benefits, it is worth making a soup from it, especially in the winter and spring months.

The Ashtanga Hrdayam mentioned the hot potency of horse gram and sour post-digestive quality, indicating that Pitta will increase in the body.

For Pitta dominant constitutions, like me, the spices and vegetables used must balance the heating qualities.

How to cook it:

Horse gram needs about an hour to cook. The original recipe suggests cooking it on its own ahead of time.

Me being me, I didn’t read the recipe again before starting, so I cooked everything together.

Following the recipe, the horse gram is cooked in water only.

For the rest of the ingredients:

I heated up 2 tsp Ghee in a bigger pot, added cumin and coriander seeds, sauteed until fragrant, added hing, turmeric, then the lentils, and sautéed for a few minutes before adding the vegetables and the ginger. I kept frying the mixture for another couple of minutes before adding boiling water. The mixture should be covered by about 3 cm. Bring all again to a boil before reducing the heat to medium and let simmer.

If you cook the horse gram ahead of time, add it with its cooking water and fill up as needed to cover everything by about 2 cm.

Add the bay leaves and cardamom pods.

The horse gram stays in shape, as it is very hard, and even when cooked, it has a crunch to it.

When all is cooked, soft and creamy, add the salt, the black pepper and some lemon juice to taste.

Remove the cardamom pods before serving; they don’t taste particularly nice when you eat them, remove bay leaves as well.

Add the coriander and leave some to garnish the individual bowls.

Bon appetite and enjoy. This is a great winter warmer, filling, satisfying and yummy.

Let me know what you think.

Katja x