Dhal and dumpling is a simple soup recipe made with yellow split peas, seasonings and flour dumplings.

It is enjoyed for lunch, especially on a rainy day.

The most basic recipe here is a vegan split peas soup but meat options like pigtail, crab or chicken can be added.

What is in this dhal and dumpling recipe

For the dhal, you will need:

yellow split peas or dhal
onion
garlic
ginger
pepper
carrots
chadon beni
Caribbean green seasoning with chadon beni, garlic and thyme
salt
turmeric powder
whole geera (cumin) seeds
water
oil

Optional ingredients can be anything you use for Caribbean soup like:

pumpkin
fresh herbs like chadon beni, cilantro, and chives
amchar masala
choice of meat like crab, pigtail, and chicken
salted butter

For the dumpling, you will need:

flour
salt
water

Without the meat options, this recipe is vegan but not gluten-free. To make it gluten-free, use a gluten-free flour like cassava flour.

Also, If you like split peas, then be sure to check out my Trinidad dhal recipe.

How to make dhal and dumpling

To make this recipe, you must cook the split peas with veggies, seasonings and turmeric until the peas have soften completely or use a pressure cooker to speed up the process. Next, knead the flour to make a fairly firm dough, roll out and cut into small flour dumplings. Add the dumplings to the split peas with additional seasonings. Once the dumplings are cooked completely, fry garlic and whole cumin (geera) seeds in a separate pot (or ladle) and add it to the dhal. That’s it!

Let me show you how I made my most recent dhal and dumpling recipe.

Boil the split peas

Step 1: Place a large pot on medium heat. Add about eight cups of water and leave to heat up.

Step 2: Wash the split peas a few times, removing any bad peas. Add to the pot and give it a quick stir.

Step 3: Next, wash and chop the onion, garlic cloves, ginger, pepper and Caribbean green seasoning with chadon beni leaves, garlic and Spanish thyme. Add these ingredients to the boiling dhal along with the turmeric and a teaspoon or so of salt.

Step 4: Leave to boil, stirring occasionally until the peas soften.

You can also add everything to your pressure cooker and cook for 10 minutes on your small-medium stove burner. Pressure cooking will save you about 30 minutes of cook time.

Knead the dough for dumplings

Step 5: To a small bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add water a little at a time. Knead to form a slightly firm dough. I used about 1/2 cup of water for this recipe. Set aside while the split peas are cooking.

Blend the dhal… or not

Step 6: When the split peas have softened, use an immersion blender or dhal ghoutnie to break down the peas and thicken the soup. Of course, this is not necessary since the peas will break apart as you stir.

If you pressure cooked the dhal, you won’t need to blend since the dhal just disappears into the water.

Add the dumpling and veggies

Step 7: Wash and scrape a carrot. Cut into small discs and add to the dhal. Add any other vegetables you like.

Step 8: Next, divide the dough into small bite sized pieces. You can do this by (1) rolling out the dough and cutting with a knife into small dumplings; or (2) rolling small amounts of dough between your palms; or (3) rolling small amounts between your palm and floured surface to form a long, thin log and then cut into small pieces. It is all based on your preferences.

Step 9: Add the dumplings to the dhal and allow to cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the dumplings from sticking together.

Step 10: Also, add fresh herbs like chopped chadon beni leaves at this point. And more water if necessary.

Chunkay the dhal

Once the dumplings have cooked, it is time to chunkay the dhal. The term chunkay is an old Hindi term which refers to heating garlic, cumin, spices and oil and adding it to food.

Step 11: To do this, place a small pot or ladle with oil, sliced garlic and whole cumin on low heat. Stir occasionally to evenly distribute the heat.

Step 12: When the garlic has darkened significantly, add the hot oil to the dhal. Be very careful, the oil will splutter. Stir to mix into the dhal and dumpling.

Step 13: Remove from the heat. Serve immediately or cover and leave for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. The dhal will thicken up as it cools and will become less runny and soup-like.

More peas please!