Does it feel like I have made too many lentil soups on this blog? (Daddy, don’t answer that.)
Or maybe too many curried dishes?
Well, this recipe combines the best of both, I promise.
First of all, the recipe uses those split yellow and tiny orange lentils, so they practically dissolve by the time you eat them.
So it’s not lentil soup in the traditional sense.
It’s more like like a spicy warm-you-up-when-there’s-a-cold-snap kind of soup.
My family loves it over rice with naan or just plain with a dollop of mango chutney and cilantro.
Also, you can make this soup start to finish in about 45 minutes. So handy!
Red Lentil Soup
2 cups lentils (I used half yellow and half red, you can also buy them already in a mix at my Indian grocer)
7-8 cups water
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3-5 inches of ginger root, peeled and chopped
5 cardamom pods (optional)
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, for kick)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 of a small can of tomato paste
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
2 teaspoons kosher salt
cilantro and rice for serving (optional)
Bring lentils and carrots to boil in the water in a large pot. Reduce heat to a simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft.
Place the butter in a pan over medium heat, add onions, ginger, and garlic. Saute for two minutes stirring constantly, then add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two more.
Add curry powder, cardamom and cayenne to the tomato paste mixture, mix well, and then add this to the soup along with the coconut milk and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so. The texture should thicken up, but you can play around with the consistency if you like by adding more water, a bit at a time, if you like.
Enjoy!
