Curry Red Lentil Soup
This soup is very similar to our red lentil soup. We had different vegetables on hand when we made this recipe so we decided to make it more of a curry dish with the addition of turmeric. Originally served as part of Red Lentil Soup.
Ingredients
- 1 cup red lentils
- 3 cups plus more to rinse lentils and add to soup water
- 1 bay leaf dried
- 1 slice fresh, unpeeled ginger (sliced quarter-size)
- salt & pepper
- 3 small Red Bliss potatoes (scrubbed)
- 2 thin scrubbed carrots
- 1/2 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 medium onion
- 1 tablespoon peeled ginger (minced)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- sprinkle ground cayenne
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- for garnish cilantro
Instructions
We start by spreading the lentils out on a piece of wax paper. We then pick out any debris. We put the lentils into a large bowl, cover with water, stir, and carefully dump out the water. We repeat, adding more water, stirring, and dumping out, two more times. Then we put the rinsed lentils into a large pot, cover with the water, and start heating the pan over medium heat. We add the bay leaf, the slice of ginger, and some salt. We skim the white foam with a spoon as the mixture comes to a boil.
Meanwhile, we peel and quarter the potatoes and thinly slice the carrots. We add these to the lentils, along with some salt, pepper, and another quarter cup of water to replenish the water we skimmed off. We lower the soup to a simmer, and partially cover for about 20 minutes.
While the soup is simmering, we chop the onion and mince the garlic with a little salt. In a pan, we heat the canola oil. We add the onions and cook on medium-low for about 5 minutes until translucent. Then we add the minced ginger and continue to cook for a few minutes. We add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Next, we add the cumin, coriander, turmeric and cayenne, and cook for another minute. We add a little water, about a tablespoon, and stir up the stuck-on spices. We remove the bay leaf and ginger slice from the soup pot and add the onion spice mixture. We cook on low heat for another 15 minutes. When we are ready to eat, we add the lemon juice, and taste for salt and pepper.
We garnish each bowl with cilantro and serve immediately.