A spicy, fragrant and comforting soup from ” The Modern Vegetarian” by Maria Elia. For a change, you can garnish with crumbled feta and crispy onions as an alternative to the yoghurt.
Ingredients
- 250 g red lentils
- 3 tbsps olive oil
- 1 onion peeled and finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery finely chopped
- 1 carrot peeled and finely chopped
- 1 red chilli deseeded and finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
- 50 g fresh ginger peeled and grated or finely chopped
- 4 tsps ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- a pinch cayenne pepper
- 2 cubes vegetable bouillon
- 1 1/2 tbsps tomato puree
- 2 sticks cinnamon
- 2 oranges
- sea salt and black pepper
- 4 tbsps greek yoghurt
- fresh mint leaves to garnish
Servings:
Instructions
- Put the lentils in a saucepan, cover with water then bring to the boil. Drain in a fine holed colander and rinse with cold water.
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, celery, carrot, chilli, garlic and ginger. Saute over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the spices and cook for another 2 minutes then add the lentils, bouillon cubes, tomato puree, cinnamon sticks and 750 ml water.
- Finely grate the zest from one orange then top and tail both and remove the remaining skin. Cut the flesh into small pieces and add to the pan together with the zest.
- Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more water if needed.
- Cook until the lentils are tender then remove the cinnamon sticks. Lightly blend the soup using a hand blender. Adjust the seasoning to taste. SErve topped with Greek yoghurt and shredded mint leaves.
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