Let's talk through my new love of lentil soup. It's fall and there is just something wonderful about a steaming pot of soup at this time of year!

This a light-bodied, curry-spiced coconut broth thickened with cooked red lentils and structured with yellow split peas. This soup is based on an Ayurvedic dal recipe in the Esalen Cookbook and appeared on 101cookbooks.com with a number of other wonderful soups that deserve exploration.

I made a few substitutes. I used cumin and reduced the amount of carrot and added cut up bokchoi (Chinese cabbage) near the end because cilantro was unavailable.

Vegans - you can easily make this vegan by using coconut or olive oil in place of the butter called for.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup / 7 oz / 200g yellow split peas
• 1 cup 7 oz / 200g red split lentils (masoor dal)
• 7 cups / 1.6 liters water
• 1 medium carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 2 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 2 tablespoons butter, ghee, or coconut oil
• 8 green onions or scallions, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons golden raisins
• 1/3 / 80 ml cup tomato paste
• 1 14- ounce can coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
• one small handful cilantro, chopped

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Give the split peas and lentils a good rinse - until they no longer put off murky water. Place them in an extra-large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the carrot and 1/4 of the ginger. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft.

2. In the meantime, in a small dry skillet or saucepan over low heat, toast the curry powder until it is quite fragrant. Be careful though, you don't want to burn the curry powder, just toast it. Set aside. Place the butter in a pan over medium heat, add half of the green onions, the remaining ginger, and raisins. Saute for two minutes stirring constantly, then add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two more.
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3. Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato paste mixture, mix well, and then add this to the simmering 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. Or simmer longer for a thicker consistency. The thicker this soup got, the more I liked it.

​4. I've been enjoying big ladles of this soup over leftover rice. It’s also good with buns or crusty bread. Sprinkle each bowl generously with cilantro and the remaining green onions.

Why am I posting this?  My husband and I both love Indian spice.  As well, this is a vegetarian recipe, so it's healthy.

Ingredients:                         

The Liquid Base                   
1 cup yellow, red, or pink lentils sorted and rinsed
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 1/2 cups water
3 ripe medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped, or 1 1/2 cups drained and seeded canned tomatoes coarsely chopped
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
salt
1 1/2 tbsp butter or vegetable oil
1 1/2 tbsp Garam Masala or curry powder
1 tbsp salt (for boiling vegetables)

The Vegetables and Finishes
florets from 1 small cauliflower, center core removed
1/2 pound string beans preferably smal French haricots verts, ends broken off, and cut into 1 inch lengths
1 cup fresh peas
12 whole garlic cloves, peeled
leaves from one 10 ounce bunch spinach, washed and spun dry
1 regular cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, and seeded
12 pearl onions
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1/2 cup cashew nuts
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro

1. Spread the lentils on a baking sheet and pick out anything that doesn't look like a lentil.  Put the lentils in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse them thoroughly under cold running water.
2. Combine the lentils with the onion, turmeric, and water in a heavy-bottomed, non-aluminum pot and simmer gently partially covered, over medium low heat until puree tender, about 30 minutes.  
3. Add the tomatoes and coconut milk and simmer uncovered until the mixture thickens, for 15 minutes more - stirring every few minutes so the lentils don't stick to the bottom of the pot and burn.  Let it cool for 15 minutes and puree in a food processor for about a minute.
4. While the lentil mixture is cooking, bring about 6 quarts of water to a boil in an large pot with the salt for the cauliflower.
5. Heat the butter or oil in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir in the garam masala or curry powder.  Stir over the heat for about 30 seconds, or until you smell the fragrance of the spices.  Stir half the spice mixture into the lentil mixture.  Taste the lentils - if they need more spice, add the rest.  Season to taste with salt.  Cover the lentil mixture and reserve.
6. Blanch the the cauliflower florets in the boiling water for 6  minutes, transfer them to a colander, and rinse with cold water.  Reserve.
7. Using the same pot, boil the string beans until they retain the slightest crunch, drain, rinse, and reserve.
8. If you are using fresh peas, boil for two minutes in the same pot, drain, rinse and reserve.
9.  Simmer the garlic for about 20 minutes until the cloves are completely soft when pierced with a knife.  
10. Lastly boil the spinach for 30 seconds, then drain in a colander.  Rinse with cold water; gently squeeze the water out of the spinach and reserve.
11. Cut each of the cucumber halves lengthwise in thirds,  Cut the cucumber strips into inch-long sections.  If you like, you can trip the edges of the cucumber sections in the same way as carrots to give them a more rounded look.
12. About 30 minutes before you are ready to serve the stew, start adding the vegetables to the lentil mixture.  Add the pearl onions and sweet potato, and sinner over low heat, covered, for 10 minutes.  Add the cucumber and cauliflower, and simmer for 5 minutes more.  Gently stir in the rest of the ingredients and simmer 5 minutes more - just long enough to reheat the vegetables.  Add more salt if needed and serve immediately.