101 Cookbook's Coconut Red Lentil Soup - Heavenly!

T

traca

Well-known member
(My notes below)

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

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 or ghee

8 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced

1/3 cup / 1.5 oz / 45g 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

cooked brown rice or farro, for serving (optional)

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.

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.

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.

I've been enjoying big ladles of this soup over ~1/2 cup of warm farro (leftover from this Farro & Bean Stew) - brown rice was good as well. Sprinkle each bowl generously with cilantro and the remaining green onions.

Serves 6.

Prep time: 10 min - Cook time: 35 min

Traca's notes: I'm not a fan of fruit with my savory so I skipped the raisins. I'm curious about them now because I think they'd add a different flavor profile.

I made a couple minor tweaks that I'll definitely do again:

- I didn't have green onions on hand so I started by sauteing a yellow onion.

- I only had red lentils on hand so I used all red lentils.

- Used 2 carrots instead of 1. (The carrot to lentil ratio seemed a little skimpy.)

Loved the subtle flavor of the coconut milk and the faint curry flavor. Will be making this part of my regular rotation.

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/coconut-red-lentil-soup-recipe.html

 
Traca, I don't normally like sweet with my savory either, but. . .

try your next bowl of this soup over your farro with just trial of few raisins sprinkled on top. I betcha you get savory, with a burst of sweet flavors of the curry spices each time you chew a raisin. Kinda interesting, and it grew on me!

I guess I am getting older now and more willing to try new stuff!

 
I was the same way about sweet and savory until recently

Chef Tandy Wilson at City House here makes a caramelized roasted broccoli with either raisins or cranberries and killer bread crumbs (crumbs really isn't a definition - more like crunchy bits of heaven). He also does a Carolina trout stuffed with the same bread crumbs, peanuts, raisins, lemon and parsley and it's heavenly. So it's changed my thoughts on sweet and savory quite a bit.

There have been a few other dishes with dried fruits in them lately that were very good together.

 
I'm generally not into sweet and savory also, but Curried Couscous Salad w/ Dried Cranberries is an

exception. (In T&T).

 
Great suggestion. I made brown rice with coconut, curry, cinnamon, and roasted squash to pair w/ it.

 
Would chef be willing to share his recipe for caramelized roasted broccoli? Pretty please????

 
Meryl, you might like this wild rice salad - really fabulous

Deanna’s Wild Rice Salad with Butternut Squash and Dried Cranberries
(from Deanna & Tim’s wedding – recipe created by Deanna)
Serves 6

1 cup wild rice, rinsed (use a wild rice blend – Costco’s is very good)
1/2 butternut squash, seeded, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 small green bell pepper, seeds and ribs discarded, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup dried cranberries, plumped in hot water to cover for 10 minutes, drained
1.5 green onions chopped finely
1 crisp apple diced
1 celery stick diced
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 ground coriander
1/2 cup chopped fresh spinach
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Vinaigrette
6 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced

Bring the wild rice, 3 cups water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Cover tightly and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the rice is tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour, and drain if necessary. Transfer to a bowl and cool.

Meanwhile, position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Toss the squash and oil on the sheet. Bake, stirring occasionally, until the squash is lightly browned and tender,
about 30 minutes. Cool. Add to the wild rice, with the green bell pepper. Mix vinaigrette, drained cranberries, cumin, cardamom, and coriander. Pour over the wild rice mixture, add the parsley and spinach, and mix. Season with the salt and pepper. Serve cool or at room temperature.

 
I made this last fall and really liked it. I basically doubled the herbs to top and

used brown rice one night and quinoa another night. The raisins were great because of the curry, I think it balanced the heat.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top