Curried Red Lentil Soup

I made soup and I used my new stick blender. yeee-HA!

Ummm... what rock have I been living under up until now? This wonderful appliance is going to revolutionize the way I cook. No more blender mishaps with hot soup shooting out of the not-so-securely fastened lid onto ceilings and walls. No more schlepping out the food processor to puree soups in batches and spilling most of it on the counter! The stick, (which I think for reasons having to do with size and shape make me want to refer to it as "stud") has now replaced the steamed pudding mold as my new favorite kitchen toy. I love using this thing... who wants soup?

For the first soup using the new stick blender I chose a recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian" cookbook. I wanted to make something intensly flavorful with the bag of red lentils (pictured left) I picked up at the market the other day. While I haven't always loved everything I've cooked from this book, this soup was a hit.

The recipe was quite easy too and with just a few modifications it turned out just the way I wanted. This was a thick soup (but NOT heavy) with an intense curry flavor. The smell was intoxicating and the strong flavors of ginger and garlic were at times right there on the tongue and yet at other times it was not so immediate but more subtle, making a pleasant after taste. The one surprise was the color of the soup. I guess it's been awhile since I've cooked with red lentils because I forgot that they don't actually STAY red when cooked. I was a little disappointed, but the fun I had with "stud" ( HEY! Blending soup ) more than made up for the loss of the cool red color. I garnished the soup with a sprig of parsely and a sad attempt at making some yogart look like Asian-style calligraphy...oh well, I try.

From Madhur Jaffrey's "World Vegetarian" cookbook ~ Curried Red Lentil Soup or Masoor Dal Soup.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons chopped onion (I used all of one small onion for this)
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped (I used 3 cloves)
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated peeled ginger (I used about a tablespoon)
• 2 teaspoons hot or medium curry powder (Jaffrey notes that she likes to use Bolsts' curry powder... I used something called "Madras Curry Powder" and I would say it could be considered mild
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (I couldn't find my 1/4 teaspoon so I dumped in what I thought was equivalent (shake shake heh-heh...OOPS! too much)
• 1/2 cup diced peeled potato
• 1 small carrot, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
• 1 cup (6 ounces) red lentils, rinsed and drained
• 4 cups vegetable stock or water
• 1-1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Lemon or Lime wedges (oops! forgot to do this)

Method

Put the olive oil in a medium pot and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the onion, garlic and ginger. I actually forgot to add the ginger here so I added it later. Stir and saute 2 to 3 minutes, or until the onion softens and just starts to brown. Add the curry powder and stir for 10 seconds. Now put in the cloves, potato and carrot. Stir for a few seconds, then add the lentils and the stock. Stir and bring to a boil. Cover partially, leaving the lid slightly ajar, turn the heat down to low and cook gently for 45 minutes, or until the lentils are completely soft. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Taste again for the balance of flavors. (At this point Jaffrey instructs the reader to empty the soup into a blender, but you and I know I NEVER HAVE TO DO THAT AGAIN, but I'll write the recipe as she has it in the book...)

Empty the soup into a blender and blend briefly; the soup should not be completely smooth. Serve hot with lemon or lime wedges on the side. (I forgot this step but the soup was still great).

Written by Deb on April 5, 2003 02:32 AM