Karl’s Red Lentil Soup

Jan has spent this weekend visiting her graduate school friends in Santa Barbara. One of her friends is dropping her off, on her way to the North Bay. She requesting something for a quick snack, before she continues her journey.

Karl’s Red Lentil Soup

I thought a mug of lentil soup would fit the bill. Her friend has some dietary restrictions—no dairy, no citrus, no tomatoes. This proved to be a challenge as many of the recipes I found on-line always contained at least one of these, if not all three.

Note: To go with the soup, I made some cumin water crackers (no dairy).

Karl’s Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients

2 Tbs. peanut oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced finely
½ tsp. Kosher salt
2 celery ribs, diced finely
1 yellow carrot, grated

3 garlic gloves, sliced finely
1 tsp. cumin seeds, whole
1 Tbs. fresh finger, grated
1 tsp. Madras curry powder
¼ tsp. Kashmiri chili powder
4 cups low sodium chicken broth (vegetable broth for Vegan)
1 cup red lentils

½+ tsp. garam masala

Directions

1. In a medium soup pot, sauté the onions and salt in the oil.

2. When the onions are starting to pick up some color, add the celery and carrots.

3. Continue cooking for 4-5 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.

4. Pull the vegetables to the edges of the pot and add the garlic and cumin seeds to the hole in the center .

Tip: You may need to add another teaspoon of oil to the open space in the pot.

5. Stir in the ginger, curry powder and chili powder, and cook until fragrant, about one minute.

6. Stir in the broth and lentils.

7. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Tip: Stir the soup and scrape the bottom of the pot occasionally, to prevent sticking and scorching.

8. (Optional) Put the soup into a standing blender and process until smooth.

9. Stir the garam masala into the soup.

10. Put the soup into individual bowls or mugs and garnish with a sprinkle of garam masala.