Egyptian Lentil Soup
Basic, simple soup. very forgiving.
- 1.5 c lentils (I prefer red), rinsed, and perhaps soaked.
- 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper.
- 1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- Olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 carrot, peeled1 potato, peeled- Optional:
- 1 tsp tumeric
1/2 can tomatoes1 large celery stalk- bay leaves
- stock or stock base
- Red chili powder
- ginger?
- Lemon slices (or citric acid)
- salt
Warm oil with pepper. Add cumin seeds to lightly roast.
Add garlic and onion, raise heat and start to sauté.
Add chopped carrot, potato [ and ,celery].
When onions start to clear [stir in tumeric, then] add lentils,
water or stock,
[tomatoes, bay leaves, chili.
Simmer 40 minutes or until lentils are tender.
Salt to taste.
Blend smooth.
Serve with lemon juice, or add some citric acid if you have no lemons.
Pressure cooker method
Cover (soaked) beans, potato, carrot, (and celery if used) with water
in pressure cooker. About 1cm over top.
Start heating open pressure cooker towards a simmer.
Saute spices, garlic, onion in a separate pan, add to cooker
when onions start to clarify.
Take to high pressure, then turn off heat.
Let sit for at least 5 minutes before blending, adding
salt, lemmon, and serve.
As always, when sauteing spices, start with pepper and cumin.
Then chili.
Then garlin/onion (immediately) so chili does not scorch.
Add tumeric toward end, until absorbed in oil.
Then ginger for just long enough to get it infused into oil.
Aaron Birenboim
Last modified: Fri Mar 29 08:38:27 MDT 2013