Cheap and cheerful red lentils are jazzed up with coconut milk and plenty of spices in this quick and warming soup recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 large carrot, finely chopped
- thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 tbsp oil, sunflower, rapeseed or groundnut all work well
- ½ tsp turmeric
- seeds from 10 cardamom pods
- 1 tsp cumin, seeds or ground
- 100g red lentils
- 400ml can light coconut milk
- zest and juice 1 lemon
- pinch of chilli flakes
- handful of parsley or coriander, chopped
Method
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Put the onion, garlic, carrot and ginger into a saucepan, drizzle over the oil, and cook for a few mins to soften. Add the turmeric, cardamom and cumin. Stir well to combine, and cook gently for a few mins more, until the spices are aromatic.
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Add the lentils to the pan. Pour over the coconut milk, fill the can with water and add this too. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 15 mins until the lentils are soft and swollen but retain a little bite. Using a hand blender, pulse the soup until some is blended completely, leaving some larger vegetable chunks.
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Zest the lemon straight into the pan, then squeeze the juice over the soup and stir through with a pinch of salt, chilli and finely chopped herbs. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle over a little more lemon zest, if you like.