Spicy Lentil Soup
This soup is literally AWESOME! It's really easy, doesn't take long, and is bursting with flavour. It's also 100% vegan. :-) It can also be adapted to have the consistency of a curry and be served for dinner with rice if you exchange the coconut milk for roughly 30g of hard coconut cream (or a small tin) with 400mL boiling water or extra vegetable stock. The quality of the soup is highly influenced by the quality of the vegetable stock. I like the organic powder stock from Vegetalia or Healthy Planet.
Ingredients
Serves 6-8, Prep time: 10 mins, Cooking time 35-40 mins
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1/2 tsp tumeric
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder (I like spice, so I replace with the same amount of chilli flakes)
- 2 cans diced tomatoes
- 175g dried red lentils, washed
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 600ml vegetable stock
- 300ml coconut milk
- salt & pepper
- naan bread, or normal bread, or rice if serving as a curry
- To Garnish: fresh coriander & lemon slices
Preparation
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan and lightly fry the oinion and garlic for 2-3mins, stirring occassionally. Add the spices and stir for a further 30s.
- Stir in the tomatoes, red lentils, vegetable stock, lemon juice and coconut milk and bring to the boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 25-30 minutes until the lentils are tender and cooked.
- Season to taste and you're ready to serve.