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Lentil Soup with Indian Spices

lentil soup with Indian spices recipe with step by step pictures

Lentils are my favorite legumes.

My body loves them and craves them very often.

Well, sometimes my body cannot decide between legumes and eggnog. But all-in-all, I really love lentils.

 

I’ve made this particular soup for the first time in my life.

I make lentil soups quite often but not the Indian ones.

The thing is that I had been playing with the idea of making this kind of soup for some time and all I needed and was trying to find were the right Indian spices.

The day I saw Garam Masala and Turmeric in one magical shop my vision was finally free to turn into reality – the yummy Lentil Soup with Indian Spices.

So, here’s what I did and how I improvised…

lentil soup with Indian spices recipe with step by step pictures

These are the ingredients that I’ve used.

lentil soup with Indian spices recipe with step by step pictures

And here they are again.

Mmm, this looks promising.

lentil soup with Indian spices recipe with step by step pictures

1. Firstly, let’s get some chopping done – chop the onion and the chili pepper finely. Then dice up the tomato. And give the garlic cloves a nice fine chop as well.

lentil soup with Indian spices recipe with step by step pictures

2. Rinse the lentils under cold running water. Place them into a pot and cover with water (3 1/2 cups – 870 ml).
3. Cook the lentils until just almost ‘fully tender’. We need them to be almost done.

I was using halved red lentils and this process took only about 4 minutes. If you use whole red lentils it might take a little longer. To check how tender the lentils are just eat a few. Easy!
lentil soup with Indian spices recipe with step by step pictures

4. In the meantime, heat the oil in a larger pan or pot.

 

5. Add the mustard seeds and watch the magic happen – they will enjoy the warmth of the oil so much that they will start to pop with joy. As a result, they will taste sweet and nutty.

Let the seeds pop for about 20 seconds.

 

6. Then add the cumin seeds, turmeric and chopped onions.

Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

lentil soup with Indian spices recipe with step by step pictures

7. After that, add the garlic. Stir and cook together for about 1 minute.

lentil soup with Indian spices recipe with step by step pictures

8. Add the chopped tomato and chili pepper.

Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring every now and then.

lentil soup with Indian spices recipe with step by step pictures

9. Then add the lentils and their cooking water.

 

10. Add the garam masala powder and salt to taste (I used about 3/4 tsp).
lentil soup with Indian spices recipe with step by step pictures

11. Let come to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 5 more minutes.

lentil soup with Indian spices recipe with step by step pictures

And that’s it!

This is an unbelievably simple, delicious and quick-to-make soup.

Enjoy, dear friends!

It’s healthy, yummy and good for you.
(This recipe makes 3-4 portions and takes about 30 minutes to make.)

Source: Saboot Masoor Masala Dal from ItsLife.in.

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Goulash… And a Short Story

Right here, at the very beginning, I’d like to make you familiar with one fact from my life.

I was a vegetarian once, for seven years exactly. And this meal was the first meaty stuff I tasted after that alternative period of my life had come to its end. And now  –  from my current point of view  –  I can confess that I couldn’t find a better way how to round off that pale and  hungry chapter of my life.

My friends said that after I’d eaten my bowl of goulash a started to smile around my entire face and fell into a strange, coma-like state, waking up one week later, the smile still present.

Well, this might be quite revealing about how great this stew really tastes.

And it’s really, really simple and easy to make…

And this is what we need, dear friends – simple, right?

1. Pour the oil into a larger pot and let it heat up.

2. Chop the onions finely.

We need a lot of onion,  and I mean A LOT of onion!

3. Fry the onion until soft.

4. Peel and chop the garlic.


5. Now add the garlic into the pot and fry for about two more minutes.

6. It comes in really handy if you have cut the meat beforehand.

Just add it to the onion and garlic and fry until…

… nicely colored on all sides.

Like this.

7. Now a very important step follows.

This is a small step for a human, but a giant leap for the goulash!

Adding the paprika, everybody!

The paprika brings the flavor, the color and the joy.

And add the salt at this stage too.

8. Pour the water in and stir.

Let boil.

When cooking, I always bring the water to a boil in my rapid boil kettle if I need it as an ingredient. I’ve learned it is less energy consuming than heating it up on the stove.

9. And these are our gorgeous, gorgeous spices and ingredients that will work wonders with the above mixture.

Just add them all into the pot…

… and stir.

10. Cover and let cook (boiling moderately) for about 1 hour.

Stir occasionally.

11. About 40 minutes into the cooking process, add the diced potatoes.

Serve with slices of fresh bread.

Yum!

You just have to make this dish!

It’s unbelievably delicious!

Mmmmmmmmm…

Enjoy, dear friends.

This recipe makes about 6-8 portions.

(If you’d like to see more of my posts, click this.)

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Red Cabbage Tarts with Thyme

Delicious, delicious, delicious… there’s no better way to describe these lovely tarts.

Oh yes, there is – saying the word ‘delicious’ about a hundred times.

So good they are.

The crust is a little crunchy, beautifully tender and full of a wonderful thyme and buttery taste.

And the filling, oh the red cabbage filling… the taste of the cabbage combined with the thyme, cumin, the slight sweetness of sugar and the pleasant sourness of vinegar – this will all provide for your private and instant stairway to heaven.

Trust me – I’ve already had three.

These are the ingredients:

And this is how to make them:

1. In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt (1 tsp) and thyme (1 tsp).


2. Pour the flour mixture into the the bowl of your electric mixer.

Add the butter and beat until crumbs form (about 8 minutes).

3. Add the water (1/2 cup) and mix again.

4. Remove the mixture from the bowl and form a ball (if the dough is too tacky to work with you can use a little flour for your hands).

Cover the dough in plastic wrap and place in your refrigerator to chill.

5. Heat the oil in a larger pot over medium heat.

6. Cut the onion into two halves….

Cut each half horizontally…

And slice.

7. Add the onion into the pot…

And cook until soft.

8. Slice the cabbage… (from now on I was trying my best not to show you my fingernails)…

9. Add the cabbage into the pot along with 3/4 cup water and reduce heat.

10. Add 2 tablespoons thyme, 2 tablespoons vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1 teaspoon cumin.

Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Then uncover and cook until liquid is gone.

Stir the mixture every now and then so that it doesn’t burn.

11. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a lightly floured surface.

Form a log and cut it into 9 equal pieces.

12. Form a ball from each piece.

13. Place a ball onto a lightly floured surface.

Using a rolling pin, roll out each ball into a 6-inch (15 cm) circle.

Place some filling in the center of the circle.

14. Fold the edges of the dough over the filling in a crimped pattern, leaving the center uncovered.

15. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Transfer the tarts onto the sheet.

16. Bake at 356 F (180 C) for about 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Yum!

Enjoy, dear friends…

This recipe was adapted from here.

If you’d like to see more of my posts, click THIS.

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