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.

Bean Soup

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures

This soup is super yummy.

It’s one of my all-time favorites, actually. This one and a wonderful lentil soup that I am going to prepare for you soon as well.

The vivid and optimistic colors of this soup are a pleasure to look at and its high content of vitamins and fiber means that this gorgeous soup is a powerful health bomb.

Your body will be thankful if you make it.

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, ingredients

These are the ingredients.

 

I’d like to let you know that if you don’t have or can’t find parsley root anywhere there’s no need to pull out your hair. You can replace it with about 3 tablespoons of chopped leaf parsley.

Also the celery root (celeriac) can be replaced with about 3-4 chopped celery stalks.

No problem at all.

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, rinse the bean, place them in a large bowl and cover with four time their volume of water, leave the beans to soak, drain the soaking water and rinse

1. To prepare your own delicious bean soup, first rinse the beans, place them in a large bowl and cover with four times their volume of water. Leave the beans to soak for at least 6-8 hours, overnight is even better.

 

2. When the beans are soaked, drain the soaking water and rinse them.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, place the beans into a large pot and add water

3. Place the beans into a large pot and add 5 cups (1.25 l) water.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, add bay leaves and salt

4. Then add 2 bay leaves and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

 

 

5. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer, cover and let cook for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until beans are tender.

The length of this process also depends on the variety of beans you are using. The larger the beans the longer the cooking time. I was using large red beans and they needed about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

 

6. When the beans are cooked remove the bay leaves.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, vegetables, celery root, onion, parsley root, carrot, potato, garlic cloves

7. In the meantime (while the beans are cooking), you can prepare your vegetables.

What we have here is the celery root, onion (I am using shallots here because life gets interesting sometimes and you might not find onions in your fridge but you don’t give up on your dream anyway), parsley root, carrot, potato and garlic cloves.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, cleaned, sliced, chopped, diced vegetables

8. Here are the vegetables again. This time nicely cleaned and sliced, chopped and diced.

The celery and the potato were diced.

The carrot and parsley root were cut in half lengthwise and then sliced into little crescents.

The garlic was sliced and the shallots were chopped finely.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, pour the olive oil into a large pot and heat it until hot

9. Now pour the olive oil into a large pot and heat it until hot.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, add the vegetables

10. Add the vegetables (except the garlic).

 

11. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook your vegetable mixture over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, add the ground cumin, chili powder, and garlic, cook

12. Add the ground cumin, chili powder, and garlic. Cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, add the beans

13. Then add the beans along with their cooking liquid, …

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, add the chicken stock

14. … the chicken stock …

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures, add the lemon juice, simmer

15. … and the lemon juice.

 

16. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes or until all vegetables are soft.

 

 

bean soup recipe with step by step pictures

And serve.

I like to eat this soup as is or with slices of fresh bread.

It’s so good!

Enjoy, dear friends!

 

(This soup makes 8 cups/2 l and serves 6 hungry people.)

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