Indian-Inspired Lentil Soup

What is better on a cold winter day than warming yourself up from the inside out with a steaming hot bowl of delicious, flavorful soup? When I say flavorful, I really mean it. The combination of spices and aromatic ingredients like turmeric and ginger mingle to a perfectly round, exotic taste that will have you crave for more, even if your tummy is full and your bowl is empty. It’s that yummy! Don’t worry, you can feel good about a second serving because, even though this lentil soup is thick and nicely filling, it’s low in fat but high in healthy fiber, protein, and nutrients. A comforting soup year-round but especially on a chilly day. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 cups (400 g) lentil trio (red, green, black), rinsed and checked for debris (!)
• 9 cups (2¼ liters) water
• 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cardamom seeds (not the pods!)
• 2 star anise
• 1 dried, hot chili pepper (optional)
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 1 medium-size sweet potato, diced (peeling is optional)
• 4 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 inch (10 cm) piece of turmeric, finely minced (*see notes)
• 4 inch (10 cm) piece of ginger, finely minced
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 5 Tbsp homemade veggie broth concentrate or store-bought granulated/powdered/cubed vegetable broth to taste

Serve with:

• fresh, minced cilantro
• unsweetened, plain plant-based yogurt
• crushed red pepper (optional)

Preparation

Rinse and check lentils for rocks and debris.

In a large enough pot, bring lentils with water to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 25 – 30 minutes until lentils are soft.

Meanwhile, wash and cut vegetables.

Measure your spices because they all need to go into the pot together.

Preheat a large pot over medium heat, then add extra virgin olive oil with your spice combo. Sauté for 1 – 2 minutes or until spices are fragrant.

Add diced onion and sweet potato, stir well, and sauté for about 10 minutes.

Now add tomatoes, garlic, turmeric, and ginger. Cook until the tomatoes start falling apart, 5 – 10 minutes.

Stir in lentils with cooking water.

Add maple syrup and veggie broth concentrate. I only use my homemade version, but you can also use store-bought. Just be aware that it is much saltier and more concentrated, so you will need less.

Simmer on medium low heat for another 10 -15 minutes to give the flavors some time to blend.

To achieve a thick and creamy consistency, use an immersion blender and swiftly blend until the desired texture is achieved. Don’t over-process! To be on the safe side, you can remove the anise stars and hot pepper before blending. I didn’t, as you can see in the picture.

Serve with plain, unsweetened vegan yogurt and lots of cilantro. Enjoy!

Notes

• I really encourage you to wash and check your lentils for debris. It hardly ever happens that you find something but if you do, your teeth will thank you!
• Resist the urge to add salt to the cooking water for the lentils because they won’t get as tender and soft as we like them to be. I made that mistake far too often before I did a little research on that.
• * If you can’t find fresh turmeric, you can use it in powdered form as well. I would suggest about 2 teaspoons of ground turmeric for this recipe.
• There’s a plant-based yogurt recipe on my blog which you can find here.