Prep 10 min - cook 30 min - serves 4
Lebanese Red Lentil Soup with Cumin and Lemon
Broken red lentils collapse into a smooth soup in half an hour; cumin and a hard squeeze of lemon do the rest.
Before you cook
This is the most forgiving soup there is. Broken red lentils need no soaking and fall apart alone, so the only decision is how thin you want it.
The lemon is not a garnish. Lentils taste flat without acid, and adding it at the end keeps it bright.
Method
Rinse the lentils under cold water until it runs mostly clear.
Warm the oil and cook the onion until softened and lightly coloured.
Add the garlic and cumin, stirring thirty seconds until fragrant.
Stir in turmeric, then the lentils, coating them in the spiced oil.
Pour in the water, bring to the boil and skim off any foam.
Simmer partly covered for twenty-five minutes until the lentils collapse.
Blend until smooth, or leave partly textured if you prefer some body.
Loosen with hot water to the consistency you want, a ladleful at a time.
Season with salt only now, because the volume has stopped changing.
Finish with the juice of one lemon and serve the rest in wedges.
Comments
Loading comments…
Sign in to join the conversation.