Simple Palestinian Lentil Soup
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Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup red lentils
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 large carrot chopped
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp of ground black pepper
- 3 cups of vegetable stock
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Handful of parsley
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash the red lentils until running water until the water is not cloudy anymore. Set it aside.
- Heat a sauce pot on medium heat and add olive oil. Saute chopped onions until they are light golden.
- Reduce the heat to medium low. Add minced garlic followed by turmeric powder and cumin powder. Cook for 2 minutes and keep stirring to avoid burning of spices.
- Add chopped carrots and lentils. Cook for 2 minutes to toast them and then add vegetable stalk.
- Cover with lid and cook on low heat for 45 minutes until the lentils are tender. Stir during cooking to prevent lentils from sticking to the base.
- Turn off the heat and squeeze in lemon juice. Let it cool a bit before blending it for around a minute to make it smooth and creamy. Add salt if needed.
- Garnish with parsley, red chili pepper and serve warm.
Nutrition
Why is this recipe interesting?
- Palestinian lentil soup is very easy and simple to make.
- It uses only a few simple ingredients which are easily available.
- It has hearty vegetables and nutritious lentils cooked with warm and comforting spices.
- It is a one pot wholesome dish which stores and freezes well.
Substitutions & Shortcuts
- To reduce cooking time of the lentils on the stove, soak them in hot boiling water for 30 minutes.
- You can substitute vegetable stock with chicken stock.
- You can substitute red lentils with brown lentils. Cooking time may vary but only a little bit.
Lessons learned while making this dish
- Along with carrots, you can also add chopped celery stalks.
- To make it more spicy and aromatic, add cinnamon and cayenne pepper.
- Don’t add salt until the end because the vegetable stock already has a decent amount of salt. Add at the end if needed.