Verdict: Spicy Red Lentil Soup

I love lentils, and I love spicy soup, so choosing this recipe for Spicy Red Lentil Soup from nami-nami was a no-brainer for me.  I’d never worked with red lentils before, but got them at the Bulk Barn (yay for BB!) and was really excited to make this soup.

Spicy Red Lentil Soup
from nami-nami
(Vürtsikas läätsesupp)
Serves 4-6

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tsp cumin seeds, slightly crushed
1.5-2 tsp coriander seeds, slighly crushed
1 tsp red chilli flakes
400 g chopped tomatoes or passata
400 g red lentils, rinsed
2 medium carrots, coarsely grated
2 litres chicken stock
salt
freshly ground black pepper
juice of half a lemon

To serve:
fresh coriander/cilantro leaves, finely chopped
plain yogurt/sour cream

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add onion and fry gently for 7-8 minutes, until onion softens.
Add the garlic, crushed cumin and coriander seeds (I use my pestle & mortar), chilli flakes. Give it a stir and fry for another minute.
Add the tomatoes, red lentils, grated carrot and hot chicken stock. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer, half-covered, for 30-45 minutes, until lentils begin to break up.
Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Dilute with hot water, if necessary.

Serve with a dollop of coriander cream (mix coriander and cream/yogurt).

My thoughts:
- This soup reminded me of a watery chili.  And if I want chili, I’ll make chili.  I like my lentil soups & stews more rustic and earthy flavoured, so while I might use this combination of ingredients to make a soup in the future, I’d probably play with the spices some more.
- Speaking of watery, I was surprised to see that the recipe says you might need to dilute it with hot water.  I must have done something wrong since, as you can see in my picture, my soup is not creamy and thick.  It was the next day, but that happens with most soup/stews.
- I used sour cream and lemon to garnish and did not bother mixing coriander with the cream.
- Freshly made with sour cream and lemon on it, this was NOT a spicy soup.  The next day, after sitting in the fridge overnight, without sour cream because I’d used it all, it was.
- The lemon is an awesome touch.  Don’t miss it.  Use a nice squeeze from a fresh lemon wedge.
- Grating carrots is awesome.  It’s now how I feed raw carrots to our daughter, since I worry about them as a choking hazard otherwise while raw.

Overall, this was a tasty soup and I’m sure I’ll make iterations on it in the future if I’m stuck on ideas for dinner, or want to make a vegan meal (substituting vegetable broth for the chicken) for some reason.