Carrot and lentil soup

It's been raining for what seems like a year so I need to stock up my freezer with a selection of soups for lunch at work. While the best soups always contain cheese (cauliflower/broccoli and blue cheese, leek and potato with cheddar), lentils can turn an essentially dull vegetable soup into a satisfying meal, while still being healthy.

I was feeling lazy when I made this soup, and couldn't be bothered to dry roast and crush any fresh spices so I used pre-ground spices instead. The result was disappointing, until I upped the quantity used considerably. 

 

Carrot and lentil soup ingredients

• 3 large carrots, peeled and grated
• 2 sticks celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 swede or a turnip
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 3 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon turmeric 
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon asafoetida
• 1 teaspoon sambal oelek or other chilli sauce
• 2 JOTs fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
• I teaspooon fresh ginger paste
• 150g red lentils, rinsed
• 2 teaspoons Swiss bouillon stock powder
• Rind of 1 orange
• Plenty salt and black pepper
• About 1 litre water 

 

How to make carrot and lentil soup

1. Heat a little rapeseed oil in a large pan till hot.
2. Add the chopped onion and celery and fry till soft and golden.
3. Add the grated carrot and ginger, and cook for about 5 minutes over a low heat.
4. Add the spices, approx 1 litre cold water and the lentils.
5. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer.
6. Add some boiling water to the Swiss bouillon stock powder and mix till dissolved and you have a watery liquid then pour this in the pan. 
7. Add the grated orange zest and ginger paste. 
8. Turn off the heat and allow the soup to cool slightly before tasting and adding seasoning. 

Really complicated dahl soup

I made a really complicated dahl recipe by from the Guardian by Urvesh Parvais (me neither) when some friends came round for lunch on New Year's Day. As usual, I had tons left over, and as usual I turned the leftover dahl into soup.

Really complicated dahl soup

As I said, this dahl was really complicated. To give you an idea how complicated, here's the list of ingredients:

Complicated dahl ingredients

• red lentils 250g
• sunflower oil 3 tbsp 
• dry chilli 1 
• cumin seeds 1 heaped tsp 
• asafoetida ¼ tsp 
• garlic ½ small bulb, sliced 1mm 
• onion ½, finely sliced
• turmeric ½ level tsp 
• salt 2 level tsp (then add to taste) 
• ginger finely chopped 1½ heaped tbsp 
• green chilli 2, finely chopped (adjust to your taste) 
• dhana jeru (2 parts coriander seed, 1 part cumin seed) 3 heaped tsp 
• fresh coriander ½ bunch (reserve a little for garnish), roughly chopped 
• tomatoes 100g, roughly chopped 
• jaggery (or sugar) 1½ level tsp (add less to begin with then adjust to taste) 
• garam masalo ½ level tsp

I could go on to explain the extremely complicated method for making this dahl, but my guess is you're not going to bother making it, so I'm not going to bother writing it. If you fancy giving it a shot, go to the Guardian website.  

My friends did say that it was lovely dahl, though it was a little too thick for my liking. However, when I turned it into soup and had some at work it was way too garlicky. When I first read the recipe I wasn't sure if it really meant 1/2 bulb garlic, or if this was a typo and was meant to read 1/2 clove garlic. Deciding a clove was too little and a bulb too much, I think I settled on about 4 cloves. The garlic is sliced, not crushed, and half of it is added in the last 5-10 minutes' cooking time. It was these slices that I picked out of my soup, though admittedly they were slightly larger than the recommended 1mm thickness. Guiltily, I threw away the remaining portion of soup.

Lentil loaf

I don't understand people who don't like lentils - what on earth is offensive about a lentil? They don't really taste of anything, are really good for you, fill you up and are cheap. In other words, an ideal ingredient for an inexpensive lunch at work. Add a bit of cheese, onion and chili and it tastes of cheese, onion and chili. (It does not, as O once said, taste of socks.)

The original recipe for this lentil loaf was obviously written in the 70s as all the ingredients are in imperial and the first line reads 'Pick over the lentils for sticks and stones'. Luckily lentils have come on a long way since then and you don't need to worry about stray sticks and stones.

Lentil loaf ingredients

• 175g red lentils
• 100g mature cheddar
• 1 onion (today I used a red onion, but any colour will do)
• Pinch chili flakes
• 1 large egg
• Salt & black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley (optional)

  How to make lentil loaf

1. Rinse the lentils thoroughly under cold running water.
2. Put them in a small pan that has a tight-fitting lid.
3. Cover with about 250ml cold water, put the lid on and bring to the boil.
4. Turn down the heat to a simmer.
5. Cook for about 15 minutes, checking regularly that there is still sufficient water - I have lost count of the times I have burnt the lentils to the pan (including today).
6. Chop the onion finely.
7. Grate the cheese.
8. Beat the egg in a small bowl or jug.
9. Heat the oven to 190 degrees C.
10. When the lentils are ready they will have collapsed and formed a stiff puree: 

• Add the cheese, onion, chili, salt, pepper and parsley (if using) to the lentils and mix thoroughly.
• Add the egg and lemon juice. 
• You now needs to turn the mixture into a prepared loaf tin. You can prepare the tin by greasing it with butter, adding a disposable loaf tin liner or, like I do, adding a strip of greaseproof paper across the base and sides of the tin: 

• Bake for about 50 minutes, till the loaf feels firm and is golden.

While you can serve this hot (in which case leave it to stand for 10 minutes before eating) I prefer it cold, in which case its best made the day before you want to eat it. The recipe states that this serves 4, but I find this gives portions that are a little too large. Slice into 5 pieces, wrap in tinfoil and eat each slice with a salad for lunch. Just vary the salad or the dressing to stop it becoming boring.