Toldot Red Lentil Soup
In honor of this week’s parsha, here is a recipe for curried red lentil soup. We made it last year, and it was quite tasty (although I admit that we didn’t use these precise proportions for the seasoning). The recipe appeared in the Food section of the Boston Globe on February 2, 2004.
Curried red-lentil soup
(Serves 4)1 1/2 cups red lentils
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1-inch piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
2 tablespoons cold water
1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
4 cups water
Salt, to taste
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or parsley
2 scallions, finely chopped1. Remove any stones from the lentils.
2. In a large casserole, heat the oil and cook the onion over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring often, or until it softens. Add the garlic and ginger, and stir for one more minute.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the cumin, coriander, curry powder, turmeric, and red chili powder. Gradually stir in the 2 tablespoons of water and mix well. Add the spice mixture to the onion and cook, stirring, 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes, lentils, and 4 cups of water. Bring the soup to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until it becomes a chunky puree.
5. Add salt and ladle soup into bowls. Sprinkle with cilantro or parsley and scallions. Serve.
Variation: Reduce water by half and serve over rice.
I’ll be test-driving this one on Shabbat. Maybe this year I’ll finally get it together and start cooking according to the parashah.
That’s a great idea now, but what do you serve for Metzora?
We don’t usually cook according to the parashah. This one just happens to have a convenient food-related motif.
Our minyan occasionally has parashah-themed kiddushes, the most popular of which is the annual “treyf kiddush” in honor of the meal served to the three angels in parshat Vayyera. Of course, the food is really just “treyf style,” typically including animal crackers, Oreos, and Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food ice cream (because the little chocolate fish don’t have fins and scales). One of the more mischievous gabbaim organized a “white flakey thing” kiddush for parshat Metzora last year, which, if I recall correctly, included a lot of dried coconut. I suppose that you could make a similarly themed Shabbat meal, but, EEW.
We made this and it was terrific — but in the parasha, Esau calls the soup “red stuff,” and ours came out more yellow than red. :-)
The spices do discolor it a bit. I have a few other red lentil soup recipes that I’d like to try over the course of the winter. Will let you know which has the best combination of color and flavor. (You could also try leaving out the turmeric.)
Made this one for shabbat and it was terrific. I think parshah specific recipes makes a great thread.