Lentil Soup

[Orang Utan]

Anyone got a decent recipe?
The best soup I ever had was a dirt cheap Eritrean lentil soup a few years ago at Lambeth Country Fair and now I want to recreate it, though I’m also inviting other lentil soup recipe recommendations as lentils are ridiculously cheap and a hot soup is a balm for the body and the soul in this cold snap and current harsh times of voluntary and imposed fuel shortages. Go Urban!

 

[bcuster]

Many of the canned varieties are really very good. I am a big fan of lentils

 

[Supine]

Gotta be a dhal recipe ftw

 

[Supine]

Or is lentil soup different entirely?

 

[Sue]

Chuck some onions, leeks/cabbage/grated carrots/whatever other veg you've got (potatoes are good too) into a big pot along with a load of red lentils (quickest to cook) and some veg stock (cubes are fine). Bring to the boil, then simmer until the lentils are cooked/have started disintegrating. Add a bit more water from time to time if it looks like it's going to burn. That's it, easy-peasy.

(You can start off frying the onions and all that but I don't bother.)

 

[Orang Utan]

Or is lentil soup different entirely?

more soupy than dhal of course!

 

[Orang Utan]

Many of the canned varieties are really very good. I am a big fan of lentils

where's the fun in canned soup when you can make your own though?

 

[bcuster]

where's the fun in canned soup when you can make your own though?

It's a lot of work. Eating the leftovers gets old quickly..

 

[Epona]

sojourner shared a recipe for Egyptian lentil soup ages ago which I've made a couple of times, it's simple and very tasty

 

[Orang Utan]

It's a lot of work. Eating the leftovers gets old quickly..

no it isn't - just a bit of chopping and simmering. Having leftovers is just sound home economics - I could have a week or more of work dinners from one batch of soup.

 

[quimcunx]

My lentil soup is chopped onion 1/2 cup of lentils ham stock cube then add grated carrot once lentils are broken down but sounds like you'd prefer a Sudanese style one which I can't remember the details of offhand.

I think chopped onion 1 mug lentils then add crushed clove garlic ground cumin and a bit of tomato paste once lentils have broken down.


Here you go. Good luck.

 

[Sue]

It's a lot of work. Eating the leftovers gets old quickly..

Nah, five mins chopping, 20 mins cooking if you use red lentils. About as cheap and easy as it gets. (And an excellent way of using up vegetables.)

 

[Sue]

Or you can make a more dahl-like one (fry onions/garlic/optional dried chilli, add yellow split peas and stock, simmer, squeeze of lemon juice/vinegar at the end, maybe add some coriander or parsley leaves then too if you have them) but it'll take a lot longer to cook unless you've got a pressure cooker.

 

[toblerone3]

I like this thread. I used to really like Amy's lentil soup and then they stopped supplying the UK for some reason.

 

[danny la rouge]

Mine’s a bit like Sue ‘s - I always use potatoes. I sauté the veg before adding the stock, and I add smoked paprika to the frying veg. I like to throw dumplings in too.

 

[Orang Utan]

Nah, five mins chopping, 20 mins cooking if you use red lentils. About as cheap and easy as it gets. (And an excellent way of using up vegetables.)

which i'm doing right now, having noticed some floppy celery and a couple of carrots in the fridge - there's a red pepper and some mushrooms in there too but i may leave those out. and one of the reasons I posted this thread is cos I have a glut of lentils as I misread a recipe for tonight's tea

 

[danny la rouge]

which i'm doing right now, having noticed some floppy celery and a couple of carrots in the fridge - there's a red pepper and some mushrooms in there too but i may leave those out. and one of the reasons I posted this thread is cos I have a glut of lentils as I misread a recipe for tonight's tea

The pepper might work but the mushrooms probably won’t.

 

[Sue]

I like this thread. I used to really like Amy's lentil soup and then they stopped supplying the UK for some reason. View attachment 355583

Yeah, but that was like what £2.50 a tin? Make your own (brown lentils instead of red) and even with the increased cooking time, it'll be way, way cheaper than that.

 

[Sue]

Mine’s a bit like Sue ‘s - I always use potatoes. I sauté the veg before adding the stock, and I add smoked paprika to the frying veg.

Must try that.

I like to throw dumplings in too.

And that. I normally just make it so thick the spoon stands up in it but maybe I need to experiment on the dumpling front...

 

[Sue]

As an aside, I sometimes feel like I've absorbed my parents post-war (they were both born during it) make do and mend, rationing mindset when it comes to cooking. Anyone else? (I mean my Mum would be horrified that I can't tell you the exact price of stuff or that I don't go to about three different shops because there's a 2p price difference on something or whatever but still...)

 

[Orang Utan]

The pepper might work but the mushrooms probably won’t.

aye - i put the pepper in but am leaving the mushrooms to fry in butter and garlic as an evening snack

 

[toblerone3]

Yeah, but that was like what £2.50 a tin? Make your own (brown lentils instead of red) and even with the increased cooking time, it'll be way, way cheaper than that.

You exaggerate the cost of this. I think it was more like £1.40 a tin. Dont always have time to make my own soup.

 

[story]

Look up Middle Eastern recipes for really good lentil soup.
For me, it’s the cumin and lemon that makes the difference between a decent lentil soup that is filling and warm etc, and a dish that I plan and look forward to.

Shorbat Adas or Chorbat el Ads.

The Greek version (Fakes) is also very good.

 

[Orang Utan]

Look up Middle Eastern recipes for really good lentil soup.
For me, it’s the cumin and lemon that makes the difference between a decent lentil soup that is filling and warm etc, and a dish that I plan and look forward to.

Shorbat Adas or Chorbat el Ads.

The Greek version (Fakes) is also very good.

yes! I've also had an amazing Syrian lentil soup in a styrofoam cup, served to me unexpectedly (as gratitude for a very small favour at work), and it was so fucking lush (though the particular circumstances added to the culinary experience)

 

[Sue]

You exaggerate the cost of this. I think it was more like £1.40 a tin. Dont always have time to make my own soup.

A bog standard tin of Heinz lentil is £1.40 in Tesco.

 

[Orang Utan]

I've now gone rogue and turned this particular lentil experiment into a chicken stew as I noticed that some chicken thighs in the fridge needed to be consumed too I've been cooking solo for the last couple of days, which means I can mess about on my own timescale and cook late at night for future work dinners

 

[story]

You exaggerate the cost of this. I think it was more like £1.40 a tin. Dont always have time to make my own soup.

I’ve always got some tins in for those emergency moments but I also batch cook and freeze. Floppy celery is often included.

This evening I’ve eaten the last of my frozen soup, a peppery potato celery lentil & barley soup to which I added a cup of gelatinous chicken stock from last week.

But tins, sometimes I’ll mooch through the posh shops and buy one of the overpriced fancy ones and stash it at the back. Encountering one of those when I’m cold and tired is like finding that fiver in the coat lining or the blim when you’re cleaning off the book shelf.



(a pal used to fling the last of his stash at the book shelf every time, so that when he was broke and without any he knew he’d find some back there)

 

[Orang Utan]

A bog standard tin of Heinz lentil is £1.40 in Tesco.

and not all that either!

 

[story]

yes! I've also had an amazing Syrian lentil soup in a styrofoam cup, served to me unexpectedly (as gratitude for a very small favour at work), and it was so fucking lush (though the particular circumstances added to the culinary experience)

Syrian lentil soup is exactly what I was thinking of!

 

[story]

Here you go Orang Utan

Syrian Lentil Soup | My Jewish Learning

Syrian split red lentil soup. Middle East Jewish Cooking. Middle East Jewish Recipes.

www.myjewishlearning.com