A lentil soup that survives the week
soup30 minfreezes well
Made on a Sunday, eaten until Wednesday, still good on Thursday.
What goes in
- 250 g brown lentils, rinsed
- 2 onions, diced small
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp coriander, half a tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 1.2 l stock, or water and more salt than you think
- Lemon, at the end, not optional
Method
- Toast the cumin seeds dry until they smell like something. Thirty seconds, not more — they go bitter fast.
- Oil, onions, medium heat, ten minutes. This is the part people rush. Don't. The soup tastes of the onions more than anything else in it.
- Garlic and the rest of the spices, one minute.
- Lentils, tomatoes, stock. Simmer 25 minutes until the lentils collapse a little but not entirely.
- Half a lemon, salt, taste, more lemon.
It thickens overnight into something closer to a stew. Loosen with water
when reheating, and add lemon again — the acidity is the first thing to fade in the fridge.
I have tried this with red lentils. It becomes a purée, which is a different and less interesting dish. Brown or nothing.
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