Sometimes the guilt of eating too many wrong things just gets to me and I need to balance the scales internally. This calls for a comforting and filling soupy treat with a pinch of something yum thrown in. Also, all those gorgeous cherry tomatoes and vine tomatoes sitting in my fridge were begging to used -asap or risk being dumped into my green food recycle bag. Thrifty that I am, I will not allow that to happen in my kitchen! And I always turn to my stored lentils for something comforting and homely.
This recipe is perfect for making ahead in a larger batch and freeze some for later.
Tomato and Lentil Soup
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker / Heavy-bottomed pan
- Knife and chopping board
- Kadhai or any pan
- Potato masher or a large ladle
- Blender / Mixer
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Red Lentils/Masoor split without skin
- 1/4 cup Yellow Lentil/Moong – split without skin
- 4 – 5 medium-sized Tomatoes
- 1 pinch Asafoetida
- 2 Red Onions
- 5 – 6 Garlic cloves
- 2 tsp Coriander Powder
- 2 tsp Cumin Powder
- ½ Thum-sized Fresh Ginger – peeled
- 2-3 Cloves
- 1 tsp Pepper powder
- Red chilli flakes – optional
- 3 large tbsp Oil for frying
- 1 tbsp oil for the tadka
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash the lentil through a sieve and pressure cook – 3 whistles
- Let the steam escape and then loosen cooker lid
- Remove cooked lentils and allow to cool completely
- If you are not a pressure cooker lover then cook the lentils in a big saucepan with exactly two times the water than the quantity of the lentils
- Lentils cook quickly in a pan, cover and cook and keep an eye as water may boil over
- Finely chop red onions chopped into long slivers
- Chop the tomatoes into 4 pieces – just for ease of blending
- In a kadhai or wok heat the 3 tbsp oil and deep fry the garlic chopped into fine strips
- Add the red onions and sauté are absolutely crisp, the aroma is delicious
- Puree the washed tomatoes with the deep-fried red onion and garlic (leave some for garnishing)
- Use a potato masher ( or the back of a large ladle) and roughly squash the cooked and cooled lentils and mix them with the tomatoes puree
- In the same kadhai/wok or pan used to fry the onions and garlic – heat about 1 to 1.5 tsp oil
- Add asafoetida, whole cumin, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, cloves
- Sauté the spices in the oil for under a minute
- Add the cooked lentils and tomato puree
- Add water if the mixture is too thick
- Cover and cook on a low flame for 5 -8 minutes
- Season with salt as per taste
- Garnished with the remaining crispy fried onion and garlic bits
- Sprinkle some freshly cracked pepper
- Serve hot
- Best accompanied by hot buttered toast
Wholemeal bread, a crusty baguette, or a soft cheesy loaf – all make for great accompaniments with this soup. Indulge yourself by adding a blob of butter on top of the soup before serving.
