Moroccan Lentil and Chick Pea Soup
1/2 cup dried chick peas (garbanzos), soaked overnight in plenty of water with a pinch of baking soda (substitute 2 cups drained canned garbanzos)
a pinch of saffron threads, pulverized
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 stick (1/4 cup) margarine
3/4 cup chopped celery
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
1 cup chopped leaves and stems of fresh coriander (a.k.a.
1 large can (22 oz?) Italian plum (pear-shaped) tomatoes, seeded, drained, and chopped (add some of the drained juice to bring volume up to 2 cups.
2 teaspoon salt (or to taste - use less if you used canned garbanzos)
3/4 cup dried lentils, rinsed (discard any pebbles)
2 quarts water
1/2 lemon (squeezed)
some thin slices of lemon
Melt the margarine in a large pot, then cook the spices, celery, and chopped onions over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the coriander and tomatoes, then cook for another 15 minutes. Add the water, lentils, garbanzos, and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer, partially covered, for about 2 hours (until the garbanzos are cooked). Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice and garnish with reserved coriander sprigs and lemon slices.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
this soup is yummy and SO spicy since i almost tripled the pepper and cinnamon hehe.. a few other changes i made were i sprouted the lentils and chickpeas for 5 days first (they had cute little tails), used parsley instead of cilantro :( (i love cilantro but its so hard to get here), and used half a can of tomato paste and 4 small fresh tomatoes instead of the can of tomatoes.. i may have thrown in a splash of vinegar too to liven up the flavors.. all in all tho this soup is way good.. thanks!
This recipe calls for a stick of margarine, but then says 1/4 cup. A stick of margarine is 1/2 cup, so you probably only need a half a stick.
Oh, yeah - I hadn't even noticed that small mistake (probably coz here in the UK we don't commonly use either measurement). You shouldn't let it put you off trying it though.
As the margarine is used for cooking the celery, onion and spices to begin with I guess it's up to the cook how much to use. I'll be making this again later today and this time I'll probably just use olive oil instead of the marg.
Yummy!
This recipe calls for a stick of margarine, but then says 1/4 cup. A stick of margarine is 1/2 cup, so you probably only need a half a stick.
I make a big batch of soup on a weekly basis, and thought I had already found the only lentil soup I would ever make (Angs Leek and lentil soup on this site: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=10080.0 , which is yummy!)
I was browsing the other day and saw this recipe - with the unusual spices involved I thought I had to try it (plus it uses ingredients I always have in the house anyway).
Oh my goodness, it's absolutely fantastic - so different to any other lentil soup I've had.
I made a half batch and it has given me enough to take some to work everyday for nearly a week. The flavours really do come together during the long cooking time.
When I told colleagues at work what spices were involved they wanted to try it as it sounded so unusual - they all loved it too!!
The only changes I made were to reduce the amount of margarine used & I omitted the saffron as I don't have any - oh and added a couple of cloves of garlic, just coz I love it and it goes into EVERYTHING!
Definitely a keeper - the only trouble now is deciding which of my 2 favourite lentil soup recipes I will decide to make each week! Once again a great recipe from vegweb. Thanks!
everyone needs a good lentil recipe and I think this one fits the bill. I didn't use all that marg. and added garlic and it was quite good.
I was hesitant to try this since I"ve never heard of this spice combinaction (turmeric and Cinnamon). But it turned out great! I followed the recipe exactly except I didn't have any saffron and used only 2TBS of butter. It's so healthy and has a unique taste. I make soups all the time but I usually just use salt/pepper/herbs for seasoning and that can get kind of old. I'll definitely be making this again
This was pretty good--my husband particularly liked it although the kids wouldn't touch it. The flavors come together during the long cooking so be sure not to cut down on the cooking time. I thought it was missing something, though, but I'm not sure what--maybe a pinch of ground coriander. It's quite easy to make and definitely worth trying.
this is great with shredded carrots and diced sweet potatoes!
I cut down a little on the margarine and doubled the recipe. I also replaced the celery with carrots and half of the chickpeas with brown rice. I've never tasted anything quite like it. Phenomenal. It had my boyfriend literally singing "Miss Thingy makes yummy soup". :-* I love silly boys! Oh, and this soup! Thanks! ;D