Coconut Red Lentil Soup

A hearty soup perfect for crisp November nights.

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

| Yield: 6 servings | Time: 45 to 50 minutes |

Ingredients

I cup yellow split peas

I cup red split lentils (masoor dal)

7 cups water

1 medium carrot, cut into ½-inch dice

1 potato, diced

2 tablespoon fresh peeled and minced ginger

2 tablespoon curry powder

2 tablspoon coconut oil

8 scallions, thinly sliced

3 tablespoon golden raisins

⅓ cup tomato paste

1 14-ounce can coconut milk

2 teapoon fine grain sea salt

one small handful cilantro, chopped

Preparation

Give the split peas and lentils a good rinse. Place them in an extra-large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the carrot, potato and 1/4 of the ginger. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft.

In the meantime, in a small dry skillet or saucepan over low heat, toast the curry powder until it is quite fragrant. Be careful not to burn it. Set aside. Place the oil in a pan over medium heat, add half of the green onions, the remaining ginger, and raisins. Sauté for two minutes, stirring constantly, then add the tomato paste and sauté for another minute or two.

Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato paste mixture, mix well, and then add this to the simmering soup along with the coconut milk and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so. The texture should thicken up, but you can play around with the consistency if you like by adding more water. Or simmer longer for something a little thicker.

Garnish generously with cilantro and the remaining green onions.