Ute cooks:INDIAN LENTIL SOUP

I can’t believe that I actually cooked something and it turned out really,I mean REALLY,nice. I am very proud of myself and I just have to share this milestone of my foodie career with you.

As you know I usually don’t cook. I live on salad,cereal,Covent Garden Soups and Innocent Vegetable Pots when I am not going out to eat in restaurants. It’s far too cold for salad and cereal now and I am really really tired of all the possible Innocent and Covent Garden varieties but I have reached the tipping point yesterday when I made the mistake to buy the ‘Tesco Tries To Imitate Innocent Vegetable Pots Tikka Masala‘. It was disgusting. I mean so bad that you wonder how they can possibly be allowed to sell something like this and not even numbing my palate with loads of chilli helped.

So I decided to cook. In order to not get depressed and discouraged on my first attempt I opted for something easy,namely Indian Lentil Soup. Perfect I thought for these arctic temperatures.

And perfect it was. I am sitting here smiling being very pleased with myself. I have not cut myself or burned down the house and it even turned out delicious.

Here the recipe which is a combination of different versions I found online:

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Indian Lentil Soup

About: This is a spicy and aromatic Indian soup full of oriental flavours that can be enjoyed by itself or with rice or naan bread. It is vegetarian,very healthy/low fat,the ingredients are cheap and it is incredibly easy to make.

Amount: for 4 people (biggish portions) or 6-8 as a small starter

Cooking time: 30-45 min (possibly shorter when you are a more experienced cook)

Ingredients:

• 1 big or 2 small onions
• 1-2 carrots
• 1-2 tomatoes
• fresh ginger
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• fresh or dried chilli
• 200g red lentils
• 1 tablespoon tumeric
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1.2L vegetable stock (I used Knorr cubes)
• fresh coriander
• 1 lime
• some yogurt
• vegetable oil
• salt

1. Rinse the lentils in a colander under running cold water

2. Chop onions and garlic quite small and grate carrots and ginger

3. Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil (or any other vegetable oil) in a big soup pot and add first onions and then the other vegetables. Stir well.

4. Add one tablespoon of tumeric powder and one tablespoon of garam masala

5. Slice the tomatoes and add to the pot

5. Now also add the lentils and stir.

6. Dissolve 3 cubes of Knorr chicken stock in 1.2L of boiling water and add

7. Cover,bring to boil and leave to simmer for 20-30 minutes until the lentils are very soft.

8. Add some lime juice and fresh coriander.

10. Serve the soup with a dollop of yogurt on top which you have slightly salted and enjoy this healthy,warming and comforting soup.

So,what do you think about my first blogged recipe?

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