Winter brings in a delightful array of comforting recipes and an abundance of fresh veggies. I absolutely love having all the gorgeous greens, radiant reds and what not in the markets. Soups are one such winter essential and are a staple in my household. We all love a good soup and have our favorites. There are several varieties that I make – soupy/thin soups, thick and chunky soups, grilled veggie soups, coconut milk-based soups, one-pot recipes and so on.

Here are some of my favorite soup recipes from each category:

  1. Vegetable and Tofu soup – which is a clear and runny soup
  2. Mexican Bean & Chilli soup – A chunky soup and a complete meal
  3. Grilled tomato and bell pepper soup – as the name suggests, falls under the grilled veggie soup category
  4. Sweet potato and coconut milk soup – is a coconut milk-based soup

This Sri Lankan soup is a gem and falls in my favorite category of soup with coconut milk. Plus with lentils, it gives all the required protein that one needs in their diet. The best part is that it is ready in less than 20 minutes. And one last thing, this is actually a Sri Lankan curry dish that I have adapted as a soup. If you keep it slightly thicker, then you can actually eat this with rice. Shhhh, don’t tell anyone…

SriLankan_Lentil_and_Coconut_Milk_Soup
Sri Lankan Lentil and Coconut Milk Soup

PREPARATION TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: 15  minutes
SERVINGS: 2
DIFFICULTY SCALE: Low

INGREDIENTS: 

  1. Red Lentil/Masoor dal – ¾ cup
  2. Onion – 1, large
  3. Garlic – 3-4 pods
  4. Lemon juice – 2-3 tablespoons
  5. Curry Leaves – 4-5
  6. Coconut milk -1 cup
  7. Fresh coconut slices – a few, optional
  8. Vegetable/Coconut oil – 1 tablespoon
  9. Turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon
  10. Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
  11. Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon
  12. Paprika/red chilli powder – ½ teaspoon
  13. Coriander leaves – 1-2 tablespoons, finely diced
  14. Salt – to taste

UTENSILS/EQUIPMENT:

  1. A pressure cooker
  2. Non-stick pan
  3. Mortar and pestle

RECIPE:

  1. Wash the red lentils or masoor dal twice until it cleans properly and soak it for 10 minutes.
SriLankan_Soup_soaked_red_lentil
Soaked Red Lentils

2.  Pressure cook the masoor dal with 1.5 cups of water, 1 teaspoon turmeric and salt (I took about little over a tablespoon)
3. Keep it on high flame till you hear a whistle and then reduce the flame to low for about 2-3 minutes. Then take it off the heat and allow the steam to release.
4. In a small pan, take a teaspoon of mustard seeds and dry roast them till fragrant. Remember to keep moving them in the pan so that they don’t burn. Grind them in a mortar and pestle and keep it aside.
5. Now once the pressure from the cooker is released, open the lid, and add coconut milk to the soup, stir well. If the soup is too runny, you could keep it on a flame for some time and evaporate some excess liquid.
6. Cut the onion into long strands.
7. Peel and crush the garlic pods.
8. Now take a tablespoon of oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add the onion slices and crushed garlic pods.
9. Allow the onion slices to caramelize, this would take about 4-5 minutes.
10. Add roasted mustard powder, paprika powder, thinly sliced coconut pieces and mix well. Add lemon juice in the pan.
11. Now, add this tempering in the soup and garnish with some coriander leaves.

Serve hot! Isn’t that delightful?

LINKS:

  1. Pressure Cooker
  2. Mortar Pestle Set
  3. Non-stick pan