This recipe for pumpkin and red lentil soup will bring you sweet heat, healthy spice and warmth on a cold day. It is perfect for vegetarians, and your guests will ask for more. The pumpkin adds sweetness, and the red lentils gives you texture, taste and structure. The spices flirt with Indian daal — an absolute favourite. Enjoy on a cold night, and also perfect for your Thanksgiving leftovers.
Recipe for Pumpkin and Red Lentil Soup: Spicy Sweet Heat
When the cold season hits, you need to warm yourself from the inside. Cinnamon, Turmeric and Ginger are great helpers. Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of trying daal will know that this lentil based soup can be varied indefinitely. It is the spicy heat that makes it special, and you decide of course how hot you want it.
This recipe came about on a rainy afternoon when the grey skies just wouldn’t let up. The humidity added to the greyness, so warm colours and sweet earthiness brightened up the day.
Try the Recipe
A quick internet search revealed 100’s of recipes for daal. With too much pumpkin left over, I decide to do my own version. I served this with a Spinach salad, but it would work just as well as a starter for when you make a saffron infused fish dish.
Enjoy this recipe for pumpkin and red lentil soup as it is — or add yoghurt, coriander, more heat or sweetness. This is an inspiration that flirts with India, but in all essence it for you to try your own take.
If you need to convert the recipe from Metric try: Cooking Conversion by convert-me.com
- 500 gram Pumpkin
- 200 gram Red Lentils (or 1 can)
- 0,5 liter vegetable stock
- 1 Onion large or 2 medium (yellow works best)
- 1 Carrot grated
- 3 Garlic cloves
- 2 Tomatoes medium size
- 1 Ginger piece about 15 gram, or thumb size
- 1 Chilli (optional)
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 1 Tablespoon Olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric (generous)
- 1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon Paprika (sweet)
- 1/2 teaspoon Cumin
- Set the Oven to 200 degrees
- Chop the pumpkin into chunks, and keep the rind on.
- On a large oven tray place your pumpkin and sprinkle with olive oil, and Honey. Add salt to taste and set the timer to 20 minutes.
- Rinse the lentils and pick put any stones. Add them to a bowl of warm water and let them soak for 30 minutes. OR just open your can and keep the water.
- In a saucepan lightly fry the onion and carrot until translucent, add the spices, ginger, garlic, chilli and tomatoes.
- Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil.
- Add the lentils (but do not add salt — as this will make the lentil tough, and lengthen cooking time).
- Cover with a lid, and let gently boil for 30 minutes.
- Take out the pumpkin from the oven, and use scissors to cut the pieces up to smaller bits.
- Add these to the lentil and vegetable mixture.
- Let bubble away for an additional 10 minutes.
- Take out your hand mixer and whizz until semi-smooth. If the consistency becomes too thick, feel free to add water. ( I like this soup quite thick - almost stew like).
- Serve the soup as a main with a side salad, and some dark bread or naan. Or have it as a starter - let your inspiration and taste guide you.
- Enjoy!
- This recipe for pumpkin and red lentil soup is meant as an inspiration. You can add natural yoghurt, coriander or pumpkin seeds to the finished soup. Naan or dark bread are great to dunk into the thick soup, and serving this with a spinach salad works very well too. Enjoy!
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