Curried Dal and Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients
A bag of Masoor Dal / Red Lentils
Pumpkin / Squash / Indian pumpkin (whatever you prefer) – chopped up into small cubes
Garlic
Chilly to taste (I used Thai red chilly +Kashmiri chilly powder for heat and Dutch Chilly for taste)
Chilly flakes
Cumin seeds and Mustard seeds (start off with a half teaspoon of each)
Cumin powder, coriander powder
Onion
Stock (I used a mix of Veg and Chicken stock)
Water
Salt and pepper
Madras Curry Powder
I found cooking this in three stages is the easiest way!
Stage one
Rinse the Dal / Lentils until the water runs clear and then set to one side to drain.
Stage Two
Chop the chilly and garlic, now peel and chop up the Pumpkin. Once the pumkin is in small pieces heat up a large frying pan add oil and when that is hot add about half a teaspoon of cumin/mustard seeds. Once these start to ‘pop’ add about quarter the chilly/garlic mixture and stir until just starting to get soft. Now add the pumkin/squash and stir until it’s cooked / tender (don’t worry if the garlic looks smells burnt as this adds to the final dish).
Tip this out and keep to one side
Stage Two
When you have been waiting for the pumkin to get soft you can chop up the onions (nothing fancy as your going to blend it anyway).
So add the onions with a little bit of oil, another quarter of the garlic/chilly, salt/pepper, curry powder, cumin and then fry these until they are soft and add to the reserved pumkin.
Stage Three
Now add the (washed and drained) Dal to a pan, add a little bit of oil and stir until almost all of them have changed colour (they get lighter when cooked). Now add the rest of the garlic, chilly and reserved veggies and still until all are cooked (now is the time to adjust the flavours depending on what you like)
Stage Four
Add stock, reduce, then add more stock and blend (simply adjust the amount of stock to suit your preference)
Blend / Serve!
Great toppings, fresh coriander sprigs or sour cream or chives (or tops of green onions) or olive oil or cheddar cheese or crushed up crackers etc
