Turkish red lentil soup

Ingredients (for approx. 4 portions):

• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 stalk of celery (optional)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup red lentils (approx. 200g)
• 1 potato
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon paprika powder, sweet
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 tablespoon dried mint (alternatively the leaves from 1-2 stalks of fresh mint)
• 2-3 stalks of fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon vegetable stock (powder)
• some chili powder (optional)
• 6 cups of water (approx. 1.5 liters)
• 2 lemons
• 1 teaspoon salt
• black pepper
• Sumac (optional)

Preparation:

1. Cut the vegetables (carrot, onion, potato, garlic, optional celery) into pieces. Put the potato to one side.
2. Heat the olive oil in a pan. Sauté the carrot, onion, garlic (and celery if using) over a medium heat.
3. As soon as the onions are translucent, add the cumin, paprika powder, tomato puree, mint, parsley, vegetable stock and chilli, if using. Fry for 1-2 minutes.
4. Wash the lentils in a sieve until the water runs clear.
5. Add the lentils, water and potato to the pan, bring to the boil and simmer for approx. 15 minutes until everything is soft.
6. Puree the soup. If necessary, add a little water if it is too thick.
7. Season to taste with lemon juice (1/2 to 1 lemon), salt and pepper. 
8. Serve with a wedge of lemon and fresh soft bread.

To serve (optional):

Before serving, you can refine the soup with sumac, mint, parsley or paprika butter. For the paprika butter: melt approx. 2 tbsp (vegan) butter, stir in ½-1 tbsp sweet paprika powder and fry briefly. Optionally, add dried mint directly. Simply sprinkle the sumac over the soup at the end.

Total cost of the lentil soup (with the basic ingredients only): approx. 2-3€.

Have fun cooking and bon appétit! 🙂