This soup is quite hot and spicy, but you can cut down on the chilli if you wish. The main flavours come from the use of Tunisian Tabil spice mix and from cumin seed. I got the spices from Seasoned Pioneers. There are a few variations that could be used. It could be vegan, you could add a seaweed stock instead of vegetable stock. If you stir in yoghurt, then it is still vegetarian, but not vegan. It is also good with a chicken stock. It also uses a lot of carrots, which is just as well, because I have grown very many.
INGREDIENTS:
- 600g carrots, grated
- 150g red lentils
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- a large thumb-sized nodule of ginger, chopped
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp tabil spice blend
- 2 tsp chilli flakes
- 2 -3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 litre of vegetable stock
- 1/2 tsp salt
METHOD:
- Use a large saucepan. Heat the olive oil and cook the onions over a low to medium heat, stirring, until the onions start to turn translucent, around five minutes.
- Add the ginger, garlic and spices, stir together and continue to cook for another couple of minutes.
- Add the carrots and lentils, mix in well, and then add a litre of stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for around seven minutes
- Use a soup wand or blender to blitz the soup until it is smooth.
We served this with bread and yoghurt.