Lemony spiced lentil and chickpea soup
- Prep: 10m
- Cook: 20m
- Serves: 8
My chickpea soup is packed full of gorgeous spices, tomatoes and nourishing lentils, all the flavours of my favourite dal. I remember the first time I tasted dal. I was in sixth form and we all decided to take a trip to the local curry house. It was also my first balti experience. Not long after that I went to India and my mind was blown with all the incredible vegetarian delights. I like to make a big batch and portion it up for quick lunches, served with flatbreads for scooping.
- Niki Webster
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan and sauté the onions, over a low heat, for 10 minutes, until softening. Add in the garlic, ginger, spices and curry leaves. Fry for a further few minutes. Add the lentils along with 1.25 litres of water. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a boil over a medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the soup for 20 minutes.
- Finally, add in the chickpeas and spinach and squeeze in the lemon juice. If using, dollop in the coconut yoghurt. Season with salt and pepper.
- Make the dressing by adding the ingredients along with 50ml of water to a mini food processor and blitzing until creamy.
- Serve the soup with generous amounts of dressing and some fresh coriander to garnish.
- Recipe taken from REBEL RECIPES by Niki Webster and is out on 26 December (Bloomsbury Publishing, £26).
Ingredients
All to be sourced organic where possible
- 2 onions, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced
- A thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1⁄2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- 4–5 curry leaves
- 250g red split lentils, rinsed and
- drained
- 400g can of chopped tomatoes
- 400g can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 100g spinach, or kale with tough
- stalks removed
- Juice of 1⁄2 lemon
- 2–3 tablespoons coconut yoghurt or
- coconut cream, optional
- Fresh coriander leaves
- Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
- For the coriander dressing:
- Juice of 1⁄2 lemon
- 25g coriander
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
