Yellow lentil soup with celery Sanur style

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 120 g lentils, yellow, dried
• 500 g water
• 50 g celery (stalks only), fresh or frozen
• 10 g lemongrass, fresh or frozen
• 8 small onions, red
• 4 medium-sized garlic cloves, fresh
• 40 g carrot(s)
• 30 g pepper, red
• 2 small chili peppers, green
• 8 g beef broth powder, instant
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, fresh or frozen
• 8 cm cinnamon stick(s)
• 6 cloves
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp mace powder
• 1 pinch(s) black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 pinch(s) cardamom powder
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, light
• 2 lemons, juice
• 6 tbsp peanut oil, refined
• 1 tbsp wheat flour type 405
• e.g. celery leaves
• n. B. almond sticks
• n. B. Sesame, white
• n. B. flowers and leaves

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour

An exotic treat with a difference. Recipe from Bali, Indonesia. Original title: Miju-miju kuning dan seledry.

Wash the yellow lentils until the water runs clear. Strain and add them to a 2-liter casserole dish (with a lid) along with the water. Pick off the leaves from the fresh celery, use them for garnishing, and freeze the rest. Cut the stalks crosswise into approximately 2-4 mm thick rolls and add them to the lentils. Weigh and thaw the frozen lentils, and add them to the pot. Wash the fresh lemongrass, remove the tough stalk at the bottom, discard the brown and wilted leaves, and use only the white parts. Cut these into thin slices. Remove the outer, green leaves if desired. The thin slices can accompany the lentils. Weigh and thaw the frozen lentils, and add them to the pot. Trim both ends of the onions and garlic cloves, peel them, and roughly chop them. Trim both ends of the carrot, peel it, halve it lengthwise, and cut into approximately 5 mm thick slices. Remove the stems from the red bell pepper, wash them, halve them lengthwise, open them up, and remove the seeds. Slice both halves crosswise into thin strips. Slice the small green chilies crosswise into thin slices, leaving the seeds and discarding the stems. Heat a medium-sized pan, add 4 tablespoons of the oil, and let it heat up. Add the chopped onion, garlic, and carrot and fry until the onions are translucent. Then add them to the lentils along with the chopped bell pepper and chili. Add all the spices to the soup and simmer for 25 minutes. The lentils should now be cooked through, but still have a little bite to them. Heat the remaining oil in a small pan, add the wheat flour, and fry until light brown. Deglaze with plenty of the soup stock, blend until smooth, and then add the soup stock back to the soup stock. Season to taste. Ladle the soup into serving plates, garnish, and serve hot with white rice or white bread. Note: Actually, every recipe has a story, but this one was particularly funny. The original title, when pronounced in German (Swabian), sounds like a cat’s wailing, and I remarked, “Oh, here’s cat food or cat to feed?” It caused a lot of laughter and cost me a round of drinks. It’s pronounced, and it means (botanically) lentils. Of course, I had to try it… and… WOW!