Indian brown lentil soup

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 60 g lentils, brown, dried
• 20 g smoked meat, streaky
• 6 small onions, red
• 2 medium-sized garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 medium-sized potatoes, waxy
• 1 pepper, red, long, mild to medium hot
• 20 g ginger root, fresh or frozen
• 6 g chicken stock powder
• 8 cm cinnamon stick(s)
• 1 star anise
• 6 cloves
• 1 tsp Garam Masala, Madras
• 4 kaffir lime leaves, fresh or frozen
• e.g. celery leaves, fresh or frozen, for garnishing

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 35 minutes; Total time approx. 13 hours 5 minutes

a very spicy soup made from brown lentils and potatoes

The night before, weigh the brown lentils, rinse thoroughly, and let them soak overnight in about 600g of water. Strain the lentils and add them to a casserole dish with 400g of the spring water; do not boil! Cut the smoked meat into small cubes. Trim both ends of the onions and garlic cloves, peel them, and cut them into small pieces. Heat the sunflower oil in a sufficiently large pan, add the bacon cubes, and fry until fragrant. Add the onions and garlic cloves and fry until the onions are translucent. Deglaze everything with the spring water from the pot and add the meat to the lentils. Cook the lentils in the spring water with the spices for 15 minutes. In the meantime, wash the potatoes, peel them, and halve them lengthwise, then halve the halves lengthwise and then quarter them crosswise. Wash the fresh red pepper and remove the stem. Halve the pod lengthwise, open it, remove the seeds, and cut each half crosswise into thin strands from the top. Wash and peel the fresh ginger. Grate the required amount on a fine grater. Weigh the frozen goods and thaw. Add the prepared vegetables to the lentils and simmer for another 20 minutes. Season the soup with salt and freshly ground pepper. Ladle the lentil soup into serving bowls, garnish, and serve with toasted white bread. Enjoy.