Curried Lentil and Coconut Soup

Currently, I am beset by the nastiest cold/flu since last winter's never-ending viral debacle. I am also beset by panic regarding the nearing end of the semester, my as of yet unstarted papers, and of course that other thing, in new york. So, though the weather has been warm and I've been mostly eating guacamole for the last 2 weeks, today was a soup day. I'd be eyeing this recipe at 101 Cookbooks, but knew that it would need an added punch to satisfy me. So, here is my version:

Serves 4.

1/2 cup yellow split peas
1/2 cup red split lentils
3.5 cups water
2 medium carrots, diced
1 small sweet potato, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger
1 fresh red chile, diced
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced
1 large clove garlic, minced
2/3 cup dried tart cherries (The original recipe called for raisins, which I almost never eat, so I used cherries. I really liked their tart kick in the rich soup. But, raisins are certainly the more traditional choice.)
1/3 cup tomato paste
1/2 can coconut milk
1/4 cup dried coconut
1 teaspoon tamarind paste
1/4+ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
salt to taste

Handful of chopped cilantro for garnish.

Throw the lentils and water in a soup pot. Bring to a boil, then add 1/2 the ginger, the carrots, and the sweet potato.

Toast the curry powder in a dry skillet. Set it aside. Heat the oil in the same pan, add the scallions, garlic, hot pepper, bell pepper, remaining ginger, and cherries. Saute for a couple of minutes until everything is really fragrant and add the tomato paste and a couple tablespoons of water. Saute for a couple more minutes. Add curry powder.

Once the lentils are soft, add the spiced tomato paste mixture to the soup. Stir well and then add the coconut milk, tamarind, and dried coconut. Let the soup simmer uncovered until it begins to thicken. Add salt and cayenne pepper to taste and the peas. Let the soup cook another couple of minutes so that the flavors combine and then serve with chopped cilantro if you have it.

Hyderbad Style Vegetarian Biryani

I've received a couple requests for the link to the Biryani recipe I used. You can find it here. I used whole spices and did not grind them...But I'm tempted to try grinding them next time and see if that punches out the flavor a little. Also, it needs acid at the end. A lemon wedge on the side solves this nicely!
(A warning: You'll need at least a 4qt pan to make this in. Don't use a stock pot though. Wide and shallow works best for the steaming...)

Goan (Shrimp) Curry

By popular demand. This is adapted from a pretty basic recipe from the New York Times a few years back--we veggied it up with the additions of eggplant and red bell pepper.

Goan-Style Shrimp Curry
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup canola oil
4 dried red chilies--this time around we used 2 fresh serranos, minced
1 3-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 red bell peppers, sliced
1/2 -1 pound thai eggplants
about a cup of fried tofu
3 cups canned chopped tomatoes, with juice
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 can coconut milk
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro.

1. Place shrimp in a gallon-size resealable plastic bag, and add 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/8 teaspoon black pepper and cayenne. Mix well and refrigerate.

2. In a deep skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat, combine oil and chilies and stir 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1/4 teaspoon black pepper and cook for 1 minute longer. Add ginger, onion, 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt and sauté until onion is soft and translucent, 5 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, ground coriander and turmeric and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add bell pepper, eggplant and tofu and sauté until edges of eggplant begin to brown.

3. Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomatoes. Stir, scraping sides and bottom of pot, for 1 minute. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often.

4. Stir in curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add coconut milk, bring to a boil, and add shrimp. Bring to a simmer and cook until shrimp are opaque, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in cilantro.

If desired, serve with rice.

Curried Tomato Soup

This recipe is slightly adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian. As the first thing that I made in my kitchen after 6 weeks away, I may be giving it more credit than necessary. But, this is a really filling and tasty twist on tomato bisque...

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 tablespoons madras curry powder
2 cups chopped tomatoes (i used a large can of whole italian tomatoes)
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 medium boiling potatoes, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
salt
1/4 cup cream or coconut milk
handful of chopped cilantro and fried onion for garnish

- In a soup pot, heat the oil on medium high until HOT. Add the onions and cook until golden brown.
- Add the curry powder and stir with the onions for 10 seconds.
- Add tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, peas, and salt to taste. Saute for 1-2 minutes.
- Add 4 cups of water (I used water and the liquid from the tomato can to add up to 4 cups) and bring the soup to a boil.
Cover and reduce heat to very low. Let simmer for 45 minutes until vegetables begin to break down.
- Remove soup from the heat and puree until smooth. Jaffrey recommends straining the soup through a seive, but I didn't bother and liked the thick quality of the soup. Were I making this for a party, I'd strain it to make it all silky and fancy.
- Once the soup is pureed, add the cream or coconut milk and stir over low heat to combine. (I used coconut milk, but the recipe calls for 1 cup of cream, but 1/4 cup of coconut milk was perfect for my taste.)
- At this point, I felt that the soup needed a little something, so I added about 1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar and a pinch of cayenne pepper. I think some whole, popped, mustard seed would have been nice too.
- Serve hot with a healthy garnish of cilantro and fried onion.

My favorite fall soup...

So this is actually tonight's dinner, but this recipe is one of my favorites for butternut squash. Tonight we made it with the addition of 2 small chopped apples (added at the beginning with the carrot and onion) and we used half a butternut squash and a whole kabocha squash. Finally, we usually roast the squash while we get everything else chopped and sweated to speed up the cooking process. Enjoy!

Thai Squash Soup

Adapted from Whitehouse Crawford

1 onion sliced

2 carrots sliced

2 cloves garlic chopped

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon butter

2 14 oz cans of coconut milk

1 tablespoon Thai yellow curry paste (I've used green curry paste and red curry paste as well)

1 butternut or similar size squash, peeled and cut into chunks (1 1/2" cubes work best)

1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce (optional)

1 qt. chicken or vegetable stock

Sweat the onion, garlic, carrot and ginger in the butter until soft. Add the coconut milk and the curry paste, and dissolve the paste into the coconut milk. Add the squash and the fish sauce and simmer until the squash is soft. Puree the soup in the blender, adding stock as necessary to achieve the desired consistency. Season soup with salt to taste.

What I would have made if I hadn't had to work...

The recipe below is a fancy version, courtesy of famous Nigella Lawson.
However, if I am in the hurry, I cut it down to the few basic spices (cumin), chopped onion and garlic, ginger, chopped red pepper, a can of chickpeas, a sweet potato and skip coconut milk altogether in favor of 1/2 cup of water. It is still absolutely delicious.

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Curry

2 medium red onions, peeled
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 bird’s eye pepper, Thai chili or other very hot small pepper with its seeds
1 2 ½ to 3 inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into chunks
3 tbsp oil
½ tsp hot red pepper flakes
½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 ½ tsp ground turmeric
3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed (or 1 tsp ground cardamom)
Salt to taste
2 pounds (about 3 medium) sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ to 1 inch cubes
1 ¾ cups coconut milk
1 tbsp tamarind paste
2 ¼ cups vegetable broth
4 to 5 cups (about 4 cans) cooked chickpeas
2 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves

1. In a food processor, combine onions, garlic hot pepper and ginger. Pulse until finely chopped. Place oil in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add chopped onion mixture and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Add hot pepper flakes, and spices. Stir to mix. Add sweet potatoes and stir until well covered in spices. Stir in coconut milk.
3. Dissolve tamarind paste in hot broth and add to pan. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until sweet potatoes are just tender, about 25 minutes
4. Add chickpeas and simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Adjust salt to taste. Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.