This week,for the Blogging Marathon, I am doing ‘International Cuisine’. Out of the three choices provided, I chose the African cuisine [the other two choices – European and Oceania cuisine ]. The moment I decided to do this theme, Egypt came to my mind and then I finalised three dishes from this ancient city.
After preparing, the first dish yesterday, I had a sudden doubt. Was Egypt classified under Middle East or Africa!! This sort of doubt shouldn’t arise, especially after getting the first dish done!
As usual , I googled to check the geography of the much loved country. Wiki says that Egypt is a transcontinental country that is located in the northeastern corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia and is connected to these two continent by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is one of the most populated country in Africa and the Middle East with the majority of the population living along the Nile River.Having read this, I settled my doubt on Egypt and I went ahead and categorised it as an African country.
If you are wondering why I am so much into Egyptian cuisine and taking the trouble to find its location and all, I must tel you I have a special place in my heart for this country. I know you are intrigued ! But I will tell you about it in my next post.
So for today, it is a simple Red Lentil soup that I made after referring several recipes. As with any recipe, this one too has a lot of variations and I prepared my variation too to add to the list….
I used:
Red lentils / Masoor dal- 1/2 cup
Vegetable stock-4 cups
Carrot-1, peeled and roughly chopped
Onion-1, peeled and roughly chopped
Garlic- 5 pods
Cumin seeds- 1 teaspoon
Butter- 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder- a pinch
Red chili powder- 1 teaspoon
Salt to taste
To garnish
Onion-1, finely sliced
Oil- 1 tablespoon
Coriander leaves, chopped
Red chili powder
1.Heat oil in a pan and add the onions. Saute it till it turns golden brown.Drain excess oil and keep aside.
In a pressure cooker take the stock, onion, carrot , garlic and red lentils. Pressure cook for 3 hisses / 15 minutes/ till the lentil is well cooked.Reserve the stock and remove the vegetables and lentils and puree it in a blender.
Heat butter in a pan and add the cumin seeds.When it crackles, add the lentil puree .Add the turmeric powder, chili powder and salt. Mix well. Add the reserved stock / more water and bring to a boil.
Serve hot garnished with the fried onion, coriander leaves and sprinkle some red chili powder…..
Take a look at the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM #36
Healthy and delicious soup.
Looks awesome PJ, knowing the reason behind this selection makes it all the more interesting to read all that details you have given, as always great efforts..
Such an interesting and flavorful soup 🙂 very inviting one dear 🙂
This red lentil soup has so many variations in many cuisines. This Egyptian version looks equally delicious.
The fried onion topping is a super addition. Nice soup.
Soups are my new found love !! Love soups in any cuisine specially with masoor dal!
those north african countries like Egypt and Morrocco are so confusing. Eventhough they are geographically located in Africa, their cuisine and culture is more the Middle East.
This soup would hit the spot with the freezing temperatures we are having here!