As December rolls around, there is some friendly elbowing that goes on between soups and khichdi for the spot as my favorite comfort food. Not that I play favorites because with my newly found love of shawls and a piping hot bowl of either of these warming my hands, winter evenings are wonderfully cozy.
Before I go on the soup though, I have to tell you about the gorgeous serveware!
An early Christmas present that came beautifully wrapped, these were made by a dear friend’s daughter in her ceramics class at college. A wickedly creative young lady, she creates magic with everything handmade. Her drawings, henna, sewing, stamping…you name it, she just has a way of crafting beautiful things.
Thank you S. for this beautiful gift that is so precious and will be cherished 🙂
So as soon as I saw the bowls, I knew I had to make something right away to showcase them. Being winter and soup season, a vibrant carrot soup seemed to fit the bill. Seemed practical too because no matter how empty my refrigerator is, you will always find a bag of carrots in there. Many times having seen better days, but still….good enough for soups.
When I tried to look for recipes online, I saw many for curried carrot soups or carrot-ginger soups. While they sounded wonderful, being a home where Indian-spiced food in some form is almost a daily occurrence, I wanted to try something a bit different. And since it was going to be the main dish, I also wanted it to be hearty enough so that we weren’t foraging in the pantry half an hour later. Adding lentils seemed like a good idea to heft it up and the red lentils were a perfect choice, since they wouldn’t muddy the soup.
From then on, it was like an adventure……throwing in things that I could find in the pantry. A solitary potato, half a roasted sweet potato leftover from a previous meal, a small ziploc of leftover coconut milk tucked in a corner in the freezer….all went in, resulting in a silky smooth, hearty and delicious soup.
I served it with some cashew cream blended with coconut milk and a dukkah-like topping made of pumpkin seeds and almonds. For both of those, I just threw in a bit of this and that and so don’t have the exact quantities but will give an approximate amount at the end in case you are interested.
I am done with my Christmas baking (I think) and can now focus on comfort foods to get me through this winter! If you are looking for a warm and filling soup in between all the baking and sugar-highs, this one might just be it 🙂
6-7 medium carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 sweet potato , peeled and roughly chopped – optional
1/2 cup red lentils, rinsed
4 cups vegetable stock or two cubes of vegetable stock
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp apple cider or red wine vinegar
2 tbsp canola oil or any light oil
salt and black pepper to taste
Heat the oil in a stock pot or or a 3-4 quart vessel. Add the shallot and garlic and fry until it turns soft.
Add the chopped carrot, potato and sweet potato (if using) and cook until it is tender.
Add the red lentils and the stock or 4 cups of water and the stock cubes and bring to a boil.
Cook until the lentils are completely cooked, adding more water a cup at a time.
Season with salt, pepper and vinegar. Puree to a smooth mixture. I used my Vitamix but if you are using a food processor or a regular blender, make sure the mixture has cooled to room temperature before blending.
Pour it back into the stock pot and add more water. I like my soups to be a bit on the runny side but you can add enough water to bring it to the consistency you like. Add the coconut milk and bring to a boil.
Top with some cashew-coconut cream and the Dukkah and serve.
Cashew-Coconut Cream
10-12 raw cashews, soaked in hot water for an hour
1/4 cup coconut milk
Blend to a smooth paste.
Topping:
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup toasted almonds
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
salt to taste
Put everything in the small jar of a blender and pulse to give a coarse powder.
