spinach-split pea soup

It is a given that at some point over the winter, the cold and flu bug is going to stop by for a visit.  Sometimes an extended one!  And as February rolled around, my sigh of relief at having given it the slip was premature.  For the past few days, it has been doing rounds in the family, leaving behind scratchy throats, sniffles and blunted taste buds 🙂

At such times, my natural instinct is to make a big pot of peppery rasam and drink it by the glassfuls.  A comfort food with the same reputation as chicken soup for a cure-all 🙂  Brothy, spicy with some black pepper, cumin and coriander seeds, and tangy with some tamarind and tomato.  Especially good when finished off with some fresh cilantro and curry leaves.  For a main meal though, I want something that are bit more substantial and filling.  Usually a soup that comes together with whatever vegetables I have in the fridge and some lentils or beans thrown in.  Because the last thing I want to do at such times is layer up and make another run to the grocery store.

I had just picked up this beautiful fresh spinach for the store a few days back and wanted to cook it before it started to wilt.  Still craving that taste of rasam, I thought of bringing all those elements into the soup.  So in went some green split peas along with the garlic.  And the rasam powder…..to bring enough zing to the dish to wake up those taste buds.

 And since a rasam would be incomplete without some fresh curry leaves, I added those too.  Not as a seasoning though….made into a topping!!  Completely inspired by a conversation I had with a friend who was snacking on some fried curry leaves 🙂  Which intrigued me because most people I know (including me) pick it off their food and put it aside.  So I decided to try something to make it attractive ……..dip them in a little batter and deep-fry them, like a palak patta pakora, because lets face it, everything is fabulous when covered in batter and deep-fried 🙂

These curry leaf fritters ended up being addictive!  You can crush them with your fingertips over the soup if you don’t want them whole.  Also, don’t be afraid of having to deep-fry these.  They did not need too much oil since you can fry them in batches, using a small saucepan with just about 1/4 inch of oil.  The rest of the toppings were my other favorites.  A nut-cumin-black pepper mixture roughly pounded in a mortar-pestle and since I did not have any cream at home, a coconut milk-almond cream.  I also used some of the oil as a topping because it had been infused with the scent of the curry leaves.

I am glad I made enough so there is one bowlful left for my lunch today.  This along with some bread on the side is going to make for a delicious leftover!

Spinach-Split Pea Soup

Printable Recipe

8 cups fresh spinach, tightly packed
1/2 cup split green peas
1 small onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
juice of 1/2 lime or lemon
1 tsp rasam powder (Available in Indian grocery stores)
1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
salt to taste

Rinse the split peas and soak for about an hour (to speed up the cooking)

Chop the spinach roughly and keep aside.

Heat the oil in a large stock pot and add the onions and garlic.  Cook on medium flame until soft.  Add the soaked split peas along with 3 cups of water.

Cook the split peas until they are buttery soft.  It took me about 45 minutes without the pre-soaking.  Add water, a cup at a time, if it is drying up.

Add the chopped spinach, rasam powder and another cup of water.  Cook for about 5 mins more.

You can either puree it with an immersion blender or cool completely if pureeing in the blender (Hot soup can fly…..I learnt the hard way 🙂

Transfer it back to the stock pot.  Add the lemon juice, enough water to bring to a consistency you like and salt and some black pepper.  Bring to a boil.

Pour into bowls, top with some of the nut mixture, fried curry leaves, oil and coconut-almond cream.

Nut Mixture:

1/8 cup slivered almonds
1/8 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds

Pound the black pepper & cumin to a coarse powder (I used a mortar-pestle).  Add the almonds and pumpkin seeds and make into a coarse powder.

Fried Curry Leaves:

3 sprigs of curry leaves
1/8 cup besan (chickpea flour)
1/8 + 1 tsp water
a large pinch of turmeric
large pinch red chili powder
salt to taste
oil to deep-fry

Wash the curry leaves and dry on paper towel.

Make a thin batter with the rest of the ingredients.

Heat oil (about 1/4 inch deep) in a small frying pan or saucepan on a medium-high flame.

Dip each curry leaf into the batter and drop in the oil.  Fry until it floats to the top and changes color very slightly.  You want them to be really crisp.  Transfer onto a plate lined with a paper towel.