Thai Red Curry and Lentil Soup

This interesting mix of cuisines produces a soup which is wonderfully fragrant, spicy and very moorish. The red lentils melt into the soup and produce a lovely richness. The recipe is one I got from my mother, and I'm not sure where exactly she got it but she said it was from a Donna Hay book.





Serves 4-6

2 tsp peanut oil

1 T Red Thai Curry paste (you can add more if the one you are using is not very spicy but remember the nature and heat of the soup itself will intensify the heat of the chili)

4 cups vegetable stock

2 cups coconut cream

4 Kaffir lime leaves (scrunch these a bit to release the flavour before adding but try not to rip them as it will be hard to remove them later)

1 cup red lentils

100g button mushrooms, quartered (optional)

400g can baby corn, drained (or 100g fresh)

80g snow peas or green beans, halved and cut into 2 cm lengths

1 T sugar


1. Fry the curry paste in the oil for 2 min.
2. Add the vegie stock, coconut cream, Kaffir lime leaves and lentils. Bring to the boil then simmer until lentils are cooked - about 20 min.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients, simmering for 3 min or until vegetables are tender.

Nile River Soup

 This soup is from a highly recommanded site which has many authentic recipes from all aroudn the world, the International Vegetarian Union  http://www.ivu.org

This recipe is very quick to make, perfect for when you don't have many ingredients or you wnat something to warm yourself up on a winter night. The blending of the soup gives it a differnt texture and flavour from other lentil soups.

From roussea

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
• 2 t ground ginger (I used minced fresh ginger)
• 2 t ground cumin
• 2 t ground coriander
• 4 c water or vegetable stock
• 2 slices of lemon (1/4 inch thick or so)
• 1/2 cup canned (or fresh) tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cayenne or to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 T finely chopped fresh coriander leaves (cilantro)

Heat oil in heavy pot on medium high heat.
Saute onion and garlic until softened.
Stir in lentils, ginger, cumin and coriander and coat with onion/garlic mixture.
Add lemon slices, stock, tomatoes, cayenne, salt and pepper
(you can add salt and pepper later, but like to put it in now).

Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover pot and simmer for about 45 minutes (it may only take 30 minutes) or until lentils are tender.
If you like your soup thin, add more stock.
Take the pot off the burner, discard lemon slices, and puree soup in blender or food processor.
Season if you have not already added the salt and pepper.
Sprinkle with coriander (cilantro leaves).
Alternatively, you can add the cilantro before you put the soup in the food processor.
Serves 4.