Indian Potato Soup

This is a recipe from the book "The Classic 1000 Indian Recipes" edited by Wendy Hobson. This book and it's vegetarian recipes are special to me because it was the first book that I ever followed a recipe from, way back when i was around 12 or 13 years old and what introduced me to learning to cook on my own. The recipes are simple but traditional and full of flavour.

This soup is simple in that it only requires a few ingredients and is spiced mainly with cumin, yet it is so addicted and more flavoursome in my opinion than the standard potato soup. I have been making it for years and it never disappoints me.

15ml/1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of asafoetida (hing)
4 potatoes, diced
1 tomato quartered
salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 cups of non-dairy milk

1. Heat the oila nd fry the cumin seeds and asafoetida until the seeds start crackling (I usually just dry roast them until the seeds darken a little)

2. Add the potatoes and tomato, season with salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the water, bring to the boil and simmer over a medium heat for about 20 minutes. Then puree the soup in a blender or food processor or rub through a sieve. I like to leave some chunky bits of potato for contrast to the smooth texture of the puree.

4. Stir in the milk, return to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes before serving. (I have found with soy milk its best not to return to the boil as the milk can tend to separate instead just warm it up gently.)

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.

Egyptian Style Lentil Soup

This recipe is from Donna Klein's The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen." Apparently it has been a source of nourishment in Egypt since the beginning of history. I think you need to use a good quality vegetable broth for this, and she does not specify what type of lentils to use, but I used brown lentils. 

* this soup tastes great on its own, without the added lemon or the red onion, so its up to you to decide if you want the lemony taste or want to bother roasting the onion 

makes 6 servings

1 small red onion (about 4 ounces) sliced into very thin rings

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium yellow onions (about 6 ounces each) coarsely chopped

5 ounces (about 2 1/2 small) carrots, coarsely chopped

1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped 

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

4 cups vegetal broth (use the recipe posted above, or low sodium canned) 

4 cups of water 

1/2 cups of lentils, rinsed and picked over

1 small dried hot red chili pepper, left whole, or cayenne pepper to taste (optional) 

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

juice of 1/2 large lemon (about 2 tablespoons) 

lemon wedges (optional) 

 Prehead the oven to 425F (220C). Place the red onion in a pan and toss with 2 T oil. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake for 15 min or until  soften and fragrant. (For your health, i don't recommand using foil - use a lid instead) Remove from the oven an dlet stand, covered, until ready to use.

Meanwhile, in a large stockpot, heat the remaining oil over medium-low heat. Add the yellow onions, carrots, celery, garlic, cumin, and fennel seeds and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Add the broth, water, lentils and chili if using, season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Immediately reduce the heat partially cover, and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Uncover and simmer for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally or until the lentils are very tender and the broth is slightly thickened. Remove and discard the chilie. Stir in the reserved red onion and the lemon juice. Season with additional salt and pepper as necessary. Serve hot, passing hte lemon wedges separately if desired.