An earthy red lentil soup with coconut milk will brighten your table on these gloomy November days. In Paris, where it’s been gray and cold for weeks, we actually had November in October and now we have December in November. My neighbors across the street have already turned off their Christmas lights and I’m seriously considering starting a fire in the fireplace tonight. Just to create some cheer in this sad season…
Red lentil soup / Red lentil soup
The funny thing about red lentil soup is that neither the lentils nor the soup are actually red. French for “red lentils” – coral lentilsor “coral lentils” – is more accurate for raw lentils. But once cooked they become ocher, and in this recipe the addition of turmeric enhances their yellowness. The soup is also flavored with fresh ginger, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper and coconut milk. Fresh cilantro adds another burst of flavor.
This healthy soup is similar to Indian soup put the massbut here the lentils are blended briefly — you pulse the legumes (sorry, couldn’t resist) — and add the coconut milk. It’s a great lunch dish on a raw day, perhaps accompanied by a watercress salad (also vegan) or melted cheese on toast, or followed by roasted winter vegetables or a cauliflower gratin.
I was surprised just now to discover that I have posted very few Indian style recipes on this site. This is strange, because Indian cuisine is very popular with us and often appears on our table. My favorite book is Mahdur Jaffrey’s Indian cuisinewhich was given to me many years ago by a British friend and is now available in an updated 40th anniversary edition. Favorite recipes include tandoori style chicken, Gujerati carrot salad (with black mustard seeds, delicious), Rogan Josh (spicy lamb stew) and prawns with courgettes.
While I love Indian and other Asian cuisines and post them occasionally, most of the recipes here are French or French-inspired, because that’s what this site is about. Yet you only have to walk the streets of Paris to see how passionately the French have embraced the food of other cultures. Within 250 meters of my house there are restaurants serving cuisine from Thailand, Italy, Spain, Korea, Japan, China, Vietnam, Russia, Cuba, Antilles and, yes, India.
Very often these distant cuisines are presented with a French touch. There is never a shortage of wine and the dishes follow one another in typical French style: starter, main course and dessert. The price of a three-course meal at lunchtime can start from 15 euros. In this cold season of global conflict, I feel fortunate to live in a city with such abundance and openness to the foreign – a city that, at least for now, remains at peace with the world.
Good cooking.
