Spring Onion, Pumpkin and Lentil Soup

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4 sick days in a row, and it feels utterly miserable. Mostly hiding under the comforter, getting up to go to the hospital, and to pop pills, seems like I am paying a price for all the fun I have been having, in the name of work. 

In the beginning of September, I had tweeted that this month is going to be full of wonderful things which it was. Covering The Economist Summit in New Delhi as one of the Standard Chartered Insiders, the partnership with Cucumbertown taking off, partnering with Ping Network’s India Food Network for my YouTube Channel and finally the talk at the epic WIN15 organized by Blogadda on ‘How to Monetize Your Food Blog’, it’s been a whirlwind of a month alright! 

I don’t know if it is a result of all this frenzy or a general dip in immunity compounded with Bangalore’s legendary cough-cold inducing weather, that I fell baaadly sick Sunday night, just about managing to keep my head above the surface of water and float.

My trusted househelp had to take an off today so I was left to fend for myself. Given a chance, I would have had steaming hot pepper rasam, rice and ghee, but I am not in a position to eat any spice whatsoever, and hence this mild soup. 

Adding spring onions and garlic ensured that it had good flavour nevertheless, plus a good pinch of turmeric for its healing powers and some leftover pieces of pumpkin thrown in to make it more filling. I also like using spring onions in my cooking, for something more than just a garnish, and this soup takes in a fair quantity of it. All vegetables from the allium family are known to ease coughs and colds, and this one has spring onion, onion and garlic. Keeping 3 fingers crossed now!

Come fall (not in my part of the world, of course), pumpkin is the ingredient to reach out for, and this soup will fit in perfectly with your scheme of things. Try this recipe for spring onions, pumpkin and lentil soup, it is simple, homely and heartwarming and it may just be a cure for sniffles too 🙂

Check out my latest video: How to cook Quinoa

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Spring Onion, Pumpkin and Lentil Soup

A simple, warm and comforting soup for the cooler evenings - made using spring onions, pumpkin and lentils

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Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine global vegetarian

Servings 1 serving

Ingredients

  

• 1/3 cup Tur Dal Cooked (Yellow lentils)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup Spring onion greens , finely chopped
• 1/2 Onion small , finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic , finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp ginger finely grated fresh
• 3 tbsps orange pumpkin finely diced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper freshly ground
• 1/4 tsp turmeric ground

for garnish:

• 2 - 3 spring onion juliennes
• 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

to serve:

• 1 whole wheat bread slice
• 1 tsp olive oil

Instructions

 

• To cook tur / toor dal, wash and soak the dal for 30 minutes. Drain the water, add fresh water to cover the dal, pinch of turmeric, few drops of oil and pressure cook, as shown in this video. You can even boil the soaked dal in plenty of water for 45 mins- 1 hour until tender.
• In a deep, heavy bottomed pan, heat the oil. Add the spring onion greens, chopped onion, garlic and ginger. Saute on a medium flame for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the diced pumpkin, salt, pepper, turmeric and saute for 3-4 minutes.
• Add 1.5 cups of water along with the cooked tur dal. Cover and bring to a simmer.
• Allow to simmer for 5-7 minutes.
• Garnish with fresh spring onion juliennes, few drops of extra virgin olive oil.
• Toast the slice of bread on a hot skillet with a bit of olive oil until lightly crisp on both sides, sprinkle with dried herbs and serve over the soup.

Notes

You can substitute toor dal with any other lentils, the faster to cook masoor dal or even soaked split green moong or soaked whole masoor. I've added pumpkin to add a bit of body to the soup and something to chew on, so it feels more wholesome. Potato, zucchini, corn or peas are good substitutes for pumpkin. 

I have held back on the spices but you can go ahead and add a pinch of garam masala or all-spice mix, or a sliced green chilli to this for more heat.

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