Zupa

I'm just an ordinary American girl living in Poland with a fancy at current for curry. My pantry is quaintly stocked with the ingredients to make Dahl whenever the mood should strike. Which hasn't been since Wednesday... So today to mix things up a little, I came up with a Red Lentil Curry Soup.

Red Lentil Curry Soup

   To make the argument that this is indeed assuming of my life in Poland, I can say that soup is very common here. In the region in which we live, two of the common soups (zupa) are Zurek and Beet. Zurek is a rather lovely and delicate sour rye soup with sausage and hard-boiled eggs. Beet soup is just that, a purple broth with a sour vinegar note. My soup contains none of these ingredients but I did prepare it in my little Polish kitchen. So, just maybe it can be crowned zupa...

Red Lentil Curry Soup Zupa

1 tablespoon oil (sunflower)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1 small sweet red pepper, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 cups water
1 small can coconut milk (165 ml)
1 can (15 oz.) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 cups red lentils, rinsed
1 heaping tablespoonful curry paste
1 heaping teaspoonful green curry paste
1 cup spinach leaves, rolled and thinly sliced (chiffonade)
3/4 cup frozen peas
Lime wedges and Greek yogurt

   Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and red pepper and cook for about 5 minutes or until onions have sweat. Stir in the garlic, cinnamon stick, salt, ginger and cayenne; cook for another minute or until fragrant.

   Add the water, coconut milk, chickpeas, lentils and curry pastes. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes or until lentils are tender. Stir in the spinach leaves and peas; cook until spinach is wilted. Remove the cinnamon stick and season to taste with additional salt. Squeeze lime wedges over servings and dollop with yogurt.

Smacznego! (Bon appetit!)