Recipe from Life Kitchen by Ryan Riley, published by Bloomsbury.
Ingredients - Serves: 8
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, sliced
a thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled & grated
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
4–5 curry leaves
250g red split lentils, rinsed & drained
400g can of chopped tomatoes
400g can of chickpeas, rinsed & drained
100g spinach, or kale, stalks removed
juice of ½ lemon
2–3 tablespoons coconut yoghurt or coconut cream, optional
fresh coriander leaves
salt flakes & freshly ground black pepper
For the coriander dressing
juice of ½ lemon
25g coriander
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Method
Heat the olive oil in a large pan and sauté the onions, over a low heat, for 10 minutes, until softening. Add in the garlic, ginger, spices and curry leaves. Fry for a further few minutes. Add the lentils along with 1.25 litres of water. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a boil over a medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the soup for 20 minutes.
Finally, add in the chickpeas and spinach and squeeze in the lemon juice. If using, dollop in the coconut yoghurt. Season with salt and pepper.
Make the dressing by adding the ingredients along with 50ml of water to a mini food processor and blitzing until creamy.
Serve the soup with generous amounts of dressing and some fresh coriander to garnish.