This is a great fall or winter recipe. It’s spicy and hearty. If one wants they can bump up the heartiness by using chicken stock as opposed to vegetable stock but there are those opposed to eating meat, therefore we chose to the vegetable recipe for the book. Moreover, this dish makes a great first course for dinner party. It has an Asian sub-continent flare and goes well with non-Asian dishes. If we were serving this recipe as a first course to a non-Asian themed dinner party we would skip the pappadams.

One of the wonderful things about this dish is that it can be made a head of time and kept refrigerated for 3-4 days. When putting on a dinner party, and working full-time, it’s helpful to make what ever can be made a head of time, not only for coordination of courses but also for the worst part of cooking…clean up.

For the soup:
2 cups red lentils (dried)
3 onions, chopped finely
3 Tbs. vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. Hot Chili oil
8-garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs. grated peeled fresh gingerroot
1 ½ Tbs. ground cumin
2 tsp. hot paprika
½ tsp. Garam Masala
½ tsp. hot Indian (yellow) curry powder
2 bay leaves
2 tsp. ground coriander seeds
5 cups vegetable broth
14 oz. Canned diced tomatoes
Sea salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

Garnish:
Chopped cilantro to taste

For the spiced oil:
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
2 Tbs. Sesame Oil
4 cloves of garlic minced
14-20 dried whole Chinese chili peppers
1 tsp. crushed red peppers
1 tsp. hot Indian (yellow) curry powder

Use fresh coriander (cilantro) chopped for the garnish.

Pappadams can be served as an accompaniment (optional).

Pappadams are crisp lentil wafers, which are fried. Many times they are served as appetizers along with traditional chutneys and relishes in a formal Indian dinner.

For the pappadams:
pappadams (specialty foods shops and sometimes ethnic sections of large food chains)

Vegetable oil for frying the pappadams or sometime they can be found already prepared: take care in frying because they can burn quickly. They also expand greatly in the oil.

Make the soup:
In a large bowl wash the lentils in several changes of cold water until the water runs clear and drain them in a fine sieve.

In a large heavy non-reactive saucepan cook the onions and bay leaves in both oils over moderate heat, stirring, until they are softened, add the garlic and the gingerroot, and cook the mixture, stirring, for approximately 2 minutes.

Add the cumin, curry powder, paprika, Garam Masala and the ground coriander seeds and cook the mixture over moderately low heat, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the lentils, the broth 1 1/2 cups water and the tomatoes; simmer the mixture, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.

Remove the bay leaves.

In a blender or food processor purée the mixture in batches, transferring it to a bowl as it is puréed, return the soup to the pan, cleaned, and season it with salt and pepper. The soup may be made 3 to 4 days in advance and kept covered and chilled. Reheat the soup and thin it, if necessary, with water.

Making the spiced oil:
Warning: never place raw garlic in oil at room temperature or in the refrigerator to store. Due to the facts that garlic is grown in the earth were Clostridium botulinum occurs naturally and garlic’s high sulphur content makes it a magnet for the C. botulinum: aka botulism- a strong potentially deadly neurotoxin.

Before mincing the garlic clean it fastidiously or you can use already chopped prepared garlic; but if using the chopped prepared garlic increase the amount by 50% as the flavor of the prepared garlic is not nearly as strong.

In a small skillet or saucepan heat the oils over moderately high heat until smoking; add the chili peppers. Turn off the heat. Let the peppers sit in the oil for 1 hour. Then remove the peppers. Bring the oils back to hot, but NOT smoking. Add: cumin seeds, garlic and curry powder. Fry the spices, stirring, for 10 to 15 seconds, or until the sizzling begins to subside. Immediately place the mixture in cool skillet to prevent burning. Let stand one hour. Strain the oil through a sieve and cheesecloth or coffee filter.

Note: This oil can be made in larger batches and once strained it sit for 2-3 weeks in a covered bottle. It’s great on other foods as well if you want to spice things up or with fresh French bread as a dipping condiment.

Heat the soup over moderate heat, stirring, until it is hot and ladle it into bowls. Drizzle the spiced oil with a spoon over the soup, garnish each serving with a little chopped coriander, and serve the soup with or without the pappadams.

Make the pappadams:
In a skillet at least 2 inches wider than a pappadam heat 1/2 inch of the oil to 375°F. on a deep-fat thermometer and in it fry the pappadams, 1 at a time, turning them, for 10 to 15 seconds, or until they have expanded and turned pale golden. Transfer the pappadams as they are fried to paper towels to drain. The pappadams may be fried 1 day in advance and kept, covered loosely, at room temperature.

Makes about 12 cups, approximately serving 10.

Variations:
Most people would find this soup to be a bit on the spicy side, it might be too much for those who do not share the Beelzebub tongue of Yarr. But if you like it hot, go for it!

For those who truly must take the road of safety, here is how to keep the flavour and not kill your dinner guests; though admittedly it can be a lot fun watching people suffer and enjoy at the same time. There is a perverse sadomasochistic dominatrix in all of us, it’s only a question of degree: Marquee de Sade or ‘spank me and cal me Sally.’

So without further dissertation here is the safe-word version: do not add the Garam Masala, use all vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil in the soup, substitute mild curry powder for the hot and use sweet paprika. In addition go easy on the oil at serving time. That should be enough to give everyone a good slap-in-the-ass while leaving the cat-o-nine-tail in the closet.