Thanks to my friend Johanna for this recipe. It’s delicious, pretty quick, and not too complicated. I sprinkled cayenne pepper on my bowl, and put a pat of butter on it too. Yummy! I got all ingredients at 17th St Market. Their bag of red lentils just happens to be 2 cups. It was meant to be.

Egyptian Red Lentil Soup

5 cups water
2 cup red lentils
1 cups chopped potatoes
2 cups chopped onions
8 large garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
1 tbsp canola oil
2 tsps ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

Directions
Makes 8 1-cup servings

Combine the water, lentils, onions, potatoes. and garlic in a soup pot, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until everything is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In a small saucepan on low heat, warm the oil until it is hot but not smoking. [Optional: Add the cumin, turmeric, and salt and cook, stirring constantly for 2 to 3 minutes, until the cumin is fragrant.] Take care not to scorch the spices. Set aside for about a minute or the oil may splatter when added to the soup. Stir the slightly cooled spices into the soup and add the cilantro.

Working in small batches, puree the soup in a blender (I used the immersion kind of blender). Add the lemon juice. Return the soup to the pot and reheat gently. Add salt and pepper to taste.