Vegans worldwide love almost all types of grainbased soups and stews. Lentil is a special type of grain. Its richness in terms of vitamins and minerals provides it with specific status. Lentil soup in Iran is so popular as a starter dish and many prefer to have it in breakfast and even for the evening meal. Sportsmen and sportswomen are recommended to regularly eat a bowl of lentil stew everyday. This shows the richness and power of this wonderful soup.
# Dice onion, carrot, and celery and saute in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until onion becomes translucent. I used red onions here as I ran out of white ones. But there is no difference as far as which you choose to use.
# Wash lentils until water runs clear.
# Add garlic, turmeric and coriander to the sautéed vegetables. Continue cooking for about 3 minutes while stirring.
# Add lentils to the pot.
# Add vegetable broth, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes on medium low. Then season with salt and pepper and continue cooking for 15 minutes longer.
#Turn off heat and with a hand blender roughly puree the soup making sure that the vegetables are pureed. I like a rough puree for this soup as having some whole pieces of lentils in each spoonful gives it a bit of body and texture.
# Combine remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cumin seeds and warm on medium heat. As soon as the seeds/oil begin to sizzle and the aroma of the cumin rises turn off the heat.
# Ladle soup in bowls and add 1 teaspoon of the oil and cumin seed mixture on top of each bowl. Serve soup with wedges of lemon and toasted pita bread.
Iranian Appetizers: Barely Soup the Most Popular Starter in Persian Cuisine
