Green Lentil Soup with Coconut Milk and Indian Spices
Green Lentil Soup with Coconut Milk and Indian Spices. A flavor-packed comforting lentil soup recipe!
Oh, lentil soup! One of my absolute favorites. All I need in the world is a good bowl of soup, and a crusty piece of bread. I could live on the stuff.
I’ve talked about my love of lentil soup (and side of grilled cheese) before. My mom makes one of my favorite lentil soups ever. It is Italian-icized (as is the case with most of my family’s dishes) with the addition of leftover parmigiano-reggiano rinds in the broth and good-quality canned tomatoes. It was one of my favorite dinners growing up.
Today’s green lentil soup with coconut milk and Indian spices is the polar opposite of that version. It is a little exotic and mysterious, but just as addicting and comforting.
Every now and then, I have to remind myself to break out of my soup routine and make something really unique and different. This green-lentil soup is that and more. The recipe is barely adapted from one of my older (yet well-loved) cookbooks, Once Upon a Tart.
The cookbook, based on the two authors’ cafe in New York City, is chock full of satisfying and comforting soup, tart, pastry, and sandwich recipes.
This lentil soup is rich and creamy, yet still manages to be light and delicate, if that makes any sense at all. It also uses my favorite type of lentil: lentilles de puy, more commonly known as a French green lentils. They become tender in a relatively short amount of time (20 to 25 minutes), but don’t lose their shape, unlike most other lentil varieties.
The soup gets its creaminess from the addition of full-fat coconut milk and, wait for it…GHEE!
Is yesterday’s crazy-long butter post starting to make sense now? I’ve actually been wanting to do that for a while. I mean, why wouldn’t I want to talk about butter for paragraphs and paragraphs on end?
Exactly. But really, there was a reason behind the madness, and it was in preparation for today’s recipe.
What’s the fun in posting a recipe that calls for ghee (or at least recommends it, don’t worry, it can easily b e substituted with regular butter), if–and I’m not making any assumptions–you don’t know what it is, how to make your own, or have never even heard of the stuff. That is not helpful in the slightest.
Now that you know how to make ghee, you’re probably wondering how it is incorporated into this recipe?
Well, warm and cozy fall spices, including cardamom, cinnamon, and nutmeg, are toasted and warmed with a touch of melted ghee and stirred into the soup just before it is finished cooking. I kind of love it.
It makes the spices stand out more (maybe I’m imagining it, but it at least seemed that way!) and makes for a very fragrant and intoxicating soup! The combination of the ghee, spices, and coconut milk are the perfect trifecta.
Make this soup for a crowd and I guarantee you everyone will be scratching their heads, wondering what is in it that makes it taste so darn special, and even better…coming back to you to ask for a copy of the recipe.
Also, as is the case with practically all soups, this one tastes even better on day two or three!
Green Lentil Soup with Coconut Milk and Indian Spices
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons (45g) unsalted butter
- 1 large yellow onion finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves finely minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves finely chopped
- 1½ teaspoons ground turmeric
- 1½ quarts (6 cups) low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
- 1½ cups French (Puy) green lentils rinsed and picked over
- 2 tablespoons ghee, clarified butter, or unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- pinch ground nutmeg
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup (240 mL) full-fat coconut milk
- kosher salt
Instructions
- Heat the unsalted butter in a large soup pot. Add the diced onion and garlic, and sauté over medium-high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are very soft and translucent. They will reduce in volume significantly.
- Add the fresh thyme and turmeric, and continue to sauté for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or until the mixture is very soft and fragrant.
- Add the stock and lentils and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the lentils are tender yet still hold their shape.
- In a small saucepan, heat the ghee (clarified butter or melted unsalted butter) over low heat. Add the spices and freshly ground black pepper, and sauté, stirring constantly for 2 minutes or so, until the butter is fragrant. Watch the pan, as it can quickly go from fragrant to burned if not careful.
- Add the spiced butter mixture to the soup. Pour in the coconut milk, stir everything together, and heat the soup over medium heat for 15 minutes. Season soup with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
83 Comments on “Green Lentil Soup with Coconut Milk and Indian Spices”
This was really delicious, almost a Dahl. I got lots of compliments, even from a hard to please other half x
Thank you for the recipe! It was AMAZING!! I tried using my homemade cashew milk instead of coconut and it was really good!! I also made jeera rice along with this and it felt like I was eating at an authentic Indian restaurant!! I really recommend making jeera rice and trying this combination!
I can’t wait to try this combo! Thank you for the great feedback, I really appreciate it!
This is ridiculously DELICIOUS!!! Can it be frozen?
Absolutely! Just leave a little space at the top of the container and allow to thaw in the refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours before rewarming gently. You will probably need to add a touch of water/vegetable broth to thin it!
Do you need to soak or prep the dried lentils beforehand?
I am so excited to try this recipe!!
No, these are Puy lentils, they cook in a very short amount of time and never need soaking. Hope this helps!
I have made this soup so many times. I am not a lentils fan but this soup is something that I crave for. This recipe is a keeper!
So happy to hear that! Thank you!
Hi there! I love to make soups, but I find it hard to get the full flavor. I made this recipe today, and it is amazing! Full, vibrant flavors… and very filling. I loved infusing the ghee/ butter with the spices. I am going to use this technique with other recipes. Thanks so much!
So glad you enjoyed it!
This is delicious! Definitely a keeper, even if it was a bit too exotic for some of my family members’ tastes. (Which means more leftovers for me; hardly a tragedy!)
I combined it with your slow cooker green lentil soup recipe in that I included carrots and ginger. I also added an extra pinch of some of the “baking” spices after getting overwhelmed by the scent of the turmeric at first. Having tasted it now, I probably could have simply trusted the recipe, but I also have no regrets!
So glad you enjoyed it!!! Thanks so much for the review!
This was really good!
Hello! I made this recipe this morning as written, thinking it was similar to a recipe I had lost from long ago. While it was delicious, I wondered what could be missing – perhaps you forgot to add? It needs 2 Teaspoons of Coriander and 1-2 Teaspoons of Cumin. Try it next time-I think you’ll agree wholeheartedly!
Hi Dorinda. No, this is the original recipe – you might have me confused with another blog. It is not meant to include either of those spices, but happy to hear that you enjoyed your own adaptation.