I love the Winter in Israel. The days are bright and blue and beautiful. I love the rainy days that quickly follow the sun. It makes everything golden, especially in the late afternoon. I love these days when everything is quiet and rested.
The quiet is such a blessing.
a simply golden soup
Inspired from Mysore Style Cooking by V. Sandhya
It is important to use yellow lentils (also known as toor dal and not yellow split peas). You could replace with yellow split moong dal or as I do, half toor and half split moong. Add more or less pepper and lemon until the taste is just right.
Serves 2
ingredients
½ cup split moong dal
3 cups water
1-2 cherry tomatoes, finely chopped
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper (or more to taste)
salt to taste
voggarane
1 Tbsp ghee/oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
⅛ tsp asafoetida powder (hingu)
8 fresh curry leaves
⅛ tsp turmeric powder
juice of half a lemon, or to taste
2 Tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
preparation
1. Rinse the dal until the water runs clear, add 3 cups water, bring to boil, turn down the heat and simmer uncovered for 20 – 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and using a hand blender, puree until smooth (optional).
2. Add the tomatoes, black pepper, and salt, and turn off the heat – set aside.
for the voggarane
3. In a small pan, heat the ghee, add the mustard seeds and fry until they pop and turn grey, then add cumin seeds and asafoetida – fry for a few seconds and add curry leaves and turmeric.
4. Pour the voggarane into the dal, add the fresh coriander and squeeze in the lemon juice to taste.
Serve hot with a drizzling of ghee and rice on the side.
Feeling fatigued? Have a sore throat, sniffles, cough, or headache? This soup will help cleanse and soothe your body of all those ailments. But remember to rest. Eat when you are hungry. Eat slowly…… until you feel soothed. But stop short of familiar feelings of fullness. Leave room to breathe in healing oxygen, and thank the trees for providing it!
Goodness shared from Stacey
