A rich soup packed full of red & brown lentils and tomatoes, livened up with the Thai flavours of galangal, lemongrass and kaffir lime.
Soup is an ideal lunchtime option – you can make it in batches for the week ahead, it’s easy to pack lots of different vegetables and pulses into it, and it can be filling enough to see you through the afternoon. In fact, soup is such an ideal lunch that it can be hard to know what to have in its place come warmer weather. Salads are great but they don’t last so well as a batch and certainly can’t be frozen!
This dilemma got me thinking about soup flavours that would carry well into summer but still retain the heartiness to prevent hunger kicking in only a couple of hours later. Thinking of hotter climes, it struck me that Thai flavours would be perfect. Combined with some less traditionally Thai ingredients, I think this hits the spot.
This recipes uses a Thai panang curry paste. Panang is probably one of my favourite Thai curries; it has a tangy taste, deepened by the aromatic flavours of lemongrass and galangal with a real kick from both red and green chillies. You can make it for yourself or use a shop-bought paste. I would have loved to make my own for this but that always requires quite a bit of forethought in terms of locating the necessary ingredients; I prefer to pick up a pot whenever I’m in an Asian foodstore and keep it in my cupboard for when the mood takes me.
Shrimp paste is a very common ingredient in Thai curry pastes so be sure to check the label before you buy. I found Maesri’s Panang Curry Paste in my local Chinese supermarket which is completely vegan (but very hot!) and I’m sure there are others too. Ingredients:
400g white onion, finely chopped
800g/2 cans chopped tomatoes
150g red lentils
150g brown lentils
3tbsp panang curry paste
1tbsp tomato purée
2 cloves garlic
3cm cube fresh ginger, finely chopped
750ml vegetable stock
1tsp fresh or dried basil
1 fresh lime, to serve
- Add all ingredients, except the basil and lime, reserving 250ml of the stock, to the slow cooker. Mix well
- Cook on high for five to six hours, or on low for twelve hours. About twenty minutes before the end, stir in the basil
- Once the lentils have fully softened, add in the remaining stock and either blend the soup in a liquidiser or using a hand blender
- Slice the lime and squeeze on to serve.
What do you think to soup in the summer? Do you still enjoy it or is it a no-go?