Try this Thai Red Lentil Soup recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
- olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves chopped fine
- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 medium yellow onion chopped fine
- 1- inch (2.5-cm) piece of fresh ginger peeled & grated fine
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) double concentrated tomato paste
- sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes more as desired
- 1 can (15-ounce/425 grams) coconut milk water and solids
- 3 cups (.75 l) vegetable broth (i make mine using this ve
- 1 cup (200 grams) dried red lentils rinsed & drained
- handful fresh cilantro chopped, to serve
- wedges of fresh lime to serve
- Carbohydrate 3.63608609375 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.1324573436375 g
- Fiber 0.69108751899004 g
- Protein 0.43286765625 g
- Saturated Fat 0.031605312484466 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (38g)
- Sodium 1.59037499999775 mg
- Sugar 2.94499857475996 g
- Trans Fat 0.0189910937469535 g
- Calories 16 calories
Step-by-step
- Add a swirl of oil to a medium pot. Heat over medium-high flame until shimmering. Add the onion, and sauté until slightly softened, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the garlic and ginger, sautéing until fragrant and barely golden, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the tomato paste. Add the curry, turmeric, red pepper flakes, and season with salt and pepper.
- Stir in the coconut milk and vegetable broth. Add the lentils. Bring to a boil. Reduce flame to a simmer, and cooking until the lentils are very tender, and broken down, 25 to 30 minutes. The soup will be thick, and the lentils broken down a bit.
- Serve hot, topped with cilantro and a squeeze of lime.
- Note for leftovers: The soup thickens as it cools, so you might want to add a little more coconut milk or broth when reheating.
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While traditional Thai curry pastes rely on fresh aromatics like galangal and lemongrass pounded into a dense paste, this soup achieves depth through dry spices and tomato paste built directly in the pot. Unlike green or brown varieties that retain their structural integrity through long cooking, red lentils split easily and dissolve into a starch-thickened purée when exposed to liquid heat for 25 to 30 minutes. Heating the ground curry powder, turmeric, and red pepper flakes directly in oil before adding liquids causes fat-soluble flavor compounds to release efficiently into the base. If fresh ginger is unavailable, substitute ground ginger at a ratio of one-quarter teaspoon for every inch of fresh root, though dried ginger lacks the volatile pungency of the fresh rhizome.
Managing Texture and Substitutions
Achieving the characteristic velvety consistency requires monitoring the starch-to-liquid ratio as the legumes soften. Coconut milk introduces fats that coat the tongue and carry fat-soluble spices across the palate, whereas standard dairy milk would curdle under acidic tomato paste additions. Standard yellow onions provide necessary sweetness to balance the heat of the red pepper flakes, but shallots offer a sharper, more delicate allium profile if swapped in equal weight. When pureeing or simmering thick legume soups, a heavy-bottomed medium pot prevents scorching by distributing heat evenly across the cooking surface without requiring constant manual agitation.
- Add extra vegetable broth or coconut milk in 2-tablespoon increments when reheating leftovers, as starches continue absorbing free moisture during refrigeration.
- Toast dry spices until the mixture turns a shade darker and releases an intense aroma, typically taking under 60 seconds over medium-high heat.
- Stir continuously after adding the double concentrated tomato paste to prevent the natural sugars from burning against the base of the pot.
