True Moroccan Lentil Soup

Total Time: 2 hrs Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 8 cups water
• 1 cup small brown lentils or 1 cup green lentil, small
• 1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight
• 1 cup small beans, soaked overnight
• 4 tomatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 2 teaspoons fresh medium grind black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or 1 tablespoon mild extra virgin olive oil

Recipe

• 1 in a large soup pot, stew pot or dutch oven cook the chick peas and beans seperately until just tender.
• 2 using a smaller pot, cook the lentils for 20 minutes and drain the beans and lentils.
• 3 in the same pot, saute the onions, garlic*, ginger, paprika and cumin approximately 5 minutes in the oil. i use the olive oil for this one as the moroccan home cooks who i know will allow this cooking of olive oil rarely and for this recipe.
• 4 add the water, lentils, chick peas, beans, tomatoes, carrots, pepper and cumin, black pepper and salt to taste. our black pepper used in a teaspoon will impart some good spicy heat to the dish. should your black pepper not do this then please add a bit more black pepper as we do not use cayenne here.
• 5 bring to a boil for a 5 minutes and simmer 3/4 covered 1 to 1 1/2 hours or longer, until the beans and lentils are soft but not mushy.
• 6 i have seen mny similar recipes on the internet stating to puree some of the soup and return it to the pot. while this is a nice idea, most moroccan homes do not have a blender and this soup is not intended to be made as such.
• 7 prep. time does not include soaking and pre-cooking the beans.
• 8 * omit the garlic if using for ramadan.