This recipe calls for medium curry powder, but it’s flexible. If the one you have is mild or very spicy, adjust the heat level with more, or less, red pepper flakes.
Recipe information
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
2
1
2
1
1
¼
¾
1
½
1
Preparation
Step 1
Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium. Cook onion, stirring often, until softened and golden brown, 8–10 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, curry powder, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add lentils and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add tomatoes, ½ cup cilantro, a generous pinch of salt, and 2½ cups water; season with pepper. Set aside ¼ cup coconut milk for serving and add remaining coconut milk to saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until lentils are soft but not mushy, 20–25 minutes. Season soup with more salt and pepper if needed.
Step 2
To serve, divide soup among bowls. Drizzle with reserved coconut milk and top with more cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.
Step 3
Do Ahead: Soup (without toppings) can be made 3 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill.
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Reviews (259)
Back to TopThe recipe on it's own is pretty bland. I also had an issue of the lentils absorbing way too much water that the end result was more of the consistency of a curry than a soup. To be fair, I live in a really dry climate so maybe that had something to do with it. I ended up adding garam masala, paprika, garlic and onion powder, corriander, garlic bullion and a jalapeño to liven it up and that made it much more flavorful. It lacked so much depth without all the extra spices. I'm adding the altered recipe to my rotation, it was really freaking good, but the original recipe is very mediocre on flavor.
Anonymous
Colorado
6/9/2024
I made this roughly as written, and it still turned out great! I wholly misread the amount of garlic, added 5 cloves instead of 2 - happy I did it! I used half an onion I had in the fridge and another small shallot to make about a medium onion. I used green lentils instead of red (grocery store was all out) and it worked great, maybe just needed to cook a little longer than described. I added the whole can of coconut milk to the soup and didn't save any to garnish. I added the juice of one whole lime at the end, off the heat instead of serving with wedges. Finally, I wanted a more homogenous texture so I blitzed the soup with an immersion blender for a few seconds; just enough to blend but still left it chunky. Very good!
Molly
Boston
1/10/2024
My wife made a double serving of this to stock up for a little while. Bless. I understand everyone has different spice tolerances but we quadrupled the cayenne and it was just about perfect for us (bit of lingering sting, nothing to cry, or sweat about). This soup is very very good, especially with a slice of buttered multigrain. Also, no yogurt necessary. 5 stars.
JJ
Milwaukee, Wi
10/25/2023
Delicious!
Kara
Washington state
6/13/2023
Amazing flavors and quick preparation. Win Win! I make this often.
Anonymous
Reno NV
4/24/2023
I made this today. I added red curry paste. I served it with naan. It was very good!
Rebecca
4/8/2023
We love this soup! Use vegetable or chicken broth instead of water. Don't stint on the ginger! To serve, place a generous handful of baby spinach in the bowl and ladle hot soup over it. Adds texture, color and nutrients. A real winner!!
Rebecca
Cambridge, MA
3/23/2023