Lentil soup with a twist

I found this incredible recipe on Cookbooks 101. It is so delicious. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Another good soup to add to my collection..... Serve with Naan or wheat rolls and you have a yummy and easy meal for the fam.

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

1 cup yellow split peas
1 cup red split lentils (masoor dal)
7 cups
1 medium carrot, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 tablespoons fresh peeled and minced ginger
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons butter or ghee
8 green onions (scallions), thinly sliced (you can also use a yellow onion)
1/3 cup golden raisins (optional)
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 14-ounce can coconut milk
2 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
one small handful cilantro, chopped

Give the split peas and lentils a good rinse - until they no longer put off murky water. Place them in an extra-large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the carrot and 1/4 of the ginger. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the split peas are soft. You may need to add a little water throughout to keep it from getting too thick.

In the meantime, in a small dry skillet or saucepan over low heat, toast the curry powder until it is quite fragrant. Be careful though, you don't want to burn the curry powder, just toast it. Set aside. Place the butter in a pan over medium heat, add half of the green onions, the remaining ginger, and raisins. Saute for two minutes stirring constantly, then add the tomato paste and saute for another minute or two more.

Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato paste mixture, mix well, and then add this to the simmering soup along with the coconut milk and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so. The texture should thicken up, but you can play around with the consistency if you like by adding more water, a bit at a time, if you like. Or simmer longer for a thicker consistency. The thicker this soup got, the more I liked it.

***I made a couple of adjustments to this recipe. I used all yellow split peas and I added the curry powder to the onion and butter mixture instead of toasting it first. I also added 1 veggie bouillon cube after the peas were tender. The soup turned out great.