A hearty, nourishing red lentil soup (also called shurbo cadas) with tomatoes, carrots, and xawaash, popular during Ramadan for breaking the fast. It’s served with muufo or rice.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp xawaash (or mix: 2 tsp cumin, ½ tsp coriander, ¼ tsp black pepper, pinch of cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, ¼ tsp turmeric)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 4 cups vegetable broth or water
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- Lemon wedges, for serving
Preparation
- Sauté aromatics: Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Cook onion until soft (5 minutes). Add garlic and carrot; cook for 3 minutes.
- Add spices and tomato: Stir in xawaash and tomato. Cook until tomato breaks down (5 minutes).
- Cook lentils: Add lentils, broth, and salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes until lentils are soft.
- Blend (optional): For a smoother texture, pulse the soup 1-2 times with an immersion blender, leaving some chunks. Stir in cilantro.
- Serve: Serve hot with lemon wedges and muufo or rice.