Winter in Israel is very cold and wet. On such days a nice hearty soup is always a good idea. There used to be a lot of nice 5 shekel coffee shops who would also sell a very nice cup of lentil soup. Today very few of these places are still operational and their soup is no longer only 5 shekel.
We recently started making our own lentil soup and the advantage of this is that we can add anything that we want. We discovered that lentil soup with the addition of meat is really yummy. Now we always add meat to our lentil soup and although it takes extra time and effort it is definitely worth it.
What you need
- Slow Roasted Meat
- Lentils (we used brown and red)
- Onions
- Celery
- Carrots
- Olive Oil
- Beef stock
- Salt
- Hawaij Soup Spice – A mix of Cumin, Turmeric, Blackpepper, Cardamom and Clove
- Extra Cumin
- Chutney optional
- Fresh Coriander
First you need to slow roast a cut of meat. We like brisket but any boneless cut of beef that you prefer should work. Add your preferred spices but smoky flavoured spices enhance the taste of the soup. One of our favourites is Sweet Mesquite Seasoning. Add some water to your roasting pan and roast at 125-150 degrees Celsius for a few hours. When the meat is cooked you can either shred it with an electric beater or let it cool and cut it into small 1cm cubes.
We cook our lentils in a pressure cooker with the spices and salt. You could also cook it in a pot but then you need to let the lentils soak for a few hours before hand.
While the lentils are cooking, chop up some onions into small squares. Cut the celery lengthwise once or twice and then chop it into cubes. In a saucepan start frying the onions and celery in olive oil. You can also alternatively fry it in the beef fat that rendered out while roasting.
Peel and cube the carrots and add it to the saucepan. Add some beef stock, or even better, the juices from the bottom of the roasting pan. Cook until the carrots are ready.
When the lentils are done cooking in the pressure cooker some of them get puréed but when cooking on a stovetop this might take a while. You might want to take a stick blender and blend it a bit. Add the meat, onions, celery and carrots. Add chutney to taste.
In Israel we are not fortunate enough to be able to buy chutney from the shops, thus we have started making our own. We have found that adding a bit of our own homemade chutney adds just enough sweetness and acidity for a wholesome taste to the soup.
If the soup is too thick, add some water. Taste it, add more salt or spices if needed.
Serve with some fresh coriander.
