Reviewed: Jan. 1, 2008

Very flexible recipe. I made it the first time as written. I have made it several times now and I have altered it a little. I saute chopped carrot with the onion and use twice as much liquid as recipe calls for. I also use 1/2 broth and 1/2 water, leave out added salt if using canned broth. I puree 1/2 the soup and leave the rest chunky. It's also great with fresh spinach thrown in near the end of cooking. Great flavor from the spices and makes the house smell great when it cooks.

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Reviewer:

HAPPYMOM3

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Living In: Anchorage, Alaska, USA

Reviewed: Dec. 18, 2007

I really wanted soup, not stew, so I used instead two cups of chicken broth, two cups of water, only one cup of lentils, double the spices (used garam masala for the cardamom/cumin), and the rest of the ingredients in their original proportions. I also added the spinach in the last ten minutes of simmering time. The day I decide to eat it as a stew with rice or other starch, I'll follow the recipe to a T.

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Reviewer:

Adriana

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Dec. 1, 2007

This was and is an amazing recipe. I did make a couple changes. I added more spices to give it an extra kick. I also only pureed half because I like texture. Also I did have to add more water. Soooo yummy, and healthy to boot!!!!

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Reviewer:

stefenexx

Reviewed: Oct. 29, 2007

I made this recipe with a few changes: 1) Added spinach and fresh basil in the last five minutes of cooking (I recommend this!) 2) Added shreaded meat from a rotisserie chicken near the end 3)Only put about 1/3 of it into a blender to puree 4) Served as a stew over rice It turned out to be a pretty good meal, but not earth-shattering. I enjoyed the combination of spices, which were definitely different and spicy. It's too bad that it didn't really look appetizing. I'm not sure where all the pretty colors come from in the recipe picture, but mine turned out kind of greenish. Overall, I may make this again if I have some lentils leftover from some other dish.

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Reviewer:

Sara

Reviewed: Aug. 12, 2007

This is the most disgusting looking thing I've ever eaten (I used green lentils instead of red ones, which I'm sure didnt help), but it was delicious! However, I did have to add about a cup more water, and used the tomato juice as well. Also, it took about 45 minutes for the lentils to cook.

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Reviewer:

eiraena

Reviewed: Jul. 16, 2007

This was O.K. but I don't think I would make it again. Even when adding extra liquid, this was really thick, so I served it over couscous.

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Reviewer:

Elizabeth

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Brookline, Massachusetts, USA

Reviewed: Jul. 15, 2007

Really delicious! But once the spinach is cooked, it's more a brown stew than a red soup. Next time I'll omit the frozen spinach and serve topped with chopped fresh spinach for better color.

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Reviewer:

Mimi

Reviewed: Apr. 21, 2007

This was okay, but for whatever reason, the cardamom ruined it for me, and I only did 1 tsp. I added 1/2 tsp. of turmeric, 1/2 tsp. of coriander (as someone suggested) and an extra 1/2 tsp. of curry, used chicken broth instead of water (3 cups, not 2) and didn't blend it. The lentils seemed to need about 45 minutes to get soft. I would make this again without the cardamom, and either with more broth to make it soupier, or served over basmati rice using the 3 cups of broth only. It was pretty easy to throw together though.

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