Shorbat adas

Ingredients

The soup

• 400 gred lentils
• well rinsed
• 2onions, chopped
• 3garlic cloves, crushed
• 1carrot, chopped
• 1potato, cubed, optional
• 1.8 litreswater or stock
• 3 tablespoonsolive oil

The spices

• 2 teaspoonsground cumin
• 1 teaspoonground coriander
• half a teaspoon turmeric
• a pinch of cinnamon
• optional
• salt and black pepper

To finish

• juice of 2 lemons
• or more, to taste
• extra olive oil
• for drizzling

To serve

• lemon wedges
• fried bread croutons
• chopped parsley
• warm flatbread
• at iftar in Ramadan

Directions

1. Rinse them until the water runs reasonably clear. Red lentils need no soaking before they are cooked. Keep the heat moderate and use a deep pan. Stir it regularly with a long handled spoon. Blending hot soup in a jug blender is genuinely dangerous. Steam expands and can force the lid off entirely. Let it cool a little and fill the jug only half full.
2. Hold the lid down firmly with a folded cloth. It also saves transferring hot liquid between vessels. Keep the blender head under the surface as you work. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy saucepan.
3. Use a pan considerably larger than it seems to need. A large pan prevents that boiling over the sides. Add the chopped onion and cook it until soft. Give it about ten minutes over a moderate heat. Add the crushed garlic and cook it briefly. Garlic burns and turns bitter within a minute.
4. Add the cumin, coriander and turmeric to the pan. Fry them briefly in the hot oil before liquid goes in. Heat releases the aromatic oils in ground spices. Give them about thirty seconds, stirring hard. Add the rinsed lentils and stir them through the oil.
5. Coat every lentil in the spiced oil for a moment. Give them about one minute of stirring in the pan. Add the chopped carrot and the cubed potato now. Pour in the water or stock and stir it through. About one point eight litres suits this amount of lentils.
6. Bring it to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer. Give it about thirty minutes at a gentle simmer. Skim that off during the first ten minutes. Lift it away with a spoon and discard it. Stir it regularly right through the whole simmering. Scrape the bottom as you stir to prevent that. Blend the soup smooth with a stick blender. Blend it in the pot rather than in a jug blender.
7. Keep the blender head fully under the surface. Lifting it out while running sprays hot soup everywhere. Blend it until it is entirely smooth and velvety. The lentils collapse enough on their own for that.
8. Make it slightly looser than you want to serve it. Add hot rather than cold water to keep it hot. Season the soup generously with salt and pepper. Taste it carefully and add salt until it lifts. Add the salt near the end rather than at the start.
9. Take the pot off the heat before adding the lemon. That brightness is exactly what the soup needs. Squeeze the lemon juice in and stir it through. Taste it as you add and stop where it suits you. It should taste clearly lemony rather than faintly so. Salt and lemon need adjusting against each other. More lemon usually needs a little more salt behind it.
10. Taste again after every addition of either one. Ladle the hot soup into bowls to serve. Scatter fried bread croutons over each bowl. Small squares of bread fried in oil until crisp. Add them at the last moment so they stay crisp. Put lemon wedges on the table with the bowls. Serve warm flatbread alongside the soup. It keeps four days refrigerated in a covered bowl.

Technique

• The lemon juice goes in off the heat and the soup must not boil again afterward — boiled lemon juice goes dull and slightly bitter, while lemon added off the heat stays bright and sharp, which is exactly what this soup needs.
• Blending hot soup in a jug blender is genuinely dangerous, since steam expands and can force the lid off; a stick blender used in the pot avoids that entirely. Keep the blender head under the surface, since lifting it out while running sprays hot soup everywhere.
• Lentil soup foams up considerably and thick lentil soup spits as it cooks, so use a pan much larger than it seems to need, keep the heat moderate and stir regularly, scraping the base.

Substitutions

• Red lentils are essential and whole brown lentils do not work here — red lentils are split and skinless and collapse completely, which is exactly what this soup wants. They need no soaking, only thorough rinsing.
• The carrot and potato are both optional and some cooks use neither; the lentils alone give a perfectly good soup. Almost identical soups are made across Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey.

Variations

• Blending is optional: many households leave it unblended, since the lentils collapse enough on their own, and both versions are genuinely made in Palestinian homes.
• Lentils absorb a great deal of salt, so season generously near the end — an under-seasoned lentil soup tastes dull and flat. Salt and lemon need adjusting against each other, since more lemon usually needs more salt behind it.
• It should pour easily rather than sit as a thick paste and it thickens considerably as it stands, so make it slightly looser than you want to serve it. Lemon wedges go on the table for each eater to add their own, since everyone likes a different sharpness.

History

Red lentil soup that breaks the Ramadan fast in most Palestinian homes, served with lemon and bread.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shorbat adas?

Shorbat adas is a soup & stew from Palestine: red lentil soup with cumin and lemon; Ramadan opener. Red lentil soup that breaks the Ramadan fast in most Palestinian homes, served with lemon and bread.

How long does Shorbat adas take to make?

Shorbat adas takes 15 minutes of preparation and 45 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Shorbat adas?

Yes, within limits. Red lentils are essential and whole brown lentils do not work here — red lentils are split and skinless and collapse completely, which is exactly what this soup wants. They need no soaking, only thorough rinsing. The carrot and potato are both optional and some cooks use neither; the lentils alone give a perfectly good soup. Almost identical soups are made across Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey.

What is the most important thing to get right in Shorbat adas?

Bring it to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer. Give it about thirty minutes at a gentle simmer. Skim that off during the first ten minutes. Lift it away with a spoon and discard it. Stir it regularly right through the whole simmering. Scrape the bottom as you stir to prevent that. Blend the soup smooth with a stick blender. Blend it in the pot rather than in a jug blender.