Dishes in southern India frequently include the use of coconut. You can enjoy this soup recipe on its own or serve it as a South Indian “sambar” or “kootu” over rice. Recipe from Coconut Oil for Health and Beauty* by Cynthia and Laura Holzapfel (Book Publishing Co.), reprinted by permission.
Serves: 4
- 1 cup yellow split peas
- 4 cups water
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
- ½ cup grated coconut
Simmer the split peas in the water until soft and breaking apart, about 45 minutes. Add more water as needed, should the soup get too thick.
Heat the coconut oil in a separate medium sauté pan, and add the turmeric, ginger, and cumin seeds, stirring until the seeds just begin to pop. Turn the heat down to low and sauté the chopped onion and garlic until lightly brown. Toss in the grated coconut and combine.
Add the sautéed mixture to the split peas, bring to a simmer, and serve.
Variation: Add vegetables such as a sliced carrot or two, a cup or so of sliced mushrooms, or a stalk or two of diced celery to the soup — or any combination of these. Combine them with the peas and water in step one. Add an extra ½ cup of water if using any of these veggies.
- Explore other recipes for hearty winter soups.
- Here are more recipes using healthy lentils and peas.
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Melissa says
Sorry, I was really hopeful that this recipe would be good, but it's very bland, and I do mean VERY. I even tried adding a little salt to help it out, but that it did not. Hopefully I'll have more luck with another recipe here, but for this one, I'll pass.
Nava says
Melissa, so sorry about the outcome of this recipe, which is contributed. I can assure you, we have much better recipes! I will tweak the recipe so that other readers have better luck with it, or I might just remove it, as we've posted better pea soups, such as this: http://www.vegkitchen.com/recipes/golden-curried-pea-or-red-lentil-soup/ or this: http://www.vegkitchen.com/recipes/split-pea-soup-with-barley-and-vegetables/
In the meantime, since you probably still have some of this soup on hand, you can improve the flavor by doing a sauté of onions and garlic in a little olive oil; add a couple of teaspoons of an all-purpose seasoning blend like Spike and Mrs. Dash, salt and pepper, of course; a minced herb like parsley or cilantro, and maybe even 2 or 3 big handfuls of baby spinach or arugula.
Melissa says
Thanks for the feedback and suggestions Nava. And no worries, sometimes this is how things go with trying new things. It won't steer me away from the website though, some recipes look too good not to try.
At the very least, I'd say this recipe needs some broth (and perhaps a little more in the way of spices). Thankfully this didn't make a large amount, so I may be able to make do with a few of your meal saving tips, and then just move on to something else.
Thanks again,
Happy Holidays!
Gina A. says
We have had 90+ degree days here in Ohio and the other day we still made Roasted Veggie Minestrone. Soup is always wondeful!! This soup looks awesome!!! Will be making it soon!