A. Soup. A. Week. Tropical Red Lentil and Raw Green Mango

Mangoes! Coconuts! Pineapples! Bananas! Tropics! Yes!

The last few weeks, I have been busy. But also pre-occupied with my up coming trip to the tropics. The Bahamas!

You can read all about my Bahamas adventures on my flying blog. In celebration of that, I have been concocting this tropical theme soup recipe. Okay I didn’t use pineapples or bananas. But come to think of it, using pineapples is not a bad idea.

In my mind it is a sacrilege to use a raw green mango in anything else other than Mango dal or Mango chutney or pickle. So I had my doubts on how this would turn out and whether I would regret it. But let me put your mind to rest. It was delicious!

Ingredients
1.5 cups red lentils
1 raw green mango chopped
1 cup coconut milk
1 large carrot chopped
2 celery sticks chopped
1/2 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
a small piece of ginger minced
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp red cayenne pepper
touch of turmeric
salt to taste
some chopped cilantro to garnish
some coconut flakes to garnish
1-2 tbsp oil
4-5 cups of broth or water

Heat a large pot or dutch oven. Add oil and onions, garlic and ginger and fry lightly for 5 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add chopped mangoes, carrots and celery and fry lightly for another minute or two. Add coconut milk, 4-5 cups of  broth or water, turmeric, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce flame, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.

If you like your soup in puree form, you can puree it after cooling.I like mine chunky and left it so. If you like coconut milk you can certainly add another cup while cooking.

Garnish with some chopped cilantro, coconut flakes and a dash of cayenne pepper. Serve warm and enjoy a touch of the tropics on a cold winter’s day!