Secret Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 8 cups water
- 1 cup small brown lentils or 1 cup green lentil, small
- 1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight
- 1 cup small white beans, soaked overnight
- 4 tomatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
- 2 teaspoons fresh medium grind black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or 1 tablespoon mild extra virgin olive oil
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Directions
- In a large soup pot, stew pot or dutch oven cook the chick peas and white beans seperately until just tender.
- Using a smaller pot, cook the lentils for 20 minutes and drain the beans and lentils.
- In the same pot, saute the onions, garlic*, ginger, paprika and cumin approximately 5 minutes in the oil. I use the olive oil for this one as the Moroccan home cooks who I know will allow this cooking of olive oil rarely and for this recipe.
- Add the water, lentils, chick peas, white beans, tomatoes, carrots, pepper and cumin, black pepper and salt to taste. Our black pepper used in a teaspoon will impart some good spicy heat to the dish. Should your black pepper not do this then please add a bit more black pepper as we do not use cayenne here.
- Bring to a boil for a 5 minutes and simmer 3/4 covered 1 to 1 1/2 hours or longer, until the beans and lentils are soft but not mushy.
- I have seen mny similar recipes on the internet stating to puree some of the soup and return it to the pot. While this is a nice idea, most Moroccan homes do not have a blender and this soup is not intended to be made as such.
- Prep. time does not include soaking and pre-cooking the beans.
- * Omit the garlic if using for Ramadan.
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