Friday, June 08, 2012

Coconut and carrot soup with lime and basil

Kookose-porgandisupp laimi ja basiilikuga / Coconut and carrot soup with lime and basil 
I know, I know. It's summer and you're probably wondering why would anyone write about soothing vegetable soups, no?

Well, here's a flavoursome and vegan and gluten-free soup that'd be perfect for those slightly cooler summer nights that we are (at least here in Estonia) bound to encounter every now and then. It's mostly store-cupboard ingredients, so a lovely stand-by recipe. Somehow the coconut and carrots and basil and lime together are very refreshing, and surprisingly suitable for summer months. We thought it worked also well as a cold soup, but that's up to you.

The recipe is adapted from Lina's Matkasse, a popular Swedish grocery-and-recipe delivery service.

Coconut and carrot soup with lime and basil
(Kookose-porgandisupp laimi ja basiilikuga)
Serves 4 to 6

350 g carrots
1 medium onion
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
220 g red lentils (about 1 cup), rinsed and drained
1 litre vegetable stock
thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
400 ml coconut milk
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1.5 tsp cumin seeds, ground
1.5 tsp coriander seeds, ground
0.5 tsp salt
1 lime, juiced
a pinch of chilli flakes (I used Aleppo chili)
a handful of fresh basil leaves

Peel or scrub the carrots and cut into 1 cm slices. Peel and chop the onion.
Heat oil in a heavy saucepan, add the onion and fry for a few minutes. Add the carrots and lentils and a sprinkle of salt, sauté for another few minutes.
Now add the vegetable stock, grated ginger, crushed garlic, cumin and coriander seeds as well as the coconut milk. Bring into a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes, until the lentils and carrots are soft.
Process the soup until smooth (I prefer a jug blender, but an immersion blender would work as well). Season to taste with salt, lime juice and chilli flakes.
Garnish with basil leaves and serve.

EDIT November 29, 2012: Lydia Walshin featured this recipe on her SoupChick blog. Thank you, Lydia!

6 comments:

Katarina said...

Yummy! Great flavors!

ScienceMel said...

This sounds wonderful!

Elizabeth K-M said...

In week-end I did the coconutcarrot-lentil soup and hubby loved it!

mibistec said...

Thanks for the recipe! down here (southern hemisphere) is quite cold, hence I'll definitely try it this week :)

Jenny said...

Wow, I can't help drooling. I just love the coconut and carrot soup
Well done!
If you submitted your coconut and carrot soup with lime and basil photos to http://www.foodporn.net , I'll bet they will make you on the home page.
Gosh, you have made me sooo hungry !

SallyBR said...

Delicious take on carrot soup! Lime is an addition I normally include, but coconut? Never. Gotta definitely try it...
(so Brazilian! ;-)