Spicy Lentil & Roasted Butternut Squash Soup: Winter Warmer

Spicy Lentil & Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Half butternut squash….
And half minded me…
Half finished office work…
Half hearted-ness for cooking…

And half an hour later….

2 full, big bowls of soup…
And two satisfied people…
And two big Dagaar’s, ahem, burps…

Now all the mathematicians hear me loud and clear… it’s time you come up with a new theorem that proves ½ = 2… And all you nursery, primary, secondary, higher secondary, college students… time for you to learn another maths theorem… Mu ha ha ha ha…

Ok, I don’t have anything to say today… So without much dilly-dallying with my usual rants and ramblings let me give you today’s recipe.

Remember this Risotto I had posted few days back? Yeah, the very same Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto. I had used half of butternut squash in that and was left with other half. No, not my other half but other half of butternut squash. Since I loved the taste of roasted butternut squash I thought of making another batch of risotto. So I chopped the butternut squash and coated them with oil and pepper and salt. After that I popped them into oven to roast I realised there was no Arborio rice. No it didn’t vanish just like that. I simply forgot that it got over last week itself. My boss is to be blamed for this. No silly, he didn’t take that risotto rice but he is responsible for truck load of work on my desktop and by the time I get back home I look and talk (?) like a zombie.

Since I had no risotto rice I had to think of some other way to use all those delicious roasted butternut squash. I found it difficult to think with my half dead brain and half asleep grey cells. But thankfully other half grey cells were still awake and reminded me of some Soup recipe on some cookery show which I had watched during my usual finger exercise sessions a.k.a. channel surfing sessions. My other half grey cells could vaguely remember some of the ingredients used; some lentils with some spices and some pumpkins…. So with this precious information I went on to make this Spicy Lentil & Roasted Butternut Squash Soup. Yeah, much like our Indian Dal if you ask me with little twist and surprises thrown in between… Very much Fusion cooking… But hey, it is lot simpler and tasted heavenly. And full heartedly I am sending this to Suganya who is hosting Vegan Venture.

Spicy Lentil & Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Print This Recipe

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Spicy Lentil and Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins (Including Roasting time)
Serves: 3-4

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Ingredients:
1 cup Masoor Dal/Red Lentils
1 small Onion, finely chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped
½ inch Ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
½ tsp Turmeric Powder
½ tsp Garam Masala or Any Curry Powder
1-2 tbsp Lemon/Lime Juice (Adjust acc to taste)
½ tbsp Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

For Roasted Butternut Squash and Seeds:
½ medium Butternut Squash, peeled and diced into ½ inch cubes
1 tbsp Oil
Little Salt and Pepper Powder

Spicy Lentil & Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Method:

Pre heat the oven at 200C/400F/Gas 6. Take cubed butternut squash, oil and salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix well. Spread them in a baking tray lined with an aluminium foil and place it on a middle rack of oven and let it roast for 10 minutes. Take it out from the oven and gently mix again and place it on the top rack and let it roast for another 5-10 minutes till it is cooked through.
To roast the butternut squash seeds, simply spread them in a baking tray and place them on a top rack of your oven and let them roast for 3-5 minutes till they turn golden.
While the butternut squash is roasting, wash and cook the masoor dal with turmeric, few drops of oil and 1½ cups of water. Add little water in between if needed and cook till the lentils starts to fall apart, about 10-15 mins.
Take half the amount of roasted butternut squash and add it to the cooked lentils. With a help of stick blender, grind this mixture to smooth. If using food processor or mixer make sure that the dal and squash have cooled little bit. You can also use potato masher to mash lentil and squash mixture. Keep it aside till needed.
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds to it. When it starts to sizzle and turn golden red, add finely chopped onion, garlic and ginger. Sauté till onion turns translucent, about 1-2 mins.
Now add mashed lentil and butternut squash mixture, 2-3 cups of water or vegetable stock and garam masala. Let it cook uncovered for 5-7 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and add more water if needed.
Switch off the gas and mix in other half of roasted butternut squash and lemon juice. Serve them hot garnished with roasted butternut squash seeds and spring of coriander leaves and enjoy with freshly baked bread or even Tandoori Roties.