Curried lentil and vegetable soup (V)

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This substantial soup has been adapted from Mrs Maureen Kirkland's recipe for Rumpy-pumpy soup which appears in The Hairy Bikers' book, Mum's Know Best (ISBN 0297860267). Maureen's original recipe was created as a way to get her children to eat vegetables, but my adaptation is more gutsy.

Ingredients

• 2 tbps peanut or other oil
• 1 large Spanish onion, peeled and diced
• 4 bulbs garlic, peeled and diced
• 300 g carrots, scraped and sliced
• 220 g swede, peeled and cubed
• 550 g potatoes
• A pinch of sugar
• 150 g orange lentils
• 1½ teaspoons curry spice mix 1
• 4 teaspoons curry spice mix 2
• 1.4 litres vegetable stock
• 350 g Brussels sprouts, trimmed and cleaned
• Seasoning

Method

1. Heat the oil over a high heat in a large pan.
2. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, swede and potatoes, reduce the heat to low and stir.
3. Cover, and allow to stew until the onions are soft. Add the sugar and cook until parts of the vegetables are slightly brown.
4. Stir in the lentils and spice mixes and cook for about a minute.
5. Add the stock and brussels sprouts, bring to the boil and allow to simmer until all the vegetables are cooked.
6. Season to taste.

Serving suggestions

This can be served as a first course, or it would make an excellent lunch if served with some home-made bread and salad.

Variations

Use different vegetables, according to season and vary the type of spice mix by using jerk seasoning. Froxen Tex-Mex spice mix etc. Frozen Brussels sprouts are fine, but add them about 10 minutes before the end of the stimated cooking time. The soup can be left as it is or can be liquidised.