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Dhal Soup

Adapted from my grandmother Ada de la Harpe's cookery book this soup had body and flavour to spare - and it's simple to make
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Course: Soup
Cuisine: Sri Lankan
Keyword: dhal, soup
Servings: 4 people

Equipment

  • 1 Saucepan
  • 1 Kitchen knife
  • 1 mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder
  • 1 set of measuring cups for dry goods
  • 1 teacup

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup red dhal
  • 6 cups water
  • 1 tomato
  • 10 cm celery stalk
  • 1 small carrot
  • 1 small parsnip
  • 1 bunch nettles Optional
  • 1 eating spoon coriander seed
  • 1 eating spoon Maldive fish Optional - you could also use dry prawns
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 stick cinnamon A 5 cm stick
  • 2 tablespoons thin coconut milk Thinned coconut cream works well
  • 2 shallot onions You can substitute a small brown onion

Instructions

  • Chop the carrot and parsnip into small pieces
  • Chop the celery into thin pieces crosswise
  • Chop the tomato roughly
  • Strip the leaves off the stalks of nettles if using them
  • Peel and slice thin the shallots or brown onion
  • Grind coriander seeds roughly
  • Pound/grind the Maldive fish very fine if using
  • Add everything to the saucepan with the dhal except the shallot/onion
  • Add a pinch of salt to the saucepan
  • Let all of this boil for 15 minutes. The water should reduce down by about a third,if not boil a little longer
  • Add the coconut milk to the soup
  • Serve with a sprinkle of shallot/onion each on each plat of soup

Notes

Ada de la Harpe's dhal soup