Name: Lentil Soup (Shorbat ‘Adas)
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Cuisine: Iraqi
Ingredients: Chopped parsley; 2 tablespoons olive oil; Add salt, black pepper, and broken noodles if used. Stir well. Keep simmering, and stir occasionally to prevent soup from sticking to the bottom of the pot until soup is nicely thickened, about 15 minutes.; Put lentils in a heavy medium pot, and cover with 4 in/10 cm cold water (about 10 cups/2.5 liters). Bring to a quick boil, skimming froth as needed. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until lentils are thoroughly cooked, about 30 minutes. For a creamy texture, whisk the mixture with a wire whisk until smooth.; 2 cups (16 oz/450 g) shelled red lentils, washed and drained; 1 medium onion, finely chopped; ¼ cup (60 ml) lemon juice; ½ teaspoon black pepper; ½ cup (¾ oz/23 g) broken vermicelli noodles (2 balls), optional; Ladle soup into bowls, garnish with chopped parsley, and serve with warm bread.; About 10 minutes before soup is done, sauté the onion in a small skillet until it is golden brown and add it to the pot. Deglaze the skillet with some of the soup, and pour it back into the pot. Stir in lemon juice.; 2 teaspoons salt

Preparation info

Makes
6
servings

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Delights from the Garden of Eden

By Nawal Nasrallah

Published 2019

About

This is the mother of all soups, rich in nutrients, and a good source of iron. In The Assyrian Herbal, which deals with Akkadian cuneiform texts of plant-based medicines, there is frequent mention of lentils and lentil soup (Akk. ‘mei ushshe,’ i.e. lentils cooked in liquid).

The Assyrians also referred to it as ‘vegetable of the lungs,’ from which we learn that lentil soup was believed to be a remedy for colds. In al-Warraq’s tenth-century cookbook, lentil dishes are said to