Name: Balkh Brown Lentil Soup
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 1 h 40 min
Total time: 1 h 55 min
Yield: Servings: 6
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon angelica powder*; ½ teaspoon smoked paprika; 1 whole serrano chili or ¼ teaspoon cayenne; 1 teaspoon cumin seeds; 2 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced; ⅔ cup Seville orange juice* or ½ cup fresh orange juice mixed with 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice; 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, butter or ghee*; ½ pound butternut squash or pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes; 2 tablespoons rice flour* diluted in 2 cups of water; 2 cups brown lentils, picked over and washed; 1 cup chopped fresh parsley; 8 cups water; ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 tablespoon salt; 4 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled

Preparation info

Servings:
6

Difficulty
Easy
Ready in
1 hr 55

Appears in

Silk Road Cooking

By Najmieh Batmanglij

Published 2000

About

Besides being a delicious and versatile legume, lentils have the highest protein content, after soybeans, of any vegetable at almost 25%. This may be one of the reasons they are so popular in the valley between the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya (Oxus River) in what is present-day Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. This soup is also popular in India, Iran and North Africa. Balkh was an important Sogdian trading center. These ancient Central Asian people established an empire in the regio