Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Moroccan Lentil & Carrot Soup -- Indianized





Sometimes I feel I am the right parent at the wrong age or maybe the wrong parent at the right age. At least never the right parent at the right age.

I am so archaic in comparison to the new age hip parents that sometimes I feel I should have paid heed to the ever well wishing relatives, you know the ones who wanted me to get married young and have kids early and keep a fast every alternate Saturday. If I had my kids really really early, early as in right after ummm high school, I might have aimed for grand kids now and then I could at least be the cool grandma instead of the uncool Mom.

Why did such wisdom dawn so late, you might ask. Well because it was only last week that I came to know of TogetherVille, a social networking site for kids under 10. I didn't even know the terms "social networking" and "kids under 10" can be uttered in the same breath.But apparently teeny-tiny kids need a social network and right after school these teeny-weeny kids need to jump onto the internet to connect to friends over the internet and discuss social life and maybe exchange vacation photos and show off Dad's new Mercedes. It is all very safe and protected and Moms/Dads who need to be on FB for their kids to be on Togetherville are raving about it.





Me? I said, I am old. I think the best way for my kid to "social network" is hop across to a friend's place. Naturally, by just going out of the door and knocking on the neighbor's door if you have a neighbor like mine or premeditated, with some effort on the parent's part, by setting up a time&date for play with friends not exactly next door. But definitely NOT online.

I think kids need to play with friends in real, they need to just go and get some un-organized play, not necessarily a sport, in a jumping-hopping-little pushing-running way. That is how they connect if needed after school, where I am guessing a lot of "social mingling" should get done.





But why would a 6 or a 7 or a 8 year old need to connect to someone, anyone ONLINE ? For the life of me, I am unable to understand this whole Togetherville thing. How uncool of me. How deprived my kids are. And on top of this I make them eat Moroccan Carrot Soup. Yikes !!!

And honestly I have nothing against Mark Zuckenburg or Mandeep Dhillon or Pope Benedict except admiration and a tad envy. I even think Zuckenburg is cute if anyone is hearing.





We have a big bunch of carrots at home, thanks to organic carrots becoming easily available in our price club. This time it was too much though, way too much carrots to anyone's liking. So, I decided to make a carrot soup and most sounded like bleah until I chanced upon this one. The "Moroccan" did it for me. I also added some Lentils, because I love them. I love lentils so much that if given a free reign I will put them in pretty much everything, even dessert. Ok not dessert because I love my dessert more dearly than the lentil.

I also added Garam Masala and Green Chili and did everything to make it the most Indian Moroccan Carrot lentil Soup ever.Morocco are you listening, next time please can you include Garam masala and Green Chili and some Paanch Phoron in your cuisine ? Please, pretty please, I love your food.


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Adapted from this recipe

Moroccan Carrot & Lentil Soup



Heat 1 tbsp of Olive Oil

Add 1 cup of finely chopped red onions and saute till they are soft. Add 2-3 cloves of garlic minced

Add 2 cups of thick slices of carrot and saute till the carrots start browning a wee bit.

Add about 3 tomatoes from a can of whole peeled tomatoes or use 2 medium fresh juicy tomatoes chopped. Saute the tomatoes till they are mushed up and there is no raw smell.

Wash and add 1 cup of brown lentils. Mix everything well together and add about 3-4 cups of water.

Add about 1 tsp of Garam Masala Powder, salt to taste and cover and cook.

In 20-25 minutes the lentils and carrots should be done. Add 1 tsp of honey and mix well. Adjust for seasonings.

Cool and puree in a blender with 2 green chili. Ok, chili is optional. When you puree, save 1/4 of the soup sans the carrots in the pot. Put back the blended soup back in the pot and simmer at low heat.

Dry roast 1 tsp of cumin in a skillet till fragrant and grind to a fine powder. Add this roasted cumin powder and 1 tsp of Paprika to the blended soup. You can add 1 tsp of Lime Juice if you want, I didn't.

Ladle the soup in bowls and serve the soup with a dollop of yogurt.

For a carby version, tear a slice of wheat bread and toss with olive oil, roughly chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Toast in the oven till crisp. Dunk in the soup.

59 comments:

  1. I totally get your rant about kids playing outside rather than "networking". I have a toddler who has one friend in the neighborhood and even then the two of them meet maybe twice a week. Sometimes it is hard to find kids of the same age in the neighborhood and even harder for them to get together without moms checking their busy calender of play dates, soccer practice and ballet lessons. I think back on our carefree days when the neighborhood kids could play with abandon and the parents didn't have to worry about their safety. It isn't so simple any more but it still doesn't excuse social networking.

    On that rant I would like to conclude that the soup sounds delicious though I may just eat it chunky rather than blend it. And garam masala goes with just about anything savory so bring it on. :)

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  2. Yummy! Love how you presented the bowl!

    I saw the kids' social network thing in the news too. VERY strange, IMHO..

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  3. Love it dear, simply love the combo and the pic.

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  4. Well i am not a hip mom too. One things we were/are lucky is S don't like these games in the computer and all that Wii etc..... so when she was younger she used to go to her friends place or they came to our place etc....and then having music as a hobby she spend a lot of time practising etc and going for concert which is good i think.
    Now about teh soup it looks yumm.

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  5. Glad you're a sensible mom, not a "hip" one :)

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  6. Wow... I've been on a Moroccon inspired theme since last night

    Don't stress too much. Mother's are not meant to be 'cool'. They never will be. So be like Tendulkar and adapt your game. I am sure you are doing a great job (avuncular tone)

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  7. Sandeeepaaaa, they even laugh at the word "hip" girl and they think we are all Fossils even to say that. My kids sometimes say "Mom, we know you are "hip"" in quotation sign with their fingers and a smirk on their face!!! :P
    They even lost interest in FB and Twitter now. It's all about texting. These kids can do it 100times a day even without looking at the phone! It's amazing. They start at 6am and goes on and on until 11pm. Tushar even gets "Tushy, R U awake?" from a girl after 11pm. I say 'Ask her to get some sleep for God's sake".

    We had a pretty good neighborhood when my kids were young, they were on the streets playing whole day just as we used to do in India but unlike us never went out of the neighborhood. Now they are all grown up, they don't talk to each other anymore, have their own buddies to text.

    Moroccan cuisine supposed to be the healthiest cuisine, Carrots and Lentils is great for kids and adults.Looks yum.

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  8. Oh forgot to say!

    No matter what they others say, I think we are the "hippest" moms in the town, so don't worry. Your girls will thank you one day for being the best mom you can be right now! :))

    Lot of kids these days can't even say that they have a stable homes with two caring parents!

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  9. Jaya
    Yeah it indeed is hard to find kids in the neighborhood. There was a time I would hang out in the park in that pursuit. But once they start going to school, it becomes easier.

    Musy
    Good to see you

    Priya
    Thanks

    HC

    That is definitely a good thing. At what age do you think, kids would start practicing on their own ?

    Shyam
    ;-)

    Kalyan

    Really, not cool ? Wasn't there a time when you wanted Mom to be "cool" ?

    Asha

    Whaaaat ? Texting at 11PM :-) Good you know what he is texting about :-D

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  10. I was started when I heard of Togetherville last week too. Child-rearing is a mere spectator sport for me. But I must say I feel old and boring when I am having meals with acquaintances and their school-age children sit and text the whole time and don't even acknowledge my presence or look up at me :D

    Soup looks great!

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  11. I don't know what to say - I find it funny but I just think it's inevitable, this kids' social networking coming about. As in it's a sign of the time - I suppose most kids are like this - my niece who just turned two has been operating the mouse for the last few months and insists her CDs of nursery rhymes etc be put in everyday when she comes home. It won't be long before she realises how to use it properly (if she already hasn't)! But she loves other kids, I'm told, and has quite a few around for company.

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  12. Sandeepa, I will take uncool mom to being a hip mom of a Togetherville kid who is going to get carpel tunnel pretty soon. An ailment very common among the Gen Y colleagues I used to work with and they started using computers when they were in high school.

    The soup looks delicious though I am not a carrot person unless the carrot loses all of its properties when it is cooked.

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  13. I am a spectator to all this. Whay cant kids go out and play and may be then show off their dad's merc in their driveway :) It is sad to hear when parents encourage this "social networking" at such a young age..We are on FB to find our old friends who we actually "played" with. The youbger generation at this rate will only have online friends

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  14. Nupur

    Thankfully I have friends with really great grown up kids who actually talk/converse and even play with my little ones when we meet. In their own time I hear they are on the phone or computer which is ok. We would be on the phone too at that age ;-)
    But really 7-8 year olds ?

    Sra

    It is not that kids should be Computer Ignorant or anything. I never meant that. I love technology and it is a great resource for children. They should definitely go on the Computer, use the Wii, the Nintendo, play computer games to a certain extent.

    But my concern is why do they need to be online to SOCIALLY NETWORK ? And by kids here I mean < 10 yr olds.

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  15. I didn't know about Togetherville till I read your post. :) If your daughter is happy then you are hip enough!

    That soup looks great!

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  16. That bowlful of dal and bread looks so comforting Sandeepa. Can't say much on your topic today except that kids should be outside playing, jumping, having bruised knees, fighting, making up, etc. Sitting down and social networking does not sound like a kiddie thing at all. :-)

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  17. what a delicious and healthy soup! Love the presentation Sandeepa.

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  18. Ah Sandeepa r u in mid-30's? hehe because i felt the same, i visited last week about the togetherville, why people love to be so virtual these days and try to implement at this young age. I can never understand, i thought i was alone in this world to complaining. Open up ur door, certainly the kid will have friends to socialize, unless u live in jungle, none in surrounding...
    About FB all the privacy issues buzzing from last week, i changed/blocked all third party applications,modified privacy but still..., even thinking of keeping my account or not.... Zuck as u said is very smart looking CEO :)
    My family loves soup- looks great for me :)

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  19. As always lovely recipe. I must try this.
    Do kids at all know the meaning "Social Networking" ??? and some I bet don't even know how to spell!!!
    I am all for playing outside, as you mentioned..I don't even get upset when kids have a little fight within themselves..I think that's normal..maybe I am weird...or as my 8yr old says "Ma, you don't know everything, duuhhh !!!"

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  20. Sandeepa, this question is for the Chops and Chopsticks post but I will ask here. You mentioned that you would prefer a theme on Mom's, however, I already did a write up which is not on mom. Is it ok? I do have a post I did late last year which is on my mom. I can rewrite it to fit the entry and maybe send the other one too. What do you think?

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  21. Sandeepa, this question is for the Chops and Chopsticks post but I will ask here. You mentioned that you would prefer a theme on Mom's, however, I already did a write up which is not on mom. Is it ok? I do have a post I did late last year which is on my mom. I can rewrite it to fit the entry and maybe send the other one too. What do you think?

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  22. I get it.... soon my lil one is gonna say I'm really uncool!! The sad part is kids don't go out and play like we did. And blame parents for getting their kids on social networking sites!
    How about making a dal with carrots and blending everything...yum!:)

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  23. I love your Indian variation to the Moroccan soup! It sounds exquisite! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. :)

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  24. I did get what you're saying, just that i am not surprised that someone's set up a social network for that age!

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  25. You are a great teacher and a cool Mom. You taught me about Maya the Indian Princess and now Togetherville...whatever that is!

    The Lentil and Carrot soup looks nutritious. I agree with you about kiddies doing F2F "networking". When I become a Grandmom, I am going to forward your Blog's link to my nati-naatni. But before that, I have to become a Mom first!

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  26. Sandeepa, at least you're cool enough to know about the so called networking site; I haven't even heard of it. How very 'uncool' of me ;-)I can easily join the 'uncool moms' bandwagon- I make my kids eat all sorts of 'uncool' stuff.

    I would happily have a bowl of your soup and I'm sure the rest of the family would too :-)

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  27. Oh my, I think you are hip, I've never ehard of Togetherville, good grief. We used to run riot in our neighborhood with the few kids around, and now my kid has to be coaxed and dragged to spend a few minutes outdoors. *sigh*
    I have resigned myself to being the un-hip un-cool mom, I'm glad I have company!

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  28. Love the pics....that soup looks delicious....sounds perfect for this cool, rainy weekend we have coming up.

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  29. I know kids who have Iphones and use it to FB and tweet. yes, tweet. Its crazy. I sometimes think I should not have a kid. I might just do something wrong with 'it' if they are so precocious as this. I swear!

    That said, I loved your request to the Moroccans. I've heard so much about the Moroccan lentil soup, saw it on Soma's last week, but never tried it. Maybe I should? Will work as diet food also ;)

    I love the carrot pic, Sandeepa! very nice.

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  30. A&N

    I think Soma's was Turkish. Turkey & Morocco -- in two different continents:-), is their cuisine alike ? Maybe, no clue really.

    BongMom

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  31. wow/...d soup sounds delicious...m healthy..lov ur presentations..yeah i sae to the kid's social networking...and wondering abt gap diff frm our times n nowdays..but recently am bit worried my son dunt like computer or wii games..like other kids of his age doin..he more interestin..drawin..paintin..n puzzles..am bit confused mom who worryin his interest in comp..

    by d way am planin to try true bengali food this weeek..i lov fish ..will let u know ...once i tried!

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  32. I was about to say thank you for letting me know such a thing existed!..:)..so don't you worry abt not wanting to let your kids be social that way..My daughter wanted to know what facebook was and if she can also have an account. I said she still has time for such thing..:))..lovely soup..

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  33. wow...d soup sounds delicious...m healthy..lov ur presentations..yeah i saw to the kid's social networking...and wondering abt gap diff frm our times n nowdays..but recently am bit worried my son dunt like computer or wii games..like other kids of his age doin..he more interestin..drawin..paintin..n puzzles..am bit confused mom who worryin his interest in comp..

    by d way am planin to try true bengali food this weeek..i lov fish ..will let u know ...once i tried!

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  34. I have read your story and I am sure your the best mom that your kids really love. Anyways, your soup would be worth for a try. Thanks

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  35. Your kids will thank you (one day) for being the mom that you are....until then, well, we just have to bide our time and remember how we drove our parents nuts - its payback time ;)

    I don't think I will even get one of those Gameboys for my kids till they are much much older - it horrifies me to see 6 year olds on it. So, going online is definitely going to be on hold for a looong time!

    I like the idea of lentils in a carrot soup - adds so much body to it.

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  36. Hi Sandeepa,

    The carrot soup looks wonderful!
    I always seem to have too many carrots hanging around so will definitely try this.

    As for social networking, I'm with you. I still say the same thing to my 18 yo child -- forget the computer and get out the door :)

    Hope you're well!

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  37. I have read your story and I am sure your the best mom that your kids really love. Anyways, your soup would be worth for a try.

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  38. Yummy! Love how you presented the bowl!waiting for oyur reply and the pictures are amazing, thanx.

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  39. I have read your story and I am sure your the best mom that your kids really love. Anyways, your soup would be worth for a try. Thanks for the post.

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  40. I am going to forward your Blog's link to my nati-naatni. But before that, I have to become a Mom first! Thanx for the share.

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  41. This soup has a deep, rich, satisfying flavor which is uplifted by the herbs and lemon juice. However, my boys refused to eat it after tasting it.:S

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  42. I think They never will be. So be like Tendulkar and adapt your game. I am sure you are doing a great job, keep it up.

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  43. This soup is easy to make and scrumptious! Other variations I've tried are a sprinkle of ginger, and or cinnamon. May be served hot, or at room temp. in warmer weather. To borrow an expression from Ms.Ray, it's "Yumm-Oh!"

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  44. So interesting! Would be fascinating to know something about the history of this soup – I mean why those particular ingredients at such an important religious milestone?

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  45. Way too much ginger that it was spicy and almost undrinkable, and I used less than the required amount. Decrease the ginger, add some whipped cream, and you'll be good to go. des

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  46. I love your blog and especially the idea of that soup making.Thank you for sharing the recipes.

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  47. Well, I can easily join the 'uncool moms' bandwagon- I make my kids eat all sorts of 'uncool' stuff. thanx for the wonderful post.

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  48. Your recipe is really interesting, I found it really unique soup. I'm going to try this one. Thanks

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  49. just think it's inevitable, this kids' social networking coming about. As in it's a sign of the time I suppose most kids are like this, thanx for the post.

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  50. last night i had amazing moroccan food for my birthday dinner. i really loved the lentil soup at the beginning of the meal... but with the owner's thick accent and the 3 bottles of wine we polished off, i can't seem to recall then name. i remember my mother saying it sounded a bit like "hurry up" when he said it... anyone know?

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  51. This is my favorite soup now!! i didn't change A THING except for adding about a teaspoon of salt and a half teaspoon of garlic salt at the very end. pureeing it made it so smooth. brilliant recipe. i just loved it!!

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  52. Very tasty. I served with spoonful of sour cream. My fiance asked for more...and he doesn't really like soups!

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  53. Nice pictures! I just love carrot soup. My family just love it.

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  54. Very tasty. I served with spoonful of sour cream. My fiance asked for more...and he doesnt really like soups!

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  55. Very tasty. I served with spoonful of sour cream. My fiance asked for more...and he doesnt really like soups!

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  56. The bowl was amazingly presented. I wanna taste the carrot soup in it. I don't know what to say - I find it funny but I just think it's inevitable, this kids' social networking coming about.

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  57. I complied, pouring copious amounts on my rice and beans Good move.thanx for the info.

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  59. Hi Sandeepa,

    I would like to make this soup but I am in India and do not know what to use instead of the brown lentils you mention in the recipe. I have not seen these lentils in the supermarkets here.

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