This beautiful, unconventional soup is thick, dense, full of vegetables, and deeply flavorful: all the features of a hearty wintertime favorite to sustain you on a chilly day. This is an East-West soup made with exquisitely smooth yellow split peas, and gets its smoky character from spicy chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, toasted cumin, and heady smoked paprika. We recommend using chana dal, Indian yellow split peas, found in the international section of the supermarket or in an Indian specialty shop, which have a buttery, silky texture when puréed.
A squeeze of lemon juice and chopped fresh cilantro will finish each bowl of soup with a perfect piquancy.
Serves 6
Hands-on time at start: 20 minutes; at end: 15 minutes
Simmering time to cook split peas: 1 hour; to finish the soup: 20 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
1½ cups yellow split peas or chana dal, rinsed
2 bay leaves
8 cups water or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups coarsely chopped onions
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1½ cups chopped celery
1½ cups sliced carrots
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 to 3 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped
2 teaspoons toasted and ground cumin seeds
Freshly ground black pepper
Lemon wedges, for garnish
Chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
In a large pot, cook the split peas and bay leaves in the water or stock until soft, about 1 hour.
In a separate large heavy-bottomed pot on medium-high heat, warm the oil, add the onions, garlic, and salt, and sauté until the onions are soft and translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the celery and carrots and a splash of water, cover, lower the heat, and cook for several minutes. Stir in the turmeric, smoked paprika, chipotle, and cumin and remove from the heat while the peas cook.
When the split peas are soft, add them to the vegetables along with the cooking water. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Simmer the soup for about 20 minutes, making sure the vegetables are thoroughly cooked. Remove 2 cups of the soup from the pot and purée it in a food processor or blender, taking care not to splatter the hot liquid. Stir the purée back into the pot and season the soup with additional salt and black pepper to taste.
Serve with lemon wedges and chopped fresh cilantro.
Serve this soup with a light salad with some fruity element, such as Greens with Citrus-Date Dressing or Mango-Spinach Salad with Spicy Dressing.