03.05.

2023, 19:16 Nadiya's lentil soup and soda bread recipe - BBC Food

Nadiya's lentil soup and soda bread

Preparation time
less than 30 mins

Cooking time
1 to 2 hours

Serves
Serves 4

Dietary

This lentil soup is one of the first recipes I was ever taught. The lentils are simply
cooked and are served with an even simpler five-spice soda bread, with absolutely
no proving or kneading required. This may just be the most chilled-out meal you
have ever made.

By Nadiya Hussain
From Nadiya's British Food Adventure

Ingredients

For the five-spice soda bread

250g/9oz wholemeal flour
250g/9oz strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp fine salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp panch phoran
400ml/14fl oz buttermilk (see tip below)

For the lentils

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03.05.2023, 19:16 Nadiya's lentil soup and soda bread recipe - BBC Food
150g/5½oz red split lentils
1 bay leaf
1 dried red chilli
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp fine salt
75g/3oz unsalted butter
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
handful fresh coriander (approx. 10g), roughly chopped

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6 and line a baking tray with
baking paper.
2. For the soda bread, put the flours, salt, bicarbonate of soda and five-spice
into a large bowl and mix well. Make a well in the centre and add a little
over half the buttermilk. Bring the dough together by hand, adding more of
the buttermilk if needed (you may not need any more).
3. As soon as all the flour is absorbed and the dough comes together, lightly
flour the work surface, tip the dough onto it and roll into a neat ball. Place
on the baking tray. Using a sharp knife, make a cut down the centre
vertically and then the same horizontally to form a cross, cutting all the way
down to the base. Bake on the middle shelf for 30 minutes, until the bread
is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Put on a wire rack
to cool.
4. While the bread is baking, wash the lentils, rinsing them till the water runs
clear. Put the lentils into a pan with 1 litre of cold water, the bay leaf, red
chilli, turmeric and salt. Bring to the boil and leave to simmer for 30
minutes. After 30 minutes the mixture should be thicker and the lentils will
have broken up.
5. Melt the butter in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add the sliced
garlic and fry until golden-brown. Pour the garlic and butter into the lentils
and mix through. Now add the chopped coriander and take the pan off the
heat. Serve the warm lentils with chunks of soda bread.

Recipe Tips
If you don’t have buttermilk, as most of us normally don’t, just mix 4 tablespoons of
lemon juice or white vinegar with 400ml of milk, stir and leave to sit for 5 minutes.
And hey presto – you have buttermilk.

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