Madhouse recipe : Spicy Veg & Bacon Channa Dhal Soup

We may be on the cusp of springtime with the slightly warmer weather heralding the upcoming barbecues and summery salads that will soon be on the menu, but I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to the warming bowls of comfort food soup that we've been making every weekend throughout the colder months. We've been getting more experimental lately and this spicy concoction is the perfect example.

This was the starting point : a pack of Lentil Dhal Mix that is a blend of lentils and spices.

Spicy Veg & Bacon Channa Dhal Soup

ingredients :

230g lentil dhal mix (it's red & yellow lentils with spices - you can make your own !)

200g bacon

2 onions

1 large carrot

1 large leek

20cl liquid crème fraîche (optional)

In a large pot, fry up the bacon and onions (both chopped into pieces) for 5 minutes.

Dice the carrot and slice the leek. Add to the pot and cook, stirring, for a further 5 minutes. (At this point, I pinched some from the pot to serve with pasta for the kids' tea !)

Add the lentil dhal mix to the pot, cover with boiling water and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Stir every now and then and be prepared to top up the water as it is absorbed.

Now you have a choice to make - either eat it as channa dhal or add more water for it to be soup.

We went for the latter. I had a taste and it set my mouth on fire so I added some crème fraîche to cool things down ! If you're using plain lentils, you could add curry powder, smoked paprika, cumin, garlic pepper and whatever else takes your fancy.