North African lentil soup

Serves 4 people

• 50 ml olive oil
• 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
• ½ carrot, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 80 g tomato paste
• 1 tsp. cumin seed
• 1 tsp. coriander seed
• 2 tsp. paprika powder
• ½ tsp. curcuma
• ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 4 lime leaves
• 1625 ml water
• 300 g red split lentils
• 1 red bell pepper, roasted, skinned and diced
• 1 bundle mint, just the leaves, finely chopped
• 1 bundle flat parsley, finely chopped
• ½ lime, juice
• sea salt
• —
• coriander
• parsely

Heat the olive oil in a large pan and fry the onion, carrot and garlic with a pinch of sea salt. When the onion turns glazy, add the cayenne pepper, paprika powder, curcuma, cumin and coriander seeds and fry briefly. Then add the tomato paste and let it stew for a while with the lid on the pan. Add the water, lime leaves and 1 teaspoon sea salt. Bring to a boil and add the lentils. Let it simmer until the lentils are soften and are falling apart. Finally, stir in the roasted bell pepper, mint and parsley and then turn off the heat. Season with lime juice and sea salt. Serve the soup with coriander and parsley.