Lentil Soup and Vermicilli Rice ~shurba al adas & riz bi sh'areh~

Shurba al Adas - Lentil Soup

In simple words Lentil Soup and Vermicelli Rice - two of my favorite dishes from the Arabic vegetarian spread. No surprise really since they are close cousins of our Dal Chawal. Both these dishes are familiar names in Levant cooking and if you happen to be in the area, and ravenously hungry, I'd say go for it. I always have lentil soup with a generous dash of lemon juice when I am eating anywhere Arabic.

Ingredients for the soup:
Red Lentils/Masoor Dal - 1 cup
Minced Garlic - 2 cloves
Cumin - 1 tsp
Olive Oil - 1 Tbsp
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt to taste.

Method:
1. Cook the lentils till soft.
2. Heat oil in a skillet, and fry the cumin and the garlic, taking care not to burn either. Lightly saute and then pour over the cooked lentil.
3. Simmer the soup for ten minutes, adding salt and water to adjust the consistency.
4. Finally stir in the lemon juice.

The soup can be had plain or with vermicelli rice.

Riz bi Sh'areh - Vermicelli Rice

Ingredients (enough and more for 1 adult and 1 toddler):

Rice - 1 cup

Vermicelli broken into small bits - 1/2 cup

Water - 2 cups

Butter/Ghee - 1 Tbsp

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Roast vermicelli in ghee/butter in a pan.

2. Next add the rice followed by water.

3. Mix in some salt and bring rice to a boil, reduce flame and simmer on low until water is absorbed and rice is done. Fluff with a fork.

Simple enough! My Shurba al Adas & Riz bi Sh'areh is taking the flavour of Levant to FIC Yellow at Tongueticklers.