2 cups of yellow lentils (or yellow split peas if you cannot get yellow lentils)
Vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
Good pinch of dry, flaked chilli
Small handful of dried curry leaves
Directions
1
Heat up the oven to 400 F/200 C.
2
Put the carved-out pieces of pumpkin on a greased baking tray, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper on top.
3
Roast the pumpkin for one hour. If it gets too brown cover it up with some aluminum foil.
4
While the pumpkin is cooking, put the lentils in a big saucepan and cover them with water. Just let them soak.
5
When the pumpkin is done, scrape it all out into the pot with the lentils and then cover the whole lot with vegetable stock.
6
Bring to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes or until the lentils are done. Just give them a little bite. They should not be chalky.
7
Add more liquid if necessary to get soup consistency (rather than baby food) as the lentils can be very absorbent.
8
Top tip: as the oven is at 400 F/200 C this is the perfect time to put in the pumpkin seeds. Pop them in and turn the oven off. They will roast beautifully and will not burn.
9
In a separate little pot, heat up the 2 T of olive oil and add the mustard seeds. After a minute or so they will pop (much like popcorn).
10
At that point, remove the pot from the heat and add in the cumin seeds, chili flakes, and curry leaves. Give it a swirl and then pour and scrape it into the soup pot.
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