curried lentil kabocha soup

Whoever knew brown slop could be so tasty? I'm here to testify that it is - and my two little beans hoover it like it's going out of style, so you know it's good stuff.

I got the original recipe from Vegetarian Times, but I've adapted it to what I've got (semi-)readily available here in Japan. Do as you please, but please do make this soup.

Here's my version.

You'll need:

1 cup brown (puy) lentils
1/4 - 1/2 kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), cubed but left unpeeled
About 4 cups water
1 can coconut milk
1 bay leaf
2 cubes bouillon
Minced garlic and ginger to taste
Curry powder to taste
Salt and pepper (you guessed it) to taste
1 onion, chopped

Do this:

Put some brown rice (genmai) in the rice cooker, set it on the brown-rice setting, and let her rip. It takes (a lot) longer to cook than the white stuff so make sure you leave enough time for it. (So so so sorry, but the pic above shows it served over white rice - that's the second to the last time I made it. Please forgive the inconsistencies.)

Boil the lentils, coconut milk, water, bouillon, bay leaf, and kabocha pieces until everything's nice and squishy. In the meantime, saute your onion, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, and curry powder in a splash of oil until it's soft and well, soft. Throw it in your big pot with the rest of the gang.

Take out the offending bay leaf, stick your immersion blender right down in there, and go to town. You might wanna add a little extra salt, too.

Serve it over that rice (which is finally finished) and watch it all disappear down happy, frantic gullets.