Season of Squashes

Squashes are found in bounty as the fall season comes along in October and November. Butternut squash is one of our favorite kinds to turn into a soup. To celebrate this season we decided to make a masoor dal and butternut squash soup. We first learnt to roast and use this squash with nutty and sweet flesh using Thomas Keller’s recipe from the Bouchon Bistro Cookbook. This is one of the most comforting soup you can have come wintertime.

Combining Squash and Daal

Daal or lentils are used heavily in indian cooking. The split yellow peas or split red lentils are cooked and pureed to be combined with rice. This combination is known as Varan Bhat in India. This too is a comforting meal come wintertime. This is reason why we decided to use red lentils in our soup to make it hearty. As it turns out they too result in a creamy and silky texture that butternut squash soup can yield.

To get the best flavors from the butternut squash we first lightly roast it to caramelize it a bit and then make a stock with the squash, garlic, onions, bayleafs and peppercorns.

Pumpkin Seeds and Pumpkin Seed Oil

Since we were using squash we decided to use the pumpkin seeds as a garnish and for their crunch. On our recent trip to germany we managed to get some wonderful pumpkin seed oil. It is a very cherished Austrian ingredient and the oil is very viscous and intensely flavored, dark green or brownish in color. It is nutty in flavor but does not stand up to heat and hence is best drizzled raw.

For toasting the pumpkin seeds we used ghee. One could very well use butter but allow it to foam and then brown before adding pumpkin seeds. If you are not using pumpkin seed oil you can just have little bit more butter or ghee and add a punch of paprika right before pouring over the soup. Since we are making a hot seasoning with ghee a bunch of curry leaves give it a wonderful indian touch but also complements the flavors with it slightly citrusy and bitter aromas.

Masoor Daal and Butternut Squash Soup

---

★ 5 Stars ☆ ★ 4 Stars ☆ ★ 3 Stars ☆ ★ 2 Stars ☆ ★ 1 Star ☆

No reviews

• Author: www.breakingnaan.com
• Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
• Yield: 4 1x

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Description

we combine masoor dal (red lentils) with butternut squash to make this soup. its drizzled with sizzling hot ghee, pumpkin seeds, curry leaves and a pinch of paprika.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 0.5 pounds or 225 gm butternut squash peeled and cubed and desseded
• 1 small onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 black peppercorns
• 0.5 tsp white pepper powder optional
• 0.5 tsp dried ginger powder optional
• 2 tsp oil
• 0.5 cup split red lentils
• 1.5 cup water
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 0.5 tsp asafoetida optional
• 1 wedge of lime
• 1 Tbsp ghee or butter
• 4 tsp pumpkin seeds
• 1 tsp paprika
• 12 curry leaves
• 2 tsp pumpkin seed oil

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. heat oil in a pan and add the butternut squash and on medium heat toss and roast
2. add garlic and onion and continue to roast till squash is lightly caamelized
3. add the bayleaf and peppercorn and add 1 cup water and cook on medium heat till squash is soft and cooked. add water as needed to keep ingredients covered.
4. puree after removing bayleaf and add the white pepper powder, dry ginger powder and salt to taste and puree again and set aside.
5. meanwhile set the 1.5 cups water, turmeric, asafoetida and the lentils on medium heat and covered.
6. cook 30 minutes or more checking to scrape bottom and till lentils are soft and cooked
7. Then puree them.
8. divide the pureed lentils into 4 soup bowls
9. Season with a squeeze of lime and stir.
10. then spoon in butternut squash puree and stir gently with spoon not mixing it thoroughly.
11. heat ghee till hot and add pumpkin seeds to toast them followed by curry leaves carefully as they will spurt. off the heat add a teaspoon of paprika and swirl not letting it burn and spoon the ghee on all 4 cups of soup.
12. drizzle with pumpkin seed oil and serve hot

• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 60 mins
• Category: Soup
• Cuisine: indian