Shorbat Adas

About This Recipe

Shorbat Adas is the soup Lebanon returns to all winter and every Ramadan — red lentils collapsed into velvet, scented with cumin and turmeric, and sharpened at the last moment with fresh lemon. It is pantry cooking at its most generous: cheap, vegan, ready in forty minutes, and somehow more than the sum of five main ingredients. The depth comes from two small decisions — taking the onions all the way to golden before the lentils go in, and blooming the spices in the oil for a minute so they perfume the whole pot. The lemon is not garnish but structure; Lebanese cooks add enough that the soup tastes bright rather than merely earthy, and always send extra wedges to the table.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 2 cupsred lentils, rinsed
• 1 largeonion, diced
• 3 clovesgarlic, minced
• 3 tbspolive oil
• 2 tspcumin
• 1 tspturmeric
• 1.5 literswater or vegetable broth
• 3 tbspfresh lemon juice
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 pinchcayenne pepper

Instructions

1. 1

   Sauté

   Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat and cook the diced onion with a pinch of salt for about 10 minutes, until soft and golden at the edges — this slow sweetness is the soup's backbone. Add the garlic, cumin, and turmeric and stir for a full minute, until the spices smell toasty and coat the onions.

   Blooming the cumin and turmeric in the hot oil releases far more flavor than adding them to the liquid later.

2. 2

   Simmer

   Add the rinsed lentils and the water or broth, bring to a boil, and skim any foam that rises in the first few minutes. Reduce to a gentle simmer, partially cover, and cook 20–25 minutes, stirring occasionally so nothing sticks, until the lentils have completely broken down into a soft, thick slurry.

3. 3

   Blend and season

   Blend the soup with an immersion blender until silky — or leave it half-blended if you prefer some texture. Stir in the lemon juice, salt, and cayenne, then adjust the consistency with hot water; it should pour from the ladle like heavy cream, not porridge. Taste and add more lemon or salt until the flavor pops.

   Season after blending, not before — the flavor concentrates as the soup thickens and is easy to overshoot.

4. 4

   Serve

   Ladle into warm bowls and finish each with a thread of olive oil, a pinch of cumin or paprika, and a lemon wedge on the side. Serve with toasted or fried pita croutons for crunch — the traditional companion that turns the soup into a full meal.

Variations

• •

  Adas bi hamod: add chopped Swiss chard, diced potato, and extra lemon for the brothier 'lentils with lemon' cousin of this soup.

• •

  Spiced carrot version: simmer a grated carrot with the lentils for color and gentle sweetness.

• •

  Creamy coconut twist: replace a cup of the water with coconut milk for a non-traditional but silky variation.

• •

  Whole-lentil rustic style: skip the blending entirely and serve it chunky with extra cumin.

Storage

Refrigerate for up to 5 days — the flavor deepens by day two — and thin with hot water when reheating, refreshing with a squeeze of lemon. It freezes beautifully in portions for up to 3 months.

Frequently Asked Questions