Shorbat Adas: Red Lentil Soup for Iftar, Step by Step

The first thing on the table at sunset

At iftar the first thing most people want is something warm and light that is not a heavy meal. In many Gulf homes that is shorbat adas, red lentil soup. It is quick, cheap and easy to make ahead, which matters when the kitchen is busy in the last hour before sunset.

Our shorbat addas recipe uses 250 g (1.25 cups) of red lentils, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp cumin, half a teaspoon of turmeric, 1 lemon, 2 tbsp of oil and salt. Prep is 10 minutes, cooking is 30, and it serves 4.

Rinse, then fry the vegetables

Step one is to wash the lentils well in a few changes of water, until the water runs mostly clear. Red lentils shed a lot of starch and dust, and rinsing keeps the foam down and the flavour cleaner.

Then heat the oil and fry the onion and carrot until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cumin for 30 seconds only. Garlic burns fast and tastes bitter if it does, so keep it moving. The carrot is not decoration: it adds natural sweetness and colour to the soup, and it softens the lemon at the end.

Simmer to soft, then blend

Add water and bring to a boil, then simmer until soft. Our recipe timer is 25 minutes. Red lentils break down much faster than brown ones, and unlike chickpeas they need no soak. Skim any foam that rises in the first few minutes.

Blend with a hand blender, or in batches in a stand blender. The recipe says to blend smooth. If you use a stand blender, never fill it more than half with hot soup and hold the lid down with a towel, because steam builds pressure.

For a coarser, rustic soup, blend only half and stir it back in.

Thickness: the one decision

Thin with a little water if needed. Soups made with red lentils tighten up quickly as they stand, so the soup you taste on the stove will be thicker an hour later. Aim a little thinner than you want to eat it.

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Lemon goes in last

Season with salt and finish with a squeeze of lemon just before serving, as the recipe says. Cooked lemon turns bitter and dull, while lemon added at the end keeps the soup bright. Put wedges on the table so each person can adjust.

Toppings and what goes beside it

The recipe suggests crisp fried bread or lemon wedges. Cut stale flatbread into squares, toss with a spoon of oil and bake or fry until crunchy; that is a good use for yesterday's bread. A pinch of cumin or paprika on top adds colour.

For the rest of the iftar table, soup pairs well with sambousek, dates, laban and a light dessert such as umm ali. If you want a complete menu with timings, our three-day iftar and suhoor timetable shows what to cook in the afternoon. Keep heavy dishes like harees for another night, not on top of soup.

Why red lentils and not another kind

Red lentils (masoor, split and skinned) are the right choice because they have no skin to fight the blender and they cook in about 25 minutes. Brown or green whole lentils take longer and give a darker, earthier soup. Our guide to daal names and labels helps if the shop label says something other than masoor. Check the packet: you want the orange-pink split kind, which turns yellow when cooked.

Make it ahead without losing the texture

Soup is one of the best things to cook before fasting ends. You can make it in the morning and finish it just before serving:

1. Cook and blend the soup, then cool it within about 1 hour.
2. Keep it covered in the fridge for no more than 1 day. It also freezes well in portions.
3. At iftar, reheat it gently until steaming hot, loosening with water.
4. Add the lemon and toppings only after reheating.

<!-- VERIFY: freezing for later use is generally fine for lentil soup but our recipe data gives no freezer timing. -->

Cooling in a wide shallow container gets it to fridge temperature faster than leaving it in the deep pot.

Small variations, same base

• A pinch of chilli flakes for warmth.
• A spoon of rice or a small potato in the pot for a heavier soup.
• A different oil: ghee or butter makes it richer, olive oil makes it lighter.

None of these is in our recipe data, so treat them as options rather than rules.

A shopping list for one pot

• 250 g red lentils (masoor).
• 1 onion, 1 carrot, 3 garlic cloves, 1 lemon.
• Cumin, turmeric, salt, oil.
• Flatbread for the croutons.

If you already have most of these, the pantry check at degchi.matrixinn.net/#try will show you the missing one or two.