Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

1 tsp salt
250 g dried lentils
1 L vegetable stock

(70 g vegetable stock paste + 1 L boiling water)
¼ tsp crushed chilies
½ tsp powdered ginger
2 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
14 g olive oil (1 tbsp)
1 onion, diced
¼ tsp salt
17 g tomato paste (1 tbsp)
30 g sour cream (2 tbsp)
½ tsp garam masala

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1. Bring 1 L of water with 1 tsp salt just to the point of boiling. Spread lentils over a cookie sheet and check for stones. Transfer lentils to a bowl (~2.5 L), add boiling water, cover and let sit for 1 hour. (Remove frozen tomato paste and vegetable paste to thaw)
2. Grind the crushed chilies, ginger, coriander, and cumin seeds. (Dice onion and other optional vegetables, set aside)
3. If making vegetable stock from paste: when the lentils are ready, bring 1 L of water to boil. Add vegetable paste to boiling water, remove from heat, and let steep.
4. Heat olive oil in a pot (3 L) over 55% until shimmering. Add diced onion and 1/4 tsp salt. Cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add powdered spices and cook for 1 minute to bloom flavors. Add tomato paste and cook until a fond starts to appear, about 1 minute.
5. Add vegetable stock, drained lentils, and optional vegetables to pot. Cover and let the soup come to a boil. Reduce to 30% heat and let simmer until lentils are tender, about 20 minutes.
6. In a small bowl combine sour cream and garam masala. When the lentils finish cooking, ladle a small amount of broth from pot and wisk into sour cream to temper. Return broth and sour cream mixture to pot. Stir, and serve.

Notes:
For variety, add small diced vegetables to soup while lentils cook. Ex: carrots, zuchinni.