East Meets West: Warming Split Pea Soup

I have begun to make this soup a million different ways and to offer it to those suffering this year's cough/flu that won't quit. If the cold has knocked out your taste buds, the creeping spiciness breaks through the nasal barrier and the turmeric is good for your lungs too!

The more you eat, the warmer you get!

Step One: Cook peas in water, until they are soft. Hurry if you like, or cook them more slowly for one hour and a half. Just make sure they always have at least a half inch of liquid.

(This is the crazy part: I like to get a sautéed onion and at least one big potato in there right away. I also add any of the following based on my mood: baby carrots, celery, sweet potatoes, 2 bay leaves, a 6-inch stick of rosemary from the garden, and any French/Italian herbs that I feel like at that moment.)

Meanwhile you can start the “garam masala” . . .and add it at least one-half hour before you finish cooking the peas.

Step Two: Sauté at least a ¼ teaspoon of each of the following in olive oil (or butter/ghee) until they pop. (More if you are making more than 2 cups of peas.)

Cracked Black pepper
Cumin seeds
Bay leaves
Coriander seeds
Fenugreek, omit if you cannot get it

Step Three: Add these and continue to sauté until onions are translucent.

Ginger
1 big white Onion (at least)
Garlic (omit if you hate garlic)

Step Four: Sprinkle these spices on the onion mixture; cook for another few minutes; add to the peas. If you have a garam masala Indian spice mixture, this is when you can use it.

Ground Cloves
Ground Cinnamon
Brown cardamom
Fenugreek
Turmeric

Step Five: Take two cups of the fully or almost fully cooked peas and their juice and put them in a blender with vinegar and a teaspoon of salt. Blend and add back to the soup. How does it look? You decide how much to blend. Cook it a bit more. Taste it. Adjust.

If you cook this all day, you have time to add barley too!

Serve with corn bread (see Tamale Surprise) or hearty wheat/rye bread. Feel better!