Syrian red lentil soup or stop the disckheads

 

View over Syria from Umm Qai, in northern Jordan - this photo was taken in April in it is the closest one can get to Syria for the time being. According to United Nations the conflict in Syria has killed more than 70,000 people and left 1.5 million seeking refuge in neighboring countries. 

One night I was walking in downtown Amman in a touristy street with a young Syrian whom I met in the guesthouse. He was a veterinary student but needed to flee once the fights broke out  and could not complete his degree. We were sitting on a small, stone wall drinking coke and a guy with a small boy was keep passing by, going back and forth up and down the street selling tea. Every they passed by the little boy would look at me and smile. I've not seen mobile tea sellers like that anywhere else, only tea deliverers so I though it was a bit strange. My companion explained to me that they were Syrians too. It made more sense - you wouldn't do this odd job and take your 5-year old son with unless you HAVE TO. For this little boy it was probably just a night out with his papa...

As individuals there is little we can do to stop the fighting in Syria but little is more than nothing. Here is a list of petitions that you can sign with various causes related to Syria.

I've met few travelers in Jordan that were telling me what a wonderful traveling destination it was, with amazing hospitality and food. Unfortunately, all we can do for now to experience a little bit of pre-war Syria is to cook something Syrian at home, so this is what I'm going to do.

Syrian red lentil soup 

Ingredients (serves 2):

- 1/2 a glass of red lentils, washed twice

- 1 carrot, sliced

- 1 medium size potato, diced

- 1 small onion, chopped

- 2 garlic cloves, mashed 

- 1l of stock or water

- 1/2 tea spoon of cumin seeds

- 1/2 tea spoon of colander powder, crushed in a mortar

- salt and pepper

- small bunch of colander or parsley, chopped

- lemon wedges

- olive oil

Preparation

1. Turn on some music. I'd like to dedicate this song to Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad (and some others) - Dickhead by Kate Nash
2. Heat the olive oil in a pot on a medium heat and saute the onion (the oil cannot be too hot otherwise will burn), for about 4min, add garlic and fry for 30 more seconds
3. Add the spices and fry until fragrant
4. Add lentil and fry for 1min
5. Add water or stock and cook for about 30min on a small heat
6. Add potato, carrot, salt and pepper and cook for 14 more minutes.
7. Serve with lemon wedges, colander, a dash of olive oil and flat bread

For more authentic Syrian dining experience multiply the ingredients by 5 and invite your friends and neighbours.

Other causes that this recipe supports:

• sustainable consumption* - if you support reducing world's hunger this recipe helps you to reduce your meat consumption and impact global demand for meat which is at least twice as energy- and water- consuming as vegetable and cearials and therefore putting sufficiency of global resources to feed the 9 billion, that will inhabit the planet by 2050, at risk

To learn more about feeding growing global population read what UN and International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development says about ways of increasing food production productivity - this article is a response to the Economist's article on the same subject.

*Sustainable Consumption - use of services and related products which respond to basic needs and bring a better quality of life while minimizing the use of natural resources and toxic materials as well as emissions of waste and pollutants over the life cycle of the service or product so as not to jeopardize the needs of future generations (by the 1994 Oslo Symposium)