Adas b'Hamod
عدس بحامض·(ah-dass bi-hah-mod)
Oodet El Mouneh: The Lebanese-American Pantry
Tear the supermarket Swiss chard by hand, smash the cloves until the garlic hisses in the hot oil, and simmer the earthy brown lentils for exactly forty-five minutes. Forget the chicken stock and baby spinach. Real depth comes from relying on a velvet-smooth flour slurry and a taqliya, a blistering last-second temper of garlic and cilantro that wakes up the whole house. Squeeze the last lemon half over the bowl while the broth is still steaming.
Before you start
Wash the chard meticulously to remove hidden grit.
Swiss chard can harbor a lot of dirt in its ribs. Wash it well, and keep the chopped stems separate from the leaves since they take longer to cook.
Mash the garlic to a true paste.
Use a mortar and pestle with a pinch of coarse salt to get a uniform paste, avoiding the bitter, uneven chunks you get from merely mincing it with a knife.
Ingredients
- extra virgin olive oil1/4 cup
- yellow onion1 large
- brown lentils1 cup
- water6 cup
- Swiss chard1 large bunch
- Yukon Gold potatoes2 med
- salt1 1/2 tsp
- ground cumin1 tsp
- black pepper1/2 tsp
- all-purpose flour1 tbsp
- cold water2 tbsp
- garlic5 clove
- fresh cilantro1/2 cup
- fresh lemon juice1/2 cup
Method
- 01
Sauté the onions in olive oil until golden.
Heat two tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, add the diced onions, and cook until translucent and beginning to brown, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- 02
Simmer the lentils and chard stems in cold water.
Add the rinsed brown lentils, finely chopped chard stems, and six cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover, and drop the heat to a gentle simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the lentils are halfway cooked.
- 03
Add the cubed potatoes and continue simmering.
Drop in the potatoes and let the soup bubble away for another 10 to 15 minutes until both the potatoes and the lentils are completely tender.
- 04
Wilt the chard leaves and season the broth.
Stir in the roughly chopped chard leaves, salt, cumin, and black pepper. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes until the greens darken and melt into the broth.
- 05
Bind the broth with a simple flour slurry.
Whisk the flour with two tablespoons of cold water until smooth, then stir it directly into the simmering soup. Let it boil for 2 to 5 minutes to create a velvety texture that clings to the lentils.
- 06
Turn off the heat and stir in the freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Never add the acid while the lentils are still hard, or their skins will toughen permanently.
- 07
Sizzle the garlic and cilantro in oil, then pour the temper over the soup.
In a small separate skillet, heat the remaining two tablespoons of olive oil over medium. Add the mashed garlic and cilantro, sizzling for just 30 to 45 seconds until deeply fragrant but not browned. Immediately pour this into the finished pot of soup to perfume the broth.
Notes
Stick to brown or green lentils.
Red lentils will disintegrate into mush. You want a lentil that holds its structural integrity through a long simmer.
Keep it strictly plant-based.
Resist the urge to use chicken broth; the combination of the flour slurry, olive oil, and the sizzling taqliya creates a cleaner, far more complex flavor profile that respects the tradition of the dish.
The village variation.
Depending on a family's lineage, some substitute the fresh cilantro in the taqliya with a tablespoon of dried mint. Both methods are undeniably authentic.
From Cook Lebanese in America.