A steaming & comforting bowl of spicy soup on a day like today (a windy, rainy Bank Holiday Monday) goes a long way. It puts me in the right mood, it also heats up the house and spread a joyful smell of cumin, chilli and well, love basically if you like your food as much as I do!

I have no idea which paper I tore this recipe from, I have an odd habit of doing that. I also altered it, same as any other recipe I ever used because I never seem to be able to fully conform. One of the ground rules of my cooking is that I avoid onions so I often substitute or simply ignore them and still, most of the time, end up with a delicious meal!

This soup is very easy to make and quite Indian with its flavours, really recommend you give it a go.

Red lentil, chickpea & chilli soup

Serves 4

2 tsp cumin seeds

Pinch of chilli flakes

2 tbsp olive oil

400g canned tomatoes (either chopped or whole)

140g red split lentils

~700ml vegetable stock

A can of chickpeas (rinsed and drained)

Salt, pepper

A few spoons of Greek yoghurt and coriander to garnish (I had none so used a pinch of ground coriander which worked fine)

Heat a large saucepan and dry-fry the cumin seeds & chilli flakes for 2min, until they start to jump around and release their aromas. Tip into a bowl and set aside.

Heat the oil in the saucepan and stir in the tomatoes, lentils and stock. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat, add the spices, salt & pepper and simmer for ~15min or until the lentils are soft stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, whizz in food processor or with a stock blender until t forms a rough purée. Add chickpeas and heat up gently. Serve garnished with a dollop of yoghurt, a few chickpeas and coriander.