I came across Burmese Samusa Soup recipe from Food & Wine Magazine by Desmond Tan. I thought the recipe sounded interesting and different. I happen to have a bunch of home made turkey stock in my freezer so I wanted to make the vegetarian soup turkey based as I felt those flavors would be great with turkey and they are! I am so tired now of Thanksgiving flavors and I want something different with my turkey. There isn’t much Burmese food to be found in Phoenix but the few plates of Burmese dishes I came across were unusually delicious so I really wanted to make this recipe. I made very few changes to the recipe besides not using vegetable broth. I used less oil and instead of adding a potato to the soup I spiral cut a potato and fried it. The original recipe is vegetarian and instead of crispy potatoes on the top they add a samosa to the top.

Ingredients for around 4 servings

1 teaspoon cumin seeds – toasted 30 seconds and grind

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds – toasted and grind

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

3-4 dried chiles

2 bay leaves

1 medium onion chopped

12 garlic cloves – chopped

1 Tablespoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup chick pea flour

6 cups broth(I used my home made turkey stock but original recipe calls for vegetable broth)

1/2 cup tamarind water (1 heaping Tablespoon tamarind pulp 3/4 cup boiling water and strain)

1/2 cup lentils (I forgot what kind he used but I used red)

1 potato ( I spiral cut mine and fried it but you can remove skin and dice and add to soup)

2 red Thai peppers or 1/2 a jalapeño – chopped

fresh mint – for finishing

sliced cabbage – for finishing

fresh cilantro – for finishing

fresh mint- for finishing

Thai Chili – for finishing

Lime wedges – for finishing

Directions

Toast the cumin and black mustard seeds for around 30 seconds in a medium high heat sauce pot and then grind them and add them back to pan.

Add the vegetable oil, and onion and let that cook around 25 minutes stirring occasionally.

Next add chopped garlic, salt, paprika, turmeric, water, chickpea flour, broth or stock, tamarind water, lentils, potato, Thai or Jalapeño pepper, farm masala and mix well. Turn down to medium heat and let it go till lentils are cooked and potato is tender.

Serve immediately and serve with fresh mint, fresh cilantro, lime wedges, sliced cabbage and Thai Chili peppers,

A special THANKS to Food & Wine Magazine. and Desmond Tan for this wonderful and delicious recipe.