Indian Spiced Lentil Soup

I recently bought a container of coconut oil at my local health food store. Originally I thought I would use it for baking only; cookies, cakes and the like, but as it turns out the coconut oil seems to have been used for everything but baking! I've used it to make hand cream after reading that it was very good for moisturizing the skin overnight. I've used it to make Thai curries and in hot chocolate. Yesterday I used the coconut oil to fry onions in for a lentil soup with a bit of an Indian twang. I love the very slight hint of coconut that this soup has, but if coconut isn't you thing or you can't find the oil, butter will work well too, and the spices are so strong that you won't miss the coconut.

Indian Spiced Lentil Soup
1 tablespoon coconut oil or butter
1 onion minced
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup split red lentils
4 cups of water
1/3-1/2 yellow pepper minced

In a large pot heat the oil and saute the onions and garlic until translucent. Add the turmeric, cumin and chili powder to the mixture and stir until the spices are mixed into the oil. Add the lentils and water and bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes. Add the pepper and cook for another 5 minutes. Blend the soup well. If needed add more water to the soup to thin it.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes