Trinidad corn soup is a very popular street food of Trinidad and Tobago. This vegan soup is full of flavors and textures. It's so delicious that I am sure it will become the favorite soup of most of you once you try it.
0.25cupswateror as required to make a smooth dough
2cupswaterto cook the lentil
1tbspvegetable oil
Instructions
Wash split peas. Put them in a pressure cooker/ instant pot/ normal pot with pumpkin and water. Cook until the lentil and pumpkin turn mushy. Once cooked mash to a smooth paste with the help of a spatula.
Put Shado beni/ cilantro, garlic, and hot pepper in a grinding jar and make a paste. Keep the paste aside.
In a bowl, mix flour, a pinch of salt, and water. Knead to make a smooth dough. Make small balls from this dough. Cover with a damp cloth and keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onions. Saute until the onions turn translucent.
Add celery and saute for around 2 minutes.
Add mashed split peas and vegetable stock. Mix well and cook for around 2-3 minutes.
Add coconut milk, shado beni paste, chopped potatoes, chickpeas, carrots, corn slices, corn kernels, dumplings, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add more water if needed. Cover the pan and cook for around 30 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked.
Serve hot!
Notes
Don't make very large balls of dough otherwise they may remain raw at the center. Also, they increase in size after getting cooked and big dumplings don't taste good in this soup.
Traditionally shado beni is used in this recipe but if you can't find it use cilantro and double the quantity as shado beni is more flavorful than cilantro.
Usually, scotch bonnet is used in this soup but you can use any hot chili pepper.
To fasten the process of cooking split peas and pumpkin use a pressure cooker or instant pot.
Instead of mashing the split peas and pumpkin with a spatula, you can also use a blender to make a smooth paste. Just add some water or stock to the paste and then blend.
To cook lentil in a pressure cooker, 2 cups of water will be sufficient but if using a normal pan add more water (around 4 cups).