Soften one chopped onion & 1 or 2 cloves of garlic in 1 teaspoon of butter, oil or a splash of water.
Add 125g of red/orange/yellow lentils (rinsed in cold water first)
Add 4 dried apricots (or even better, the semi-dried squishy ones!) – chopped and then soaked in hot water. Add the ‘soak water’ to the soup.
Add 3 peeled cardamom pods crushed lightly (I use 1 heaped teaspoon of ground cardamom powder, but add gradually if you’re not familiar with cardamom, and adjust to your own taste.)
Add 500ml of stock (1 vegetable or chicken stock cube suffices)
Simmer until lentils are soft (10-20 minutes)
Blend the soup until smooth. If you use a stick blender you can do that while the soup is still hot in the saucepan.
Dilute with water or stock if you’d like a thinner soup