Mauritian style

Mauritian cuisine is a blend of many styles including African, French, Chinese and Indian. Over the centuries many uniquely Mauritian dishes have been developed as well. Favoured ingredients include onions, tomatoes, garlic and chillies, but the diverse background of Mauritius means that delightful Indian curries are often cooked alongside slow-braised European stews or Chinese stir-fries. Bring some Mauritian flair to your kitchen with: fish rougaille; banana tarts; tamarind and apple chutney; lemon thyme roasted carrots; potato daube; eggplant rougaille; or bol renversé.

Mauritian Lentil Soup

Recipe / Jacqueline Alwill

This Mauritian-inspired red lentil soup is the ultimate comfort food. Easy to whip together, it’s warming to the body, with a wonderful kicker of plant proteins from lentils, and prebiotic fibre and antioxidants from garlic and onions too.

Serves: 4

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled & roughly chopped
1 brown onion, peeled & roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
200g red lentils, rinsed
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1L vegetable stock or broth
1 pinch chilli flakes 1 tsp fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried thyme
Sea salt & black pepper, to taste

In large saucepan on medium heat, combine extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, onion and tomatoes, cover and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 mins.

Add lentils, carrots, stock, chilli and thyme, plus an extra ½–1 cup water (enough to ensure all vegetables are covered). Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 mins. Once cooked, season and blend