Assemble your ingredients!
Start boiling half a pot of water. As it heats, cut your potatoes into bite sized pieces.
You can use two handfuls of rainbow marble potatoes like these, or two medium sized red potatoes.
Put the potatoes in water and bring to a boil. Let them simmer for about 20 minutes. When poked with a fork, they should be tender.
While the potatoes are boiling, thinly slice your red onion to no particular size. These onion bits will be floppy and translucent in the final product.
Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a skillet to use for sautéing.
To check if the oil is hot enough, put a piece of onion in the oil as it heats. When water escapes and starts to bubble, the oil is ready!
While the oil is heating, mince the two-inch knob of ginger. Each piece should be no bigger than a cucumber seed.
Once the oil is hot enough, add the onion to the pan and cover. Reduce to medium heat. The onions should be over heat for about ten minutes.
While the onions are heating, thaw 10 oz of frozen peas.
Pour the frozen peas into a bowl of water and microwave for two minutes.
Measure out your spices and stir them into the heating onions.
Add the minced two-inch piece of ginger, two teaspoons of minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds, two teaspoons of yellow mustard seeds, 1/2 teaspoon of ground turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds.
The ground spices must be wet to heat without burning. If too much water escapes from the onions while the lid is off the pan, add a splash of water.
Once the potatoes are tender, drain them completely of the water they were boiled in. Replace it with 3.5 cups of fresh water.
Add the drained peas and the spiced onion mixture. Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, simmer for about ten minutes.
Serve hot!
This spicy soup will have your sinuses cleared in no time!
The nutty flavor from the cumin seeds give this light fare a savory undertone.
This recipe makes about six large bowls of soup.
