Serves 2

1 cup of yellow split peas (soak in water several hours)
2 or 3 chicken thighs with skin and bone
1 celery stalk finely chopped
½ onion finely chopped
2 carrots (1 thin carrot cut into ¼” pieces, the other grated)
2 small potatoes (skinned) cut in ¼ pieces
1 clove garlic minced
1 small bay leaf
½ cup cilantro leaves
Salt
White Pepper
~4 cups water
~1 chicken broth
1 TBSP vegetable oil
1 tsp curry blend (either use curry or an equal blend of curry, turmeric, garam masala and cardamom.

In a large sauce pot put the chicken in with 2 cups of water and slowly boil the chicken on medium heat for 20 minutes. Remove thighs and strain the chicken stock and set aside. When cool, remove the skin and cut the meat from the bone and into pieces.

In a large sauce pot boil the split peas in 2 cups of water until the split peas start getting mushy, ~30 minutes. Remove and drain.

In a small sauce pot boil the potatoes and the carrots until al dente. Strain and set aside.

In a separate soup pot add the oil and the grated carrots, onion, celery, and 1 potato and sauté. Add the split peas and the 2 cups of chicken broth. Salt and pepper and mix.  Add ½ tsp. of curry. Bring to a slight boil. Either mash the soup with a potato masher, or I use a hand blender to get the peas smoother. Add more stock as needed. Reduce heat to low and cook 15 minutes.

Add the chicken, add the bay leaf, carrot pieces and the last potato cut into small squares. Add ½ tsp. of curry blend. The idea is to get a thick soup. Cook another 15 minutes.

Serve in a bowl and put cilantro on top.

Note:
The purpose of boiling separately is to 1) cook the chicken until just tender and make a soup stock from the chicken, 2) drain the split pea juice because that juice can get a little too acidic and overpowering and 3) precook carrots and potatoes to add to the completed soup so it doesn’t need much remaining cooking time. You want to blend everything together and cook a shorter time to maintain a balance in the rich flavors.

As of 5/25/20