First things first, measure out 1 1/2 cups of red lentils and 1/2 cup rice. Dump these into a bowl and fill it up with warmish water. Allow the lentils to soak while you continue on with the next couple of steps.

Grab a generous enough sized pot. Let 1 1/2 tbsp of oil heat up as you chop your onion and garlic.

Note: I am a huge fan of garlic and onions, so I like to use two big onions and a handful of garlic. Feel free to use one onion or as many as you want. Same goes with the garlic- if you're not a fan, don't even bother adding it. The soup will still taste delicious. At this point, if you wish, you could also chop up some carrots for your soup. Mmm.

Now that your oil has heated, dump your garlic and onion into the pot. Sautee these until they are nice and tender, about 10 minutes. Make sure to add a dash of salt to this to help speed up the process.

When your onions and garlic are cooked down and nice and tender, strain your lentils and rice. Dump this mixture into the pot and add six to seven cups of warm water. Give it a good stir, put the lid on, and leave for at least twenty minutes.

Note: Sometimes I use five cups of water and two cups of chicken or veggie stock for more flavour.

After twenty minutes has passed, dump 1 tbsp of ground cumin and 1 tbsp of chicken/veggie stock powder into the soup. Stir. Let it cook with the lid off for another five to ten minutes, depending on how things are looking (and tasting).

After five to ten minutes, check to see if your soup needs more cumin or stock powder. Stir in if this is the case. When you think your soup in perfect, turn off the heat. Add salt and pepper depending on your tastes. Ladel generously into a bowl and DIG IN!

Note: I *highly* reccommend squeezing a lemon wedge into your bowl and stirring it up before you eat. It makes it taste sooooo yummy!