A super delicious lentil based soup topped with samosas and crunchy vegetables; Burmese Samosa Soup is almost like a one-pot meal.
Protein rich and full of delicious ingredients and toppings; this soup recipe is a keeper!
We all LOVE samosas right? The crunchy outside and the flavorful soft insides. This Indian snack has always been loved by so many and continues to be a favorite. No wonder there are countless version of it already. Like this Baked Puff Pastry Samosa, Samosa Chaat and Deconstructed Samosa Bites.
Taking on from that, how about adding a couple of samosas to a soup? It would be really great I promise!
I was taken by surprise when I first read the name of this soup on a Burmese restaurant menu. But we ordered it and have been in LOVE since.
That was my first encounter with the recipe and after enjoying it countless number of times at the restaurant we relish it at home too!
Jump to:
What is Samosa Soup
As the name suggests, the soup has samosas in a broth. It is a super popular Burmese recipe.
This soup is a mix of lentil based broth, crunchy vegetables, potatoes, bean sprouts and samosas.
Change the add-ins based on what you like. Plus, the broth can be spicy or just regular.
Samosa soup by itself would make a complete meal, especially as it has lentil, vegetables and flour in it. If you would like to serve it with something, tea leaf salad or samosa salad would be great.
Overall, Samosa soup and Khow suey are definitely two super popular Burmese dishes.
Why this recipe works
- This one pot meal comes together in under 60 minutes.
- We do not need any special equipment to make this soup. All you need is a pan and a pressure cooker.
- This soup is naturally Vegan. It is not gluten-free as the samosas have flour in them.
- This is a jazzed up version of lentil soup and can be topped with so many delicious toppings. Together the soup and toppings make a healthy, yummy no fuss soup.
- The soup can be made before hand as part of meal prep too. Once the soup is ready, all it takes is adding the toppings right before serving. Thus, it is a great party recipe too. Each guest can pick and choose what they want to top their soup with.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Lentil: The soup is made with toor dal (split pigeon peas). A combination of lentils works too. I prefer to use just toor dal as it mashes to a creamy consistency when pressure cooked and makes the soup amazing.
- Samosa: This is a required ingredient for the soup. Making them or using frozen or store bought samosas work. While potato and peas samosas are great; I often use spinach and cheese samosas to make the soup too.
- Vegetables: For the soup you need onion along with vegetables like carrots and cabbage. Adding broccoli, peas or other vegetables is an option too.
- Potato: The creamy soup with perfectly cooked potato is a delight. It adds so much texture and taste to the soup. If you do not like potatoes, skip them.
- Sprouts: Any kind of sprouts works well for the recipe. I add home sprouted moong beans. Chana or a mix of sprouts works well too. Skip the sprouts if you do not have it or do not like it.
- Spices: The soup is flavored with garam masala, turmeric powder, cumin powder and salt. The flavors are pretty similar to the ones used in Indian cuisine.
- Tamarind Paste: A great way to make the soup flavorful is using tamarind paste. It adds tanginess to the soup. While lemon juice works too, I highly recommend using tamarind.
- Toppings: The soup is creamy and the toppings add a lot of crunch to it. Shredded cabbage, carrot and onion work great. The restaurants often add falafel too. They would be great. Top the soup with some lime and jalapeños if you like.
See the recipe card for detailed ingredient information, measurements and nutrition.
How to make this recipe
1- Rinse, drain and pressure cook the dal with water.
2- Then mash using a ladle or an immersion blender and set aside.
3- In a thick bottom pan heat the oil. Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and dried red chili.
4- Once the cumin seeds pop, add diced onions and ginger. Cook them till the onions soften.
5- Then add garam masala, salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder and mix well.
6- Add water and bring to a boil.
7- Next, tip in the chopped potatoes and boil the soup for 5-6 minutes. The potatoes will cook halfway by then.
8- Then add the dal, mix well and bring it to a boil.
9- Then add the sprouts and mix.
10- Next add the cabbage and carrots and mix well. Bring the soup to a boil.
11- Add tamarind paste and mix.
12- Then turn down the flame. Serve this Burmese Samosa Soup topped with samosa, shredded vegetables, lime slice and jalapeños.
Expert Tips and Notes
- Boil and mash the lentil completely to get a creamy soup. However an immersion blender can be used too.
- Add any vegetable you like to this Burmese Samosa Soup. Carrots, potato and cabbage taste great but so would cauliflower and peas.
- Use homemade, frozen or store bought ready samosas. Heat up the samosas a little before serving.
- The soup can be made before hand and kept. It might get a little thick on standing as it has lentil. Heat it with some water before serving if required.
- Add the toppings and serve immediately because the toppings tend to get soggy on standing and the soup starts to thicken.
Recipe FAQs
Yes samosa soup can be made with a lentil of your choice. However, tuvar or yellow pigeon peas tend to cook and mash really creamy giving the soup a great base.
The soup is naturally Vegan and the base is gluten-free too. The samosas are generally not gluten-free so the meal together is not gluten-free.
Yes certainly. The soup base can be made in advance and the toppings can be added just before serving. However, the dal base tends to thicken on sitting, so thin it out with water before serving.
The soup base is super healthy as it is packed with lentil and vegetables. While there is no cream or cheese in this soup to make it calorie dense, the samosas are not exactly diet food.
More Soups to try
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Burmese Samosa Soup
Ingredients
For the soup
- ½ cup Toor Dal (Split Pigeon Peas)
- ½ Onion (diced)
- ½ cup Potato (peeled and diced)
- ½ cup Carrot (cubed)
- ½ cup Cabbage (chopped)
- ⅓ cup Sprouts
- 1 teaspoon Ginger (shredded)
- 1 Dried Red Chili
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- ½ teaspoon Red Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garam Masala
- 4½ cups Water
- 1½ teaspoon Tamarind Paste
- 1 tablespoon Oil
Toppings
- 6 Samosas
- ½ cup Carrot (shredded)
- ½ cup Cabbage (shredded)
- 1 Jalapeño (sliced)
- 3 Lime slices
Instructions
- Rinse, drain and pressure cook the dal with 1 ½ cup water. Mash using a ladle or an immersion blender. Set aside.
- In a thick bottom pan heat the oil. Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and dried red chili.
- Once the cumin seeds pop, add diced onions and ginger. Mix and let the onions soften.
- Add garam masala, salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder. Mix well.
- Add 3 cups water and bring to a boil.
- Tip in the chopped potatoes and boil the soup for 5-6 minutes. The potatoes will cook halfway by then.
- Add the dal and mix well. Bring it to a boil.
- Then add the sprouts and mix.
- Next add the cabbage and carrots and mix well. Bring the soup to a boil.
- Add tamarind paste and mix. Turn down the flame.
- Serve topped with samosa, shredded vegetables, lime slice and jalapeños.
Notes
- Boil and mash the lentil completely to get a creamy soup. Use an immersion blender if needed.
- Add any vegetable you like to the soup. Carrots, potato and cabbage taste great but so would cauliflower and peas.
- Use homemade, frozen or store bought ready samosas. Heat up the samosas a little before serving.
- The soup can be made before hand and kept. It might get a little thick on standing as it has lentil. Heat it with some water before serving if required.
- Add the toppings and serve immediately.
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