Cauliflower goes perfectly with the Indian seasonings in this curried split pea soup. Cooks in minutes in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker!
You might think that I plan all my dinners in advance, but the truth is I rarely decide what I’m going to cook until 5 minutes before I start. I like to keep my options open, so I keep a fairly well-stocked pantry and adapt recipes when I don’t have the exact ingredients.
I mention this because last night I was coming into the kitchen to prepare a couple of Ethiopian dishes when my daughter said, “Will you cook split pea soup? I want to have it in my thermos for lunch tomorrow.”
Since I’m always happy when she takes something other than a sandwich for lunch, I quickly changed courses. Besides, split pea soup is so quick and easy to make in the pressure cooker. (Subject for another day: If you don’t have a PC, run out and buy one now!)
There are as many variations on split pea soup as there are cooks, and Curried Split Pea Soup is one of my three favorites. I think that steamed cauliflower goes well with split pea soup; in fact, I always wind up dipping my cauliflower into the soup. Last night I decided to streamline the cooking/dipping process and just cook the cauliflower in the soup. There you go–soup and a vegetable all in one!
Curried Split Pea Soup with Cauliflower
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon each whole cumin, fennel, and black mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
- 2 cups coarsely chopped onions
- 3 large carrots halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices
- 6 cups boiling water
- 2 cups dried green or yellow split peas picked over and rinsed
- 1-2 tablespoons mild curry powder to taste
- Salt to taste optional
- 1 pound fresh or frozen cauliflower chopped
Instructions
- Spray the bottom of the pressure cooker with a quick spray of oil, or add just a few drops, and begin heating it. (You can try toasting the spices without oil, but they burn quickly.) Add the cumin, fennel, and black mustard seeds over medium-high heat and toast them for about 10 seconds (they may or may not begin to pop). Stir in the ginger, garlic, and onions and continue to cook, stirring frequently, for another minute. Add the carrots, boiling water (stand back to avoid sputtering), split peas (I like yellow in this), and curry powder. Stir well to be sure that no bits of onion or spices have gotten stuck to the bottom of the pot.
- Lock the lid in place. Over high heat, bring to high pressure. Lower the heat just enough to maintain high pressure and cook for 8 minutes. (Electric PC users, just set the high pressure setting to 8 minutes.) Remove from heat or turn PC off. Allow the pressure to come down naturally for about 10 minutes, then quick-release the pressure. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow any excess steam to escape. Check the peas, and if they are not soft, return to high pressure for a couple of minutes or until they are uniformly tender (older peas may take longer to cook).
- Add the chopped cauliflower, replace the lid, and heat over low heat until the cauliflower is just cooked, about 10 minutes. This also works with frozen chopped cauliflower (no need to thaw first). Stir in salt. (If no salt is desired, try stirring in fresh lemon juice a tablespoon at a time until the flavor is to your liking.) If the soup is too thick, thin it with water or stock.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
Original 2006 Photo
Next up: the incredibly red salad I served with this….
Pat
Dear Susan, made this last night and it was soooo wonderful; I couldn’t stop eating it! Made it with yellow split peas, yellow cauliflower, cooked on the stove like I do all my soups. This is MY new fave!
Kay
Made this on the stove top too. Simply delish. Just cooked the peas until they were soft enough for me (I know this can vary with the age of the peas, so I didn’t bother timing it), and when it was done, threw in the cauliflower.
I also gave it a bit of whiz with my immersion blender, and added a bit more liquid when it was all done.
This freezes fantastically, too!
Sarah
Hi Susan,
I just made this recipe again for the 4th or 5th time and I wanted to tell you how much my husband and I LOVE it. I took cook the cauliflower in it and I make it stove top as I don’t have a pressure cooker. I have decided to get a pressure cooker and was wondering if you could recommend a pressure cooker size. I have seen many 6 quart and 8 quart models, but I was hoping to get some advice from someone who uses one alot.
Thanks!
Sarah
SusanV
Sarah, I definitely recommend getting at least a 6 quart pressure cooker, perhaps even an 8-quart. When you cook split peas and other small legumes like lentils, you have to be careful not to over-fill the pot, so having some extra room is essential. Also, make sure you get a cooker that uses the new valve technology, not the old “jiggle top”–those don’t handle beans as well.
doemora
Oh my! such memories of beans exploding all over the house in Narragansett in the late 70s/early 80’s!!! I suspect the newer ones (as you describe) will not create such long lasting memories 🙂
GetSkinnyGoVegan
That looks delicious!!
astrid morgan
Sounds souper good ; D But can you give me an idea on cooking time if i am without the pressure cooker ( its on the christmas list) THANKS!
SusanV
Cook it on low, covered, until the split peas fall apart, probably about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. You’ll also need more water. Then add the cauliflower about 10 minutes before serving.
Sue
My family loved this the first time they ate it (last year? maybe earlier), and again when we ate it this past week. Because I had a small-medium sized leftover baked sweet potato in the refrigerator, I used it and 1 large carrot instead of 3 large carrots. Wow! That worked really well. Then I noticed that you had posted a more recent recipe, https://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2010/12/curried-cauliflower-sweet-potato-soup.html, that uses sweet potato and cauliflower, with chick peas instead of split peas. Also, our family has tried and liked your recipe that uses cauliflower and butternut squash. What I’m starting to get, is that if I make a soup using cauliflower, I can probably add an orange squash/root-veg/pumpkin(?) of my choice, along with curry-ish spices and citrus and a protein-starch grain/bean/pea/lentil(?) – and wind up in a good to great place. Thanks for your fabulous recipes and for the inspiration!
Bex
Another wonderful recipe. When I talk about your site I mention that I have never cooked a recipe from here that hasn’t been wonderful. Thank you so very much for that.
Susan Voisin
I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you!
Mel
Susan,
My pressure cooker’s (Instant Pot LUX60) instructions say that I should not use split peas in it because they froth too much. I was surprised to see this. Why would it say that? Have you had any issues? Thanks!
Mel
Susan Voisin
Instructions do often say that, but as long as you don’t overfill the cooker, you shouldn’t have any problem. Just to be safe, try filling it only halfway.
Barb
I made this tonight, but had to use regular mustard seed as I didn’t have any black mustard seed (had never heard of black mustard seed before, will be looking for it in stores now). It was still delicious! I used green split peas and cooked the soup on top of the stove, as I have a 4-qt pressure cooker (too small) and a 22 qt. aluminum pressure cooker for canning and don’t want to cook food in aluminum. I will keep the recipe to use often. Thanks!
Katie
You can find black mustard seed in Indian grocery stores. 🙂
stephanie
This sound delicious I have an electric pressure cooker..how much time would you recommend I use.
Susan Voisin
I usually add 2-3 minutes when using the electric pressure cooker, just to be on the safe side.
Jody
I don’t have a pressure cooker. I would like to make this in my slow cooker. Any suggestions.
Susan Voisin
You could put everything except the salt and cauliflower into the slow cooker and cook on slow for 6 hours. Then add the cauliflower and cook until it and the split peas are tender, another 1-3 hours. Add salt to taste. (I base those times on this recipe by slow cooker wizard Kathy Hester.)
Jennifer
What brand and model pressure cooker would you or others recommend on Amazon?
Susan Voisin
I absolutely love my Fagor electric pressure cooker, which I bought on Amazon. Here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001A62O1G/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001A62O1G&linkCode=as2&tag=fatfreevegank-20
Kirsten
Hi Susan,
I love your website and your recipes! I frequently use them as is, or as the inspiration for variations of my own! The trouble is that I don’t have enough time in my lifetime to cook everything that I want to.
My question about this recipe is this: can you give me some advice on adapting it to non-pressure cooker pots, and also using lentils? i.e. timing of ingredients, and liquid amounts?
Much appreciated!
Thank you in advance
Kirsten Ness
Kirsten
Never mind Susan! I should have read through the comments before posting my question! Thanks muchly for all your delicious work!
Susan Voisin
I’m so glad you found the answers to your questions, Kirsten. My blog commenters are the best! They often make adaptations I would never think of.
Brenda
This freezing weather is making me crave split pea soup, so I decided to try this tonight. I had some panch phoron I’d picked up at the Indian market, so I used that. It took no time in the pressure cooker and smells and tastes amazing! Thanks so much for this one!
Mike Milton
Oh! Perfect, this is exactly what we were looking for as a diner tonight.
Marla
I made this soup for lunch last week and it was fantastic! It was flavorful, hearty, and satisfying. I used a spicy curry blend rather than the recommended mild curry and loved the depth of flavor. Great recipe!
SuzanneH
This soup is delicious. Unfortunately I did not have black mustard seeds or curry powder so I used fennel, cumin, and garam masala spice. All praise the pressure cooker! This one was done and ready to eat within 30 minutes. Love it
Beth
Made this today and it is so so good! Amazingly it loks to be only 3-4 points per cup!
Tince
Susan, I really would love to make this today but I don’t have the cumin/black mustards seeds and ginger. I do have ground cumin/ginger and fennel seeds. Do you think these would change the flavor by much? Thank you!
Susan Voisin
I think the ground cumin and ginger will probably be good, but I would just leave out the mustard seed and not replace it with fennel. Fennel will overpower and change the flavor.
Karen
I just plugged this into “My Fitness Pal” app and it counted 81 calories, I wonder which count is correct
Susan Voisin
Personally, I wouldn’t trust any online calculator. I hand-enter each ingredient’s nutritional info to come up with a breakdown that is as close as I can get with software. No analysis is going to be 100% accurate, but it shouldn’t be off by that great a percentage of calories.
Barb
i just made this again. The first time was a few years ago, and I was happy to re-visit. The recipe stands the test of time.
orthohawk
I made this this afternoon using sweet potatoes and in a crock pot on low for 4 hours. My carni roommate loved it.
Lester
Thank you for this enticing recipe; I’m eager to try it (even using oil, as I rarely do) soon as cooler weather begins.
Can you please explain why water is to be boiled before adding to pot?
Susan Voisin
It just speeds up the cooking time. You can be boiling the water while getting the other ingredients ready. The Instant Pot takes a long time to come to a boil if you start with cold water.
Natasha
Made it in my Instant Pot. Used green split peas. I add steamed kale when I eat it. Love it. Thanks for the great recipe, as always!
Lisa Harvey
Except for addition of cauliflower, this is the EXACT same recipe from Lorna Sass’s “Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure,” copyright date 1994. If you are adapting her recipes, (with 1 addition), perhaps you should give her a mention?
Susan Voisin
Credit is given twice, once in the introduction with a link to the original recipe and again in the recipe itself.
Jan
I just saw this recipe and went to the kitchen to make it right away. I halved the recipe because I don’t like a lot of leftovers. It was really yummy, loved the cauliflower with split peas, never would’ve thought if it. I used red curry paste because that’s what I had and no black mustard seeds. From now on this is how I’ll make split peas.
Susan
This is another great instant pot recipe! Thank you Susan! Your recipes are always so reliable and I am mastering how to use my instant pot by following your very thorough instructions. Thank you again!
Larry Johnston
We have been making this recipe on the stove top and love it. We just got an Instant Pot and want to try it. I am not clear on your instructions for adding the cauliflower at the end. Are you using a Pressure cooking setting or sauting or some other function?
Thanks,
Larry
Susan Voisin
I’m so glad you like the soup! The way I do the cauliflower at the end is just to add it to the hot soup, cover, and cook on low until it’s tender. When I first created the recipe, I used a stovetop pressure cooker, so it was easy just to heat it on the stove without pressure. For the Instand Pot, I add the cauliflower and then set the lid on the pot without locking it and use the lowest sauté setting to cook the cauliflower. You COULD return the pot to pressure, but the IP can be temperamental about returning to pressure, so I avoid that.
Brenda
This is such a nice recipe, thank you! I made it on top of the stove. I added 8 cups of water and simmered with the lid on until it was the consistency I liked. I used older yellow split peas but to my relief they softened enough. The soup turned out delicious. I used both lemon juice and salt to season at the end. I liked the addition of the fennel seeds but I may cut back a wee bit next time.