Choklay's Tibetan Lentil Soup

I love this lentil soup. I usually use lentils du Puy and a roasted New Mexican chili in it for the generic "lentils" and "chile" it calls for, though I have used other kinds of lentils (beluga, regular brown) and chiles (jalapeño, Hungarian wax, serrano, Thai bird, etc.) and it's excellent any way I have made it.

The cilantro it calls for putting on raw at the end is very important to the character of the dish, but it does not ruin it to leave it off.

I put this on a bed of delicious potatoes whipped with butter and sour cream, and it is one of my favorite meals. It reminds me, oddly enough, like an old dish I grew up with that was called "Swiss steak." I haven't had that dish in a long, long time, but this thick soup served on rich mashed potatoes evokes very good taste memories for me.