No-Oil Red Lentil and Squash Pottage with Cumin and Lemon

General Fast Without Oil Published August 02, 2026

Red lentils dissolve, and that is their gift. Simmered with squash until both collapse, they make a thick golden pottage that coats a spoon and needs no fat at all to feel rich. Texture is doing the work that oil usually does.

The technique that saves this from blandness is dry-toasting the spices. Cumin and coriander seeds hit a dry pan until they smell like a spice market, then get crushed and stirred in. No oil required, and the flavor is stronger than blooming in fat.

Finish hard with lemon. A whole lemon across the pot sounds like too much and is exactly right — acid is the lever you pull on no-oil days.

FASTING LEVEL: Fast Without Oil (strict days)
SERVINGS: 6
TIME: 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 onions, finely diced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups (400g) red lentils, rinsed until the water runs clear
- 900g butternut or kabocha squash, peeled and cubed
- 8 cups (2L) vegetable broth or water
- 2 bay leaves
- Juice of 1 large lemon, plus more to serve
- Salt and black pepper
- Cilantro, chopped

METHOD

1. Heat a large dry heavy pot over medium. Add the cumin, coriander, and fennel seeds and toast 60-90 seconds, shaking constantly, until fragrant and a shade darker. Tip out and crush in a mortar or under a heavy pan.

2. Return the pot to medium heat. Add the onions and 1/2 cup of water. Cook 10-12 minutes, adding water whenever the pot dries, until the onions are soft and sweet and beginning to stick and brown. Those sticky brown patches are flavor — scrape them up with each splash of water.

3. Add the garlic and ginger with another splash of water and cook 2 minutes.

4. Stir in the crushed toasted spices, turmeric, cayenne, and tomato paste. Cook 2 minutes, stirring, adding water as needed.

5. Add the lentils, squash, broth, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom, until the lentils have completely broken down and the squash is falling apart.

6. Mash roughly with a wooden spoon or a few pulses of an immersion blender — leave some squash in pieces. It should be thick enough that a spoon leaves a trail.

7. Remove the bay leaves. Add the lemon juice, then salt generously and add plenty of black pepper. Taste and add more lemon.

8. Serve in deep bowls with cilantro and a lemon wedge.

NOTES

- On oil days: finish each bowl with olive oil and a spoonful of mint sizzled in oil. It becomes a different, richer dish.
- Sweet potato, pumpkin, or carrot all work in place of butternut.
- Do not skip rinsing the red lentils — the starch they shed makes the pot gluey and dull-tasting.
- Thickens hard overnight. Loosen with hot water and re-season with lemon and salt when reheating.