Bajan Split Pea Soup with Dumplings

Split Pea Soup Ingredients:
5-6 cups of water for both soaking
5-6 cups of water or broth for cooking
2.5 cups split peas (green or yellow)
1 ham bone 
2 large onions (chopped)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp of dried hot pepper or peppa' sauce or a fresh small pepper
1 cup of fresh or canned pumpkin, carrots or sweet potatoes
2 tsp of thyme
black pepper to taste
fresh parsley

Split Pea Soup Directions:
When working with whole legumes its important to practice two simple ancestral techniques:
1) Wash split peas - Place split peas in a bowl and cover with water. Gently massage the peas with your hands and infuse them with your gratitude and loving intentions.  The water may cloud up with dirt from the peas. Strain the peas and repeat this process until the water runs clear during massage. Once this is completed you will prepare the split peas for soaking.  
2) Soak split peas - once the split peas are cleaned place them in a bowl with 5-6 cups of water overnight (optional add a piece of kombu to the water of soaked peas).

When the split peas are done with soaking, strain them and place them in a pot with the onions, water/broth, ham bone, hot pepper, thyme, salt and black pepper.  Bring it to a boil, lower to medium heat and let it cook for about 30 minutes.  Then add the pumpkin/carrots/sweet potatoes and let it cook for another 15 mins; your soup will begin to thicken with the addition of these root vegetables.   

If you're adding dumplings (recipe below) to your soup gently drop the dough into the soup by the teaspoonful.  They take about 10 minutes to cook through and plump up.    


Stew/Soup Dumplings Ingredients:  
1.5 cups of flour or (1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup cornmeal)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water or milk
2 tblsp sugar
1.5 tsp butter or ghee
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp curry powder
pinch of nutmeg

Dumpling Directions:
Mix the dried ingredients into a bowl.  Cut in your butter or ghee and blend with fingers or fork.  Make a little well in the middle and add your water or milk into the well.  Slowly fold in the flour with your hands or a spatula until you have a dough.  Set aside until ready to cook in your soup/stew; typically add to soup at the end of the cook.  At that time, gently drop the dough into the soup by the teaspoonful and cook until they plump up, about 10 minutes.

​Enjoy!