Moroccan Lentil Soup with Yoghurt and Chilli-fried Onions

I fell off the cooking wagon this past week, what with all the snow and general busy-ness. I also developed a potentially quite debilitating addiction to mince pies which impacted on my desire to cook anything. Apart from mince pies that is.  This time I'm starting the week as I mean to go on and working my way through some recipes I've been hungrily pouring over from another of my latest obsessions, Cook Vegetarian magazine. Mock me if you wish, but not before you've checked out their new website and drooled over the food photography for yourself.

3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp ground coriander
280 red lentils
400g can chopped tomatoes
1.2 litres vegetable stock or water
salt and pepper
6 tbsp roughly chopped coriander plus extra to garnish
for the chilli-fried onions:
2 onions, very finely sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp soft brown sugar
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
juice of 1 small lemon
soya yoghurt, to serve

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and saute the onion and celery until soft but not coloured. Add the garlic and spices, cook for another minute before adding the remaining ingredients apart from the chopped coriander. Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes or until the lentils become a puree. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the chopped coriander.

To make the chilli-fried onions, quickly fry the onions in very hot olive oil until golden brown and crispy. Add the cinnamon, sugar and chilli and stir until the sugar has melted then add the lemon juice. Serve the soup will a spoonful of yoghurt, the chilli-fried onions and coriander leaves.