Warm the olive oil in a medium soup pot on a stove burner set to medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until the onions are soft and translucent. This process takes approximately 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant. This process takes about 1 minute.
Add turmeric and stir well to coat the onions and garlic before sautéing. This process takes around 1 minute.
Add the yellow split peas or yellow mung dal to the soup pot. Stir the contents well with the other ingredients.
Add water to the soup pot and stir well. Bring the contents of the soup pot up to a boil. Cover the soup pot, turn the heat down to the low setting, and simmer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, turn the heat off. Transfer the soup pot from the stove burner to a heatproof surface.
Strain out the solids from the broth. (See video.)
As an alternative to straining out the solids, you can purée the broth with the solids to create a creamy golden broth that you can use as a base for cream soups.
The broth is ready to use. Alternatively, you can store the broth in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer for 2 months.