Meredith tells me the first time she became aware of lentils, was at the age of 35! They had not been part of her experience growing up in suburban Chicago in the fifties.
One of the first things I cooked for her was a dish I call “comfort lentils” (it’s in my cookbook Delicious Dishes for Diabetics).
Much has changed–Indian restaurants are common place now in the US.
Indian and Chinese restaurants and “take-aways” (my equivalent of MacDonalds–first outlet opened in the UK in 1974!) featured regularly in my life at college and in provincial theatre.
Affordable and open late–just the ticket!
This recipe is hands on for the first half hour or so, as it builds in the taste.
Then it chugs along on a low heat for fifty minutes as the lentils dissolve and the dal forms.
The finish involves sautéing a small amount of onion, garlic and dried red pepper to stir into the mix to lift it.
It’s adapted from a recipe in Ismail Merchant’s excellent and quirky cookbook Indian Cuisine.
8oz red lentils–rinsed until the water runs clear
1 small onion–chopped
2 tblsps olive oil
a short stick of cinnamon
1 tsp fresh ginger–grated
250ml/1/2 pint stock–I use organic vegetable stock cubes
250ml/1/2 pint hot water
1 tsp cayenne pepper
juice and the shells of a lemon
to finish:
2 tblsps olive oil
1/2 small onion–sliced
1 garlic clove–chopped
1 tsp salt
1 small dried red chili–chopped
Cook the onion over a low heat in the oil until it is opaque–about five minutes.
Add the lentils, cinnamon and the ginger and mix in.
Cook these together gently for about ten minutes, keeping the heat low and stirring from time to time to avoid them sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.
A nutty aroma starts to rise from the darkening lentils, as they cook.
Add the stock and hot water, cayenne and salt.
Bring to the simmer.
Cook on gently for a further ten minutes, then add the lemon juice and the empty lemon halves and stir it all together.
Cover the pan and continue cooking on a very low heat–use a heat diffuser if necessary–for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking.
In a small frying pan heat the tablespoon of olive oil and add the sliced onion.
Let this color for five minutes over a medium heat.
Add the chili and the sliced garlic and continue cooking until the garlic begins to brown.
Add this to the lentils and mix it in.
We ate it yesterday as an accompaniment to spicy marinaded chicken breasts–(recipe soon).
It’ll taste even better today!
Robin Ellis 
Beautiful in color alone!
Wow! This sounds and looks fantastic. I can only imagine the aroma is just as amazing. Living in the US, I’ve never really had lentils either and I know my son has not (just turned 19) so I think I will attempt to make this over the upcoming weekend. Thanks for the exposure to new foods!
This one sounds good. We like the comfort lentils, and so do the kids, they might like this one even better because of the cinnamon and lemon. The chicken sounds good too, looking forward to the recipe.
I have some lentils in the house; just need to pop out for a few ingredients. Looks great for this evening! Thanks!
After we make the celery dish we are going to try this next, oh, yes, and the beautiful fresh fish recipe. So many lovely dishes to try. Each one we have made we have had 2 to 3 time and more a month. We are waiting for a leg of lamb recipe with side dishes. Thank you, take good care.
There’s a slow roasted leg of lamb recipe in Delicious Dishes for Diabetics with side dishes recommendations!
I’d hardly heard of lentils until my crazy hippie days — it was definitely NOT part of the standard American diet in the 50’s and 60’s. It was one of those strange foreign foods your average housewife had no idea how to prepare. So glad times have changed! I’ll have to try this method — I bought some of those bright orange lentils in the Middle East food section just to try the recipe in the book. The pictures will definitely help me get it right. Thanks again for sharing.
Another one to add to my collection of dal recipes. With each new recipe added, my favourite one changes. Maybe it would be fun to have a ‘dal fest’ one day to help me decide.
Dal fest sounds good.
Suggestions?
Robin, until some time in adulthood I wasn’t aware I had eaten lentils as a child in my mother’s split pea soup! It was a winter staple, made with ham hocks. The split peas were soaked overnight in water, and turned into a Dahl like mushy consistency in the cooked soup.
Things like chickpeas, kidney beans, borlotti beans etc were probably available in 50s and 60s era Sydney due to our European migrant population, but we didn’t see them cooked at home. Now we have them all the time!
Well,…I’ve started it. We will see……..
This recipe is just the ticket too! I love Indian food and lentils so I will definitely be trying this one! Thanks Robin.
It’s delicious! Quite spicy.
Ha! Were your ears ringing tonight? Heard on the national news that a “Mediterranean Diet Is shown to ward off heart risks,” and I said, “Yep, like Robin eats!” I see you found it in the NY Times already! 🙂
PS: This recipe sounds good–will try it soon! Have a bit of time to cook as we’ll be snowed in yet again…
Cheers & hugs!
Good news!
Today’s Press Democrat here in Sonoma County, CA also ran an article about this on their front page. I hope readers are lucky enough to find your book, Robin. Your lentils are heavenly on chilly winter evenings!
Did they recommend lentils for warming up in winter?–no need I suppose in Sonoma County though!
This sounds delightful! Am looking forward to your posting on the marinated chicken breast recipe!