Lentils - how to cook them?

watna

I promised my OH I would learn to make Dahl as it is his favourite comfort food - its what his mother cooked a lot growing up. Luckily there was an easy enough recipe in the paper this morning so I'm going to try that out during the week.

Is there anything else nice you can make with lentils? I quite like them dried in things but I realised that I dont have much experience cooking them. If Im going to stock up to make Dahl I thought it would be a good idea to try out some other lentil recipes - seeming as you have to soak them overnight to prepare them.

Any suggestions?

c4cat

watna wrote: »

I promised my OH I would learn to make Dahl as it is his favourite comfort food - its what his mother cooked a lot growing up. Luckily there was an easy enough recipe in the paper this morning so I'm going to try that out during the week.

Is there anything else nice you can make with lentils? I quite like them dried in things but I realised that I dont have much experience cooking them. If Im going to stock up to make Dahl I thought it would be a good idea to try out some other lentil recipes - seeming as you have to soak them overnight to prepare them.

Any suggestions?

I find them nice added to stew or boil some up to add a bit more texture to soups, or if you are making a gravy just add a few to thicken the gravy

The Sweeper

Depending on the kind you buy, you don't need to pre-soak. Read the instructions on the pack.

While they're good in daal, a handful is also good in soups and stews. I like to make a pasta sauce from a tin of tomatoes, some stock, some roasted red pepper and a cupful of red lentils - then blitz smooth and it makes a good sauce for things like meatballs or sausages with pasta. They're also great in curries (unsurprisingly, since they're good with spices, onions and stock as a dal side dish) on the same basis - put in a handful to help thicken up the sauce.

pq0n1ct4ve8zf5

It's a bit hippie but you can make lentil burger yokes. Cook them as usual, then drain off most of the water and turn the heat down reeeeeeeeeally low and stir until you get a fairly dry, firm kind of lentil paste (mmm appetising). Season it to taste (curry powder, chilli, paprika, cumin, garlic, whatever) then cover a board or counter in flower, roll handfuls of the lentil mixture in it and shallow fry or bake, and use as burgers. Google will probably give you a more precise recipe and mae it sound nummier

Ddad

Puy lentils don't need soaking and cook in a half hour. Simmer rather than boil and then braise with some herbs white wine and stock to add flavour. Don't salt them until the end of cooking as it toughes the skin, same for all beans and pulses. Braised they are great cold in salads. They also make a lovely base for a meaty fish dish e.g. turbot or monkfisk with a little beurre blanc. I love them, cheap, versatile and they'll last for ages in your store cupboard. Try bbc.co.uk/food for recipes, avoid any from ready steady cook; they don't tend to be well tested.

The Sweeper

Oh hey that's something else - puy lentils are great with fatty meats like sausages and lamb chops. Just cook as directed, but add a sprig of rosemary (for lamb) or thyme (for pork). Drain, and then stir the cooked lentils through something like a mirepoix (gently sweated mixed veg - finely chopped carrot, onion, celery and add some garlic).

Plate up spoonfuls of the lentil-veg mixture, and lay a grilled lambchop or sausages over the top. The other alternative is to brown a chop or sausages separately, then finish them in the pan with the mirepoix and lentils to add further flavour to the veg.

The Black Oil

I think I put them in some sort of curry soup I made a while back, but I can't remember 100%. We've taken to adding them to roasts or casseroles and leave them in for the full cooking. They're grand and the ones we have don't need be pre-soaked.

Minder

Puy lentils are also great cooked and mixed with potato parmentier (Fried small cubes), then dress with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and some chopped parsley. Great under a fillet of cod or sea bass.

Birdsong

OP what paper was the reciepe for dahl in, its something i would love to try my hand at making. The weeks papers are probably still in the folks green bin:D

watna

Sorry - I live in New Zealand so the paper was the Wellington Dominion Post. I don't think they have the weekend sections online but I'll dig it out later and post it up here if you like. It was quite short so it'll be no bother.

shrapnel222

i usually cook a "petit sale" almost every week. fry an onion and a couple of carrots in a saucepan in a bit of olive oil until golden, at the same time fry your bacon bits in a pan. I usually rinse the puy lentils, then add a bit more olive oil in the saucepan, add a stock cube then add the lentils and bacon bits, churn it all around for a few minutes, pour boiling water, maybe half an inch over, add a couple of bay leaves, herbes de provence, cover and simmer for maybe 40 minutes (check from time to time to make sure enough water is left, and if lentils are cooked). Serve with nice sausages

Deeelicious

Alun

Minesajackdaniels wrote: »

Oh hey that's something else - puy lentils are great with fatty meats like sausages and lamb chops. Just cook as directed, but add a sprig of rosemary (for lamb) or thyme (for pork). Drain, and then stir the cooked lentils through something like a mirepoix (gently sweated mixed veg - finely chopped carrot, onion, celery and add some garlic).

Plate up spoonfuls of the lentil-veg mixture, and lay a grilled lambchop or sausages over the top. The other alternative is to brown a chop or sausages separately, then finish them in the pan with the mirepoix and lentils to add further flavour to the veg.

I make that all the time as a sort of sausage 'casserole' (fry sausages, cut into chunks and add at the end), but I add a little chicken stock to the mix and finish off with a good dollop of sour cream or creme fraiche to create a sauce and serve with lots of crusty French bread to soak up the sauce. You can use a tin of ready cooked puy lentils at a pinch if in a hurry too.

Keith in cork

I have lentils on my menu at the moment. A sweet chilli puy lentil cassoulet (lentil stew). I brunoise (fine dice) a mix of root vegetables (carrot, onion etc). I sweat these off in some butter, with some fresh chilli. Then i add my pre-soaked lentils. cover with veg stock (fresh....... bullions are concentrated). Bring to the boil, and then cook the liquid off. After their done, i add some homemade sweet chilli sauce, but on occasion have used bottled sweet chilli. it works fine but is never the same.

On top of this i serve a confit duck leg, de-boned.

served with a corriander jus (with corriander seeds as opposed to fresh although using corriander stalks is cool too.)

_blank_

watna wrote: »

Sorry - I live in New Zealand so the paper was the Wellington Dominion Post. I don't think they have the weekend sections online but I'll dig it out later and post it up here if you like. It was quite short so it'll be no bother.

Is it a vegetarian Dahl?

watna

Des wrote: »

Is it a vegetarian Dahl?

Yes, it is.

However, my OH put the weekend's paper in the recycling which went out last night. So no dahl for him!

I'll have to see does anyone have a copy of it - The Dominion Post office is right next door to where I work and you can get copies of recent papers so I might go in there. It was the simplest Dahl I've seen and I really want to try it.

Minder

To soak or not to soak. Dahl seems to be made with either split red lentils (masoor dahl) or split yellow peas (channa dahl). Channa dahl is soaked before using, masoor dahl isn't.

If you can't find your recipe, try this

200g split red lentils
6 curry leaves
½ tsp brown mustard seeds
½ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp salt

Optional

A pinch of asafoetida
Half a finely chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic
A chopped deseeded green chilli

Fry the onion if using until soft, add the washed lentils, the tumeric and ½ litre of water. Cook until the lentils break up.

Fry the garlic and the whole spices until the garlic is golden and the mustard seeds pop. Add to the dahl.

Birdsong

Thanks for the reciepe Minder, will definatly give it a go over the weekend