2KG bag of brown lentils - what the heck can I do with them? never cooked a lentil before in my life

[MascaraOHara]

and it looks like hard work

does anybody have any recipes?

tia

Chicken, lentils, stock. Makes lovely soup.

Definately makes lovely soup.

Also, delishious dahl with spinach.

What kind of lentils exaclty? Some need soaking, some just need cooking.

A 2kg bag will last ages though, keep it airtight in a dark cupboard and it will last over a year so there's no hurry to use it.

Are they these?

Those are puy lentils and take about an hour to cook.

Add split peas to the soup, it will get rid of any trapped wind

Actually I lie, those aren't puy, put are green!

The brown ones keep their shape really well so are good as a meat substitute in things like lasagne, bolognese and chillie.

Here is a favourite recipe fom my childhood, where I ate it regularly at break time at school served up by large African women who osld it to us over the playground fence (warning, it is a major carb overload)

Koshari:

Serves 4

Ingredients
175g/6oz Brown Lentils
175g/6oz Rice
150g/+5oz Short Cut Pasta e.g. Conchiglie (shells), Macaroni
2 Medium Onions, diced
2 tbsp Oil
360ml/12fl.oz. Fresh Tomato Sauce
Salt
Tabasco sauce to serve

Instructions

1. Place the lentils in a saucepan, cover with plenty of water, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

1. After the 15 minutes, stir in the rice and continue to cook for 10 minutes.

1. After the 10 minutes, add the macaroni and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes until the lentils, rice and pasta are all tender.

1. Meanwhile, fry the onions in the oil until browned, then remove the onions with a slotted spoon and set aside.

1. Drain the cooked lentil mixture well then return to the saucepan and add the oil from the frying pan into the lentil mixture. Return to the heat and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking and burning.

1. Meanwhile, heat the fresh tomato sauce in a saucepan together with the onions.

1. To serve, turn the lentil mixture onto serving platters, top with the tomato sauce and onion mixture and sprinkle with tobasco sauce.

Oh really? I use as a meat sub?

Apparently I have to sift through them and pick out hard ones the soack them for hours and hours and then cook them for an age.. (If I remember rightly off the back of the packet lol)

I really have no clue.. I bought them for a recipe that needed lentils then the next day found a tin of lentils lol

Oooh Dahl would be nice, do I just google lentil dahl?

So if I wanted to use in lasgne would I leterally use as meat same quanitity etc?

sorry for all the questions and thank you very much

WOW that reciped sounds lush.. very comfort food!

ooh, someone talk to me about dahl, keep seeing it mentioned, is it fab?

Honey baked lentils?

www.recipezaar.com/58598

I love dahl.. My friend at work makes the most fantastic dahl.. It's lovely. I have asked for the recipe so many times but she says you need loads of stuff that I wouldn't have and that whenever she makes it she'll just make an bit extra for me.. bless her! so yummy with a naan

lulu Dahl is amazing, and really easy to make, but there are so many different types you can make depending on what type or lentils you use and what other ingreidnets, if any, you add to it.

Googling Dahl recipe brings up loads of possibles, all of them look good.

Mascara yes you probably need to pick over them as sometimes little stoones can get in with thwm, but you don't need to saok them for ages or cook them for that long.

If I'm going to saok them I usually do it the night before I need them, so they soak overnight.

Yes as a meat sub they are fine, but it's not like using quorn mince or something, it is obviously not mince but tastes very nice and provides protein.

If you use it in lasagne, I'd go for the lentils and lots of other veg, particularly spinach (it complements the lentil flavour well) but also courgettes, muchrooms, peppers, like you would for a vegetable lasagne. Green lentils do taste very nice with tomato based sauces so a lasagne would be good.

Lentil Dahl:

Ingredients
2 cup green or brown lentils
1 each cinnamon stick, 3
1 each bay leaf
3 medium garlic cloves, peeled, whole
2 slice ginger root, 1 thick
1 tsp turmeric
half a lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne
3 tbsp ghee
1 pinch asafetida
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds

Directions

Wash lentils & drain. Combine with 6 cups water, cinnamon stick, bay
leaf, garlic cloves, ginger slices & turmeric. Bring to a boil, lower
heat & simmer for 40 minutes, till lentils are tender & the water has
been reduced significantly.

Slice lemon thinly & add to the pot with salt, black pepper & cayenne.
Simmer for a further 5 minutes.

Just before serving, heat ghee till hot, add asafetida & cumin seeds &
saute till the seeds begin to colour. Pour over top of dahl & serve
over rice.

From Madhur Jaffrey, "An Invitation to Indian Cooking"

Ooh this is interesting (if slightly off on a tangent!):

Asafoetida powder is made by combining the ground-up resin from two types of giant fennel. Very strong smelling, it is an ingredient that shouldn't be overused. The main reason it's used in Indian cooking, and lentil dishes in particular, is that it acts as an an anti-flatulent.

Spinach with Lentils:

1 cup lentils
Bay leaf
1 Tbsp ghee or butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 bunch spinach, washed and chopped (about 500g)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of cayenne (optional)
generous pinch of salt

Soak the lentils for a few hours or overnight. Drain and rinse. Cover with plenty of water, add the bay leaf and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 20-25 minutes until the lentils are tender. Drain.
Heat a large frying-pan and add the butter and oil. The oil stops the butter burning and the butter helps improves the digestion of the lentils.
Add the spinach and sauté until wilted. Now add the spices and stir-fry for 1 minute. Finally add the lentils and salt and combine, adjusting seasoning to taste.

My sister uses this as a vege shepherd's pie filling with lots of cheesy mash on top.

I like to serve it with Basmati rice, naan bread, mango chutney and grated cucumber mixed with yoghurt.

That koshari recipe sounds delicious

chonky it really really is!

Try it. I recommend everyone tries it. Lush.

thank you OMDB, i feel a lentil cook off coming soon! is dahl for dipping in then?

I want to have a go at the koshari recipe, sounds yummy.

Dahl's good for dipping, but also just good as a substitute for a meat curry or as an accompanyment to it. It's very nice served with rice obviously. All thick and warm and comforting, yum.

gscrym if you make the koshari, let me know how it goes and what you think!

right, i shall have a go at that this week !ta x

I'm cooking lentils right now - first attempt