Lentils

I'd suggest one part lentils to three parts water (as a start). Even at a steady boil, lentils take about half an hour to get to that great mushy consistency.

Unlike rice, you will have to keep an eye on your lentils. They are quite prone to boiling over, but reducing the heat too much will only prolong the cooking time. The reason I suggest a 1:3 ratio to start is that it is quite possible you will have to add one or two more cups of water towards the end of the cooking process. Lentils are unbelievably absorptive.

I like the Indian preparation of lentils best. A nice dal is really almost as simple to prepare as pouring milk on a bowl of cereal. I make a traditional south Indian-style dal quite regularly that is one of my favourite things to eat. I can print the recipe here if you are interested in Indian food. I am also working on a more north Indian dal makhani (back lentils in a tomato cream sauce). I haven't got it quite right yet, unfortunately.

my current favorite way of making lentils:

cook green lentils (2-3 cups) in veg stock with a bay leaf. after about 20 minutes, add one cubed white potato. while that's all going, chop and saute an onion until soft and translucent with as much chopped garlic as you'd like. when nearly done, add some chopped tomato (not much, and fresh is best) to the mixture and heat through. in the final few minutes of lentil cooking, add in the onions/garlic/tomato along with a bit of cilantro. season with salt and pepper to taste. even better a day later, and great with a poached egg.

Thanks guys. FOS, I *love* Indian food, so am definitely interested in seeing your dal recipe.

i'd like to see it, as well. lentils rule!

another thing to do with them: cook a batch of red lentils, blitz in the food processor/blender with some sauted onions and carrot chunks, season with salt/pepper/cumin/chili, and voila - spicy lentil soup.

(be sure to add some veg or chicken stock at some point to the above)

My dad's bacon & lentil soup: sweat a finely chopped onion and fry some moderately fatty bacon with it in little pieces. Add a cup or so of lentils and a bunch of water/stock (and maybe a little tomato puree if you have it handy). Simmer for at least an hour, but preferably two or in a pressure cooker, until the lentils are falling apart and the whole thing is gloriously squidgy. Thickly chopped kabanos or another smoked sausage is a very good thing to add half an hour before serving. This is even better the next day.

Btw this is prettiest and squidgiest made with red lentils - green ones look manky (although still taste lovely - good with cooked chestnuts crumbled into the soup for serving) and puy are right out as they retain their shape and bite (great for salads though).

I have this book of Indian recipes that calls for urad dal: Are there other lentils that I can substitute? Ones that, say, I can find without going to a specialty store or paying an arm and a leg?

Casuistry: urad dal are just black lentils. For some reason though, "washed" urad dal are completely white (they are black lentils that have somehow been skinned).

Here is my favourite dal recipe. I have compared it against several dals made by nice old Indian ladies, and mine is just as good. (But I never tell them that.)

1/2 cup moong dal
1/2 cup masoor dal
1/2 tsp turmeric
4 cups water

Boil the preceding until the lentils are mushy (20 minutes or so). You can go all masoor (red lentils) if you like. As per my previous post, 4 cups may not end up being enough water towards the end of the cooking process. When they are mushy, lower the heat considerably.

some curry leaves (doesn't really matter how much -- eight to ten, say)
half an onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp asafoetida powder
1 or 2 split red chilis
2 tsp - 1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tsp - 1 tbsp brown mustard seeds
olive oil

Put the oil in a hot pan. Add the asafoetida, split chilis, curry leaves, and the seeds. Fry until the cumin seeds start to change colour. Add the finely chopped onion and fry a little more. Add the salt.

Pour the contents of the hot pan into the pot that contains the lentils.

1/2 - 1 tsp tamarind concentrate
handful of coriander leaves chopped
salt (plenty)

Add these and stir until the tamarind concentrate dissolves.

Foolproof!

Oh yeah, hi Chris.

Hey there!

The black lentils looked slightly different from the urad dal I saw, but perhaps it's not essential. I'll give it a try.

Hmmmm. I've seen urad dal, urad dal (split), and urad dal (washed). Were the black lentils you saw quite a bit larger, with an almost greenish tint? Could be French lentils, which (to be honest) I haven't got a clue about.

Incidentally, does anyone know the etymology of the word lentil?

From the French, from the Latin, which meant "little lens (lenticula).

The urad dal I saw seemed to have white insides, whereas the black lentils I saw seemed to have black insides.

Thanks for that indo-recipe, but it looks a bit complicated for me. Perhaps I will try the lentil soup on the back of the Goya package.

learn me about lentils! I am trying to eat more of the things, but basically I only ever make them one way (green or puy lentils: soak for a day, fry up with a touch of oil and maybe some water, add chopped celery, bell pepper and balsamic vinegar, eat), and I know there is a whole world of exciting things I could be doing!

In fact I just cooked up some orange lentils for lunch and they tasted MIGHTY BLAND (even w/ spices in): ILC, I need yr help!

What's this soaking business? I bought dried green lentils and chucked them right into a pot of cold water, brought to boil, they were done in 20 mins or so. Note: I know nothing of the finer points of lentils.

i find that orange/red/yellow lentils go mushy quickly and thus are best used in highly-seasoned soups. you could cook them in stock first, meanwhile frying up some onion/celery/carrot/garlic. puree everything together and season with things like curry/garam masala, cayenne, coconut milk, etc etc. so good, very cheap, and even a smallish bag of lentils makes loads.

Lentils for lentils sake have never really appealed to me, but I've made some dals that are quite nice. Mostly there it's a matter of adding the spices at the right moment (frying up some black mustard seeds and cumin until they "pop" and dropping that in at the last minute).

My way with lentils:

1. Brown a few garlicky sausages in a largish casserole dish.
2. Set them aside and sweat the following in the dish: 1 medium carrot, 1 large onion and 2 sticks of celery all fairly finely chopped (2 or three rashers of streaky bacon wouldn't go amiss either.)
3. Return the sausages to the pan with a glass of red wine and some herbs then simmer for a few minutes.
4. Tip in a 500g packet of Puy-type lentils and enough boiling water to cover.
5. Simmer with the lid on until the lentils are cooked, you may need to top up the water after half an hour or so.

I keep wondering if it would be good to serve this with a poached egg or two. But the thought of poaching a egg frightens me.

Everyone is using so much water and simmering for hours. Maybe my lentils were different? They were barely holding together after a 20min simmer.

there is at least one type of lentil (the above-mentioned puy) that takes a lot of cooking.

My Mum used to make what she called Dog Vomit with red lentils. You cook them to mushy with tomatoes and onions and garlic and some chilli. It's really rather good. And the name amused us as children.

They make a fine partner for roast peppers in a soup

thank you all! I just did mostly as Lauren recommended: cooked in stock until mushy, then added sauté'd onion/celery/garlic/coriander/red chili/curry leaves/bell pepper/courgette/sweet potato and cooked it to stew consistency, and it was good! Although the smell of curry leaves is really unnerving. I think my problem was expecting orange lentils to behave rather more like puy and hold their shape/texture, when I should have been using their powers of mushiness for good.

Laurel, it's a sad fact but even though I keep reading that 'you don't have to soak lentils' I find it really comforting to do so: putting them on to soak in the morning and feeling like you've prepared for the evening meal. Plus if you soak puy for a day or so you don't need to add any water when you're cooking them and thus can avoid their getting too mushy.