Spicy Lentils

[Naco]

Any recommendations for quick to prepare, and spicy lentil recipes? FYI, I live in a small city in the South and my access to the more esoteric Indian stuff is a little limited. Chiles are popular with natives and we have a large Hispanic population also, so I have access to plenty of fresh and dried chiles.

[goodhealthgourmet]

not sure if you still need recipes, but here are a few more good ones just in case!
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001981726
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/african-spiced-lentil-dip
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyl...

[bushwickgirl]

The F & W Marcus Samuelsson recipe sounds very good, bookmarked, thanks! I wonder if he serves this at his new restaurant? No matter, I'll be serving it up @ CasaBushwick.

[goodhealthgourmet]

actually the menu at Red Rooster is comfort food with a little Scandinavian influence scattered throughout - nothing African. a friend of mine was there last week and said the shrimp & grits ROCKED.

i haven't made that lentil dip in ages, but i know it was good because i saved the bookmark :) i wish i could remember if/how i may have tweaked it. let me know how it turns out!

[bushwickgirl]

Will do, and I'm hoping to get to Red Rooster sometime this year.

[paulj]

There a large number of lentil recipes at food52 (which is running 'best lentil recipe' contest)
http://www.food52.com/contests/203_yo...

[chefathome]

Indian Da(h)l or lentil information and recipes here: http://www.indianfoodsco.com/Submit/l...

[tavegyl]

This is probably the simplest South Asian lentil dish I know. I make it all the time for a speedy meal. Makes two portions.

1/2 cup red lentils. Wash and put on med-high heat with 2 1/2 cups water. Add the following: 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1/4 tsp turmeric (optional), 1/4 tsp salt (add more to taste. Allow to cook, partly covered and be careful it doesn't boil over. Red lentils are cooked when the individual grains melt into a yellow sludge. About 20 minutes, depends on your lentils.

Meanwhile, brown butter in a pan. You should have about 3 tb of fat; feel free to add vegetable oil to increase. Add any of the following, to taste:

2-3 cloves garlic (sliced) -- I always add the garlic
dried red chillies -- I use when I want something hotter. The recipe above is quite mild.
cumin -- For something a tiny bit fancier
ginger sliced into matchsticks + hot fresh chillies

I do this at low heat until the garlic is soft and gold. Just before serving, pour the flavoured butter + garlic over the lentils.

Another nice variation is to brown onions until crisp and stir them into the lentils before serving.

Ideally you should sprinkle a pinch of garam masala over the lentils before serving but that may be difficult to come across.

Make a kachumer salad of chopped cucumber, tomato and onions dressed with lemon juice and black pepper. Great with plain rice, or with roti -- whole wheat tortillas are a good substitute if you toast them lightly over a gas flame. (I also like dipping toasted bagels in it)

[Naco]

Thanks. Garam masala is something I've had trouble finding, but I managed to find some today, so that hurdle has been cleared.

[paulj]

Many of ingredients in garam masala are ones you may already have - cumin, cinnamon, cloves, ginger. Cardamom and coriander are harder to find. Here's a sample recipe
http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/punjab...

[Naco]

I definitely haven't seen cardamom seeds locally. Ground cardamom, no problem.

[Aromatherapy]

This also works with yellow split peas. The version I first learned flavored the butter (or oil) with just cumin, sizzled until pretty dark, and sliced green chilis, about as simple as you can get. Although I do love garlic.

[GretchenS]

I like to prepare a big batch of pretty basic lentils (chopped carrot, celery, onion, garlic sauteed in fat of choice, add lentils, broth or water and tomato if I feel like it which I usually do). Then over the next few days I can take it in different directions for a few different meals. You could add a bunch of chipotle or other pepper for spicy or use whatever Indian spices you like. I really like greens with my lentils -- spinach, kale, chard all are great. I also think both lentils and greens benefit from some acid like lemon juice or vinegar. And lentils are also natural partners of any pork product you might care to think of. Sorry I don't have a real recipe for you but I wing it with lentils more than any other basic food. From one batch of basic lentils I might do lentils and kielbasa and cabbage braised in mustard sauce one night, Indian-spiced lentils and kale and a big scoop of Greek yogurt another night, and lentils with hot Italian sausage and peppers the third night.

[LauraGrace]

I always lean Indian with my lentil recipes, but the lentil/kielbasa thing and the lentil/sausage thing both sound fantastic. :) Thanks!

[paulj]

The Spanish word for lentils is lentejas. A web search on the word turns of various recipes, mostly from Spain, but also a few from Latin America.

Also lentils don't need special preparation. You can, for example, cook them till tender with simple seasonings (water, maybe some diced onion), adding some salt at the end. Then you can reheat them with various spices. For example, saute some onion, garlic, and chile to taste (poblano rajas), cumin, then add this to the lentils. Lentils also go well with rice.

[Naco]

I know how to cook lentils. I am specifically looking for spicy lentil recipes. I speak Spanish and have lived in Latin America, and all Latin American food is not spicy- quite the opposite, really.

[paulj]

but you can add spice (esp chile heat) to taste.

What spices do you have in mind, besides chile?

Do you have an Indian cookbook?

Iyer's 660 Curries has 140 pages of legume 'curries'.

Have you searched on 'dahl', 'dal', 'daal' ?
http://www.indianfoodforever.com/daal/

[bushwickgirl]

Speaking of lentejas, I make this simple Bolivian style lentil dish, Ají de Lentejas, a few times during the winter; either with dried anchos or with pureed chipotle en adobo, but a dried chipotle or two would be good. I used a good quality canned tomatoes in the lentils, rather than bland fresh wintered or imported tomatoes. I've also thrown some diced chorizo in while the lentils cook, for a non-vegetarian option, extra zip and smokiness. The salsa topping I've varied, from the simple sarsa in the recipe, salsa verde, salsa roja or pico de gallo, depending what''s available in the market, and dressed the lentils with some crema as well. Warming and filling when served with rice:

http://www.food.com/recipe/aj-de-lent...

[CocoTO]

The following recipe can be made just with lentils ... it's really all about the dressing:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[weezycom]

take a look for nomadchowwoman's post for her lentil recipe. It's very good and can easily be made spicier with more hot chili powder. Although it is an Indian dish, the ingredients are very mainstream and you would be able to get them pretty much anywhere.

[Naco]

Thanks, and I didn't mean to rule out any Indian dishes- I'm actually quite interested in them. But a lot of the Indian recipes I see call for whole spices that I can't get easily. Whole cumin seeds are obtainable at Latin markets, but I can't say that I've seen cardamom pods.

[sushigirlie]

Consider ordering spices online. Lots of different online spice stores, including Penzey's.

[Naco]

I'm really just looking to make some cheap and tasty things for myself. The rest of the family don't like spicy foods, so I want to keep the cost down.