Lentils are somehow easy to find, they’re cheap, they’re a wonderful protein source and they’re easy to cook. Red lentils, as opposed to the other varieties, don’t cope well with boiling, meaning that they don’t maintain their shape and they turn into some kind of mash, however careful you might have been. That’s their nature, so there’s nothing to worry about. Red lentils are suitable for sauces, purées, curries, soups. I made a purée that I will present to you below.
Lentils don’t need soaking before being cooked, such as beans, grains and chickpeas. However, there’s nothing wrong it you want to soak for half an hour in cold water after you rinse it. Concerning cooking, use a ½ proportion, meaning that for a cup of lentils you should add 2 cups of stock or water. I made a stock made from vegetables and chicken necks.
To make sure my purée turns out really tasty (which actually happened), I (grossly) chopped an onion, two garlic cloves and two carrots.
I put the vegetables in a cast iron pot with a bit of oil, a teaspoon of black cumin, a bit of pepper, a pinch of salt, a bay leaf and an anise star. I let them simmer on low heat until the carrots became soft and the onion sweetened.
I then added the lentils and the soup over the already cooked vegetables.
I put the lid on the pot and I let it boil on low heat for 20 minutes. I then transformed the content of the pot into a purée, using a blender.
I seasoned the purée with za’atar.
I ate it with rye bread and courgette fried in the cast iron skillet.
I repeat, if you want to eat this while fasting, instead of the chicken/meat broth add vegetable stock or water.
If you want to give it some more personality, add some harissa or sriracha, both being rather hot sauces. That’s all for today. Stay healthy.
Special thanks to
Oana Bodnariuc, Authorized Translator
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