What are your favorite type of lentils, what do you use them in, why are they preferred for that dish than others?
I recently realized I have only had maybe 1 or two types, and upon searching them found they all supposedly taste different and have different textures.
Wherher it is for cheap decent soup or an old family recipe; slap me with some information
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I’m eating this right now
https://www.budgetbytes.com/slow-cooker-coconut-curry-lentils/
I make this recipe multiple times every winter.
What’s tomato sauce in the US?
Umm… this stuff:
Makes sense. In my country tomato sauce has a lot of sugar in it and we put it on french fries. You wouldn’t want it in your dal.
that’s what we call ketchup
Similar, but fewer spices in the mix. I prefer ketchup.
I use green and brown pretty much interchangeably. They’re both more chewy and have a more defined taste. I think the green are a little more savory and the brown can be a little more peppery, but that may just depend on the stock you have access to. They’re good in long cooking stews or bolognese. I like the brown in lentil salad. Split lentils have a lighter taste and cook faster. Red split lentils are good for a quick soup, chili, or pancake/lentil omelet. You can always make a dal, dal is always amazing. I never regret dal.
Okay so I’ve never had dal, or is it a dal? I’ve got so much to learn and it appears now is the best time to start
It’s dal or dhal depending on where you’re from.
It basically means “pulse stew.” Technically you could make it with split peas or edamame instead of lentils — or kidney beans, brown beans or black eyed peas.
Just like garam masala translates to “hot spice mix”. Every area has its own version and it’s up to you to find the blend you like.
Ham hocks in green lentil soup is one of the best soups ever.
Once a month I fill the pressure cooker with a variety of beans, brown and/or red lentils, peppers, onions, jalapeños, garlic, and sometimes kale, mushrooms, whatever is around. I overcook just slightly so the lentils break up and become my “meat”. Then I freeze most and slowly work through it over the month using it at work for lunch burritos, nachos, in ramen, over rice, etc. Cheap and handy and is the staple of my diet.
How do you tell when they are cooked enough vs slightly overcooked?
Trial and error. The lentils always cook faster than the beans and my recipe is 1c lentils and 4c of mixed beans. In my cooker running about 8min longer than the recommended time will leave my beans tender and intact but reduce the lentils to a filler consistency like ground beef. The same method works well for making vegan chili.
As a person with a Sri Lankan heritage, I regularly use red lentils to make a delicious dhal to accompany my equally delicious beef curries.
Second dhal mention I’ve seen. I need to learn how to make a good dhal it seems. Never had one I don’t think
I do a dhal in the slow cooker at least once a week. Once you mix yourself a decent garam masala, it doesn’t really matter what else you add beyond the lentils. I usually toss in a can of diced tomatoes and a can of tomato paste; then some chicken breasts or some ground beef, or sometimes keep it vegan.
Adjust to taste, and it’s a meal that takes 5 minutes to prep in the morning for a delicious dinner ready to serve in the evening.
Usually I use green lentils.
Any particular recipe you use for the garam masala?
Not really; turns out a bit different every time.
But an easy cheat is Everest brand; it makes a good base you can add chili powders, turmeric, cardamom and cumin to taste to tweak it how you want it.
Thanks, the tempering is meant to be mixed in or just drizzled across the top like a mustard seed dressing?
Tempering is when you fry up the spices a little first, then pour into the dhal. A hidden secret is to pour a few laddle fulls of dhal onto that hot fry pan and pour back into the pot to increase flavour.
We don’t have lentils nearly as much as we should, but when we do, it’s usually mujadara. Here’s a pretty basic recipe. There are fancier ones out there on the internet, but I like to keep it simple and easy.
Do you use that as a side dish? What do you recommend to add as other dishes?
Nice, bookmarking that to make sometime. These recipes all seem to be giving good reason to not need as much meat from the store as well
I’m living on this. So good and filling. Put a dollop of sour cream.
I put lentils and quinoa in a rice cooker, add some olive oil and spices, pretty good and healthy lunch
I cook green ones with a little rosemary and bay leaf, then salt and pepper them and mix them into rice. It’s pretty basic but cheap and not bad for lunch.
Brown or black lentils in sloppy joes are great!
You can also make tofu out of lentils: https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/easy-homemade-lentil-tofu/#recipe
With sausages (or plant based alternatives), potatoes, carrots, rice, classic cultural dish from my family, enjoy the constipation
Black/brown lentils in dhal makhani. Dirt cheap readymade packages at the grocery store too.
Other than that, I used to make spicy red lentil soup with the recipe on the back of the bag from Costco but made myself sick of it years ago.
I’ve relatively recently learned about red lentil pasta, and it’s just about sworn me off wheat pasta forever. It’s healthier, it’s extremely filling, and it’s actually tasty. I can’t eat plain pasta, it’s just so bland, I need pepper at the least, or sauce and grated cheese. But with red lentil pasta, I’m content just eating it as it is.
I guess that doesn’t answer your question, but I haven’t actually had any other lentils, so for now I’ll say red is my favorite until given reason to say otherwise.
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenteja_pardina
Fry onions, garlic, chorizo and tomato with olive oil
Add water, lentils, potatoes, bay leaf and salt.
Cook in a pressure cooker for 45 minutes.
I don’t know why it’s preferred to use this type. Some ancient Spanish knowledge I guess.
Red split lentils all the way! They’re great for soup that thickens itself. Great in stews or curries to thicken it a bit. There’s no danger of them having a bad texture like can happen with other lentils and they cook much quicker.
