try bananas dhal thread for a couple of recipes :)
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try bananas dhal thread for a couple of recipes :)
I just tried some more lentils, and it seemed to work ok this time :)
I used plenty of water, put the lentils in cold water to start cooking (instead of boiling the kettle and putting the lentils in a pan of boiling water) and changed the water halfway through.
:D
I cook most of my lentils in a pressure cooker! At close to sea level! It takes about 10 minutes to get a firm lentil and another 5 minutes to get them to the almost soup point. Needless to say I find I make soup more often than not! When it comes to legumes, a pressure cooker is a must - if not available soaking for about 12 - 24 hours is a good idea. (But I am never hungry for lentils in the morning...!) It saves on cooking time.Quote:
Sassafras
When bushwalking, I add water to lentils and dried vegie bits and let them soak in my pack all day for the evening meal - then I don't have to cook them for long and basically they have started germination.
I have heard of walkers growing lentils as sprouts for long distance walks for the vitamins in the fresh food. Just in snap-lock bags rinsed and hanging on the outside of the backpack!
I do not follow directions when making them aside from using 2 cups of water/or veggie broth for every cup of lentils. I bring the water to a complete boil and then turn the heat down to a level that is just a tad above a simmer. I stir the mixture every ten minutes until almost all of the liquid is disolved. The entire cooking process takes about 35 minutes. I do not cover the pot at any time.
Doing it this way makes for perfect lentil.
i was quite surprised to see we don't have a lentil casserole recipe on the forum, and as i'm such a big fan of Neil from the Young Ones, i decided i had to post one. ;) it's very easy to make.
Serves 4
2 tbsp oil
1 large chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp curry paste
2 tbsp tomato puree
400g can chopped tomatoes
125g dried red lentils
450g broccoli florets
1 large carrot, chopped
300ml vegetable stock
250g new potatoes, cubed
Saute the onions and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes. Add the curry paste and tomato puree, stir in well and cook for a further 2 mins. Stir in the tinned tomatoes, lentils, potatoes and veg stock. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for about 20 mins. Add the broccoli and carrot, simmer for another 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
Serve with rice or quinoa and a green salad. :)
Mmmmmmm - sounds yummy!
I am making brown lentil soup at the moment - sort of dahl-ish - and am having wild rice with it. I put a little of the apparent wild rice in with white but it comes out a magenta purple and - well - doesn't seem quite right!
Has anyone else had wild rice go purple?
I haven't had rice go purple, but I do know wild rice cooks faster than brown rice (not sure about white rice). I always add the wild rice in after about 10 minutes of cooking the brown rice. This is of course without the use of a rice cooker, which I am planning on purchasing soon.
One thing about preparing lentils that I left out. I actually do cover them, but only after I tun off the flame/heat when they are done. I let them site for about 15 minutes after I cooked them. This makes them nice and soft and seals in more flavor.
im going to try this again soon with my red lentils!
are u supposed to cook all lentils the same way or is it different for each color?
what are the different kinds of lentils good for. are they all good for anything, or does each kind work better for certain things. im going to start adding them to my diet and am not quite sure how to use them with what. (does anyone have any good links?)
what are your favorites and what do u use them with/for?
thanx :)
I'd say the main difference is that some of them keep their shape better than others, though they do taste a bit different as well. The red ones cook quickly and disintegrate, so they are good for thickening a veg soup or stew (aside from their nutritional value). If you want them to stay recognisably lentil-like throughout the cooking process, the ones called "continental" or "Puy" lentils here in the UK are good (they may be called something else where you are but they are easy to spot - small and pinky-green in colour). So if you want to use cold lentils in a salad, for example, they are ideal.
Brown and green ones are in between these two extremes as far as shape-keeping properties go and they have a nice earthy flavour.
thanx harpy :)
Was just thinking that I get through about six times as much of the red kind as all the other kinds put together - so if I were just going to buy one kind that's what I'd go for.
Part of it is that I'm not that good at planning ahead and they cook fast without any soaking. They are usually very cheap as well. Will be interested to hear other people's favourites.
Red lentils are my favorite as well! MMM, especially with leeks and coconut milk :)
I like small French green lentils for cold salads, regular brown or green for soups, black lentils for tacos and the like...lentils are one of my favorite foods!
well im glad red seems to be popular because thats the kind i got :D
I mostly eat the brown lentils.
The red lentils DEFINITELY cook faster than brown or green. I would check them 2/3 of the way into whatever recipe you may be using. My first red lentil dal was more like lentil soup. :o
Dahl palak
1/2 cup split peas
2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound spinach, chopped
3 tablespoons ghee or olive oil
1 tablespoon ginger, fresh and chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 pinch salt
Soak split peas in 2 cups water 1 hour. Add turmeric and 1/2 tsp. salt to split peas. Boil 10 minutes in same water used to soak peas. Add spinach and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed and split peas are done. Meanwhile, heat ghee in a skillet. Add ginger and garlic. Cook until garlic is golden. Add Garam Masala. Immediately add the seasoned ginger and garlic to the spinach-split pea mixture. Add lemon juice and salt to taste and serve.
Hopefully nobody here would use ghee. Apart from that, it's a nice easy recipe. :)
You can use olive oil instead of ghee. I know a lovely Sikh lady, a life long veggie, who has just gone personally vegan. She runs a lovely catering van called "Sukhi's savouries", in the outside market. She serves one non vegan product, with ghee in it. She has veganised everything else by simply substituting olive oil. You can get vegetable ghee as well, but Sukhi prefers the olive oil.
And wow, just writing about her food has made me hungry. You will have to try it sometime! Worth a trip to Wolverhampton. :D
Is dahl supposed to be soupy (i.e. you have to ladel it into bowls) or is it supposed to be thicker so you can pile it with a spoon onto a plate or shallow bowl? I had dahl for the first time yesterday at the cafeteria, and it was quite thin, but for some reason I thought it would be more pasty. Did the cafeteria screw up, or is it supposed to be like that?
Other than the wateriness, it was really quite good, if a bit too spicy for my tastes. I've got a recipe from a cookbook that I'm going to try, and if it's any good, I'll post it here.
Hi Yoggy - I've had it both ways - but mostly it is quite runny - like a thick soup - and a ladel is used to scoop it up.
Some are thick, some are thin. It depends on the cook :)
Hmmmmm now I feel like a curry for dinner tonight! I am working tonight - so won't have time to make it - so I'll see if I can maybe buy some dahl and either a chickpea curry or an eggplant curry. It's cold and rainy-ish here today - so good dahl weather! :D
Mine is soupy when hot but sets as it cools.Quote:
Yoggy
I eat it both ways, hot and runny and cold and sliced.
Thanks Banana for a great recipe. I made the red lentil dahl for tea tonight and it was delicious. Naively I didn't think lentils and a few spices would taste so nice, how wrong I was.
I’ve only been vegan for a couple of weeks now and was struggling at first. Well to be honest I thought I was doing really well till I started looking at all the ‘vegan’ foods I’d bought. Never thought at all that plain nachos would contain a milk product never mind the salsa (still quite haven’t gotten over that one).
I’m so glad I found this forum, and I can’t wait to try out a lot more of the recipes. Can anyone recommend anything else?
Hey banana :)
I'm actually making dahl tonight! (your moong dahl) but for future reference, is the chili in the split pea dahl an actual chili? or a spice?
I saw some of this at the grocery store today, and i hear a lot of you eat it... it looks so nutritious, how do you prepare it?? any recipes would be appreciated!
i still have a hard time with lentils. i dont know what to put them in and they taste very bland to me!
tigerlily, i liked your idea about adding them to rice, since i eat alot of brown rice. what color lentils do u use in your rice?
I cook the green ones with rice and serve them up to accompany curry.
I've also used them in a burger recipe.
do you have to rinse lentils before you use them?
I rinsed them and checked for stones, then boiled them rapidly for 10 minutes, then added the rinsed rice and simmered until the rice was done.
I don't think rinsing does much other than get the dust off them.
thanks rob :D
i just cooked red lentils!
How did they go Tina?
There were cooked lentils in the festive loaf recipe that I made last week.
Unfortunately, I cooked a few too many lentils. So tonight for dinner, I had organic tomato soup and dumped the rest of the already cooked lentils into the soup as I heated it. They were a nice addition.
This is too cool! Ok, can someone direct me to a sprout thread - I'm very curious about the benefits of DIY sprouts. I've never sprouted anything, but would like to try.Quote:
veganblue
they turned out good roxy. yummy.
Grail,Quote:
grail
If you live near a Wild Oats or Whole Foods, there are directions on the sprout seeds which you can usually find near the produce section. Your library may have a book on how to do it but if you want to buy one of the sprouting jars (also found where they sell the seeds) there are some simple instructions. I have a pamphlet (from Wild Oats) that has all the nutritional info for each type of sprout so I haven't done any online or library searches.
Sprouting is easy and cheap compared to the already sprouted seeds. I have some broccoli sprouting as we speak....... :)
i got some green lentils today. does anyone know if they would be good mixed in with some pasta?
I saw a recipe a while back for a tomato pasta sauce made with lentils. I'll see if I can find it ;)Quote:
foxytina_69