Wednesday, January 30

Spectacular Spiced Red Lentils with Refreshing Cucumber Yogurt Sauce


 "Oh my God, this is amazing", was what came out of my husband's mouth after his first bite.
And I definitely agree, this recipe is incredible.

It's all about the spice blend, and the fresh ginger, chile, garlic, and coriander, which gives the dish a deep, bold flavour. It's another keeper!


Read on for the recipe...


Spiced Red Lentils with Cucumber-Lemon Yogurt

1 cup split red lentils, well rinsed.
1 1/2 cups water
1 large bunch of cilantro (around 3 cups)
1 onion
2 1/2 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled & roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 fresh green chile
4 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground sweet paprika
2 tsp curry powder
2 cups chopped tomatoes (1large can, liquid removed, but fresh works too of course)
2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt, more to taste

2 Tbs lime juice
1/3 cup unsalted butter

Cucumber Yogurt Sauce
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup finely diced cucumber
1 1/2 Tbs olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp dill
salt and pepper to taste

  1. Soak well-rinsed lentils in 1 1/2 cups water for 30 minutes (keep this soaking liquid).
  2. In a food processor roughly blend the cilantro (including stems), onion, ginger, garlic, and chile.
  3. In a heavy pot, sauté the onion mixture in the oil on medium-low for 10 minutes. Then add the spices (ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, paprika & curry), and continue to cook another 5 minutes.
  4. Then add in the lentils + their soaking water, the chopped tomatoes, sugar and salt. Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes (until the lentils are cooked through).
  5. Meanwhile mix together all the ingredients for the cucumber yogurt sauce.
  6. Finally, mix the butter & lime juice into the lentils. Season with salt to taste.
  7. Serve lentils with rice or bread and top with yogurt sauce.
Enjoy!


*recipe adapted from Ottolenghi's Plenty cookbook.

4 comments:

House of Milk said...

sounds amazing. i just saved this recipe for the weekend. thanks for sharing!

Tiffany Kadani said...

I love his reaction! I want some, too! Love love love lentils.

Margie Oomen said...

this kind of food is right up my alley in the taste department

Jan Halvarson said...

Sounds delicious - i love lentils - must try this!