Spicy Lentils

I don’t have a mortar and pestle in this temporary kitchen. I never realized how much I relied on it until now, but improvising can be fun…well, sort of.

For this dish I gently toasted one tablespoon of coriander seeds in a pan. Then I wanted to grind them, and I had to do it in a bowl with a wooden spoon!!

Not so easy, I lost about half flying around the kitchen, and not so fine either, still, I was happy enough, and the smell was lovely.

I decided to use other spices, one teaspoon of ground ginger, one of curry powder, a pinch of smoked paprika, and a pinch of hot chilli (maybe it is funny to use both smoked paprika and chilli, but I have a limited selection of spices, and I like to try everything).

I sliced one small onion and sir-fried it with two tablespoons of vegetable oil. When the onion was translucent I added the spices and a pinch of salt. After a few minutes I added 250 g of small brown lentils, which I had washed and soaked for two hours, one carrot, sliced, and a cup of water. I cooked the lentils slowly, adding water often, and stirring even more often. Possibly with a taller pot I wouldn’t have needed to stir so often, but I don’t have many pots either.

I cooked the lentils for over one hour; they taste great with rice and with bread.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini©