Tomato and Red Lentil Curry

So, the honeymoon is definitely over. I walked out of the house on Monday and into a cold grey abyss of doom, bills, narky emails and never ending rain. I tell you, it’s enough to make a woman want to go into hibernation for the next few months.

Don’t get me wrong, I adore September. Autumn has always been my favourite season, a fact I put down to being a city dweller. As anyone who lives in a major British city knows, they always feel a bit quiet and jaded during Summer. It’s as though the urban landscape is holding its breath, waiting for people to return and for the business of living to start all over again. But when it’s continually pissing it down, and the third umbrella you’ve bought in the space of six months decides to break when you’re trying to walk home during the middle of a thunderstorm, and your feet feel as though they’ll never be warm again, and you’re wondering if it would just be easier and cheaper to laminate yourself…well, then desperate measures are called for.

I have a few recipes in my armoury that I always call upon when I need to fill my belly with something which is inexpensive to make, while also managing to be hot and tasty. One of these is this Tomato and Red Lentil curry, a dal-esque concoction which consists of red lentils stewed with some tumeric, and flavoured with tomatoes and an array of sizzling spices. I’ve adapted this from a recipe which I originally saw in Delicious magazine, and which over time has become a Monday night favourite. I tend to whip up a giant batch of this at the beginning of the week and dip into it for numerous breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Scooped up with flatbreads, spooned over brown rice or even shovelled down with an egg or top, it makes for a delicious, warming, easy meal – the perfect antidote to the squally September storms.

TOMATO AND RED LENTIL CURRY (Serves Four)

Adapted from this recipe in Delicious magazine

You will need:

• 200g red lentils
• 500ml cold water
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 2 shallots
• 3 fat cloves of garlic
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• A large fistful of fresh coriander, chopped roughly
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Make It!

1. Rinse the lentils, and pop them in a saucepan. Cover them with the water, and add the tumeric and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and skim off any scum which rises to the top. Turn the heat down to a gentle simmer, and leave to cook for 20 minutes or so while you prepare the tomato sauce. Top the lentils up with some more water if the pan begins to boil dry.
2. Put the shallots, garlic and ginger into a food processor and blitz into a paste. Fry this off in a tablespoon of olive oil for a minute. Then add the mustards seeds, fennel seeds and cumin seeds and cook for another 30 seconds until the seeds become aromatic and the mustard seeds begin to pop.
3. Add the chilli flakes and garam masala to the paste and fry for another 30 seconds. Then, throw in the chopped tomatoes and simmer on the hob for fifteen minutes. When the sauce has thickened, add it to the lentils.
4. Stir the tomatoes and lentils together thoroughly and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally (if you have a rice cooker, this is exactly the amount of time it will take you to prepare a batch of rice). Once cooked, stir in the fresh coriander leaves and lemon juice. Garnish with a sprig of fresh coriander and serve either over pilau rice or scooped up with naan breads.

Lamb Biryani

If procrastination was an Olympic sport, then I would definitely win a gold medal. Whenever I have a deadline dangling in front of my nose, I am immediately gripped with an urge to do a million and one things totally unrelated to the task at hand. “A 500 word feature due by 9am you say? Why, this presents me with the perfect opportunity to alphabetise my record collection!” Of course, I’m not alone in this. The esteemed Mr. Cay once wrote and recorded an entire album while procrastinating from a writing assignment. Putting things off until we absolutely positively have to do them or else appears to be all the rage in my house.

So, seeing as my diary is full of deadlines at the moment – the most important of these being get married – and I have a million and one things to do, it felt like the perfect time to make a dish for dinner which used practically every spice in my cupboards and every saucepan I own. “It will be a good chance for me to relax and de-stress!” I told myself as I inwardly wondered what insults would fly from my other half’s lips when he witnessed the vast amounts of washing up this would inevitably result in.

The recipe this Lamb Biryani is adapted from comes from a Saveur feature called ‘Queen of Spices’. After taking one look at the ingredients list, it’s not difficult to see why. Seeds and brightly coloured powders are sizzled, simmered and sprinkled throughout the cooking process, staining fingers and t-shirts alike. While lamb is the preferred protein here, it’s definitely not the star of the show. That’s left to the morass of different flavours that assault your tastebuds with every bite. Sometimes it’s cinnamon, other times it’s a hint of smoky black cardamom, or the sharp nasal-clearing hit of clove. It’s a dish which will make your kitchen smell like a souk – which is great if you live somewhere like Bootle, where the atmosphere usually smells of rotting grain or dockside tyre fires.

While this is a great dish to serve immediately (topped with a nice blob of natural yoghurt garnished with fresh mint and coriander), I would suggest making more than you need, as this produces some pretty sensational leftovers. As procrastination techniques go, this is the tastiest one I’ve discovered yet.

LAMB BIRYANI (Serves Four)

Adapted from Saveur.com

You will need:

• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp. garam masala
• 1 tsp. dried chilli flakes
• 1⁄2 tsp. turmeric
• 10 black peppercorns
• 6 pods green cardamom
• 3 pods black cardamom
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• 4 green chillies, chopped
• 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and minced
• 400g lamb shoulder, cut into even sized cubes cut into 2–3″ pieces
• Salt and Pepper, to taste
• 200g plain yogurt
• A fistful of roughly chopped mint leaves
• A fistful of roughly chopped coriander leaves
• A pinch of saffron
• 200g white basmati rice, soaked in cold water for 30 minutes and drained
• 1⁄2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 4 cloves
• 2 dried bay leaves
• Red/orange food color (optional)

Make It!

1. Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable cup in a medium sized saucepan over a high heat. Add the onions and cook slowly, stirring occasionally for 20–25 minutes until they become dark brown and caramelised. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
2. Heat the remaining oil over a high heat in a large, heavy bottomed pot. Add the garam masala, dried chilli flakes, turmeric, 5 of the black peppercorns, 3 green cardamom pods, 1 black cardamom pod and 1 cinnamon stick.  Cook the spices for one minute until they become fragrant.  Add the garlic, tomatoes, green chillies, and ginger; and cook for 2–3 minutes, stirring all the while.
3. Add the cubed lamb, season with salt, and cook for around five minutes until lightly browned. Cover the pot, reduce the heat to medium; and simmer for an hour until the lamb is fork-tender. Add the fried onions, yoghurt, a sprinkle of mint, and a good handful of coriander.  Cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes more and  Set aside.
4. Put the saffron strands into a bowl, cover with 100ml of hot water and set aside. Bring 700ml of water to the boil in a good sized saucepan (alternatively, you can use your rice cooker for this step if you own one). Add the remaining peppercorns, green and black cardamom pods, and cinnamon stick, along with the rice, cumin, cloves, and bay leaves, and season with salt. Cook rice for 5-10 minutes until al dente. When done, drain and set aside.
5. Transfer half the lamb curry to a large pot. Top the lamb curry with half of the rice. Pour half the saffron mixture onto the rice and mix with your fingers (the mixture will be hot, so take care not to burn yourself!) Top with remaining lamb curry and remaining rice, drizzle with the remaining saffron and mix. Steam, covered, for around 10 minutes until the rice is fragrant and tender, about 10 minutes. Garnish with the remaining mint and coriander, and serve.