Lentils!

Student food? Well yes and no actually.

Yes lentils suit the student budget because they are ever so cheap. But they are also gigantically versatile and one of that small group of foods that can be eaten at every meal without tiring your taste buds.

Lentils are high in protein and cook quickly so they should be a good substitute in a lot of meat recipes. No I don't think they are like steak or chops but yes I do think they work well in Bolognaise and curries.

Bolognaise? Yes. Try it. Make your normal Bolognaise recipe but swap the beef mince for lentils and some water before the long simmer. You can shorten the simmering time from 25 minutes to about 15 but otherwise that there is a decent sauce for pasta shells or spaghetti. Give it a quick glug of olive oil and some black pepper. Optional fresh basil leaves would make a dinner to make Mino proud of you. Stir a drained can of tuna through it and you have a sensational store cupboard standby.

Lentil Bolognaise!

You can also add red lentils to a standard beef mince mixture to at least double the quantity. Make sure you also add water to swell the lentils as they cook and maybe extra herbs. This is a great way to make a small pack of mince feed six people tasty spag bol.

All the above. But also Dhaal! Dhaal and rice, Thepla, pickle and Dhaal, Dhaal and vegetables. Here is how you make Dhaal:

The red lentil is available so cheaply and in so many places that it's always our first choice for dhaal.
But you should take a moment to think about other types and there are tons to choose from in local supermarkets but also Asian stores. Moong dhaal, yellow and green split peas amongst others all work well but do need a bit of mashing to make the texture you want. Channa dhaal is my favourite.

Ideally lentils should be rinsed before you cook them. So if you've got a sieve then use that and just run them under the tap until it runs clear. If you haven't then put the lentils in a saucepan and swoosh them about in changes of cold water. The lentils will sink and you can just pour off the cloudy water.

A cup of lentils needs about a litre and a half of water and two heaped teaspoons of garam masala. Bring it to the boil and simmer for 15 mins. It can be a bit foamy and scummy but rinsing well reduces this. Ignore it anyway. Rapid stirring at the end helps to make the texture smoother as the lentils break down very easily. Add more water if need be. A chicken or veg stock cube/blob adds depth. The consistency should not be too thick.

And add some chopped fresh Coriander just before serving.

Channa Dhaal and Tarka ready to go!

If you are being fancy here - I think you should always try! - then finely slice an
onion and fry it in oil with sliced garlic, chopped fresh ginger, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, nigella seeds and fresh chillies to make a Tarka.

It's conventional to fry up a Tarka and then glop some premade dhaal in to heat it through. I quite like doing it this way even with fresh dhaal as it means you can tidy up the kitchen quite a bit and time the meal more easily as it comes together after resting the rice. Beware of adding the dhaal to the frying Tarka while the pan is hot though as it can really spit. Probably safer the other way round to add the Tarka into the dhaal. Just please be careful.

Dhaal Bhaat!

This is totally delicious with plain basmati rice when it is called Dhaal Bhaat, staple diet of the Nepali Porters in the Himalayas. They supplement it with Cauliflower curry or tasty Nettle tops steamed as a vegetable for a completely balanced diet. Plain brown basmati is lovely too but quite expensive.

Dawa lugged my stuff from Katmandu
to Everest Base Camp and all he ate for three weeks
was Dhaal Bhaat and Cauliflower curry!

Collecting Nettle tops and plant shoots after school.

Thepla also works very well with this and looks great as a sort of Thali in individual dishes with a bit of pickle and yogurt. There should be a Thepla recipe on this blog somewhere too.