Curry Lentils (Foods I Love part 1)

 

I used to cook this all the time when I lived in University Village, at the University of California at Berkeley. I really miss all my friends and all of my friends from Grad. School. I wish that I could somehow have that sense of community, that esprit de corps that young families working towards a better life have. This is one of my potluck favorites (though truly I was the king of the little grill). We would all have impromptu potlucks when anyone didn’t feel like cooking a whole meal for their family or eating alone. Out we would march, each with our one dish, and have a party. I often would just start the grill in the center of the courtyard and people would filter out and volunteer. You’ve heard of stone soup? I had the stone BBQ! But now I can’t get Sean and Naemi’s Potato salad and Japanese Coleslaw (a culinary embodiment of their struggle over diet in their family), Mindy and Peter’s Salads, Orange curry Lentils, or gourmet sausages, Javier’s Tortas’ Espanolas and Julie’s Albondiagas (Mexican meatball soup), Ron and Inga’s noodles, and too many others too name.

Curry Lentils

4+ Cups of Water

2 Cups red lentils

1 Tbsp of Curry Powder (to taste)

2+ cups of chopped carrots

Bullion Cubes (enough for 4 Cups of broth)

Boil water and dissolve Bullion Cubes

Add Curry powder and carrots (boil 5 minutes)

Add 2 cups of red lentils and reduce heat

Simmer for 5 minutes (until al-dente, it keeps cooking, so be careful)

Stir as it cools so that it does not turn into Daal

Serve over rice with vegetables (steamed broccoli, cauliflower, etc).

You can garnish it with raisins, crumbled feta and chopped onions or jalepeños.

Lentils are like beans, high in fiber, so I’d eat Beano with ’em.