red lentils 13 July 2006 at 10:37AM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Old Style MoneySaving 208 replies 27.6K views

liz545

WendyR14 wrote: »

I wonder if any of you lentil experts know the name, and even better a recipe for, a lentil dish I've sometimes eaten as part of a middle-eastern type mezze. Dryish; lentils and onions, probably fried. I don't know what type of lentils. Not a dhal type constituency at all.

I guess I could set off with some trial and error versions - but a start point would help.

Could it be mjaddarah? It's usually caramelised onions with brown or green lentils, often with rice or bulgar wheat?

northwest1965

carriebradshaw wrote: »

I love this recipe it's very moreish I sometimes use a mixture of split peas and lentils instead of just lentils,tastes just as good to me :j

Cheese & Lentil Loaf


150g cheese, grated (I use cheddar or red leicester) up to you to use what you like really though
225g red lentils,rinsed well and cooked
100g porridge oats or breadcrumbs
100g mushrooms, finely chopped
100g mixed peppers, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, grated
2 large carrots, or parsnips or 1 of each grated,
1 beaten egg
a good handful of chopped herbs I use mainly thyme & a little bit of rosemary(not too much Rosemary it can taste soapy) from my garden,but have also used mint and parsley as I grow those as well.You would use less if using dried herbs as they are stronger so I’m told

I love this served hot with some veggies or cold with salad, would be nice with some tattie wedges or chips too I should imagine.

Just making this now, while I'm baking some bread. Do you think it would work ommiting the herbs and using some chilli powder or curry paste? (I love spicy foods)

Hippeechiq

Bit late now I suppose, but I would think chilli powder would be a very nice addition instead of the herbs.....not sure about curry though. I love the flavour of curry, just not sure if it would work :think:

If you tried one or the other, will you tell us how it turned out please?

zippychick

Hippeechiq wrote: »

Bit late now I suppose, but I would think chilli powder would be a very nice addition instead of the herbs.....not sure about curry though. I love the flavour of curry, just not sure if it would work :think:

If you tried one or the other, will you tell us how it turned out please?

it's never too late in Old style!:p;) Hey, i wonder do i have any of the ingredients to make one now. Would be good for lunches :j

ok i have no mushrooms (dont like), or peppers or carrot. I'm baron vegetably.

Hippeechiq

zippychick wrote: »

it's never too late in Old style!:p;) Hey, i wonder do i have any of the ingredients to make one now. Would be good for lunches :j

IMO it's nicer cold that it is hot, has more flavour. Lovely served with cold new potatoes and a large mixed salad

zippychick wrote: »

ok i have no mushrooms (dont like), or peppers or carrot. I'm baron vegetably.

.......apart from that it's going well though? :rotfl:

northwest1965

Well I made it, apart from 1 mistake. I forgot to put the egg in it, TBH it didnt need it. It has held together. It taste really good:).
I was thinking curry because lentils and curry seem to go hand in hand.
Hippeechiq - you know you said about a floury after taste? I think that is just the texture/taste of lentils.
Zippychick - I think you caould put it your own favourites.

Thank you carriebradshaw for the recipe, a sucess!!:T

Hippeechiq

northwest1965 wrote: »

Well I made it, apart from 1 mistake. I forgot to put the egg in it, TBH it didnt need it. It has held together. It taste really good:).

Doesn't it just Interesting about not having the egg in it.

northwest1965 wrote: »

I was thinking curry because lentils and curry seem to go hand in hand.

Ah right - perfect logic! You may well have a point, I do think the recipe lends itself to being very versatile and I'd be very interested in any tweeks you make and whether or not they're successful

northwest1965 wrote: »

Hippeechiq - you know you said about a floury after taste? I think that is just the texture/taste of lentils.

Yes, I think you're right, as I was a bit 'new' to lentils the first time I tried it.

By the way - did you make it with breadcrumbs or oats?

carriebradshaw

glad peeps are enjoyng this recipe, but I can't take credit for it as it was one I found somewhere on the net(can't quite remember where now but it was a forum of some kind) and I saved it to my pc many moons ago. I did adapt it quite a bit though as it was originally made in a shallow tin and didn't have the peppers, mushrooms and there was less cheese and breadcrumbs in the recipe too, so I've changed it a little bit and put it in a 2lb loaf tin instead. I use oats rather than breadcrumbs because at the time when I first tried this out I was avoiding bread as it tends to bloat me. So it is quite adaptable really and means you can make it taste different every time if you want to.
I made this the other day and put a chicken stock cube in the cooking water for the lentils and I didn't have quite enough cheese so I added some cream cheese to make up and it came out great
I prefer it cold as well btw

northwest1965

I used oats. I think I might even try and make into patties next time .

WendyR14

liz545 wrote: »

Could it be mjaddarah? It's usually caramelised onions with brown or green lentils, often with rice or bulgar wheat?

Thanks Liz545. That looks very much the right sort of think - although I didn't remember rice as part of it. I'm obviously rubbish at seaching because I've actually got recipes for this in my Claudia Roden book!