The Aspiring Luddite

	I carry no phone An aspiring Luddite In a wired world. Mastodon Verification Link	Jeff Berry is an early adopter of the Internet and the Web, a late adopter of Twitter, and declines to adopt Facebook. With the death of Google+, he migrated to the Fediverse. He admins a medievalist Mastodon instance. He hates cell-phones.

Lentil Curry
13 December 2013

How things change. This past February, I was still living in New York and, at least at the start of the month, had no idea I would be living anywhere else. Since then I've left a job, started a PhD program, and moved across an ocean. One thing I was doing in February remains unchanged, though. Way back then, I was making lentil-based curries. This week, I'm doing so again, although with a different process.

Lentils and curry go together like lentils and curry. Last time, I made it more or less in that order - I made lentils and I made a curry sauce and combined them. This time around, I've mixed it up a bit, streamlined the process somewhat, and modified the seasonings. (Although to be fair, the main reason for that last change is to reflect what I've got in my kitchen now, as opposed to ten months ago.) This one is a one-pot dish that can, of course, be spiced to one's individual taste. [Lots of pictures]

Lentil Curry

1 onion
2 smallish tomatoes
4 - 5 cloves of garlic
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp hot chile powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 cups green lentils
2 1/2 cups water, more or less
splash of olive oil

If, when reading the ingredient list, you thought to yourself, 'well, the garlic through the black pepper just sounds like a curry powder!' you would be absolutely correct. If you've got a favorite curry powder by all means use it, about 4 tsp worth. I tend to keep discrete spices to hand rather than blends, so I make my curry powder on the fly.

Cut the onion into fairly small dice. Heat a bit of olive oil in a pot, then add the onion. Let it cook while you mince the garlic. Add the garlic, and let that cook for a minute or so, then add the spices. Stir and cook that for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes. Again, stir and cook for a few minutes.

Add the lentils and an equal amount of water. Stir well, put the heat to high and bring to a simmer. Drop the heat, cover and simmer for about twenty minutes. Stir it again at this point, and add water if necessary. Cook another ten to twenty minutes, until the lentils are done.

This could go over rice, but,, if you go that route, it will probably be too bland and will require hot sauce or something at the table. On the other hand, you can eat it as-is, and the spice balance is about right.

I'm planning on eating the leftovers in a tortilla with some Wensleydale, which sounds so wrong and so right all at once.

The Aspiring Luddite