Black Lentils w/ Ginger & Turmeric
This Ethiopian-inspired lentil dish is a combination of berbere spice ingredients, tomatoes, garlic, and black lentils. It's roughly based on the idea of making a kind of Doro Wat, with the final meal being a Black Lentil, Hardboiled Egg, & Tomato Salad. I simply puréed the seasonings to create a smooth and then cooked everything together in a rice cooker. Which, quite frankly, is the easiest way to make lentils! I will never go back to the stovetop again. Nothing is as satisfying as simply tossing a bunch of ingredients into a pot and coming back in about 45 minutes to a perfectly cooked meal. Black lentils are also incredibly forgiving. They're a sturdier lentil that can withstand cooking without breaking apart or worrying about overcooking. The spice blend also pairs incredibly well with the robust and earthy nature of the black lentils. You can easily eat as is, or pair the lentils with a few other touches to make a delicious side dish or meal.
Equipment
- Food Processor (optional)
- Rice Cooker
Ingredients
- 1/2 tsp. turmeric fresh
- 1 tsp. ginger fresh
- 3 cloves garlic
- 12 cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 red onion diced
- dash cloves whole
- dash cumin whole
- dash fenugreek whole
- dash coriander
- dash allspice
- dash paprika
- dash salt
- dash pepper
- 1 ¼ c. black lentils
- 3 c. water
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients
- I used Fresh Turmeric in Olive Oil. You can easily substitute dried turmeric. But there is something particularly refreshing about fresh turmeric! And, if you can find it, mincing it and preserving in olive oil is the key to longevity.
- Add ginger, garlic, and cherry tomatoes to a food processor. Purée for 30 seconds, or until smooth.This is optional. You can dice them if you prefer. I'm not necessarily a fan of the stringiness of ginger and this resolves that problem while also creating more of a sauce.
Cook Lentils
- Add all of the ingredients to a rice cooker (tomato purée with ginger and garlic, turmeric, red onion, spices, salt, pepper, lentils, and water).
- Grind whole cloves, cumin, and fenugreek in a mortar and pestle.A lot of the time I prefer whole spices and grinding them in a mortar and pestle. I used whole cloves, cumin, and fenugreek. You can easily substitute ground spices and mix and match whatever you have on hand. A lot of the time berbere also includes dried chilis, garlic, onion, turmeric, ginger, peppercorns, allspice, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc. I used several of these ingredients already in the recipe, didn't have them in whole spices, or felt like they were redundant. Part of cooking is making what you have and what you like work for you! So, feel free to mix it up to your own needs and tastes.
- Press the cook button on the rice cooker. While lentils aren't rice, it does cook the same and oftentimes better than rice in a rice cooker. It typically takes 30-45 minutes.
- When the lentils is fully cooked, fluff with a wooden spoon and serve.Do not use a fork or other metal utensil. It will scratch off the nonstick surface on the rice cooker. This will leach teflon into your food and cause future dishes to stick to the bottom!