My lovelies I beg your forgiveness. I confess I haven’t posted for 12 days, a hideously unprofessional faux pas. But I do have a corker for you. Staying with the curry theme for now I’d like to introduce you to our Monday night dish. This is a staple in our house. It is almost a religion. To try it is to fall in love with it….

Ingredients

1 can of Green lentils
1 small or half a medium onion finely diced
Coriander stalks finely chopped
3 cardamom pods
3 cloves
1 stick of cinnamon bark
1 cube of stock (veg or chicken)
1/4 cup (a good drizzle) of single cream
2 cloves of garlic, 1 chilli and a grating of ginger (or 1 of my frozen Massalla cubes)
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp of Cumin powder, curry powder and tumeric
Coriander leaves to serve
Shana Frozen Chapatis or fresh homemade or shop bought chapatis

Method

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the hard spices – cinnamon bark, cardamoms and cloves. When they start to release their flavour, add the onions and allow to soften for a couple of minutes. Then add the garlic, ginger and chilli (or massalla cube) and fry for two minutes, until soft.

Add the powdered spices and cook through for two more minutes.

Add the tomato purée, lentils, and vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to simmer for five minutes.Add the cream and season with salt and freshly ground pepper

I always serve this with spiced aubergines which I will be posting for you shortly I promise …

xxx