Lentil power
A coconut dal to soothe the transition into the cooler months
I hope you enjoy reading The Sauce as much as I enjoy writing it. This is a reader-supported publication. Your paid subscriptions mean I have the time to research and write about food culture as an independent entity. No #sponcon, just a whole lot of commentary about how food and drink fit into modern society.
This recipe is one for my fantastic paid subscribers. $5 a month or $50 a year gets you access to everything The Sauce has to offer, plus keeps me in cups of tea and ingredients.
If you’re an unusually observant subscriber of The Sauce, you may have noticed I publish fewer recipes these days. This is not unintentional — the internet is packed with them. Infinitely so.
I wasn’t comfortable adding to the noise just for the sake of it. I felt the pressure of working on a new recipe every week and I didn’t want to throw out any old thing just because I felt I had to.
But I do still like to ship recipes when I feel the time is right. Ideally something easy and storecupboard-y.
I’ve been sick this week. A particularly heavy weekend away for my 40th birthday did not sit well with my stomach. All I’ve craved is comforting, warming food. Something that takes almost no time to cook and can be devoured in front of episode after episode of Below Deck, my reality TV obsession.
Lentils fit the bill.
The excellent
recently had this to say about beans:Any time things get overwhelming, my mind goes to beans. No money in the bank account? Beans. Friends coming over to scream at the TV with me during the VP debate? Beans. Want to eat 20-100 of something? Beans.
Beans could easily be swapped for lentils (Michelle makes that very point). They have the same comforting feel, the same link to ancient humans — they’ve been around for 10 centuries, y’all.
They also have the same reputation for being “peasant” food. That, or you eat them because you’re a sandal-wearing hippie.
Poor lentils. They get such a bashing and yet when handled with care — and bagfuls of flavours and aromatics — they can be glorious. Exactly what your exhausted body needs.
So here I am, lentils in hand, ready to take on the world. Or at least, calm my raging stomach.
This recipe is for a coconut dal of sorts. Red lentils spiked with storecupboard spices, livened up with coconut milk and other fresh flavours. There are a few ways to make it depending on what you have in your cupboard and I’ll document that. Because let’s face it, no one wants to visit the store if they don’t have to.
The dish is knocked up in about 30-35 minutes from start to finish (depending on how long your lentils take to cook). It can be made in advance and taken to work. It can be eaten straight from the pot over the stove. It can be jazzed up with shredded chicken or fish.
It can be anything you want it to be.
