A vegetarian stew with the sweet and sour flavours of dates and tamarind and the warm heat of freshly ground cumin.
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp olive oil
½ onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
5cm/2in piece ginger, grated
250g/9oz red lentils, washed
2 bay leaves
900ml/1½ pints vegetable stock
3 tbsp tamarind paste
100g/3½oz Medjool dates, finely chopped
pomegranate seeds
fresh mint
Heat a frying pan and dry fry the cumin seeds until fragrant. Grind in a spice blender, or grind in a pestle and mortar until smooth. Set aside.
Add the oil to the frying pan over a medium heat and fry the onion and garlic for about four minutes, or until softened.
Add the ginger and cook for a further two minutes.
Add the lentils, ground cumin, bay leaves and stock. Stir in the tamarind paste and bring to boil before reducing the heat to a simmer for 30 minutes, or until the lentils are soft.
Five minutes before the end of cooking time stir in the dates.
Serve the lentil stew with pomegranate seeds and mint sprinkled over, and watercress and flatbreads alongside.
Type the ingredients you want to use, then click Go. For better results you can use quotation marks around phrases (e.g. "chicken breast"). Alternatively you can search by chef, programme, cuisine, diet, or dish (e.g. Lasagne).
See more stew recipes
Red lentil soup
See more red lentil recipes
See more Simon Rimmer recipes
BBC © 2013 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
