A lesson in lentils

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The second fasting day of our new 5:2 regime was indeed rounded off with a dish of lentils and broccoli – and it honestly wasn’t as bad as it sounds.

It also kept us unhungry through to our post dog walk breakfast this morning.

But there was a very good reason for this...

I had decided to cook a brown lentil dahl, just like the very delicious one Steve cooked on Tuesday. Now I am not used to brown lentils – and have only ever cooked dahl using the red type. So I didn’t realise they would take longer to cook than I expected...

Ten minutes into cooking time, they were still so solid that I wondered if I had in fact used something other than brown lentils. And casting around the kitchen, I saw, to my horror, a bag of black peppercorns the same size as the lentil bag. It was one of those heart stopping, cheek flushing, blasphemy squealing moments – but when I scrutinized the saucepan’s contents there was no doubt: these were just very slow cooking lentils.

I called up to Steve – always useful having a chef in the house – who confirmed that brown lentils take a long time to cook, and I should just be patient.

Meanwhile, Steve ate a banana to keep him going. And then an apple.

I resisted the fruit, but as soon as the lentils looked half way cooked, I started tasting them – and they were so nice that I tasted them again, and again...

Half an hour later and they were still at the same stage – tender, but showing no signs of mushing into dahl.

Steve helped himself to another banana... The water that I’d boiled for the broccoli started to run dry...

After an hour I said, “Right, in 10 minutes I’m cooking the broccoli, and we’re having the lentils as they are... I’m sure yours didn’t take this long on Tuesday.”

And that’s when Steve asked: “You didn’t put salt in them, did you?”

“Yes – at the beginning, with the ginger, garlic, chilli and spices. And I’ve added more along the way... Why?”

Who knew salt stops lentils from cooking?! 
Well Steve, of course... And now you and I do too. So we will never make that mistake again...

The lentils weren’t inedible, but they weren’t dahl either.

I served up a small spoonful each, as a sauce for the broccoli. And wondered how many days it would take us to finish the huge amount left in the pan.

But we were so late eating that, on top of all Steve’s banana snacks, and my copious lentil tastings, we ate the whole lot.  

As I said to Steve this morning: “Maybe we should just make those fasting days ‘lighter eating days’ instead...”