The Back Yard Lemon Tree

I love this simple, humble lentil dish. You can take your fancy French de puy or black beluga lentils this needs only needs plain brown lentils, which I have a newfound appreciation for, in the way they disintegrate every so slightly to make a tasty gravy for this stew. This dish can be served with various toppings sauted mushrooms, slow roasted tomatoes or peppers but my favorite, is gingery sauteed greens.

We are currently in our second lock down in Sydney. For the past year, many Sydneysiders have looked down on the other states with a definite sense superiority as other cities went in and out of lockdown. Sydney with its gold standard contact tracing and superior systems didn’t need to do city wide lock downs, we could take a more nuanced, targeted approach.

How wrong we were, in my particular suburb we are in one of the most severe lockdowns in the world. No driving, no walking outside a 4 kilometer radius. There’s a dizzying amount of rules and regulations that most people barely understand or remember. There’s nothing really we can do but bunker down, wait to get vaccinated and eat humble pie or in this case humble lentils. It’s not too bad, this humble lentil stew really is delicious. Simple, sustaining and if you can forage for some greens in the garden, it’s all pantry staples. Perfect lockdown food.

Lentils with onion and garlic

Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 medium onion (about 140 grams) cut in fine half rings
• 1 dried chilli or a generous pinch of chilli flakes
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
• 190 grams brown or green lentils, picked over and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon of salt, or to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper
• lemon wedges

1. Heat oil in medium size saucepan to medium/ high heat, put in onion rings adjust heat and fry until onion is reddish brown and crispy. Remove onion with slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
2. In the remaining oil, throw in chilli and garlic and let sizzle for 10 seconds then put lentils and about 700mls of water in pot. Bring to the boil, turn heat to low and simmer gently for 30-35 minutes with lid partially on until lentils are tender. Check occasionally and add more water if lentils are too dry, it is a moist lentil stew not a soup.
3. Season with salt and pepper. Just before serving sprinkle crispy fried onions over the top.

Serve with lemon wedges, toasted or crusty bread, sauteed greens and a dollop of yogurt or crumbled feta or goats cheese.