Lentil stew is almost the oldest soup in the world. They say "sold for lentil stew", meaning what a real trifle. But not everything is so simple. For this stew, as you know, the biblical Esau sold his birthright to his younger brother Isaac, that is, the right to inherit most of his father's property. Just unbelieveble! After all, this soup is just cheap lentils, broth, onions, garlic, lemon and one spice - cumin, which you can always buy at the market from merchants from Central Asia.

Have you noticed: cumin has such a smell that hungry colic immediately begins. Perhaps it was this weed that so devilishly seduced the ingenuous Esau. He came from hunting - and suddenly felt this aroma. In ancient Hebrew texts, the herb kammon is found, and in ancient Egyptian kumnini, and even today throughout the Middle East, cumin is very popular, as is the combination of lentils with cumin. This is the smell of an oriental bazaar and a good Central Asian pilaf, but for me it is the smell of mystery and distant wanderings. And just imagine: Esau was hungry, and nothing in this life worried him. Birthright is not only more property, but also responsibility and duties. And he decided to exchange all these annoying things for something real and very tasty. Want to try? Come to my restaurant "Let's go": only 350 rubles - and you do not need to sell birthrights! But you know: I do not hide my recipes. Do you want to cook yourself? Then let's start. Just a warning: this dish is slow.

We will cook the broth from inexpensive pieces of lamb on the bone (the front leg and brisket are perfect). Be sure to add an onion, a carrot, a piece of celery root, a few cloves of garlic and green cardamom pods, Bay leaf, peppercorns. The broth is boiled in advance and for a long time, even sharp cardamom is often added - the more fragrant the broth is, the richer the stew will be. The broth must certainly be filtered and cooled to easily remove all the fat to the droplet. Remove the meat from the bones and pass through a meat grinder - from it with a ready puff pastry you can quickly make cakes.

The Biblical stew was made from red lentils, because Esau, when he saw it, exclaimed: "Give me this red one." But red lentils quickly boil and even fall apart, turning into a puree. Therefore, I make my chowder with two types of lentils - red, which gives me a creamy base, and green, which retains the shape and structure of the bean. I put the red one to boil immediately, and for a short while I immerse the green one in slightly warm water. Until recently, it was believed that lentils should not be soaked at all, but simply boiled in unsalted water and salted a few minutes before being cooked. However, recent gastronomic studies have shown that short (30-40 minutes) soaking in warm (43°C) unconcentrated brine (1 tsp per 4 cups of water) leads to better results. The fact is that, like all legumes, the lentil "grain" has a rough pectin shell. The sodium ions contained in the salt are able to displace the calcium ions that hold the pectin network together. As a result, the skin does not burst, but gently softens.

While the green lentils are soaking, finely chop the carrot, onion, celery stalk and garlic. Saute all vegetables - they must be stewed on olive oil over low heat, soften, but do not lose color. Once softened, you can add almost soft red lentils to the pan and pour lamb broth so that it is a couple cm higher than the lentils and vegetables. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and leave to sweat for half an hour.

Cooking green lentils in large numbers water: 40 minutes, sometimes even more. Green lentils are ready when they can be easily crushed by flattening them with your fingers, but in water they should not lose their shape. By the way, it is best to take a variety called puy.

Ready vegetables with red lentils should be transferred to a blender and turned into a completely smooth puree. Put it back into the pot, add tender but whole green lentils, dilute with broth to the desired consistency ( liquid sour cream, but not porridge) and put on a small fire. While stirring, bring to a boil.

In the meantime, heat the cumin seeds in a skillet to intensify the flavor, then grind them in a mortar and mortar. Season with salt, pepper and crushed cumin - it's hard to say exactly how much cumin you need: it varies. The aroma of cumin should be clearly felt, but not be sharp. Add lemon peel and turmeric Once again, bring the stew to the first bubbles, and then by all means let it brew for at least 15-20 minutes. Before serving, right on the plate, I add a little lemon juice and finely chopped fresh cilantro. In a restaurant, I serve lentil stew with lamb flatbread.

We are still wondering why that same Old Testament stew was so tasty. It seems that in ancient times, lentils were a symbol of food in general. And then the dilemma of the biblical parable is clear and understandable. In a well-known phrase from the Song of Songs, translated as “Fortify me with wine, refresh me with apples,” in the ancient Hebrew text, in place of “wine”, the word “ashashiyot”, which means dried lentils crushed and rolled in honey. The Egyptians put lentil bread in the tombs of the dead. And in the Mishnah, the first written Jewish text, lentils are on the list of obligatory products that a man must provide for his estranged spouse.

Medieval merchants took fried lentils with them on the road: after all, a handful of them can satisfy hunger no worse than bread and meat. In Latin, lentils are called lens - and it is from this word that the English Lent - post - came from.

Modern science has confirmed: lentils are perhaps the most useful product on the ground. It contains up to 40% of vegetable protein, which is easily digestible, microelements, vitamins and at the same time very little fat. Of all dry legumes, it has the fewest calories and the lowest glycemic index. And I just really love lentils and cook a lot of them (see recipes on my website).

For the broth: 2.5-3 kg of lamb on the bone (front leg and brisket is perfect), onion, carrot, piece of celery root, a few cloves of garlic and green cardamom pods, bay leaf, peppercorns.

For chowder: strong and fat-free lamb broth, 200 g green or brown lentils (French puy, which is from the Yarmarka company is best), 200 g red lentils, 1 large onion, 1 carrot, a few cloves of garlic, 1 stalk of celery, juice and zest small lemon, 1 tsp turmeric, 2 tsp fragrant cumin seeds (or a little more), olive oil, salt, pepper.

10/30/2014 04:29:56 PM, Elena Chekalova

Almost every one of us has tried lentil dishes at least once. Its benefits are well known. It can be cooked for breakfast at least once a week. Eating a full plate of foods like lentil chowder will fill you up for the day and provide you with a complete set of plant-based fats and proteins. And, to everything else, the perfect balance between them will be observed. So we just have to learn how to cook lentils. We will now deal with this issue.

Standard Lentil Chowder Recipe

We will need the following ingredients: 400 grams of peeled lentils, two liters of chicken broth, three onions, two tomatoes, four cloves of garlic, two tablespoons butter, a teaspoon of cumin, ground and salt to taste. Now let's talk about how to prepare lentil stew. The recipe is next. We wash the sorted lentils. We put on fire large saucepan from chicken broth. We clean the onion, cut two pieces into quarters. And one - cut into cubes. Remove the skin from the tomatoes and cut into quarters. Peel the garlic and chop coarsely.

When the broth boils, put lentils, tomatoes, garlic into it and cook on low heat for about 45 minutes, and the pan should be ajar. At this time, melt half a spoonful of butter in a frying pan and brown the diced onion on it, stirring constantly. When the lentil stew is ready, we wipe it through a sieve or grind it with a blender. After that, heat it again, salt and put spices. Before serving, for about ten minutes, season the stew with fried onions and the remaining oil. You can put a lemon sliced ​​\u200b\u200bin a separate saucer.

Lean Chowder Recipe

Such a lentil stew is prepared quite quickly, using minimal amount products. Ingredients: small red lentils - 200 grams, carrots - 200 grams, onions - 100 grams, garlic - two cloves, sesame seeds - one spoon, vegetable oil - 50 grams. How is lentil soup prepared? A recipe with a photo will help you figure it out. Pour the beans with cold water (two and a half liters) and salt. Slice carrots, onions small cubes. Pour vegetable oil into a heated frying pan and transfer vegetables to it. Fry over low heat, stirring constantly.

A couple of minutes before the readiness, add chopped garlic to the vegetables and stir. As soon as we see that the lentils are boiled soft, we lower the vegetables from the pan into the soup. Let them boil a little while we fry until light brown. Brown color We remove the pan from the stove, add sesame seeds, close the lid and leave it alone for 10-15 minutes. Mix well and serve.

Sausage Chowder Recipe

List of products: yellowish lentils - 200 grams, smoked sausages - 200 grams, tomatoes in their juice - 400 grams, garlic - two cloves, one onion, one carrot and celery each, vegetable oil - two spoons, salt. The recipe for how lentil stew with sausage is prepared, we will consider further. We clean the carrots, onions and garlic. Cut the first two vegetables into small cubes, crush the garlic. My celery and cut into slices. Sausages - circles.

Fry them in a heated pan in oil for about four minutes. Add vegetables, mix well and cook for five minutes. We knead the tomatoes with a fork and send them to the pan, the juice - there too. Boil ten minutes, the fire should be medium. Then spread the lentils, pour four glasses of water. Salt, pepper, cover and cook for half an hour, reducing the heat.

Lentil stew with tomatoes: recipe

Ingredients: two tablespoons of olive oil, one onion, two cloves of garlic, three pieces of celery, 400 grams of salted tomatoes, one glass of lentils, two tablespoons of parsley, one bay leaf, one spoon of lemon juice, mint and basil, to taste - yogurt . The cooking process is the following. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil, put the garlic and onion in it, simmer until softened. Then add lentils, celery, parsley, tomatoes and bay leaf.

Pour in water, eight glasses, and boil. Then close the lid and cook on low heat for one hour and 45 minutes, until you get a liquid puree. Blend with a blender until homogeneous mass- and back into the pot. Pepper, salt, add lemon juice. Serve on the table in warmed plates, sprinkled with basil and mint, with a spoonful of yogurt in the center.

Chowder with vegetables and lamb

This dish turns out to be very satisfying and tasty, this is a real southern food with red lentils and lamb. For six servings, we need the following products: 450 grams of lentils, six onions, 700 grams of lamb, half a lemon, two bell peppers, one carrot, two tomatoes, three glasses of water, a bunch of greens (tarragon, parsley, basil, dill), one and a half teaspoons of coarse salt, black pepper, half a glass of vegetable oil.

How is this lentil soup prepared? The recipe is next. We cut the lamb into pieces and sprinkle it with lemon juice, small pieces - onions, strips - bell peppers, thin rings - carrots, small cubes - tomatoes, large - greens. Pour the oil into a saucepan, cauldron or pan with thick walls. Heat up, add the meat and fry over medium heat until the lamb turns brown. We throw a bow at her. Stirring, fry for another five minutes. We reduce the fire, put tomatoes, peppers and carrots in a container.

Drain the lentils and add water. Boil and simmer for 20 minutes small fire. Salt and sprinkle with herbs. Serve chilled or hot, with tomato salad or as an independent dish. From this recipe, you can safely remove the lamb, and we will get only vegetable lentil stew with tomato and

Another Lentil Chowder Recipe

We need the following ingredients: water - 1.7 liters, lentils - one glass, one onion, one carrot, parsley, bay leaf - three things, black pepper - six peas, garlic - half a head, savory greens - one tablespoon. Consider how lentil stew is prepared. The recipe is very simple. Soak lentils in cold water for a day. Then rinse well again. Fill again with cold water and put on medium heat. After boiling, put the pre-crushed roots - and let it cook until the legumes are completely boiled.

At the same time, no more than 1.25 liters of water should remain. Add onions, other spices, except for savory and garlic, salt and cook on low heat for 10-12 minutes. Then season with the remaining spices, remove from heat and leave for five to eight minutes to infuse. Bon Appetit!

Step 1: Prepare the ingredients.

First of all, you need to put on the boil meat broth. I had a piece of pork that I boiled in salted water. We leave the broth for stew, and you can make a salad from meat. rich broth cook over low heat for 40-50 minutes. Clean and rinse well under cold running water onion and garlic, which are then finely chopped. Soak lentils 10 minutes in cold water.

Step 2: Fry the onion.

Place a frying pan over medium heat, add a little olive oil and sauté the onion until translucent. Then add garlic and cumin and continue frying. within 2 minutes.

Step 3: Fry the lentils.

Drain the water from the lentils and dry it. Then we send it to fry over medium heat in a pan (previously greased with olive oil). fry about 5 minutes stirring constantly until it changes color.

Step 4: Prepare the Lentil Chowder.

Then we transfer it to the pan, pour a glass hot water and send to cook over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until it has absorbed all the water about 10 minutes). Then add beef broth tomato paste, fried onion and garlic, all spices, salt to taste and cook within 10 minutes over medium heat with a lid on.

Step 5: Serve the Lentil Chowder.

Pour the finished soup into portioned plates, lightly pour over lemon juice and serve with a small slice of lemon. Bon Appetit!

This is the most simplified recipe. You can also add some potatoes and carrots to the soup for a richer taste.

You can also prepare a vegetarian option: by adding vegetable broth instead of meat.

If you do not have time to cook the broth, you can cook the stew and just on the water.

In Spanish families, it is often prepared. It is good especially in winter, when you want to warm up when you come home from the cold. Lentil soup is very useful for anemia because lentils are rich in iron. And for vegetarians, this is an indispensable dish.

In general, in traditional Spanish cuisine, many dishes are prepared from legumes - beans, lentils, peas, and beans. It has long been the food of the common people.

They prepared from what was available in every peasant family, which was grown by the peasants themselves on their land. Naturally, these dishes were easy to prepare. Many recipes for such dishes are passed down from generation to generation.

Lentils have been known since ancient times. She was mentioned in the Old Testament. Archaeologists have found the remains of lentils in the Egyptian pyramids and on the territory of prehistoric sites in Europe.

Lentils are one of the most important sources of vegetable protein. It also has a lot of carbohydrates, fiber, mineral salts. Even in ancient times, it was advised to take a liquid decoction for certain gastrointestinal diseases, as well as for liver diseases and kidney stones.

There are several types that are eaten. To give you an idea, I found a photo on Wikipedia.

In our family, lentil stew is also often prepared in winter. I like it not only for its taste and nutritional qualities, but also for the fact that it is very simple and quick to cook. Blog Readers ”Spanish cuisine recipes” I offer her recipe.

Chowder of lentils

To prepare lentil stew, I take

Such products:

• glass of lentils,
• 2 carrots
• 1 sweet pepper
• 1/2 onion
• a few cloves of garlic
• 1 - 2 tomatoes,
• 1 celery stalk
• 2 bay leaves,
• olive oil,
• salt,
• vinegar.

Sometimes I add green green beans. This time I didn't have it. But you can put vegetables that you have in the soup.

Lentils are advised pre-soak in cold water for a while. This is done so that it boils faster. But I never do. Now lentils are sold, which are cooked very quickly. Well, you should look at what kind of lentils you sell, and whether it needs to be soaked.

1. Pour olive oil into a saucepan (about a quarter cup) and heat it up. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Simmer them for a few minutes until the onions turn golden.

2. Wash the lentils. Add water to the pot. Keep in mind that lentils swell and expand when cooked. Therefore, I cannot specify the exact amount of water, sometimes it needs to be added during the cooking process. Throw in the lentils.

3. Wash and cut diced vegetables. Add vegetables to pot with lentils.

4. Cook until ready lentils and vegetables. 10 minutes before the end of cooking, salt and put bay leaves.

Initially, in ancient times ... stews were cooked in the form of a strong broth from one of the main ingredients (not meat), and now stew recipes have remained built precisely on this principle. Be sure to add spices that emphasize the main ingredient, but recipes for national stews different countries intertwined with each other and even each hostess brings her own nuances.

As a basis for lentil stew, I took the recipe from the book by Ilya Lazerson, and as my nuance I suggest in ready meal add pieces of chicken breast, fried until cooked, marinated in "chicken masala" or similar hot and spicy spices (red pepper, garlic, turmeric, ginger, cinnamon, etc.). It was this option that my male household loved the most, although without chicken, lentil stew with spicy spices very tasty!

Prepare the ingredients:

Chop the onion and finely chop the garlic. Sweat them in olive oil suitable for frying. Salt.

At the end of languor, add spices (peppers and spices).

Rinse the lentils (yellow, red, orange, or green) and drop them and the onion and garlic into boiling water or simmering broth. Then cook for about half an hour over medium heat.

While the lentils are cooking, marinate the pieces chicken breasts in spices.

Then quickly to vegetable oil fry the chicken breast pieces until tender. They should turn out with a little golden brown and stay juicy.

In a serving of fragrant lentil stew, add chicken pieces according to the wishes of the eaters.
And Ilya Lazerson recommends serving lentil soup with lemon slices.

The density of a serving of lentil stew can also vary according to personal taste: it can be thicker or thinner.

Bon Appetit!