Spiced lentils with green tomatoes

As you'll know if you read my last post, I had a bit of a glut of unripe tomatoes. After cooking them Italian-style turned out better than I expected, I decided to try an Indian-influenced approach. I thought about making a fairly dry curry with just green tomatoes, onions and spices. But I wanted something that I could scoop up with Indian breads - and this dish was perfect.

If you don't have green tomatoes, you could use ripe tomatoes instead - the dish will be a touch sweeter, but none the worse for it. I have read recipes that suggest you can substitute tomatillos instead of green tomatoes, but as tomatillos aren't particularly easy to get hold of in the UK and usually pricey, I wouldn't particularly recommend them for this dish. Many other vegetables would work very well with the lentils though, even if the final effect would be different - spinach, chard, cauliflower or green beans spring to mind.

These quantities serve four, but this dish lends itself well to leftovers - the spicy flavours develop even more after a night or two in the fridge.

Ingredients

Serves 4

8 medium green tomatoes, about 500g - or use red tomatoes, or another vegetable of your choice
250g red lentils
2 medium onions
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 small hot chilli, or half a teaspoon hot chilli powder, or to taste
To garnish (optional) - 1 additional green or red tomato, thinly sliced

Method

Slice the onions finely and add to a large saucepan with the vegetable oil. Cook, stirring, for a few minutes until starting to brown. Meanwhile, finely chop the garlic and chilli (if using) and crush the cumin seeds in a pestle and mortar or coffee grinder. Add the garlic and chilli to the onions and cook for one minute more. Add the turmeric (and chilli powder, if using) and cook for a few more seconds.

Wash the lentils and add to the pan with enough water to cover. Simmer for five minutes while you cut the tomatoes into quarters. Add the tomatoes (or other vegetables, though if you're using fresh spinach add it five minutes before the end of cooking time) to the pan.

Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes more, until the lentils are soft and the tomatoes have collapsed. Taste and add more spices if you think it needs it. Serve garnished with tomato slices, if you like, and with some rice or Indian breads.