1/2 cup red lentils, rinsed
1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp madras curry powder,
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
4 cup cauliflower florets
1 jalapeno pepper, halved, - seeded,, thinly sliced
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp sugar
Directions
In a large saucepan over low heat, combine lentils, onions, curry
powder, salt, turmeric, and 2 cups water; bring to a simmer. Cover
and cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are soft and the
sauce has thickened, about 45 minutes. Add tomatoes, cauliflower,
and jalapeno peppers and simmer, covered, until the cauliflower is
tender, 8 to 10 minutes longer. Remove from heat.
Heat oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add cumin seeds
and cook for about 10 seconds. Add garlic and ginger; saute until
the garlic is lightly browned, about 1 minute. Stir in cayenne and
immediately add the oil-spice mixture to the cauliflower mixture.
Stir in lemon juice, cilantro, and sugar. Taste and adjust seasonings
with additional salt and cayenne.
Serve over rice.
"Eating Well" September/October, 1993
Servings: 4 servings
Cauliflower & Red Lentil Curry Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bean; Vegetable
The History of Recipes
Written recipes as an idea can be found far back into distant history, in truth as far back into recorded history as the Egyptians, and possibly even further than that. Interesting though that is, mostly, these ancient records were just very basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for food preparation.
Interestingly, the most ancient recipe discovered, according to experts are some tablets in ancient Sumerian which show the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making people feel exhilarated. Progressing into The time of the romans around 25BC a roman called Apicius compiled a collection of documents showing how to cook the recipes enjoyed by wealthy roman citizens. He describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were split into starters, main meal and dessert, a style of dining still practiced today. Aspicius tells us how the early Romans were skilled in the use of many spices and herbs, including a few that will be familiar to modern chefs like bay, fennel and parsley. Later, in the 15th century, knights returning from the crusades brought back a variety of foods, spices and herbs from the holy lands, including rosemary and coriander. The introduction of these new tastes was responsible for an explosion in recipe manuscripts, many of which are kept safe in private cookery archives. During the next few hundred years, the upper-class families of the West strove to serve the best banquets, and consequentially the best cooks and their recipe collections became highly prized. Notwithstanding that, it was during the 19th century that haute cuisine and recipe collections reached a high level of popularity. The Famous Mrs Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Merritt Farmer in the USA, devoted much of their lives to collecting, testing, and publishing recipes that were common in the better off homes of the day. By the advent of the 1900s, cookery publications were greatly in demand due to better eduction, more leisure time and disposable income. Like it or not, the introduction of TV brings us TV chefs and the spin-off recipe books. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, permitting everybody to access massive numbers of recipes like the ones you can find on this site. |
We hope you enjoy this Cauliflower & Red Lentil Curry recipe.
