Not for the Faint of Heart

Yesterday, I walked into the kitchen at 4 pm confident that I would have satisfying Indian dinner on the table by 6 pm. I decided first, to make a dessert. Brownies were on my mind. I knew that making my favorite rich, chocolate brownies would come together in no time flat and they could bake and then be cool by the time dinner was over. Easy.

Next I wanted to get the Lentil Curry going. This recipe was posted in our Sunday Relief Society bulletin by a neighbor, Lisa Thomas. I have made it before and our family really enjoyed it and since it was a cold day it would be perfect for my Roti Parartha to be dipped in.

One thing I have learned through trial and error is that not all lentils are the same, meaning they don't all take the same amount of time to cook. I think I need to find a cheat sheet on lentil cooking time. The first time I cooked this I used brown lentils one typically finds in the grocery store- they seemed to take forever, okay an hour and a half. This time I used red lentils found at speciality store and they took only 30 minutes. The lentils really broke down to much by the time I got the dinner on the table, they were still good though.

Lentil Curry
1 T. butter
1 onion, chopped

2-3 T. curry powder
8 oz. lentils, rinsed and picked over
2 cups + chicken broth*
1 can coconut milk
3 T. tomato paste
cilantro, chopped

Saute the onion in the butter. Sprinkle with curry powder and cook for a minute or two. Pour lentils into the pan and stir around. Add 2 cups of chicken broth and bring lentils to a boil. After lentils come to a boil, turn the heat down to low and let simmer 45 minutes or until tender (adding more broth if needed). Pour in 1 can of coconut milk and the tomato paste. Add salt to taste. Simmer until the sauce reduces a little and flavors meld. Add cilantro. Serve over hot rice.

* I have used up to 4 cups depending on the kind of lentil I was using.

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The Roti Paratha, let's just say, it should of been easy, the directions looked easy, but the technique was not. I am convinced that some important tip was missing when creating the layers of this flat bread. I wish I could have taken picture of the process but my hands were covered constantly in oil. Aidan came in at point and stared at the dough rolled out on the counter and then my hands and said "Are you sure you know what you are doing?!" I had to laugh, I was in over my head! The Roti turned out, well, not like the restaurants that is for sure and I wouldn't call it "flat" either, but hey, it was still pretty good regardless and the boys snarfed it down- so I guess my first attempt wasn't too bad.

Dinner was more like at 7:00 instead of 6:00, but with hungry boys in the house it will always work in my favor no matter what the food tastes like.

-Lisa