Curried Lentils

One of my favorite recipes, My Favorite Lentil Soup, comes from Jane Brody's Good Food Book, a cookbook I bought when my eldest son was still in my tummy 20 years ago. I've enjoyed every recipe I've made from that book, but often overlook it when I'm in the mood to try something new. One afternoon, I had an overabundance of lentils and an underabundance of money, so I pulled Brody's book off the shelf, hoping for some more Brody magic. After I cooked up her Curried Lentils, I was hooked. Everyone in the house loved it over a dish of piping-hot basmati rice and a hunk of bread. We make it as a side dish to Chicken Paprikash and it's always a hit. The one difference between my version and Brody's is that I don't drain the lentils. The sauce oozes into rice perfectly!

The "time" involved in this dish is about a half-hour for the lentils to cook, but, other than that, it's an extremely simple dish and very inexpensive to make.

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1 cup lentils, rinsed and picked through for debris or stones
3 cups broth or water (use vegetable broth or water for a delicious vegan dish!)
2 large onions, chopped
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon curry powder

In a medium saucepan, combine the lentils, water or broth, half of the onions and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender.
While the lentils are cooking, heat the oil in a pan, add the onions and cook until they begin to brown. Turn off heat and add minced garlic and curry powder.
When lentils are soft, add the curry powder mixture to the lentils and stir well. Heat through.