Sweet and Sour Lentils

Ingredients

• Brown lentils, 100g
• Vegetable stock, 350ml
• Carrots, 1 medium, cubed
• Daikon, 125g or so, cubed
• Chives, 3 stalks
• Soy sauce, 30mL
• Japanese rice vinegar, 30mL
• Chili pepper flakes, 4g
• Peanut butter, 15g
• Maple syrup, 30mL
• Garlic, 3 cloves
• Ginger root, 5g
• Chickpea flour, 8g

Steps

1. Rinse the lentils.
2. Simmer the lentils and the stock together in a large pot. Get it to a rapid simmer, then lower the heat and let it simmer slowly.
3. While that's going, cube the carrot and the daikon. To measure the amount of daikon, cut pieces and keep weighing until you're in the right area. Remember to take off the outer part of the daikon!
4. After the lentils have been simmering for 10 minutes or so, put the carrots and daikon in.
5. Stir that mixture and let it simmer for another 10-20 minutes - you are looking for the lentils to have good texture, not hard but not too soft.
6. While that's simmering, it's time to make the sauce!
7. In a bowl, mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, maple syrup, sesame oil, and peanut butter. Stir until dissolved.
8. Now, stir in the chickpea flower to help thicken it. You can use any other starch you want too, like arrowroot (what the original recipe does) or corn starch.
9. Mince the garlic cloves.
10. Mince the ginger root (roughly the same amount as the garlic).
11. Add the chili flakes, garlic, and ginger to the bowl and stir thoroughly.
12. Once the lentils are done, drain the liquid off, put them back in the pot they were in, add the sauce, and stir together.

Serving

This makes two portions; it scales up super well as long as you are willing to do the fiddly work with the garlic and ginger. To serve it, you can eat it plain, use it as a dip, or serve it over a starch of your choice (rice, noodles, or flatbread).

Leftovers

Good for a few days up to a week in the fridge.

Variations

None yet!