Freudian Ethiopian Lentils

Top and Right - Kik Alicha and Misir Wot: Two beloved and psychologically different lentil delicacies

Exotic cuisine is just darn sexy. There is nothing like putting something in your mouth and be perplexed, entertained, and transcended by the smoky and sensual combinations of spices not quite recognized by our virgin tongue and palate. Let’s face it, food and sex and intrinsically related.

I have been obsessed with the perfect spicy, garlicky and ginger lentils, the kind you find in whole-in-the-wall Ethiopian restaurants. We all know, there is a direct relationship with flavor and decor. The crappier the locale, the better the food.

Lentils, actually most Ethiopian dishes come in two varieties: Wot and Alicha. They are practically the same except one ingredient: berbere (pepper blend). Wot, the word actually means stew, are essential hot and spicy dishes. The dishes’ alter ego mild alternative made without berbere but the addition of garlic and ginger powder would be called Alicha.

It is said and spice carries the soul. Those who choose to eat the Alicha rather than the Wot version of the dish in essence are the weak, meek, and plain unworthy. Who knew lentils, well legume dishes in general, would have symbology within Freudian proportions?

Basic technique for Lentil Wot (Watch Video Here)

2 onions

2 cups of brown lentils

6 cups of stock

1/4 – 1/2 Cup Berbere (depends on how you think of yourself)

1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

4 Tablespoons of oil

Wash the lentils. Boil the stock and add the lentils and salt to taste, taking into account the amount of sodium in your stock. Bring the heat down, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

In a stainless steel pan, cook the onions without oil. This will give them a smoky consistency. Add drops of water if the start sticking. Add the oil, ginger, berbere, stir, and add the lentils with the remaining stock. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes until the lentils are fully cooked.

Basic technique for Lentil Alicha

Same as above with the following changes. Use yellow split lentils (they look pretty). Cook the onion in the oil (we don’t want the dark brown color of the oil-less cooking). Add 2 teaspoons of ground ginger and omit the berbere.

* if you get lazy, you can always cook the lentils in the onions after the onions have cooked

* for quicker cooking lentils, cook them with the onions with the right amount of recommended stock

Benefits of Lentils

Lentils are seriously my favorite legume, and that in itself is a fun word to say. Legume. Like Mighty Mouse, lentils are an incredibly strong and rich nutritionally. They have cholesterol lowering fiber (both soluble and insoluble) and they manage blood sugar levels. A protein champion with practically no fat, they are also rich in B-Vitamins, Iron, Folate, and Magnesium.

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Black Bean Burgers Base

Heavenly, light but with girth, black bean burgers are satisfyingly delicious and also get a nice healthy dose of fiber and protein. Relatively cheap and easy to make, it can be added to your repertoire of “OMG there is nothing to eat” meals.

Everything tastes like chicken. Thats the problem with most bean burgers. They are generic, they do not have zing or culinary personality. Well most do, but not mine.

I am not here to divulge my recipe to you. This is a well guarded secret that has been handed down from generation to generation worthy of the next Dan Brown novel. But rather, I am here to give you a wonderful base from which you can add your own gastronomic signature. After all, I want you to have fun and experiment.

So my base:

1 15 oz Organic Black Beans Drained Slightly (some moisture will remain)

1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Bread Crumbs

1/2 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten

1/4 Cup Liquid of your choice

Put the beans in a bowl and get ready to get your hands dirty. Mash up the beans, but not completely. You want some remanence of the legume. Then add the rest of the ingredients, fry up on both sides circa 5 minutes on a little olive oil.

THIS IS NOT A COMPLETE RECIPE. This is lacking personality. I have purposely left the seasonings out to encourage you to see what cuisine you like and include ingredients from that for example:

German – Beer for the liquid, mustard, onions, paprika, garlic

Asian – Soy Sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, green onions

Indian – Cumin, fenugreek, curry, onion, garlic

Or a mishmash of whatever you’d like.

Benefit of Black Beans: incredibly high source of fiber and practically a fat-free protein. High fiber foods help balance out blood sugar levels and metabolism. They are an excellent  source of manganese, protein, magnesium, thiamin (vitamin B1), phosphorus and iron.

In addition, the darker the bean, the higher the amount of antioxidants in them. In a research study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, black beans were found to have 10 times higher amount of antioxidants than oranges, and the same amount found in cranberries and grapes.

Thankfully, I do not need any of these reason to eat them. I just adore them. They are terribly cute.

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