Red lentils cooked with Marmite and chilli recipe.

The finished article. Topped off with some sweetcorn, just because!

Having recently quit smoking (for a few days, at least), my appetite and taste buds have come alive. I know that if I eat the usual pasta, bread, potatoes and rice I’ll be overloading my body with carbohydrates and gaining weight fast, so I’ve decided to get all my my carbs exclusively from lentils and chickpeas which are a source of slow-burning carbs, giving me a chance to burn the energy that would otherwise be stored on the body as fat. And of course, it’s also a great excuse to create plenty of lentil recipes for my blog!

This evening I’ve made a bowl of soft red lentils, richly flavoured with marmite, with an added kick from chilli flakes, smoked paprika and ginger. Deliciously warming. The flavour has a hint of oriental about it, probably because of the ginger, and the marmite flavour being slightly reminiscent of soy sauce.

A jar of marmite. You can see the strands of sticky goo that inevitably end up on the outside of the jar.

In case you’re unfamiliar with Marmite, it’s a thick dark-brown paste made from yeast extract, a by-product of the brewing industry. You’ll find it in the kitchen cupboard of approximately 50% of white British households (because the other 50% can’t stand the very strong, rich flavour!). I’ve been a fan since I was given it spread on toast with butter as a child, but it’s very rare that you’ll see it used in cooking.

Ingredients

Serves 1. If you want more, simply add more ingredients!

• Large teaspoon of marmite (including whatever sticks to the back of the teaspoon!)
• 250g red lentils
• 4 or 5 mushrooms
• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped into small pieces
• 1 piece of ginger, about as big as the end of your thumb
• Large pinch of chilli flakes (or powder if you have it)
• Half a teaspoon as smoked paprika
• Half a clove of garlic
• Olive oil

Method

Like most recipes with lentils, this one is really simple. No real technical skill involved (yet another reason why lentils are awesome!).

1. Wash the lentils, cover with water (about 2 mugs full) and put them in a medium-sized pan, medium heat.
2. On a frying pan, stir-fry the onions, mushrooms, ginger and garlic on a low heat with the pan lid on.
3. After 5 minutes or so, the lentils were start absorbing the water. Keep an eye on it and don’t let it stick.
4. Once the lentils are starting to look “almost done”, add the marmite, chilli and paprika, so that the lentils absorb just a little of the flavour from these ingredients, and you end up with a rich sauce. Make sure you give it a good stir.
5. When the lentils are soft, add the onions, mushrooms, ginger and garlic, mix it all together, and hey presto.. You’re done!

Twist: Reduce some of the excess moisture and blend it into a paste, for a delicious dip to eat with sticks of carrot and cucumber, or to scoop up with a flatbread.

So there you have it! If you enjoyed this, don’t forget to subscribe. Lots more coming.