[Eating Rainbow | Yellow | Yellow Lentils]
This recipe for Yellow Lentils with Ginger and Garlic comes from a book that we can’t seem to remove from our very own grip, 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer. We love the book — it’s huge and heavy with hundreds of recipes for deeply spiced, soulfully flavored curries — but our therapist told us that sometimes, when you love something that much, you have to let it go.
So we’re giving away the cookbook to one very lucky reader.
And yes, we just might have planned it exactly this way: the book happens to have a yellow cover, which matches this week’s Eating Rainbow theme. We are that good, that coordinated.
To enter for your chance at the cookbook, scroll down and leave a comment with your favorite yellow colored food. You have a few days; we’ll announce a winner some time next week!
Ginger Garlic Lentils
based on a recipe for Gingered Red Lentils from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer
serves 4 as side dishes. or 2 as main dish. or 1 very gluttonous food blogger named Sarah J. Gim
Ingredients
1 cup lentils, picked over
1 red onion, coarsely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
4 2-inch long slices of ginger, coarsely chopped
2 fresh green Thai, cayenne or serrano chiles (we used 1 large jalapeno)
2 tablespoons ghee or canola oil (we used canola oil)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 dried red Thai or cayenne chiles
1 tomato, cored and finely chopped (we omitted this)
1 teaspoon coarse kosher or sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Directions
Place the lentils in a medium-sized saucepan. Fill the pan halfway with water, and rinse the lentils by rubbing them between your fingertips, The water will become cloudy. Drain the water. Repeat three or four times, until the water remains relatively clear; drain. Add 3 cups water and bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium heat. Skim off and discard any foam that forms on the surface. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, 18 to 20 minutes.
While the lentil are cooking, combine the onion, garlic, ginger, and fresh chiles in a food processor. Mince the ingredients, using the pulsing action.
Heat the ghee/canola oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add the cumin seeds and dried chiles, and cook until the chiles blacken and the seeds turn reddish brown and smell nutty, about 5 to 10 seconds. Immediately add the onion/garlic/ginger/chile blend reduce the heat to medium, and stir-fry until the mixture is light brown around the edges, 3 to 5 minutes.
Stir in tomato, salt, and turmeric. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomato softens and the ghee starts to separate around the edges of the sauce, 3 to 6 minutes, Stir in the cilantro.
Stir the sauce into the cooked lentils. Ladle some of the lentil mixture in to the skillet and stir it around to “wash” it out; add this to the lentils.
Cover the pan and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the flavors mingle, about 5 minutes, then serve.
{ 186 comments… read them below or add one }
I love egg yolks! Really I love egg custard. Especially in those little chinese egg custard tarts.
I would have to say vegetables of the purple/magenta category are definitely up there on my list- I’m thinking mainly of beets, eggplant, and cabbage… if not for taste then for aesthetic qualities! Otherwise anything of the golden genre that is filled with sugar and spice and everything as nice as frosting on top – that’s where it’s at!
Bananas
I LOVE 660 Curries! It is a wonderful book. I have given copies to a variety of friends and family. If you only buy one curry book, buy this one. It is awesome, very approachable and friendly, encouraging about weird techniques and helpful about strange ingredients. Please buy this book. (I am not Mr. Iyer or a member of his family or his publicist. I am a fan of his wonderful curry book.)
Cornbread!
Yellow peaches.
Yellow corn.
Yellow corn tortilla chips!
The bright yellow yolks of the eggs from my chickens.
my favorite is definitely a ripe, juicy and fresh-picked mexican guayaba (yellow guava).
I heart saffron lassis. Mmmmm, I would like one now.
I really do love egg tarts! The yellow egg custard is my favorite part!
YUM~
My favorite yellow food is a yellow mango!
Lemons!
mmmmm….. banana ice cream!
I am a big fan of yellow squash and Vidalia onions…which are sort of yellow…sprinkled with yellow curry powder and chile powder. OMG! So good.
I’m making this recipe (above) TONIGHT!
It looks fab!
Banana, mango, mustard, summer squash. also, CURRY IS DELICIOUS!
Mangos, pineapples, bananas are all at the top of my list. If I had to pick one it would be bananas. Not only are they great plain, with peanut butter or on top of cereal… but I am constantly making muffins, bread, cookies, smoothies or even ice cream out of them. Bananas are MY favorite yellow food. Thanks for the opportunity to win the cookbook. I love curries and it sounds great.
The daal/pumpkin soup I just made! Yum : )
Lemon curd is my absolute favorite yellow food!
I’d have to say that my favorite yellow food is saffron rice – not only does it smell amazing, but it also tends to be paired with my favorite Indian/Middle Eastern foods!
Bananas… always bananas! They have so many amazing qualities:
They come in their own wrapper
Encourage baking when they get old
Divide into thirds naturally
Naturally go from green to ripe in 7days (the length of time it originally took for them to travel from South America to the states when first introduced)
Have tons of species!
and taste creamy and sweet…. How can you not love bananas?
DELICATA SQUASH!!!!!!!!
favorite yellow food? Lemon bars. Yum!
Avgolemono/Egg Lemon Rice soup.
Agreed with the above. Bananas are so versatile!
Frozen they thicken up any shake to a creamy texture
Ripe they can be mixed into anything (pancakes, oatmeal, dessert)
Plain they are just as amazing (with a li’l peanut butter)
Bananas are the best.
Haha it took me a while to think of yellow foods, but then it hit me–BANANAS!!! I am a banana-holic. Eat at least two a day if not more >< Looking forward to the book!
Yellow? Quiche, with sundried tomatoes and asparagus.
Hmmm, yellow… I think the curried chicken salad a made a few weeks ago was pretty awesome and deviled eggs are right up there on my awesome list.
yellow split peas & rice
banana banana banana
butternut squash!
My favorite yellow colored food is a dish they used to serve at the orphanage we “volunteered” (played) at in Peru. I have no idea what it’s called. We affectionately refered to it as cheese and chunder. It was a thick yellow liquid with chunks of cheese in it and occassionally cross-sectionally cut corn served over sticky salty rice. Now you’ve got me wanting to go back to Peru. I’ll settle for the cookbook though.
My favorite yellow food is Kheer. I’ve had it at some restaurants where it’s white, but when I make it (and at my favorite Indian restaurant) it’s yellow.
I also like corn, despite its lack of nutritional value!
mangos and bananas :)
lemons and lemon flavored anything – yum! followed closely by bananas.
My mom’s mac ‘n’ cheese with butternut squash…even as a grown-up :)
cornmeal! specifically baked into delicious cornbread–but even in the bag, just the palest yellow, it’s so full of delicious potential! I like to mix up the recipe by adding paprika and garlic, or strawberry preserves. Delicious!
I really do love mangos.
I love lemons,
They are so very versatile. You can use them in cooking, baking, seasoning, and you can use every part of a lemon too! The juice, the rind, you could even eat it like an orange if your heart desires. However, besides mixing lemon into my favorite homemade salad dressings, I love using lemon in the all-time classic lemon poppyseed muffin or in ginger molasses cookies!
I love lovely yellow curries and for dessert a sweet yellow fig called excel which we are picking from our tree right now as summer comes to a close.
meyer lemon anything
i love sweet corn and corn bread yummmy
I am in LOVE with lemons. :) I can’t get enough of them lately!
MANGOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mangoes. So sweet and juicy!
Mangoes or butter
I would have to say one of my most favorite yellow foods
would be Sweet Corn Ice Cream. YUM!
By far bananas!!! i’m kinda a monkey in how I can eat them every day, for every meal, and every snack in between.
Definitely, without a doubt, not bananas. :)
I’d say it’s definitely butter. Absolutely necessary in baking as well as cooking. Can’t go wrong with butter. Bbuddah!
lemons :)
I can’t decide if cheddar cheese counts as yellow or orange….
Well anyway, if cheddar doesn’t count, then I’ll go with pineapples. They are my very favorite fruit. Interestingly, I can’t stand them cooked in anything savory, even though I adore them raw. The very idea of putting pineapples on pizza makes me a little nauseous.
Dahl. I just can’t live without it. I always make a huge batch and freeze a few containers.
mashed potato with yellow cheddar :)
I eat bananas everyday so I will say bananas, but eggs run a close second preferably duck eggs when I can get my greedy little hands on them.
I believe the choices of lovely yellow coloured food are limited less. I don’t know from where to star, bananas, split santorini lentils, melon, of course yellow curry, lemonade, eggs, egg curd, lemon meyer curd, lemon pie, potatoes, mash potatoes, cheese, fresh yellow beans etc etc…I think I made my point clear :D
Yellow is the perfect choice for spring! It is such an energizing colour!
I love risotto with saffron :-)
Lemons make almost everything a little (or a lot) better!
Lemon poppyseed muffins! If those aren’t yellow enough, fresh mangos are a close second. ;)
The ultimate yellow food is POLENTA!
macaroni and cheeeeeeeeeeese
Mango Sorbet! Preferably homemade, but store-bought will do in a pinch.
This looks amazing!
Fav yellow foods are patty pan squash, sweet corn, pineapple, and banana.
I eat a banana every day, so I’d have to go with that…. although corn, yellow bell peppers, and honey (does that count as yellow?) rank pretty high too.
Hmmmm…my favorite yellow food would have to be my granny’s cheese grits…yum, yum, yum.
Saffron cous cous with almonds and raisins. Mmmmm……
Saffron rice with yogurt. Nom nom. Does this need just regular green lentils?
Pineapples! And mangoes. Yummm
I LOVE bananas!
Favorite yellow food- curried cauliflower! Unfortunately I don’t have a curry cookbook, so I just made up the recipe myself… I would LOVE to check out this cookbook!
pumpkin curry. it’s kinda more orange, i suppose, but its so so yummy. but corn is also delicious, and bananas are wonderful, and pineapple, and mango, and applesauce….
Fave yellow food–lemon meringue pie. Does that count?
Mango! Fresh from somewhere tropical, there is nothing better. :)
My favorite food in the entire world just happens to be yellow…. Meyer Lemons. Perhaps its cliche, but the house I was living in for the past 3 years (and just moved out of last weekend) had a Meyer Lemon tree! Thank you California. I had Meyer Lemons at my finger tips at least 6 months of the year. So what did I do before I moved? Picked all the lemons and brought them with me. The owner won’t notice right? LOL I can and will eat them with almost anything and even straight they so sweet. Perhaps next recipe… a Meyer Lemon Curry? I’m sure that book would help!
Deviled Eggs!
I’d have to say… Baby Corn.
Yellow food?….
its a tie between corn casserole/spoon bread and yellow squash (fried or sautee hibatchi style)
Bananas, mmm
Fried corn like my grandma used to make in her cast iron skillet she had received as a wedding present.
Definitely mangoes!
Mangos, and more mangos from my friends tree.
Frozen mangoes!
Captain Crunch? haha
Lemons! in any form…
fresh sweet corn!
Meyer lemon bars with lemon zest! Anything with lemons really. Mmmm… thinking about this makes me want to make some!
Your lentils with ginger and garlic look A-MAZING! Definitely going to have to try this out… and not sure curry is my thing or not yet! But your photo & recipe is making me hungry for it!
Lemons! Sweet or savory – love them. And, I love the zest to brighten up so many dishes!
Best yellow food: my mom’s mango mousse cake!
I love my Mom’s deviled egg filling– she uses mustard so its bright yellow and tart and I love it!!
Bananas and lovely ripe Anjou pears
Hands down: MacLaren’s Imperial Sharp Cheddar Cheese.
It comes in a small red tub: it is both delicious & addictive.
Just picked from the garden yellow grape tomatoes! Freshness in a bite.
Lemon curd! Lemon anything!
I love to eat golden beet salad with oranges and red lentils with turmeric and three chilies and cornbread with chipotle and lime. Yellow’s a good color!
Mangoes!!
And of course any yellow lentils tempered with turmeric and spices!.. a must for everyday!
I used to be afraid of curries… too hot, too rich, too unusual, too hard to make at home. But I’ve come to really like curries and have grown more adventurous. Coconut-based curries are at the top of my list, and I’m venturing more into Indian curries. I definitely respect the treatment and variety of the spices involved. What a great cookbook to really dive into and learn more, explore more! Very exciting!!
Fresh picked corn on the cob
My favorite yellow-colored food are the little egg custards that are served at dim sum restaurants. So good!
I love yellow veggie fritters made from garbanzo bean flour, parsley, dill, cumin and curry. They are so easy to make and very flavorful!
Lemon anything. Lemon Bars, Lemon Curd, Lemon Cupcakes, Lemon Chicken, Lemonade. Mmmmm Lemon!
Curried egg salad! mmm…
Yep, I’m on board with anything lemon! Love it!!
Iowa Corn on the Cob in August is the best summer food. Also Paella, Pinchitos we lived in Spain for a few years. Along with Pineapple, Frittatas, Flan, Lemon cheesecake and lots of Butter.
Mangos and sticky rice yum yum pineapples madras curry powder I love curries very intrested in this cookbook thanks for shareing :)
Mulligatawny Soup using yellow lentils and coconut milk
My favorite yellow food is my Nonna’s Yellow Pepper and Zuchinni Frittata!
This recipe looks delicious! Well, my favourite yellow coloured food at the moment is probably macaroni cheese, or butternut squash soup! :-D
Butter! Mmmm… butter.
Favorite yellow food is yellow sqwash
Yellow Thai Curry! Extra hot. :-D
Mmmmm… i love lemon curd and sweet corn straight from the farm.
I’m a fan of all things tart…Meyer Lemons for the win!
Summer squash~
Yum! This looks delicious. There are so many good yellow foods. I love ginger, mangoes and meyer lemons for sure!
Does butter count as a food? Its definitely at the top of my food pyramid.
Bananas & pineapple.
risotto alla milanese! it brings back consciousness of my milanese roots after so many years (a lifetime) away from my beloved city.
lemon curd, mango lassis, and yellow summer squash!!!
yellow cake! (with chocolate frosting)
Lemons!
I bought a jar of spiced peach chutney from a farmer’s market once, which was a beautiful shade of golden yellow, and the most amazing thing I’ve ever tasted. Great looking cookbook!
My beautiful homemade mango chutney studded with sweet red and poblano peppers from my garden! It’s redolent of cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and coriander. Mmmmmm….Super on curries of any kind!
Is it cheating if my favorite yellow food is curry? Vietnamese, please. Or Japanese. Or Indian. Or… ;)
banana pudding!!
MEYER LEMONS !!!
Lemon Custard Ice Cream
Corn on the cob with a little sea salt, in the middle of July!
Lemons are definitely my favorite yellow food. I panic when the supply starts running a little low in the fridge!
I love my Husband’s yellow toovar dal (an Indian lentil dish) that he makes in the slow cooker. With rice, its comfort food at its best.
lemon cake!
I am highly flattered. Thank you for including my book as a giveaway. Hope whoever wins it uses it a lot.
My favorite yellow colored food… bananas :D
Being Indian, I’m absolutely in love with mangoes, but I have to say LEMONS!!!
My Dad’s split pea soup with dumplings, lemon squares (lemon anything), fresh pineapple and yellow curries !!!
The most yellow of yellow lemon curd. So versatile and yet so simple
quince compote, saffron risotto and mango sorbet
quality creme fraiche……….. oooh im jiggly
Lemon meringue pie, unless creme brulee is yellow enough…
Saffron Rice
My favorite yellow colored food? CORN!
Baby yellow bell peppers (the ones that grow inside the big guys)
Roasted Corn on the Cob = Heavenly. I could eat corn everyday if someone provided it :)
I have to agree with corn on the cob! Yum – thank goodness summer is just around the corner. :)
660 Curries is my favorite cookbook, but I haven’t tried that recipe yet. Guess what I’m cooking tonight!
I love the soft pale yellow of organic sweet butter, melted to become ghee or for drizzling over pancakes hot off the griddle with real Maple syrup, or cut into small chunks for slathering over hot corn on the cob, or blended into a decadent mixture of thickly beaten egg yolks with sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice for a thick lemon cream cake filling.
My favorite yellow food is either a peach or mango.
joosbornenc at yahoo dot com
Mango Lassi, Temple Lemon Rice, Egg Yolks Curry:)
bananas are my favorite yellow colored food – though my hubby is turmeric crazy, so most of the food we eat has a yellow tint :)
Love this book! My sister has it and I’ve borrowed it a couple of times. I’d love to have my own copy. As for yellow foods, I love yellow summer squash. I use it in all sorts of things.
Papaya!!! and next comes mangoes…
I found your blog when I was searching for 660 curries book. And here you have a giveaway(yay!!). Awesome blog by the way.
cheers
lalli.
Creamy polenta
My favorite yellow food is definitely egg yolks. They are crazy versatile and always delicious!
My favorite yellow food is PAELLA!!!!!!! , so yummy!!!
Lemon Bars.
Bananas….Sweet bananas with chilis and cumin!!!
My wife says “Banana Runts”. I’m partial to lemon meringue pie.
Potatoes cooked in duck fat! For breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
fresh corn on the cob
Macaroni and cheese with truffle oil and caramelized shallots!
Thai yellow curry… put almost anything in a yellow coconut curry sauce and you can’t lose.
Custard!
Mango sticky rice. I love everything mango, but with sticky rice, it can’t be beat.
Fresh sweet summer corn!
oro blancos, guavas and sweet potatoes! i also love chickpeas, summer squash and parsnips :)
pineapples!! yumm
curry of course!
Definitely yellow bell peppers!
bananas!
Bananas.
hello, bandwagon :)
Hummus!
Lemoncello. Oh, wait, maybe that isn’t food.
Egg yolks. Which make French Vanilla ice cream a pretty yellow(ish) color.
Fresh pineapple, apples , brown sugar and some shots of rhum…cook it and enjoy as a desert!
The scent of a Meyer lemon rind just picked from my backyard.
Corn chowder. So yellow. So rich.
lemons lemons lemons
my favorite yellow food would have to be fresh corn on the cob :-) … but a frozen banana is AMAZING in smoothies too ;-)
MANGO LASSI!! We all know mango is divine. Natural yogurt is creamy and refreshing at the same time. Mango lassi is a blissful drink and the most beautiful mellow yellow!
pan fried polenta with cheese on top. simple yet wonderful!
also yellow peppers, anything lemon, mango, pineapple, fresh orange juice!
I love the richness of saffron and the color it lends to foods spiced with it. Yellow saffron rice was a comfort food my mom made as I was growing up. This was always my association for saffron until I grew up and began traveling the world and seeing the versatility of saffron in global cuisine.
OMG, just one? I’m not sure I can pick just one. I’m obsessed with the yellow/orange of egg yolks. I <3 pineapple. Then there's lemon curd. And then lemon bars. And banana cream pie. And bananas. And cheese, glorious cheese! Yeah, I love them all.
sunburst squashes!
I love Pineapple!
I’m a wee monkey who goes bananas !!!
Mulligatawny soup made with yellow lentals, and cream coconut! YUM! So warming on cold day