Lentil and chickpea Curry

Because sometimes a short vacation is all you need to get back into that creative mood.

So many things have happened in the last weeks- Ireland was great though I was really disappointed by Dublin. It's smaller than I'd thought, not pretty or "fair" at all, loads of tourists and above all, inaffordable! That's why I pretty much lived on pasta and toast, nothing fancy to fotograph really.

Anyhow, I visited a lovely vforumer in Belfast, and when I missed the coach back, it was raining cats and dogs and I had £ 10 to spend, I stocked up on foodie magazines. And oh, they're so much better than those lame housewife-ones you can get in Germany.

I got this recipes from one of them, and it's easy, cheap and versatile (have it with chutney= Indian, with coriander and coconut milk= Thai, with Ketchup= err, English?, but it's also good on its own).

In the first place, I didn't really understand why it's called a curry, but then I found out there's no other description that matches it. Anyhow, the recipe:

(officially serves 4, but I guess that's when you don't have anything else with it... I already fed 4 people and there's still half left)

• 4 tbs olive oil
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 2 tbs red curry paste (Thai/Indian doesn't matter, I used massaman)
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 200g lentils, rinsed and drained
• 600 ml vegetable stock
• 170g green beens, halved
• 2 yellow peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 tin chickpeas, drained
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Saute the onions in a huge pan until soft.
2. Stir in the curry paste and garlic, fry for a minute. Add the lentils and broth, bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 mins or until the lentils are soft.
3. Add beans and peppers and cook until the lentils are al dente. Stir in chickpeas and tomatoes and let heat through.