Lencse főzelék - Buttered Lentils

In Hungary it is customary to eat lentils on New Year's day. Lentils are apparently a harbinger of wealth, so if you eat them on New Years day you set yourself up for a year of good fortune. Perhaps it is because they look like tiny little coins? This is a yummy little recipe, though I tend not to eat it on New Years day as it is too hot here in Australia! It is, however, a delicous winter meal. If you want an even quicker meal simply buy pre-cooked tinned lentils & make sure they are well drained before moving on to the rest of the recipe! You can also change up this recipe really easily - add some mushrooms (so yummy with this), carrots, celery or celeriac, or whatever other veg you like. It does change the flavours of course, but you can come up with some nice quick winter veggie stews! The recipe below will serve 4-6 depending on how hungry the tummies are!

Lencse főzelék,
served here with 3 slicesof Trunkey Creeks "Kick-arse Kransky"

Lencse főzelék
2 cups of brown lentils
4 cloves of garlic
1tsp salt
1 tbsp paprika
2 bay leaves
225 gms of sour cream (I usually use lite)
125 grams low-fat milk
4tbs flour

optional: lightly fried smoked sausage (eg csabai or smoked kransky) for serving.

Wash lentils in a colander and discard any stones or discoloured lentils. In a pot lightly fry the garlic then pop in the lentils, salt, paprika, and bay leaves. Cover with water - about 2 cups. Cover and cook until the lentils are lovely and tender - should be 20-30 minutes. Keep an eye on the water level as you don't want it all to evaporate or you'll burn the lentils.

While the lentils are cooking mix the sour cream, milk, and flour and combine well. When lentils are cooked to your satisfaction stir this through the lentils and cook till the consistency is that of a thick stew.

If you are going to serve with smoked sausage then sliced the sausage and lightly fry it. Serve the lentils in a bowl with a few slices of sausage on top.