Lentils pressure cooked and then stewed with potato, tomato, scallion and bell pepper until thick enough to eat over rice. Forty minutes, no soaking needed, and it serves four.
The carrots that were never there
One of the instructions on this page told you to add the potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and bell peppers. There were no carrots anywhere on the ingredient list.
Anyone following the method carefully would have stopped at that point and gone looking for something they had not bought. It has been taken out.
Carrot would not be wrong in a lentil stew, but it is not what this recipe is, and a method that asks for ingredients the list does not have is a method nobody can trust.
Leave some of the water
The second step is the one that decides whether this burns. Drain the lentils, but not completely.
Cooked lentils with nothing around them, covered by diced potato and tomato and put back on the heat, will catch on the bottom of the pot within a couple of minutes. The stew is thick and there is nothing to move the heat around.
They should look wet, almost soupy, when the vegetables go in. The potatoes will absorb a good deal of it over the next twenty minutes.
No soaking
Lentils are the pulse that does not need it, which is what makes this a Tuesday dish rather than a weekend one.
Straight from the bag into the pressure cooker with water to cover, twenty minutes, done. In an ordinary pot allow about forty.
How much water they take up varies with age, and old lentils drink more and cook slower. The recipe's note about watching it the first time is worth following.
Thick enough for rice
This is served over white rice in Colombia and the consistency is judged against that.
It should hold on the rice rather than running off it and pooling on the plate. If it is thinner than that at the end, take the lid off and let it reduce for a few minutes; if it is too thick, a splash of water.
The potatoes are doing the thickening as much as the lentils, which is why there are three of them.
More pulses
- Lentil soup — thinner, in a bowl.
- Traditional beans — the other everyday pulse.
- Lentil burgers — for the leftovers.
- Colombian white rice — what it goes on.
Stewed Lentils FAQ
No, which is what makes this a weekday dish. Twenty minutes in a pressure cooker from cold and they are done.
No. One of the instructions used to list carrots among the ingredients to add, and there were never any on the shopping list. That has been corrected.
So nothing catches. Lentils drained completely and then covered with potatoes and tomato will stick to the bottom of the pot within minutes. They should still look wet when the vegetables go in.
Enough to cover them well in the pressure cooker. How much they absorb varies with how old they are, which is why the recipe's own note says to watch it the first time.
A powdered achiote or annatto colouring sold in sachets. It gives the stew its reddish gold and adds almost no flavour. Turmeric or sweet paprika does the same job.
Thick enough to sit on rice rather than run off it. That is how it is eaten in Colombia.
Yes, in an ordinary pot, and the lentils will need about 40 minutes rather than 20. Then carry on from the second step.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ pound lentils (no soaking needed)
- 3 medium potatoes (diced)
- 1 medium tomato (finely chopped)
- 1 stalk green onion (cebolla larga, finely chopped)
- ½ small bell pepper (finely chopped)
- ½ bouillon cube (Ricostilla or Maggi)
- Achiote or annatto colouring ('color' in Colombia, to taste)
- Salt (to taste)
Notas
Instructions
- Put the lentils in a pressure cooker with enough water to cover them well and cook for 20 minutes over medium heat.
- Drain off the cooking water, leaving a little behind so the lentils stay slightly wet and nothing catches when the other ingredients go in.
- Add salt and the achiote colouring to taste.
- Add the rest: the potatoes, the tomato, the bell pepper and the half bouillon cube. Keep the pot half covered, or carry on in a slow cooker.
- Cook over medium heat for another 20 minutes, or until everything is tender.
- Stir now and then so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
- Serve.
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