Red Lentil Spread

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Fried onion

1. 1
   Rinse the lentils in a sieve.

   Colander
2. 2
   Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStovePot
3. 3
   Add the onion and fry 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
4. 4
   Add the garlic and fry about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.

To assemble

1. 5
   Add the cumin, turmeric and paprika and fry 1 minute, stirring.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
2. 6
   Add the lentils and the water and bring to a boil.
3. 7
   Turn down the heat and simmer 20 minutes, until the lentils fall apart.

   ⚙ SimmeringStove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
4. 8
   Grind the lentils In a blender with the lemon juice, salt and black pepper, to a spreadable texture.

   ⚙ Grinding in a Food ProcessorBlender

   💡In a food processor, grind in short pulses and check between pulses: it's easy to go from coarse to paste. (Sesame for tahini, on the other hand, is ground continuously.)
5. 9
   Transfer to a bowl, pour a little olive oil over it.

   Serving bowl