Spiced lentils with crispy potatoes and garlic yogurt
Crispy air-fried potatoes and cumin-scented lentils over cool garlic yogurt with herbs and chili oil, a Turkish-inspired dinner for two with big contrast in every bite.
- 40 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 2
- About $3.59 a serving
- 730 calories
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Most of the time here is hands-off, so you can sit down while it cooks.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- ¾ cup lentils, brown or green, rinsed
- 1 lb baby potatoes, halved
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, 2 minced, 1 grated
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 lemon, halved
- ¾ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped
From your pantry
- 2½ cups water
- 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp salt, divided
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
Each serving has about 730 calories, 34 g protein, 101 g carbs and 24 g fat, and costs about $3.59 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No baby potatoes? Red potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No plain Greek yogurt? Plain yogurt or sour cream works.
- No fresh parsley? Cilantro works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Put the lentils and water in a and over high heat.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
20 to 25 minutes, until tender. .
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Medium heatTimer: 22 min
While the lentils simmer, the potatoes with 1 tablespoon of the oil, the smoked paprika and ½ teaspoon salt.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Air fry at 400°F for 18 to 20 minutes, shaking the basket twice, until and .
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Timer: 19 min
Dolly’s tip: Cut sides down in a single layer is how they get crunchy. Work in two batches if needed.Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a over medium heat and cook the onion 8 minutes, until .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heatTimer: 8 min
Stir in the garlic, cumin, coriander and tomato paste for 1 minute, then add the lentils, of water and ½ teaspoon salt and cook 3 minutes. Squeeze in half the lemon.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Splash. A splash is a small, quick pour, about a teaspoon to a tablespoon. It’s there to loosen or brighten a dish, so the exact amount doesn’t matter.
How you’ll know: The dish looks a little looser or tastes a little brighter, not soupy.
Medium heatTimer: 3 min
Stir the yogurt with the garlic, the rest of the lemon juice and of salt and spread it over two plates.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Pinch. A pinch is what you can hold between your thumb and two fingers, less than an eighth of a teaspoon. It’s a small, forgiving amount, so there’s no need to measure.
How you’ll know: It’s a light sprinkle you can barely see on the food, not a little pile.
Warm the last tablespoon of oil with the pepper flakes in the for 30 seconds.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Low heat
Spoon the lentils over the yogurt, pile the potatoes on top, with the chili oil and scatter the parsley.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
