Look at what my friend Jan gave me! Gorgeous, gorgeous limes plucked from her very prolific lime tree this morning.
Now before you say, those are not limes, limes are green! Let me stop you. A lime jelly baby is green, a lime skittle is green, but if a lime that is a fruit is green then it has been picked unripe and good luck getting any juice out of it.
These limes of Jan’s are just perfect and drove me mad in the car on the way home with their perfume of citrusy goodness, so I decided, in true homesteader fashion, when life gives you limes, make lime dahl.
Dahl is a lentil curry, there are as many recipes for this dish as there are leaves in Jan’s orchard. This is how I do it.
Lime Dahl - makes enough for two as a side dish or one as a main
1/2 cup red lentils
1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon mild curry powder
4 cloves crushed garlic
zest and juice of one lime
1/4 cup coconut cream
1 spring onion finely sliced
pinch salt
unsweetened natural coconut yogurt
ground black pepper
Put your red lentils into a pot with about a cup of water, simmer for about 20 minutes until the lentils are cooked through and looking quite broken down. Drain. Rinse out your pot, and pop your spices and garlic into it, put it back on the heat and stir until fragrant. Add the lentils, the lime juice and zest, the coconut cream and about 1/4 of a cup of water, simmer until very, very thick, stir in the spring onion and a pinch of salt (I know, I know, we don’t add salt very often in the cookie house kitchen, but this really does need a pinch).
Serve with a big spoonful of natural coconut yogurt and lots of freshly ground pepper.
This is gorgeous as a side dish with some steamed veg, as you can see here, I have some baby spinach and steamed broccoli topped with dry roasted almonds, or as an accompaniment for another curry and rice. I would not recommend it with potato chips, which is how my daughter is currently eating hers.
Hmmm, I have some chicken there, we might make a butter chicken curry tomorrow night and have some more then. Want to come for dinner?
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