العدس / Lentils with beef / Lentilles au boeuf!

This recipe brims with energizing and warming winter flavours like lentils, garlic and cumin.  It is a perfect comforting dish  for a cold winter's night. In Morocco, this special-winter dish is called "La3dass = العدس , which means "Lentils" in Moroccan-Arabic. It's very delicious, easy to make and can be a  perfect vegetarian choice, if cooked without meat.  I always use dry lentils, but if you are not used to cook them, you can use canned ones. However; if you want to try to cook dry ones:

-Be sure to pick through them to remove any debris or small stones.
-Wash them thoroughly.
-Don't add lemon or lemon juice or too much salt while cooking the lentils, because they will become too dry to cook (Add more salt only at the end when they are cooked and tender, like in Harira).
-Make sure to have enough water to keep the lentils covered during the cooking process. This is very important to cook them uniformly and not to dry out.

I usually use brown lentils, which take about 1h30 to 2 hours to cook, if simmering in a pot over a medium heat, or about 35 to 40 minutes if cooked in a pressure cooker.  However, if you use Canadian lentils, which tend to cook faster than brown lentils known in Morocco, so you have to adjust the cooking time.  I used once the Canadian lentils to save time (they cook in less than 30 minutes), but the recipe didn't work for me, and I don't know why, there was something missing, and the lentils were not tasty as usual.  So I think, but not sure yet, that the Canadian lentils do not go well with this type of sauce and spices!
 Mamatkamal

  This recipe calls for brown lentils / Pour cette recette, utilisez les lentilles brunes

Ingredients:

- 350 gr lentils / 350 gr lentilles

-4 to 5 medium fresh tomatoes, grated / 4 à 5 tomates fraîches, de taille moyenne, râpées

-1 medium onion, grated / 1 oignon râpé

-4 to 5 garlic cloves, chopped / 4 à 5 gousses d'ail, finement hachées

-2 tablespoons fresh coriander and parsley leaves, chopped / 2 c à soupe de coriande et persil frais, finement hachés

-1 teaspoon ground cumin / 1 c à thé cumin moulu

-1 teaspoon red paprika (add some hot, if desired) / 1 c à thé de paprika rouge (ajouter un peu de paprika chilli fort si vous désirez)

-Some black ground pepper / Un peu de poivre noir moulu

-Some salt / Un peu de sel

-4 tablespoons olive oil / 4 c à soupe d'huile d'olive

-1/2 fresh or preserved lemon / 1/2 de citron frais ou confit

-200 gr beef meat cut into small pieces / 200 gr de viande de beuf, coupée en petits morceaux

-1/2 teaspoon tomato paste / 1/2 c à thé ou à café de concentré de tomate

-More or less 200 ml hot water, add more or less if necessary / Plus ou moins 200 ml de l'eau chaude, réduire ou augmenter la quantité si nécessaire.

Method / Préparation:

1-Place meat in a large saucepan, over medium heat, drizzle olive oil, then brown the meat / Dans une grande poêle, sur un feu moyen, verser l'huile d'olive et ajouter la viande et faire dorer.

2-Add onion and garlic and let cook for 3 to 5 minutes white stirring. / Ajouter l'oignon et l'ail et laisser cuire pendant 3 à 5 minutes en remuant.

3- Add tomatoes to the meat let then cook for another 10 to 15 minutes while stirring. / Ajouter tomates à la viande et laisser cuire encore 10 à 15 minutes en remuant.

4- Add coriander, parsley, tomato paste, all spices, mix all the ingredients and let cook about 10 minutes while stirring. / Ajouter coriandre, persil, concentré de tomate, les épices, et bien mélanger le tout. Laisser cuire environ 10 minutes en remuant.

5- Clean the lentils and add them as welll as hot water (not too much, just enough to cook the lentils, it depends on the type of lentils you've chosen), cover and let cook until the lentils are tender and the sauce is quite thick, and NOT TOO WATERY.  Stir occasionally and check the level of water, you might need to add some hot water to prevent the lentils from burning, if you notice that the liquid has reduced too much.  / Ajouter les lentilles et de l'eau chaude (juste assez pour faire cuire les lentilles, ceci dépend du type de lentilles que vous avez choisi), couvrir et laisser cuire jusqu'à que les lentilles soient bien tendres et cuites.   La sauce doit être onctueuse et NON PAS TROP LIQUIDE. Remuer de temps en temps, et surtout surveiller le niveau de la sauce.  Vous aurez peut-être besoin d'ajouter un peu d'eau.

6-Add lemon and 2 or 3 hot peppers at the end of the cooking time. When the lentils are well cooked, add salt to adjust the seasoning. / Ajouter le citron et quelques piments forts à la sauce à la fin de la cuisson. Une fois que les lentilles sont bien cuites, vous pouvez ajouter du sel, pour ajuster l'assaisonement.

7-Serve into a bowl and garnish with fesh coriander and hot pepper if desired. Serve with bread / Servir une portion dans un bol, décorer avec de la coriandre fraiche si vous désirez. Servir avec du pain.