From prairie obscurity to stardom

I remember walking in our garden with one of our neighbour’s children on our western Saskatchewan farm during my childhood in the 1930s and we ended up in our large lentil patch. The plants were teeming with their small flat pods, signifying a good yield.

I was surprised when my friend didn’t know what the plants were. I told him they were lentils.

He stared for a while and then asked what we did with them.

I told him that we ate them by making a whole series of dishes with them and they were delicious.

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My friend shook his head as he walked away, apparently thinking that this poor Syrian immigrant must have nothing to eat except “this green stuff” and could only survive by eating this strange plant.

In that era, Canadians out West had never heard of lentils.

However, about a half-century later, things began to change.

I learned this about 20 years ago when I made a trip to Venezuela. While there, I took a tour to visit a Venezuelan ranch.

After a nerve-wracking, jolting ride through spectacular mountain scenery, we reached a valley where we transferred from our jeeps to saddled horses.

I heard a woman riding next to me tell her husband that the landscape did not look much like Saskatchewan.

My ears perked up and I asked where she came from.

She told me that she lived near Swift Current when she was younger.

Swift Current? We had a farm just south of there, I told her.

It turned out that the woman knew my sister, who still lived in that city. It was strange, meeting someone in another continent who had a connection with my past.

After some small talk, I asked her if they grew wheat on their farm like most farmers did, at least in my time.

She informed me that they used to grow wheat but now they grew lentils.

I was surprised at her answer and I asked her for her favourite lentil dish.

She looked amused and confused at the same time and I asked why the strange look on her face.

She responded that she thought lentils were only fed to pigs and that’s why they grew them.

Although I was somewhat disappointed with her concept of lentils, I had to admit that this was progress, a step forward for lentils. At least she knew what lentils were.

Times have changed and today the people of Saskatchewan know much more about lentils. Saskatchewan is the largest exporter of lentils in the world. It seems a world away from the time our neighbour on the farm scoffed at the strange plants growing in our garden.

Today, Saskatchewan’s lentils are known worldwide.

The lentil was one of the first food plants to be cultivated by man in the Middle East. In that part of the world, this legume has been a part of the diet for millennia. As a food, only bread and rice are believed to have been on the human menu longer.

Lentils have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs and have, since the Pharaonic era, been a main staple of Egyptian and other Middle Eastern peasants.

In the Bible, Esau sold his birthright to his twin brother Jacob for a bowl of lentils while David received from Sheba a gift of them.

This legume formed a part of the bread of Ezekiel, while in the Qur’an, lentils were a food the Jews in Sinai asked Moses to provide.

A few hundred years before the birth of Christ, lentil cultivation spread to eastern Asia, East Africa and the countries around the Mediterranean basin.

They were popular in ancient Egypt and Greece. However, since the Romans never acquired a fondness for them, their cultivation did not spread into Europe. It was only in Spain, and then, only after the Arab occupation, that lentils became a common food.

The Spaniards later introduced the plant into the Americas and lentils have become an everyday dish in the countries of Central and South America.

In North America, the lentil phenomena is today widely spreading. They are cultivated in Saskatchewan, making it a major export.

Washington state and Idaho are the main producers in the United States.

Growing up in the Depression years of the 1930s on the arid plains of southern Saskatchewan, I remember the many lentil soups and stews that our family ate. My parents had brought the seeds with them when they immigrated to Canada, and in the dry dusty soil of the Prairies this hardy plant grew and thrived.

As emigrants from Syria, my father knew that even though lentils tolerate a wide range of soil, to flourish they need light sandy soil and a sunny climate.

In those homesteading years, my parents used their know-how from what tradition had taught them, that lentils are one of the few plants that enrich the soil. For this reason, farmers in the Mediterranean region, when rotating their crops, always include lentils. For peasant farmers, the nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the roots of the lentil plant are perfect for cultivation, having aided for thousands of years, the revitalization of the soil and keeping the land productive.

But this was the Saskatchewan of the 1930s and no one else in that part of Canada was familiar with lentils and we, like our fellow Arab immigrants, kept them well hidden. Being foreigners with inferiority complexes, we ate the delicious lentil dishes in our home, safe from the prying and judgmental eyes of our neighbours.

Today, as I look back, I think to myself, how foolish we were. Instead of acquainting our friends and neighbours with this ancient food, we were ashamed to mention its name. Ironically, when our neighbours came for a visit, my mother cooked for them boiled vegetables and meats. Yet, when they left, we ate our delicious lentil stews.

Lentils are rich in carbohydrates, calcium, iron, vitamin B, and especially protein, making them the ultimate of vegetarian food. Lentils are recommended in cases of low blood pressure, emaciation, anemia and ulcers. Containing a higher percentage of protein than an equal amount of lean meat, they surely have a bright future in a world with an exploding population

As an ingredient in cooking, lentils do not need soaking. However, if one prefers to soak them in water overnight, they only require half the time to cook.

These few recipes, most of which we enjoyed on our farm, provide an introduction to the versatility of lentils and how a lentil dish can be not only healthy to eat but a tasty one as well.

Lentils with dumplings (Haraaq Usba’u)

Makes eight to 10 servings.

From the multitude of lentil recipes, this is a special one, introduced to me by a woman from Damascus and an excellent addition to a larder of lentil dishes.

• 1 cup lentils, rinsed
• 7 cups water
• 1/2-pound frozen bread dough, thawed
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/8 tsp. cayenne

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• 3 tbsp. lemon juice
• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• vegetable oil for deep-frying
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• seeds of 1 pomegranate

In a saucepan, on high, bring lentils and water to a boil. Cover and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, roll dough 1/8 inches thick, then cut into 1/2 inch squares. Add half the squares, salt, pepper, cumin, and cayenne to the lentils then cook for 15 minutes or until dough becomes a soft bread. Add lemon juice and stir. Set aside and keep hot.

In a frying pan on medium, heat four tablespoons olive oil then sauté onion until light brown. Stir onion into lentils.

In the same frying pan, add vegetable oil to one inch or enough to deep-fry remaining dough squares on medium heat and deep-fry the squares for two minutes or until they are light brown.

Remove squares with a slotted spoon and set aside.

In a bowl, combine cilantro and garlic and set aside.

Serve lentils in soup bowls. Each diner may add fried bread, cilantro-garlic mixture, and pomegranate seeds to taste.

Lentil and swiss chard soup (Shawrabat ‘Adas Ma’ Silq)

Serves eight to 10.

My mother would use various greens when preparing this, including Swiss chard, which made a perfect soup for Saskatchewan’s cold winter days.

• 1 cup lentils, rinsed
• 8 cups water
• 4 tbsp. cooking oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 medium hot pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
• 4 cups chopped Swiss chard
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. cumin

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• 5 tbsp. lemon juice

Place lentils and water in a saucepan, then bring to boil. Cover, then cook over medium heat for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, heat oil in a frying pan, then sauté onions over medium heat for eight minutes. Stir in garlic, hot pepper and coriander leaves, then sauté for further five minutes. Add the frying pan contents to the lentils, then stir in remaining ingredients, except lemon juice, and bring to boil.

Cover and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, then stir in lemon juice and serve hot.

Lentils in yogurt (‘Adas Ma’ Laban)

Serves six.

During the hot July Saskatchewan days, this was a refreshing dish that Mother often made to invigorate us from the stifling heat.

• 1/2 cup lentils, rinsed
• 3 cups water
• 1 quart plain yogurt, chilled
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh mint or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. chili powder

Place lentils and water in a saucepan then bring to boil. Cover, then cook over medium heat for 30 minutes or until the lentils are tender but not mushy.

Drain lentils then allow to cool. Place in a serving bowl with the remaining ingredients, then mix well before serving.

Lentil cabbage rolls (Malfouf Siyaami)

Serves six to eight.

Swiss chard and other vegetable leaves or grape leaves may be substituted for the cabbage.

• 1 large head of cabbage
• 1 cup white long grain rice, rinsed
• 1 cup lentils, soaked for four hours, then drained
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 small bunch green onions, finely chopped
• 2 large tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coriander
• 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1 cup olive oil
• 6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 2/3 cup lemon juice

Core the cabbage; then place in a large saucepan, cover with water and boil until the leaves soften. Separate the leaves and cut out the thick ribs and set aside. Cut the large outer leaves in half; then cover the bottom of a saucepan with the reserved ribs.

To make the filling, in a bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients except the garlic and lemon juice.

Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling on the bottom (stem end) of the leaf; then roll, tucking in the ends. Squeeze the rolls gently and place compactly in the saucepan on top of the ribs. Sprinkle the garlic between the layers and any of the leftover juices from the filling.

When the leaves are all rolled and placed in the saucepan, place an inverted dish on top of the rolls to keep them from separating; then add water barely enough to cover the rolls, and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes; then turn the heat to low, add the lemon juice, re-cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve either hot or cold.

Lentil pottage (Mujaddara)

Serves four to six.

In the eastern Arab world, mujaddara was and remains the most popular dish made from lentils.

When the Arab immigrants came to North America, they not only brought with them their love for mujaddara but also a habit of not serving it to guests. Perhaps the few cents it cost to make made the immigrants think that it could not possibly be good enough to serve to their visitors.

• 1 cup brown or green lentils, rinsed
• 6 cups water
• 6 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup rice or coarse burghul, rinsed
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander seeds

In a saucepan, bring the lentils and water to a boil; then cover and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. In the meantime, heat the oil in a frying pan; then add the onions and sauté over medium heat until golden. Add the onions with their oil and the remaining ingredients to the lentils; then cover and cook for a further 20 minutes or until the lentils and rice or burghul are soft but not mushy, stirring occasionally.

Remove from the heat then serve.

Lentils with Rice (Mudardara)

Serves eight.

Mudardara is a drier version of mujaddara and best enjoyed with a dish of plain yogurt on the side.

• 6 sweet onions, sliced thinly
• vegetable oil for deep-frying
• 8 cups water
• 2 cups brown lentils, rinsed
• 2 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 2 cups basmati or any other long-grain white rice, soaked for 30 minutes, then drained
• 2 tbsp. butter

Heat about three inches deep oil on medium-high and deep fry the onions until golden and crispy, about eight minutes. Drain on paper towels. Measure out two cups of the onions and 1/2 cup of the oil and set aside.

In a large saucepan, bring water, lentils, one teaspoon of the salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper to boil on high, then reduce heat to medium-high and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the remaining salt and pepper, the reserved two cups of deep-fried onions, rice, the reserved 1/2 cup of the oil and butter. Bring to boil then cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat, uncover and let sit for 15 minutes.

Transfer to a serving platter then garnish with remaining deep-fried onions.

Serve with salad and yogurt.

Lentil and Meat Stew (Yakhnat ‘Adas)

Serves eight.

A unique type of nourishing and tasty stew.

• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 lb beef, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 medium sized onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 small hot pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 cup lentils, rinsed
• 6 cups water
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into 3/4-inch cubes
• 4 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. turmeric

Melt butter in a saucepan then sauté beef over medium-to-low heat for five minutes. Add onions, garlic and hot pepper, then stir-fry for further 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients then cook over medium heat until meat and lentils are well done, adding more water if necessary. Serve hot with cooked rice.

Lentils and spinach

Serves eight

Another great dish in which greens add to the flavour of lentils.

• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1 cup rice, rinsed
• 7 cups boiling water
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup lentils, rinsed
• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 10 oz package spinach, thoroughly washed and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
• 1 tsp. oregano
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. sumac

Melt butter in a frying pan, then stir-fry the rice over high heat for about two minutes. Add two cups of the water and bring to boil.

Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, then cover and turn heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring and re-covering a few times to ensure that the rice is not sticking to the bottom of frying pan, then turn heat off then allow to cook in its own steam for 30 minutes. Set aside.

In the meantime, place the lentils and the remaining five cups of water in a saucepan then bring to boil. Cover and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes or until the lentils are cooked but not mushy, adding more water if necessary, then drain and set aside.

Heat oil in another frying pan, then add the spinach and garlic and stir-fry over medium heat until the spinach wilts. Add the lentils, remaining salt, coriander leaves, oregano, pepper and cumin, then sauté for a further eight minutes, stirring once in a while.

Place the frying pan contents on a flat serving platter, then spread the rice evenly on top and sprinkle with the sumac, just before serving hot.

Lentil pies (Fataayir bi-‘Adas)

Makes 24 pies.

Lentil pies are an unusual type of savory pie.

• 2 pounds frozen dough, thawed, or an equivalent amount of hand-made dough
• 1 cup lentils, rinsed
• 4 cups water
• 3 medium onions, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 small hot pepper, seeded and very finely chopped
• 1 can (5.5 oz) tomato paste
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 4 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cumin

Form dough into 24 golf-ball sized balls then cover and allow to rest for 90 minutes.

In the meantime, place lentils and water in a saucepan then bring to a boil. Cover, then cook over medium heat for 40 minutes or until the lentils are soft.

Drain lentils and allow to cool, then mash and combine with remaining ingredients to make a filling.

Roll each dough ball into four- to five-inch circles, then place two heaping tablespoons of the filling on the centre.

Fold the dough over and press the edges firmly to seal, in the process shaping the pie into a triangle, then continue until all the balls are finished.

Place on well-greased trays, then bake in a 400 F (205 C) preheated oven for 20 minutes.

If needed, brown under the broiler for a minute or two.

Remove from oven, then brush with oil or butter and serve hot.

Syrian lentil loaf

Serves eight to 10.

Try this vegetarian version of meatloaf. You will not be disappointed.

• 2 cups lentils, rinsed
• 6 cups water
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 hot pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 4 tbsp. finely chopped fresh coriander leaves
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 can (5.5 oz) tomato paste
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Place lentils and water in a saucepan then bring to boil. Cover and cook over medium heat for 40 minutes or until the lentils are soft but still whole.

Drain, then place in a food processor and process until the lentils turn paste-like.

Remove and place in a mixing bowl, then place the remaining ingredients, except the oil, in the same food processor and process for two minutes.

Transfer to the mixing bowl and thoroughly mix with the lentils.

Form into a loaf and place in greased bread pans. Sprinkle with the oil, then cover with aluminium foil. Bake in a 350 F preheated oven for 35 minutes then remove the aluminium foil.

Bake uncovered for a further 10 minutes, then allow to somewhat cool. Serve hot or cold, but preferably hot.