½ lb/½ kg ground/minced beef
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 green pepper, de-seeded and chopped
1½ lbs/¾ kg small faba beans, soaked
2½ lbs/1 kg tomatoes, skinned, chopped or 1 large can of tomatoes
½ pint/250 ml tomato juice
2 beef stock cubes
½ tsp. basil, oregano, cumin, thyme
1 tbsp. chilli powder

Brown the beef in a little oil, add the onion, garlic and green pepper and stir for a few minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and salt to taste, simmer, covered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If dry, add a little coffee.


* This dish is normally made with red kidney beans; however, faba beans make an interesting substitute.

2 oz/50 g chickpeas
2 oz/50 g lentils
4 oz/100 g lean lamb
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tbsp. oil
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
1 tbsp. paprika
pinch of saffron powder
1 lb/½ kg tomatoes
6 pints/3 liter water
salt and ground black pepper
juice of 1 lemon
2 oz/50 g long grain rice
2 oz/50 g plain flour

Soak chickpeas and lentils overnight. Dice lamb. Heat oil in a large saucepan, add lamb, onion, parsley, paprika and saffron. Fry, gently stirring for about 5 minutes. Skin, deseed and chop tomatoes. Drain chickpeas and lentils. Add tomatoes, chickpeas and lentils to the pan, together with the water, seasoning and lemon. Simmer 1½ hour. Stir in rice and continue cooking for a further 20 minutes until the rice is tender. Mix flour with a little cold water to form a smooth paste; stir into soup. Bring to the boil; simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring. Serve immediately.

Serves 8

1 cup lentils
1lb/½ kg ground/minced beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove
1 can (16 oz/ 500 ml) tomatoes
1 tbsp. chilli powder
1½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground oregano

Clean, cook and drain the lentils. Brown the meat in a little oil, add the onion and garlic and sauté until the onion is transparent. Simmer for abour an hour.

Serves 8

2 tbsp. butter
1 lb/½ kg lamb or beef cut in 1'' cubes
1 medium onion, finely chopped
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
¼ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ cup raisins
2½ cups rice, soaked overnight
¾ cup lentils
4 pints/2 liter water
½ cup butter (melted)

Melt butter in a skillet. Sauté the meat with the onions and seasoning. Wash and soak the raisins in cold water for 5 minutes.
Wash the rice 3 times in lukewarm water and then soak in cold water to cover with 1½ tbsp. of salt. Soak overnight if possible (but otherwise for at least 2 hours). Boil 4 pints/2 liter of water with 2 tbsp. of salt. Drain the water in which the rice has soaked. Add rice and lentils and boil for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain, rinse with lukewarm water. Put a of the melted butter in the pot and add 2 tbsp. water. Add a spoonful of rice and lentils at a time, distributing it evenly and allowing it to mound in the shape of a cone. When half of the rice/lentil mixture has been added, arrange the meat, onions and raisins on top and then the rest of the rice and lentils.
Pour the rest of the melted butter evenly over. Put paper toweling over the pot. Cover and put 2-3 dishtowels on the lid. Cook for 10-15 minutes over medium heat, then turn to low heat and cook for a further 35-40 minutes.

The rice should form a crisp golden brown crust at the bottom. Add more melted butter before serving.

Variation: Ground beef can be substituted for the cubed meat.

2 aubergines, sliced
salt
1 large onion
2 tbsp. butter or oil
1 lb/½ kg lean stewing beef or lamb, cubed
2 oz/50 g brown lentils or yellow split peas, previously soaked
salt black pepper
½-1 tsp. turmeric (optional)
½ tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)
¼ tsp. grated nutmeg
2 tbsp. dried crushed mint
1-2 garlic clove, crushed

Sprinkle aubergine slices with salt, leave to drain in a colander for at least ½ hour. Chop onion finely and set aside 1 tbsp. for garnish. Fry remainder in butter or oil until soft and golden. Add meat and brown. Add drained lentils, cover with about 1 pint/500 ml water. Season with salt and pepper, simmer until the meat is tender and the lentils are soft. Add turmeric for color and a little cinnamon and nutmeg.
Rinse the aubergine slices, pat dry andsaute in 2 tbsp. butter or oil until soft and golden. Add to stew and cook for 15 minutes longer.

Garnish: Fry the reserved chopped onion in a little butter or oil until soft, add the dried mint and garlic, and fry for 1 minute longer. Serve with rice.

Variations:
1. Use chickpeas instead of lamb or beef.
2. Use 1 lb/½ kg whole courgettes instead of aubergines.
3. Add the juice of 1 lemon and ½ lb/ 200 g skinned and chopped tomatoes or 3-4 tbsp. tomato concentrate.

18 oz/1½ kg lamb
4 tbsp. pigeon peas
2 tbsp. red lentils
2 tbsp. whole black lentils
1 tbsp. mung beans
1 tbsp. chickpeas
1½ oz/45 g pumpkin, peeled
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
2-3 tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp. coriander leaves, chopped
2 green chillies, chopped

Ground ingredients:
2 tsp. cumin seeds
½ tbsp. coriander seeds
1''/2½ cm ginger root
2 red chillies
6 garlic cloves
½ tsp. turmeric
3 tbsp. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1-1½ tbsp. lime or lemon juice
9 cups/3½ pints/2 liter water
2½ tsp. salt

Wash and cut the lamb into large bite-sized pieces. Boil water, add the peas, lentils and beans (washed and drained), vegetables, lamb, salt, chillies and turmeric. Cook until the meat and beans are tender, adding hot water if necessary. Remove from heat, lift out meat and sieve the beans and vegetables. Heat oil, add the chopped onion. Add the ground ingredients and meat and fry with a little water until golden brown, add the bean and vegetable dhal. Simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes, add lime or lemon juice. Serve with fried brown rice.

Variation: Instead of bean mixture, use 6 tbsp. pigeonpeas and 3 tbsp. lentils.

150 g lentils
salt and pepper
1 medium onion, sliced
cooking oil
100 g ground pork or beef (optional)


Dough:
350 g/about 2½ cups flour
1 egg
125-250 ml water
salt

Soak the lentils overnight in cold water. Add salt and boil until tender, adding a little water if necessary. Cool and mash or crumble with a fork. Fry the sliced onion in a little oil and mix into the lentils with salt and pepper to taste. Add boiled ground pork or beef. Mix dough, then cook pierogis by plunging a few at a time into boiling water. After they have floated to the surface, cook them for an additional 2-3 minutes. Drain and cook the next batch. Rinse pierogis in hot water so they do not stick together. Serve hot with fried onions, bacon and/or cream, or in soup such as borscht. To reheat, fry in oil or bake.

Dough: Mix flour and egg, add water until it is the correct consistency for rolling (adding more flour if it is not firm enough). Roll out thinly and cut the dough in small circles using a glass. Put a small spoonfull of the lentil mixture into the middle of the circle and fold it in half, making sure the edges are well stuck together.

1 guinea fowl (about 1 kg)
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. chicken dripping or oil
1 lb/½ kg lentils, washed
1 large onion
bouquet garni*
salt, freshly milled black pepper
6 fl oz/150 g clear chicken stock

Sauce:
4 oz/100 g pork breast, lightly salted
2 tbsp. chicken dripping
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup concentrated veal stock flavored with tomato

* Bouquet garni:
1 sprig parsley
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs thyme
1 sprig marjoram

Tie in muslin or two thicknesses of cheesecloth.

Season the guinea fowl and lay it on its side in a buttered roasting tin. Coat well a thick layer of butter mixed with the chicken dripping. Roast in a moderate oven (175°C, 350°F). As the bird browns turn it over to the other side, then lay it on its back until it is cooked. Cover breast with silver foil if it is browning too quickly. Test with a knife; when the juice is white, not pink, it is done (after 40-45 minutes).
Meanwhile bring the lentils to the boil in cold water. Add the onion and bouquet garni. Season with salt and pepper to taste during the cooking. When the lentils are soft, drain and discard the  onion and bouquet garni.
To make sauce: While the guinea fowl and the lentils are cooking, cut the breast of pork into small squares, plunge them into boiling water, leave for 5 minutes, then rinse with cold water, drain and wipe dry. Sauté them with chicken dripping and when soft but barely having changed color add the onion. When the onion begins to turn golden, deglaze the juices with the chicken stock, and add the tomato-flavored veal stock. Reduce the sauce by half, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
To serve: Carve the bird in half and garnish with watercress. Spoon over the rest of the juice from the roasting tin. Put the lentils in a dish and stir the reduced sauce into it. Season to taste.

Serves 2

1½ lbs/700 g farmhouse bacon
bacon drippings
12 small onions
black pepper, seasoning
1 lb/1½ kg brown lentils
1 carrot
1 stick celery
bunch fresh herbs
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
parsley, chopped
hard-boiled eggs, halved

Put farmhouse bacon into a sauceapan, cover it with cold water, bring to a boil, strain, rinse in cold water and dry with a cloth.
Melt a little dripping in a deep casserole, add the bacon and about a dozen small onions. with ground black pepper seasoning. When the onions begin to brown,  add brown lentils, a carrot cut in two, a stick of celery, a bunch of fresh herbs tied together and garlic. Cover with water, put lid on casserole, cook very slowly for about 2 hours. When lentils are cooked take out the bacon, remove the carrot and the bunch of herbs, and strain the lentils. Put them on a serving dish with a lump of butter stirred in, arrange the bacon in slices around. Garnish with parsley and hard-boiled eggs.

Serves 6

2 tbsp. oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 large green pepper, sliced and seeded
2 sticks celery, chopped
3-4 carrots, thinly sliced
8 oz/½ kg pork shoulder sliced
3 tomatoes, skinned and chopped
6 oz/150 g red lentils, soaked
2 tbsp. tomato purée
bay leaf and seasoning

Heat the oil and fry the onions, pepper, celery and carrots until softened. Remove to an ovenproof casserole.
Brown pork in the pan, adding more oil if necessary. Add pork to vegetables, together with all the remaining ingredients and about ¾ pint/350 ml water. Cover and simmer gently for abour 1½ hours until tender, then serve.

Serves 4

6 partridges
3-4 oz/75-100 g butter
1 large onion, sliced
2 carrots
1 cup white wine
seasoning

Lentil purée:
1 lb/½ kg brown lentils
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
2 carrots
salt

Clean and truss six partridges, put them into a pan just large enough for them, add butter, a large sliced onion and 2 carrots in rounds. When the birds have taken color pour a glass of white wine over them and let it reduce by half; add seasoning and a glass of good stock, cover the pan and finish cooking over a very low heat.
Meanwhile, simmer for 2 hours the brown lentils, an onion stuck with 2 cloves of garlic, 2 carrots and salt.
When the lentils are quite soft, sieve or liquidize them. In a saucepan mix the purée with half the sauce from the partridges. Cook until the purée is smooth and the right consistency.
Serve the partridges on a dish, with the purée all around and the rest of the sauce poured over.

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