Copper Chimney -Westfield- Restaurant Review

I would go around the world to eat an excellent Indian meal. Thankfully, the first UK venture of Copper Chimney is in Westfield, and with the promise of unforgettable Indian food, the trek to West London didn't seem that long. The restaurant is situated on the pedestrian parade dedicated to food outlets, with its prominent simple but stylish double C logo -does that remind you of another brand?- Copper Chimney stands out.

The first Copper Chimney opened in 1972 in Bombay. Its founder JK Kapur aimed at recreating culinary experiences reminiscent of his years growing up, before the Partition, in what is now modern-day Pakistan. When I first travelled, I was aiming for Cairo, just to land in Karachi.... a long story. My experience of this eastern megapolis stayed with me forever, the smell of Ustads -spice blends- the tandoors, every mouthful eaten was a voyage of discovery. Decades later,  I can definitely say that Copper Chimney's offer is the closest to authentic that you'll get. The Assistant Manager, Kevin Podder, was very proud of the recipes' consistency across their 15  locations.  And this, although commendable, was my problem: the dishes lacked the 'mistakes', the 'happy accidents, the too much of this or the wrong that' that land in a dish often uninvited and makes that plate of food really unforgettable.

Having said this, there is nothing wrong with tried and tested signature dishes and that was reinforced by the restaurant's popularity. It was filling up when we arrived and full when we left. The open kitchen where you can see the chefs operating the tandoors adds a little bit of theatre to the place which is bright and cheerful and expertly designed. After listening to the recommendation from our impeccable waiter, He opted for Chandni Chowk Chaat for starters and I chose a plate of  Okra Kurkure. 

His hors d'oeuvre was delicious, pungent spices and smooth fresh yoghurt layers were an instant hit. Chaat is a great street food that deserves much more recognition. The Okras were nicely fried and crispy. I never tried to slice an okra bean; I'd love to know how they can be julienned these slippery little lady's fingers so very thinly. The end result was not unpleasant: a mouthful of hot and tangy spices that married very well with his Chaat. And as they say, it's nice to share! which is what I was trying to convince him of when the mains arrived.

Grilled Burrah Chop for me, Tandoori Chicken for him. The cinnamon scent preceded the lamb dish, this might be the most expensive dish on the menu at £23.50 but it was really nice indeed. The lamb chops are marinated in a secret mix of spices for eight hours before being seared and then chargrilled. One way to spot Copper Chimney specialities is to look for the CC logo, on the menu, besides the description. I found this out as I was virtually licking my fingers when a sudden attack of food envy gripped me. A plate of Parda Lamb Biryani, sealed with what looked like a lid of puff pastry, passed us by to be placed on a family's table, next to us. Back to our choice, his chicken dish was flavoured nicely, there is also a version of grilled chicken with mint on the menu that looked tempting.....Oh no! here I go again.

To Kevin's disappointment, we passed on desserts. Retroactively we were not prepared enough for Copper Chimney, my advice would be to study the menu online first. However familiar you are with Indian food, the restaurant's choice is vast and varied, preferably opt for signature dishes. We were guests of Copper Chimney, otherwise, our meal would have cost around £65, this is not a budget place but Copper Chimney is well worth it if you happen to be at Westfield.

Practicalities:  Copper Chimney -Ariel Way - White City, London W12 7GA, +44 20 8059 4439,              website: https://copperchimney.uk/

Silver Screen Cuisine - The Hundred Foot Journey -

The Screen on the Green in Islington is a grand old cinema, an institution, a rare thing, dating back from the beginning of the last century. And now, This very old venue is breaking the cardinal rule of movie-theatres with ingenuity, it's hosting Silver Screen Cuisine - Film and Food from the comfort of your seat - A first: for as much as £35, during the past week, filmgoers were treated to an open bar and canapés on arrival, a film and a full menu plus wine. 

Immediate immersion with a "franco-indian" décor.

The scheme is the brain child of the enfant terrible of food websites and multi-media cie, namely Great British Chefs in association with Celebrity Cruises. Au diable vauvert the "no eating in cinemas" dogma. This was a feast. No wander that the question on everyone lips as we left was, "When is the next screening?

The Mumbai Masala -Ketel One Vodka-based-

At the interval Pascal Aussignac of the infamous Club Gascon and Alfred Prasad both Michelin star chefs created a "fran-dia" menu for us, inspired by the Hundred Foot Journey.

Hundred Foot Journey is sweet and fluffy film which retraces the journey of an Indian family who fled India when their restaurant was burned down to the ground during a political riot. When they arrived in France, the head of the family recreates his beloved "Maison Mumbai" across the road (100 feet away) from a Michelin-starred establishment. It's a tearjerker and my serviette came in very handy at times.

 

The dishes based on the film included foie gras flan with sea urchin jus, herb-wrapped veal onglet with ‘Baingan bharta’ ratatouille, Kadahi paneer with pulao rice and my favourite fusion dish Mess on Mumbai cranberry coulis, rose Chantilly, sweet bondi. Just to mention a few to give you an idea of the feast that was.

 

The spiced dessert was a triumph of fusion, the mains taken individually were stunning, put together, it was a little overwhelming. Fusion yes anytime, but it might have been good to leave some classic out of it. Ratatouille is a great dish add spices and then it is still a great dish but it's not a ratatouille any longer, it's a baigan barta with many vegetables.

 

At the end of the film and as the event folded we were presented with fran-dia petits fours.

 

This was a truly fantastic event.

 

Read more about:

Club Gascon reviewed by the talented Cook Sister! My turn to visit and review next ;)

 

Alfred Prasad is passionate about food poverty and is an ambassador to charities such as Action Against Hunger. Do you remember the blogger-aid cookbook?

 

Disclaimer : I was invited by GBC- I have not be ask to write a positive review- all the words are my own, photos from GBC photobank -

Paneer Stuffed Peppers- The Deconstructed Version

In the last series, one of the Masterchef contestants baked a deconstructed Custard Pie. I thought the concept and the result were hilarious. Tom Rennolds had carefully planned  his recipe, he believed in it but sadly despite its grand title the end product was nothing short of a  disaster on a plate.

It is not unusual for  a recipe to  turn out wrong. At Pebble Soup HQ, we are well versed in the confection of  deconstructed dishes here are my  deconstructed cookies and since there has been many more disasters. Unless I have to, usually I keep them quiet and they are not published.

However Stuffed Paneer Peppers is such a good recipe that even though this first attempt was "deconstructed" I would like to shared it. And though it looks like the effort of a very absent minded cook, one who would have forgotten to use the peppers, let alone to stuff them, the recipe works and I am certain that whoever else tries it will do justice to it.

Paneer is an unsalted cheese. Home-made in India, we tend to use the commercial equivalent, Long Clawson Paneer, A popular product which sells well in the UK, 1.000.000kilos a year or 2 packs every minute. Paneer is very versatile, it can be grilled on the BBQ, added to curry sauces or even used in cheesecake recipes. Home-made Paneer is soft, normally used mashed or cubed. Commercial brands are harder therefore easier to grate though....

 

Hand-grate paneer and you might as well spend your time more constructively sticking trickle to a tree.  A full size food-processor is not a better alternative, too big for the job.  It is in such occasion  that  I am grateful for my Tefal Mini-Express.  I use it almost every day, with time I have grown very fond of it, so have you. Its review is one of Pebble Soup most read posts.

Back to my disaster or reconstructed peppers recipe which should have looked like so, a beautiful recipe by the talented Indian chef Anjum Anand.

But ended like so:

Panneer Stuffed Peppers: the Deconstructed version

Ingredients

• 4 large red or green peppers,stalks removed, flesh cut in half, seeds scooped out
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1¼ tsp cumin seeds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 large tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tsp finely chopped ginger
• 2 handfuls frozen peas
• 70g/2½oz green beans chopped
• salt to taste
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• ½ tsp red chilli powder
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1½ tsp garam masala
• 250g/9oz grated 'long clawson paneer' paneer
• 100ml/3½fl oz water
• 5 tbsp double cream
• handful fresh chopped coriander
• 200g/7oz basmati rice, cooked according to packet instructions, to serve

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
2. Place the pepper halves onto a baking tray, drizzle with one tablespoon of the oil and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until softened. Once the peppers are cooked, remove them from the oven and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a non-stick pan. Add the cumin seeds and fry for 20-30 seconds, or until fragrant.
4. Add the chopped onion and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until golden-brown.
5. Add the tomatoes, ginger, peas, beans, salt and spices and simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until the tomatoes have softened and reduced to a pulp.
6. Add the grated paneer and the water and stir until well combined. Bring the mixture to a simmer and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
7. Add the double cream and season well with freshly ground black pepper. Simmer until heated through.
8. Add the chopped coriander and continue to simmer the mixture for 4-5 minutes, adding tablespoons of water as necessary to stop the sauce from drying out as the paneer absorbs the liquid.
9. Preheat the grill to its highest setting. While the grill is heating up, fill each of the baked pepper halves with the paneer mixture. When the grill is hot, grill the stuffed peppers until the paneer mixture is golden-brown.
10. To serve, place one or two stuffed pepper halves onto each serving plate. Spoon a portion of basmati rice alongside each.

Recipe and photo reproduced with permission. Anjum in her original recipe uses home made soft paneer which she crumbles.

Butter Chicken

It never ceased to amaze me how almost difficult it is to cheat our senses. Let me explain, when I eat a curry house, I am always torn between two dishes which on the surface, look really different: Chicken Murgh Makhani -also called Butter Chicken- and Tandoori Chicken. Invariably, I pick the tandoori dish only because it is lower in fat.

Are you ready for the wow moment, in the course of researching this post, I  found that in fact, they are closely related. Take a look at this snippet from Wikipedia:

'It is thought that Butter Chicken was hastily prepared by a Delhi Eatery chef post dinner time for a harried VIP customer who wanted "some" Chicken dish. The chef had only half of a Tandoori Chicken which he tossed with liberal amounts of butter, tomato and garam masalas to come up with the earliest version of "Butter Chicken". He later improvised to make this a regular feature of the menu.'

Conclusion, Once more senses could not be cheated.

This dish is one of the most popular Indian dish outside India. To do it justice, I have used the set of spices which I lucky to win on Fabulicious Food, Ren Behan's fresh and seasonal blog. Butter Chicken needs to marinate in the fridge overnight which in my books makes it perfect for week-ends.

Chicken Murgh Makhani

Ingredients:

Ground spices

1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp fennel
whole spices
2 bay leaves
2  cloves

1/4 pint/150ml natural yogurt

2 ounces/50g ground almonds

2cm ginger 
2 garlic cloves
14 ounce/400g can tomatoes
1 pounds/500 g chicken, skinned, boned and cubed
2 1/2 ounces/60g of ghee or 2 ounces/50g butter
1 tbsp corn oil
1 medium onions, sliced
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
4 tbsp cream or 150 ml milk
salt and pepper

Method

1. Make a paste in the blender with  yogurt, ground almonds, all the ground spices, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and salt pepper
2. Put the chicken into a large mixing bowl and pour over the mixture.
3. Cover and leave it in the fridge over night
4. Melt together the butter and oil in a  wok or frying pan. Add the onion, fry for about 5 minutes. Add the marinated chicken with all the mixture and cook for a further 20 minutes. Cover, reduce the heat and cook for a further 20 minutes  stirring occasionally.
5. Pour over the cream or the milk and stir in well. Bring to the boil.

Could be garnished with fresh coriander.

Mango Lassi, a Recipe for the Rainbow Cookbook

Albania, the Philippines, the Yemen, Mongolia are just some of the countries where I investigated the cooking pots and enjoyed or otherwise the hospitality of locals.

When asked the ineluctable question: "Of all the countries, you've travelled to, which is your favourite?" I shrug my shoulders, "I don't know" is my answer. But would I be asked, "What do you like, say about........India?", then one would not be able to stop me talking about the villages, the dust, the emotions, the smells, the noises, the brightness, the colours.........

So when I was commissioned to participate to the Rainbow Cookbook to promote Appliance Online British Oven, a trendy new look from “New World Cookers”, I closed my eyes and the first thing I saw was the mellow yellow of the Alfonso Mango flesh. No doubt, my recipe was not not going to be blue, nor orange but yellow.

Mango Lassi

Ingredients
1 large mango, peeled and stoned
pinch of salt
350g plain yogurt
225ml chilled milk
2-3 tbsp sugar
1 cardamon pod, crushed use only the seeds alternatively a pinch of ground cardamon or 1tsp of ginger
Ice-cubes up to 10

Method
Peel and stone the mango, place the flesh with all the ingredients in a blender. Blend for a couple of minutes on ice-setting or highest setting. Pour in individual glasses and serve.

If your blender does not take ice-cubes crush them in a tea-towel and add them to the serving glass.

Aubergine Raita

At Pebble Soup HQ as in most homes, likes and dislikes of  ingredients determine the menu. I like Raita, a fresh Indian dip which base is yogurt and cucumbers. However he has a strong dislike for this Cucurbitaceae. But that doesn't mean that Raita should be banned.

Though I am known for replacing a ingredient by another, in the case of Raita it took me years to click that I could do so. Be certain that now I have done so, Raita is back on the menu thanks to the aubergine.

Aubergine Raita

Easy to prepare- serves 4

Ingredients

1 aubergine

125ml natural yogurt

1 small red chilli, seeds, no stem

1 garlic clove, peeled

salt pepper

1/2 cumin pref seeds, but ground will do.

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6

place the aubergine on a tray and place in the oven for 30 minutes check towards the end, if too hot the aubergine will split

Cool in cold water,

Peel and place in food blender or mixer with all the other ingredients except seasoning and spice

blitz until smooth

add seasoning and spice blitz again

Place in a bowl and serve with small poppadom or pitta, add a swirl of oil on the top- I am using Roasted Pumpkin Seed Oil from Merchant Gourmet which burst with nutty taste flavour.



Masala Dosa

At the crack of 2012's dawn, I would like to reflect on types of cooks. Which kind of cook do you think you are? Good or bad is not an answer. The same way that there are various types of cooking which are the basic methods such as roasting, boiling etc.. Cooks too are categorised.

Some years back The New York Times analysed a research indicating 5 types of cooks. The article described them as:

• “Giving” cooks (22%), enthusiastic about cooking and specialize in comfort food, particularly home-baked goodies.

• “Methodical” cooks (18%) rely heavily on recipes, so their cooking is strongly influenced by the cookbook they use.

• “Competitive” cooks (13%) think less about health and more about making the most impressive dish possible.

• “Healthy” cooks (20%) often serve fish and use fresh ingredients, but taste isn’t the primary goal.

• “Innovative” cooks (19%) like to experiment with different ingredients, cooking methods and cuisines, which tends to lead to healthier cooking."

I am firmly anchored in the last category however he is a methodical cook and one who will never give up a recipe until it works. Sometimes it will take years and many unsuccessful, how shall I put this delicately, "Goo-dishes".

In this way, Masala Dosa became a sort of Grail. For the benefit of the readers who are not aware of this particular Indian street-food. Masala Dosa is a traditional South Indian snack often served at breakfast consisting of fermented Rice-lentil batter, fried crisp brown both sides then stuffed with a potato filling and accompanied by a coconut-chutney.

Recipe in hand, the correct type of dahl or lentils had to be found. For a while, we could have opened the pantry as a legumes shop. Urad Dhal or black lentil, not to confused with many other sort of black dhal even white ones! as I was told by an Indian shopkeeper in the Euston Road who pointed at snow white lentils assuring me that this was the true Urad/black Dhal.

Then, there was the Dosa which warranted a trip to Kerala, to observe the type of utensils used, the shape and texture. Still nothing worked, "goo-dishes" came out of the kitchen with much shaking of the head. Until, last night......

You will not get a step by step picture-story. The cook might be methodical but he, like many of us, doesn't like to share the kitchen space while preparing, chopping (that includes fingers) and working a certain kind of magic. So here are some recommendations over stolen observations.

• A ready mixture for the Dosa is by far the easiest
• The frying pan seems to be crucial: non-stick, nothing else will do.
• Use Ghee to fry the batter and a rounded spoon to "fan" it in the pan
• White dahl will do, as long as you believe that it's black.
• Though a breakfast food, it can be served at dinner and is very filling.
• Do not forget to soak the lentils, the day before.

Masala Dosa

Makes 8
For the Potato filling:
Ingredients:

800g potatoes, peeled, cut into 1cm cubes

 200g of skinned soaked and cooked split black lentils or urad dal

150g onions, roughly chopped into cubes (optional)

2 large, hot green chillies, minced (or to taste)

2 tsps mustard seeds

1 tbsp ginger, minced

50ml lemon juice

1 1/2 tsps salt or to taste

2 tbsps sugar

8-10 curry leaves

1 tsp turmeric

Method:

Boil the potatoes while they cook until soft

Heat oil in a frying pan, place the mustard seeds in and wait until they pop add all the remaining ingredients except for lemon, sugar, salt and potatoes.

Allow to cook for 5 minutes and then toss in the rest cook for a couple of minutes.

For the Dosa use a commercial mix and follow the instructions on the packet and the tips above.

Chickpeas with Date Masala

When and if you run out of inspiration on opening the fridge-door what do you do? go to the kitchen cupboard (or the pantry if you want to call it so). What if there is no inspiration lurking behind the bag of flour? then, what, I, do is pick an ingredient, dash upstairs to the desk and consult the Internet.

The first time I did so in 2007, I stumbled open Desert Candy, I immediately warmed to that blogger and her tales of food, her interpretation of middle-eastern meals so, every now and then when inspiration is nowhere to be found, I visit Mercedes' blog.

I did this tonight as the fridge is bear after 2 horrid weeks of work, editing and deadlines + a lovely, lovely long week-end away. The kitchen-cupboard is not any healthier than the fridge but strangely enough there seems to be 2 whole packets of dates. Do dates reproduce in dark corners?

But what do you cook with dates? well, once again Desert Candy came up trump with a recipe she found in the New York Times which in turn had found it in the Sunday Magazine and we all amended it, I removed the two whole star anise.

This is a gorgeous dish, not sweet at all. The flavours melt into one another beautifully  so thumbs up for 

Chickpeas with Date Masala

Recipe copied and ever so lightly amended from Desert CandyServes two very hungry people for lunch, or 4 as a side dish.
3 cups cooked chickpeas (from 2 15-oz cans or cooked from scratch)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion, peeled and finely diced
2½ tablespoons tomato paste
12 medjool dates, pitted and chopped (or another soft sweet variety, like deglet noor)
1/4 teaspoon ground black cardamom
4 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons  salt
1 teaspoon  pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1. Drain chickpeas and set aside. Combine all spices (cardamom through ground ginger) in a small bowl.

2. In a medium pot set over medium-high heat, heat the oil until it begins to shimmer. Add the onions and sauté for a few minutes, until they have softened and started to brown. Reduce heat to medium and stir in the tomato paste. Add the spice mixture and allow to toast for a minute or two.

3. Add the chickpeas, dates, and ½ cup or more of water, enough to make them less than dry. Heat the mixture, stirring occasionally to incorporate the flavors, and keep warm until serving.

Chickpea, Greens, Potato Curry

I don't know about you but when I feel low, I have got a list of little things I do to put the world to right:

1. Phone a friend and if that does not work follow the conversation up by
2. wash my hair......... normally does the trick,
3. bake bread will be the next best thing
4. a new, more Zen therapy is to contemplate the content of my spices rack

As I was doing so last Wednesday, it occurred to me that there are worse things in my life than the monitor losing its colour, sharp nails appearing under the tyres of my car resulting in puncture, a rotten flu I can't get rid of........and these little things could easily be conjured out by making sure that the alphabetical sequence of the spice jars was correct.

This is when I realised that there was 5 millions of jars in that rack and I'd better do something about it, phone a friend was not an option, I picked up the week-end Guardian where I knew I had seen a recipe involving quite a lot of spices and honestly without exaggeration this is a classic, it is absolutely delicious.

Chickpea, Green, Potato Curry

It is a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's recipe, I am not very familiar with his work but what I know is that I shall blindly cook anything of his in the future........ so here it is and as we don't do cabbage of any kind in this household I substituted the Kale with spring onions.

340g dried chickpeas (or 2 400g tins, drained and rinsed)
1 tsp cumin seeds, plus a little ­extra to garnish
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp mustard seeds
1 hot, dried red chilli, crumbled
1 tsp ground turmeric
2.5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 tbsp groundnut or sunflower oil
1 large onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
700ml chicken or vegetable stock
250g potatoes, peeled and cut into 3cm dice
150g kale (or cabbage), finely shredded -see above-
Yogurt, to serve
2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

Soak the chickpeas overnight in plenty of cold water. Next day, drain, rinse and simmer them for about an hour and a half in fresh ­water, until tender, then drain. (If using tinned, just drain and rinse.)

Put a dry frying pan over a medium heat and, when hot, toast the cumin, coriander and mustard seeds and the chilli for a couple of minutes ­until they smell ­really fragrant and the mustard starts to pop. Grind to a powder in a coffee grinder, spice mill or with a pestle and mortar, and mix in the turmeric and ginger.

Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat, and fry the onion, stirring regularly, until soft and golden brown. Stir in the garlic and spices, leave to cook for a minute or two, and add the stock. Simmer for five minutes, then add the chickpeas and potatoes. Cook until the spuds are tender, then add the kale. Cook for a few minutes, until the greens are tender, then serve with a dollop of thick yogurt on top, along with a ­sprinkling of toasted cumin seeds and some coriander leaves.

Madhur Jaffrey’s Ultimate Curry Bible

After three great weeks in Kerala, it is back to the daily non-routine, because it is a little difficult to slide back in the box, I have plugged out a book review for you. It appeared on the now defunct Paper Palate.

Madhur Jaffrey’s Ultimate Curry Bible is a book of best. Best curry recipes from India but also best selection for best curries from around the world. And because of that (+ an untimely computer crash) my review almost did not see the light of the day. Let me explain: my partner got hold of this book and it has been a battle to get it back. Yes, yes I hear you think: “Lucky her, he must have cooked lovely curries nonstop.” Well, wrong. He was reading it from cover to cover. Now you are as puzzled as I was, so let me enlighten you over the reason for this infatuation.

Madhur Jaffrey is a legend, an authority in the world of Indian food. Her books spell quality, her research is meticulous, her recipes are tried and tested many, many times. In this book she traces the origins and history of curry. There are as many curries as there have been destinations for generations of Indian immigrants. “This curry trail” leads us from Fiji to Trinidad via England, Kenya, the whole of South East Asia, and Japan.

But curries are not alone here, mouthwatering rice, breads, chutneys, relishes, and sweets recipes interwoven with pages of history, old illustrations and modern photographs and much more make for the 6 pages of the index. That explains why I could not put my hands on it when I wanted it most and also why this comprehensive book made the top 50 best.

Let me leave you with a taste of a Pakistani recipe and its introductory paragraph: Red Lentils from the Khyber Pass:

“In the brown hills of the Khyber Pass, Saika, the woman of the house, cooked red lentils, round squash and wholemeal breads for lunch. It was the once-a-week “no meat” day, declared so by the Pakistani government worried buy the nation’s excessive meat-eating habits. While butchers are not allowed to sell meat that day, most families get around the restriction by buying their meat a day in advance and freezing it. Not so Saika. She was an observer.”

180g/ 6 oz red lentils
half to one teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons ghee or corn oil
1-2 whole dried hot red chillies
2 gloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
Put the lentils in a lidded pan with 1 litre water and bring to the boil. Do not let the pot boil over. Skim off the scum that comes to the surface with a slotted spoon. Partially cover with the lid, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 40-50 minutes or until tender. Sir in the cayenne pepper and about 1 teaspoon salt. Taste, adding more salt as needed.

In a small pan, heat the ghee or oil until very hot. Put in the red chillies. As soon as they darken, put in the garlic. When the garlic pieces turn golden-brown on both sides, pour the oil and seasonings int the pan of lentils. Cover the pan quickly to trap the aromas.