Yellow Split Lentils

These are hulled split red lentils: lentils with the brown seed coat taken off and each seed split in two. Dry, they are orange-pink; as they cook, they turn golden yellow, which is why in Egypt they are sold as ads asfar, yellow lentils. They are 100% lentils with nothing added. We buy them in bulk and pack them ourselves into resealable pouches of 500 g and 1 kg.

With the seed coat gone, they cook quickly and need no soaking: twenty to twenty-five minutes of simmering makes them soft. They do not hold their shape. They fall apart into a smooth, golden purée, which is why they thicken a soup almost on their own. The taste is mild, earthy and lightly sweet, and it takes on whatever goes into the pot: onion, cumin, garlic, lemon.

In Egypt these are the lentils of shorbet ads, the smooth lentil soup that warms winter evenings and opens the meal at iftar in Ramadan, served with lemon and crisp fried or toasted bread. They also go into koshari asfar, yellow koshari: rice cooked together with the lentils until both are soft, eaten with fried fish or with white cheese and pickles. Koshari itself, the dish of rice, pasta, chickpeas and tomato sauce, is made with whole brown lentils instead. Simmered with turmeric and spices, these lentils also make dal.

Before cooking, spread them on a plate and pick out any small stones or husks, then rinse them in a sieve under cold water until the water runs almost clear. They need no soaking. For shorbet ads, soften a chopped onion, and a carrot if you like, in a little oil or butter, add a cup of lentils, four or five cups of water or stock and a pinch of cumin, and simmer for twenty to twenty-five minutes, until the lentils fall apart. Blend it smooth, season with salt and serve with lemon. For koshari asfar, cook one part lentils with two parts rice in the same pot, with fried onion, salt and water, until the water is taken up. For dal, simmer them with turmeric until soft, then pour over cumin seeds and garlic fried in a little oil or ghee.

Lentil allergy is not common, but it does exist: if you have ever reacted to lentils, peas, chickpeas or other pulses, do not eat them. We cannot confirm that they were processed or packed away from nuts, peanuts or sesame, so if you have a food allergy, ask us before you order. Small stones can turn up in any pulses bought in bulk, which is why they are picked over before cooking. Eat them cooked, never raw.

Two things this page does not claim. Our supplier does not state where these lentils were grown or whether they were kept apart from wheat and barley, so no country is named here and they are not sold as gluten-free. Lentils are also widely sold with long lists of claimed effects, and this listing repeats none of them. They are sold as food, and nothing here is a health claim or medical advice.

Dried lentils keep for a long time, but not for ever: old lentils take longer to soften, and in a warm kitchen an open pouch can draw small pantry insects. Keep the pouch pressed shut, cool and dry, away from spices and other foods with a smell of their own, or tip the lentils into a jar with a tight lid. Count on about a year of best taste from delivery while the pouch stays sealed, and about six months once it is open. A little dust in the pouch is normal and rinses away. If you ever see small insects, fine webs or tiny holes in the lentils, or they smell musty, they are best thrown away.