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First of all a teaspoon each of cumin, coriander and black mustard seeds were dry roasted then ground up in the pestle and mortar. A glug of oil was added to my cast iron heavy casserole dish and two roughly chopped onions and three mashed cloves of garlic were gently fried, along with the ground spices for about 5 mins. I found a couple of bacon rachers hanging around in the fridge so they were soon chopped up into small pieces and added to the pot. Some small carrots and a couple of mushrooms (quartered) soon followed and the veg was given a few minutes to cook down with the bacon and spices.
One mugful ( it SHOULD be considered a valid measurement...) of green lentils was thoroughly washed in cold water then added to the pot. A pint of hot chicken stock was added, with a pinch of salt and pepper and the pot brought to a simmer, lid on and cooked gently on a low heat for 30 mins.
Meanwhile two of the squash were peeled, seeds removed and roughly diced into larg-ish chunks. While the lentils and veg were stewing nicely I knocked up a soda bread - see previous recipe, although Ive noticed that buttermilk is appearing in the supermarket now in 250 ml cartons - if using one of these use 350g of flour mix instead of the 500g I previously recommended - it makes a smaller loaf but just as good, if not even better.
Preheat the oven to gas 6, when the stew has been simmering for 30 mins add the squash, a little water if becoming too thick and pop into the oven at the same time as the soda bread for another 25-30 mins. The squash will cook quickly and the stew will be thick and delicious. Chuck on some parsley and even a dollop of creme fraiche (I didnt have any) and there it is, a great tasy supper.
