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AI-generated photograph: A neat dome of dark green lentils glossy with lemon dressing in a small round black clay bowl, flecked with finely diced red onion, green chilli and parsley, seen from directly above, a folded quarter of grey injera beside the bowl

Home · Recipes · Azifa, green lentil salad with mustard and lemon

Ethiopian · Soups and starters

Azifa, green lentil salad with mustard and lemon

green lentils · ground mustard seed · lemon and chilli

AI-generated photograph

Azifa is a cool Ethiopian salad of green lentils dressed with lemon, freshly ground mustard seed, red onion and green chilli, one of the fasting (vegan) dishes eaten on Wednesdays and Fridays. It is sharp, bright and nutty, and we serve it to begin, with a little injera to scoop it up.

Contains: mustard, as written. Mustard (the ground yellow mustard seeds). Lentils, lemon, oil, onion, chilli, garlic and parsley contain none of the 14. If you swap in a ready made mustard or mustard powder, check the label: many mustard powders contain wheat flour (gluten) and many prepared mustards contain sulphites.

Ingredients

  • 200g dried green or brown lentils
  • 2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds
  • Juice of 2 lemons
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small red onion, very finely chopped
  • 1 green chilli (such as jalapeño), seeds removed, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • Half a teaspoon fine salt
  • Black pepper
  • A small handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped

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Let's cook

  1. Rinse the lentils in a sieve under the cold tap and pick out any small stones.
  2. Put them in a pan with plenty of cold water, no salt yet. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until tender but still holding their shape. Bite one: it should be soft right through with no chalky middle.
  3. Drain the lentils, rinse them briefly under the cold tap to stop the cooking, and leave them to drain well for 5 minutes.
  4. While they cook, grind the mustard seeds as finely as you can with a pestle and mortar or a spice grinder. In Ethiopia this ground seed is called senafich, and it gives azifa its gentle heat.
  5. In a large bowl, whisk the ground mustard with the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, salt and a good grind of pepper. Leave it for 5 minutes so the mustard softens and blooms.
  6. Add the lentils, red onion and green chilli and turn everything together gently.
  7. Taste and add more salt or lemon if it needs it. Azifa should be clearly sharp. Leave it for at least 15 minutes so the lentils drink in the dressing, then scatter over the parsley and serve cool, not fridge cold.

Tips

  • Salt the lentils only after cooking: salted water can keep the skins tough.
  • Keep azifa covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. Take it out 20 minutes before serving and add a squeeze of lemon to wake it up.

Swaps

  • Quicker: use two 400g tins of green lentils, drained and rinsed, and skip the cooking.
  • No mustard seeds: use 1 teaspoon of a plain English mustard paste that is labelled gluten free and sulphite free, though check it as many are not.

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

From the same kitchen

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