Veggie curry, dhal and brown rice

A bit of a day at work.... a bit of a day with family news.  Apparently, when I got home, I was extremely hyper, so this might explain why, instead of making something quick I choose to make something easy - but involving quite a lot of chopping and faffing.  There are many ingredients in this, but it really is very simple (but it does take nearly an hour to make...) .

There are 3 main parts - 1 x veggie curry, 1 x tarka dhal and some rice - yogurt is also very integral - but too easy to be called a recipe/cooking!

Veggie curry:

2 tbsp peanut (or other mild) oil
1 onion, chopped
Garlic (2 cloves, crushed or 1 tbsp paste from a jar)
1 aubergine, diced
1 courgette, diced
spice mix (to taste, I used about 1 and a half tbsp of quite spicy kebab mix)
 1/2 butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 kholrabi, peeled and diced
1/2 (big) patty pan squash, diced
8 new potatoes
1 tin chopped tomatoes
salt and pepper
water
(1 tsp sugar)

Rice:-

Brown rice
Water
Salt

Dhal:-

Lentils, red in this case...

Tarka:-

Peanut oil - 1 tbsp
Green chili - 1 - stab it to let the flavour out
fennel seeds - 1 tsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
black mustard seeds - 1 tsp
curry leaves (8 ish)
fenugreek leaves (8 ish)

Here I must point out that the veg could have been all sorts of combinations - I had this stuff in the fridge, and I thought it would go together - it did.

Veggie :-

1.  Sautee onion until a bit soft in the oil.
2.  Chuck other veg in as you chop it, and keep stirring it around.  Add water when it looks a bit dry.
3.  Add spice mix - a bit at a time, taste when the ingredients have had a chance to mesh together.
4.  Throw in tin of tomatoes, at least half a tin of water and allow to simmer as everything else cooks.
5.  Taste again - adjust seasoning - add sugar if chili is too hot.
6.  Simmer until veg is nice and tender.

Rice:-

1.  Put rice in heavy bottomed saucepan with close fitting lid.  Add cold water to about 2.5cms above surface of rice
2.  Bring to the boil.  Simmer for 15 (ish) minutes for brown rice.  Turn off heat, plonk on lid and leave for 10 minutes to steam.

Dhal:-

1.  Put lentils in pan, add about twice the volume of water - bring to the boil - simmer until soft (about 20 minutes) - skim the top if and when necessary, add water if not soft.
2.  When cooked, turn off heat and let it cool and thicken a little.  Add tarka 2 minutes before serving.

Tarka:-

1.  Heat oil in frying pan - to a medium heat.  Chuck in a seed or two, listen for the sizzle - a sizzle is what you want - if they pop straight away it's too hot - take it off the heat for 1 minute, then add the seeds and carry on
2.  Add whole spices (fennel seeds etc....), keep them moving.... add the leaves.
3. Chuck into dhal, stir - scoff

Both of us cleared our plates, and agreed that the yogurt really helped bring it together.  All elements nice - as a combination - yum

The best homemade pasta in history

On the veg stall in the market on Friday there was a fabulous selection of mushrooms - field, cep, those little japanesy ones (enoya?), oyster and a few others ... so I bought a big handful.  Then thought they looked so good they needed special treatment, and I fancied playing - so decided to do them with really good olive oil - and fresh tagliatelli.  It was worth it, an hour and a half of playtime, and then the most delicious pasta dish I have had for AGES.


250(ish)g type OO flour
3 large free range eggs

3 big cloves garlic, crushed
lots of good olive oil
handful mixed mushrooms, brushed clean and torn, chopped into bite sized pieces
glug of brandy
black pepper
parsley
freshly grated parmesan

1.  Make pasta - take your time and do it properly.  This was extremely fine sheets cut into wide-ish tagliatelli strips.  Toss in as little flour as possible to keep the strands separate.
2.  Put a large pot of salted water on to boil, and start the sauce.
3.  Heat good glug of good olive oil, when warm (NOT spitting hot) add mushrooms and garlic.  Cook gently for about 5 minutes, adding more oil when the mushrooms have released their water, just to loosen the sauce.  Season thoughtfully.
4.  Cook tagliatelli in water for a brief time (about a minute in this case).
5.  Meanwhile chuck brandy into mushrooms and flame. Once flame has gone turn off heat and stir in chopped parsley.
6.  Drain pasta and chuck into sauce.  Toss, serve with black pepper and freshly grated parmesan.  A little green salad goes well.
7.  Sit back and receive much praise.

Lentil fritters, mushroom "biryani", roast tomatoes and yogurt dressing

Left over dhal and rice.  Excellent!  In 20 minutes flat they became this, which was delicious.  The lentil patties were gently flavoured, the rice as spicy and complex, the roast tomatoes added sweetness and the yogurt sauce was garlicky, minty and had a bit of a chili kick in the background.  An absolutely brilliant combination if I say so myself.  Only one other witness, who agreed with me completely and had seconds of rice and sauce - we were both too full for another fritter.

For the dhal:-

Big handful of red lentils - boiled in water for about 20-30 minutes.  Left to cool - kept in fridge over  night.

Cooked basmati rice.

peanut (or other light) oil
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
big handful of mushrooms
2 baby aubergines
small handful methi (fenugreek leaves - not essential, coriander or parsley would also be good, but the methi was delicious)
biryani (or whatever) spice mix
olive oil
red chili
juice of a lemon
natural yogurt
small handful mint
seasoning

1.  Chop onion and sweat in peanut oil.  Add chopped mushrooms and aubergines.
2.  Stick vine tomatoes in a pan with a little olive oil in the bottom, add sprinkle of sea salt and put on tightly fitting lid and heat on hob for 15-20 minutes.  Shake occasionally, but resist opening pan and prodding too often.
3.  To softened veg add half of the crushed garlic, the biryani mix and the cooked rice.  Stir and keep on a low heat (you may need to add a little water if it looks a bit dry.
4.  Form lentils into patties, and fry in a hot pan in peanut oil for about 3 minutes on each side.
5.  Mix yogurt, the rest of the garlic, mint, chopped chili, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.
6.  Stir chopped fenugreek into rice - leave to stand as you serve out patties and tomatoes, then serve with good spoonful of dressing.
7. Scoff.
8.  Have seconds.