Lentil Dhal Recipe Cheap Vegetarian Indian Dish Made with Delicious Spices Aug 11, 2007 Joanne E. Brannan
Lentil dhal, also spelt dal or daal, made with spices coriander, cumin, cardamom and chili, is widely eaten on the Indian subcontinent. Red lentil dhal is a warming, nourishing, vegetarian meal with a rich curry flavour thanks to plentiful spices. Red lentils are low in fat, rich in protein and packed with healthy fibre, as is true of all pulses, whether beans or lentils. Lentil dhal is a delicious accompaniment to a main course curry, and is useful for slimmers thanks to its rich flavor and high fibre content.
Lentil dhal is just one example of a simple way to to save money on food while eating well.
Lentil Dhal Recipe
Ingredients
(Serves two)
•200 grams dried red lentils
•1 small onion
•1 vegetable stock cube
•4 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
•4 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
•6 green cardamom pods
•3 teaspoons ground turmeric
•2 cloves of garlic
•2 bay leaves
•Ground pepper to taste
•Fresh or dried chillies to taste
•Vegetable oil suitable for frying (such as sunflower oil)
Cook the lentils in water according to instructions, adding the vegetable stock cube and the bay leaves to the lentil cooking water.
“Dry fry” the coriander, cumin and cardamom: heat a heavy-based saucepan on a cooking ring until quite hot – do not add oil or water to the pan. Add the spices to the pan and shake the pan while still over the heat to turn the spices for around two minutes – they may crackle and release a pungent aroma – but do not them to burn. Tip the spices into a heat proof dish, and take the pan off the heat.
Remove the cardamom seeds from their pods, and grind the dry fried spices until reasonably fine using a pestle and mortar or a grinder. Chop the onion very finely. Heat a heavy-based saucepan and add a few tablespoons of oil to well cover the bottom. Soften the onion in the oil for a few minutes, stirring to avoid burning. Add the dry fried spices, the turmeric, and the finely chopped, or crushed, garlic to the onion. Fry gently for two minutes, stirring all the time. Add more oil if necessary to avoid sticking or burning.
Add the cooked lentils to the pan and stir thoroughly to mix all the ingredients. Add the chillies and pepper, stir, and leave to simmer gently for fifteen minutes.
How to serve dhal
Serve dhal as an accompaniment to a main course curry dish on a bed of rice. Dhal is not only vegetarian, it is also vegan and so is a wonderful dish to use for Casual Vegetarian Entertaining.
Experiment with variations
Experiment with other spices used in Indian cookery in this recipe, for example mustard or ginger. You may also like to try mixing in other vegetarian ingredients to make a satisfying and balanced vegetarian main course dish, but do increase the quantity of spices to allow for the increased volume of the ingredients.
Another variation is to dilute with the dhal to produce a soup, adding lemon juice to add a delicious edge to the flavour. You would need to adjust the seasoning, and increase the quantities of spices.
Copyright Joanne E. Brannan. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
pumpkin soup
Spicy Pumpkin Soup Recipe Warming Winter Vegetable Soup with Chili: Try it with Squash, Too! Oct 10, 2008 Joanne E. Brannan
This fabulous winter soup recipe made from pumpkin or winter squash is a wonderful orange color, tastes great, and is good for you. There is something so welcoming about a thick, substantial dish like this spicy pumpkin soup. Served with a little grated cheese and good bread, such as homemade whole meal sourdough bread, this is a meal in itself on a cold day!
How to Deseed, Peel and Cube a Pumpkin or Squash
Preparing a pumpkin can be hard work. Use a sharp knife and sturdy chopping board on a firm surface, and always cut away from your hands. First cut the pumpkin in half, and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. You can peel and eat the seeds, but it is hard work, so you may prefer to simply discard the seeds and stringy center of the pumpkin.
Cut the pumpkin into halves and then quarters. Large pumpkins should be further cut into smaller pieces before peeling. To peel, hold the pumpkin firmly against the chopping board and cut downwards, taking great care as raw pumpkin can be tough and require considerable force.
Once the manageable sized sections of pumpkin are skinned, chop them into cubes.
Ingredients
(serves four)
•1kg deseeded, peeled and cubed pumpkin or winter squash.
•Two small, or one medium sized onion, chopped.
•Two bay leaves, dry or fresh
•Pepper and salt to taste. Unrefined sea salt, such as Sel De Guerande from France, is best.
•Chili, fresh, or dried and powdered, to taste. If using fresh chili, chop finely.
•Two medium sized tomatoes, chopped. Skinning and deseeding your tomatoes improves the texture of your soup, but it is far from essential.
•200ml bouillon or stock. For the best flavor use real bone stock however you will of course prefer a vegetable broth for vegetarian diners.
•Two tablespoons of vegetable oil.
How to Make Spicy Pumpkin Soup
1.Fry the chopped onion over a gentle heat in a good sized saucepan in the vegetable oil, adding the two bay leaves.
2.When the onions are soft and starting to turn a golden color, add the cubed pumpkin or winter squash. Sprinkle over the pepper and salt, and stir while continuing to cook over the gentle heat for a couple of minutes. Add the stock and tomatoes, and stir well. If the mixture is too thick, add cold water.
3.Simmer gently for 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft, add the chili and simmer for a further five minutes.
4.Puree the soup either using a food processor, or using a potato masher. If the mixture is too thick as a little milk or cold water.
Serving Spicy Pumpkin Soup
Served simply with a little grated cheese and homemade sourdough bread this is a comforting dish, ideal for casual vegetarian entertaining. If you would like a slightly richer soup then add a little sour cream, or even better, crème fraiche d’Isigny from France.
Copyright Joanne E. Brannan. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
This fabulous winter soup recipe made from pumpkin or winter squash is a wonderful orange color, tastes great, and is good for you. There is something so welcoming about a thick, substantial dish like this spicy pumpkin soup. Served with a little grated cheese and good bread, such as homemade whole meal sourdough bread, this is a meal in itself on a cold day!
How to Deseed, Peel and Cube a Pumpkin or Squash
Preparing a pumpkin can be hard work. Use a sharp knife and sturdy chopping board on a firm surface, and always cut away from your hands. First cut the pumpkin in half, and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. You can peel and eat the seeds, but it is hard work, so you may prefer to simply discard the seeds and stringy center of the pumpkin.
Cut the pumpkin into halves and then quarters. Large pumpkins should be further cut into smaller pieces before peeling. To peel, hold the pumpkin firmly against the chopping board and cut downwards, taking great care as raw pumpkin can be tough and require considerable force.
Once the manageable sized sections of pumpkin are skinned, chop them into cubes.
Ingredients
(serves four)
•1kg deseeded, peeled and cubed pumpkin or winter squash.
•Two small, or one medium sized onion, chopped.
•Two bay leaves, dry or fresh
•Pepper and salt to taste. Unrefined sea salt, such as Sel De Guerande from France, is best.
•Chili, fresh, or dried and powdered, to taste. If using fresh chili, chop finely.
•Two medium sized tomatoes, chopped. Skinning and deseeding your tomatoes improves the texture of your soup, but it is far from essential.
•200ml bouillon or stock. For the best flavor use real bone stock however you will of course prefer a vegetable broth for vegetarian diners.
•Two tablespoons of vegetable oil.
How to Make Spicy Pumpkin Soup
1.Fry the chopped onion over a gentle heat in a good sized saucepan in the vegetable oil, adding the two bay leaves.
2.When the onions are soft and starting to turn a golden color, add the cubed pumpkin or winter squash. Sprinkle over the pepper and salt, and stir while continuing to cook over the gentle heat for a couple of minutes. Add the stock and tomatoes, and stir well. If the mixture is too thick, add cold water.
3.Simmer gently for 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft, add the chili and simmer for a further five minutes.
4.Puree the soup either using a food processor, or using a potato masher. If the mixture is too thick as a little milk or cold water.
Serving Spicy Pumpkin Soup
Served simply with a little grated cheese and homemade sourdough bread this is a comforting dish, ideal for casual vegetarian entertaining. If you would like a slightly richer soup then add a little sour cream, or even better, crème fraiche d’Isigny from France.
Copyright Joanne E. Brannan. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
vegetarian entertaining
Casual Vegetarian Entertaining Delicious, Easy Recipes that Meat-Eaters Will Enjoy Too Oct 10, 2008 Joanne E. Brannan
Don't worry if one of your dinner party guests is a vegetarian. You will all relax and enjoy your evening with these tasty menu ideas. Casual Vegetarian Entertaining menus can be exciting, healthy, colorful and delicious! Fire your imagination with these ideas for your vegetarian dinner party, and make your vegetarian guest feel right at home and well looked after. As these dishes are familiar to meat eaters too, without simply being an adaptation of the meat and two vegetables theme, everyone will relax and enjoy eating well.
What does Vegetarian Mean?
Some vegetarians are stricter than others, for example vegans eschew all animal products including dairy products, honey and eggs. Many vegetarians will eat dairy produce, so long as they contain no animal based ingredients such as rennet. Other vegetarians may be less strict, however it can be rude to ask any questions beyond “are you vegan?”, in which case take care to exclude animal based ingredients using the tips below.
Casual Vegetarian Entertaining Starters
Houmous is a truly delicious starter served as a dip with sticks of raw vegetables and small savoury biscuits. Homemade Houmous is easy to make, tastier than store bought and far cheaper!
Spicy pumpkin soup is delicious and satisfying, sure to reassure any or your guests who are alarmed at eating a vegetarian meal!
Italian Themed Casual Vegetarian Entertaining Recipes
Lasagna is always delicious, and Green Lentil Lasagna is no exception. This recipe is not vegan as the pasta contains eggs and the sauce contains cheese. Ensure that the cheese used is certified vegetarian, i.e. free from animal based rennet. The lentils, cheese and egg in the egg pasta all provide protein, an important consideration in a vegetarian diet.
Pizza is also always a favorite, so long as you exclude all meat and fish from the toppings, and use vegetarian cheese. A sourdough pizza is a delicious dish to serve with just red wine and a colorful salad for very relaxed, but elegant, dining, and using your own sourdough culture is a great conversation topic! Sourdough adds a delicious flavor to the pizza base that really makes this dish something special.
Indian Themed Casual Vegetarian Entertaining Recipes
Many traditional Indian Dishes are vegetarian, and the rich array of spices used ensures that Indian food is never dull. Try a simple vegetable curry served with rich and homemade red lentil dhal; this dhal has a rich and delicious flavor, and provides a valuable protein contribution to the meal. Good quality store bought curry paste (rather than often inferior curry sauces sold in jars) makes it easy to create an authentic tasting vegetable curry based on ingredients such as onion, eggplant, zucchini, pepper and chickpeas.
Vegetarian Drinks
Be aware that many wines are produced using animal based fining products. Look for wines with vegetarian certification to put your guest at ease. Some other drinks may include animal based colorings, again look for a vegetarian certification just to be sure.
Endless Vegetarian Dessert Possibilities
It is easy to find good dessert recipes that are vegetarian. Do, however, check that any cheese or jellied ingredients are free of animal products. Gelatin and rennet are traditionally animal based products, but vegetarian substitutes do exist.
Dinner parties are a great opportunity to show the great variety of delicious vegetarian dishes that are healthy and easy to prepare.Enjoy casual vegetarian entertaining for both your vegetarian and meat eating friends.
Copyright Joanne E. Brannan. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
Don't worry if one of your dinner party guests is a vegetarian. You will all relax and enjoy your evening with these tasty menu ideas. Casual Vegetarian Entertaining menus can be exciting, healthy, colorful and delicious! Fire your imagination with these ideas for your vegetarian dinner party, and make your vegetarian guest feel right at home and well looked after. As these dishes are familiar to meat eaters too, without simply being an adaptation of the meat and two vegetables theme, everyone will relax and enjoy eating well.
What does Vegetarian Mean?
Some vegetarians are stricter than others, for example vegans eschew all animal products including dairy products, honey and eggs. Many vegetarians will eat dairy produce, so long as they contain no animal based ingredients such as rennet. Other vegetarians may be less strict, however it can be rude to ask any questions beyond “are you vegan?”, in which case take care to exclude animal based ingredients using the tips below.
Casual Vegetarian Entertaining Starters
Houmous is a truly delicious starter served as a dip with sticks of raw vegetables and small savoury biscuits. Homemade Houmous is easy to make, tastier than store bought and far cheaper!
Spicy pumpkin soup is delicious and satisfying, sure to reassure any or your guests who are alarmed at eating a vegetarian meal!
Italian Themed Casual Vegetarian Entertaining Recipes
Lasagna is always delicious, and Green Lentil Lasagna is no exception. This recipe is not vegan as the pasta contains eggs and the sauce contains cheese. Ensure that the cheese used is certified vegetarian, i.e. free from animal based rennet. The lentils, cheese and egg in the egg pasta all provide protein, an important consideration in a vegetarian diet.
Pizza is also always a favorite, so long as you exclude all meat and fish from the toppings, and use vegetarian cheese. A sourdough pizza is a delicious dish to serve with just red wine and a colorful salad for very relaxed, but elegant, dining, and using your own sourdough culture is a great conversation topic! Sourdough adds a delicious flavor to the pizza base that really makes this dish something special.
Indian Themed Casual Vegetarian Entertaining Recipes
Many traditional Indian Dishes are vegetarian, and the rich array of spices used ensures that Indian food is never dull. Try a simple vegetable curry served with rich and homemade red lentil dhal; this dhal has a rich and delicious flavor, and provides a valuable protein contribution to the meal. Good quality store bought curry paste (rather than often inferior curry sauces sold in jars) makes it easy to create an authentic tasting vegetable curry based on ingredients such as onion, eggplant, zucchini, pepper and chickpeas.
Vegetarian Drinks
Be aware that many wines are produced using animal based fining products. Look for wines with vegetarian certification to put your guest at ease. Some other drinks may include animal based colorings, again look for a vegetarian certification just to be sure.
Endless Vegetarian Dessert Possibilities
It is easy to find good dessert recipes that are vegetarian. Do, however, check that any cheese or jellied ingredients are free of animal products. Gelatin and rennet are traditionally animal based products, but vegetarian substitutes do exist.
Dinner parties are a great opportunity to show the great variety of delicious vegetarian dishes that are healthy and easy to prepare.Enjoy casual vegetarian entertaining for both your vegetarian and meat eating friends.
Copyright Joanne E. Brannan. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
hummus
Home Made Houmous or Hummus How To Make this Vegetarian Dip From Chickpeas and Tahini Paste Apr 18, 2008 Joanne E. Brannan
Houmous is a delicious vegetarian spread based on chickpeas. It can be expensive to buy ready made, but is easy and cheap to make yourself with this easy recipe. Houmous, also known as humus or humous, is a delicious vegetarian chickpea and tahini sesame spread that is great served on toast or with pieces of raw vegetable as a dip. It is easy to make houmous at home, and it is more economical to make it yourself, particularly in large quantities, for friends and family than to buy store bought houmous. Vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike will appreciate this richly flavored Greek specialty, which is healthy and appeals to children too!
Ingredients
•One 450g (16oz) can of chickpeas or 225g (8 oz) dried chickpeas
•1 clove of garlic
•½ a small onion
•the juice of half a lemon
•1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
•1 tablespoon tahini. This delicious sesame spread is found in gourmet stores, or why not use home made tahini to further reduce the cost of this recipe.
•Salt to taste. A natural unrefined sea salt, such as Maldon Salt, gives the best flavor.
Method
1.If using canned chickpeas drain the contents and rinse the chickpeas in cold water and drain well.
2.If using dried chickpeas soak in cold water for at least 6 hours and then boil rapidly for ten minutes then simmer gently for one to two hours, until tender. If you use dried chickpeas it may be worth making a larger quantity of houmous to justify this long cooking time. Drain and leave to cool.
3.Chop the onion finely, and crush or finely chop the garlic. Mix all the ingredients in a food processor and blend to a smooth paste. If the mix is very dry add a little water and process to blend.
Variations on the basic recipe
To add a spicier flavor to your houmous, why not try adding half a teaspoon each of ground cumin and ground chilli powder to the ingredients when you add them to the blender?
Another tasty variation is to add some red pepper that has been roasted in olive oil and chopped finely to the mix, optionally with the cumin and chilli powder as well if you wish.
How to serve houmous
Serve the houmous in small bowls, which you may like to decorate with green or black olives and sprinkle with paprika to compliment the Mediterranean flavor of the dish. Houmous is great served with sticks of raw vegetables, with tortilla chips or with freshly toasted thinly sliced brown bread.
Houmous is delicious served with salad, and the fried chickpea dish falafel, in toasted flat pitta breads. Houmous and falafel served this way is a satisfying vegetarian fast food that you can eat on the go.
Related ArticlesReaders may also enjoy Home Made Tahini along with these tips on Casual Vegetarian Entertaining. And for another way to eat well and save money Home Made Fresh Pasta.
Copyright Joanne E. Brannan. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
Houmous is a delicious vegetarian spread based on chickpeas. It can be expensive to buy ready made, but is easy and cheap to make yourself with this easy recipe. Houmous, also known as humus or humous, is a delicious vegetarian chickpea and tahini sesame spread that is great served on toast or with pieces of raw vegetable as a dip. It is easy to make houmous at home, and it is more economical to make it yourself, particularly in large quantities, for friends and family than to buy store bought houmous. Vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike will appreciate this richly flavored Greek specialty, which is healthy and appeals to children too!
Ingredients
•One 450g (16oz) can of chickpeas or 225g (8 oz) dried chickpeas
•1 clove of garlic
•½ a small onion
•the juice of half a lemon
•1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil
•1 tablespoon tahini. This delicious sesame spread is found in gourmet stores, or why not use home made tahini to further reduce the cost of this recipe.
•Salt to taste. A natural unrefined sea salt, such as Maldon Salt, gives the best flavor.
Method
1.If using canned chickpeas drain the contents and rinse the chickpeas in cold water and drain well.
2.If using dried chickpeas soak in cold water for at least 6 hours and then boil rapidly for ten minutes then simmer gently for one to two hours, until tender. If you use dried chickpeas it may be worth making a larger quantity of houmous to justify this long cooking time. Drain and leave to cool.
3.Chop the onion finely, and crush or finely chop the garlic. Mix all the ingredients in a food processor and blend to a smooth paste. If the mix is very dry add a little water and process to blend.
Variations on the basic recipe
To add a spicier flavor to your houmous, why not try adding half a teaspoon each of ground cumin and ground chilli powder to the ingredients when you add them to the blender?
Another tasty variation is to add some red pepper that has been roasted in olive oil and chopped finely to the mix, optionally with the cumin and chilli powder as well if you wish.
How to serve houmous
Serve the houmous in small bowls, which you may like to decorate with green or black olives and sprinkle with paprika to compliment the Mediterranean flavor of the dish. Houmous is great served with sticks of raw vegetables, with tortilla chips or with freshly toasted thinly sliced brown bread.
Houmous is delicious served with salad, and the fried chickpea dish falafel, in toasted flat pitta breads. Houmous and falafel served this way is a satisfying vegetarian fast food that you can eat on the go.
Related ArticlesReaders may also enjoy Home Made Tahini along with these tips on Casual Vegetarian Entertaining. And for another way to eat well and save money Home Made Fresh Pasta.
Copyright Joanne E. Brannan. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
tahini
Home Made Tahini Make Your Own Tahini Sesame Seed Paste Apr 6, 2008 Joanne E. Brannan
Tahini is an essential ingredient in Middle Eastern dishes such as humous and falafel. A simple, cheap recipe for homemade tahini. Tahini, or sesame seed paste, may be made of hulled or whole sesame seeds. This recipe for home made tahini, using a food processor with metal blades, uses whole sesame seeds which is more nutritious, but it does have a slightly stronger taste than tahini made with hulled seeds. The texture may also be slightly coarser than store bought tahni, but it has the same delicious flavor, and may be far cheaper!
When you make your own tahini, you are on your way to making tasty homemade homous and falafel which are delicious and cheap to make.
Sesame seeds are rich in minerals such as calcium, zinc and manganese. They also contain useful quantities of some B group vitamins including thiamin and B6, and are a useful source of vegetable protein. Sesame seeds are a useful addition to your diet, particularly if you eat little or no meat. It is said that the nutrients of sesame are more easily absorbed when the seeds are ground, as is the case in tahini.
Ingredients
It is worth making tahini in bulk to reduce waste as the sticky paste is difficult to empty cleanly from your food processor. This is the proportion of oil to sesame seeds to use, increase the quantities to suit your needs
¼ cup vegetable oil to 1 cup sesame seeds
Method
Preheat your oven to 340°F (170° C).
•Spread your sesame seeds on a roasting tray, and toast in the oven for 15 minutes, stirring regularly to toast evenly. Do not allow to brown as this impairs the flavor.
•Remove the sesame seeds from the oven and allow to cool briefly.
•Put the toasted sesame seeds in your food processor, with metal blades fitted, and add half the oil.
•Process the mixture on a high setting for a minute, stopping to clean the sides of the food processor with a spatula from time to time.
•Add the rest of the oil, and continue to process the seeds to a paste, again cleaning the sides regularly and ensuring that the paste still covers the blades. Ensure that all the mix is blended to a paste. This can be a somewhat messy process but stick with it. The results will be worth it!
•When the mixture is evenly smooth, and further processing does not further refine the texture, transfer your tahini to a tight fitting glass jar using a flexible spatula, if you have one, to reduce waste.
Tahini may be kept in the refrigerator for many weeks in a well sealed jar.
Home made tahini is just one idea on how to save money on food while eating well.
Related Articles
Readers may also enjoy this recipe for Home Made Houmous along with these tips on Casual Vegetarian Entertaining. And for another technique for saving money and eating well How to Make Yoghurt.
Copyright Joanne E. Brannan. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
Tahini is an essential ingredient in Middle Eastern dishes such as humous and falafel. A simple, cheap recipe for homemade tahini. Tahini, or sesame seed paste, may be made of hulled or whole sesame seeds. This recipe for home made tahini, using a food processor with metal blades, uses whole sesame seeds which is more nutritious, but it does have a slightly stronger taste than tahini made with hulled seeds. The texture may also be slightly coarser than store bought tahni, but it has the same delicious flavor, and may be far cheaper!
When you make your own tahini, you are on your way to making tasty homemade homous and falafel which are delicious and cheap to make.
Sesame seeds are rich in minerals such as calcium, zinc and manganese. They also contain useful quantities of some B group vitamins including thiamin and B6, and are a useful source of vegetable protein. Sesame seeds are a useful addition to your diet, particularly if you eat little or no meat. It is said that the nutrients of sesame are more easily absorbed when the seeds are ground, as is the case in tahini.
Ingredients
It is worth making tahini in bulk to reduce waste as the sticky paste is difficult to empty cleanly from your food processor. This is the proportion of oil to sesame seeds to use, increase the quantities to suit your needs
¼ cup vegetable oil to 1 cup sesame seeds
Method
Preheat your oven to 340°F (170° C).
•Spread your sesame seeds on a roasting tray, and toast in the oven for 15 minutes, stirring regularly to toast evenly. Do not allow to brown as this impairs the flavor.
•Remove the sesame seeds from the oven and allow to cool briefly.
•Put the toasted sesame seeds in your food processor, with metal blades fitted, and add half the oil.
•Process the mixture on a high setting for a minute, stopping to clean the sides of the food processor with a spatula from time to time.
•Add the rest of the oil, and continue to process the seeds to a paste, again cleaning the sides regularly and ensuring that the paste still covers the blades. Ensure that all the mix is blended to a paste. This can be a somewhat messy process but stick with it. The results will be worth it!
•When the mixture is evenly smooth, and further processing does not further refine the texture, transfer your tahini to a tight fitting glass jar using a flexible spatula, if you have one, to reduce waste.
Tahini may be kept in the refrigerator for many weeks in a well sealed jar.
Home made tahini is just one idea on how to save money on food while eating well.
Related Articles
Readers may also enjoy this recipe for Home Made Houmous along with these tips on Casual Vegetarian Entertaining. And for another technique for saving money and eating well How to Make Yoghurt.
Copyright Joanne E. Brannan. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
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