Recipe: Indian Daal

At a trip to the Bulk Barn some mung beans caught my eye - I bought a cup or two to try a new experiment - Indian Daal. I used half french lentils and half mung beans in my recipe. I soaked about a cup of each together for about 24 hours which resulted in about 4 cups. I also had some thai chilis and shallots lying around I was intending to use for a curry. I used Indian ghee in my recipe but butter would also work just fine. Not pictured here is the coconut milk and fresh cilantro I added at the last minute to break up the spice a bit.

On Chef Michael's suggestion I store my ginger int he freezer and then use a microplane to mince the frozen ginger. The garlic, shallots and chilis I minced with my favourite extra-sharp Henckels knife (freshly sharpened!).

The next step is to saute the all the ingredients except the beans. I always heat up the pot for a few minutes so the ingredients don't stick. I got a little over-zealous this time though and ended up burning some of the spices. It gave the daal a bit of a nice smokey taste so I guess it was a bit of a happy accident. After the shallots are softened add the beans and water and simmer for about 30 minutes. I usually test out a few beans at the 20 minute mark to see if they need more time. In my case I ended up adding two more cups of water on top of the initial four. The beans and lentils should be soft like rice - lentils for daal are typically quite mushy (they're better that way anyway!). 

After they've reached what you deem to be the optimal consistency you can add a can of coconut milk and fresh chopped cilantro to taste and simmer to heat the coconut milk through. Serve over basmati rice and/or with naan. I've also taken to using the leftover daal as a vegetarian burrito filling for lunch. Just add some cheese, spinach and spicy chipotle hummus and you've got an impressive office lunch (it's been my lunch for the past two weeks - I think I need to try something new soon!).

Indian Daal (or Vegetarian Burrito Filling) Ingredients: 3 Shallots minced 2 Garlic cloves minced 2 Tbsp ginger minced 2 Tbsp Cumin 2 Tbsp Tumeric 1 Tsp Cayenne (to taste) 1 Cup each dry lentils (I prefer French) and mung beans soaked in 4 cups of water for at least 4 hours  4-6 Cups Water 1 Small can tomato paste A handful of chopped coriander 1 Can coconut milk Directions: Rince soaked beans and set aside. Heat up a large pot to low heat and add ghee. Saute the shallots and spices until softened. Add the beans and 4 cups of water and simmer for 20 minutes on medium heat. Test out the lentils and add 2 more cups of water if necessary. Add the coconut milk and coriander and cook for 5-10 minutes. Serve over basmati rice or naan or use as a burrito filling.

Faux-Cheese Kale Chips

Inspired by: Oh She Glows

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day I present: Something Green!

In an attempt to eat healthier and save some money I set out to make kale chips at home. I was also curious to try a version of faux-cheese sauce made from cashews. Could it really be that cheesy? I turned to Angela Liddon for help from one of my go-to blogs Oh She Glows.

Start by soaking a cup of cashews in water (for an hour) and cutting the kale into chip sized pieces. I opted to leave the stem since I couldn't bring myself to waste the nutritional goodness to the compost. This was a bit of a mis-step since this makes the kale "chips" more like sauteed kale - a little on the damp side. I recommend cutting out the stems and spines and using them in a smoothie. After the cashews have soaked sufficiently combine them with nutritional yeast, garlic, water, salt, sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil in a food processor and blend. The nutritional yeast is what gives the sauce the cheesy flavour. It's good for you too! Try it on pop-corn.

Restaurant Review: Horn of Africa

When visiting Ottawa one night we met some friends at an Ethiopian restaurant - Horn of Africa - close to the Byward Market. I didn't really know what I was getting myself into but it is not typical Western dining. I kind of expected the restaurant to North-America-fy the food by giving us, you know, cutlery? Luckily the Horn of Africa doesn't stoop to this level and no cutlery was required in this dinner.I can't really say I have mastered the technique as of yet since the table in front of me was a lentil-warzone by the time we were finished but I'm confident next time we go back I'll improve. The trick apparently is taking bigger pieces of the crepes. As you can see you have a choice of a few saucy messes to choose from.

The idea is that you rip off a piece of tef crepe (similar to buckwheat) and use it as a wrap for you saucy messes. There were a few extremely spicy options and quite a few lentil options (woot!).



The saucy stuff is incredibly flavourful (if you can taste it through the spice!) and rich. The other great thing about this restaurant is it's incredibly cheap. We had 3 large platters between 5 people - more than enough food - and our bill came to $11 each. If you don't know Canadian dining prices this is about a third of the price of a regular dinner out. If you're in around the market give it a try. The decor leaves something to be desired but you can't beat the price and the novelty of eating with your hands!