Besan Fried Aubergine with Lentil Pilaf

Right, so the kitchen is unpacked, and the living room is clear of boxes. I've no idea where anything is, but at least have managed to find my bed every night, which is always a good thing! Saying that, my bedroom looks like it has been hit by a girl bomb*, but let's just ignore that for now. All in all, I'm getting settled - and hopefully normal blogging services will be resumed shortly!

The dish I'm serving up to you today is a feat of kitchen clearing. I prepared it in my last week at the flat, and was chuffed about using up lots of bits and pieces to actually make a fairly cohesive whole. Not only that - it was quick to make, ridiculously cheap, and damned tasty with it! My quantities are pretty rough - the end of a pack of basmati, finish off a couple packs of lentils, some bits of veg from the back of the fridge, a couple of almost empty jars of sambal...

Besan Fried Aubergine with Lentil Pilaf

Serves 4

• 1 cup red lentils, washed
• 1.5 cup basmati rice
• 0.5 cup broad beans (from the freezer!)
• Half a broccoli, florets
  
• 400g tin tomatoes
• 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
  
• 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
• good pinch saffron
• Vegetable bouillon
• Salt to taste
• ghee to fry

Heat ghee in a heavy-based saucepan and add mustard and fennel seeds. When mustard seeds start to pop, add the garlic and ginger, then the fenugreek, lentils and basmati rice. Stir for 3/4 minutes, then add the rest of the spices, and salt as required.

Add the tin of tomatoes, and top up with hot bouillon to about an inch over the level. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 or 6 minutes.

Chuck in the broccoli florets and broad beans and add more bouillon if required. Continue cooking until rice and lentils are done, checking to make sure it doesn't get too dry, adding more bouillon as necessary.

Besan-Fried Aubergine

• 1 cup gram flour
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• water to mix
• 1 aubergine (eggplant!)
• ghee to fry

Mix together the first six ingredients, then mix in just enough water to make a thick batter.

Cut the aubergine into slices about 1cm thick, and coat them in the batter.

Heat the ghee in a frying pan to a medium to hot heat. Cook the aubergine for a minute or two on each side, until golden and crispy - but don't overcook!

Serve the lentil pilaf with slices of fried aubergine on top, and a couple dabs of sambal if you're in the mood for a bit more heat!

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* clothes, shoes**, make up, more boxes and some random utterly unnecessary objects... A small stuffed bagpuss mouse that sings "We will fix it". Except the battery is all but dead, so all it actually does is an aphonic "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.......". Then snuffles a little before returning to its glass-eyed voiceless state.

** did I mention I halved my shoe collection before I moved? I threw out 42 pairs... :-S

Scottish Scran 6 - Lentil and Ham Hock Soup

Hello!

I'm back! Kittie is officially now in a different kitchen... and just about recovered from the trauma of moving...

What a week. In the space of seven days...

• I've packed up my wee flat and moved into a proper house!
• I've left the cats with their new owner - happy to report things seem to be going well so far!
• Three of my good friends have left the country - two to South America, and one to Turkey... have a wonderful time guys, missing you already.
• My work contract has come to an end - back to the bench for me...
  
• My best friend has booked her tickets for a six month traveling expedition - exciting!!
  
• ... and last, but by no means least, one of my best friends has just got married - congratulations, M&M!

So. After all the upheaval, bustle and rush, there is nothing like a huge steaming bowl of broth to sooth and comfort; make the world all seem just a little bit more normal. A soup that's seen me through sore throats and winter days, a student staple and a Christmas treat...

Lentil and Ham Hock Soup

Serves 10-12, depending on the bowl!

• 1 ham hock, preferably smoked
• 2 large onions, roughly chopped
  
• 3 medium carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 carrot, for the stock
• 1 celery for the stock
• 2 cloves garlic (optional) Left whole, but bashed a bit
  
• 2 cups red lentils, washed
• 3 sticks celery, roughly chopped
  
• 6 black pepper corns
• 2 bay leaves
  
• 1 clove
• butter to fry
  
• salt to taste

Prepare the Stock...
Place the hock in a large soup pot. Add one onion, one carrot, one stick of celery and the garlic (if using). Add the bay leaves, peppercorns and clove, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for an hour and a half.

Strain the stock, reserving the hock, and discard the veg and spice.

Prepare the Base...

Heat some butter in your soup pot, then add the rest of the onion, celery and carrot. Fry until softened slightly, then pour in the stock. Stir in the lentils and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the lentils are cooked through. Check seasoning after about 10 minutes and adjust as required.

While the lentils are cooking, remove as much meat as you can from the hock, and chop into bite-sized pieces.

Finish the Soup...

Once the lentils are fully cooked, remove the soup from the heat and blitz to desired consistency. Add the hock meat pieces into the soup.

Serve!
Serve your lentil broth with crusty bread, a grind of black pepper and a sigh of relief.

Scottish Word of the Day!

Puggled - knackered, tired,

Ah'm fair puggled efter moving' yisturday - ah wiz desperate fur mah scratcher by the time ah got in mah new hoose!

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This is also my entry for the amazing World Food Day event being hosted by Ivy and Val!

World Food Day is an event to raise awareness of the problem of hunger in the world and to bring to our attention what we can do about it personally. It is a day to encourage us and our governments to be well informed on the issues and to have a plan of action!!!

The event requires participants to make dishes that will feed at least 6 people...

We could then lay each dish back to back and have enough food to feed everyone on our street. If more people joined we could feed everyone in our city...our country...the world...you get the picture!!! A conga line of international dishes to feed the world!!!!

Spicy Crunchy Chana Dal

I went to my local Asian food store a couple of days ago to satiate an urge for some spicy bombay mix. But, for the first time ever... there was none! I walked down to the next store... and again, disappointment. What was I to do - I was starving hungry and my curry wasn't going to be ready for another hour...

I returned to the first store in the hope that my eyes had deceived me, and whilst I didn't find bombay mix, I did find a large bag of fried spiced chana dahl. The lovely gent at the counter asked me if I planned on eating them (confused? What else??!) When I confirmed I was indeed planning on munching my way through the lentilly goodness he warned me they may be rather dry and offered me this recipe instead.

I have made a couple of alterations - using lime instead of lemon (it's what I had in!) and adding some chilli (I was still suffering from underactive taste buds at this point).

I'm so glad they were out of bombay mix!

Spicy Crunchy Chana Dahl

• 1.5 cups fried chana dhal (I'm going to try making this myself soon - watch this space for a recipe!)
• 2 red chillis (or to taste)
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 clove of garlic
• A little bit of grated ginger
• Teeny bit of oil
• 1 lime

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the chilli, garlic, and ginger and fry until soft.

Add the red onion and dhal and fry for a minute or so - keep it moving - you're basically just heating it up right now :)

Serve with the lime on the side, to be squeezed over to taste!

Malaysian Vegetable Curry

It seems like ages since I've posted here! I've spent quite a bit of time this week trying to force my blog into a 3 column layout, and slowly pulling my hair out... Hence my earlier rant post!

I have also been sticking to my store cupboard challenge pretty well - I've limited eating out to a minimum, and even had four friends round for curry on Wednesday to help me out! However, a lot of the time, eating from my store cupboard seems to mean there is very little of interest to tell you about!

On Wednesday I invited the girls round for dinner - and there was only going to be two options... either pasta (to use up the kilos of the stuff I have discovered lurking in my cupboard) or curry (to use up the rice & tins of coconut milk) For either option, my kitchen was full of possibilities - frozen chicken or beef, lentils and other legumes, tinned tomatoes, a million spices and pastes so I knew I'd work out something. I was also ready for some vegetables and healthiness, so when I finally chose curry I decided that one of them would vegetarian - and here it is!

Malaysian Vegetable Curry

This makes loads! You could probably feed 6 as a main, or more as a side.

• 2 cups lentils - washed (I used a mixture of red and yellow, if you use any other type note that it will probably affect the cooking time.)
  
• 1 onion, thinkly sliced or chopped - it's up to you!
  
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1" piece ginger, grated
  
• 3 thai red chillies - stalk removed, and halved lengthways
  
• half head of cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
  
• handful of green beans, washed and cut in two
• 1/2 courgette, cut into chunks and fried over a very hot heat for a few minutes
• 1/2 aubergine, cut into chunks and fried over a very hot heat for a few minutes
• 1 tin coconut milk
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  
• 1 tbsp madras curry powder (Not what I would usually use, but I was using stuff up!)
• 1 tsp tumeric powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1" piece of stick cinnamon
• Either coconut oil/ ghee/ normal oil for frying - in that order of preference!
  
• Fish sauce(opt!), salt and soy sauce to taste

In a large saucepan (this is a biiiiiiggg curry!) heat the grease of your choice over a medium heat. Add the mustard seeds * and keep moving until they start to pop, then add the onions and fry until soft. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for another couple of minutes.

* if you have them, chuck in a few curry leaves here - I thought I had some, but I had run out!

Add the lentils, chillies and chopped tomatoes and stir well. Add the rest of the spices and mix thoroughly.

Next mix in a little bit of water - just enough to make it properly wet. Hmmm.... I realise how rubbish that instruction is - but basically we're going to cook the lentils for a few minutes and they need water to expand into! I think I added about a cup overall. It doesn't really matter too much :)

Bring to the boil, turn to a simmer, and leave to cook for 10 minutes. (If you are using other types of lentils - extend the cooking time as appropriate here)

Add the cauliflower and the tin of coconut milk, again bring to the boil, turn to a simmer, cover and leave for 10 minutes.

Almost there!

I would fish out the cinnamon stick here - but feel free to leave it in if you want a more cinnamony flavour.

Add in the rest of the vegetables, taste and adjust seasoning with fish sauce, soy sauce and salt.

Simmer uncovered for another 5/6 minutes - or until the lentils and vegetables are cooked to your liking.

Serve with steamed rice and/or rotis.

Store Cupboard Cooking Day 11

Spinach Chana Dhal

Dhal, Dal, Daal, Dahl... They're all the same thing you know!

And that's tasty, cheap and healthy - no wonder they gave it so many names :)

I asked a friend to get me some dried chickpeas the other day - I've had an urge for home-made hummus since I had some at another friend's recently. But instead of chickpeas, I got a pack of chana dal (dhal, daal, dahl...)! There was a rationale - but I can't remember what it is now.

So I decided to make a dhal. As in the thick, spicy lentil stew - rather than the pulse itself...

And some naan bread to go with!

Spinach Chana Dhal

• 1.5 cups chana dal
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 slices fresh ginger (skin on)
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 100g spinach, washed
• 1 tsp garam masala

Place the chana dal in a pot with twice as much boiling water and simmer for 30 minutes. (Alternatively you could pre-soak them for 2/3 hours... if you remember!)

Melt the ghee in a saucepan, and fry the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, garlic and ginger for 2/3 minutes until the mustard seeds start to pop.

Add the chana dal, the rest of the spices (except the garam masala!) and the tomatoes. Top up with boiling water and simmer, covered for 45 minutes to an hour - or until the chana dal is tender. Top up water as required, and stir every so often to prevent sticking.

When the chana dal is tender, remove the ginger slices and use a fork to mash some of the dal against the side of the saucepan. This gives a more interesting texture and consistency - don't skip it!

Add the spinach and garam masala and cook for another 3/4 minutes until the spinach is wilted.

Serve with rice - either plain or pilaf, or with naan bread!

Excuse the lurid photo - it looked better in real life!

Porcini Stuffed Pork with Red Pepper Pulse-otto!

Blimey - for some inexplicable reason I've written this post in reverse order - and it already seems really long! So I'll try to keep this bit short and sweet...

After a bout of illness, and a very unhealthy Easter Weekend, I was in the mood for a decent meal. It had to involve roast meat... and avoid starchiness! Then I remembered that I had wanted to enter this month's Waiter, there's something in my... event - which this month is... pulses! It's being hosted by Jeanne, over at Cook Sister - and I think it's a great theme! Especially as I have decided to try to eat more pulses and veg!

I've came up with a pulse-otto. Yes, yes, it's kinda twee and a bit forced, but I am starving and ready to go for lunch - so just think, risotto with lentils instead of rice ;) It was actually going to include rice initially... until I forgot to buy some... So I decided to chuck in red lentils instead. It just makes it even healthier! And even pulsier - so just right for this event!

Porcini Stuffed Pork with Red Pepper Pulse-otto!

Feeds 3 - with plenty of lentils to spare!

• 600g pork tenderloin
• 150g chestnut mushrooms
• 5 cloves garlic
• 30g dried porcini, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, reserve soaking liquor
• 10 slices smoked streaky bacon
• small handful chopped flat leaf parsley
• 15 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, finely chopped
• Bunch spinach
• 3/4 cup red lentils, washed
• 1 tin green lentils (I used tinned - use whatever you have to hand!)
• 3/4 cup broad beans (I used frozen - use whatever you have to hand!)
• 1 red pepper
• 1 red onion
• Approx 250 ml vegetable stock
• Salt & Pepper to season
• olive oil for frying

Prepare the pork!

Preheat oven to 180c (350f).

Very finely chop the chestnut mushrooms - you could do this in the food processor, but I wanted to keep some of the texture! Chop up half of the porcini mushrooms. In a frying pan, heat a glug of olive oil over a medium heat, then fry mushrooms for a few minutes until almost cooked. Add 3 crushed cloves of garlic and continue to fry for a further couple of minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, and season to taste.

Cut the visible fat and sinew from the pork tenderloin and cut in half lengthways to open the pork out into a flat rectangle. Cover with cling film and bash a few time with a rolling pin to flatten it out more uniformly.

Lay the washed, but uncooked spinach leaves over the pork (cut off any tough stems), then spread the mushroom and tomato mix over the leaves.

Now roll the tenderloin back up so it looks like a swiss roll!

Take each slice of bacon and flatten/stretch it out. (Either with a rolling pin, or by a knife - up to you!)

Cut one slice in half and stretch over each end of the "swiss roll". (Hmm... now is when I realise I really should have taken pictures at every step!) But basically, you are kind of sealing the ends to stop the filling coming out... Now, take the remaining bacon and, starting from the edge of the capped piece, roll up the pork log in the bacon. (I'm sure I'm making this sound more difficult than it is! Think wrapping chicken in parma ham!)

Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan, and seal the pork round all sides.

Place on a baking tray and roast in oven for 45 minutes (if using a meat thermometer, reading should be about 160c). Remove from oven, cover and leave for 10-15 minutes to rest.

The Pulse-otto!
Meanwhile, while the pork is roasting, start making the pulse-otto!

In a deep pan, sauté the onions and red peppers until soft. Chop up the other half of the porcini mushrooms and add to the pan. Crush two cloves of garlic and add them - and the red lentils - to the pan Allow to sauté for a few minutes more.

Add the strained mushroom liquor and the stock to the pan until the lentil are covered by about an inch.

Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the lentils are tender. Add the broadbeans and green lentils, cover and set aside.

To serve!
Once the pork has rested, slice into 1cm rounds. Dish up a couple of spoonfuls of the lentil mix, top with the pork slices, and serve with roast vegetables.



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Note on re-heating!

I had about a third of this left to reheat the next day. I hadn't sliced it yet, as I was concerned that the pork would dry out or become tough.

To get6 round this, I mixed up a little vegetable bouillon (fairly weak) and put it into a frying pan (about 1cm up the sides). I then sliced the remaining pork, and put it into the pan. I poached it gently for 3/4 minutes, basting to ensure the top was warmed through also. It worked well - the pork was still tender and juicy!

I had some tomatoes going spare, so sliced them in half, chucked on a drizzle of olive oil, and sprinkled on some garlic salt and red chilli flakes. 10 minutes under a medium/high grill til they were just starting to collapse - yum!

An Accidental dinner: Chermoula Trout with Puy Lentil Veggie Stew

As I had bought a huge bunch of cilantro (just so I could garnish my thai soup) I was determined to not waste it, and went on a cilantro-rich recipe hunt! I typed in "coriander recipe" (having briefly forgotten my lesson) into google, and my googlepedia found me this Wikipedia article on Chermoula.

Yuck, I think that is quite enough links for now...

So anyway, I was initially planning to use a decent piece of white fish with my chermoula marinade, and make a cous cous salad to go with it.

But I saw an amazing piece of Scottish trout at the fishmongers - rich pink with the finest marble lines. And was reminded how much I love trout. I much prefer it to salmon. My grandfather used to be a fisherman, and my childhood holds many memories of whole trout (along with the occasional rabbit - never worked that one out actually). I don't think I appreciated it enough at the time though!

I had a think - and decided that the trout could hold the strong flavours of the marinade - and the unlikely (yet delicious!) combo of Scottish trout with Moroccan marinade was born! If you can't get a hold of trout, I'm sure salmon would work similarly.

I got home, and hit a set back. The cous cous that I need to make my vegetable cous cous side... was gone! No idea where. I definitely don't remember eating a whole packet of cous cous. So I decided to go for bulgar wheat instead.... but was similarly denied. I think there is a grocery thief with very precise requirements at work in my kitchen. Alternatively, it was fate, because although i finally decided on puy lentils through lack of choice - the earthy lentils with the slightly gamey taste of the fish and the super spicy and garlicky flavours of the marinade were really, really good!

What I'm trying to say, is this is not a dish I would have chosen to put together, but it's definitely one I'll put together again!

Chermoula Trout with Puy Lentil Veggie Stew

This gave me enough fish for one big meal - though there was loads of veggie lentils left over - I had that the next day - I added a handful of black olives, and ate with hummus and pita bread. So it may not have been authentic, but it tasted great!

• 250g piece trout (or salmon!)
• 1 cup puy lentils
• 1 small courgette, halved and sliced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 medium carrot, grated
• 1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 red chilli, sliced
• a couple of handfuls of mushrooms, quartered
• 2 tbsp chermoula
• 2 cups stock - whatever flavour takes your fancy
• Olive oil to fry

Rinse and drain the puy lentils, before placing in a pan with the stock. Bring to the boil, simmer for 15 minutes. add 1 tbsp of the chermoula and continue to cook until al dente. The stock should not be completely evaporated - we want this to help form a sauce with the vegetables.

Meanwhile, heat a glug of olive oil in a pan, and fry the onion for a couple of minutes. Add 1 tbsp chermoula, the chilli and mushrooms and fry until mushrooms are done. Add the pepper and courgette and cook for a few more minutes - the pepper should still have a bit of bite!

Add the carrots and lentils to the pan and stir to mix. Allow to cook for another couple of minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as required.

Serve the fish atop the lentils - and enjoy!

Italian Cookery Course: Seared Tuna with Puy Lentil Salsa

This recipe is from last week's Italian cookery class, which I missed because my dad was visiting. I made it last night - and thoroughly enjoyed both cooking and eating it!

The original recipe called for salmon, but the salmon I had available didn't look as nice as the tuna. I also reduced the quantity of olive oil - the one I used is pretty fruity, so I didn't need as much.

Seared Tuna with Puy Lentil Salsa

This recipe is adapted from the one I was given at my Italian cookery course by Francis Adou.

• 2 tuna steaks
  
• 4 tablespoon of olive oil
• 100 g puy lentil
• 50g coriander leaves
• 4 large tomatoes
• 1 red onion
• 1 red chilli
• The juice of one lime

Wash the lentils, the boil 400ml of water then add the lentils, simmer and covered, for 30-35 minutes or until the lentil are tender but still have some bite and retain their shape.

While the lentils are cooking, blanch the tomatoes for 1 minute. Remove them and slip the skins off, then halve and squeeze out the seeds. Chop the flesh into small pieces.

Finely chop the chilli (I left the seeds in as it wasn't too hot a chilli - but you should adjust this according to taste. I think what you want is the flavour, and an edge of heat - rather than hot!), onion and coriander and set aside.

Whisk or shake the lime juice and oil together to make the dressing - then season with salt and pepper.

Once the lentils are cooked, empty into a bowl and toss with the dressing while still warm. Taste and adjust seasoning if required. Add the onion and tomato mixture, mix well and set aside.

Prepare the tuna by rubbing with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat a frying pan until it's very hot.

Place the fillets in the frying pan and sear for about 1 minute on each side. The inside should still be dark pink.

Serve the salsa with the tuna placed on top.