Plastic Free July is now well and truly over and this bad bad serpent has begun August by indulging in the evil stuff nearly every single day
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One spiced lentil dish I make does call for frying the aromatics and spices separately and adding them to the lentils near the end of cooking, and I think it's a good effect; the flavors are still fresh and don't get boiled to death out of it by the time the lentils are done.
I made a split pea soup recently in which the recipe called for adding about 1/4th of the peas later in the cooking process so there was a little bite and texture to the dish; unfortunately, they seemed way undercooked compared to the rest of the dish that was completely dissolved, which was not the effect I think they were going for. In the future I think I'll just take the consistent smoothness without any "bite."
Post about the kimchi when you do it! I keep telling myself I want to give it a try since making a huge batch of it has got to be cheaper than buying the jarred stuff.
I definitely noticed the difference. The dish tastes so much better with the spices added at the end for precisely the reason you mentioned and that way you can be sure that the lentils, split peas, chickpeas or whatever are properly cooked before adding the magical ingredients. But I think I will try adding the bay leaves, ginger and turmeric to the lentils or split peas while they are boiling
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My first exposure to kimchi was actually in Japan; Korean food seems to be to Japan like Mexican food is to the US, the spicier neighbor cuisine you can find a lot of places-- and they both tend to tweak it to be a little milder and palatable to the locals :P
When I moved to Los Angeles it was easy to find; there's a sizable Korean population in in southern California so I could not only find Korean food and ingredients in Asian supermarkets but in the mainstream supermarket. Moving back to the Midwest, though, I mostly have to go specifically to Asian or international stores. I have noticed one brand of kimchi in the regular supermarket occasionally, although it's part of a bigger brand and I find it too mild for my tastes. It seems to be catching on with the health set now; at one point I was in a fancier expensive grocery store I don't go to often, and they had tiny jars of artisanal fusion kimchi (like kimchi + curry) for like twice what I'd pay for my normal jar.
An ex-boyfriend who is a Sikh, soaked the lentils and then cooked the lentils in a pressure cooker and then added them to the onion, garlic, spice mix.
I'd imagine that lentils cook so quickly that you would not really need a pressure cooker. Split peas and chickpeas are another kettle of fish.
Petunia has a pressure cooker and is often filling it with chickpeas or chicken but this simple serpent just sticks with a plain old cauldron.
Trial and error has proven that adding the spices at the end produces a much tastier creation.
I get cravings for big fat bowls of dahl the way that some folks do for chocolate, coffee or spaghetti bolognaise. It is a wonderful comfort food even for folks who aren't Indian.
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I made a split pea soup recently in which the recipe called for adding about 1/4th of the peas later in the cooking process so there was a little bite and texture to the dish; unfortunately, they seemed way undercooked compared to the rest of the dish that was completely dissolved, which was not the effect I think they were going for. In the future I think I'll just take the consistent smoothness without any "bite."
Post about the kimchi when you do it! I keep telling myself I want to give it a try since making a huge batch of it has got to be cheaper than buying the jarred stuff.
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When I moved to Los Angeles it was easy to find; there's a sizable Korean population in in southern California so I could not only find Korean food and ingredients in Asian supermarkets but in the mainstream supermarket. Moving back to the Midwest, though, I mostly have to go specifically to Asian or international stores. I have noticed one brand of kimchi in the regular supermarket occasionally, although it's part of a bigger brand and I find it too mild for my tastes. It seems to be catching on with the health set now; at one point I was in a fancier expensive grocery store I don't go to often, and they had tiny jars of artisanal fusion kimchi (like kimchi + curry) for like twice what I'd pay for my normal jar.
Reply
Reply
Petunia has a pressure cooker and is often filling it with chickpeas or chicken but this simple serpent just sticks with a plain old cauldron.
Trial and error has proven that adding the spices at the end produces a much tastier creation.
I get cravings for big fat bowls of dahl the way that some folks do for chocolate, coffee or spaghetti bolognaise. It is a wonderful comfort food even for folks who aren't Indian.
Reply
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