(no subject)
So I'm usually a horrible and lazy person, but since I'm foribly less-active-than-usual at the moment, I'm catching up on some stuff. Like posting recipes people asked for a couple months ago...
My Samburu:
Ingredients
1 cup dried lentils
1 medium onion--I'd go with something sharp, like a red
1 small head cauliflower
2 largish sweet potatoes or yams--my fav are the dark-fleshed sweet potatoes
1 not-green bell pepper
2 tsp low-flavored oil (vegetable is fine)
(measurements for spices are all very approximate approximates)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinamon
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 green chili pepper (if you're going cheap and easy, a couple tsps chile or chili powder isn't t bad a substitute)
1 can diced tomatoes (if you want to be all crazy-authentic, you would actually use tamarind paste--disolve maybe a tb and a half in about a cup of a liquid--water, a light stock such as vegetable or chicken, or coconut milk)
1 tsp salt
3 tb minced fresh cilantro (parsley isn't bad if you're anti-cilantro or want less spicy)
Note: If you're not a super spice-rack kind of person: you *could* probably get away with leaving out the fenugreek (but I might cry a touch). If you have no tumeric, also leave out the dry mustard, and when you add the tomatoes also squeeze in a tbish of yellow mustard (yellow mustard is mustard seed and tumeric in vinegar).
If you're using dried lentils (presumably you could use pre-cooked, I'm just not certain of the measurements because I've always used dried), you probably want to start them cooking around now. This recipe is good with the boring old green-brown lentils you find everywhere If you're using these, throw them in a pot with 3-4 cups water, bring to a boil, and then just let them simmer for about 45 minutes (keep an eye on, stir occasionally, feel free to add water if they run dry before they're cooked).
While those are cooking, chop basically everything. The onion, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and bell pepper should be in good bite-ish sized stew chunks. If you're using fresh chili pepper, dice the hell out of it.
Ideally, your mustard, fenugreek, and cumin will be unground. If so, warm your oil, throw in these spices, and saute them (cover the pot and shake occasionally) until the mustard seeds start to pop. Then add your other spices and the chili and let it go another minute or two while stirring constantly. If all your spices are ground, just saute them all for about 2 minutes (at a minimum the cumin should change color) while stirring.
Add the tomato and stir, then throw in the onion, cauliflower, sweet potato, and salt. Simmer about 10 minutes (covered), stirring occasionally.
Add bell peppers and let it go another few minutes (covered) until everything is tender and happy.
Drain your lentils and stir them in. If the lentils have cooled you may need to let the samburu cook a little more until it's the temperature you want to eat it at.
Once you've turned off the heat, stir in your cilantro. Eat it. Yay!
I like to eat this with my favorite chapaati, but it is also great with other breads or rice. If you want to impress someone you can get some nice semi-authentic flavor/taste contrasts by dolloping in a bit of plan yogurt or lebneh (or greek-strained yogurt) and/or a sweet chutney.
This does both freeze and keep fairly well. But while I like this spice mixture while fresh, if you stick it in the fridge for a bit and then reheat it always manages to taste a little blander--be ready to throw in extra salt and pepper into your left-overs. If you're making it primarily for later in the weak, you might want to slightly increase the spice amounts from the beginning.
My Samburu:
Ingredients
1 cup dried lentils
1 medium onion--I'd go with something sharp, like a red
1 small head cauliflower
2 largish sweet potatoes or yams--my fav are the dark-fleshed sweet potatoes
1 not-green bell pepper
2 tsp low-flavored oil (vegetable is fine)
(measurements for spices are all very approximate approximates)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinamon
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 green chili pepper (if you're going cheap and easy, a couple tsps chile or chili powder isn't t bad a substitute)
1 can diced tomatoes (if you want to be all crazy-authentic, you would actually use tamarind paste--disolve maybe a tb and a half in about a cup of a liquid--water, a light stock such as vegetable or chicken, or coconut milk)
1 tsp salt
3 tb minced fresh cilantro (parsley isn't bad if you're anti-cilantro or want less spicy)
Note: If you're not a super spice-rack kind of person: you *could* probably get away with leaving out the fenugreek (but I might cry a touch). If you have no tumeric, also leave out the dry mustard, and when you add the tomatoes also squeeze in a tbish of yellow mustard (yellow mustard is mustard seed and tumeric in vinegar).
If you're using dried lentils (presumably you could use pre-cooked, I'm just not certain of the measurements because I've always used dried), you probably want to start them cooking around now. This recipe is good with the boring old green-brown lentils you find everywhere If you're using these, throw them in a pot with 3-4 cups water, bring to a boil, and then just let them simmer for about 45 minutes (keep an eye on, stir occasionally, feel free to add water if they run dry before they're cooked).
While those are cooking, chop basically everything. The onion, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and bell pepper should be in good bite-ish sized stew chunks. If you're using fresh chili pepper, dice the hell out of it.
Ideally, your mustard, fenugreek, and cumin will be unground. If so, warm your oil, throw in these spices, and saute them (cover the pot and shake occasionally) until the mustard seeds start to pop. Then add your other spices and the chili and let it go another minute or two while stirring constantly. If all your spices are ground, just saute them all for about 2 minutes (at a minimum the cumin should change color) while stirring.
Add the tomato and stir, then throw in the onion, cauliflower, sweet potato, and salt. Simmer about 10 minutes (covered), stirring occasionally.
Add bell peppers and let it go another few minutes (covered) until everything is tender and happy.
Drain your lentils and stir them in. If the lentils have cooled you may need to let the samburu cook a little more until it's the temperature you want to eat it at.
Once you've turned off the heat, stir in your cilantro. Eat it. Yay!
I like to eat this with my favorite chapaati, but it is also great with other breads or rice. If you want to impress someone you can get some nice semi-authentic flavor/taste contrasts by dolloping in a bit of plan yogurt or lebneh (or greek-strained yogurt) and/or a sweet chutney.
This does both freeze and keep fairly well. But while I like this spice mixture while fresh, if you stick it in the fridge for a bit and then reheat it always manages to taste a little blander--be ready to throw in extra salt and pepper into your left-overs. If you're making it primarily for later in the weak, you might want to slightly increase the spice amounts from the beginning.