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Yellow Lentils with Tamarind (Khatti Dal)

March 17, 2014 Rivka
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Long overdue, this is the latest in my Indian for Dinner series, where I attempt to spend less money on takeout from Masala Art.

I think I speak for all of us when I say that this weather tries all patients. Some days taunt with 70 degrees and sun, but looking outside, it seems to be snowing, yet again, and here we are, facing another day of lost productivity and frigid air.

The silver lining is that this unpredictable and frequently unpleasant weather has given me loads of time to work on my dal-making skills. I love lentils in all forms, but dal reins supreme.

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"Dal" is just the Indian term for legumes. The category of dishes called dal includes crunchy snacks, soupy stews, smooth purees, and mixtures with rice not unlike Mujaddara. My favorite is dal makhani, the smoky, tomatoey preparation of dark lentils. But a couple of recent articles about dal have convinced me to expand my horizons beyond the familiar. That's how I came upon Khatti Dal, a chunky stew of yellow lentils with heaps of curry leaves and plenty of tart tamarind. I've been eating it on and off for the past week, retroactively missing it on behalf of all those times I could have made it but didn't know to.

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The key to flavor in this and many other Indian dals is a tarka (or tadka), which is basically a spiced butter. To make the tarka, you heat ghee (or a combination of oil and butter), and add mustard seeds, curry leaves, and garlic. You let everything get super hot and fragrant. When the mustard seeds stop popping and the butter smells like something you need to eat immediately, you pour the whole mess into the pot of cooked, mushed lentils. Then, because reasonably speaking you can't wait any longer, you ladle a big bowl of the dal into a bowl that fits well in your hands. You wrap yourself in your coziest blanket. And then, you eat up.

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And when you're nice and full and warm, maybe you'll put in a tiny request with the weatherman to just call it quits on the snow already. What do you think?

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More Indian for Dinner:

  • Potato and Eggplant Curry
  • Chana Dal with Golden Raisins, a real winner
  • Mushroom Pea Curry, a weeknight staple around here
  • If you feel like something lighter, Gujarati Mango Soup is great
  • Finally, Masala Dosas, my crowning achievement

Yellow Lentils with Tamarind (Khatti Dal)Adapted from Mark Bittman and Julie Sahni, via the New York Times

This makes enough to feed about 4, but I'd say while you're at it, make a double batch. It keeps very well in the fridge, and unlike those stray pieces of Saturday's cake, it's the sort of thing you'll want to have lying around.

Also, I understand why Bittman makes the curry leaves optional. Where I live, they're only available in Indian grocery stores, and the dal will taste great without them. That said, if you have any inclination to schlep, I'd pick some up. They're part of what makes this dal taste Indian.

1 cup yellow lentils (toor dal) 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric 1/2 a green (I like serrano) chili, seeded and minced 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 1/4 cup tamarind concentrate or 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 2 tablespoons ghee, or neutral oil like safflower 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 1 teaspoon minced garlic 12 curry leaves (optional) 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Cook the dal: Put the dal, tumeric, chili, salt, and 4 cups of water into a pot. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. When lentils come to a boil, uncover the pot, and cook at a rolling, bubbling boil for 25-35 minutes, until lentils are cooked through.

Add the tamarind concentrate and 1/2 cup additional water, and let bubble for another couple minutes. Turn off the heat. Then use a whisk to stir and break up the lentils; you're aiming for a smoothish puree that retains a bit of texture. Whisk and mash until the lentils achieve a consistency that you'll enjoy.

Make the tarka: Heat the ghee or oil in a small saucepan over high heat. When the ghee/oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and cover the pan; let the seeds pop and sizzle. When the popping begins to subside, add the garlic and cook until lightly browned, about 15 seconds. Add the curry leaves, if you’re using them. Cover the pan (to prevent spattering) and cook for about 10 seconds, allowing flavors to meld.

Pour the tarka into the dal, and swirl around to just barely incorporate. Taste, and add more salt if needed. Serve immediately with chopped cilantro.

Dal keeps in the fridge for at least a week. It will thicken when chilled, so reheat with a bit of water to loosen it up.

In sides, vegan, vegetarian, easy, healthy
7 Comments

Yotam Ottolenghi's Watercress Soup

March 6, 2014 Rivka
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Sometime last year, D and I were invited to take part in a fun tradition that friends of ours had started, wherein they host dinner parties composed entirely of dishes from Yotam Ottolenghi, he of Plenty and Jerusalem and an earlier eponymous book that gets much less attention. (Also of a fantastic column in The Guardian, where this soup originally appeared.)

At the first of these dinners we attended, the table was full of exotic dishes: fava bean kuku loaded with barberries, grape leaf and yogurt pie, and mutabbaq. Everything went together, because everything came from the same brilliant mind. We left stuffed.

For the second dinner, we all went back to the well, digging for recipes that had languished on our to-do lists for too long. Josh made a saffron ravioli served with pink peppercorns. Bryce made the spinach-feta fritters that were a total pain but really delicious. And I finally flipped back to the page of Jerusalem with three soups on it, two of which I'd already made. This time, I made the third: a very green soup made of watercress.

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What do you make of watercress soup? It sounded like a thin, brothy bowl, and I was worried that without a poultry broth, it would come out sort of bland.

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Fortunately, I was wrong. Watercress is so flavorful! To think I've been missing out on its spicy freshness all this time. The sweet spinach provides a nice counterbalance, but what really makes the soup is its garnish -- if you can call it that: a big pile of carrots and celery, roasted in plenty of spices until crispy and fragrant. Plus Greek yogurt, of course. 

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Let's get the special-ingredient pep-talk out of the way. You need some ras el hanout, a Moroccan spice blend with as many varieties as people in Morocco. That said, I've seen jarred versions at two area grocery stores, so hopefully you're in luck. The other thing you need is rose water. On one hand, it's crazy to buy a bottle of rose water when you only need a tablespoon. On the other hand, my bottle cost like $5, I've had it for years, and it never seems to go bad. So there you go. If you don't want to buy rose water, you can still make the  soup. But the rose water does lend fragrance and overall intrigue, so if you're even considering getting it, go for it.

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As good as this soup is the day it's made, it improves with time, as the flavors come together and smooth out a bit. There's no problem making the garnish in advance, either. Just give them a quick reheat in a 350-degree oven (10 minutes?) before serving and you'll be all set.

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Watercress Soup with Chickpeas and Ras El HanoutAdapted from Yotam Ottolenghi Serves 4

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch dice 3 tablespoons olive oil 3 teaspoons ras el hanout 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 8-oz. can chickpeas 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 2-inch knob fresh ginger, peeled (use the tip of a spoon!) and grated or finely chopped 2 1/2 cups vegetable stock (or sub water) 8 oz. fresh watercress 4 oz. spinach leaves, washed 2 teaspoons caster sugar 1 teaspoon rose water 1 cup Greek yogurt, to serve

Heat the oven to 400°. Mix the carrot with a tablespoon of the oil, the ras el hanout, cinnamon and some salt, and spread flat in a roasting tin lined with baking parchment. Place in the oven, roast for 15 minutes, then add half the chickpeas, stir well and and cook for another 10 minutes, until the carrot is soft but still has some bite.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan over medium heat, sauté the onion and ginger in the remaining oil for about 10 minutes, until soft and golden. Add the remaining chickpeas, stock, watercress, spinach, sugar and some salt, stir and bring to a boil. Cook for a minute or two, until the leaves wilt, then blitz in a food processor until smooth. Stir in the rose water, taste and add salt or more rose water as required.

To serve, divide the soup into four bowls and top with the hot carrot and chickpea mix, and about two teaspoons of yoghurt per portion.

Yotam Ottolenghi is chef/patron of Ottolenghi in London.

In soup, vegan, vegetarian, healthy
2 Comments

Sweet-and-Sour Onion Focaccia

February 19, 2014 Rivka
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I wanted to tell you this story about how I've always believed that Friday night dinner must start with challah, even if we're having pan-fried dumplings and make-your-own spring rolls, which don't go with challah at all. I was going to tell you about how sometime a couple years ago, thanks to our smarter-than-we-are friends in DC, we realized that if we're serving spaghetti and meatballs for Friday night dinner, by all means, we can skip challah in favor of something more Italian. It was a longer story than that, but then it occurred to me that I should just cut to the chase here: doughy, crisp-edged focaccia; singed onions, licked with vinegar and the sweetness of their own caramel; a bit of Pecorino cheese on top. Need I say more? I imagine you are convinced.

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And you should be. This is straight-up one of the best focaccia recipes I've ever made, and I'm psyched to share it with you.

The recipe comes from Martha Stewart Living, a magazine I do not read. My friend Jana is the Martha expert, and she's the one who introduced me to this focaccia. It seems like Martha is less keen on crusts than we are, though, because she makes seven cups of flour into just one, very billowy, very doughy focaccia, where I (at Jana's recommendation) have split the thing in two. The result is a crustier, chewier bread, which I enjoy. To follow queen Martha or little old me? Choice is yours.

We ate this while it was still hot (it's a different ballgame that way, isn't it?), and we love-love-loved it. And then, the second time we made it, I really pushed things over the edge by adding the remnants of Ottolenghi's caramelized garlic (which we had leftover after making this frittata) and, I mean, wow.

I've made it three times. By now, I'm a pro. And I've learned a couple things along the way. In addition to splitting the dough in half, I also slice my onions thickly. If you shred them into thin rings, as suggested, they seem to disappear into the bread. 1/2-3/4-inch slices ensure that even after the softening, browning, and baking, the onions stay intact and prominent. They also burn less easily. I'd definitely recommend doing it this way.

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Over time, I've also learned to eliminated the very fussy folding method, where you turn the dough out onto a floured board and fold it letter-style over itself. This step is impossible without a bench scraper, which I trust many of you don't have; it's also maddening, because the dough is so darn wet that you can't help yourself from adding flour; and lastly, the advice to "put the dough back into the bowl seam-side down" is tough to follow if your dough is so wet that it doesn't even have a seam. To save myself the headache, I opted instead for the "turning" method employed by Chad Robertson of Tartine Bakery, whereby you work the dough by turning it in its rising bowl. That means no dumping, flouring, scraping, sticking, or fussing. Just a few turns of the dough over itself, and the towel goes right back on for its next rise. Easy as pie.

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One last note: while the Pecorino is lovely on this focaccia, it can be skipped. I made this focaccia dairy-free last time to no complaints. Just be sure to add little sprinkles of flaky sea salt to the bread before baking, which will replace the saltiness of the Pecorino (not to mention give the focaccia a satisfying crunch).

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Enjoy this one, friends.

Sweet-and-Sour Onion FocacciaAdapted from Martha Stewart

Martha says this makes one large focaccia, but I like it split into two smaller, thinner focaccia breads. Your choice. For other baker's notes, see the post itself.

For the focaccia dough: 2 1/4 pounds bread flour (about 7 cups), plus more for dusting 3 1/2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees) 1 teaspoon dry yeast 2 tablespoons coarse salt

For topping the focaccia: 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 large red onions, halved and sliced into rings 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick Coarse salt and ground pepper 2 tablespoons cider vinegar 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese (add a couple teaspoons of flaky salt before baking if you skip the cheese) 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

Whisk together flour, water, and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a towel, and let rise in a warm place until tripled in bulk and full of sponge-like bubbles, about 2 hours.

Add salt. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the dough hook. Mix on low speed 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. When dough begins to cling to and almost climb sides of bowl, raise speed to medium; mix 15 seconds. Dough will be wet, slack, and very sticky.

Using floured hands (or not - if your dough is really wet and gluteny, you won't even need to flour them), reach into the bottom of the bowl and scoop a long "tail" of dough up, over, and back onto itself. This is one turn. Repeat three more times, turning the bowl 90° between each turn, so you've turned all four "sides" of the dough. Then recover bowl with a towel or plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Repeat the turning process, recover bowl, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk again, about 1 hour more.

Preheat oven to 450° and set a rack in lower third of oven. Coat two 17-by-12-inch rimmed baking sheets with total 1/4 cup of the olive oil; set aside.

Divide dough in half and place on prepared sheets. Drizzle each with an additional tablespoon of olive oil. Push dough out toward edges of sheet. Cover with plastic wrap; let rest 10 minutes. With plastic wrap still on top, press out dough to fill sheet. Remove plastic (dough should be very bubbly and supple). Drizzle remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil over top of each focaccia.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high. Add onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender and golden brown in spots, 12 minutes. Add vinegar and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits with a wooden spoon, 1 minute.

With your fingertips, poke dimples all over dough, then top with browned onions, red-pepper flakes, and cheese (optional).

Bake until golden brown around edges, 25-30 minutes.

Let cool on sheet 5 minutes; if focaccia seems like it is sticking to the pan, scrape it off using a metal spatula. It does like to stick, but if you use enough oil on the bottom of the pan, it's usually fine.

Cut into 20 pieces and serve warm or at room temperature.

In appetizers, bread, vegan
2 Comments

Eggplant Dirty Rice

February 10, 2014 Rivka
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When the chef of a two-star Michelin restaurant concocts a dish that is entirely vegetarian and made in one pot, you should cross off whatever main course is currently on your dinner menu and make that dish instead.

That's what happened here. I was scrolling through Food and Wine's website and came across this humble, strange-looking recipe for dirty rice - a New Orleans staple - with absolutely no shellfish, with absolutely no fussing. Adam said it was the best vegetarian meal he'd eaten in a long time. I wanted it to be the best vegetarian meal I'd eaten in a long time. So I scrapped my menu of sun-shaped spinach pie (though, how cool does that pie look?!) and harissa hummus, in favor of David Kinch's eggplant dirty rice. Mistake? Not even a little.

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It's hard to believe this dish is completely vegan. The flavor comes from the NOLA trinity - onions, celery, and green pepper - and plenty of umami from sou sauce and tomato paste. And guys, seriously, the whole thing happens in one big ol' pot. Don't you have to cook the eggplant separately, as one of our guests asked? Why no, you don't. You just pile it all in there. And somewhere between the vegetables sweating and browning and the rice cooking, the eggplant turns into something soft and silky and amazing, all with absolutely no effort. I don't know what else to tell you.....besides you must make this.

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Menu planning: I've been mulling over adding a section to the website where I document the menus from dinner parties and other times we've hosted. For me, the hardest part of getting a meal together is figuring out the menu. I struggle to figure out what dishes go together, and I often end up feeling like I've made either one too many or one too few dishes. If you'd like to see more menus up here, give a shout in the comments. Meanwhile, let's try it on for size. Here's what I served for Saturday lunch with the dirty rice:

  • Caramelized onion focaccia(recipe forthcoming. Awesome.)
  • Salad (brought by our friend Ron: a mixture of lettuce, beet and sunflower sprouts, carrots, and peppers. Basic vinaigrette. Delish.)
  • Pepper-crusted seared tuna with soy-avocado sauce based on the one in this recipe
  • Brussels sprout hash with poppy seeds and lemon
  • Lemon custard cups with whipped cream and graham cracker crumbs (recipe forthcoming)

I thought the meal worked well, and it's nice to have the template recorded for the next time I'm totally lacking inspiration and have to cook.

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Without further ado, your new favorite weeknight dinner:

Eggplant Dirty RiceAdapted from David Kinch's recipe in Food and Wine

First, know that this recipe makes a ton. We had a huge pot, enough to serve 6 people as a side dish with tons left for weekday lunch. You won't hear any complaints from me about the quantity, but if you're having 8 people, unless it's a main course with little else on the side, you probably don't need to double the recipe. Second, you really do need the 1/4 cup of oil. Can you use less? Yes. Will it be as creamy and silky as it would with the full amount? Probably not. Plus, think of it this way - the recipe serves 8-10, which means there's 1/2 a tablespoon or less in each serving. However, if you'd rather use olive oil, I won't tell David Kinch on you. Third, depending on how salty your broth and soy sauce are, you may want to reduce the quantities of salt I recommend. Consider starting with a 1/4 teaspoon at each interval and adding more later. Finally, do make sure you bring the rice to a boil before sticking it in the oven. If you don't, the rice on the bottom of the pot will cook perfectly but the top layer will be pretty raw after 17 minutes in the oven. Not that I would know...okay, I made the mistake so you don't have to. xo -r

1/4 cup canola oil 3 celery ribs, finely chopped 2 medium green bell peppers, seeded and finely chopped 1 medium onion, finely chopped Kosher salt 1 medium eggplant (about 1 pound), cut into 3/4-inch cubes 1 tablespoon dried thyme 1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper 1/4 teaspoon finely ground white pepper 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1/4 cup soy sauce 1 1/2 cups medium-grain white rice 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth 1/4 cup chopped parsley, for serving Hot sauce, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot (I used a Dutch oven), heat oil over medium heat until it shimmers. Add celery, bell peppers, and onion, and season with about 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (less if using table salt). Cover pot and cook 5 minutes, until onions have softened. Uncover and cook 10 minutes more, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have browned slightly.

Add eggplant, thyme, and all three peppers, along with 1/2 teaspoon more of kosher salt. Cook on medium heat for 6-8 minutes, until eggplant has softened considerably but maintains its shape. Add tomato paste and garlic, stir to combine, and cook for 1 minute. Then add soy sauce, rice, and broth, and bring to a boil over high heat.

Cover pot, transfer to the oven, and bake for 17 minutes, until the rice is just tender. Remove from the oven and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff the rice and serve with hot sauce and chopped parsley.

In main dishes, menus, vegan, easy, healthy
12 Comments
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