Dal-Vegetable Stew

This is the 2nd post on this blog with a recipe from The Indian Vegan Kitchen.

I didn't have the mung beans and red pigeon peas recommended in this recipe, so I used romano beans and black-eyed peas instead. The combination of beans, lentils and vegetabels in this dish make it a more or less complete meal, but feel free to serve it over a bed of rice or with a side dish (such as stuffed banana peppers).

Dal-Vegetable Stew

1/3 cup toor dal (pigeon peas)
1/3 cup mung dal (mung beans)
1/3 cup pink lentils, rinsed
4 cups water
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 cups butternut/acorn squash or pumpkin, peeled & cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes

Ingredients for the paste:

1 tablespoon garlic, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger, peeled & coarsely chopped
1 cup tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped

1. Pre-cook the toor and mung dal for about an hour, so they that are just slightly under-cooked.

2. In a deep skillet, combine the toor/mung dals with lentils, salt, turmeric, squash, eggplant, and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the dals and vegetables are very soft.

3. In the meantime, prepare paste: in a blender, combine garlic, ginger, tomatoes, cumin seeds, garam masala, coriander, cayenne pepper, and water. Grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.

4. In a large frying pan, heat the oil on medium-high heat. Add onion and fry 1-2 minutes until slightly browned. Add the paste and fry until oil seperates, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Add the oil and paste mixture to the stew in the skillet. Add 1/2 cup water, or more as needed, for desire consistency (should be thick and stew-like). Bring to a boil, reduce heat a low boil, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stuffed Banana Peppers

This recipe is the first in this blog that comes from The Indian Vegan Kitchen - a great cookbook that I recently got with lots of authentic, flavourful recipes. Banana peppers are mild, but the filling used in this recipe is very spicy, so beware ;)

Stuffed Banana Peppers

8 banana peppers
2/3 cup besan (chickpea flour)
1/3 cup dry-roasted unsalted peanuts, coarsely ground
1/8 asefetida powder (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon & 1 teaspoon oil, seperated
1/3 cup water

Wash and dry the peppers. Make a slit on one side from the stem end to the tip of the peppers, making an opening. Do not cut through the peppers. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix together besan and ground peanuts. Add asefetida/garlic powder, cumin seeds, turmeric, salt, coriander, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice. Mix well. Add 1 teaspoon of the oil and the 1/3 cup water into the mixture, making it crumbly. The mix will be thick and sticky.

Fill the peppers with batter. Using your thumbs to pry them open, add the batter, and with a finger spread the batter evenly into the opening. Fill the peppers about half full with batter. (Besan batter is sticky and hard to work with - some of it might stick to the outside of the pepper, but try to avoid it.)

Heating the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a largey nonstick fry pan on medium-high heat. Add the stuffed banana peppers in a single layer, filled side up. Cover up with lid and cook for 5-6 minutes until the peppers are tender (they change colour and appear transparent; the besan filling will harden and fill the peppers). Turn the peppers occasionally using tongs, making sure to evenly brown all sides. Remove the lid and cook for another 2 minutes, turning occasionally.

Using tongs, transfer peppers to a serving dish. Discard any remaining oil.

Serve with a stew or lentil curry.