E’s Tomato and bean soup

My recent trip home was great – especially when I was fed by friends including the lovely “E”. She quickly put together the most delicious home made soup which was served with home made croutons.

She’s allowed me to put the recipe here for all to enjoy (not that she had much choice as I posed the question “You don’t mind if I post this up do you?). Now like a lot of recipes, quantities are per taste as long as you have the core ingredients in sufficient quantity everything else you add as much or little as you want. The core ingredients here are onions, tomatoes, butter, stock and some form of white bean: butter beans, cannellini beans or chickpeas. Don’t leave out the butter, it’s VITAL to the silky taste here and with this soup you are covering 3 of your five a day (tomatoes, onions and beans) so fab all round.

When I made it, I added in a handful of fresh basil leaves because the plant on my window sill is getting too big for it’s boots. But hey, that’s me. It’s a versatile recipe, add what you wish but do have a go as it’s yum.

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 tbs olive oil
• 10g butter (I used this much, not sure how much E uses but I suspect the quantity may change from batch to batch)
• 1 large onion diced finely
• 1 leek (optional but I like the taste so core to me) wash out the grit, slice up green and white bits
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 cans good quality chopped tomatoes
• 2 cans butter beans (or alternative, use what’s in your cupboard) discard the water in the can and give them a quick rinse
• 1 pint vegetable stock
• Dash of soy (optional). Don’t go overboard just a quick flick of the wrist dash is all you want here

Cooking:

• In a heavy based pan or pot, heat oil and butter over a medium heat
• When butter has melted add the onions, garlic and leeks.  Sweat the onions only i.e. cook until they start getting translucent
• Add tomatoes, beans and soy sauce.
• Bring to the boil then simmer for a little while
• Blend up the soup and serve with lovely home made bread croutons (or if you are me, shop bought bread!)

This makes enough for about 4 bowls of soup. As my little one doesn’t eat much I’ve got a delicious batch in the freezer to have in the next week or so.

 

Lal chori ne saag dal (red chori and spinach dal)

Red chori is also known as aduki/adzuki bean. If you are familiar with chinese or japanese cooking, you may know it as red bean paste used for desserts. Growing up, we didn’t eat this dried version but instead the long thin green legume also called chori which is delicate and best cooked simply with garlic, ginger, chilies and spices.

The lentil has a very earthy taste reminiscent of kidney bean but without the hard exterior.  The dal is heavy and thick which tastes better with rotlis than with rice. The proportions below fed two adult amply and there was enough left over for a meal to freeze.  In this recipe, I’m used dried lentils which require overnight soaking but in the past when pressed for time,  I happily pick up a tin of ready aduki beans from the local supermarket (same aisle as where canned chickpeas are). Mind you, I don’t like cooking this in a hurry and prefer a slow cook where the flavours have time to develop. Ideally, I like to cook it in the morning and then re-heat it for dinner time.

For once, I also decided to dry roast the spices. Whenever I see professional chefs cook on TV, they always dry roast the spices and then freshly grind them before adding to a dish. I’m in two minds about this – on the one hand it means that you aren’t picking out cloves,cardamom pods etc. while you are eating, and you bring out the flavours by roasting but, on the other hand my mother never did it as far as I know so I have grown up with the taste of non roasted spices. I find when I roast spices that they become a little stronger and when I just add them to the vagar (sauce) non roasted, I’m able to distinguish their tastes when eating which for me adds to the enjoyment of eating. But it’s entirely up to you. Roast & grind, or don’t.

Finally, a lot of the base ingredients are the same in many of my recipes. The distinguishing factor is the vegetable or pulse/lentil being cooked. I find it hard to write down quantities as sometimes I want to spice things up so add more, and other times want to hold back so use less of each base ingredients. In colder weather, spicier food is comforting but in the heat of summer, I go easy on the spices. In other words, see the quantities as a guide only and adjust according to your own tastes.

Ingredients:

• 250g red chori dried weight.
• 8 cloves (laving)
• 8 green cardamom (elaichi/ elji)
• 8 peppercorns (mari)
• 1 stick cinnamon (tuj)
• 2 tbs groundnut oil (tel)
• 1 tsp fennel seeds (varia) (if not to your taste, cumin seeds  work just as well)
• 2 dried bay leaves (tamal patra)
• 1 dried red chili (lal marcha)
• 1 large onion diced finely (dungri)
• 1 tbs ginger / garlic paste (this is about 4 large cloves of garlic minced then mixed with 2 inches of grated ginger) (adu / lasun)
• 1 fresh green chili  chopped finely (marcha)
• 1 tsp salt (nimak)
• 1/2 tsp chili powder (marcha)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric (hurder/haldar)
• 1/2 tsp coriander cumin powder (dhana jeeru)
• 120g vine ripened tomatoes chopped finely (tamata)
• 2 tsp sugar or guar/jaggery which adds a delicious molassas undertone) (gaur/gol)
• 140g frozen spinach (I actually think fresh spinach would be better but don’t use baby as it won’t be up to the heat)
• 8-9 curry leaves (limbra)
• 3 dried mangosteen flowers (kokum)
• Lemon juice to taste (limbu)

Preparation:

• Dry roast the peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom in a tawa or saucepan.
• That is, cook them over a medium heat until you see a very thin vapour / steam rising off them. Make sure they don’t burn as that will make it bitter.
• Take off the heat and allow to cool
• Grind either in a machine or in a pestle and mortar. The skin off the cardamom pods can be discarded if you wish.
• Put aside ready to add to the vagar.

• Wash the lentils in cold water until the water runs clear. Then put in a container with enough cold water to completely cover the lentils and 1 inch extra. Cover with a lid and leave overnight to soak.
• The lentils will become enlarged slightly. That’s fine.
• Discard the water they were soaked in.

Cooking:

• Heat the oil over a medium heat in a large heavy based saucepan (a pressure cooker is ideal)
• Add fennel seeds, red chilli and bay leaves. If not dry roasting, also add the cinnamon stick.
• Once the seeds start to sizzle, add the onion and cook for about 10 minutes until they start to brown. Stir often.
• Add the ginger garlic  paste, and roasted spice mix (or the separate cloves, cardamom and peppercorns).  Stir and cook until the ginger garlic begins to brown
• Add the remaining spices and cook for about 15 seconds to cook the spices then add the tomatoes and cook until they break down. Keep stirring to prevent sticking.
• If you are using frozen spinach – add it now and cook for about 2 minutes so it starts to defrost.
• Add the lentils, mangosteen and curry leaves and mix to ensure that it is all coated well.
• Add 4 cups of water (600ml), mix well and bring to the boil.
• Turn down the heat and cover. If using a pressure cooker, don’t put the weight on. Check it every now and again and stir else it may stick to the bottom of the pot. Cook until the lentils soften – add boiled water if the lentils aren’t co-operating. If using dried lentils this can take time. Once the lentils are softened, add the fresh spinach if using and lemon juice (if you feel it is not sour enough) and cook until spinach has wilted.
• Serve with freshly made rotlis smeared in ghee or baturas. Alternatively, pile into a dish, add a large dollop of yoghurt and eat up as is.

Dudhi ne chana dal shak (bottle guord/calabash and split chana dal)

Calabash, cala bash what a great word almost Batman like word. I also like the word Dudhi especially since that Friends episode with Chandler and dooody. Dudhi  is a lovely delicate and versatile vegetable. It can be used to make shak, in a special Gujarati flat bread called thepla (look out for a recipe in future) or into another gujarati dish called Muthia which are a form of steamed dumpling.  Today’s offering is a mix of dudhi with lentils called Chana Dal, a split bengal gram lentil that gives a creamy taste to the meal. The dal needs careful washing and soaking for a few hours so if you pressed for time, you can leave it out and just have the vegetable. This is a slow cook shak with a stew like consistency – all the liquid needed comes from the veg. Slow cooking vastly improves the flavour. If you aren’t adding the dal, then the dudhi cooks quite quickly.

I have only ever used the long light green version of dudhi but they also come in a round ball shape. Honestly, I’m not aware if there is any taste difference. It’s available in large supermarkets but if you can, try to buy it from a Asian store as I think they tend to be fresher and have a nicer taste. When selecting look for one which is smooth skinned and firm, but not too hard skinned (e.g. like a marrow) and without many blemishes. I usually squeeze the tip near the stalk to make sure it doesn’t give as that’s a sign of an old vegetable. Further down, I’ll show you how to prepare it for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 tbs ground nut oil (tel)
• 1tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 dried red chili (lal marcha)
• 2 bay leaves (tamal patra)
• 3 cloves garlic minced (lasun)
• 1 fresh green chili chopped finely
• 6 cloves (laving)
• 1 tsp salt (nimak)
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder (marcha)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric (hurder)
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin coriandere powder (dhana jeeru)
• 1 long dudhi chopped into 2 inch pieces (see below)
• 5 tbs drained chana dal
• 7-8 curry leaves (limbra)
• 2 mangosteen (kokum). These give a sourness to the dal which is different from lemon juice. Almost a hint of tamarind. If you don’t have any, don’t worry as lemon juice does fine.
• 2 vine tomatoes diced finely
• Lemon juice to taste
• Coriander to garnish

Prepare dal:

• Measure out the dal into a bowl. Check there are no stones in there. Then wash in about 4 changes of cold water. Now they need to be soaked for 2- 3 hours in about a pint of water. Cover with a plate and set aside
• After a few hours, discard the soaking water, thoroughly rinse the dal and set aside ready to cook.

Prepare dudhi:

• Wash the dudhi then chop off the stalk and the other end. You may see an amber liquid oozing out – don’t worry it’s normal!
• Peel a thin layer of the skin from the dudhi. I use a potato peeler for ease
• Cut along length and then chop into small 2 inch pieces

Cooking:

• Heat the oil over a medium heat in a large heavy based saucepan (a pressure cooker is ideal)
• Add cumin seeds, red chilli and bayleaves.
• Once the seeds start to sizzle, add the garlic, chilies and cloves.  Stir and cook until the garlic begins to brown
• Add the spices and cook for about 15 seconds to cook the spices. Keep stirring to prevent sticking.
• Add the dudhi, dal, mangosteen and curry leaves and mix to ensure that it is all coated well.
• Turn heat down and cover the pan. If you are using a pressure cooker, don’t add the weight.
• Cook until the dudhi and the dal softens. This can take up to half an hour. This slow cooking allows some of the gram from the dal to soak into the juices from the dudhi creating a slightly creamy texture. Don’t add any water as the dudhi has more than enough to cook the dal. Every now and again, give it a stir to make sure it doesn’t stick.
• Once the dudhi is softened, add the tomatoes and lemon juice (if you feel it is not sour enough) and cook for a further 5 minutes
• Garnish with coriander and serve with rice, rotlis or parathas.

Urad (black lentil dhal)

This creamy dhal made of black lentils (Guju name Urad, latin name vigna mungo) is normally cooked on Saturdays. There may be some religious reason for it but I don’t eat for religious reasons but rather for the satisfaction of my belly being full of culinary delights. It’s much richer/heavier/silkier to eat than the Mug Dhal I have previously posted because as the dhal cooks it oozes into the vagar and enriches it.

A word of warning here: urad takes some prep and is best slow cooked over a few hours. The benefits are worth it though  – lots of protein, iron, fibre, great for diabetics. Sometimes you can be left with farty pants after eating it so to help reduce that risk I cook it with fennel seeds which aid digestion and give a liquorice undertone – a trick picked up from my dad. But if you don’t have fennel seeds then just substitute with mustard and cumin seeds (and have the windeze on hand in case).

Ingredients:

• 200g black lentils (urad dhal) (dried weight)
• 2 1/2 pints water (pani)
• 3 pieces of dried mangosteen (kokum) – if you don’t have this don’t worry. It adds sourness which you can achieve with more lemon juice at the end
• 6/7 curry leaves (limbra)
• 1 tbs clarified butter (ghee)
• 1/1 tbs ground nut oil
• Pinch of asafoetida (hing)
• 1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds (if you don’t have these, substitue 1 tsp mustard seeds and 1 tsp cumin but lose the liquoricey flavour)
• 1 stick cinnamon (taj)
• 1 large dry bayleaf (tej patia)
• 1 large white onion (dhungri) – diced very finely
• 3 cloves (lasun) and 1 inch of ginger (adu)- either minced or made into puree
• 1 or 2 fresh green chilies (murcha) chopped finely
• 7 green cardamon pods (elaiche)
• 6 cloves (lawing)
• 1 tsp jaggery (ghor) – omit if diabetic
• 1 tsp salt (nimak)
• 1 /2 tsp red chili powder (lal murcha)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder (hurder)
• 1 tsp cumin coriander seed powder (dhanna jeeru)
• 2 tbs lemon juice (limbu) – this is a guide. Add little at a time until it’s to your taste
• Coriander to garnish
• Full fat yogurt or double cream to serve

Preparation

• The night before check the urad for any stones, then wash thoroughly in cold water. This will take around 8 washes. Leave to soak overnight covered in water (first picture above) . In the morning, the urad will have swollen slightly and the water will be murky.
• Discard the soaking water the urad was soaked in and rinse the urad a few times. It now has to be boiled until tender. This can be done in a pressure cooker and takes about 15 minutes in mine using 2 1/2 pints of water. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, it can take a few hours to cook on the stove. Just keep an eye on it until it is tender but still holding it’s bean shape. Do not throw away the water it was boiled in as this will be needed later.

Cooking

• Put the mangosteen and curry leaves in the urad and set aside
• In a saucepan, heat the ghee, oil, cinnamon and bay leaf over a medium heat.
• Throw in a very small pinch of asafoetida then add the fennel seed.
• Once the fennel is sizzling add the onions and cook for about 5 minutes until browning at the edges
• Add the ginger/garlic and chilies. Cook for another 5 minutes stirring frequently
• Add the spices and stir to combine well
• Add the jaggery and let it melt before adding in the chopped tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes have squished and a sauce is formed
• Add this sauce to the dhal and the liquid it was boiled in. To make sure I get all the goodness, I usually put a spoonful of the dhal into the vagar pan and swish it around so it soaks up the spices. Add lemon juice to taste
• Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook until a the volume is reduced by a third and creamy texture is achieved. Check there is enough salt as you go so you can add more.
• Basically the longer it is slow cook, the better the taste. Don’t be tempted to rapid boil it as end result isn’t the same.
• Once cooked, garnish with coriander and serve with a dollop of yoghurt (or cream if you are decadent)
• I like to eat this with freshly cooked rotlis smeared in ghee. I personally don’t like it with rice but don’t let that stop you from having some if you so wish. Alternatively, serve with parathas or bread.

Chili and colour

I have not posted any recipes lately. We have been a germ filled house which makes cooking less than fun and eating a chore. So there has been very little exploration of new recipes. I did make the Quorn Chili Recipe last night which wasn’t bad though next time, I will up the ante on the chilies (I added one huge green chili) as it wasn’t hot enough for me. We had it with taco shells and huge dollops of guacamole. I’ve frozen half of it to enjoy later…hubby said that things get spicier once frozen so maybe when it’s thawed it will be just right for my taste buds.

In the meantime, I’ve been enjoying some colour in my life. My beautiful Christmas cactus is in my porch and makes me very happy every time I walk in or out of the house. If you could love an inanimate object, then I would love this little plant as it hardly needs any care and rewards me twice a year with a magnificent display.

I’ve also been busy working away at various craft projects in time for Xmas. I hope the recipients appreciate them. Here is a granny blanket for tot  which just needs the ends woven in.

Chora (black eyed beans)

Ahhh the humble black eyed beans…brings up visions of right-on vegetarian cafes from the 70s but really they are so lovely and eating them makes me very happy.  In case you have no idea what the heck I’m on about, they are beans that are white beans smaller than kidney beans with a black gash (where it was attached to the pod). As with other lentils, they are a good source of soluble fibre which is helpful in reducing cholesterol.

In the preparation section below, I’ve detailed what to do with some of the ingredients.  These steps are absolutely and completely optional however, they ensure that the ingredients are properly blended and also there are less items to pick out when you are eating. For once  I decided to do the cooking this way rather than throwing the separate ingredients into pot and you know what, hubby said he preferred to have the separate stuff as it let him taste the individual flavours so it’s a matter of personal taste. I do know that if you heat some of the spices, it helps release their flavours and they are not so harsh so if you are after a milder curry, do it just DO IT. Right enough mucking about – here’s the stuff you really want to read.

Ingredients:

• 200g black-eyed beans – soak overnight then cook in a pressure cooker until they are soft but not mushy. The beans should still be holding their shape. Boil in plenty of water and retain that water for later.
• 2 tbs ground nut oil (tel)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 tsp mustard / fenugreek seeds mix (rye/methi)
• Pinch of asafoetida (hing) – optional
• 2 large onions (dungri) – chopped very finely. Better still whizz them up in your blender. You want them as small as possible
• 2 large cloves garlic – crushed again very finely (lusan)
• 2 inches ginger – grated (adu)
• 1 chili – finely sliced (murcha)
• 1 stick cinnamon (tal)
• 5 green cardamon pods (elchi)
• 5 cloves (lawing)
• 6 peppercorns
• 2 large tomatoes / 220g worth. Diced finely
• 1tsp salt (nimak)
• 1tsp chili powder (murcha)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric (hurder)
• 1/2 inch jaggery (gaur) or 2 tsp sugar
• 2 mangosteen flowers (kokum)
• 6 or 7  curry leaves (limra)
• Lemon juice to taste
• Coriander for garnish

Preparation

• Tomatoes: An optional step is to skin the tomatoes then pulp the flesh before adding to the vagar. An easy way to do this is to place the washed tomatoes into a pan of boiling water then simmer very gently until the skin splits. Take out of the pan and remove the skin (be careful as they may still be hot from water). Then dice very finely removing the central core (i.e. the white bits)
• Spices: in a frying pan or tawa gently heat the cinnamon, cardamom pods, cloves and peppercorns. When you see a very thin amount of smoke remove from the frying pan. Take the cardamom seeds out of the pulp then pound all the dry cooked ingredients in a pestle and mortar to a fine powder. As I said above, this is an entirely optional step as some prefer to just put the ingredients into the vagar (sauce)
• Beans: when the beans are cooked, throw the kokum into the beans&water and let this sit for about 10 minutes

Cooking

• The first stage is to make the vagar which is then added to the beans/water to cook through
• In a very large pan, heat the oil over medium heat
• Add the bayleaves and wait for them to start to brown
• Add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and wait for them to sizzle and pop then add the pinch of asafoetida if using
• Add the onions and fry for at least 8 mins. Note it takes longer the bigger the pieces. Keep stirring to stop them sticking to the pan
• Add the ginger, garlic and chili and cook for another 4 minutes
• Add the chili powder, salt, turmeric and coriander/cumin powder, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and peppercorns. Keep stirring and cook for 3/4  minutes
• Add the jaggery/sugar and wait for it to melt into the vagar
• Blend in the tomatoes and curry leaves. Cook for about 1 minute
• The vagar is now ready. Mix in the beans plus all the water they cooked in. Also add lemon juice to taste.
• Cook until the water thickens. Taste to make sure there is enough salt/lemon for your liking
• Garnish with coriander and serve with plain rice and naan or rotlis

Toor dhal (lentil dhal)

The typical Gujarati meal is made up of four elements: Dhal, bhatt, shak, rotli. Yes I’ve missed out an ‘and’ but this is how it’s said: “I’m having dhal, bhatt, shak, rotli“. Bhatt is rice, rotli is chappatis. As we are a small family, I rarely make all four. Normally we just have shak and bhatt which means we have half a meal but tot was at nursery today so I had time to go the whole hog and have all four! Normally, the shak and rotli is eaten first with accompaniments like raita, chutneys, poppadoms and salad. Then you finish off with bhatt and dhal.

When mum was in hospital she mistakenly ate someone else’s dhal. When I visited her, she said she knew that it wasn’t my cooking immediately. I think it was a compliment and really hope you enjoy making and eating this version.

Ingredients:

• 200g oily toor dhal
• 3 pints water
• 3tbs groundnut oil
• 1 tsp rye/methi (mustard and fenugreek seeds)
• 1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
• pinch of hing (asafoetida) – optional
• 10g ginger – grated
• 2 green chillies – sliced lengthways
• 8 lawing (cloves)
• 1 stick taj (cinnamon)
• 2 tsp nimak (salt) or to taste
• 1 tsp murcha (red chilli powder)
• 1/2 tsp hurder (turmeric)
• 2 tsp gaur (jaggery/molasses) – 3 tsp sugar can be substituted
• 5 kokum (mangosteen flower)
• 8 limra (curry leaves)
• 160g very ripe red tomatoes – chopped finely (half a can of tomatoes can be substituted but doesn’t have the same depth of flavour)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Coriander to garnish

Preparation

• Wash the dhal to clean off the oil. This will take about 6 changes of water at least. Then boil with the water for about 25 minutes in a pressure cooker. If you don’t have one, then boil in a pan – keep an eye on the water and top up as needed. The dhal should be completely cooked through
• Liquidise the dhal with the water it was cooked in

Cooking

First you make the vagar and then you add that to the boiled dhal. Ensure the room is well ventilated for the vagar as it can be quite pungent and make your eyes sting.

• In a large pot, warm the oil over a medium heat
• Put in the bay leaves and wait for them to sizzle
• Add the rye/methi and jeera seeds and wait for them to sizzle and pop
• Add the tiniest pinch of asafoetida
• Add the ginger and chilies and cook for about 30 seconds
• Add the salt, turmeric, chili powder, cloves and cinnamon. Stir and cook for 1 minute
• Stir in the gaur or sugar. Let it dissolve
• Now turn down the heat a little and add the tomatoes and cook for a few minutes
• Keep cooking until it’s all very mushy / tomatoes have reduced down
• Pour the liquidised cooked dhal into the vagar, then add the curry leaves, mangosteen and lemon juice
• Bring to a boil and then turn to a bubbling simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes.
• Stir occasionally to stop it sticking to the pot. Taste to ensure there is enough salt for your tastes. If there is not enough, add more. If there is too much, counteract the salt with a few drops of lemon juice
• Personally, I like a thicker dhal so reduce mine quite a bit but it’s entirely up to you. Turn off the dhal when you are happy with the consistency
• Garnish with coriander. Don’t miss this out unless you are allergic to it as dhal with coriander is not as tasty.
• Serve with the shak, rotli and bhatt.

NOTE: there are lots of ingredients in the dhal which can get in the way when eating so you may want to do what my aunty does and strain it through a sieve.

NOTE 2: This dhal will thicken overnight so don’t be alarmed. It will be delicious.

NOTE 3: it is not uncommon to find groundnuts in the dhal. The roasted nuts are added at the stage when the vagar is mixed with the dhal so that the flavour is combined well

Mug nu dhal (moong bean dhal)

This is my version of a very common gujarati dhal. Whenever I eat it, I have lots and it makes me extremely happy.

The ingredients are similar to the previous recipe of kala chana.

• 300g dried mung beans
• 2 litres water
• 1 large white onion – dice finely
• 2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 3 large cloves garlic – crushed or sliced very finely
• 2 fresh green chillies – sliced finely
• 3 tbs groundnut oil
• 1 large dried red chili (optional. Gives a different heat flavour. Dad swears by them)
• 2 large dry bayleaf
• 1 tsp cumin and 1 tsp mustard seeds (or if you feeling experimental swap these with fennel seeds which also give a lovely flavour)
• Small pinch of asafoetida (hing)
• 7 green cardamom pods
• 7 cloves
• 8 peppercorns
• 1 large cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp turmeric (hurder/haldi)
• 1.5 tsp chili powder (or to taste)
• 2 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp coriander cumin powder (dhana jeeru)
• 2 tsp sugar or 1 tsp jaggery (ghaur)
• 200g ripe red tomatoes – cut into very small dice
• 6 curry leaves
• 1 dried mangosteen flower (kokum)
• Lemon juice (to taste)
• Coriander to garnish

Preparation

• Wash the beans thoroughly then boil in a pressure cooker with the 2 litres of water for about 25 mins. The beans should be very tender when cooked.

Cooking

• In a large heavy based pan, over medium heat add groundnut oil. Add red chili and bayleaves and wait for them to start sizzling
• Add cumin/mustard seeds (or fennel) and wait for the seeds to sizzle and pop
• Add a very small pinch of  asafoetida. This is supposed to stop the spices from burning.
• Add onions and cook until they are translucent and have started browning at edges. This can take as long as 10 mins. Don’t rush!
• Add chilies, garlic and ginger and cook for 2 mins
• Add the cloves, cardamon, cinammon and cook for 30 seconds
• Add the spices and jaggery/sugar and combine thoroughly
• Add tomatoes, mix and let tomatoes reduce slightly as you stir the mix
• Add the curry leaves, then add the cooked beans plus all the water it cooked in
• Add the mangosteen. This gives it a slight acidic taste
• Stir very thoroughly and bring to the boil. Then reduce to a simmer and cook for at least 20 mins
• Add the lemon juice
• Check if there is enough salt for your tastes. If not, add more. If you have too much salt you can add lemon and sugar to counteract it.
• Once cooked serve with rice or rotlis. It can even be eaten on it’s own with some yoghurt.

Tot’s Simple Lentil Soup

My mother in law makes a lovely lentil vegetable soup that my hubby adores. Being the competitive kind, I decided that I should learn and then best the recipe. I have managed to create my own version which just doesn’t compare to hers but my tot loves it so from now own it’s called Tot’s Simple Lentil Soup.

Hubby and I eat the soup but add quite a lot of salt as this is not included in tot’s version.

I use red lentils which I wash thoroughly, then soak overnight in cold water. If you have a pressure cooker you can miss this step though I find that the soup ends up a bit grainy so still do the soaking.

Also for the swede/carrot – many supermarkets already do chopped up veg which is very handy for putting into soups.

200g red lentils – soaked

250g swede chopped into small dice

250g carrots chopped into small dice

1 kallo low salt vegetable stock cube

1.5 litres boiling water.

• Drain soak lentils. Discard the water
• Put lentils in the pan
• Add the vegetables
• Dissolve the stock cube in the water.  I only use one cube as I don’t want to overpower the taste of the veg with stock.
• Pour stock into the pan.
• If you have a pressure cooker, then cook for about 30 minutes. If you don’t, then bring mixture to the boil and then simmer until the lentils dissolve and the vegetable are tender. Stir often to ensure soup does not stick to pan bottom
• Blend soup to create a smooth consistency. If your tot is happy to eat veg chunks, you can miss this step
• I also add 10ml of milk to the soup before serving to make the consistency smoother. And for treats (and calcium), I top it off with grated cheese which melts and makes fun stringy shapes for tot as she feeds herself.

This soup freezes very well. I freeze it in small portions so I can take out as much as a tot’s meal. To serve, I defrost thoroughly, warm and add milk before serving.