Tomato Dhal – VeganMoFo Day 20

It’s still budget week in VeganMoFo, and today I have one of our favourite cheap meals – dhal! Dhal is a really versatile meal, as you can put all kinds of vegetables and even different types of lentils in it. I usually use red lentils, as they’re cheap and quick to cook (you don’t have to soak them!). For this dhal recipe I used tomatoes – from a tin to keep it cheaper, but it’s also nice with fresh tomatoes in it too.

It’s a cold and rainy day here today, which makes it perfect weather to make a cosy dhal recipe! I served mine with rice, but I also like it with pita bread, chappati, or even toast (yes, curry on toast – you should try it!).

Tomato Dhal

• Servings: 2-3
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Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp curry powder (hot or mild – your choice!)
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 150g red lentils
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• salt and pepper to season

Directions

1. Begin by frying the onion and garlic in a pan with a little oil until translucent. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the spices, and stir for a minute to let them toast off.
3. Stir through the tomato puree and red lentils.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and enough water to cover the lentils by about an inch.
5. Cover, and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring regularly, until the lentils are soft!
6. Serve hot with your side of choice.

Mushroom & Chickpea Curry – VeganMoFo Day 12

Today’s VeganMoFo prompt asks us to do spicy food, without chillies. Some people can’t eat chillies, others don’t like them…either way, it’s good to be able to make tasty spicy food without the heat!

I think that sometimes curry can be nice when it’s not hot and spicy, but instead fragrant and flavourful from the mix of spices used. Which is what I did with this creamy mushroom and chickpea curry.

It would appear that I only have one photo of this curry currently, excuse me for that as I am having Internet problems – if I remember I’ll update in the future!

Mushroom and Chickpea Curry

• Servings: 2
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Ingredients

– 1 onion, chopped
– 2 cloves garlic, chopped
– 350g mushrooms, sliced
– 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
– 1 tsp ground cumin
– 1 tsp ground coriander
– 1 tsp turmeric
– 1 tsp garam masala (make sure your mix doesn’t have chillies!)
– 2 tbsp tomato puree
– 1 can coconut milk

Directions

1. Begin by frying your onion and garlic in a large pan until golden.
2. Add the sliced mushrooms and continue to fry as they let their moisture out and begin to brown.
3. Add the chickpeas and stir.
4. Stir through the spices and cook for a minute, stirring.
5. Add in the tomato puree and coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
6. Cook for ten minutes, season to taste, and serve!

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Dhal

Wow, so, I had a tough time writing this up. I posted this recipe on my instagram in January for MiniMoFo, but I just could not get my blog to work! It just refused to load. I’ve finally figured a work around, and fingers crossed this will post. I’m sorry you have had to wait so long for this recipe!

This recipe is all about warmth, and warming yourself up and keeping cosy when it’s cold outside. Now, it’s the final part of February now, and here’s hoping that it’s not going to be too cold from here out, but, you never know. And there will always be cold days.

This is actually a slow cooker recipe! My slow cooker is very under utilised, I seem to always forget it exists, but it’s a very forgiving way to cook, and it makes the house smell absolutely gorgeous. For this dhal recipe, you just put all the ingredients in the slow cooker, and cook. No other pots and pans are needed. If you want any “croutons” on top, like I’ve done with the cashews in the picture, you can do them separately, but if not, it’s delicious on its own.

I cooked my dhal on “high” in the slow cooker for four hours, but I know not everyone works with that time frame, and if you’d rather set it in the morning and leave it till night, you can put it on “low” for 8 hours instead and it should be just as good!

• Servings: 4
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Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 sweet potatoes, diced into bitesize chunks
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp turmeric
• pinch cayenne (to taste, however spicy you like it!)
• pinch salt
• 150g red lentils
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 can coconut milk
• 300ml vegetable stock

Directions

1. Place all of the ingredients in the slow cooker.
2. Turn the slow cooker to “High” for 4 hours, or “Low” for 8 hours.
3. Check for seasoning, and serve.

Spinach Dhal – VeganMoFo Day 11

You may be getting a slight deja-vu feeling from this post. Yeah, I posted a dhal bolognese yesterday. And today I’m doing a spinach dhal! Is it a bit much? No! Dhal is delicious. And since today’s VeganMoFo prompt is your “Favourite Cuisine” I just had to do something Indian related. I love Indian food – it’s so versatile, from snacks like samosas to curries and even quick junk food meals, you can make it however you like. I’ve already posted a dhal recipe here before, but this one is a little more involved.

I use whole spices in this  – as explained in yesterday’s post, they give a wonderful depth of flavour to the dish. Well worth buying! I also add spinach because spinach goes really well in Indian food. I use frozen spinach because that’s what I tend to have on hand, but if you wanted to use fresh you could.

Serve this with rice, or in bowls with vegan naan bread, or chapatis!

Spinach Dhal

• Servings: 2-3
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Ingredients

• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp chopped ginger
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 200g frozen spinach
• 130g red lentils
• 500ml vegetable stock
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Directions

1. In a saucepan, heat up the sunflower oil and add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and coriander seeds. Fry until fragrant and the mustard seeds begin to “pop”.
2. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli flakes, and salt, and fry for 5 minutes, until the onion softens.
3. Add the turmeric and garam masala, and fry, stirring, for 30 seconds.
4. Stir in the frozen spinach and fry for a minute.
5. Stir through the lentils, and add the vegetable stock.
6. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the lentils are very soft.
7. Stir in the lemon juice and serve!

Chickpea Ketchup Curry – Vegan MoFo Day 30!

It’s the last day of Vegan MoFo 2015! I hope everyone has enjoyed it.

For the final day, the prompt is “Fusion Challenge“. I decided to combine probably my two most used cuisines – British and Indian. This meal is unabashedly tasty, junky, comfort food. Like pizza, or mac and cheese, or a thick hot chocolate on a cold day…this is a meal that can become a classic food for when you need cheering up.

If you are a connoisseur of fine Indian cuisine, look away now. I don’t claim this curry to be authentic, but isn’t that what British curry is about? We took the cuisine and mish-mashed it into our own thing. And this takes that one step further.

This is a curry with chickpeas and ketchup…all served on a bed of chips from the local chippy!

We have a set way of making this. First, we make the curry on the stove top.

Then, we turn off the heat, cover it with paper/towel/whatever (this is just to keep any nasties out), and pop down to the local chippy, which is less than a five minute walk from our house.

For you non-Brits, a “chippy” is a shop where they sell mainly chips. Chips are “fries”, specifically thick cut ones. Chip shops usually also sell fish and other meaty things but you can buy chips on their own, which is what we do.

This is a bag of chips!

If you can’t get chip shop chips (I feel sorry for you) then serve this over potato wedges, steak cut fries, or just rice if you want.

Anyway once we’ve got our chips, we head home, fire up the stove again (add a little hot water to thin the curry if needed) and then spoon it over the chips. And enjoy!

Chickpea Ketchup Curry

• Servings: 2
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Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp chopped ginger (use about a half inch square piece)
• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cayenne powder
• 5 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Salt & Pepper
• hot water
• Chips, to serve.

Directions

1. Fry the onion, garlic, and ginger until the onion is soft.
2. Add the spices, salt, and pepper and let cook for a minute or two.
3. Stir through the chickpeas and let them cook for another couple of minutes.
4. Add the tomato ketchup, and enough hot water to make the sauce fluid.
5. Cook for about 5 minutes, adding more hot water if needed. Stir through the lemon juice.
6. Serve on top of chips!

Samosas! – Vegan MoFo Day 25

The prompt today is to write about my favourite cuisine. Now, I love to cook from all different cuisines! Some, I don’t cook so much – I don’t know much about east Asian cooking, for instance, although I’d love to learn – and some, pretty often – if pasta counts as “Italian”! But one cuisine I love cooking is Indian. I grew up in Leicester, where there’s a big Indian population (and a ton of awesome Indian food shops!), and both my parents have spent time in India, so it was something I grew up eating!

One memory I have is that we used to stop off and buy samosas and pakora and bhajis on the way home from church on a Sunday afternoon – lovely. Luckily I married into a family who also shares my love for Indian snacks as well!

Since we moved away from Leicester, I have not found a place to get my samosa fix yet – so what should I do? Well, simple, I just make my own. It’s actually a lot easier than I expected – and you don’t need a deep fryer, just oil in a saucepan will do!

I’ve put together a little step-by-step image tutorial for actually folding the samosas – but once you get the hang of it it’s just second nature.

First, you have to make the filling. This is just onion, garlic, potatoes, peas and spices. Leave it to cool before you make the samosas.

Make the dough, and break off a ball about the size of a ping-pong ball. Or a small plum, if you’d rather. Roll it into a circle about 15cm/6in wide. and slice down the middle.

Now, fold the semi-circle into a cone in your hand, so the edges overlap. Seal with a bit of water.

Make sure it’s all sealed and there’s no holes, and fill with the samosa filling. Leave just under a centimetre at the top so you can pinch it closed. Seal it off well with water, you want to make sure there’s no holes.

Heat enough oil to just cover the samosas in a saucepan (I use a small saucepan so as not to use too much oil, and fry one samosa at a time). Using a bit of spare pastry, test to see if the oil is done. If it immediately fizzles and turns golden, it’s ready!

Place one samosa at a time gently in the oil (use a spoon to do this – but not a plastic one as it’ll melt!), and fry for 30 seconds max on each side, until blistering and golden.

Remove the samosa and place on a kitchen towel to absorb any excess oil. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling!

Let cool a little before eating. You can eat them warm or cold, and even freeze them for a quick heat-up-in-the-microwave snack!

Pea and Potato Samosas

• Servings: about 20 samosas
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Ingredients

for the filling:
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 500g potatoes, diced into 1cm cubes
• 1 chilli, chopped
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 100g peas
• Salt & Pepper

for the dough:

• 300g plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp oil
• 100ml hot water
• Oil for deep frying

Directions

1. First, make the filling. Heat the oil in a saucepan, and add the cumin seeds. Fry for less than a minute, until toasted and fragrant.
2. Add the onion, garlic, and chilli to the seeds. Fry until the onion is softened.
3. Add the turmeric, salt and pepper, and cumin powder, and mix.
4. Stir through the peas and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
5. Cover the pan, and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender.
6. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
7. Next, make the dough. Mix the salt and flour together, and rub in the oil.
8. Slowly pour in the hot water and mix until a smooth dough is formed.
9. Knead until the dough is smooth.
10. Now, assemble the samosas. In a saucepan, heat up enough oil to just cover the samosas. To test when it is hot enough, drop in a small piece of pastry. If it instantly fizzles and crisps up, it is ready.
11. Lightly flour a work surface. Break off a small piece of dough, about the size of a ping pong ball, and roll out into a circle 15cm/6in diameter.
12. Slice the circle in half to form two semi-circles.
13. Roll the semi circle into a cone shape, with the edges overlapping. Seal with a little water.
14. Scoop the filling into the cone, leaving roughly just under a centimetre gap at the top. Seal this well with more water.
15. Place the samosa in the hot oil (careful, very hot!) and fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown on both sides. Remove from the oil and place on a piece of kitchen towel.
16. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling until all is used up and samosas are made!

Indian Style Pasta

Curry and pasta may not sound like it goes together. It’s certainly not traditional – but I see no reason why that should be a problem! As a Brit, things like curry on chips are pretty common, so why not pasta? And it works really well.

I used chickpeas in this one, but sometimes I add peas, or other beans if I like. You could also add spinach if you wanted to make it greener!

The sauce is all made in one pot so there’s not too much hassle there, and you can easily change the spiciness by adding more chilli or not, if you like.

• Servings: 2
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Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 chilli, chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 tbsp soya milk
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• Salt & Pepper

Directions

1. Fry the onion, chilli and garlic until softened, and then add the spices.
2. Once the spices are stirred through, add in the chickpeas and tomato puree, and cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Stir through the chopped tomatoes, milk, and flour, and cook for five minutes until the sauce becomes thick and smooth.
4. Season and serve with the cooked pasta!

Thanks to Simple Indian Recipes for the inspiration!

Tomato & Kidney Bean Curry

One of the best cooking things I’ve learnt from my Mum is how to make a curry out of anything. If you know how to use spices, then you can make a quick and easy curry out of whatever you have on hand – beans, vegetables, frozen food…whatever you have spare.

We make a kidney bean curry with tomatoes quite often, but we usually use tomato puree and/or canned tomatoes, that way it uses all storecupboard ingredients and it’s great to make if you haven’t been shopping in a while.

But today’s curry we made with fresh tomatoes. On that trip to my parents’ where we picked up the runner beans, we also picked a load of fresh tomatoes.

Freshly picked tomatoes are absolutely delicious – miles above the sort you can buy at the supermarket – and we snacked on a few of them just on their own! But we also decided to use them in this curry as we don’t often have fresh tomatoes spare and they make a great tasting curry!

It’s super simple to make – and we served it with rice, but you could have it with naan, pittas, chapati, whatever you like – I’ve been known to have curry on toast before!!

• Servings: 2
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Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 chilli, chopped
• 300g cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 can red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
• 1/2 tsp asafoetida (hing) powder (optional)
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp garam masala
• Salt & Pepper

Directions

1. Fry the onion, garlic, and chilli until softened.
2. Add in the spices & salt and pepper, stir and cook for a couple of minutes.
3. Add in the tomatoes and let cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the kidney beans, stir, and cook for 10-15 minutes until it thickens up.
5. Serve with rice or bread.

Simple Supper: My Mum’s Dhal

Lentils are a super source of protein for vegans. I’m sure we’ve all heard the “but where do you get your protein?!” from and – whilst the answer is: “Many, many places”, lentils are one of the best ways!

Dhal (also spelt Dal, Daal, Dahl, however you want) is a super easy and tasty way to prepare lentils. This is my Mum’s recipe and cooks up in just 20 minutes or so to make a warm and cozy dinner. Serve it with pitta bread, chapati, or on top of rice.

Mum's Dhal

• Servings: 2
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Ingredients

• 200g red lentils
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 1 chilli, chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp ground coriander,
• 1/2 tsp garam masala

Directions

1. In a saucepan, fry the onion, garlic, and chilli until softened.
2. Stir through the spices and fry for another couple of minutes.
3. Stir through the lentils, and pour over water until it is about 2cm over the lentils.
4. Simmer the mixture for 15 minutes or until the water is all absorbed and the lentils are soft.

Curried Chickpea Burgers

I love eating burgers. I don’t know what it is about burgers, I mean, they’re just things smooshed up into a round shape, so why should they taste better? BUT THEY DO! I was going to do a burger recipe earlier in the week, but had a camera fail so didn’t. These aren’t the ones I was going to do (they’ll come another time!) but these are slightly different.

The first good thing about these burgers is that they are baked! Frying burgers produces tasty burgers, but in my experience, it also produces burgers that fall apart and end up as sort of scrambled burgers. Not so good! But baking, you can make them into nice shapes, put them on the sheet, and bam, done. Also they are kinda healthier I guess.

These burgers are also curry flavoured! Now, that may sound a weird combo, curry and burgers? But it works! Living in Britain we have perfected the curry plus western combo. Curry and chips? Yup. Curry in toasties? Yup. Even curry pasta we can have! So, curry burgers is natural.

I found this recipe and adapted from that.

Once again, you have to use the food processor for this – so it’s really, really simple.

You put all your ingredients in the food processor, turn it on, and mix until it’s a paste!

Really, I suppose you could use whatever spices you like – I put my usual curry spices in, but if you wanted to add in some different flavours, well, give it a go!

Next, you simply scoop out the paste (watch yourself on the blades!), roll out six balls in a little flour, and squish them into burger shapes on a baking tray.

Put them in the oven for 20 minutes, at which point I took them out and transferred them to the grill (broiler, I think, for the Americans) to brown up a little on each side. Then, they’re done! You can eat them like a regular burger, in a cob with your usual burger trimmings, but I had mine with some spinach and peas and a bit of Tesco’s vegan cheese.

• Servings: 6 patties
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Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas, drained,
• 1 onion, in quarters,
• 1 clove garlic,
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 heaped tsp nutritional yeast flakes
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Flour for rolling

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160C (325F)
2. Put all the ingredients, except for the flour, into a food processor, and blend until it forms a paste.
3. Lightly flour a surface, take the paste out of the processor, and form into six balls.
4. Roll the balls in the flour to coat, and place on a lined baking tray.
5. Place in the preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes.
6. After the 30 minutes is up, remove the patties from the oven and place under the grill until they start to brown. Flip and do the same on the other side. (This step is optional)
7. Serve, and eat!

thanks to calmmindbusybody for the recipe idea! 🙂