Samosa Wraps – VeganMoFo Day 20

Today’s VeganMoFo prompt is “deconstructed”, which is one of the more challenging ones I was talking about earlier in the week. It took me a while to come up with something, but eventually I came up with this tasty recipe! Ok, it isn’t exactly deconstructed, more like constructed-in-a-different-way, but still…that’s something?

These are samosa wraps! I already have a recipe for samosas on this blog, and the filling in this recipe is pretty similar – with the addition of kidney beans – but putting it all in a wrap takes away the pesky pastry making and deep frying steps. Samosas themselves are very tasty, but sometimes you just don’t have the patience to make the whole lot!

Samosa Wraps

• Servings: Enough for 8 wraps (you can freeze them!)
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Ingredients

• 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
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 100g peas
• 1 can red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
• 3-4 tbsp coconut milk
• Salt & Pepper 
• 8 wraps

Directions

1. 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, garam masala and cumin powder, and mix.
4. Stir through the peas, kidney beans, 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. Add the coconut milk, and stir through.
7. Using a potato masher or a fork, roughly mash the mixture, leaving quite a few large pieces in.
8. Lay out your wraps. Place a small amount of the filling in each, and wrap it securely (use your prefferred wrapping method!).
9. Serve and eat!

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!

Indian Lentil Bolognese – VeganMoFo Day 10!

Today’s challenge is Fusion Food which is something I love, because honestly, most of what I cook is a mish-mash of whatever I think tastes good. I don’t see any problem with combining cuisines to make something tasty! Today’s meal is no difference – Indian bolognese may sound a bit strange, but really, it’s not! I already have a lentil bolognese recipe, which is lovely, and dhal is a common Indian lentil recipe…so why not combine the two? Make a dhal style bolognese!

I use whole spices in this recipe as I think they add a great depth to the dish. Especially mustard seeds – fry them in hot oil till they start popping and jumping about and they are so delicious! Whole spices also keep much longer than ground ones without losing their flavour, so don’t be afraid to buy them.

You could totally add peas or any other vegetable in with this dish if you want to get some greenery in. But as it is it is still super tasty, and the lentils give a good protein hit too!

Indian Lentil Bolognese

• Servings: 2-3
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Ingredients

• 1tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp chilli flakes (sub for a chopped fresh chilli or two if you have any!)
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 125g red lentils
• 600ml vegetable stock
• 180g spaghetti

Directions

1. In a large pan, heat up the sunflower oil. When hot, add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and coriander seeds. Fry until fragrant and the mustard seeds start popping.
2. Add the onion, garlic, and chilli flakes, and fry until the onion softens – about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the garam masala and turmeric and cook for thirty seconds, stirring constantly.
4. Add in the lentils and vegetable stock, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the lentils are tender.
5. While the lentils are simmering, cook the spaghetti.
6. Once the lentils are tender, serve the bolognese over the spaghetti!

Khichdi – or Indian Rice and Lentils

I guess I grew up eating plenty of Indian food. My mum spent some time in India before I was born and learnt to make all sorts of curries and other food. Perhaps she went a bit easy on the chilli for us kids – I certainly don’t have the ability to eat any of the super hot food you can get at restaurants! But it all tasted wonderful. Living in Leicester we also had so many great Indian restaurants and takeaways nearby – for us, a treat was to go to the “Samosa shop” on Sunday’s after church and get some tasty food for lunch!

But one thing I (and mum) always shied away from doing was cooking rice on the stove! Somehow it never quite worked. We both have a microwave rice cooker – you put the rice in, put water in, and bung it in the microwave for a quarter hour.

So, when I came across the recipe for “Khichdi” on Happivore, I wasn’t so sure. An Indian risotto-style dish? Sounds delicious, but…difficult!

I decided to give it a go anyway…putting a slight spin on it, as I always have to do things my own way! Whilst the recipe was supposed to use cumin and fenugreek seeds, it seems I couldn’t find any in my cupboards, so I used ground cumin and put mustard seeds in instead! I changed the proportions around a bit to make it a bit more vegetable-y as vegetables are good, and hoped for the best!

Don’t be put off by all the spices – it does taste lovely!

Khichdi

• Servings: 2
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Ingredients

• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1 chilli, finely sliced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 2 large tomatoes, diced
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp smoky paprika
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 100g uncooked rice
• 150g dried lentils
• 200g frozen peas
• Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions

1. Put a bit of oil in a deep saucepan, heat it up, and fry the mustard seeds until they start going “pop”.
2. Next, add the onion, garlic, and chilli, and fry for a couple of minutes before adding in the diced carrots.
3. Once the carrots are cooked a bit, add in all the spices, followed by the tomatoes.
4. Next, stir through the lentils and rice, and add in 600ml water.
5. Bring the mixture to the boil, put the lid on, turn the heat down, and simmer for approximately 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. You will see the water absorbing into the lentils and rice. After about 25 minutes, add the frozen peas and leave to cook some more.
7. The khichdi is done when the lentils and rice are soft and it looks – well, like a risotto.
8. Serve with pitta or naan bread, and enjoy! 

Many thanks to happivore.com for the recipe!