• Home

Subscribe

Algerian Couscous

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1/2 tablespoon turmeric
* 1/4 tablespoon cayenne
* 1/2 cup vegetable stock
* 1 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
* 1/2 tablespoon salt
* 1 small can tomato paste
* 3-4 whole cloves
* 3 medium zucchini
* 4 small yellow squash or yellow zucchini
* 3/4 large carrots
* 4 medium yellow or red potatoes, skins on
* 1 red or green bell pepper
* 1 15-oz. can garbanzo beans

Directions:

1. Saute onion in vegetable stock over med. low heat until translucent.

2. Add all spices and cook for a few more minutes, stirring as needed.

3. Add tomato paste, stir and simmer 2 minutes.

4. Cut the vegetables in large chunks and add all (not the beans) and a
dash of cinnamon; add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat
and simmer, covered, for an hour or so. (This can cook slowly for 2-3
hours, if desired.)

5. Add the drained garbanzos about 5 minutes before you take the veggies
off the heat.

6. Put couscous in a bowl. Pour boiling water over couscous and wait
about 5 minutes. Fluff with fork. (Ratio of about 1 1/2:1 of water to
couscous.) For added flavor, add some of the liquid from the veggie stew
to the couscous in place of some of the water.

7. Serve the stew over the couscous.

Majudarrah – Lebanese Lentils and Rice

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

* 1 cup lentils
* 1 cup white or brown rice
* 2 medium to large onions
* olive oil
* salt to taste
* vegan yoghurt for garnish
* 4 cups water (slightly less if pressure cooking)

Directions:

A very simple but very delicious dish. The key is in the
onions: peel and slice or dice them, then fry them slowly in
some olive oil until they are golden brown. They will shrink
considerably, so always start with more than you think you
need. If you’re using white rice, add the lentils, water and
salt; cook 15 minutes, then add the rice, cover the pot and
finish cooking. If you’re using brown rice, add it to the
pot at the same time as the lentils. (Obviously, you can
cook it much quicker if you use a pressure cooker–the brown
rice version takes only 15 minutes once everything is in the
pot. Just be sure to reduce the amount of water by 1/4 or 1/
2 cup, since very little will evaporate.) When it’s cooked,
stir to mix in the onions (they’ll all be on the top) and
serve with vegan yoghurt.

Serves: 4 – 6

Preparation time: 1 hour

Naan (Susheel)

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

* 2-1/2 C. white flour (can use 1/2 whole wheat flour)
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 C. soy or rice milk
* 1/2 C. vegan soy yogurt
* 1 tbs oil
* 1 egg substitute, beaten
* 1/2 tsp vegan sugar, optional
* 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients. Heat oil in pan. Heat beaten egg substitute, soy milk and soy yogurt
until barely warm. Add to flour mixture. Mix the dough, kneading just
enough to hold together. Add water if necessary. Add cumin seeds. Let
dough rest, covered, 35-40 minutes in warm spot. Divide into 20 small
balls. Roll each ball to 1/8″ thick. Broil, turning once.

Aloo Mutter

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

* 2 or 3 potatoes (use two if they’re big, 3 if they’re smallish)
* 2 tomatoes, chopped
* 1/2 cup peas (I use canned sweet peas)
* 4 tablespoon soy non-hydrogenated vegan margarine
* 1/2 to 1 meduim onion, chopped, (depending on how much you like onion)
* 2 garlic cloves, chopped OR 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 2 cloves
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 1 teaspoon garam masala (available at ethnic grocery stores or at www.namaste.com)
* 1 teaspoon chili powder
* 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
* 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
* salt to taste

Directions:

1. Heat margarine in a pan on stovetop at medium temp.

2. Add onion and saute until golden

3. Add cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, and garlic and
stir fry 2 min.

4. Add garam masala, chili powder, turmeric, coriander,
tomatoes, and salt. Mix together well.

5. Add potatoes. Pour in water and bring to a boil.

6. Add peas and lower heat. Cover. Let simmer 15 min. (until
potatoes are soft and done)

Serves: 3 – 4

Mangu

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

* 1 plantain (can be made with green ones or ripe ones) per person
* salt (to taste–recommended!)

Directions:

To peal the ripe plantain is very simple: slice down side, and peal a
la banana. To peal a green one, I suggest running under really hot
water for a few minutes and then slicing down the middle and with the
edge of your knife, lifting the skin off little by little. With
practice anyone can become an expert green plantain pealer. Then cut
the plantain(s) into about 3 inch pieces and boil on high for about 20
min. (with salt–about 2 tsp.) or until the plantain is soft. The ripe one
will be softer than the green one, but they will change softness
(obviously!).

After they are boiled, drain them and place them in a plate. Take a
fork and smush them down. The green ones will be easy to do (if you
cooked them sufficiently) and need nothing else. The green one, however,
will need a little of the water it was boiled in to be able to be
smushed to the best consistency. Both types should resemble the
consistancy of mashed potatos. Serve with anything, or eat alone.
(Great to eat ripe ones late at night, when it’s cold, with hot cocoa!)

Preparation time: 15 – 20 min

Lentil Tacos

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

* 1 1/2 cups dried lentils
* 3 1/2-5 cups water
* 1 bay leaf
* 1 stalk celery
* 1 clove garlic, crushed
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/8 teaspoon dried whole thyme
* 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
* 1 tablespoon taco seasoning mix
* 8 taco shells
* 1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
* 1 medium onion, diced
* 1 large tomato, chopped

Directions:

Sort and wash lentils. Combine with water and next 5 ingredients in pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, let simmer 1 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally and add more water, if needed. When done, remove and discard bay leaf and celery. Combine tomato sauce and taco seasoning in a small bowl; stir well.

Heat taco shells, spoon in lentil mixture, tomato sauce and other toppings into shells.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 2 hours

Beef Curry

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

* 2 cup yellow lentils
* 8 cup water
* 1 tablespoon turmeric
* 4 large beets cut into large dice
* 1 large onion cut into large dice
* 5 (or more) large cloves garlic, pressed
* 2 tablespoon cumin
* 1 tablespoon coriander
* 5-10 dried red chilies, crushed
* salt to taste

Directions:

Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally to
keep the lentils from sticking to the pot, which should be large.

While it simmers, prepare beets, onion, and garlic.

Spray a frying pan lightly with oil spray. Pop 2 T. black mustard
seeds over medium-high heat. Add garlic and onions, saute for a
minute or so, then add beats and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook,
stirring occasionally, for about 10 min. Add contents of the frying
pan to the lentil pot. Also add 2 T. cumin, 1 T. coriander, 5-10
dried red chilies, and salt to taste.

Simmer until the lentils start to disintegrate.

Serve with basmati rice.

Green Vegetable Curry

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

* 2 chopped onions fryed in 3 tablespoon of non-hydrogenated vegan margarine or olive oil
* 2 cloves of garlic
* 3 bay leaves
* 2 lime leaves
* lime juice
* a little ginger
* peice of tamarind
* 3-4 bits of galangal
* 1 tablespoon green curry paste (ready made at asian groceries or even supermarkets sometimes)
* 1 teaspoon of brown vegan mustard seeds,
* Soy sauce
* 1 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
* 2 teaspoon of tumeric
* 2 tins of coconut cream
* any hard veggies left in the fridge such as carrots, green beans.
* any soft veggies like button squash, zucchini or leek

Directions:

Fry onions, garlic, ginger,curry paste,mustard seeds,
coriander,cumin and tumeric in a big pot then add coconut
cream, galangal, bay leaves, lime leaves. In a little bowl,
cover tamarind in boiling water, let sit 5 minutes then strain
through seive into the curry. Simmer for 8 mins – the curry gets
better the longer it simmers – but watch not to overcook the veggies.
Start adding hard veggies. Top up with water and add 1-2 vegetable
stock cubes as you go along, then add shorter cooking ones.
When you have the necessary amount of juice, add soy sauce
and lime juice. Serve on jasmine rice.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 30 min

Nimbu Rice

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

* Rice 1 cup
* Oil 2 tbsp.
* vegan mustard Seeds 1 tsp.
* Urad Daal 1 tsp.
* Chana Daal 1 tsp.
* Cashews handful
* raisins handful
* Turmeric pinch
* mixed vegs. 1 cup
* Lemon 1

Directions:

1. Cook rice.

2. Heat oil and add all other except for the lemon. Fry as
appropriate.

3. Mix stuff in pan with rice. Squeeze the lemon and add the juice
to the rice.

Jangiri – Sweet

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

* 2 Cups Urad dhal (available from any store selling groceries from India)
* 1/2 teaspoon Orange/Yellow food colour
* 3 Cups Sugar
* 2 Cups Canola or Peanut Oil
* 6 Cardamom pods
* 2 ml Rose essence (From Sri Lanka/India)
* Jangiri/Imerthi/Jilebi(plain flour) – Sweet

Directions:

This is a mouth watering sweet from South India. The sweet that
I am addicted to and make it all the time at home. Throughout Northern
India you get variations of this Sweet made of plain wheat flour.
Though you get them in India(n) shops, home made is the best.

Procedure:

Soak Urad dhal in water overnight or minimum 3 hours. Wash it
thoroughly and blend it to a smooth thick batter of piping
consistency adding little water at a time. Best blended 2/3 cups
in 3 batches with food coloring.

For piping the batter, you can use a sturdy icing pipe with
round nozzle not more than 5mm dia. Make your own (like I did):
Take a thick cotton cloth 1 x 1 foot; punch a hole 3mm dia in the
centre of the cloth; button stitch it to strengthen the opening
either by machine or hand.

Make the syrup by boiling 3 cups of vegan sugar in 2 1/2 cups water in a
2 litre deep saucepan. Add split cardamom pods and rose essence.
Keep it on low fire on one burner. Leave a heavy ladle for dunking
fried jangiris in syrup.

Heat oil in a frying pan on an adjoining burner on a medium flame.
When the oil is hot make jangiris* one at a time directly over the
oil, one at a time. Make 3-4 pieces per batch. Fry 40-90 seconds
depending on whether you want your jangiris crispy or soggy. Remove
them from the frying pan with a skewer or a ladle and dunk them in the
syrup one at a time. The jangiris tend to float. Do not let them. With
the heavy syrup ladle hold it down. In 30 seconds, they will be well
soaked and ready for draining and laying out on serving tray. Help
yourself hot jangiri. It is well worth the effort!

* Piping jangiris is an art. It took me few attempts to master it. I
will try to explain it. Even if it is not of the perfect shape you will
still enjoy its perfect taste!

Half fill your piping bag. Or put 1/2 cup batter in your piping cotton
(stitched up as described earlier) and gather it from four corners and
hold it like a piping bag. Pipe over the hot oil, an inch above the
surface of the oil, (not a job for a faint-hearted cook) with a steady
hand, a quick 2 rings of spiralling circle closely adjoining each
other (as you pipe it will try to move away); continue piping
small cicles in one continuous thread over the ridge formed
by the spiral and finish when the small circles cover the
entire ridge; break off by stopping the piping. Move the jangiri
away and pipe 2-3 more. You can practice over your batter
itself before trying on the hot oil.

You will enjoy every bit of your effort!

Serves: 15

Preparation time: 2 hours

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Copyright © Keep Your Meat 2008 - 2012. All Rights Reserved.