A Vegetarian Feast

For the past few years, we have been making a conscious decision to have at least one night in the week where we do an all vegetarian dinner. Although my childhood memories are replete with me resisting any form of vegetables, I have to admit that thankfully my taste buds have evolved to love vegetables now. One of the challenges with a vegetarian dinner is that sometimes it is lacking the heartiness you will find in a meat dish. Enter the lentils! These protein packed gems are the ideal substitute for making you feel full and satisfied. There are numerous forms of lentils out on the market, and really at times, I feel one needs a college course to decipher all the different types. I tend to go by the shapes and colors. Daal is the Urdu name for lentils. My favorite is a green, whole lentil called the moong cooked with some tamarind sauce which gives it a suggestive tanginess. But, really you can substitute any lentils for this recipe. You might have to adjust the cooking time, though. Our vegetarian feast includes some of my favorites – Lentils, eggplants and rice with potatoes. Enjoy!

Sour Moong Daal

1 cup Whole Moong lentils soaked in 4 cups of water for 2 hrs
3 tblspn oil
¾ tsp turmeric
¾ tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp coriander powder
1 tsp tamarind paste (soaked in ¼ cups warm water, seeds removed)
½ onion sliced
1 tomato chopped
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tblspn yogurt
½ serrano green chili
½ tsp garam masala (mix of cloves, whole black peppers, cumin, black cardamom, and cinnamon crushed)
1 cup of water
Chopped cilantro for garnish

Directions:

Fry the onions in oil till golden brown. Add all the spices and ginger garlic paste. Add yogurt. Add lentils with the water it was soaked in. Add the tomato and green chilli. Bring to a boil and then put the lid and weight on the pressure cooker. On high heat, let it cook on pressure for 10 mins. Take off heat and run under cold water, with the lid closed. This should bring the pressure down safely. Open and stir gently. Add the tamarind water and cook for a few minutes. If the lentils have soaked up a lot of the water, then add ½ – 1 cup extra water. Bring to a boil, and serve hot. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Roasted Eggplant/ Bhurta (Mash)

A vegetarian diet would be incomplete without eggplant. Even though this is technically a fruit ( tomato and berry family), I like to categorize it in the vegetarian category due to its savory uses.  It is one of the most versatile things to cook with. Fried, roasted, sautéed or mashed – equally delicious!

1 large eggplant
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp salt
½ tsp crushed red chillies
½ red onion, sliced
1 tomato sliced
½ serrano pepper sliced
3-4 tblspn olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. poke a few holes in the whole eggplant to allow for steam to escape. Put in an oven proof container. Turn off oven and turn on the broiler on High. Place eggplant under the broiler and let it char. It will take about 45 mins to cook through. Keep turning every 15 minutes so it chars evenly. Once done, put in a ziplock bag. This will make it easier for you to remove the skin. After a few minutes open the bag and peel off the skin from the eggplant.

In a saute pan, add olive oil and heat. Add cumin seeds, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, onions, tomato and green pepper. Also add the peeled eggplant. It should be soft enough to break up with a spoon. Keep the head of the eggplant for decorative purposes. Do a quick stir of everything and serve immediately. Onions should not be cooked thoroughly but just steamed through.

Tarqa Rice

Tarqa is when you fry onions and spices in some oil and butter and garnish the dish by pouring it on top. In the case of this rice, I put it in the beginning and let it cook with the rice. You might want to save a few friend onions for garnish later. The vibrant yellow of the turmeric and the red flecks of chilli, gives the rice a festive look. The potatoes add a meatiness to this otherwise vegetarian dish.

1 ½ cup basmati rice
3 cups water
2 peeled and diced potatoes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chicken stock powder ( optional)
1 onion sliced
½ tsp turmeric
1 tomato
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp red chilli
2 tblspn oil

Directions:

Heat oil and fry onions till lightly browned. Add all the other spices and potatoes. Saute. Add rice and water to the rice cooker.Then add all the potatoes and onions mix to the rice. Cover and set the time for regular white rice. Stir once after 15 mins to make sure everything is blended in. If you are using a regular pot, then follow the same steps. Allow the mix to boil on high heat, then lower heat to medium. Cover and cook for 20 mins, stirring once in the middle. After 20 mins, reduce flame to lowest setting and cook for additional 5 minute. Turn off heat and allow rice to sit covered. Note: be extra careful when stirring rice. You don’t want to break the fine, long strands of the basmati.

It’s a sign of an expert chef whose rice comes out with perfectly cooked , intact grains of basmati. My mother and grandmother traditionally used a small plate to scoop out the rice so as not to break the grains!

If you are looking for other Pakistani dishes, here’s a fried fish recipe that will feature well with the above- mentioned dishes.