Eredien's Journal

This is more a recipe than a review, but this was so delicious I wanted to write it down right away. I have been eating a lot of variations on "lentils and..." lately, and wanted to talk about some things that make that delicious instead of totally boring every day.

The first thing is MDH brand Chana Dal Masala spice (warning: this amazon link is for 10 boxes). I bought a box of this stuff over at one of the many little conveniece stores that dot the Teele Square area back when I lived in Teele Square. Many of those stores seem to specialize in varying brands of Indian food -- one does really good naan, another bulk spices. Anyway, this is one that has a lot of bulk beans and premade spice blends. This spice blend is: delicious, cheap at $2.49, comes with a basic chana dal masala recipe on the back, and makes a *lot* of food since you only use a small bit at a time. I keep the box in the fridge to discourage pantry pests, but since the box has an inner liner it doesn't get clumpy.


The second thing is the lentils I use, which I also got from the same place as the MDH spice blend. They're half-moon-shaped (split) yellow lentils rather than the small flat round lentils you may be more familiar with, but you can use either. Personally, I find that the chana dal lentils cook up faster and tenderer than the other kind of lentil, without turning into mush if you forget and cook them a little bit too long. I also find that when you're making the masala base, you can just let the lentils boil for whatever time it takes you to make the base and then they're ready to add. I got two pounds of these babies for $2.99, and they're very filling; I've eaten about 20 meals off the package. Here's a link to where you can get them online, but I am sure you can find them cheaper at your local Indian grocery.

The third thing is something that was given to me by ab3nd's previous roommate, when I complimented him on how good his cooking smelled and asked him about what he was making. He had an extra bag of Swad brand Panch Puran and gave it to me. If you scroll *way* down on the website it looks like it lists for about $2.40. This is the most delicious stuff. I now use a tablespoon or two every time I make food with lentils. I think it also might be good with some types of Chinese food although that's the food experimenter in me talking. I basically would eat it raw if I were not busy cooking it up with vegetables and onions. It contains: whole mustard seeds, whole cumin seeds, coriander/caraway seeds, and some totally unknown-to-me spice which looks kind of like that little part which sits in the middle of a peanut and tastes slightly bitter and slightly green, a little bit like celery. I've...almost remembered what it's called in English as I sit here eating them and trying to remember the word for the taste filling my mouth, but it's a no-go. It might be asafotaedia.


For the masala sauce:
2 Tbsp soy margarine
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp brown sugar (unpacked)
1/2 Tbsp better than boullion beef flavored soup concentrate
1 clove garlic
2 cubes frozen basil
3 cubes frozen cilantro (I love me some cilantro)
1/2 can tomato paste (6 oz can)
1 can TJ's tomato sauce (15 oz can, you could also use diced canned tomatoes for a chunkier masala sauce)
1/4 lb frozen green beans (that's about 1/4 bag if you have a 1 lb bag)
1 small pepper (optional)
3 medium-sized carrots
1 medium yellow onion
About 3 Tbsp chana dal masala spice
About 3 Tbsp panch paran
About 1 1/2 cups dry chana dal lentils
Water
Pepper
Salt
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika (optional, didn't do much for flavor)
1 Tbsp (yes) ground dry mustard
3-5 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp ground ginger (probably better with fresh, but you'd want to use less)
1 Tbsp chili powder (optional)
1 Tbsp ground turmeric (added a nice color and flavor boost)
2 tsp curry powder (I used McCormick's. Most of the things in the spice mix I added more of separately, but I didn't have fenugreek, bay leaves, celery seed, or nutmeg, and the curry powder mix had all of those).
5 Tbsp red crushed chili flakes (I have a cold and wanted to kill it dead.)

For the rice:
1 1/2 c white rice of your choice
About 2 c water
Pepper
Salt
1 tsp olive oil (optional)

Prepare rice:
I make the rice in a rice cooker. I find that when I add oil the rice sticks a little less to the pan, which is supposed to be nonstick and mostly is but sometimes isn't perfect. I just add the oil, rice, spices, and water all together, swirl it around a little with the rice paddle, and let it do its thing. If you are making this for a lot of people, you will want to make a lot more rice, but I mostly wanted rice as a kind of side-dish so I made less.

Prepare lentils:
Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. When ready put in the lentils. Keep up the temperature to a rolling boil. Don't be like me and let the pot boil over as you are chopping carrots, though.

Prepare vegetables (this sounds complex but isn't):
Chop carrots in half lengthwise and then in half widthwise. You want large chunks of carrot but want them all about the same size so they cook evenly. Set aside.
Chop garlic cloves. Set aside.
Chop pepper into small strips. Set aside.
Chop pepper (large chunks work well here).

Prepare sauce:
Heat medium-large pot on stove. When warm add olive oil and margarine together (less fat than just using soy margarine, and less burning and a better taste than just using just oil). Let this warm until it bubbles up a little but isn't brown. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add garlic. Mash the garlic around in there until you have nice garlic-flavored oil. Add the basil and do the same thing. The garlic should be just a tiny bit brown when you add the panch paran. Sautee the whole spices in the flavored oil for about 30 seconds. Now the garlic should be a little more brown. Add the broth concentrate, and stir to dissolve. Add the onion. Stir to coat onion with oil and spices. Do not burn the garlic!

Turn heat down and let onion brown a little. It will sweat out its oniony goodness into the pan, which is what you want. If it starts sticking add a tad more olive oil. Then add the brown sugar. This will carmelize the onion and make the oil smell delicious. When onion is clear and browning on the edges add tomato sauce and a little water. Then add tomato paste, stirring to dissolve the paste into the sauce. You might want to turn the heat up a little here but don't overdo it.

Add the cilantro.

By now the lentils are almost done. When the masala sauce starts to thicken, add a few ladles of sauce from the lentil pot to flavor the sauce, and to thin it down a little bit and stop it from sticking to the pot.

Toss in the remaining spices except the chili flakes and powder. Add the nutritional yeast. Then add the chili flakes and powder to taste.

Turn off the heat to the sauce.

Put in the vegetables:
After you turn off the heat, let the warmth of the sauce cook the vegetables perfectly for you. Just pop a lid on the pot for about 5 minutes and everything will be nice and crisp, plus the sauce will be a perfect consistency. First the carrots and frozen beans, then a minute or two later the pepper. The beans should go in frozen, this ensures they are not overcooked by the end. The carrots should end up cooked but firm, not limp and soggy. You put the pepper in last so it is not overcooked, because peppers are pretty delicate.

Put in the drained lentils, and stir.

At the very end stir in the apple cider vinegar. I find it compliments the tomatoes and cuts the spice a little.

Things I would have added to this dish: a bay leaf. I didn't have any, though.

Serve with rice.

Basically, this was delicious. I had two helpings and there was enough left over to last me until at least Wednesday for lunches. So I would say this serves 4-6 people.