What's for dinner?
Feb. 15th, 2010 07:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rhuTonight was my turn to cook, and I tried something new: Tah Deeg with Tomato Stew. (For those who care, this recipe is vegan/pareve; I served it accompanied by grilled chicken.) Recorded here for posterity (and so I can remember it next time.)
Tah Deeg (based mostly on "Stuck-Pot Spicy Rice and Lentils" in Marc Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, p. 525, and also influenced by recipes in The Joy of Cooking and New Food of Life by Najmieh Batmanglij)
Put water to boil in a medium pot. While it's heating up, wash 1 cup lentils and measure out 1.5 cups brown basmati rice. When the water reaches a strong boil, add the lentils and rice, stirring once. When the water returns to a boil, reduce it to a simmer and let cook for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, take a large heavy pot (our Dutch oven is good), a clean dish towel, and some clothespins. Wrap the cover of the pot in the towel, using the clothespins to pin the corners together around the handle (so they won't fall into the fire). Set the cover aside.
Thinly slice a large onion. [Here's where I'd start doing it differently next time: 2 or 3 onions and a handful of garlic gloves, and some spices. Bittman recommends hot fresh chile and a tablespoon each of curry powder and minced ginger. I wimped out and shouldn't have. As Heather said, "Lentils are aggressively bland."]
When the 15 minutes are up, drain the (underdone) rice and lentils and set aside.
Saute the onion (and garlic) in olive oil in the large pot until caramelized (about 10 minutes). Take them out of the pot and place them in a small bowl.
Add more olive oil to the pot and about half of the rice-lentil mixture. Smooth it out. Spoon the onion (and garlic) into a smooth layer; then add the rest of the rice-lentil mixture.
Sprinkle about 1/3 cup water on the top, cover with the towel-wrapped cover, and put on medium heat for 5 minutes; then turn the heat down to extremely low for 30 minutes. Don't open it. [The point of the towel-wrapped cover is that it captures the steam before it can condense and drip back into the rice.]
Remove from the heat, let sit for a few minutes, then serve.
Ideally the bottom should have formed a crust. I erred by adding too much water.
This yielded probably 8-10 generous servings.
Tomato Stew inspired by "Rice with Green Beans" in New Food of Life by Najmieh Batmanglij, p. 178
I took many liberties with this recipe -- the supermarket was out of beans, and I wanted to make this pareve. So it's really "inspired by" and not "based on".
Saute one large onion, half a dozen chopped garlic cloves, a diced zucchini, salt and pepper in olive oil. When the onion is caramelizing and the zucchini is giving up its liquid, add the solids from two large cans of Muir Glen fire-roasted tomatoes, well drained. Add a tablespoon of cinnamon. (Yes, cinnamon. That's the inspiration from the Persian cookbook, and why this recipe is worth writing down.)
Adjust the heat to a low boil, stirring frequently, until the liquid is mostly gone (about 20-30 minutes -- in other words, if you start this once the rice has gone into its 30-minute phase, the two dishes will be done at about the same time.)
Yields about 6 servings.
Serve the stew atop a bed of the rice.
Not too labor-intensive, and quite enjoyable. As I said, I just wish I'd made the rice spicier. Definitely going into the rotation!
Tah Deeg (based mostly on "Stuck-Pot Spicy Rice and Lentils" in Marc Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, p. 525, and also influenced by recipes in The Joy of Cooking and New Food of Life by Najmieh Batmanglij)
Put water to boil in a medium pot. While it's heating up, wash 1 cup lentils and measure out 1.5 cups brown basmati rice. When the water reaches a strong boil, add the lentils and rice, stirring once. When the water returns to a boil, reduce it to a simmer and let cook for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, take a large heavy pot (our Dutch oven is good), a clean dish towel, and some clothespins. Wrap the cover of the pot in the towel, using the clothespins to pin the corners together around the handle (so they won't fall into the fire). Set the cover aside.
Thinly slice a large onion. [Here's where I'd start doing it differently next time: 2 or 3 onions and a handful of garlic gloves, and some spices. Bittman recommends hot fresh chile and a tablespoon each of curry powder and minced ginger. I wimped out and shouldn't have. As Heather said, "Lentils are aggressively bland."]
When the 15 minutes are up, drain the (underdone) rice and lentils and set aside.
Saute the onion (and garlic) in olive oil in the large pot until caramelized (about 10 minutes). Take them out of the pot and place them in a small bowl.
Add more olive oil to the pot and about half of the rice-lentil mixture. Smooth it out. Spoon the onion (and garlic) into a smooth layer; then add the rest of the rice-lentil mixture.
Sprinkle about 1/3 cup water on the top, cover with the towel-wrapped cover, and put on medium heat for 5 minutes; then turn the heat down to extremely low for 30 minutes. Don't open it. [The point of the towel-wrapped cover is that it captures the steam before it can condense and drip back into the rice.]
Remove from the heat, let sit for a few minutes, then serve.
Ideally the bottom should have formed a crust. I erred by adding too much water.
This yielded probably 8-10 generous servings.
Tomato Stew inspired by "Rice with Green Beans" in New Food of Life by Najmieh Batmanglij, p. 178
I took many liberties with this recipe -- the supermarket was out of beans, and I wanted to make this pareve. So it's really "inspired by" and not "based on".
Saute one large onion, half a dozen chopped garlic cloves, a diced zucchini, salt and pepper in olive oil. When the onion is caramelizing and the zucchini is giving up its liquid, add the solids from two large cans of Muir Glen fire-roasted tomatoes, well drained. Add a tablespoon of cinnamon. (Yes, cinnamon. That's the inspiration from the Persian cookbook, and why this recipe is worth writing down.)
Adjust the heat to a low boil, stirring frequently, until the liquid is mostly gone (about 20-30 minutes -- in other words, if you start this once the rice has gone into its 30-minute phase, the two dishes will be done at about the same time.)
Yields about 6 servings.
Serve the stew atop a bed of the rice.
Not too labor-intensive, and quite enjoyable. As I said, I just wish I'd made the rice spicier. Definitely going into the rotation!