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This recipe has been hanging fire since late last autumn, when I had actual green tomatoes which refused to ripen. That was my fault, since I’d acquired the plant well into summer and the tomatoes simply didn’t have the time or receive the warmth to ripen and redden.
This year, though, hopefully I will be more on the ball when it comes to growing these love-apples… because honestly, they taste soooooooooo much better when eaten straight off a plant! (That is, you pick the tomato from the plant, wipe it just in case, check for holes which might indicate the presence of any prior eaters/occupants, and then pop it into your mouth. That’s the usual procedure and the only possible explanation for “eaten straight off the plant”... unless you’re a slug or a bug or a bird or any other tomato-predator.)
Organic, schmorganic… the best tomatoes are those that grow in your pot or veggie patch or garden, and that is the bottomline.
Since these tomatoes were green, I didn’t try eating them raw. Since I wasn’t in the mood for fried green tomatoes (yep, as per the Whistlestop Café) at that point either, they went into a tangy, spicy dal. I will be making it again this year… and perhaps include a trial of fried green tomatoes too.
Watch this space... but here’s a friendly heads-up because I value my readers - watch it only sporadically, just so you don’t get bored waiting! Cheers.
Recipe for: Green tomato dal
Ingredients:
1 cup whole masoor dal, soaked for 1 hour and cooked separately with 1/2 tsp turmeric
3 medium green tomatoes, chopped
1 medium ripe tomato, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 cup shredded greens (spinach/fenugreek)
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
3/4 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 green chillies, minced (or to taste)
1/2 tsp tamarind paste (more or less, depending on how sour the green tomatoes are)
Salt to taste
2 tsp ghee - reserve 1/2 tsp for garnish
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish
1/2 tsp garam masala for garnish
Method:
1. Heat 1-1/2 tsp ghee in a pan, then add the coriander powder, cumin seeds, minced green chillies and ginger-garlic paste. Stir fry for 30 seconds.
2. Add the chopped onions and fry over medium-high heat till they become soft and start turning brown.
3. Add the shredded greens now and mix well, frying till they start wilting.
4. Throw in the chopped green tomatoes, mix well.
Fry for 3-4 minutes till the tomatoes begin to soften.
5. Add the red tomatoes now, mix well, and pour in 1/4 cup water.
6. Cover the pan and let cook for 5 minutes on medium-high heat.
7. When the tomatoes have broken down and turned mushy, add the cooked whole masoor dal along with salt to taste.
8. Stir the dal in gently, without mushing it up, then taste for sourness. If required, dissolve 1/2 tsp tamarind paste in 1/4 cup water and add it to the pan.
9. Let the dal simmer for 5-7 minutes till the ingredients come together.
10. Heat the remaining 1/2 tsp ghee in a small pan and add 1/4 tsp cumin seeds (optional) and the garam masala. Fry for 10 seconds, then pour over the top of the hot dal.
11. Sprinkle coriander leaves on the dal and serve hot with rice or rotis and onion raita.
The first time I tried nut roast was a few years ago, when we went for Sunday lunch with my father-in-law and his partner, in honour of his birthday, to a pub that he favours. Sunday lunch usually involves roast beef, lamb or turkey, sometimes chicken, along with a selection of steamed vegetables and roasted potatoes, and of course a jug of gravy.
Me being vegetarian, I had to go for the only veggie option there was in the Sunday lunch section – which was nut roast. I didn’t know what it was or what I was going to get, but to my pleasant surprise, it was delicious! I don’t know if they made the nut roast from scratch at the pub or whether it was just cooked from frozen, but it didn’t matter – it was absolutely scrummy. I never had it anywhere else and we never went to that pub except with my f-i-l, but every time we went there, that’s what I had. The nut roast.
I don’t know why I didn’t think to try making it at home… well, perhaps I do know. It’s probably because the nut roast, in my mind, was linked to a specific meal at a specific place on a specific date with specific people… (and does the word specific now look as weird to you as it does to me? Repetition causes confusion.)
My mother is going to spend Christmas with us this year, the first time that circumstances have made it possible for her to be with us. (People, there IS a point to this, I’m not digressing, and especially not digressing without reason!) She was wondering what she would be able to eat for Christmas dinner, since she doesn’t even eat eggs or anything containing eggs in any form, and whether it would be too much trouble to cook for just her alone. That’s when I had the brilliant idea – I would make a nut roast for the vegetarians in the family! (See, I TOLD you, there was a point and I just made it. Without going off on a tangent. [All you need for this to happen is get the moon and the stars in the correct alignment. NOW I’m digressing. Guess the moon and stars moved.])
Of course, I didnt want to make a nut roast on Christmas Eve and then have it flop, so the next thing to do was make it now, as an experiment. (If it didnt work, at least I wouldnt have ruined our meal for Christmas!) So, I researched nut roasts and discovered that the recipe is nicely forgiving, able to accommodate pretty much anything you throw into it. The recipe below is an amalgamation of 2-3 different ones, using ingredients I prefer (courgette not aubergine, for instance; wholewheat granary breadcrumbs instead of white, etc)... and omitting the eggs entirely.
To my delight, the nut roast was as gorgeous as the one I'd had at the pub... the texture and taste were perfect. If it didnt quite hold together as well as it should have, I attribute it to the lack of egg as a "binder" (In hindsight, I should have added extra breadcrumbs). Not that I minded, and even Pete, despite good-naturedly grumbling about "too many vegetables", thought it was very tasty.
Hooray, I have a vegetarian roast recipe for Christmas! (Amma, take note.)
Recipe for: Nut roast
Ingredients:
1 cup peanuts
½ cup walnuts
Handful cashews (about 10)
Handful almonds (about 10)
1 medium courgette
1 medium carrot
1 medium onion
1 bell pepper
1 cup button mushrooms
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup masoor dal (+ 2 tbsp whole masoor - optional)
2-3 dried birds eye chillies, minced (or use fresh green chillies to taste, minced)
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (I used wholewheat granary bread)
2 cups chopped herbs (combination of parsley, coriander and dill)
1 tsp dried thyme
3/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp sunflower oil
1 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
1. Wash the masoor dal.
Cook in boiling water till done but not mushy.
The stove-top will do fine for this as masoor cooks very quickly, and you can keep track of its texture. Drain off the cooking water and reserve the cooked lentils.
2. Chop the nuts finely (but not to a powder – just small pieces) in a food processor (or by hand if you have that sort of patience).
3. Peel and grate the carrot. Chop the courgette, onion, bell pepper and mushrooms very finely.
4. Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan and fry the onions, garlic and chillies till the onion is soft and brown.
5. Add the chopped herbs, dried thyme, turmeric powder, chopped courgettes and mushrooms now and stir well.
6. Cover the pan and let the vegetables cook for 4-5 minutes, then add the grated carrots and bell pepper.
Saute for 7-10 minutes or till the vegetables are cooked.
Transfer the vegetables to a big bowl and let cool.
7. Then add the soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce and mix in. Add a little salt (about ½ tsp) and 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, the chopped nuts,
the cooked lentils
and the breadcrumbs
and mix it all with your hands to make a homogenous mixture
– it shouldn’t be dry but also don’t make it sloppy or runny, or the roast will not “set” in the oven. Also check for seasoning now and correct if necessary.
8. Pack the mixture tightly into a greased loaf tin,
cover with foil
and bake for 45 minutes covered, at 180C. After that take the foil off, lower the temperature to 160C and cook uncovered for another 10 minutes. Turn the oven off and let the loaf rest for 5-10 minutes in the oven itself, before unmoulding onto a serving plate.
Serve thickly sliced with a selection of roasted and/or steamed vegetables.
Look at that - automatic date settings on the camera cant lie after the photo's taken... so this recipe has been hanging fire since September 2007! I'd find that shameful, except that I dont. Not much.
The downside to off-the-cuff recipes is that you dont remember what you did at that point (especially if, like me, you dont write down the steps) - only the photos that you religiously took serve as a reminder. And then if, again like me, you put off typing the recipe because you think it will be inconvenient to try and remember how you did what you did - well then, you will end up with a recipe that you made four months ago and didnt get around to posting. If this was someone other than me, they'd be embarrassed. Since this is me, I'm not. (Or making an elaborate pretence of not.)
However, my memory hasnt entirely abandoned me, and I remember that his impromptu dal was DELICIOUS - tangy from the tamarind and tomatoes, rich with mustard and garlic, made with a dal I'm very fond of because it retains its shape while still being cooked to a soft texture. Everything's to love here!
So, finally, very nearly 5 months after it made its debut in my kitchen, here is the recipe, making its debut into print.
Recipe for: Tangy sabut masoor dal
Ingredients:
1/2 cup whole masoor dal
1 medium potato, chopped into 1-cm cubes
1/2 tsp tamarind paste
1 tbsp mustard seeds
3-4 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin seeds
4-5 fresh green chillies (or to taste), minced or sliced into very thin rings
2-3 medium onions, sliced thin
1/2 cup chopped ripe tomato
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander leaves for garnish
Method:
1. Pressure-cook the dal and potatoes with just enough water to cover the dal in the pan.
Two whistles should be enough. Let the pressure come down by itself,
If cooking on the hob, make sure the dal and potatoes are cooked but not mushy. Add water as required, dont start off with too much or it'll be a waste of energy and nutrients. You should have about a cupful of water left after cooking.
2. Meanwhile, grind together the mustard seeds, garlic and cumin seeds into a powder.
It need not be very smooth.
3. In a pan, heat the oil and add the sliced chillies; fry for a minute or so, then add the sliced onions and cook them till they're soft and pale brown.
4. Add the ground mustard powder and stir it in.
Fry for 2-3 minutes more on high heat, stirring occasionally.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes along with 1/2 cup water.
Fry till the tomatoes turn soft and are breaking down.
6. Now add the cooked dal and potatoes with the remaining cooking water and stir it all in. Add enough water to make one cupful if there isnt enough cooking water.
7. Stir in the tamarind paste and salt to taste. Let the dal bubble for 5-7 minutes until the ingredients all come together and the water content reduces.
This dal should be quite thick.
8. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with chapaties or rice.
