I’ve been asked for my Vegan Curried Lentils & Rice recipe by several people so far.  So here it is.

This might be an obnoxious recipe to those who do not cook as I do.  It’s basically a framework to hang a recipe upon.  The good news is that as long as you follow a few basic ratios (rice/lentils/water) and a couple warnings (don’t burn stuff, don’t salt it while cooking), it’s pretty hard to mess up this dish.

In the broad strokes, it’s:

2 parts white rice
2 parts lentils
8 to 10 parts water
oil
plant matter
spices
salt

In the way I made it last night, I used about 1 ½ half cups each of rice and lentils, so these guidelines will use those figures.  Scale up or down, arithmetically, as needed.

Sort the lentils on a tray, removing stones and broken, freakishly deformed, and very hard or discolored lentils.

Finely chop the vegetable matter you want.  How much?  More than you might think.  Last night I used  about four inches of ginger rhizome, peeled; two (small) bulbs of organic heirloom garlic; and a medium-sized jalapeño pepper, seeded but leaving the placenta.  A shallot or two are awesome, but I couldn’t find any here.  Some people add half an onion, but I’m allergic.

Combine the spices you want in a cup or bowl so that you don’t have to fiddle with measuring them while stuff is cooking.  Here is where it gets super-fun.  Use your creativity here.  I might use

1 tsp each of:

white pepper
paprika
cumin
fenugreek

Somewhat less of:

nutmeg
cardamom

Much less of:

asafœtida

A few leaves of:

bay

And a hellishly large amount of:

turmeric

Seriously, like two rounded tablespoons of turmeric.  In my opinion it’s the key, and will help nutrient absorption, digestion, and prevent gas.  Really.

You can play around with other spices you might like.  If you do enough cooking, you will know what will go well.  You might use some anise (a small amount), if you want to take the dish in that direction.  I haven’t tried ground mustard, but I bet it would work.  Black pepper would also go.

There are, of course, commercial curry powders.  I think that’s no fun at all, but if you’re new to this, you can use solely such a powder, or (better) half commercial prep and half what you design.

Do not add salt.  You will ruin the lentils if you salt while cooking.  It’s a chemistry thing.

Heat oil – about 4 TB – in a heavy pot over high heat until it starts to sputter.  I find grapeseed oil works best.  It’s a bit yummier, I think, made with ghee (clarified butter), but that of course makes it not vegan.  If you use ghee, use medium-high heat and don’t wait for it to sputter.

Add the spices and fry them to dissolve the fat-soluble chemicals.  Don’t let the oil smoke.  Before the oil reaches that point, add the chopped vegetable matter and cook that in the oil to soften the chopped vegetables.  You might find you need to decrease the stove temp, depending on your stove and pot.

When you’re about to faint from how freaking awesome your kitchen smells, add the white rice, dry.  Toss it in the oil, vegetables, and spices, and keep stirring and cooking.  You are trying to toast the rice at this point.

When it’s toasted, add the water.  I used six cups, but you can use as much as 7 ½ or so.  Stir to make sure the other ingredients aren’t sticking to the bottom.  Add the dry lentils; stir again.  Increase heat the the highest setting and, uncovered, bring to a rolling boil.

Cover and immediately reduce heat to the barest simmer.  Set a timer for 45 minutes.  If you’re using green lentils, they need a bit longer; 55 minutes, say.  Resist the urge to take the lid off and check during while cooking.  They’ll be fine.  They’re grown-ups.

After the timer goes off, move the pot off the heat and let it sit for, say, 10 to 15 minutes.  Open and stir (the rice and lentils are likely to have ended up in layers).  Is the consistency what you wanted?  If not – too gruely or too thin – make a mental note to adjust the water as you see fit next time.  If it’s way thicker than you wanted, you might have some luck adding water and simmering a bit longer, but that’s a gamble.

You can salt the whole pot now, but I prefer to salt each portion.  Serve hot.  It makes it not vegan again, but you can stir in sour cream for transcendent awesomeness.  Various Indian-style relishes – the ones Patak makes are great – can also be stirred in.  Their “Mixed”, “Hot Lime”, and “Hot Mango” relishes are among my favorites.

Let cool to lukewarm and put in a sealed container in the refrigerator.  You will have a ton of it – probably more than you expected.

Enjoy!

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:02:24 +0000
Under cool, food
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