Read Dharma Feast Cookbook Online
Authors: Theresa Rodgers
Dharma Feast Cookbook (19 page)
| K ITCHARI I |  |
According to the Indian teaching of Ayurvedic Medicine, kitchari is a healing and cleansing dish, and on top of this, it tastes fantastic. We eat it every week. It is deeply nourishing, grounding, and balancing. Tip: Make a bigger batch of it and you can re-heat it anytime. We don’t recommend freezing it as it doesn’t taste very good after it is frozen.
| S ERVES 4–6 | P REP TIME 1 HOUR 45 MINUTES |
1 cup basmati rice, soaked (see ½ cup red or orange lentils 3 tablespoons ghee 1 1-inch piece of ginger, minced 1 teaspoon ground fennel 1 teaspoon ground cumin 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1 teaspoon turmeric Sea salt | Rinse basmati rice and lentils separately until the water is no longer foamy. Drain. In a large, thick-bottomed pot, melt ghee on medium or low heat, add ginger and lentils, and fry lentils for about 5 minutes. Then add all spices except for salt. Fry for a few more minutes. Add enough water that beans and spices are covered, at least 3 inches, and bring to a boil. When beans are boiling, turn down heat but keep lightly boiling until beans are well broken down, for about 45 minutes. Stir frequently. If necessary, add water to keep beans from sticking to the bottom. Add soaked rice. Add more water so rice is covered and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for about 45 minutes. Stir frequently. If needed, add water. When done, the beans and rice will look like a porridge in which neither the rice nor the beans are distinguishable. Add salt to taste. Note This recipe is Stage 2 because it uses white basmati rice. We’ve included it because it has very healing and balancing effect on the body. It is also a good breakfast food. |
| K ITCHARI II |  |
This is our other favorite Kitchari recipe. This version has a bit more spice to it because of the red chiles. It also is made with brown basmati rice so it’s appropriate for someone eating a Stage 3 diet. When doubling or tripling this recipe, be conservative with the amount of spices used or they will dominate the dish too much. Turmeric is added mostly for color so don’t increase it. For the other spices, add only a third more and then adjust the spices later if needed.
| S ERVES 4–6 | P REP TIME 1 ½ HOURS |
1¼ cups red or orange lentils (see ¾ cup brown basmati rice ¼ cup ghee or butter 3 whole dried red chiles 1½ teaspoons cumin seeds 2 bay leaves 8 whole cloves 4 black peppercorns ½ teaspoon turmeric ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper 2 medium onions, cut into approximately ¼ x ½-inch pieces 5¾ cups water 1½ teaspoon sea salt or to taste ¼ teaspoon garam masala | Combine the lentils and rice in a bowl and add cold water to cover; let soak 20 minutes. Drain and set aside. Combine the ghee or butter, red chiles, cumin seeds, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, turmeric, and black pepper in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add onions and cook, stirring, until they begin to wilt, about 3 minutes. Add rice and lentil mixture and sauté, stirring gently so as not to break the rice, about 1 minute. Add water, salt, and garam masala and stir gently to mix. Bring to a boil, turn heat down to low, cover, and simmer very gently for 45 minutes. Stir gently every 10 minutes or so. Then continue cooking, uncovered, until rice and lentils are tender and the mixture is still wet, like a very thick porridge, about 25 more minutes. Remove cloves, peppercorns, and bay leaves and discard. Adjust salt to taste. Serve hot. |
| D AAL | |
This daal recipe is from our good friend from Pakistan. Since she introduced this to us it has been our standard daal recipe, and everybody who eats it loves it. What makes it so distinct, so true to its roots, is the tarka—browned onions and garlic in oil stirred into the daal right before serving. In Pakistan, most families have their traditional tarka recipe that is handed down within their family from generation to generation. The onions and garlic need to be browned to the point that you worry they’re getting too dark and maybe even burnt. At medium heat, you keep scraping the onions from the bottom of the pan over and over for about 20 to 30 minutes. You can also use other spices in the tarka such as bay leaves, curry leaves, lemon, coriander powder, green chiles, and mustard seeds.
| S ERVES 3–5 | P REP TIME 40 MINUTES ( INCLUDES PREPARATION TIME FOR T ARKA ) |
1 cup red lentils 3 cups water 1 medium tomato, chopped 1–3 teaspoons sea salt to taste (If the daal lacks flavor, add more salt.) ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper ¼ teaspoon turmeric 1 dried red chile F Half a small onion 4–5 tablespoons safflower oil, enough to cover bottom of pan, onions, and garlic 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 3 cloves garlic, sliced into thin rounds 2–3 tablespoons lemon juice | For Daal While lentils are boiling, add tomato, sea salt, cayenne pepper, turmeric, and chile. Let spices boil for about a minute and then turn heat down to medium low and cover saucepan. Keep at a low boil for the next 10–15 minutes. For the last 5 minutes, uncover saucepan and let excess water boil away. Prepare Tarka (below) during this time. Turn heat off and cover saucepan. Daal should be fairly thick. If thinner daal is desired, add water. Boil uncovered if thicker daal is desired. For Tarka Put oil in a small frying pan. Turn heat to medium and add cumin seeds. When they begin to sizzle and the scent of the cumin is obvious, add onions. Add garlic to frying pan. As garlic and onion begin to brown, add lemon juice. (Stand back—oil will sizzle.) Continue to let the onions and garlic brown, but keep them from turning black or burning. Sauté until onions and garlic are nicely brown all over. Uncover daal and pour in tarka. Don’t mix. Immediately cover daal so flavors of tarka stay in saucepan and don’t evaporate. Be careful—the tarka will sizzle very loudly when it is added. After about a minute, uncover saucepan and mix daal and tarka together. Serve hot over brown basmati rice. |
| G REEN L ENTIL C URRY | |
Our same friend from Pakistan (see previous recipe) made Green Lentil Curry for us on a Sunday night in the winter when we were all too tired to cook. We picked up the huge pot at her house and brought it home in the back of the car. We were so grateful to eat this nurturing and slightly spicy dish. It’s wonderful served with
Aromatic Indian Rice
(Recipe in
Grains.)
If you double or triple this recipe for a large group be conservative with the spices.
| S ERVES 4–6 | P REP TIME 1 HOUR 10 MINUTES |
2 tablespoons oil 1 teaspoon cumin seeds 1 medium red onion, cut in half lengthwise and then finely sliced lengthwise 2 cloves garlic, finely minced 1 inch ginger, finely minced 1 heaping teaspoon garam masala powder 2–4 small or medium roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped ½ teaspoon cayenne powder for a spicy dish or less to taste ¾ teaspoon coriander powder ¼ teaspoon turmeric 1 teaspoon sea salt 2 large red potatoes, halved or quartered 1½ cups green lentils 3 cups water | Add oil to saucepan, set on medium heat, and put in cumin seeds. When cumin seeds begin to sizzle, add onion. Fry onion until it begins to turn transparent, then add garlic and ginger. Keep frying until garlic begins to brown at which time onion should also start to brown. Add garam masala and mix in with onions so that the mixture has a brownish color. Fry for a few minutes. Add tomatoes, cayenne, coriander, turmeric, and salt; fry until spices begin to melt into the sauce as tomatoes are cooked and the oil in the pan begins to separate, about 5–10 minutes. Add the potatoes and fry well in the mixture of spices for 2 minutes. Add the lentils and stir well for about 2–4 minutes so that they are mixed well with the spices. Add water and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium-low and cook, covered, for about 30–40 minutes, until potatoes are cooked through and lentils are done. Add more boiling water if lentils are drying out. Or if lentils are done and water remains, turn heat back up to boil excess water away. |