I was lucky enough to attend an Indian Vegan cooking class last Saturday night and this was one of the dishes that was cooked. The class was held at Govinda’s Restaurant in Elizabeth Street, Brisbane City, one of the oldest vegetarian restaurants in the country. When I worked in the city, I’d quite often go to Govinda’s for their very reasonably priced (and very tasty) vegetarian buffet, which is still going to this day.
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Ranchor is the chef-at-large, in more ways than one. An experienced chef having worked in many of the top restaurants in the world, Ranchor demonstrates this wonderful cuisine with a lot of interesting information on Indian culture and funny little stories along the way. The room was packed with people from all walks of life. Who doesn’t love an authentic Indian curry? He explained all the different spices and ingredients and their therapeutic qualities as well. The dishes that were cooked were this Vegan Lentil Rice (from the southern Indian region), a northern Indian Palak Tofu Masala Curry (spinach) and vegan Katchoris (similar to a samosa). All very delicious.
- 2 cups basmati rice (or long grain rice – washed 3 times and left to soak for 15 minutes) *
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup brown lentils (soaked – I used a 400gm tin)
- 1 tbs coriander seeds
- 1 tbs Urad dahl (raw)
- 1 dried chilli (I omitted and used a fresh green chilli, seeds removed and finely diced)
- 1 small stick cinnamon (or 1 tsp ground cinnamon)
- 3 cloves
- 1/4 tsp asafetida
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 10 curry leaves
- 1/2 cup nuts of your choice (I used macadamia, dry roasted)
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 400gm tin diced tomatoes
- 1/2 cup peas (I used a 400gm tin)
- 1/2 tsp tamarind paste (I didn’t have any so substituted with 2 tbs lemon juice)
- 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds (I didn’t have any so omitted)
- 2 tbs extra virgin olive oil for frying
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- coriander leaves to serve
- Dry roast, in a pan without oil, fenugreek, coriander seeds, Urad dahl, red chilli, cinnamon and cloves until all ingredients become aromatic. Then add curry leaves, asafedtia and grind to a course powder. (I ground them in a mortar and pestle.)
- Boil the lemon juice with the 2 cups of water in a pot with 1 tsp salt and turmeric.
- Add tomatoes, carrots, peas, green chilli and ground spices and boil for 3 minutes.
- Heat oil in another pot and stir fry rice and lentils for 3 minutes.
- Add roasted nuts to rice mixture and merge with the boiling vegetables.
- Turn heat to lowest point and cover pot with a tea towel. Replace lid and ensure that tea towel isn’t touching flame or element on stove top. Do not remove lid for 15 mins.
- After 15 minutes, remove from heat, unopened for another 15 mins.
- Rice will have absorbed all of the cooking liquid and become fluffy. Separate with a fork to fluff up.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.
I've eaten it a few time in a restaurant and I LOVED it. Great mixture of herbs
That looks fabulous Anne – I might save that recipe as I have a vegetarian friend and it is always a bit hard to know what to feed her when she visits as our local supermarket is not very vegetarian friendly!
This looks amazing… going to give it a whirl.
I would love to do an Indian cooking class! I love curries, they are high up on the list of favourites 🙂 Sounds like you had a great time!
This sounds amazing!!
Love, love Indian food, Anne! I will have to google one or two ingredients, but I definitely want to make this. Thank you for sharing at our ALL MY BLOGGY FRIENDS party 🙂
Wow, Anne! This dish looks delish and what a fun time to attend such a great cooking class!
How great are cooking classes! This looks healthy and falvourfull. Totally pin worthy 🙂
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I actually enjoyed reading through this posting. Many thanks.Explore our collection of heart-inspired recipes. Browse, cook, create, even share your own here.
personal development Buckinghamshire
heart intelligence
food coach Buckinghamshire
life coaching Buckinghamshire