Jamaican Kidney Bean Stew

This has to be our all-time favourite kidney bean recipe. When the wonderful aroma of this stew wafts around the house, my family gets the urge for ‘taste tests’ each time they walk past the pot even while it’s still cooking! I should say that I use more coconut milk than the recipe advises. Both versions are listed below, so enjoy either way of making this recipe from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian cookbook, called ‘Red Kidney Beans for Jamaican Peas and Rice’.

What you’ll need:

* 1 ½ cups dried red kidney beans

* 2 cups canned coconut milk (I used 2x 400ml coconut cream. The generic Homebrand is the best for those living in Australia)

* 1 Scotch bonnet or other habanero-type chilli (used a chilli that my dad’s friend Uncle Impa grows in his backyard in Geelong). Leave the chilli whole if you don’t like ‘hot’

* 4 tablespoons chopped chives or 6 tablespoons scallions (aka spring onions/green onions which is what I used), finely slice both green and white parts

* 3-4 fresh thyme sprigs or ¾ teaspoon dried thyme

* 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

* 1 small onion, finely chopped (used a red onion)

* ¾ teaspoon ground allspice

* 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons salt

* Freshly ground black pepper

Uncle Impa's chilli.

 What to do:

Soak beans overnight. Drain.

Then cook beans in 1x 400ml coconut cream mixed with 2 cans of water. (In the cookbook, the beans have to be cooked in 4 cups water). Either way, bring to a boil and simmer, covered, for 1 hour. Then add the second 400ml coconut cream, habanero, chives/spring onions, thyme, garlic, onion and allspice. Stir and simmer for half an hour. Add salt and pepper, simmer for another half hour or until beans are tender. Serve with rice.  

Semolina ‘Risotto’

I’d never heard or tasted Uppama before I came to Australia and a Sri Lankan Tamil friend made it for dinner. It’s a semolina dish spiced with curry leaves, mixed vegetables and cashews, but I could never figure out how to make it without turning the semolina into a porridge-like paste.

Thank goodness for Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian cookbook, which has several Uppama recipes of the non-gluggy variety. The secret is to ‘fry’ the coarse semolina granules in oil – don’t bother dry roasting without the oil, this won’t work to keep the dish from being paste-free. So if you like uppama as much as we do, have a go at ‘Semolina Risotto (Uppama) with Cabbage and Peas’.

What you’ll need:

* ¼ cup oil

* Generous pinch of ground asafetida (forgot to add this. In the past, have substituted 1 crushed garlic clove)

* 1 teaspoon whole brown mustard seeds

* 1-2 whole dried red chillies (which I broke into bits)

* 2 teaspoons yellow split peas (or more, because it gives a nice nutty flavour)

* 15-20 curry leaves (it says optional, but I think it’s essential)

* 3 tablespoons shallots or red onion, finely chopped (I sliced one small red onion)

* 1 teaspoon finely grated ginger

* 1-2 teaspoon finely chopped fresh green chilli (or green pepper)

* 1 well-packed cup of shredded green cabbage

* 3 tablespoons of frozen peas (I didn’t defrost them)

* 1 cup (coarse) semolina aka Cream of Wheat

* ¾ teaspoon salt

* 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander leaves aka cilantro (left that out).

What to do:

Boil some water and have about 1 ¾ cups ready for the semolina.

Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan, then add asafetida or garlic. Then immediately after that, add mustard seeds.

When the mustard seeds begin to pop add yellow split peas and red chillies. Stir until split peas turn reddish. By this time the chillies usually turn black. So if you’d like to retain some colour, add red chillies along with the cabbage (a bit later on).

After split peas have changed colour, add curry leaves, then the onion. Fry until the onion begins to brown at the edges, before adding ginger and green chillies. Stir for a few minutes, then add cabbage. (Madhur advises adding peas at this stage along with some water. I don’t add water. And I leave the peas until last).

Stir-fry cabbage, then add the semolina and stir-fry until the granules are golden. Lower heat, stir in salt. Add boiling water a little at a time, stirring until water has been absorbed before adding more. Repeat until all 1 ¾ cups of water have been used. Keep stirring until the semolina has fluffed up. Break up lumps with the back of the spoon.

Then take off fire and add frozen peas. Cover and leave for peas to ‘defrost’. Chopped coriander leaves can be added at this stage too, if using. Then serve.  

No-Ham Pea Soup

Living in Australia has introduced me to many strange and wonderful dishes, including Pea and Ham soup. Since a couple of my family members are vegetarian, leaving out the ham would mean leaving out the flavour, so it was a relief to find this recipe which relies on spices to provide a healthier and still-flavourful alternative. From The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook by Murdoch Books, this recipe has been adapted from the ‘Green Pea Soup’.

What you’ll need:

* 1 ½ cup green split peas

* 2 tablespoons oil

* 1 medium onion, peeled and halved

 * 1 medium carrot, cut into chunks to fit into pot

* 1 celery stalk, cut same as the carrot

* 1 tablespoon cumin powder

* 1 tablespoon coriander powder

* 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

* 5 cups vegetable stock

* 2 cups frozen green peas

* Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or half that dried.

* 4 tablespoons plain yoghurt or sour cream (optional - as in I didn’t use this)

Green Split Peas

What to do:

Soak green peas for a couple of hours. Drain. Leave aside.

Heat oil in a pot (to make the soup), add onion, celery and carrot. I cooked this covered (with a couple of occasional stirs) until the onion softened and started separating layers. Stir in cumin, coriander and ginger. Cook until spices are fragrant.

Add split peas and stock (and dried mint, if using). Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer until peas are cooked and carrot chunks can be pierced with a knife tip. The books says this should take 1 ½ hours but the soup is usually done in less than an hour. Take off fire.

Then add frozen peas. Wait until the peas ‘defrost’ in the heat of the soup, then slender-blend. Season with salt and pepper and stir in mint. Serve with swirl of yoghurt or sour cream (or not).

  

No-Cook Tomato Sauce with Olives

This is one of my favourite no-cook pasta ‘sauces’. I’ve always had one ingredient missing (capers) whenever I seem to have the rest of the ingredients in the house, but even without capers it still tastes good. The proper title is ‘Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce’ and it’s from the Essential Vegetarian Cookbook by Murdoch books.

What you’ll need:

* 4 spring onions, chopped so finely it’s almost minced

* 4 firm ripe tomatoes (or 250g cherry tomatoes, halved).

* 8 stuffed green olives (or more – I used lots as we love olives, stuffed or otherwise) halved

* 2 tablespoons capers (didn’t have it)

* 2 cloves garlic, crushed

* ½ teaspoon dried oregano

* 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

* 1/3 cup olive oil

* 500g spaghetti or other dried pasta

What to do:

Except for the pasta, mix all ingredients (previously chopped, halved etc) and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Cook and drain pasta according to packet instructions (or until you remember the pasta is still on the stove). Add cold sauce to hot pasta, mix well. (The books suggests, adding 1/3 cup of fresh basil leaves but I haven’t tried that yet…).

Red Pepper Soup

A bag of peppers were going cheap at the Asian Veg shop in Dandenong, so I did a web-search and found a couple of recipes that are worth a try. But, as sometimes happens from printer to kitchen counter – I then remembered this recipe from my collection of Margaret Fulton’s mini cookbooks and thought I’d give it a go instead. Inspired by the Sweet Pepper Soup from Margaret’s book of Soups and Starters, this is my version of a creamy red pepper soup without the cream:

I used:

* 45g butter

* 1 large onion, quartered

* 4 cloves, garlic, peeled and left whole (the book recommends 1)

* ¼ cup plain flour

* 4 cups vegetable stock

* 500g red peppers, quartered

* 1 dried red chilli, whole

* 1 teaspoon chopped thyme (fresh, or ½ teaspoon dried)

* 1 spring onion, chopped fine (optional, i.e. it’s not in the book)

* Salt and black pepper (pepper is optional)

What I did:

Added butter and onions into a pan all at once (this way, I don’t have to worry about the butter burning while I multi-task in the kitchen). Fry until onions are softened. Add two of the garlic cloves. Fry for a couple of minutes. Then add flour and cook for a further 2 minutes. Gradually add stock, stirring constantly and bring to a boil.

Add red peppers, chilli, tomatoes and thyme (as well as black pepper). Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until vegetables are cooked. Turn off heat. Then add last two garlic cloves (yes, raw!) and the sliced up spring onion and slender blend. Add salt to taste.

This soup might have more of a punch if the red peppers are roasted, but that’s another soup for another day.

Sweet Potato with Oomph

Sweet potato or ‘bathala’ as it’s known in Sri Lanka, is traditionally eaten with freshly grated coconut. Since arriving in Melbourne, and with fresh coconut not freely available, I’ve opted for these two ways of cooking sweet potato – either a curry (hardly a surprise) or a soup. Now thanks to Kurma Dasa’s ‘Cooking with Kurma’, there’s a third way – a rather delectable salad called ‘Kumara Salad’ which incorporates coconut with several other complex flavours.

What you’ll need:

* 1kg of kumara/orange sweet potato, cubed

* 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons extra (I used 2 tablespoons only)

Hulled sesame seeds, toasted

* ½ teaspoon yellow asafetida powder (or ½ teaspoon crushed garlic)

* ¾ teaspoon garam masala

* ½ teaspoon red chilli powder

* 1 tablespoon green chilli, finely chopped

* 2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice

* ½ teaspoon salt

* ¼ cup shredded coconut (used the dried kind, dampened with a little hot water)

* 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, powdered (Had raw nuts with skins on, which I dry roasted whole and after powdering as well to be sure rawness was gone)

Raw peanuts with skins

* 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, unhulled, dry roasted and powdered (had hulled sesame seeds, which seemed to work just as well)

* 2 tablespoons coriander leaves, which I didn’t use.

What to do:  

Cook kumara (I used a microwave). Cover and keep them warm. I was supposed to heat 2 teaspoons of oil, then sprinkle the asafetida powder, stir briefly and set aside. Instead I used 2 tablespoons of oil to fry the garlic, then when waited for oil to cool a little, before adding (as advised) the garam masala, green chilli and red chilli powder. Stir then, add lemon juice, salt and the rest of the olive oil (if you haven’t used it already!). Add spicy oil to sweet potato, stir to coat well. Then add coconut and the powders (peanut and sesame). Stir to combine. After salad has cooled, garnish with coriander leaves if using.

Mushroom with Garam Masala

This curry is easy and tasty and is from the first Asian cookery book I ever bought, Charmaine Solomon’s The Complete Asian Cookbook, which is now falling to bits because my copy is more than 20 years old. As they say ‘it’s an oldie but a goodie’. I’ve adapted this a little by adding potato – the mushroom flavour is stronger without it. The recipe is Indian and is called ‘Dhingri Kari’ in the book.

What you’ll need:

* 500g mushrooms (or 375g sliced mushrooms and a couple of small boiled and cubed potatoes)

4 spring/green onions

2 tablespoons oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ teaspoon freshly grated ginger

6 curry leaves (I add one sprig)

2 teaspoons curry powder (added raw Ceylon)

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon garam masala

½ cup coconut cream

2 teaspoons lemon juice

What to do:

Clean and slice mushrooms if not opting for a pre-sliced package of fresh mushrooms. Slice green onions finely. Heat oil. Fry garlic, ginger, curry leaves and sliced spring onions until softened. Add curry powder, salt and mushrooms (also cooked potatoes if using). Stir fry until mushrooms lose their raw look. Cover and simmer for a few minutes before adding garam masala. Stir, then add coconut milk, simmer uncovered until heated through. Take off fire. Stir in lemon juice.