teabowl

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4-6 medium yellow potatoes, diced (no need to peel)
1 pound (450g bag) green lentils, picked over and rinsed
4 vegetarian stock cubes (low-salt if possible)
6-8 cups water (you may need more - I used about 150% of the volume of the lentils)
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons parsley (fresh is better)
3 tablespoons yellow curry powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar, sucanat, agave juice or honey

In a large pot, heat olive oil and fry onions, celery, garlic and potatoes until the onions and celery are soft. Add lentils, stock cubes, water and salt. Stir and bring to a boil at a high temperature, then boil at medium heat for 30-40 minutes until the potatoes are soft and the lentils are tender. Add curry and parsley, continue to boil at medium heat for another 5 minutes.

Using a hand blender (if you have one), puree about 30% of the soup to get a softer, smoother consistency. Take off the heat source and stir in your preferred sweetener.

The quantities are approximations - they should work, but lentil soup isn’t an exact science :) What you’re aiming for is something thinner than daal and thicker than a regular soup - it’s really a ’stew’ you’re making.

This is highly recommended. Great food and amazing pictures. For those who, like me, enjoy their cookbooks well illustrated, this is definitely worth buying.

World Food Caf,

Chris Caldicott. Frances Lincoln 2006, Paperback, 192 pages, $15.44

(Amazon, apparently, cannot reliably display accented characters, like ‘é.’)

(Direct URL: http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0711217513/)

I was served this delicious and very rich vegetarian dish tonight. It stems from an out-of-print cook book by Mary S. Atwood called Adventures in Indian Cooking (1972). Well worth making. Tonight, it was served with basmati rice, spiced green beans in tomato sauce and home-made naan.

4 eggs
4 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon clarified butter
2 medium potatoes, cooked and cut in half-inch slices
2 medium onions, sliced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves

2 tablespoons ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
pinch each of turmeric and cinnamon
1/2 bay leaf
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lime juice

Beat eggs, milk and salt together. Melt butter and make an omelet. Fold in half and cut into 1/2-inch strips. Heat oil and brown onions. Remove half of them and set aside for garnishing. To the remaining onions in pan, add cloves, coriander, ginger, chili powder, turmeric, cinnamon and bay leaf. Fry for a minute or two. Put in coconut milk and salt; simmer for 5 minutes. Add potato slices and omelet strips and continue simmering until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat. Stir in lime juice. Garnish with reserved browned onion.

Variation: Instead of omelet strips, poached eggs can be added just before serving.