Curried Vegetarian Lamb & Veggies, Dhal, and easy Swiss Rice

I know, I know, I've been lazy. Bad AJ. Hear my excuse: busy schedule. That's all I have to say for myself. I still have a busy schedule, but I have a bit more free time at the moment than I did..during...the..last..entry...and I honestly don't know when that was O_o.

So I'm back because Anita requested some veggie recipes for an upcoming period of time and I thought ohmigod someone reads my food blog! and ohmigod a request from a real live person! and so I'm back here with a goofy smile on my face, ready to take on the heat (pun intended) once again.

Throughout this hectic month of May, I haven't stopped cooking, and so I decided I'll focus on the most outstanding meal of the month (hahaha that sounds like an award) first. Just last week I made an easy version of swiss rice, curried vegetarian lamb with veggies, red beans, and dhal (split peas). Here go my explanations.

There are different versions of different kinds of rice. I don't know where I first saw someone throw in some spice or the other into their boiling pot to make their rice swiss, but I've since alternated my spices with my own easy version. I wasn't too eager to try vegetarian lamb at first, but once cooked the right way, it does wonders. For example, with this meal. Red beans should be a no brainer (easy version: I usually drain out the water from the can - yes I get too lazy to soak them overnight - and saute some onions in a couple tbsp of oil, then throw in the beans, stir, simmer, add liquid and salt and pepper to my taste, simmer, and voila) but as my brain is quite tired at the moment, I'll leave the big, long process out of this one. Dhal is also called split pea soup by some. I just know it as dhal, a popular Trinidadian dish. It's also famous for being a prime meal as a soup in bars and as a hangover helper.


HOW I MADE IT

Rice: I put up about 3 1/4 cups of water to boil with a dash of salt and a drop of oil. Once the water was boiling, I threw in the 2 1/2 cups of washed rice and stirred in a tablespoon of ground ginger (fresh ginger works better) and a 1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamon (elychee). About 12-15 minutes later, I strained the rice and it was ready to eat!

Curried Veg. Lamb & Veggies: I put about two tablespoons of oil in a hot pot and wait for it to heat up. I mix about 1 tablespoon of curry powder and 1/4 tablespoon of anchar massala powder together, and add it to the pot. Stirring up the curry mix, I wait until all the powder is somewhat grainy and add 1/2 cup of coconut milk and leave it to simmer. While this is simmering, I add 1-2 sliced hot peppers (omit if you don't like it spicy), 2 finely chopped pimientos, and 2 1/2 cups of mixed veggies ( I used corn, sweet peppers, peas, carrots, cauliflower, baby carrots,and string beans) and stir until the sauce thickens. Then add 2-3 cups of chopped veg. lamb (seasoned with salt, pepper, and chopped green seasoning to taste) and stir again. Once the sauce has thickened to the extent that it begins slowly sticking to the pot, I add four-five cups of coconut milk and let it simmer to the thickness I want. Once the sauce has achieved the consistency I want, I add a pinch of salt if necessary, and take off the stove. Done!

Dhal: I wash about 1 1/2 cups of dhal (split peas) first, and add 1 flat teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of saffron, 1 crushed clove of garlic, some chopped green seasoning, and stir. I add some hot water, just covering the top of the dhal, and leave it to soak for about 20 minutes or so, and add it to a pot of boiling water, where I leave it to boil for upwards of 15 minutes until the split peas are soft. Using a wooden swizel stick (ghutney), I swirl and mash the peas to increase the thickness. I leave it to simmer until it has the thickness I want, and take it off the stove. Then I put up a metal ladle (kalchul) on the stove burner, filling it just about half way with oil (I use a good sized one - that's about two tablespoons of oil). When the oil is hot, add about one tablespoon of geera (whole cumin). This process is called patching the geera in the oil. Once the geera browns, add one crushed, minced clove of garlic and 1/4 of an onion, finely sliced. I also add a whole pepper, slashed in the middle, but leave that out if you don't want it spicy. I usually turn this with a metal fork to ensure everything is browned (I love the onions all caramelized-y). Then lift the lid off of the dhal pot very slightly, and sneak the ladle/kalchul in there. That's right, just dunk it in and slam the cover on it (not loudly). The sizzly sound makes me giddy :) Stir it all up with your ladle/kalchul and get ready to serve. If you choose, you can do like my grandmother and boil the dhal with a whole pepper. For all the pepper lovers out there, it's heavenly.


REVIEWS
Best idea ever! I loved it, I loved it, and ohhhh how I loved it! There are no pictures to show you because it all finished very quickly due to greediness. Hopefully, the next time I make this (definitely a new fave!) I'll stop, clamp my watering mouth, and take a few pics to add later on. Right now, use your imagination. The rice was the perfect complement to the sweet, savoury, flavorful, in your face curry, and the dhal and red beans just enhanced it by that much extra. I wanted to drink the dhal alone...I wanted to sit down and eat the curry meal...I wanted to eat the rice and oh the beans and OMG...you must try it! It was HEAVENLY!!!!

As for hubby, Mr. I-automatically-hate-anything-vegetarian-or-healthy could not stop talking about how good it was! He can't wait for me to make it again and interrupted me mid-conversation a few times just to describe how much he loved it. Did I say best idea ever? I repeat: BEST IDEA EVER!!!!

I'm going out on a limb here, but have you heard of engagement chicken and so on? FORGET THAT!!! If you have vegetarian in-laws or new friends or soulmate hopeful or whatever, MAKE IT! They will love you, and they will love this. As a warning to people that advertise their cooking skills: people often expect you to become their personal cook. True story. But I repeat, this meal was THE BEST IDEA EVER!!!