Thursday, January 29, 2009

Thursday

Split pea curry with cabbage (recipe in the comments)
Whole wheat naan
Yogurt raita

Hot tea
Orange cardamom cake

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First off this is not actually a split pea curry anymore. It's a red lentil curry, but the original recipe called for yellow split peas and so we still call it that. Yellow split peas are lovely (and perhaps easier to find than red lentils), but red lentils taste more flavorful to me and cook in about half the time. It's a win-win situation. If you can't find red lentils, use yellow split peas and cook them for 25 minutes before adding the cabbage. We got this recipe from my mother's neighbor's aunt heard we made vegetarian food a lot. I know, that's a complex line of relationships. Regardless, we didn't make it for years because peas and cabbage sounded boring and flavorless. I don't know what prompted us to try it, but we did and it's a hit! The spices are absorbed by the lentils and the cabbage gives it a unique flavor not found in any of our dal recipes. Anyway, don't let the name put you off - this is yummy!

Prep Notes
Difficulty: Easy
Chopping: Garlic, cabbage, cucumbers (for raita)
Time: 40 minutes, much of it unattended.
Make ahead: This may be better the following day.

Reaction
J: "Rarely are such simple preparations so satisfying."
M: "Yum."

2 comments:

Sarah said...

What would the verdict be for those of us who have major MAJOR cabbage issues?

J said...

If the issue is that you don't like the taste of cabbage, I would vote to pass. It gets very mild in this, but you can still taste that cabbage-y flavor. If the issue is one of gastro-intestinal distress ;), I would say you may be ok with this. The long cooking time break down a lot of those nasties that cause people problems.

We have other, non-cabbage lentil dishes though that might be safer all around though. Look up red lentil dal - it's a favorite...