29/03/2020
Hi. There will be no Edergole Kitchen cookery lessons for a while - so why not try some recipes at home. Both these are based on beans - use tinned or dried and don't worry if you don't have all the ingredients - improvise with what ever you have to hand.
Enjoy cooking - if you have the time on your hands - if you are an essential worker, get your kids to knock these up (under supervision if they are small!) - neither of them are difficult. Good luck and keep well.
Mike and Jo at home. xx
Lobio
Lobio is a kidney bean and walnut salad from southern Russia – it has a great vinegar and walnut dressing and is packed with protein (if you need it!) I first came across a recipe for this in Madhur Jaffrey’s ‘Eastern Vegetarian Cooking’ about thirty years ago and it still one of my favourite dishes. Feel free to use tinned beans if you are in a hurry – otherwise soak dried beans for at least eight hours before bringing to a rapid boil and simmering until very soft, but not disintegrating. You will need about 200g of dried beans.
500g cooked kidney beans (save some of the cooking liquid or the liquid from the tin if using tinned beans)
2 cloves garlic, peeled
150g walnut pieces
45ml red wine vinegar
30ml walnut oil or olive oil
5ml salt
2.5ml ground black pepper
2.5ml cayenne pepper
4 spring onions/scallions, finely sliced
1 handful coriander leaves
Put the beans in a bowl. In a food processor – or using a jug and a stick blender – process all the ingredients except the scallions and coriander. You should have a thickish, creamy dressing. If it is too thick, add some of the reserved bean water. Toss with the beans and check the seasoning. Add three quarters of the scallions and coriander and mix well. The salad will improve if made a few hours before it is needed. Just before serving, garnish with the remaining scallions and coriander. Sometimes, to get the flavours to mix more intensely with the beans, I mash half the beans with a potato masher and then toss everything together.
Chickpea curry.
Chickpeas are a marvellous source of protein and have a delicious nutty taste that distinguishes them from some of the blander pulses. They are widely used in Indian cooking and dried ones are readily available in large bags from the Asian supermarkets and are very economic to use. Dried chickpeas will roughly quadruple in size on soaking, so 100g dried will give you approx. 400g cooked. They need to be soaked overnight and then cooked for about one hour until soft. Don’t add salt to the cooking water, as this slows down the cooking time. Tinned chick peas are widely available and are very cheap in the German supermarkets and are a great time saver if you forgot to soak your chickpeas the night before – however, they are often very soft, so may need a lot less cooking in a curry than home soaked ones or they may disintegrate.
60ml vegetable oil
2 onions, chopped
1 head garlic, chopped
1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
2 tsp ground cumin seeds
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp turmeric
1 tin chopped tomatoes
800g cooked chick peas (approx. 2 tins, drained)
2 tsp ground, roasted cumin seeds
1 tbs ground amchoor (dried mango powder)
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp lemon juice (or more to taste)
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 tbsp grated ginger
Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions and garlic. Fry gently until the onions are soft and light brown. Add the first four spices and cook for a few seconds then add the tomatoes and cook for a minute or two. Add the chick peas and 250ml water and then add the next six ingredients. Stir and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for ten minutes. Finally, add the chopped chilli and grated ginger and cook briefly. Serve with rice or chapatis. This dish freezes well and can be made in large quantities but it is better if the fresh chilli and grated ginger is stirred in before serving rather than before freezing.
