Recipes

Vegetarian
4-6
approximately 1 hour
The Africa News Cookbook

• 3 large onions, sliced
• 4 tblsp. butter, or clarified butter
• 6 chili peppers, crushed into a paste, or tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 2-inch piece of fresh ginger
• 10 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup dry lentils, pre-soaked
• 1/2 lb. fresh green peas, shelled
• 1/2 lb. carrots, chopped
• 1/2 lb. green beans, chopped
• 3 large tomatoes, chopped
• 6 whole cloves
• 1 4-inch stick cinnamom
• 6 cardamom pods, crushed
• 1 tsp. tumeric
• 3 sprigs of fresh mint, 1/2 tsp. dried mint leaves. pounded
• 2 cups long-grain white rice (Basmati is a good choice), uncooked
• 6 large potatoes chopped into large chuncks
• 1-2 tsp. salt
• yogurt

In a large, heavy skillet or stew pot, fry the onions in the butter until they are golden brown. With a slotted spoon, remove about 1/3 of the slices and set aside. Add to the pot the ginger, garlic and chili paste, and fry for 5 or 6 minutes, stirring constantly. Then add the lentils, green peas, carrots and green beans. Reduce heat to cook for 15 minutes, adding more butter, or a bit of oil , if necessary.

Add tomatoes, spices and mint, and stir for 5 minutes. Then pour in about a cu[p of hot water, cover and simmer unitl vegetables are about half cooked. Add rice, potatoes, salt, and another 4-5 cups of hot water (use lesser amount if you r vegetables have created quite a bit of liquid). Cover again, and cook for another 20-30 minutes until rice is done and water is absorbed .

To serve, garnish with the reserved onion slices, and pass around a bowl of yogurt as a sauce.

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