Parippu, South Indian Spiced Red Lentil And An Important Announcement

First I must apologise for the lack of post update for the past 2 weeks and I promise I'll make it up to you in the days ahead.

Growing up with many Indians friends resulted in me being very familiar with this everyday Indian dish. "An Indian meal is somehow incomplete without a dish with some kind os pulses in it" (or words to that effect), as many of my Indian friends have proclaimed over the years, so it is only fitting that I conclude our very brief culinary trip to Indian with this delicious lentil dish.

It isn't much of a looker but the wonderful aromas and the distinctive south Indian flavours of curry leaves, coconut milk, mustard seeds and cumin will have you coming back for more.

Before I proceed to the recipe, I have an important announcement to make - I officially left my previous job on the 10th of August 2013 having spent almost 10 months cooking the food that I know and love best. Unfortunately the lack of support from skilled staff and the management's direction (or the lack of it)  for the restaurant have made my position untenable and it was time for me to move on.

Life is a lot less stressful now as my new job does not required me to work on nights or weekends and it is only a 10 minute bike ride from home, leaving me plenty of time to read, write, make arts,  cook and  blog regularly again!

serves 4 to 6 as part of Indian meal
you'll need;
250 g of red lentils, washed and drained well
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 cup of coconut milk
2 green chillies, chopped
1/2 tsp of cumin powder
1/2 tsp of coriander powder
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

for the tarka (final seasoning);
2 tbs of oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp of black mustard seeds
1 onion finely chopped
12 curry leaves

Prepare the ingredients and set aside.

Ingredients for the tarka - onion, curry leaves, black mustard seeds and cumin seeds.

Place the red lentils in a pot with 2 cups of water and add in the rest of the ingredients (except those for tarka) and stil to mix well. 

When it comes to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook slowly for 20 to 25 minutes or until the lentils are turned into a soft mush. 

Next prepare the tarka or final seasoning - heat oil in a pan over low heat, add mustard and cumin seeds, cover and allow the seeds to pop. Remove lid and add in the onion and curry leaves, fry over low heat until the onion is golden brown.

Pour the tarka into the pot of lentil and mix well. Season well with sea salt and cook for a further 5 minutes before serving.

Serve as part of an Indian meal with plenty of steamed basmati rice or roti.

Slow Roasted Pork Belly With Braised Lentils - Christmas Lunch 2010 Part 2

For our second course I prepared a tried and tested dish that didn't require too much attention from me as well. Pork belly was the obvious choice when I was doing my last minute shopping on Christmas eve as everything else was either sold out or way out of my budget. The pork belly turned out extremely moist and tender after 2 hours of slow cooking in the oven and I was relatively pleased with the resulting golden crackling. Everyone was satisfied and happy after the dishes were cleared but wait we still have our third course coming! Please come back tomorrow to check out our third course and my very first pudding for the blog. 

P.S We are moving to Carlton North after more than 10 years in Fitzroy. I am extremely excited about the move; a new suburb (only a block away :)), a bigger garden, a much larger living area and a brand new kitchen. Excitements aside; packing will be my new best friend for the next 2 weeks but I will continue to have regular posting and will visit all my favourite blogs whenever I need a break from my new friend. I hope you are enjoying the holidays as much as I have been so far.

serve 4 as a main or as a very satisfying one dish meal
oven pre-heated at 200C
you'll need;
1.2 kg of pork belly (ask for female pig)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
light olive oil
1 tbs of fennel seeds, dry roasted and set aside
2 onions, cut into half
1 bunch of spinach, washed and trimmed

for the braised lentil;
250 g of puy lentil, washed and soaked for 30 minutes
2 carrot, peeled and finely diced
3 sticks of celery, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic clove, chopped
2 to 3 bay leaves
1/2 cup of white wine
2 cups of chicken stock
olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste
a small knob of butter

Wash and dry the pork thoroughly with kitchen towel. Score the rind with a very sharp knife (or get your butcher to do that) at 1cm intervals but do not cut all the way to the flesh. Lightly oil the pork rind and rub with sea salt. Season the meat side with sea salt, pepper and fennel seeds.

Place onion halves in a roasting pan and place the pork belly on top, this will stop the pork from burning and drying out during the long cooking process. The onions will caramelized and also absorb all the juices and fat rendering out from the pork belly. These can be served with the meat later. Place the roasting pan into the hot oven at 200C for 20 minutes before turning the oven down to 160C and continue to roast for another hour and 40 minutes. If the crackling is browning too quickly, loosely wrap a foil to cover the pork. 

While the pork belly is roasting - saute chopped vegetables with a little olive oil until soften then add in the soaked lentil, stock, wine and bay leaves. Mix well and simmer gently for 20 to 25 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

When the lentils are ready throw in the butter and combine well. Do a final seasoning with salt and pepper.

After 2 hours - remove pork belly from the oven, cover loosely with foil and rest for 25 to 30 minutes before carving. While the pork is resting saute spinach with a little olive oil and season well. 

Serve pork belly on a bed of braised lentils with the sauteed spinach and caramelized onion. We served this with a beautiful rosé that one of the tummy had brought over.

Pan Roasted Chicken Breast With Braised Lentils And Spinach

Day 6 of our carbless diet - It is a bit of a struggle for me to come up with something exciting and delicious that will enable us to go on with the difficult business of diet. Apart from looking up the hundreds of cookbooks and magazines we have on the shelves, other blogs are also a good source of inspirations. This is a dish I remembered having a few years back at a restaurant in Sydney, it could also be in Brisbane? I am of course missing Asian food that comes with rice or noodles but I think I am doing fine without starch so far. 

serves 2

pre-heated oven at 180 C 

you'll need;

2 free range chicken breasts (I bought a whole chicken and filleted it myself)

a few sprigs of thyme

3 cloves of garlic, bashed

juice of half a lemon

a drizzle of olive oil

grated rind of one lemon

2 knobs of butter

250 g of puy lentil*

2 shallots, chopped

a large handful of baby spinach

100 ml of chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

* Rinse the lentil a few times to get rid of any stones or impurities. Place lentil in a pot, cover with water and simmer til tender (about 20 minutes). Drain well and set aside.

I filleted the chicken breasts myself, saving the other bits for later use. I also left the little wing bones attached to the breasts (supreme cut) for the "restaurant" look.

Marinate the chicken breasts for at least 20 minutes with garlic, lemon rind, lemon juice, olive oil, thyme and season well.

Pan fry the chicken breasts skin side down for 2 minutes and turn over and cook for a further 2 minutes. Place some butter over the chicken and sprinkle with extra thyme, finish in the pre-heated oven for 8 to 10 minutes depending on the size of the breasts. 

Rest the chicken breasts in a warm place while preparing the lentil and spinach.

Saute chopped shallots in the same pan and scrap off as much sticky bits as you can. Cook til shallots are  translucent.

Add lentil and mix well and when the lentils are hot enough add in the baby spinach and chicken stock. Cook til the greens are wilted. Season well with salt and pepper.

Serve the chicken breast with some of the lentils and spinach.