Chickpeas, Couscous, Carrots, and Tea

The recipe for Chicken Kdra in the book A Taste of Morocco, by Clare Ferguson, looked way too tasty to be passed over. I knew I would just have to overcome the chicken isn’t vegan issue.

Lucky for me the recipe includes chickpeas, so I decided just to make it without its star ingredient. It turned out brilliantly.

Chickpeas Kdra

I wanted to serve it up with some traditional couscous.  Have you seen how couscous is supposed to be made? Its a far cry from my ‘pour it out and cover with water’ standard, and requires a lot of time, patience, hand-rolling and equipment.

I don’t have time, patience or equipment, so needless to say I wussed out and went with my packet method. I did try to imitate the amazing traditional couscous dishes I’ve seen in books though, by making an onion jam and some spicy tomato sauce to top the couscous with.

As a vegetable dish I made some spicy carrots, which were much tastier and more interesting than they sound.

From top right: Spicy Carrots, Spicy Tomato Sauce, and Onion Jam

As this was a weekend night, I also bother to make a dessert of sliced oranges with cinnamon and sugar, which was pretty tasty. Credit for the idea goes the front of one of the cookbooks.

Oranges with Cinnamon and Sugar

Again, I mostly referred to a recipe in the book, but I made a few changes, so I will post my vegan version of Clare Ferguson’s Kdra.

Chickpea Kdra

serves 3

• 400g tin chickpeas, drained
• big pinch of saffron (or in my case, a huge amount of the dodgy “Turkish” saffron I got from a market in Istanbul)
• 1 tsp Massel chicken stock powder
• 1 Tbs ground ginger (I used the dry version)
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1 tbs margarine
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 Tbs parsley, chopped
• 1/2 cup white rice
• juice of one lemon
• coriander and parsley, to serve

1. In a large saucepan or frying pan, mix the chickpeas, spices, seasonings, onion and margarine over low heat until well combined.
2. Turn up the heat and fry, stirring constantly, until the onions start to sweat.
3. Add the rice and stir to combine.
4. Add 3 cups of boiling water and simmer until rice is cooked.
5. Squeeze lemon juice over it, salt to taste, and serve.

Harira

Harira is a soup, usually fairly meaty, which people in Morocco use to break their fast during Ramadan. It just so happens that Ramadan is now, so it turns out this soup was quite a fitting place to start.

I made a vegetarian version of the soup, which usually features chicken hearts and necks. I got some help from two fabulous books I borrowed from the Darebin Libraries: A Taste of Morocco, by Clare Ferguson, and A Season in Morocco, by Meera Freeman.

Books

Thick with lentils and flavourful thanks to the spices, the soup was fantastic, and made a filling meal. I enjoyed the spice combination of cumin, saffron, turmeric, and pepper, and the lemons and tomatoes made it lovely and tart.

I made a few changes but used Freeman’s recipe as my guide so I will post my version, but credit goes to her.

Vegan Harira

serves 4

• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 handful parsley stalks, chopped finely
•  1/2 cup dried red lentils
•  1/4 tsp tumeric
•  pinch saffron
•  1/2 tsp cumin
•  1/2 tsp black pepper
•  pinch cinnamon
•  3 cups water
•  1 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas, drained
•  2 cups tinned tomatoes
• juice of one lemon
•  1/2 cup little soup pastas (I used a broken up vermicelli type)
•  salt, lemon juice, coriander and parsley for serving

1. In a large saucepan mix onion, parsley, lentils, spices, and water and bring to the boil.
2. Bring the heat down to a simmer, and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to stop the lentils from sticking (which mine totally did).
3. Add the chickpeas and simmer for a further 20 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes, lemon juice and pasta, and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
5. Adjust seasoning if needed and add salt.
6. (If your lentils stick, like mine did, now is the time to pour the ok soup into another pan, and start soaking the first pan to try to get the burnt lentil gunk off )
7. Serve with a sprinkling of parsley and coriander , and with more lemon juice is desired.

Stew and Pilaf and Salad

The first Armenian meal was a stew called Bozbash.

I originally decided to make Bozbash after coming across praise for it in a book about Eastern European cuisine. This book, and several websites, identified Bozbash as an Armenian dish. I found several recipes for so-called Armenian Bozbash also. I also came across this article, containing a conjecture that Bozbash is not Armenian, but Azeri. I have no idea, and I had already made the thing, so to keep things simple this is my totally inauthentic, veganised version of the Azeri/Armenian/generally Central Asian dish.

For the record it was warm, hearty, but a little boring. I forgot the vinegar though, and this may have made the difference. No doubt the meaty version is less bland, but you can only get so much juice out of soy sausages.

Pilaf and Bozbash

I adapted it from these recipes: http://beyondborscht.tumblr.com/, Lamb Soup with Chestnuts, and Bozbash Yerevan.

Vegan Bozbash

Serves 3

• olive oil
• 2 Fry’s burgers
• Medium brown onion, small dice
• 1 tbs margarine
• 2 carrots, chopped into rounds
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 3 cups vegan “beef” stock, 1 cup water
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 leek, diced
• pepper
• 2 potatoes, big dice
• 1 large tomato, peeled and diced
• 1 can chickpeas (400g), drained
• 1/2 cup fresh peas
• 4 semi dried prunes
• Leaves of 2 sprigs flat leaf parsley
• Leaves of 2 sprigs coriander
• a little vinegar, to serve

My method was mostly like the Beyond Borscht recipe, with a few deviations.

1. In a large saucepan fry the diced burhers in a little oil until they brown. Remove from an and put aside.
2. In the same pan, fry the onion in some margarine, until brown. Stir so it doesn’t burn too much ( a little is ok).
3. Add the carrot and continue to fry over medium heat until beginning to brown, stirring to avoid burning. Remove carrot and onion but don’t clean the pot.
4. Add the bay leef, thyme, water and beef stock, and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes with the lid off.
5. Put the carrot and onion back in the pan, and add the leek, garlic and pepper. Put the lid on and simmer for about 45 minutes. Check occassionally to ensure yours doesn’t go dry. (mine didn’t).
6. Remove from heat but let it sit with the lid on, for 1 hour or more. (If you need to let it sit overnight or for a few hours, sit it in the fridge after it cools, to avoid nasties building up).
7. In a separate pot boil the potatoes until tender, but not falling apart. Once done, set aside.
8. To peel the tomato: Cut a small, very shallow cross on the bottom of the tomato, and remove the core in a small cone shape. The tomato should still be in one piece after this. Then put the tomato into boiling water for 30-60 seconds. Remove and allow to cool a bit. Once cool enough to touch, the skin should come off easily. Then dice the tomato and set aside.
9. When you are ready to eat, put the soup together. Pull out the bay leaf and discard. Add the burgers, tomato, chickpeas, peas and potatoes to the carrot/leek/stock mixture and heat to your serving temperature.
10. Dived the prunes and the solids of the soup into three bowls, pour the soup over. Garnish with parsley and coriander, and a little squirt of vinegar.

I served it up with a lentil pilaf, and an eggplant salad.

For the pilaf I used this recipe I found on CeltNet, although I used half rice and half bulgur.

Eggplant Salad

Eggplant Salad (based on this recipe from Little Armenia)

serves 2

• 1 medium eggplant
• 1 spring onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tbs Sun dried tomatoes, small dice
• 3 Tbs red capsicum, small dice
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp sumac
• lemon juice from 1/4 lemon
• salt to taste
• 2 Tbs chopped parsley

1. In a very hot oven, roast the eggplant, turning 3 times so all side brown and the eggplant deflates a bit. Takes about 20 minutes.
2. Let the eggplant cool enough to handle. Open the eggplant and scrape the flesh and seeds into a bowl. Discard the skin.
3. Mash the eggplant with a fork, then add the onion, garlic, tomato, capsicum, oil, spices, and lemon juice, and mix together.
4. Add salt to taste if desired.
5. Put the mix in a serving bowl and sprinkle with parsley. I like it best if it sits for 30 minutes or more before eating.

Eggplant salad and bozbash

 

 

 

 

More Pilaf, Cabbage and a Salad

Pilaf with home made stock

I have now real and followed so many pilaf recipes, that I’m actually getting pretty good at making my own. Success seems to lie in the stock. In Australia, I usually just use easy-peasy Massel stock powder, but I can’t get anything approximating vegan stock here in Tbilisi, so I make my own, and it works out well.

In my stock I use a handful of chopped mushroom stalks, the outer cabbage leaves and any left over cabbage stalk, parsley stalks, carrots, a tomato, brown and red onion skins and ends, and all the little tiny garlic cloves I can find (I use the ones from the middle because I have chopping them later, and using them in stock means I don’t have to feel guilty for being lazy). I add a tiny bit of salt, and sometimes a little sugar. I generally make about 1.5 litre at a time.

Pretty Pilaf

Keira’s Pilaf Recipe

serves 3

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
  
• 1 cup white rice (long grain)
• 1 medium brown onion, diced
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• any vegetables you want, small dice
• 2 cups strong stock
• water as needed
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper, to taste
• sultanas or raisins, if desired.
• dash of chosen spices – I use cinnamon, clove, coriander seed and some curry, depending on what I feel like.

1. In a large, non-stick frying pan, heat the oil, and add the rice. Fry on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the onion and fry until translucent, stirring frequently.
3. Add the garlic and any vegetables or fruits you will be using, such as capsicum or zucchini, and fry for a furhter 5 minutes.
4. Add one or two squeezes of lemon juice now, to help break up the rice.
5. Add the stock. Leave until all of the liquid has been absorbed. This took me about 15 minutes.
6. Test – you may need more water, depending on what type of rice you used.
7. Remove from heat when the rice is cooked. Taste, add rest of lemon juice, salt, pepper, and spices. Fluff with a fork and serve with other dishes.

Note: If we’re having pilaf at lunch I like to add a little nooch at the end. Don’t do this at dinner tough, because the B6 in the nooch tends to stop people from sleeping.

 

Cabbage with Tomatoes

I Have no photo of the cabbage and tomatoes dish, because it wasn’t actually until after I made it that I found out it was Turkish.One of the only green vegetables we can get here is cabbage, so I had planned to fry some up with onion and garlic as per usual. I added a chopped tomato, a little stock, a little tomato paste and some cayenne pepper, on a whim.

Turns out what I made closely approximates this dish, so there you go – I’m a food psychic, or something, because I didn’t see this site until long after we ate the meal.

 

Chickpea Salad

The salad wasn’t so much Turkish as Turkish-inspired. I just threw together some onion, garlic, parsley, coriander, chickpeas and red capsicum, to add some protein and crunch to the meal.

Chickpea Salad

 

Eggplant and mushrooms and walnuts, of course

Kamarjoba!

(Yup, that’s the only word, other than bread, that I can say in Georgian).

Last night’s dinner was intended to be all Georgian, all the way, however, of course, it didn’t quite turn out that way.

I had intended to make my own version of the fabulous eggplant and cinnamon dish that I get at Goodwill (the supermarket), and serve it alongside mushrooms and cream, and a red bean salad. Unfortunately I forgot that I  didn’t actually have any red beans, Mr having used them all up in his signature kidney bean, soy sauce and coriander dish the night before. Also, I rarely have the patience for eggplant, and this was not an exceptional evening.

As I didn’t realise that I was out of red beans until I had already made most of the salad, I have to apologise to all of Georgia for presenting my “Georgian Red Bean Salad”, made with chickpeas. The horror!

I am posting the recipe for my version of the eggplant with cinnamon dish, and if you actually follow it, yours should turn out really nicely. I got sick of salting the eggplant and started cooking it too soon, and then didn’t wait long enough before I added the water, so mine was a little undercooked. I also burned my finger, which is bad because I don’t have patience for holding burned fingers under the tap for long enough, either.

Both the mushrooms in cream and the salad recipe originally came from GeorgianTaste, however I am re-posting them with my vegan/available ingredient related changes. If you have access to vegan cooking cream, I suggest you try to follow the original recipe for the mushrooms- mine was great, but real cream would have been even better.

From front, clockwise: Bread, Eggplant and Cinnamon, Mushrooms in Cream, and (chickpea) Bean Salad.

Eggplant and Cinnamon

We’ve been loving the eggplant and cinnamon dish I get at the deli, so I though I’d give it a try.

• 1 medium eggplant, diced, salted for 40 minutes
• 1 onion, diced finely
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• olive oil
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon, or more if you like
• dash cloves
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• dash fenugreek
• 1 tablespoon minced dill (or if you don’t have any, some dill-flavoured vinegar from the pickle jar)
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 cup water
• salt,to taste

1. Leave the eggplant to salt for ages and ages, seriously! (about 30-40 minutes) I never do this for as long as I should and it makes it a bit crap. Then give it a pat down or a rinse.
2. In as much oil as you are comfortable with (between 2 tablespoons and about 1.3 cup), fry the onion, garlic and eggplant together until the eggplant is soft (this takes a while).
3. Add the tomato, spices, and water. Stir together and leave at a simmer to cook down. This takes about 25 minutes, but check it occasionally.
4. Taste, and add salt as wanted.
5. Serve sprinkled with a little chopped coriander and some pomegranate seeds.

 

Red Bean Salad

Original recipe here.

• 2 garlic clove, minced
• 4 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped, not ground
• 2 tablespoons white  wine vinegar
• 1/4 tsp red pepper powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups can kidney beans, drained and rinsed (clearly, I used chickpeas)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Only one step – mix everything together!

Bean Salad

Mushrooms in Cream, Soko Arazhanit

Originally from this recipe. My version, below, makes enough for two, as a side dish.

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• a little olive oil
• 1 cups of mushrooms, trimmed and thickly sliced
• 1 tablespoon of vegan margarine (I can’t get margarine so I use vegan lard here)
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 1 1/2 cups soy milk (unsweetened)
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 tsp powdered cloves
• sat to taste

1. Cook the garlic and mushrooms in a little oilve oil until soft.
2. Add the margarine and flour. Stir constantly until a soft dough forms, then continue to stir and cook for about 5 minutes (this “cooks out” the floury flavour).
3. Add a 1/4 cup of soy milk, and stir into a paste. Continue to add milk, a little at a time, until you have added 1 cup.
4. Add the spices, pepper, bay, a little salt and parsley, and leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Mixture should have thickened a little. Add extra soy milk if needed, and stir through. Remove bay leaf, and serve  with rice, pasta or bread.

Mezze 1

• Babaganoyj (eggplant)
• Tomato salad
• chickpea dip with “beef”
• potato kibbeh

The list above is what I had intended to make for our first mezze night. It didn’t work out exactly as I had hoped though.

First to make the babaganoyj (spelling taken from the book I used, but there seem to be a few ways). The recipe, from the book Arak and Mezze: The Taste of Lebanon, said to put the whole eggplant in the oven and roast it, turning, until the skin was brown. It seemed unlikely to happen in the 5 minutes prescribed, but I gave it a go. It took 15 minutes, but it did get there, to my relief.

Next was to scoop out the flesh and mash it. As I sliced into the eggplant I could sense there might be a problem – it was a really, really seedy one. I was supposed to remove the seeds, but there were just too many, so I left them in. I then tried to mash it, only to find that some of it was better cooked than other parts.

I tried to keep on, and added the tahini, lemon juice, etc, but in the end it was a seedy, uneven, overwhelmingly-tahini-flavoured mush, that just didin’t work. Even Mr thought it was a bit crap, and he eats just about anything. I didn’t get a photo before it was added to the compost, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. Ah well, on to the potato kibbeh and tomato salad.

However, I got home, looked through the pantry and realised I didn’t actually buy any potatoes or sour cream (for the tomato salad).

So, onwards and upwards I turned my hand to making cauliflower kibbeh instead. Kibbeh, in this context, seems to mean mashed something with burghul. So, I steamed and mashed and soaked and salted, and it turned out like this:

Kibbeh, tastes much less bland than it looks

A very yummy use of my second favourite vegetable.

For the salad, I just cut up tomatoes, marinated them in lemon juice and sumac, then mixed them with cucumber, parsley and some spinach from our garden. Yum.

Tomato salad, Keira-style

The last part of our meal was the best, and certainly the easiest, due to some cheating on my part.

We had hommus with “beef”, however I used bought hommus from Aldi (perhaps the best bought hommus in Australia) and Sanitarium mince, so it was pretty easy. This was tasty, filling, and a little different than our usual use of hommus, so I’ve added the recipe for you to recreate some fast food at home.

Hommus with "beef" and pine nuts

Easy-Peasy Cheaters’ Vegan Hommus with Beef

• 250g Hommus
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 1 packet Sanitarium (or other) vegan mince
• 1/2 tsp fennel powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp dried parsley flakes
• salt and pepper to taste

1. In a dry pan toast the pine nuts. Watch them closely, as they burn easily. Put aside.
2. In the same pan heat some olive oil, and cook the onion for 5-10 minutes, until translucent.
3. Add the mince, and mash with a fork.
4. Stir the spices through, and add salt to your tastes.
5. Remove from heat, stir the pine nuts through.
6. On a serving plate, arrange the hommus in a ring, with a well in the middle. Put the mince and pine-nut mixture into the ring. Serve with vegetables and flat bread.

Garlicky chickpea breakfast soup

Yup. Apparently, sometimes, people in Tunisia have garlicky chickpea soup for breaky. They also eat bread, drink coffee, etc, but I’m most impressed by the concept of garlic for breakfast.

I love garlic. Mr isn’t so keen, and was pretty adamant that I make something to go with it, in case it was awful, but as soon as I saw a recipe, I was thinking, “Yay, garlic! Bring it on!”.

This wonderful idea for a soup is called Lablabi, it is sold at street stalls, and it includes chickpeas, water, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, harissa and bread, and sometime a sprinkling of corriander.

Lablabi - i'm not sure why it has bubbles in the photo

It was delicious! Even suspicious Mr was impressed, and had seconds. Stupidly easy to make, too. I can’t remember where I got this recipe, as I looked at a lot of them on the net, so I’ll post it below.

I also made cauliflower chackchouka, using the recipe from North African Cookery, although I added some couscous at the end because the sauce didn’t reduce as much as it should have, and I ran out of time to wait for it, as we both needed to rush out the door to our respective evening activities. It is a sort of stew, made from potato, cauliflower, tomato puree, onions, garlic, and mergues sausage (I substituted with good ol’ Sanitarium).

Chakchouka bil brouklou

They were both really good dishes, however i have to say i preferred the Lablabi – garlic and lemon juice is always a winning combination for me. Next stop – vegan ‘meat’ balls.

Lablabi Recipe

• 1 cup cooked chickpeas (soaked over night, cooked and drained, or you could use the canned variety)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• Water
• 2 tsp Harissa paste (or carraway powder, corriander powder, cumin and hot chilli)
• juice of half a lemon
• salt to taste
• 2 pieces day old bread
• 2 tbs fresh corriander
• 2 tsp olive oil

1. Add the chickpeas, garlic and Harissa to a saucepan, cover with water, and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. Break bread into small pieces and divide it and the corriander between two bowls. Drizzle with olive oil.
3. Add lemon juice to the saucepan, and add salt to taste if necessary.
4. Pour hot soup over the bread and oil, and serve immediately.