Thenga Paruppu (Coconut Lentils)

I haven't been feeling up to doing much cooking lately and my days have been pretty helter-skelter, so I can't really do much advanced planning either. That makes dals like this ideal for the days that I do manage to get it together enough to cook something.

Thenga Paruppu

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. mung beans (sabud moong/whole green "lentils")
• 3 c. water
• 1-2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds, ground
• 1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds, ground
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 small (400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 15 fresh or frozen curry leaves
• 1-2 fresh green serrano or finger chiles, cut into 5mm slices
• 1 c. shredded fresh coconut (or 1/2 c. dried coconut, reconstituted)

Directions

1. Thoroughly rinse the mung beans.
2. Place in pressure cooker with water and pressure cook (on high) for 20 minutes followed by a 15-minute natural pressure release.
3. Meanwhile, heat the ghee over medium heat.
4. Add the mustard seeds, cover, and cook until seeds have stopped popping (30-60 seconds).
5. Add the onion and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
6. Add the ground mustard and fenugreek seeds and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
7. Add the salt, tomatoes, cilantro, turmeric, curry leaves, chiles, and coconut and stir to combine.
8. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until tomatoes are softened (~5 minutes).
9. Once beans are cooked, stir the sauce into the pot and simmer until flavour meld (~10 minutes).

It's been a bit over a month since I made this, so I'm hoping that I can remember all the changes I made. The base recipe was fine, but the flavour was a bit flat, so I did end up tweaking it a bit just to punch things up a notch.

Slow Cooker Bolognese

Adapted from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1-2 carrots, grated
• 1-2 onions, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 c. tomato paste
• 1/2 c. red wine
• 1kg lean ground beef
• 1 1/2 c. whole milk
• 1 large (800mL) can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried basil
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 Parmesan rind (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. dark soy
• 2 tsp. light soy
• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add celery, carrots, and onions and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook until softened (~10 minutes).
3. Add the garlic and tomato paste and cook until fragrant (3-4 minutes).
4. Add the red wine and cook until mostly evaporated.¹
5. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, cook the ground beef and season with salt and pepper.
6. Stir the milk into the beef and cook until mostly absorbed.
7. Add the beef to the slow cooker along with the tomatoes, oregano, basil, thyme, pepper flakes, and parmesan rind (if using).
8. Cover and cook on low for 6-12 hours.
9. Taste and add sugar, soy sauces, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar if needed.

¹ If you have an InstantPot, then these steps can be done on the sauté setting. Otherwise, transfer veggie mixture to slow cooker once this step is complete. ^Back

Sauerbraten (German Sweet and Sour Beef)

When I was in NZ last year, I found an excellent deal on beef brisket and came home with a nice piece. It went in the freezer to be cooked later... But then I never quite got to it before I left. So it was still waiting for me in the freezer when I returned this year.

Another time I might've tried to smoke and/or barbecue it. But we're kind of out of grilling season in this hemisphere now and, after a year in the freezer, it was a bit freezer-burnt, so I decided to go for a slow cooker option instead.

After giving it a bit of thought and tossing around a few different ideas, I settled on taking a crack at turning it into sauerbraten. I have fond memories of the sauerbraten that my dad made. And, while I don't have his recipe, I figured I could at least ask the internet and try to come up with something similar. And it seemed like the ideal thing to do with a big chunk of slightly freezer-burnt beef.

The recipe that I used recommends using a bottom round or rump roast for this, but I figured the brisket would also work quite well. And it did! I really enjoyed how it came out. That said, I'm sure it would be good with other cuts too.

Sauerbraten

Slightly adapted from Daring Gourmet

Ingredients

• 2 onions, chopped
• 2-3 carrots, cut into large chunks
• 1 leek, white parts only, thoroughly rinsed and chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 juniper berries
• 6 whole cloves
• 10-12 black peppercorns
• 2 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2 1/2 c. red wine
• 1 c. red wine vinegar¹
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 1.5-2kg beef roast (brisket, bottom round, rump, etc.)
• 1-2 Tbsp. oil or lard
• 4 slices bacon, chopped (optional)
• 1/4 c. flour
• 1/4 c. raisins
• 75-85g gingersnaps/gingernuts (6-7 gingernuts), crushed
• 1 Tbsp. honey

Directions

1. Combine the onion, carrot, leek, garlic, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, juniper berries, cloves, peppercorns, salt, sugar, wine, vinegar, and water and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
4. Nestle the roast into the marinade, cover, and refrigerate for 4-7 days, turning each day if the marinade does not completely cover the meat.
5. When ready to cook, remove the meat from the marinade and set aside.
6. Strain the marinade and reserve both the solids and the liquids.
7. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
8. Add the beef and sear on all sides. Set aside.
9. Add the bacon (if using) to the now-empty pot and cook.
10. Add the vegetables and sauté for ~5 minutes.
11. Add the flour and cook until no longer raw (3-4 minutes).
12. Pour in the reserved marinade, raisins, gingersnaps/gingernuts, and honey and bring to a boil.
13. Add beef, cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2-4 hours if cooking on the stovetop. Otherwise, transfer everything to a slow cooker and cook on "high" for ~6 hours. (Or use an InstantPot-style multi-cooker to do the whole thing in place.)
14. Once beef is cooked through and tender, remove from the pot and set aside.
15. If desired, remove the bay leaves, juniper berries, and cloves from the liquid and purée the veggies into it to make a thick gravy. Otherwise, adjust consistency by mixing in a cornstarch or flour slurry and boiling until gravy thickens to desired consistency.
16. Adjust seasoning to taste.
17. Slice beef and serve with the gravy (and veggies if you chose not to purée them).
18. Serve with a starch (potatoes, bread, etc.) and rotkohl (sweet-and-sour red cabbage) or another vegetable dish of your choice.

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¹ I couldn't find any red wine vinegar, so I just used white wine vinegar. Either is fine. I think that cider vinegar would also be good in a pinch. ^Back

Khichdas/khichdras are thick legume-and-grain porridges. This one contains wheat, rice, pigeon peas, and yellow split peas. They also generally contain beef, goat, or both. This one just contains a relatively small amount of beef, but I think that goat would also be excellent in it (either instead or as well).

This was one of those almost "too simple" recipes that made me a little nervous. Because while it contains a lot of legumes and grains, it doesn't have that much in the way of seasonings. It's mostly just cumin. Cumin, ginger, and garlic. And a little cilantro and coriander. But that's not a whole lot to hang your curry on! No asafetida. Not even any turmeric! But, honestly, it was still great! Even with the limited spices. And the beef came out ultra-tender!

While I won't go so far as to say this is a new "favourite", it was very good. It may not be as tasty as some of the other curries in the book, but it has an impressive tastiness-to-effort ratio! And it's also very cheap to make. The most expensive ingredient is the beef. And you only need half a kilo of that. And cheap stewing beef works just fine. So you don't need to spend a lot of money on the meat for it. And, other than that, it's dried legumes, rice, and wheat! All very affordable ingredients. And it makes a huge amount. So it's a great dish for feeding a hungry crowd.

Khichda

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. cracked wheat
• 6 c. water
• 1/2 c. skinned split pigeon peas (toovar dal)
• 1/2 c. yellow split peas (chana dal)
• 1/2 c. long-grain rice¹
• 500g stewing beef
• 1/2 c. chile-ginger paste²
• 2 Tbsp. dhania-jeera masala
• 1-2 tsp. black cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds³ (optional)
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1/4 c. ghee
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds
• 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Rinse and drain the wheat thoroughly.
2. Add it to the water and allow to stand at room temperature for 6-8 hours.
3. Add the wheat and its soaking water to a slow cooker or InstantPot.
4. Add the pigeon peas, yellow peas, rice, beef, chile-ginger paste, masala, black cumin (and additional regular cumin, if using), and 1 tsp. of the salt.
5. Either slow cook on "low" for 6-8 hours or pressure cook on "high" for 1 hour. If pressure cooking, allow for a 15-minute natural release. When the khichda is done, the grains should be very soft and the beef extremely tender. The consistency should be similar to congee/jook.
6. Once the porridge is ready, heat the ghee over medium-high heat.
7. Add the cumin and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
8. Reduce heat to medium, add the garlic, and cook for a minute or two.
9. Add the garlic-y ghee and the remaining 1 tsp. of salt to the khichda and stir to mix.
10. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

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¹ Iyer calls for long-grain white rice specifically. I reasoned that, given how long it cooks for, there's no reason why I couldn't use brown rice instead. So I tossed 1/2 c. of brown basmati into my khichda. It worked great! Would definitely do it that way again in future. ^Back
2 I use chile-ginger paste rarely enough that I don't bother keeping it on hand. For this recipe I just tossed 1/2 c. of store-bought ginger paste into the blender with 6 fresh green finger chilies and gave that a whiz. It did the job and saved me trying to find room for another jar in the fridge. ^Back
3 I find black cumin quite strong and don't like excessive amounts of it. Neither does TF. So when recipes call for blak cumin, I tend to scale it back a bit. For this one, I cut the black cumin back to 1 tsp. and then added an extra tsp. of regular cumin to compensate. ^Back

I feel a bit bad about this one. Not only has it taken me months to get it written up¹, but I poisoned a house guest with it. So, you know, not my finest moment.

Let me explain. The dish itself was fine. But he has a sensitivity to vegetables in the nightshade family. Most notably tomatoes and peppers. He can handle tomatoes that are very well cooked. So canned tomatoes are usually fine. And a few chilies in a curry or stir-fry or whatever are usually fine. As are things like paprika and chili powder. So, given that, I had hoped that the cooked, smoked, canned, and simmered chilies in this wouldn't cause him any problems. And, I think if it had just been one or two chipotles, it probably would have been fine. Unfortunatley, the recipe calls for an entire tin of them. I only ended up using ~2/3 of a tin. But that was still apparently too much and ended up setting off a bad reaction. So it wasn't exactly the greatest start to the trip. Whoops!

On the bright side, if you're not allergic to the ingredients, this is a very easy and relatively tasty chili to make. I mean, it's not the best chili ever. But it's very simple to put together, so it has a reasonably good effort-to-deliciousness ratio. My main complaint is that it's lacking in legumes and veggies. It's basically just a big pot of beef. Which is fine as far as it goes. But it means it doesn't really work well as a stand-alone dish like a more traditional bean-based chili might.

Beef-Chipotle Chili

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1.3kg stewing beef
• 1/4 c. olive oil
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried oregano
• 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 onions, chopped
• 2 c. beef stock
• 1 (220g) can chipotles in adobo

Directions

1. Combine flour, salt, and pepper and dredge the beef in it.
2. Heat the oil over medium heat (sauté medium) in the InstantPot.
3. Working in two batches, sear the beef on all sides.
4. Remove beef from pot, sprinkle with oregano, and set aside.
5. Add the garlic and all but 1/2 c. of the onion to the now-empty pot and cook for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add the broth and chilies (including all of the sauce).
7. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom.
8. Return beef to pot, cover, and slow cook in medium for 6-8 hours (or high for 3-4 hours).
9. Sprinkle with remaining onion and serve.

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¹ I originally made it back in April. ^Back

This is a tasty stew, but I feel like it needed a bit more... something to perk it up a bit. You would think that with half a kilo of chorizo in the pot, it would have plenty of savoury umami and fat and spice and all that good stuff and it certainly smelled incredible, but -- for me at least -- the flavour didn't quite live up to what the aroma promised. Still... it was decent and very easy to throw together. Although it wasn't remotely ready in the time indicated in the recipe. I don't know if the InstantPot's low is just dramatically lower than whatever slow cooker they were using or what, but even after eight hours the beans were still fairly firm. And I even bumped the temperature up to "medium" for the last four hours of that cook time!

In the end it took a full 12 hours to cook! Four each on low, medium, and high. And it then got left on the highest "keep warm" temperature overnight as well. Next time I think I'd just start it on "slow cook - high" and aim for maybe a six-hour cook time. I'd probably also add a jalapeño or two as well. And maybe a bit of creole seasoning. Hopefully that would help round out the flavours a bit.

Red Bean and Chorizo Stew

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 450g dried red kidney beans
• 2 Tbsp. bacon fat
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1-2 jalape&ntile;os, minced (optional)
• 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 c. beef or chicken stock, divided
• 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. red chile flakes
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 tsp. creole seasoning (optional)
• 3 bay leaves
• 500g cured Spanish-style chorizo, sliced

Directions

1. Place the beans in a bowl and add enough water to cover by at least 3-4cm. Cover and let soak overnight.
2. The next day, melt the bacon fat over medium heat ("sauté - medium" in the InstantPot).
3. Add the onion, celery, and bell pepper cook until softened and beginning to brown (5-7 minutes).
4. Add the garlic and jalapeños (if using) and cook for another minute or two.
5. Pour in 1 c. of the stock and scrape the bottom to deglaze the pot.
6. Drain the beans and add them to the pot.
7. Add the remaining stock, vinegar, chile flakes, pepper, creole seasoning (if using), bay leaves, and chorizo.
8. Stir to combine, cover, and slow cook on high for 6-8 hours.
9. Serve with rice and/or crusty bread and season with Tabasco or similar hot sauce(s).

I made a winter vegetable curry for dinner the other day. It was good, but lacking in protein, so I made this simple legume curry to round out the meal.

The original recipe calls for making the sauce with a combination of yogurt and bean cooking water. Normally I would have made it that way, but I still had rather a lot of leftover kibbeh sauce and no kibbeh left to eat it with, so I actually ended up using a whole cup of kibbeh sauce and omitting both the yogurt and the bean water. I figured that since the sauce is basically just yogurt and chicken stock (with an added egg), that it would work well as a stand-in and allow me to use up some leftovers from the fridge. I think it worked out quite well!

I found both curries a bit lacking in punch, but that was easily remidied with a generous dollop of Laoganma (老干妈/spicy chili crisp) at the table. That said, stirring in some extra chilies, spices, and/or fish sauce during cooking would accomplish a similar goal.

Black-Eyed Peas with Tomato-Yogurt Sauce

Slightly adapted from Healthy Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. dried black-eyed peas¹
• 3 c. water
• 1 tsp. Better Than Bouillon
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 5 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 6-7 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 3/4 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom seeds, ground
• 1 small (400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne
• salt, to taste
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Place the black-eyed peas, water, and Better Than Bouillon (or other stock concentrate) in an InstantPot/pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Allow a 15-minute natural release before releasing any residual pressure. Set aside.
2. Heat oil over medium-low heat.
3. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
4. Add the ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, and cardamom and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
5. Increase heat to medium and begin adding yogurt, 1 Tbsp. at a time, stirring well between each addition.
6. Stir in 1/2 c. of cooking water from the beans.
7. Drain the beans, discarding the remaining cooking water.
8. Add the cooked beans to the sauce along with the cayenne.
9. Season to taste with salt.
10. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
11. Uncover and cook until thickened (~5 minutes).
12. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

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¹ The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 c. beans, but I chose to scale it back to 1 c. for my rendition. I also halved the oil. But I left all other quantities the same. ^Back

I wasn't entirely sold on the combination of beef and pumpkin for this stew, but I wanted to give it a shot and, actually, it really works! The mint doesn't really come through that much, but the cinnamon does and it adds a fantastic warmth to the meal. I'd be tempted to add a few parsnips or some other veggies next time, but I don't think it needs it. It's great as is.

The recipe is written for a slow cooker, so I made this stew in the InstantPot. And that worked quite well. It meant that I could do a little work in the morning and then just leave it to slow cook all day with very little "hands on" time. That said, I do think a stew like this would be excellent made in a big Dutch oven on the stovetop. It wouldn't be quite as set-it-and-forget-it as using a slow cooker/InstantPot, but it would still require very little active time and might produce even better results. Maybe something to try for next time...

Beef & Pumpkin Stew

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1.3-1.5kg stewing beef
• 1 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/3 c. dry red wine
• 8 tsp. red wine vinegar, divided
• 2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into 5-cm pieces
• 1 (400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1/3 c. beef or chicken stock
• 450g baking pumpkin, peeled and cut into 5-cm pieces
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. fresh mint, chopped

Directions

1. Season the beef with 1/2 Tbsp. of the salt and all of the pepper.
2. Set InstantPot to "sauté medium" and heat up 1 Tbsp. of the oil.¹
3. Sear the beef in batches, flipping and turning to get good colour on all sides.
4. Remove beef from pot and set aside.
5. Add onion, thyme, and bay leaves and cook until onion softens (~6 minutes).
6. Add garlic and cinnamon stick and cook for another minute or two.
7. Pour in the wine and 2 Tbsp. of the vinegar and deglaze the pan.
8. Add the carrots, tomatoes, and beef stock.
9. Return the seared beef to the pot.
10. Cover and cook on low ("slow cook low") for 5 hours.²
11. Stir in pumpkin, increase heat to "high" and continue to slow cook until pumpkin is tender (1-2 hours).³
12. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 2 tsp. of vinegar into the remaining 1 Tbsp. of olive oil.
13. Mix in the remaining 1/4 tsp. of salt.
14. Stir in the green onions and mint.
15. Once the pumpkin is tender, stir in the green onion mixture, season to taste with additional salt and pepper, and serve.

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¹ Or heat oil over medium-high heat in a Dutch oven. ^Back
2 Might only need 3 or 4 if doing stovetop method. Cook over low heat, stirring very occasionally, until beef is tender. Add a little more liquid if it starts to get too dry. ^{Back 3} For stovetop, increase heat to medium-low and continue cooking, covered, stirring occasionally, until pumpkin is tender. ^Back

This recipe is from a while ago. So long ago that I don't clearly remember making it or what substitutions and adjustments (if any) we made. I think we stuck pretty close to the recipe. Possibly just substituting California chilies for the pasilla since the latter tend to be fairly difficult to find here.

Despite not remembering the details of making this dish, I do remember the results. Much like other adobo recipes that we've tried, it did produce tender meat in a tasty sauce. I remember it being good. But I also remember feeling somewhat disappointed and let down because the results of this slow cooker version paled in comparison to the stovetop- and oven-cooked one that we made a few years earlier: Beef in Adobo. Although both recipes include very similar ingredients and proportions, making it in the slow cooker just couldn't deliver the same results. So, while I appreciate the convenience of being able to throw everything in the pot and walk away, I prefer the results of the slightly more involved cooking methods from the earlier recipe.

Slow Cooker Adobo-Braised Beef

From Cook's Country June/July 2020

Ingredients

• 45g dried ancho or guajillo chilies, stemmed
• 30g dried pasilla or California chilies, stemmed
• 3/4 c. salsa verde
• 1/2 c. orange juice
• 1/4 c. lime juice
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns, ground and divided
• ~1.3kg stewing beef
• tortillas, to serve
• 125g queso fresco or feta, crumbled
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Use kitchen shears to cut chilies in half lengthwise and discard the seeds.
2. Cut chilies into 2-3cm pieces.
3. Toast chilies over medium heat, stirring often, until fragrant (~5 minutes).
4. Transfer to bowl and cover with hot water. Let stand ~5 minutes, then drain.
5. Add salsa verde, orange juice, lime juice, sugar, cumin, garlic, chilies, 1 tsp. of the salt, oregano, and 1/2 tsp. of the pepper to a blender and purée until smooth. Pour into slow cooker.
6. Season beef with remaining 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper and add to slow cooker with sauce. Stir to combine.
7. Cover and cook until tender (4-5 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low).
8. Serve with warmed tortillas, queso fresco, and cilantro. Chopped avocado, sliced radishes, and minced red onion also make nice toppings.

Based on the ingredients it looks like this recipe was aiming for a galbijjim sort of vibe, only with less fruit in the marinade, no veggies in the stew, and made with steak instead of short ribs.

Personally, I found the finished dish a little too sweet for my tastes. I think I'd be inclined to cut back on the brown sugar and/or omit the honey next time. But it was quite good. And the meat was very tender. I did kind of miss the veggies though. I'd be tempted to toss in a carrot or two next time, just to lighten it up a bit. It's very nice overall though.

Korean-Style Beef Bowls

Slightly adapted from Healthy Instant Pot by Alexis Mersel

Ingredients

• 1 yellow onion, coarsely choppsed
• 1/2 c. soy sauce¹
• 1/2 c. brown sugar²
• 1/4 c. sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp. mirin
• 8 cloves garlic
• 2-3cm piece of fresh ginger³, peeled
• 2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. honey⁴
• 1 Asian pear
• 1kg stewing beef
• 1 red onion, halved and sliced thin
• 6 radishes, sliced thin
• seasoned rice vinegar⁵
• cooked brown rice, to serve
• 2-3 scallions, sliced (optional)
• 1-2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Add the yellow onion, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, mirin, garlic, ginger, pepper, and honey to a blender.
2. Peel, quarter, and core the pear and add it to the blender as well. Purée until smooth.
3. Pour the marinade over the beef, turn to coat, cover, and marinate (in the fridge) for 4-24 hours.
4. Meanwhile, place the red onion and radishes in a bowl and pour in enough vinegar to cover them. Cover and store in the fridge for at least 15 minutes and as long as 2 weeks.
5. When the meat is done marinating, transfer it and the marinade to the InstantPot and pressure cook on high for 35 minutes followed by a 15-minute natural release.
6. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the sauce, then switch the InstantPot to sauté medium for ~10 minutes to thicken the sauce a bit.⁶
7. Serve the beef over rice, topped with sauce, pickled veggies, scallions, and sesame seeds (if using).

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¹ I used a mix of dark and light soy sauce. ^Back
2 I actually used 1/4 c. of this Splenda brown sugar blend stuff which is supposed to be equivalent to 1/2 c. of brown sugar. I might try cutting it back to 1/3 c. of brown sugar or 3 Tbsp. of the Splenda stuff next time though, just to cut the sweetness a bit. ^Back
3 I used 2 Tbsp. of ginger paste in place of the fresh ginger for this. ^Back
4 I would consider omitting the honey next time. ^Back
5 The original recipe calls for white wine vinegar with a pinch of salt added to it. I already had some nice, vinegar-y cucumber and onion salad on hand, so I just used that in place of the onion and radish blend this time around. That said, if I were doing it again and didn't have any appropriately prepared veggies already on hand, I think I'd be inclined to just use seasoned rice vinegar here. ^Back
6 I was very, very tired by the time the beef was finished yesterday and I actually completely forgot this step. So we have very saucy beef indeed. Whoops! ^Back

The plan had been to make some Korean-style marinated beef for dinner last night. Kind of like galbijjim, but with stewing beef rather than short ribs.

That was the plan. Unfortunately, I got started a bit late and didn't get the beef marinating in time. So we ended up having to do a quick pivot to another dinner plan. I knew we had a package of slightly freezer-burnt pork chops in the chest freezer downstairs, so I figured that this simple InstantPot recipe would be a good way to use them up. And it worked out great! The pork was delicious and so was the kale that went with it. And it harmonized well with the turnip (daikon) cakes that we decided to fry up to go with dinner too. So, despite being in a bit of a flap leading up to dinner, everything worked out really well in the end.

Lemongrass and Garlic Pork Chops

Slightly adapted from Healthy Instant Pot by Alexis Mersel

Ingredients

• 2 stalks lemongrass
• 3 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 6 cloves garlic¹, minced
• 2 large shallots², minced
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• ~1.4kg thick-cut bone-in pork chops
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 c. chicken or beef stock
• 300g frozen chopped kale³
• cooked rice, to serve

Directions

1. Remove any tough outer leaves from the lemongrass, press firmly with the flat of the knife, then slice very thin and set aside.
2. Combine the soy sauce, fish saue, sugar, garlic, shallots, and pepper and mix well.
3. Mix in the lemongrass.
4. Pour over the pork chops and turn to coat.
5. Cover and marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.
6. Set InstantPot to "sauté medium" and add the oil.
7. Remove the pork chops from the marinade (reserving the marinade) and sear in the InstantPot, working in batches and cooking each pork chop for 2-3 minutes per side.
8. Remove the pork chops from the InstantPot and set aside.
9. Add the stock to the pot and scrape the bottom to losten any stuck on bits.
10. Pour in the reserved marinade and turn the InstantPot off.
11. Return the pork chops to the pot and seal the lid.
12. Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes followed by a 10-minute natural release.
13. Release any residual pressure and transfer the pork chops to a serving dish.
14. Pour all but ~1/4 c. of the sauce over the pork chops.
15. Set the InstantPot back to "sauté medium" and add the kale.
16. Cook until the kale is heated through and the flavours have had a chance to mingle (3-5 minutes).
17. Serve the pork chops over rice with the kale on the side.

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¹ We were running a bit low on garlic, so I just used a few Tbsp. of garlic paste instead. I think I put in ~2 1/2 Tbsp. of paste, but I wasn't being too particular abou the measurement. ^Back
2 I had half a red onion in the fridge already, so I just minced that very fine and used it rather than going to the trouble of getting shallots special for this dish. ^Back
3 The original recipe calls for 150g of baby spinach, but suggests that chopped kale or bok choy would make good substitutes. I decided to go with kale since that make my life easier. But 150g didn't look like very much at all. So I decided to just use the whole 300g bag. I think this produced a much more reasonable amount of greens for the quantity of pork. ^Back

Moong Dal Kichidi (Rice-Lentil Porridge)

At this point we've made all of the pulaos and fried rice recipes in the curry book, so I decided to try this "kichidi" instead. I'd never had a kichidi before, but it seems very similar to pongal, another Indian rice-lentil porridge. They are so similar in fact, that I decided to Google around to try to find out what differentiates them.

Both these dishes are savoury, Indian porridges commonly made from rice and moong dal and often eaten for breakfast. But, having read up on them a bit, I now feel like I have a better handle on what distinguishes them from each other.

First of all, pongals are specifically a south Indian dish while kichidis can be found all over India. And, while pongals are sometimes eaten for dinner, they seem to be mostly considered a breakfast food. Meanwhile, kichidis can be eaten for any meal of the day.

Pongals, in addition to being more geographically restricted, also seem to be more restricted in their ingredients. They are always based on rice and moong dal (skinned split mung beans). While kichidis may feature that pair as their primary ingredients (as this one does), there are a plethora of variants using both different legumes and different grains/starches. Kichidis will also often include vegetables (usually tomatoes and onions and sometimes other vegetables as well), while pongals generally do not. Interestingly, despite this huge range of ingredients, it is pongals and not kichidis who can also come in a sweet form with jaggery and dried fruit in place of the spices and ginger.

And while Iyer calls for turmeric in both his kichidi and pongal recipes, apparently pongal tends to have less turmeric than kichidi on average and be a little less vibrantly yellow.

Other than that, the main difference seems to be the typical accompaniments. Pongal is traditionally eaten with sambhar (although it can certainly work well along-side other curries as well¹). Meanwhile, kichidis -- being more varied in general -- might go with any number of things, but chutneys, pickles, yogurt, and/or papads are some common choices. While vegetable stir-fries are often served with some of the drier, less porridge-y kichidis.

For this particular porridge, Iyer suggests that its ideal companion would be kheema mutter. And, while I do think that would have been delicious, that's not what I ended up doing.

Since I had both kidney beans and eggplant that needed to be used up, I decided to make katarikai goshtu and dahiwaale rajmah instead. Both curries that I hadn't tried yet, would use up the ingredients in question, and seemed reasonably easy to prepare. (I also ended up making a pasta "curry" to use up some arugula, but since that has its own starchy substrate built in, I don't really consider it an accompaniment to the kichidi; it's its own self-contained thing.)

Anyway, the kichidi turned out pleasantly well. It wasn't super flavourful on its own (although the ghee and cumin were nice), but it made a nice backdrop for the various curries it was served with. That said, I think I would like to try adding some tomatoes and onions next time. And probably some chilies as well. Just to give it a little more... presence. And maybe dial back the ghee a bit. Not that it isn't delicious, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to get more deliciousness from vegetables and spices and hopefully be able to rely less on deliciousness from concentrated fat!

So, with that in mind, here is the recipe as I made it, plus a bonus variant with some suggested edits.

Moong Dal Kichidi

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. skinned split green lentils/mung beans (moong dal)
• 1 c. long-grain white rice
• 4 c. cold water
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 4 c. boiling water, divided
• 3 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds

Directions

1. Rinse the dal thoroughly.
2. Add the dal and rice to a pot with the cold water.
3. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and skim off and discard any foam that forms on the surface.
4. Add the salt and turmeric.
5. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until most of the water has been absorbed (~10 minutes).
6. Pour in 1 c. of boiling water and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until that water has also been absorbed (~10 more minutes). Repeat until all the water has been used.
7. Heat the ghee over medium-high heat.
8. Add the cumin to the hot ghee and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
9. Pour the hot ghee and cumin into the porridge and stir to combine.
10. Serve with pickles, chutney, yogurt, papads, and/or your favourite curries.

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Variants

InstantPot Vegetable Kichidi

Adapted from 660 Curries and Indian Healthy Recipes

Ingredients

• 2-3 Tbsp. ghee, divided
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds, divided
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/8 tsp. ground asafetida
• 1 tsp. bin bhuna hua garam masala or bottle masala (optional)
• 2 tsp. ginger paste
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1-2 fresh green Thai, serrano, or finger chilies, minced
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. green peas (optional)
• 1 c. skinned split green lentils/mung beans (moong dal)
• 1 c. long-grain white rice
• 6-8 c. water

Directions

1. Rinse the dal very well and set aside.
2. Heat 1-2 Tbsp. of the ghee on sauté medium.
3. Add 1 tsp. of the cumin seeds and bay leaves and sizzle for 20-30 seconds.
4. Add the asafetida and masala (if using) give it a quick stir.
5. Add the ginger paste and stir-fry for 30-60 seconds.
6. Add the onion and chili and stir-fry for 3-5 minutes.
7. Add the tomatoes, turmeric, and salt and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
8. If using peas, add them now and cook for ~2 minutes.
9. Add the dal and stir-fry for ~4 minutes. (Or toast the dal in a dry pan in advance.)
10. Add the rice and water² and stir once or twice.
11. Pressure cook high for 8 minutes. Allow a 15-minute natural release.
12. Heat 1 Tbsp. of ghee over medium-high heat and add the remaining 2 tsp. of cumin seeds.
13. Sizzle the cumin for 10-20 seconds, then add the hot ghee and cumin to the porridge and stir once or twice.
14. Serve as above, with your choice of yogurt, pickles, chutneys, papads, curries, and/or stir-fries.

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¹ Iyer suggests serving the ven pongal in his book with aviyal and katarikai goshtu. ^Back
2 Use the lesser amount for a drier porridge and greater amount for a looser, more soupy porridge. ^Back

I've been wanting to try out this recipe for ropa vieja since this issue of Cook's Country first came out back in 2017. My original plans to make it ended up falling through and it just never quite made it back to the top of the stack again after that.

Well, I am pleased to report that I finally made it and it is delicious!

The original recipe is written for the slow cooker with an initial sauté of the veggies on the stovetop. Given that format, I was able to do the whole thing in the InstantPot. It worked quite well. Although I did have to bump the temperature up partway through cooking as the "medium" slow cook setting didn't appear to be getting the job done. Nudging it up to high for the last three hours seems to have work though, so I'd recommend just putting it on high from the get-go next time.

I served my ropa vieja over Congrí with some green beans on the side to make it a complete meal.

Ropa Vieja

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country June/July 2017

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 2-3 onions, halved and sliced
• 2 red bell peppers, sliced
• 1/4 c. tomato paste
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried oregano
• 1 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1/2 c. dry white wine
• 2 Tbsp. light soy sauce¹
• 2 bay leaves
• 900g flank steak, cut against the grain into 4 pieces
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 3/4 c. sliced green olives
• 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium-low heat. (Sauté low on InstantPot.)
2. Add onion and bell pepper and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, for ~8 minutes.
3. Move vegetables to sides of pot and add the tomato paste, garlic, cumin, oregano, and 1/4 tsp. of the salt to the cleared spot in the middle.
4. Cook for a minute or two, then stir the vegetables into the paste mixture.
5. Add the wine and cook until nearly evaporated (1-2 minutes).
6. Add the soy sauce and bay leaves.
7. Season steak with the pepper and the remaining 1 tsp. of salt and add it to the pot on top of the sauce.
8. Cover and slow cook on high for ~6 hours.
9. Once meat is tender, remove steak from pot and shred with two forks.
10. Return meat to sauce and stir in olives and vinegar.
11. Serve over plain rice, congri, or your starch of choice. (I've seen both potatoes and polenta suggested as alternatives to rice.

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¹ I'd be inclined to try a mix of light and dark soy next time. ^Back

Dal Korma (Lentil Korma)

I've had chicken korma and vegetable korma, but I'd never tried a legume-based korma before. This curry smelled divine. And it tasted pretty good. But it wasn't one of my favourites. That said, I would like to revisit it at some point. I think it could be improved. I think cutting back on the amount of water used to cook the lentils would definitely help. I found it way too soupy and would've preferred a thicker curry. I also wonder if upping the nuts and cream would improve matters. And, of course, using the full amount of chilies would've been nice too, but I scaled them back in an attempt to please the Kidlet's palate.

If I was looking to make even more changes, I think the next step would be adjusting the spices. I think some cloves would probably go nicely. And maybe either a piece of star anise or a black cardamom pod. I might also be tempted to toss in a dried Kashmiri chili and stir in a bit of ghee along with the cilantro right at the end of cooking.

Dal Korma

Adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. whole brown lentils (sabud masoor)
• 1/2 c. whole mung beans (green lentils/sabud moong)
• 4 c. water, divided
• 1 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 2 (7cm/3") cinnamon sticks
• 4 whole cloves (optional)
• 1-2 black cardamom pods (optional)
• 1/4-1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/4-1/2 c. raw cashews
• 1/4-1/2 c. slivered almonds
• 1-2 fresh green Thai chilies
• 2-3 Tbsp. ghee, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Rinse the legumes and pick them over for stones.
2. Add them to the pressure cooker along with 3 c. of the water, ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves and black cardamom (if using).
3. Pressure cook (on high setting for InstantPots) for 25 minutes, then allow for a 15 minute natural release.
4. Meanwhile, pour the cream into a blender. Add the cashews, almonds, and chilies and puree.
5. Melt 2 Tbsp. of the ghee over medium heat.
6. Add the onion, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 10-15 minutes.
7. Add 1/2 c. of the water and deglaze the pan. Remove from heat and set aside.
8. When legumes are done and pressure has been released, stir in the contents of both the blender and the pan.
9. Pour the remaining 1/2 c. of water into the blender and swish it around to rinse it out. Pour this mixture into the pressure cooker with the beans as well.
10. Cook (use low sauté setting on InstantPot) for 5-10 minutes.
11. Stir in cilantro and remaining 1 Tbsp. of ghee and serve.

Just doing a super quick write-up to try to knock another recipe out of the backlog. This reminded me a lot of the Chinese sausage and rice one-pot dinner that we sometimes do. I put "casserole" in quotes because I opted to make this in the instant pot rather than baking it in a covered casserole dish as directed. I added some kale to make it more of a one-pot meal.

Rice and Sausage Casserole

Adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2016

Ingredients

• 450g pork or vegetarian sausage, casings removed
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 tsp. dried sage
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 c. chopped fresh or frozen kale
• 2 c. long-grain brown rice
• 1 1/2 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/2 c. dry white wine
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Cook sausage until no longer pink (~5 minutes on medium sauté for InstantPot).
2. Add onion, carrot, celery, salt, and pepper and cook for another 5-7 minutes.
3. Add sage and garlic and cook for another minute or so.
4. Add kale and cook for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add rice and stir to combine.
6. Stir in stock, wine, and cream.
7. Pressure cook on high for 20 minutes, then allow for a 10 minute natural release.
8. Stir in parsley and serve.

I picked up some frozen lamb's feet from the local Halal grocery store and have been trying to decide what to do with them. I debated between a few different recipes but, in the end, I liked the look of this one the best. I didn't make too many modifications: just reduced the chilies (for Kidlet compatibility) and added some tomatoes (because I found another paya recipe that called for tomatoes and I had some that needed to be used).

The flavour was excellent, but the broth was somewhat lacking in body. I think I'd probably try reducing the water next time. The author also suggested chickpeas as an optional inclusion. I didn't use any this time, but I think I'd like to try some if I make this again. I think it'd also be nice with the oil swapped out for ghee.

Mutton Paya

Slightly adapted from Tasted Recipes

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 2 black cardamom pods
• 3 green cardamom pods
• 2 (7cm) cinnamon sticks
• 2 star anise
• 8 black peppercorns
• 5 whole cloves
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds
• 1 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 450g stewing lamb, mutton, and/or beef
• 300g lambs' feet
• 1-2 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies
• 1-2 tsp. chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds, gound
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 c. roasted split chickpeas (optional)
• 1 c. diced tomatoes (optional)
• 1 c. water
• 2-4 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat ghee over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cook until softened.
3. Add black cardamom, green cardamom, cinnamon sticks, star anise, peppercorns, cloves, and cumin seeds and cook for another 30-60 seconds.
4. Add the garlic and ginger pastes and cook for another minute or two.
5. Add the stewing meat and feet and cook for 3-5 minutes.
6. Add the paprika, ground chilies, chili powder, ground coriander, salt, and turmeric and cook for 30 seconds.
7. Add chickpeas and tomatoes (if using).
8. Add water.
9. Pressure cook (on high) for 25 minutes.
10. Remove feet if desired.
11. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve over rice.

I have a bunch of other recipes to write up, but I'm doing this one right away because I took a lot of liberties with the recipe and I don't want to forget what I did. I don't normally use a recipe for stock, I pretty much just put a bunch of things in a pot, add water and heat, and wait for it to become delicious. That method has always worked pretty well for me. And it's a great way to use up odd bits of stuff and vegetable peels. I actually made an amazing stock a few months ago that was pretty much just leftover chicken bones, onion, garlic, vegetable peels, and some spices. I honestly wish I'd done a write-up for that one. It ended up being one of the best stocks I've ever made. But I should stop reminiscing about that stock and start talking about this stock. This stock is (loosely) based on a recipe out of Offal Good. As I said, I made quite a few modifications to make it fit what I had avaialbe, but it's still inspired by their recipe.

The original recipe is for veal stock. It calls for veal knuckles, onion, carrot, celery, fennel, garlic, tomato paste, bay leaves, black pepper, coriander seeds, fresh parsley, and thyme. I didn't have veal knuckles, but I did have some beef soup bones that needed using, so I used them! I didn't have any fennel either, so I just tossed in some fennel seeds instead. I did have tomato paste, but I also had some fire-roasted diced tomatoes sitting in the fridge that needed to be used, so I swapped them in. The tomato paste is more concentrated and was meant to be added to the vegetables for roasting. Hopefully the larger volume and fire-roasting helps make up for the less concentrated flavour. I also tossed in a small amount of cilantro, mostly because I had it and I figured it would complement the coriander seeds.

The other big change with this recipe is that I was making it after grilling some short ribs. The ribs were braised for a couple hours first and then grilled and basted with a barbecue sauce made from some of the braising liquid. Afterward I filled a roasting pan with soup bones and vegetables and poured the leftover braising liquid over them. I roasted everything together until the veggies were tender and delicious and the liquid had cooked down to a delicious glaze. We ate most of the roasted veggies with dinner, but the soup bones and glaze went into the pot for stock. Then, instead of roasting more veggies for the stock, I just put raw ones into the pot. Maybe the broth won't be quite as flavourful that way, but I'm hoping that the glaze and roasted bones will make up for it. It certainly smells like it's going to be a delicious stock!

Veal/Beef Stock

Adapted from Offal Good by Chris Cosentino

Ingredients

• 2kg beef or veal bones¹
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 carrot, cut into large chunks
• 2 stalks celery, cut into large chunks
• 2-6 cloves garlic²
• 2L water
• 2 c. diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp. coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds
• 1/4 c. fresh parsley
• 1 Tbsp. fresh cilantro (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 Tbsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Roast your soup bones. I roasted mine on the barbecue with a whole mess of veggies, garlic, scallion oil, and some leftover braising liquid from cooking short ribs. If you're not doing any of that, then just roast them in the oven at 180°C (350°F) for ~45 minutes.
2. Dump your roasted soup bones into a pot. (I like using the InstantPot for this, but a regular pot on the stove works too.)
3. Optional: You may also roast your veggies if desired. Half an hour at 180°C (350°F) should do the trick. If you're using tomato paste, rather than diced tomatoes, toss the veggies with it before roasting. Otherwise, leave the tomatoes out until you're adding everything to the pot.
4. Add (optionally roaste) veggies to the pot with the roasted bones.
5. Add water, tomatoes (if using), bay leaf, peppercorns, coriander, fennel, parsley, cilantro (if using), thyme, and salt.
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for at least 8 hours.
7. Cool, strain, and discard solids.
8. Stock may be frozen for future use. I like to freeze mine in ice cube trays to have easy portions available as needed.

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¹ I'm not sure exactly how many soup bones I had, but I think it was probably ~2kg give or take. ^Back
2 I only added two cloves of garlic to the stock because I'd already added six cloves to the braising liquid for the ribs and a further nine to the roasting pan when cooking the veggies. Now, some of that garlic ended up in the barbecue sauce and some ended up getting eaten with dinner, but there was still a lot of garlic-y goodness in the soup bones and the glaze that went into the pot with them, so I felt pretty comfortable going light on the garlic in the pot. If you're making this fresh, without the benefit of braising liquid/glaze/etc., then I'd recommend tossing at least five or six cloves of garlic in the pot. ^Back

Iç Pilavi ("Stuffed" Rice)

TF and I both like liver but, for me in particular, I get burnt out quickly. Liver and onions is great, but I only really want to eat it about once a year... if that. We have a few other liver dishes that we make occasionally: liver fried rice, Burmese curried liver, etc., but I'm always on the lookout for something new and tasty. This Turkish liver pilaf definitely fit the bill.

Apparently it's normally made with either chicken livers or lamb liver, but I figured that calf liver would also work pretty well. My version also has a lot more liver than it's technically meant to have. I put about double the normal quantity in. Mostly because I had it on hand in the freezer and have been looking for a good opportunity to use it up!

Personally, I quite enjoyed this dish, but I did find it a bit on the greasy side. I think next time I'd cut back on the ghee slightly. I'd also be inclined to add a few more currants. There were lots of nuts and liver, but the currants kind of got lost in the mix. I've updated the recipe to reflect these changes.

Aside from that, I think the only thing I'd change is serving it garnished with a few pomegranate arils. It's meant to be served with lemon wedges so that you can add a hit of tart lemon juice just before digging in. I liked the idea of adding something tart (especially since it helps cut through the grease a bit), but I felt like the pomegranate seeds made for an even better accent than the lemon juice. I think a small drizzle of pomegranate molasses might also work in a pinch, but fresh (or thawed frozen) arils seem best here.

Iç Pilavi

Slightly adapted from The Turkish Kitchen by Ghillie Başan

Ingredients

Pilaf

• 1/4 c. dried currants
• 2 Tbsp. ghee, divided
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 Tbsp. pine nuts
• 3 Tbsp. slivered almonds
• 1 tsp. allspice berries, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 3/4 c. long-grain brown rice
• 1 3/4 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 250-500g chicken, lamb, or calf liver, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 small bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 small bunch fresh dill, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste

Garnish

• 1 Tbsp. pine nuts
• extra dill
• fresh pomegranate arils and/or lemon wedges

Directions

1. Soak currants in hot water for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Melt 1 Tbsp. of ghee over medium heat. (Sauté medium if using InstantPot.)
3. Add onion and cook until softened.
4. Add pine nuts and almonds and cook until nuts begin to turn golden-brown.
5. Add drained currants, allspice, cinnamon, and rice and stir to combine.
6. Add stock and season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. If using InstantPot, seal and pressure cook on "high" for 20 minutes. If you are not doing this in an InstantPot, your cooking time (and the amount of liquid required) will be different.
8. Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 Tbsp. of ghee over medium heat.
9. Add the liver and cook until browned, stirring/tossing occasionally.
10. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
11. Once the cook cycle on the InstantPot has finished, allow for a 10-minute natural pressure release, then release the rest of the pressure manually.
12. Fluff the rice and add the liver pieces to it.
13. For the garnish: toast the pine nuts in a dry pan until golden-brown.
14. Garnish pilaf with toasted pine nuts, extra dill, and fresh pomegranate arils and/or lemon wedges.
15. Serve with a vegetable side, salad, and/or additional dishes of your choice.

Refried (or Not) Beans

I would've sworn that I'd already written this recipe up, but I can't find it anywhere on the blog, so I guess I forgot. I got the recipe off of the BudgetByte$ blog. In her version, she doesn't actually fry the beans. She just seasons them, slow cooks them, and then mashes them with a little of the cooking water. I've done it this way before and it works great. I didn't think they'd be as good without the lard, but it worked really well! That said, if you really wanna go for broke, you can make them her way and then also fry them up with some lard and a bit of extra onion. Both ways produce excellent results.

Not Refried Beans

Slightly adapted from Budget Byte$

Ingredients

• 450g dried pinto beans
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 fresh jalapeño¹, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, bruised
• 1-2 tsp. chili powder
• 10-15 grinds black pepper
• 6 c. water
• 2-3 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Combine beans, onion, jalapeño, garlic, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, and water in a slow cooker or InstantPot. Do not add any salt yet!
2. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-9 hours.
3. Drain beans, reserving 1 c. of the cooking water.
4. Mash beans, adding some of the reserved cooking water to achieve the desired consistency. Make the beans a little wetter than you want them because they will thicken as they cool.
5. Add salt to taste.

Refried Beans

Ingredients

• 450g dried pinto beans
• 2 onions, chopped and divided
• 1 fresh jalapeño¹, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, bruised
• 1-2 tsp. chili powder
• 10-15 grinds black pepper
• 6 c. water
• 1/4 c. lard
• 2-3 tsp. coarse sea salt

Directions

1. Combine beans, 1 onion, jalapeño, garlic, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, and water in a slow cooker or InstantPot. Do not add any salt yet!
2. Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-9 hours.
3. Drain beans, reserving 1 c. of the cooking water.
4. Melt lard over medium heat. (Preferably in a large cast iron pan.
5. Add remaining onion and cook until softened and beginning to brown.
6. Add beans and reserved cooking water.
7. Mash beans and add salt to taste.
8. Cook until thickened but still slightly wetter than your ideal consistency. Beans will thicken as they cool.

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¹ For milder beans be sure to remove all the seeds and pith before chopping. For spicier beans leave the seeds and pith in. In a pinch you can substitute pickled jalapeño slices for the fresh, but fresh provides better flavour. ^Back

Yellow Rice (Sri Lankan)

This makes absolutely amazing rice! It's pretty and yellow (even if you make it with brown rice the turmeric does a nice job of colouring it). It's full of delicious toasted cashews and raisins. It's infused with the aroma of wonderfully flavourful spices. And it includes a generous quantity of ghee. What's not to like?!

Yellow Rice

Slightly adapted from Sri Lankan Flavours by Channa Dassanayaka

Ingredients

• 2 c. long-grain brown rice
• 2 c. water
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 whole cloves
• 3 green cardamom pods, crushed
• 6-7 fresh curry leaves
• 1 (7-8cm) cinnamon stick
• 6 black peppercorns
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 50g raw cashews
• 50g sultanas
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. plain yogurt (optional)

Directions

1. Combine rice, water, turmeric, salt, cloves, cardamom, curry leaves, cinnamon stick, and peppercorns in the InstantPot and give it a brief stir to make sure everything is well-mixed.
2. Seal InstantPot and set to pressure cook on "high" for 18 minutes and allow for a 10-minute natural release.
3. Meanwhile, heat ghee over medium heat.
4. Add cashews and sultanas and toast until cashews are golden-brown and fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside until rice is ready.
5. Once rice is cooked (including 10-minute natural release), release any remaining pressure, remove the lid, and fluff the rice.
6. Stir in the cashews and sultanas.
7. If desired, stir in the cilantro and yogurt as well.

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Variations

Vegan Version

Ingredients

• 2 c. long-grain brown rice
• 2 c. water
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 whole cloves
• 3 green cardamom pods, crushed
• 6-7 fresh curry leaves
• 1 (7-8cm) cinnamon stick
• 6 black peppercorns
• 2 vegan butter
• 50g raw cashews
• 50g sultanas
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. plain coconut yogurt (optional)