Monday, May 01, 2006

Bangladesh: Three Cheers for Cumin and Cauliflower!


This recipe was too sweet to pass up. I found it in a UN cookbook (of all unlikely places), and the instructions include:

"Put onions with butter in saucepan and fry a little."

Each instruction thereafter is "Put x into pan and fry a little more." In recipes from other countries, the style of English changed just a bit – essentially, every recipe had its own accent. The UN translators apparently aren't assigned to cover cookbook syntax – and I'm very glad!

This recipe is soft, delicious, and filling (not to mention really very good for you). The rice and lentils combine into a paste that holds all the vegetables together, and the slight sweetness of the lentils matches the cumin wonderfully. I'll be making this again.

Shobji Khichuri
Makes enough for 2

1 small onion, chopped
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp ground cumin
1 bay leaf
2 Tbsp rice
2 Tbsp red lentils
1 chopped carrot
2 Tbsp green peas
1 small potato
1/4 cup chopped cauliflower
2 green chilies (I left these out)
1 tsp salt
1 cup water

Put onions with butter in saucepan and fry a little.

Add cumin and bay leaf and fry a little more.

Add rice, lentils, carrot, and green peas and fry a little more.

Add potato, cauliflower, green chili, salt, and water, and fry a little more.

Bring to boil then cover saucepan.

Turn off burner after 20-25 minutes.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey there. Very cool blog! I have been a longtime food blog voyeur myself. Have yet to start one of my own, however, probably because I only know how to cook poached salmon and tortilla soup, and I cook them over and over again. And I am not convinced people would actually want to read that. I also don't have a digital camera. Yet.

I shall add you to my "Food Blog" bookmarks. I look quite forward to your progression through all the countries' cuisines.

Curiosity Killed the Cook said...

Thanks Sara! What's your recipe for tortilla soup? If it's one of only 2 things you cook, it must be good - I've never made tortilla soup.