#EdenCooks - Punjabi Red Lentils and Chapatis - Thu. Sept 8 at 8pm EDT

Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Welcome to the September meeting of Eden Cooks! Eden Cooks is a cooking club for any interested members of the Eden community. We will meet on the forum to discuss everything from tips and pointers for less well-equipped kitchens, explanations of cooking terms, and important techniques. There will be a featured recipe each meeting, with pictures taken as I prepare it for you. I will cover some ingredient substitutions to make each recipe more friendly to people with dietary restrictions.

Since this is my very first meeting as the new leader of Eden Cooks, I'd like to share the recipe for my most-frequently-made meal. It's tasty, it's healthy, and it's cooked up in less than half an hour! Whenever I realize I forgot to plan dinner, whether I have guests over or I'm just cooking for myself, I'll throw together a batch of "masoor daal" --- that's split red lentils, cooked the Punjabi (north Indian) way---and some fresh flat bread.

During the meeting, a $25 gift card will be awarded for the winner of a contest where you guess the lesser known kitchen implement from a series of photos that I take. Another will be given to the winner of a trivia contest from information that I will provide during the meeting.

The meeting will take place on the EdenFantasys forum in this very thread at 8 pm EST on Thursday, September 8th. I'm really looking forward to hosting Eden Cooks, so I hope to see you there!
09/01/2011
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Contributor: Sir Sir
Mm, this dish sounds delicious. Did you mean today's date?
09/01/2011
Contributor: Naughty Student Naughty Student
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Welcome to the September meeting of Eden Cooks! Eden Cooks is a cooking club for any interested members of the Eden community. We will meet on the forum to discuss everything from tips and pointers for less well-equipped kitchens, explanations of ... more
Sounds veggie-liscious!
09/01/2011
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
I updated the date, and I'm super excited!
09/01/2011
Contributor: sexyintexas sexyintexas
Yay! I love lentils. I grew up on lentil soup lol!
09/01/2011
Contributor: ToyGurl ToyGurl
I've never been too into lentils but I'm excited about trying this dish. It sounds amazing! I am actually quite the chef at home so I'm very interested in attending! Is there any way we can submit our own personal recipes to EF? I have soooooooo many that I would love to share.
09/01/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
I'm glad everybody's excited! Thanks for catching and updating the date, Sir and Sam!

SecretToyLover---If you're not a big lentil fan, you can make this same recipe with any other kind of bean (just use a pressure cooker so they cook faster) or even with shredded chicken, so definitely come check out the meeting anyway! (And, even if you don't like the recipe, we're fun to talk with )

We'd love to hear your recipes---check out the Club Blog over here---some of the older entries are recipes+stories submitted by Alys, Vaccinium, and myself. If you want to write up something similar, just send me a PM and let me know the topic you want to write about! Or if you're more cookbook-inclusion inclined, send me a PM also and we'll try to line something up. (This goes for anyone interested in writing about cooking!)
09/01/2011
Contributor: Starkiller87 Starkiller87
Ive never had lentil so Im very curious about this one. I should be here as always. Looking forward to it.
09/01/2011
Contributor: Ivy Wilde Ivy Wilde
I'm not much of a cook, but I may drop in on the meeting anyway. Who knows, I might learn something in spite of myself.
09/01/2011
Contributor: Dawn (Lilac Distraction) Dawn (Lilac Distraction)
This would be something my roommate would love. It's vegetarian, right?
09/01/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Dawn (Lilac Distraction)
This would be something my roommate would love. It's vegetarian, right?
Yes ma'am! But you can always add meat if you're like my dad and can't go a meal without it...
09/01/2011
Contributor: Tuesday Tuesday
Mmmm This sounds so good! I can't wait.
09/01/2011
Contributor: FaerieLove FaerieLove
Mmmm Indian style lentil goodness!! I love new recipes that I can add to my collection, I'm excited!
09/01/2011
Contributor: Kkay Kkay
Sounds interesting I'll tune in.
09/01/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there! This is going to be so much fun.
09/01/2011
Contributor: Dawn (Lilac Distraction) Dawn (Lilac Distraction)
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Yes ma'am! But you can always add meat if you're like my dad and can't go a meal without it...
Good. The roommate is looking for some fun new dishes. Everything we make is beans, rice, and pasta. We may throw some tofu in it!

Can you post an ingredient list so I can go gathering?
09/02/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Dawn (Lilac Distraction)
Good. The roommate is looking for some fun new dishes. Everything we make is beans, rice, and pasta. We may throw some tofu in it!

Can you post an ingredient list so I can go gathering?
Oh, for sure! Sorry I missed this earlier.

And---personally, I don't think it needs the tofu. Lentils are high in protein, missing only the amino acids methionine and cystine---but the rice, or the wheat chapatis, that you'll be eating with them do have methionine and cystine, so on the whole the meal serves as a complete protein. To hand you a densish book link ("Nutrition and Dietetics: With Indian Case Studies") explaining the principles of complementing proteins... and here's a quick abstract of a study done showing that 5oz of white wheat flour provided enough methionine and cystine for 5 of 6 study participants (and 5oz is not much at all!).

Sooo I get carried away with science sometimes, but the moral of the story is: Rice+beans or flatbread+beans give your body complete protein, as long as you eat enough to fill your calorie needs.

And the taste/texture of tofu fits better in a curry than it does in a daal, at least to my tongue But if you want it, go ahead! Let me know how it tastes

So I promise to put the science away now and get back down to the recipes! This club is focused on food and fun, not on scaring you all away
09/03/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
So let's take a look at what we need to serve six people! (Or, if you live alone, this makes one week's worth of healthy packed lunches---daal keeps in the fridge a long time, or you can freeze it)



In three parts:
In the middle is the bean step.
1 cup split red lentils
3 cups water
1 Tbsp sweet acid (lemon juice, tamarind juice)

On the left is the chapati step.
2 cups "chaki atta," or all purpose flour.*
0.5 cup warm water, and a cup with water to dip your fingers in.
1 stick of butter for dabbing on the chapatis as they cook.

*Chaki atta (Golden Temple or Sujata are some popular brands) is a very fine grind of whole wheat flour with some bran added. It's a pretty color, and the flavor is nice and nutty. If you don't live by an Indian market, you might have a hard time finding this---so just to make sure it works with all-purpose flour, that's what I used in these pictures. Find it if you can, but don't sweat it if you can't. I've also seen people do 1 cup all purpose flour + 1 cup whole wheat flour, to give a little of the nuttiness.

On the right is the flavor step.
1 Tbsp ghee, butter, or oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 onion
1 clove garlic, (minced)
enough fresh ginger (minced) to make ~1 tsp
2-5 bird's eye chilis (Thai chilis)---to taste!
dried spices:
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cayenne powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp salt

(All of these spices except garam masala come from my standard grocery store, garam masala I order from Penzey's. If you're having a hard time finding each of the individual spices, you could use a pre-mixed "curry powder," but you won't be able to have quite as much fun!)

I cook the lentils in a medium saucepan, the spices in a small skillet, and the chapatis in a large skillet. You'll also have more fun with chapatis if you use a rolling pin. When I lived with roommates with an electric pancake griddle, chapatis were even easier to make---so if you have a griddle I'd suggest using that.
09/03/2011
Contributor: cheetahpita cheetahpita
This sounds like a lot of fun! I'll be sure to remember to come back tomorrow and peek in
09/07/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Definitely do! I hope everyone's looking forward to this as much as I am!
09/07/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Is everyone looking forward to cooking today?
09/08/2011
Contributor: ellejay ellejay
Very much so! I recently picked up some lentils, so I feel like it was meant to be.
09/08/2011
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
I'm looking forward to it!
09/08/2011
Contributor: ToyGurl ToyGurl
Yayyyy!!!!!! I picked up some lentils too!
09/08/2011
Contributor: Starkiller87 Starkiller87
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
So let's take a look at what we need to serve six people! (Or, if you live alone, this makes one week's worth of healthy packed lunches---daal keeps in the fridge a long time, or you can freeze it)



In three parts:
In the ... more
The colors! It looks so yummy already hahaha I dont even have to see the finished product.
09/08/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Just about an hour til meeting time, folks!
09/08/2011
Contributor: Sir Sir
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Just about an hour til meeting time, folks!
Can't wait. I love food.
09/08/2011
Contributor: ellejay ellejay
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Just about an hour til meeting time, folks!
Hooray! I'm starting to get hungry just in time.
09/08/2011
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
Quote:
Originally posted by Antipova
Just about an hour til meeting time, folks!
Color thief!
09/08/2011
Contributor: Antipova Antipova
Quote:
Originally posted by Jul!a
Color thief!
It's a very good color! Am I supposed to choose my own?
09/08/2011