Sara Mercury's Vegetarian Dhan-Saak

I've modified an old favourite of mine from the chicken recipe to a totally vegetarian one, substituting soy beans for the chicken.

What you will need:

About 4 cups of vegetable broth *

½ cup soy beans

2 tbsp red lentils

2 tbsp green lentils

2 tbsp yellow split peas

3 tbsp pigeon peas

2 cups fresh spinach leaves, finely chopped

1 whole large tomato

1 large red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced

2 tbsp Enova oil

1 to 3 red peppers (1 = mild, 2 = medium, 3 = hot)

½ tsp ground red pepper

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp ground coriander

¾ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cardamom

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground fenugreek

½ tsp ground tumeric

¾ tsp ground ginger

2 tsp finely chopped fresh garlic

2 large fresh carrots, coarsely chopped

 

Heat the Enova oil in skillet over medium-high heat; when hot, add half the thinly-sliced onion and sauté until browned; add in garlic and continue to sauté until garlic turns light brown and onions are caramelised. Add the ground masala (ground red pepper, ground black pepper, ground coriander, ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, ground cumin, ground fenugreek, ground tumeric) to the onion and garlic mixture and cook for about 2 or 3 minutes, then remove from heat.  In 2-quart cauldron, put all other ingredients together and bring to a boil; reduce heat to simmer and add the spiced onion and garlic mixture. Simmer for about one hour or until lentils are tender. Serve over freshly-cooked basmati.

 

Note: Stew is not supposed to be thin; if there appears to be too much liquid, spoon out any excess prior to serving over rice.

 

*To prepare vegetable broth:

 

1 to 2 stalks celery

1 small onion

1 parsnip

 

Chop all vegetables into small pieces (yet large enough to be strained out). Bring 8 cups of water to boil on the hob and add chopped vegetables. Cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer until broth has cooked down to half the original amount. (This may take a while.) Remove from heat to cool to room temperature, then strain out all the vegetables until broth is clear.

 

Note: You can purchase the necessary amount of vegetable broth in a grocery store. It's quicker, but it’s not nearly as good for you.

OF COURSE, if you are not a vegetarian, you may use chicken in the place of the soybeans! I recommend using skinless chicken thighs with the bone-in, as the bones tend to add flavour to the stew, and a richness that, if I may be honest, cannot be achieved using anything made of veggies! (lol)