Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 1/2 of an onion, peel until it looks edible and dice (cut into small square)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced (cut into very tiny peices)
• a can of spinach, partly drained (let some of the water out)
• a can of chick peas, drained (squeeze all of the water out)
• curry powder, pepper, and salt

Directions:

Fry on medium heat the onions and
garlics until lightly brown with olive
oil.

Add the rest and heat for about 8
minutes or until it’s hot.
Put it on top of rice, preferably
Indian rice.

Serves: 3-4

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 2 tablespoon vegan margarine
• 2 onions, peeled and chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 cup toovar dal (dried yellow split peas)
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 4 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 10 cups water
• 1 can thick coconut milk
• salt to taste
• 4 tablespoon finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

In a fine sieve, pick over the dal and
rinse thoroughly. In a small stockpot,
heat the margarine. Add the onions,
garlic, ginger, turmeric, and carrot,
and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the
dal, water, chopped tomatoes, curry
powder, and pepper. Simmer over medium
heat for 35 minutes, until the split
peas are soft. Cool. In a food
processor fitted with a steel blade, or
a blender, puree the split pea mixture.
Strain the soup through a sieve into
the saucepan. Add the coconut milk,
salt, and cilantro. Gently simmer for 5
minutes. Serve hot (over cooked basmati
rice if desired).

Serves: several

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 2 1/2 cups vegetable stock (375 ml)
• 1/2 cup black bean stock (125 ml)
• 1 cup polenta (250 ml)
• frozen stick of non-hydrogenated vegan margarine – you will use around 1gm.

Directions:

Pour the liquids into a pot and bring to a rapid boil. Slowly pour
in the polenta making sure the grains stay separate. The boiling
action should do this nicely but just in case, be prepared to stir.

Stir the mixture almost continuously for around 30 minutes until the
polenta is “firm” and “comes away from the sides of the pot” or until
you’re tired of stirring (that’s my technique.)

Pour the polenta into a loaf pan. The polenta should be barely
pourable because of its thickness. Refrigerate in order to firm it
up.

When you are ready to serve, heat up a griddle on a medium flame.
Swipe the griddle with the frozen bar of margarine. This will impart a
really tiny amount of margarine but just enough to provide lubrication
and taste. Slice the polenta into eight slices and grill a around
five minutes on each side until browned.

Serve two each with the Thai-style curry sauce or a simple mushroom
sauce.

Serves:

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 4 or 5 potatoes peeled and chopped
• 1 large veggie boullion cube
• 1 onion diced
• 4 hot peppers thinly sliced
• garlic to taste
• 1 can lima beans
• 1 can Mexi-corn
• 3 cups soymilk
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1.Bring potatoes and boullion cube to
boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer til
soft.

2. Drain half the water. Add all the
other ingredients.

This is the basic recipe. I also make
variations with different beans and
different herbs and spices. This is
really good with chickpeas and curry
powder and some dried red chilies too.

Serves: 8

Preparation time: 30 mins

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 2 cups basmati or other long grained non-sticky rice (rinsed and drained twice)
• 1 cup whole brown lentils (called masoor in India) or any drained, canned variety.
• 2 large ripe tomatoes chopped or ½ can chopped peeled tomatoes
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped then blenderized
• 1 medium onion, chopped then blenderized.
• 1 medium potato, cubed
• 1 teaspoon mild chili powder (optional)
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder (optional)
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder (optional)
• ½ teaspoon curry powder
• 3-4 pepper corns
• 2-3 cloves
• 2 cardamoms
• 1 inch piece cinnamon
• 1 dry bay leaf (optional)

Directions:

For the fried potato:
In a fry pan, pour 2 tablespoon oil and when
hot, add the potato cubes. Salt it. On
a medium flame, let the potatoes cook
and fry, turning occasionally so that
all sides are browned. This will take
around 15-20 min. Test for tenderness
with a fork. Keep aside.

For the lentils:
In the meantime, cook lentils in plenty
of water until softened but not mushy.
This will take around 45 min. Drain
excess water.

Then heat up another fry pan and put 3
tablespoons of oil in it. Add the whole spices
(pepper, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and
bay leaf) and when fragrant (20 seconds)
add the onion-garlic paste and fry till
light brown. Then add the spice powders
(chili, turmeric, curry, cumin and
coriander). When fragrant (20 seconds),
add the finely chopped tomatoes and
cooked lentils. Add salt to taste.

Heat
thru and add a little water (max.1/4
cup) if looking too dry. Let it come to
a boil and take off heat.

For rice:
In a medium saucepan, bring to a boil 4
cups of water. Add the washed rice and
let cook on a low flame until ¾ cooked
(al dente) around 7-10 minutes. Drain
any remaining water and spread it out
onto a large platter to cool.

To assemble:
In a large saucepan, put the lentil
mixture. Top with the potatoes. Top with the rice. Put the entire
thing back on the stove on the lowest
heat setting for 15 minutes.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 1 1/2 hours