The answer was cooking. The question, if you were wondering, was what we (Jo and I) ought to do with the last two months of living behind this particular blue door on Boundary street. In any case, though, cooking is always an answer.
What we actually cooked is an adaptation from two recipes from my favourite vegan cooking blog, Holy Cow:
Pink Lentils with Roasted Mushroom
Asparagus and Saffron Biryani
I say adaptation because we did not have asparagus, saffron and we didn’t even make biyani. In fact, we just took the sauce part of the briyani recipe and made a side dish. Also, it turns out that pink lentils are just masoor dal, which is just your everyday red/orange lentils (depending on your perception of colour).
Before starting anything below, put on some rice!
Dal with roasted mushrooms and caramelised onions
Ingredients
Dal base
1 tbsp oil
1 cup red lentils
1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Onions (caramelised)
1 tsp oil
1 large onion (cut into rings)
1 tsp sugar
Mushrooms
1 tbsp magarine or olive oil spread
500 g portobello/crimini mushrooms
1 tsp garam masala
Salt & black pepper to taste
Start with the dal as this part will take the longest. Heat the oil, add in the garlic and red pepper flakes for a couple of seconds then stir in the red lentils straight away. Add 3 cups of boiling water and let the dal cook.
While the dal is cooking, start the caramelising the onions on another burner. Add in the onions and sugar, continually stir on a medium-flame until they are caramelised.
Don’t mix the caramelised onions into the dal straight away. Set them aside on a plate and in the same pan, fry the mushrooms in the margarine with the spices.
Only when serving, top the dal with the mushrooms and caramelised onions.
Green beans in a lemon-garlic-ginger sauce
200 g green beans (cut into 1-inch pieces)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 medium onion (finely chopped)
1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 cup vegetable stock
A few pinches of cornstarch
Salt to taste
Heat the oil and add cumin seeds straight away and when they start sputtering add in the onions and some salt. When the onions start to soften, add in the garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes. Sauté for another minute and then add in the green beans and lemon juice. Stir the green beans in well and fry for about another minute before adding in the vegetable stock. Cover and cook on a medium heat until the beans are cooked.
Strain the green beans and onion mix into a bowl and save the liquid. Stir in a bit of cornstarch until you’re happy with the consistency (it should look like a thin gravy).
To serve, place rice on the place and garnish with some red chillies and coriander. Place the green beans in a small pile next to it and pour a tablespoon of the sauce on it. The dal can be served in a small bowl, topped with the roasted mushrooms and caramelised onions.
Behind a Blue Door 