Kitchen Adventures & Explorations

So, I'll make a start with this amazing beetroot dahl that surely is Arcturian in its creation!

It offers itself to variations, explorations, trying things out – there you are, holding a multitude of options in your mind, all the things in the fridge and the pantry, so many possible variations of this dish, quickly moving through the options in your creative consciousness, until: click!

The Right version of this dish lands, and you can got ahead and start chopping your beetroot.

Here is one way of how to go about creating this:

The non-variable ingredients

• beetroot (a medium one)
• red lentils (75g)
• water (300ml)
• passata (150ml)
• salt, pepper, spices
• oil

These are the ingredients that are always part of the dish when I make it, in varying quantities. Those given above are for a side-dish or, apparently, one serving if eaten alone. I'd say it's still at least two servings, but maybe you are hungry.

The variable ingredients

• onion: originally leek, but Life keeps giving me onions, so I use them instead
• ginger: originally ½ inch, grated; I don't always have ginger, but I always have ginger juice; sometimes I have ginger, but prefer to chop it
• spices: originally garam masala, I prefer tandoori masala (apologies to all of India if I'm committing food crimes here ...)
• creamed coconut: 25g, to be precise; I don't always have creamed coconut, so I have used coconut cream (NOT the same!) or coconut milk – or left it out altogether!

These are the varying ingredients, things I have experimented with, sometimes add, sometimes leave out, mix up or … do other fun, creative things with.

The extras:

• veggies: originally, there are no additional veggies in this dahl, but that's limiting yourself, so go and throw in whatever you feel fits! I have used
  • black salsify
  • (purple) turnip
  • potato, carrot, and aubergine

And it's all great! Tastes a little different each time, of course, but that doesn't take away from how fantastic this dish is.

Actually, I feel this can be diversified even further – like, add spinach or green beans or edamame for colour! Use a different spice mix, like ras-el-hanout or baharat, for example! Or add chili, make it hot! I don't know! These are your tastebuds, my friend. Go and spoil them! :D

The making of

• chop beetroot (and veggies) into small pieces, set aside
• chop onion (or leek) into very small pieces
• sauté onion in pan with oil (of your choice)
• add beetroot (and veggies), water, passata, and lentils
• bring to a boil and let simmer for about 20 minutes
• grate (or chop) and add ginger
• at the end of cooking period, add creamed coconut, salt, pepper, spices, and stir together

Make sure your beetroot has fully cooked before turning off the heat, though. Sometimes, 20 minutes aren't enough. And yes, add the lentils right at the beginning. Usually, red lentils would be mush after cooking for 20 minutes, but here they need that time or else they are unfortunately al dente. Which is not something one usually wants in lentils.

You might also need to add water and/or passata during the cooking process or after. See how it goes, and what your preferred consistency is. (For more oomph on the tomato, maybe add some tomato paste as well!)

Goes well with rice, millet or bread. Is also nice by itself, or as a side dish.

🥣

This is one of my (current) favourites, and I've been heard to say this is so awesome, I want to swim in it. 😃

So go forth, try it out, create your own version. Have fun! And share you adventures, too. 😃