At Home with Vij

We had a friend over for supper last night to celebrate her impending PhD defense. We have been on an Indian food kick of late, particularly recipes from Vij's, a much noted Indian restaurant in Vancouver. Okay okay I confess, my wife has been the one on an Indian food kick, doing most of the cooking, but it's my turn. I burnt the spices last time, but this time was a complete success! The meal: naan, mung beans in coconut curry (based on the recipe in Vij's at Home), sauteed rapini and spinach with cashews (Elegant & Inspired Vij's Indian Cuisine), and gingered tapioca pudding with fresh mango.

The mung beans in coconut curry were my favorite of the whole meal. To cook this recipe, you either need a wide soup pot or a giant skillet (~12" diameter and 4" deep), unless you're cutting it in half.

Mung Beans in Coconut Curry

Prep & Cooking Time 1.5 hrs

1 c. mung beans (other lentils like green lentils or brown lentils would work, just beware of overcooking them)

1.5 - 2 c. chopped carrots (about 1/2 sized pieces)

1/4 c. cooking oil

1 Tbs cumin seeds

9 large cloves chopped garlic

2 c. roughly pureed tomatoes

2 Tbs chopped ginger

2 Tbs ground coriander

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

5 c. water

1- 14 oz can coconut milk

1/2 c. chopped cilantro

1. Wash and drain mung beans and set aside.

2. Heat oil on medium-high for a minute and add cumin seeds. Stir them occasionally until nicely browned.

3. Add garlic and saute for 3-4 min before stirring in tomatoes, ginger, corainder, turmeric, salt and cayenne. Saute and stir for about 5 minutes, until the oil glistens on the top.

4. Add water and mung beans, bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat. Cover and cook for ~ 30 min, stirring occasionally. Add carrots about 10-15 min after covering the pot.

5. Once the beans are cooked (taste them to check), stir in the coconut milk and bring the curry to a boil again. Let simmer until there is as much liquid as you want left. I simmered at least 20 minutes to reduce it from a soup down to mostly beans/veggies and some liquid.

6. Sprinkle cilantro over the top and serve.

Gingered Tapioca* with Fresh Mango

Serves 4-5

1/2 c. pearl tapioca

1 c. water

2 c. whole milk

1/2 c. whipping cream

4 oz. panela** (or some kind of sugar)

2-3 tsp finely chopped ginger

1/2 - 1 tsp ground cardamom 

1. Combine tapioca and water in a medium bowl and soak for 30 min, then drain. Depending on the pearl size, soaking time will vary.  If you have very small pearls, reduce to 15-20 min soak time.

2. In a medium pot, combine tapioca, milk, cream, sugar, ginger and cardamom and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring often. Reduce heat to a simmer and continue to stir for ~15 min until thickened.

3. Top with fresh slices of mango.

 *A few notes about tapioca: (a) I don't know if it's the tapioca pearls I inherited or if this is common with all tapioca, but when I cook it, it smells smokey, like cedar chips in a wood fire. Utterly bizarre and disconcerting to have that smell and then taste a sweet dessert. (b) My first tapioca cooking experiment: traumatic. Do not believe recipes that begin cooking the tapioca with milk and water straight away! It is a fool's errand!

 **You could also use some other type of unrefined sugar, or if you care about looks, it might even be prettier using white sugar. I bought panela, which was extremely exciting as it was my first time, until I opened it and tried to actually use it. One large chef's knife and one large bread knife later I was no closer to understanding how people actually chop this stuff unless they own a chain saw or machete. Must find out.