Channa Masala

Can you see that on the horizon? Squint a little, sometimes the sun gets in the way. You see it now? Towers of bricks, dried cement, paint fumes and sweating construction workers will be taking up residence in the Creative household. Well not literally taking up residence, but building plans and decisions regarding floor and surface finishes will be featuring strongly in our lives over the next few months.

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Garithes Yiouvetsi (Prawns with Tomatoes & Feta)

Remember that movie Wedding Crashers? You know, the one where Owen Wilson and Vince Vaugh teams up (again - really, how many movies have they made together?) and, well, crashes a wedding? The duo are smooth-talking bachelors, out to have a good time on someone else's tab and  hopefully get lucky. Because, let's face it, if getting lucky is your aim, a wedding is the perfect backdrop. All that romance in the air? It's like taking candy from a kid.

Want to know a dirty secret from the archives of the Creative Pot family tree? Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn has nothing on my dad. He was the original wedding crasher. For real.

As child my brother and I would delight in grand tales of how my dad and his best friend at the time used to crash weddings in their youth. They almost always got away with it and knew all the popular wedding reception venues in their hometown intimately. Unlike the characters in Wedding Crashers though, they didn't have a different back story for each wedding they went to. No, my dad and his buddy kicked it old school, sticking to a story that worked. For my dad, that was pretending to be Greek.

Now, if you've met my dad, you'll know that he does not look Greek at all. But he claims they got away with it every time. Either he's just bragging or there were some pretty gullible people around in the 70's. Either way though whenever I see something Greek or eat Greek food, I think fondly of those legendary stories.

And so I couldn't help but giggle when Joanne issued the Regional Recipes challenge for June - we were going on a virtual tour of Greece! Land of my wedding crashing forefathers! And what could be more Greek than seafood? The name (yiouvetsi) initally puzzled me as I've come to associate it with a slow cooked lamb dish featuring sun-ripened tomatoes. Yiouvetsi, incidentally, refers to the dish in which the dish is traditionally cooked & served in. (Much like the Moroccan tagine.) So technically anything can be a yiouvetsi.

When I started plotting this prawn rendition, TheHusband eyed me with slight mistrust. You see, he is not a seafood lover. But he is also a very patient man and so he indulged me and even rooted from the sidelines. It paid off. The tomato and bellpepper stew formed the perfect backdrop for the man-sized prawns and together with some flat bread and simply sauteed babymarrows, this was a lick-your-fingers off kind of meal. After all, good things come to those who trust their wives.

Prawns with Tomatoes & Feta
(Garithes Yiouvetsi) 
Adapted from The Complete Book of Greek Cooking
Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-size squares
500g cherry (baby) tomatoes, halved
1/4 tsp peri-peri*
1/4 cup dry white wine
salt & pepper to taste
500g king-size prawns, deveined, but with tails attached 
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp finely chopped oregano
75g feta cheese, cubed

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C (350F). Heat oilve oil in a large frying pan over medium to high heat. Add onion and fry for 2 minutes, then add bell pepper and fry another 2 - 3 minutes or until starting to soften.
2. Add tomatoes, peri-peri and wine and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to boiling point, cover and reduce heat. Cook for 15 minutes, then remove lid and cook another 5 minutes over medium heat to evaporate most of the liquid and allow the sauce to thicken.
3. Toss prawns and herbs through, then spoon into an oven dish. Dot with feta and bake at 180C (350F) for 25 - 30 minutes.

Serve with orzo or crusty bread, and simply sauteed veggies or a fresh salad.

*or use chopped dried chillies.

Nutritional info (per serving): Calories 186.1, Total fat 5.3 g, Saturated fat 1.2 g, Polyunsaturated fat 0.6 g, Monounsaturated fat 2.6 g, Cholesterol 0.0 mg, Sodium 295.5 mg, Potassium 386.9 mg, Total carbohydrate 11.7 g, Dietary fiber 2.9 g, Sugars 0.4 g, Protein 23.0 g

Good source of: Vitamin C 122.1 %, Vitamin A 66.7 %,

Mujadarra

I have often sung the praises of the rich and flavourful cuisine of the Middle-East and so it should come as no surprise that I bring you yet another recipe from the region, this time from Lebanon. (Maybe I should change the blog's name to The Middle-Eastern Pot?)

Mujadarra is a firm favourite not only in Lebanon, but also among many Jewish communities, where it is referred to as Esau's favourite referencing the famous story of how Esau sold his birthright for a pot of lentils. Mujadarra has also made an appearance in contempary literature, playing a starring role in Ameen Rihani's novel The Book of Khalid.*

I have always been both foodie and self-confessed bookworm and I feel a strange tingle of delight when I stumble across instances of these two areas overlapping. As in the first case where food arguably forms part of one of the most-oft repeated tales of all time. Ditto for Ameen's book featuring the very same dish. 

You can imagine my delight then when I became aware of a blogging event that celebrates this partnership of good food and good books. Starting this month, I will be diving into Garlic & Sapphires by Ruth Reichl in preparation for my very first challenge of This Book Makes Me Cook. The basic premise is that all the participants read a specific foodie novel which will then serve as inspiration for a recipe to blog about. If you are a fellow book & food nerd, I am sure you will need no convincing to dive in with me.

Coming back to the dish that launched a thousand novels (almost), Mujadarra happens to also be perfect for Meat-Free Mondays. Not only that, but it is super versatile to boot, as you can served it both as main or side-dish, hot or cold. Some might say Esau was crazy, but I'm telling you, the man was onto a very good thing when he made that life-changing trade.

*source: Wikipedia

Mujadarra

Adapted from The Confused Homemaker

Serves 4 (as main or 6-8 as side)

2 tbsp olive oil

4 large red (or a mix of red & white) onions, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp minced garlic

2 tbsp cumin seeds, crushed

2 tsp mustard seeds, crushed

1 tbsp curry powder (optional)

1 cup brown lentils

1 cup brown rice

3 1/2 cups water 

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper 
1/2 tbsp lemon juice 

a handful fresh coriander, chopped 
hummus, to serve (optional, but highly recommended) 

1. Heat half of the oil over medium-high heat in a medium-sized frying pan. Add one onion and fry for a few minutes or until softened.
2. Transfer onion to a pot, adding garlic and spices and fry for a few seconds or until fragrant. Add lentils and rice, stirring to coat with the oil and spices, then add water, salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer for about 30 - 40 minutes or until cooked through. Add lemon juice, stir through, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
3. Meanwhile, heat the remainder of the oil in the frying pan yo used previously, then add remainder of onions with a touch of salt and allow to caramelise over low-medium heat. This will take roughly 30 minutes as well.

Spoon rice and lentil mixture into serving bowls, top with caramelised onions, hummus (if using) and fresh coriander. Serve immediately.

Nutritional info (per main dish serving): Calories 248.7, Total fat 8.7 g, Saturated fat 1.1 g, Polyunsaturated fat 1.1 g, Monounsaturated fat 5.9 g, Cholesterol 0.0 mg, Sodium 592.5 mg, Potassium 525.5 mg, Total carbohydrate 36.6 g, Dietary fiber 8.1 g, Sugars 0.2 g, Protein 8.3 g

Good source of: Manganese 56.1 %, Folate 30.5 %, Iron 24.6 %, Phosphorus 20.6 %