A great dal, lots of flavour without being in any way overpowering. Not too hot. Made with yellow split pea here. Certainly one to return to. If the peas are old, soak them for as long as you can and be prepared for the boiling to soften to take multiple hours. Don’t be afraid of mush up a little with the stick blender. Or a pressure cooker could help. From 50 Great Curries of India, Camellia Panjabi, pg. 193
Lovely, again in the mapo tofu/gumbo mold and I’m a fan. The gochujang chilli paste is delightful, gently hot, fruity and a touch sour. I’m going to look to use this more often as a very simple way to inject flavour. From 1 2 3, pg. 220
Just the quickest possible meal, particularly with a pre-made stock of fish stock gel as I had to use here. No more than 15 minutes and you have a delightful, spicy, sour soup. Made here with noodles, not in the recipe, but an easy addition to turn it into a full meal. Really excellent. From Thai Food, David Thompson, pg. 256
A very gently spiced, richly creamy sorry sauce with some resemblance to a korma. Would be both too much and too bland, oddly, without the sweet pepper sauce, which could be splashed over any number of dishes to great effect. From Rick Stein – Venice to Istanbul, pg. 190
Barley is such an under utilised grain and it has so much going for it. This is a good version of a barley risotto, something I’m doing with increasing frequency, and the asparagus is a nice touch, and as was speculated in the pea, mint and feta barley risotto, adding the green veg just a couple of minutes before serving is the way to go. Beautiful creaminess combined with spot of levels of acidity from the lemon. From 3, 2, 1, pg. 126
Really lovely, comforting and warming. There’s something of the mapo tofu about this and I can’t get enough of either. Added some sardine fillets for the final 10 minutes and they were a good addition. The dill garnish really lightens it and is well worth it. From 1, 2, 3, pg.202
From Master It pg. 167
I really like this soup, made here without the spinach and using scotch bonnet, which is absolutely not the right chilli to use. Nonetheless this is creamy (albeit with no cream), luxurious and filling and quick. Would make again, and should try with spinach as I think that would really add a depth and make it a little less rich. From 1 2 3, pg. 232
Certainly a nice, simple soup with plenty of depth of flavour, though not totally blown away by it. I felt the need to add a dash of hot sauce and would do so again. Very good, but I would possibly chose other soups in preference. The toasted hazelnuts splashed with oil and salted, are a delight, so much so that I had more than eaten my portion of them long before it was time to plate up and felt the need to sadly deprive myself of them as a garnish in the soup itself. Oh well. From KD 2, pg.…
It’s been a while since I have cooked a barley risotto, and a fine thing it is. In truth I feel that it shouldn’t really qualify as risotto, but this sub-classification is a convenient shorthand for a vaguely risotto-esque thing. I threw in some chicken thighs simply as they needed to be eaten, crisped up the skin then just left them in the pan and followed the rest of the recipe exactly. The lemon here acts almost as the wine in a normal risotto, providing a backbone of sharpness without which it would be entirely uninspiring, and i wouldn’t have…