Pages

Monday, April 23, 2012

Tomato Sauce

 

IMG_4089Everything in Tanzania is made by scratch. One food that I don’t really love in America is spaghetti. This is because often times as a vegetarian, spaghetti is your only option. Well, I found a sauce that makes spaghetti a craving of mine quite often. I think it’s the sweet flavor this tomato sauce that makes it super good. I’ll never have ragu again when I can easily have this tomato sauce!

Ingredients:

  • 8-12 medium tomatoes, grated (it’s worth grating them instead of using canned tomatoes for their flavor) – if you want to try, you can try a 14.5 oz can of crushed tomatoes, thought you might need to increase some of the spices.
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon sugar or honey
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons oregano
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons basil
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1) Heat oil in a pan and add onions and cook until translucent
2) Add garlic and cook for an additional minute or two
3) Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, herbs, and sugar/honey. Simmer over medium heat the sauce thickens a little and becomes your desired consistency

Serve over any cooked pasta.

Variations: add other vegetables during step 3. Some examples include: green peppers, carrots, zucchini, or mushrooms.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Nepalese Dahl

This recipe is amazing. I didn't nepalese dahlrealize until after I took the picture that I forgot eggy, but I am too excited to share this recipe to care at this point. It's so simple and so delicious!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup lentils
  • 3 cups hot water
  • 2 medium onions, finely chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder (or more to increase the spiciness of the dish to your desire)
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons coriander
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
  • 1 tablespoon oil

Method:

  1. Sauté onions in oil for 5 minutes or until soft/translucent
  2. While sautéing the onions, mix all the spices together in a small bowl
  3. Once the onions are soft, add the spices and fry 30 seconds
  4. Then add the lentils (not the water yet!) and stir heating them for 5 minutes
  5. Add the mixture to the hot water, cover, and simmer until lentils are soft and most of the water has evaporated. It is okay to leave a little water, but it should not be too watery.  It will take around thirty minutes to cook, however, some lentils can take up to 45 minutes
  6. Serve with naan or over rice!

Counter