Vegan Mofo prompt today is Your Favourite cuisine,. Truth is I quite like most cuisine so it was really hard to choose one, but whilst I was catching up with some of my blog reads: Rock My Vegan Socks, I was reminded me of how much Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine is fast becoming my favourite cuisine.
Early on this year, I shared some vegetarian and vegan Eritrea for Refugee Week. I also wrote about the plight of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. Please see that blog post here if you wish to read it further. Today, I share some both Eritrean and Ethiopian recipes for World Vegan Month of November.
Well before starting this blog, I only had Ethiopian - Eritrean cuisine twice in my life. The first time ever was in 2000, when I went to see my best friend Leah in the US. She picked me up from the airport in San Francisco and took me to an Ethiopian restaurant in the big smog fog city for a meal. It was one of the best meals I had ever had. The second time was when I lived in Scotland and I cooked the entire Ethiopian-Eritrean menu that was featured in Celia Brooks World Vegetarian Classics cookbook (2005). I was inspired to make everything from scratch, the Berbere Ethiopian Hot Spice Blend, the Nitteh Kibbeh - Spiced Clarified Butter and the Injera - Sourdough Flatbread, following the whole fermenting process that took a days. On the menu was Ye'atakilt W'et - Spicy Mixed Vegetable stew, Yedifin Miser Alicha We't - Mild Lentil Stew with Basil and Yeshiro We't - Stew of Spiced Powdered Chickpeas.
In the same cookbook that I stumbled upon Eritrean Zigni Spaghetti - Noodles with Hot Sauce. I wasn't quite sure about it assuming it was more of a recent fusion recipe, but a few years later when I was volunteering for Venture Scotland on a camping trip to Glen Etive, Scotland I asked some of the participants who happened to be from Ethiopia and Eritrea about Zigni Spaghetti , they confirmed to me that this pasta dish indeed real.
Spaghetti Zigni hails back to the 1930s when the Italians tried and failed to colonise Ethiopia, however they did leave behind culinary influences. Zigni Spaghetti was one of those influences.
Zigni is essentially pasta coated in a deep rich tomato sauce enhanced with the highly spiced Berbere blend. Berbere in Amharic means hot. Berbere is a Hot Chilli Spice Blend that is essential to many Ethiopian and Eritrean dishes . Its become one of my favourite spice blends.
I followed a recipe for Spicy Lentil Misir W'et (Stew) that came from Ethiopian cook, Alemtshaye Yigezu. For the recipe, follow this link. The only thing I did in addition was add both sweet potatoes and chickpeas to the dish, nothing more.
D'ba Zigni
Ethiopian Supper of Tibs 'Soya Beef' with Berbere and Cherry Tomatoes and Caramelised White Cabbage, Carrot and Potatoes. adapted from Mazi Maz in The Guardian. I did veganize all of these recipes.
Recently I was excited to find a little Ethiopian eatery called Neferetti in the town where I work, but noone at work is brave enough to come with me to eat there, and I am a bit hesitant about going on my own.
Finally, my fusion take on a Courgette Soup incorporating Berbere Spice Blend.
As well as some Injera Crackers made from leftover Injera - Sourdough flatbread.
Do you like Eritrea or Ethiopian cuisine? I am bookmarking Rock My Vegan Socks variation of Ingudai Tibs, a mushroom recipe, but do you have any other Ethiopian or Eritrean recipes to share with me, please do - this greedy girls needs to diversify her meals.
This Warn Aloo Gobi Salad aka Roasted Potato Cauliflower Salad was really yummy.
What elevated this salad was the seeds, especially the Kolonji, onion seeds known these days as nigella seeds.
We ate this Roasted Warm Aloo Gobi Salad with a little drizzle of tangy tamarind sauce or even mango sauce if you prefer sweetness. The seeds added both spice and crunch. There was also crunch from the curly kale that crisped up in the oven, but if you still want additional texture maybe some poppadom crisps or pitta chips. I was thinking about tinkering with this further by throwing in some chickpeas, but decided against it as I was concerned they would have dried out too much, but popping beans are quite trendy at the moment - so I was kicking myself after, so maybe next time.
Vegan Mofo prompt today is Fusion Food. This Warm Aloo Gobi Salad is essentially a Aloo Gobi Curry or even Bombay Potato - what makes this fusion is that it is baked in the oven, turned into a warm salad.
Roasted Aloo Gobi Salad
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 red onion, thickly sliced
200g new potatoes, parboiled
1 large cauliflower, broken into florets
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
Optional: 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes or ground chilli
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon nigella seeds
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful of curly kale, stalks removed
Method
In a wide bowl, toss in the vegetables (except for the kale), oil and spices and stir well to coat.
Transfer to a baking tin.
Roast in oven gas mark 4/180oc for 30 minutes or until tender.
Then stir in the curly kale.
Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, then return to oven and cook for a further 10 - 15 minutes until crisps.
Serve immediately with optional mango chutney, tamarind sauce.
This is a very inauthentic take on a Sri Lankan Jackfruit Curry known as Polos Ambula.
I say inauthentic for two reasons. One I have adapted it to my vegetarian palette. There is only one ingredient that makes it unsuitable and that is umbalakada (maldive fish powder) so it was easy to omit that and replace with vegan fish sauce alternative, tamari or even a dash of seaweed powder and therefore also accidentally vegan. Two, I was unable to get my hold of some of the ingredients required to make this recipe as close to the original such as goraka (a sour - acidic fruity spice) and rampe (pandan). The others such as karapincha (curry leaves), fresh and the dried variety, sera (lemongrass) and thunapaha (curry powder) can be found in most towns and cities in the UK. I also have to admit, I had to look these up the translation for most of these ingredients as I was unfamiliar with them and landed on very interesting blog referenced below.
Vegan Mofo prompt today Cook Something different'. Yesterday I showcased a Cashew 'Cheese' which was new to me. Today I share a Sri Lankan dish called JackFruit Curry - Polos Ambula. In my 8 years of food blogging, I have made Sri Lankan cuisine before, but not often enough.
Aubergine, Black Bean Pepper Pot
Beetroot Coconut Curry
Carrot and Cabbage Curry
Chilli coconut and Runner Beans Pie
Chilli Coconut Relish Bulgar Wheat Salad
I have been wanting to make this Sri Lankan Jackfruit Curry for a long while. First delay was getting my hands on Jackfruit and then when I looked at the recipe closely, it demands a long list of spices that I was unfamiliar with as mentioned above. Undeterred I decided to give this a go. I am hoping to make it again and track down the ingredients to make Polos Ambula again and a little more properly, but here is it at first attempt. I found myself automatically shredding the Jackfruit - vegetarian pulled 'pork' style, which it was not necessary as this dish is supposed to be served in chunks, so I will do that next time
I finished it off by bathing it in some coconut milk, I use only half a can as I did not want it to drown. I found the chilli a little harsh, perhaps this dish like many spicy dishes is better a day later. If you put the pot in the oven and cook it slowly it will darken in colour too.
Please read this very interesting and insightful blog post by Renuka of Fenugreek who gives more insight into Sri Lankan cooking and its ingredients and a wonderfully written blog post on how Sri Lankan people do things in threes.
