Black Beans with Rice: Cuban

This is a really simple and delicious recipe for black beans and rice. The key is to buy dried black beans and soak them overnight. This will ensure that you get the best possible taste from the black beans.

Ingredients: 


1 cup dried black beans(soak overnight with ample amount of water)
3/4 cup brown basmati rice(any other rice would work too)
Olive oil(4 tablespoons)
1 medium onion
4 cloves of garlic
Water 1.5 cups
1 teaspoon coarsely ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne or any red pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper(coarsely ground)
1 teaspoon salt

Black beans dried

Black beans, soaked overnight and strained

Heat the pressure cooker along with the oil at medium heat, add the cumin to the oil when the oil is hot enough such that the cumin sizzles. Add the finely chopped garlic, and stir for a minute or two. Finally add the chopped onions and sauté until the onions are brown, 6 to 8 minutes, or longer depending on how much water is in the onions. Add the rice first and sauté for a few minutes along with the remaining spices. Finally add the beans.  

Add 1.5 cup of water and raise the heat, bring pressure to first ring on the Kuhn Rikon Duromatic pressure cooker. Reduce the heat and cook for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the pressure drop naturally.

Enjoy!

Misr with Brown Basmati Rice: Healthy Meal for 70 cents

Here is a simple and quick recipe that I often cook when I don't have time and I want to eat something warm. It is my own creation using Misr(Malka, pink lentils) and Brown Basmati rice. The recipe uses a pressure cooker to cut down on the cooking time. I know that this is an amazing meal because I typically don't feel hungry for at least six hours. In my personal experience, the higher the nutrition is in the food you eat, the greater the degree of satiety.

Nutrition Information:

•  Total Protein: 36 grams (26 grams from Malka and 10 grams from Rice)
•  Total Fiber: 35 grams
•  Total Calories: about 700 calories.

Other than that, this meal has 120% of folate, 80% thiamine, 60% Iron, 50% Zinc, and the list goes on.
Cost of the Meal: 70 cents; I hope McDonald Corporation goes to hell.

This is a complete meal because the rice adds the two essential amino acids that are missing in Malka.

Ingredients:

• One tablespoon olive oil(regular) or sunflower oil.
• 1/2 cup Misr, Malka, or Pink Lentils(100 grams)
• 1/2 cup Brown Basmati rice(100 grams)
• Two teaspoons of Berbere.
• 1/2 teaspoon korarima(optional).
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, or adjust according to taste.
• 2 Cups of water.

Instructions: Heat the olive oil in a pressure cooker at medium heat, add berber, followed by korarima. Mix and cook for 30 seconds. Add rice and malka, along with salt. Mix for two minutes. Add two cups of water. Close the pressure cooker lid and bring pressure to the second line(14 psi). Lower the heat and cook for 10 minutes. The meal is ready.

Modifications:

• One can also use white basmati rice, or any other white rice. Reduce the cooking time to 5 minutes instead of 10 minutes for brown basmati rice. Also, raise the amount of water to 3 cups instead of 2 cups, and increase the amount of berbere to 3 teaspoons.
• Add your favorite greens or vegetables. If you plan to add vegetables then use white rice because the vegetables will be destroyed if cooked for too long. The pictures below show some variations using vegetables. 

 

 Mysterious greens from farmers' market

Mystery of Korarima

Are the Korarima spice used in Ethiopian cuisine the same as the Badi Elaichi(large cardamon, बड़ी इलाइची)? The seeds resemble and there is an overlap in the aroma, but not entirely identical. I am sure I will eventually find the answer, but for now I know that the Ethiopians grind the seeds of the korarima and use in making different types of wots. The picture below shows the seeds of korarima:

In contrast, the black cardamom is mostly used in meat dishes in India as far as I know. The picture below shows the black cardomom and its seeds:

Here I compare the seeds of korarima and black cardamom, they have the same shape and size, however there is a subtle difference in aroma. My suspicion is that they are related but they are different.

Korarima(upper left), Black Cardomom from India(lower right)

Kik Alicha (Split Pea Stew)

Kik Alicha is a delicious and nutritious Ethiopian food that is very simple to cook.

Ingredients:

Kik (Split Pea or Chana Daal in Hindi) 

Two medium onions and four garlic cloves.

Ethiopian Turmeric(Amharic: Urdh) [I still need to confirm if this is turmeric alone, I feel there are other ingredients.]

Recipe: 

Saute the chopped onions in olive oil(or sunflower oil) along with garlic. Cook until the onions are browned, about 10 minutes or so. Add the split peas(1 Cup, washed and drained) and two teaspoons of the turmeric, and one and a half teaspoon of salt(or according to taste). Add three cups of water and cook at medium flame. Keep stirring intermittently. You may have to add additional water along the cooking process, one to two cups of water. 

Kik Alicha: Enjoy with Injera

Reducing Cooking Time using Pressure Cooker

Add one cup of kik/chana dal along with two cups of water to a pressure cooker. I use Kuhn Rikon 5 liter pressure cooker. Raise the heat to maximum and bring to full pressure, second ring or 14 psi. Reduce the heat to low and set the timer to 3 minutes! It took me a while to come up with that time, the first few attempts at cooking for 10 minutes were a disaster and the kik turned into a mush. Stir the mixture and add it to the sauteed onions(the initial steps are the same as described above) and cook it for another few minutes. This step saves a considerable amount of cooking time and gives equally wonderful results.  
 

One cup kik and two cups of water

Ready in 3 minutes!

Simple Juice Recipe

Here is a simple recipe for making a delicious juice out of ingredients that are all currently in season. If you don't like the intense flavor of the beet, you can cut back to half the size of the beet shown in the picture below. The lemons in the picture are Meyer lemons, a bit on the green side. I tossed everything whole in to the juicer, which meant the juicing took only a few minutes.

Ingredients: Apples, Carrots, Beet, and Meyer lemons. Enough for two people. 

Fall fruits in California

Here are my three favorite fall fruits that are at their peak:

Pomegranates: Select ones that are heavy for their size. I prefer the ones that are cracked or partially open, ensuring that they were allowed to fully ripen on the tree.

Concord Grapes: They have an intense, bold flavor that mirrors drinking port wine. However, they do have seeds, which makes them less popular, but in my opinion nothing comes close to these grapes.

Fuyu Persimmons: You can eat these even when they are hard like an apple, which is not the case with the Hachiya variety that have to be allowed to ripen at home until they turn extremely soft.

Misr or Malka with Rice (Pink Lentils with Rice, Khichri)

This is a new simple recipe that is inspired by Ethiopian ingredients and Indian Khichri. It is probably one of the fastest meal that I can make and I often will cook it when I don't have time. I am praying that the Ethiopian Gods will let me take their ingredients and create something simple and different. You will need to use a pressure cooker for this recipe.

Ingredients: 

• Misr, Malka, or Pink Lentils: 1/2 cup
• Arborio Rice: 1/2 cup
• Water: 2.5 cups
• Berbere: 2 teaspoons
• Oil: 3 teaspoons sunflower, regular olive oil(yellow one), or mustard oil.

Recipe:

• Place the pressure cooker with the oil over medium heat for few minutes. 
• Add two teaspoons of berbere and stir with a wooden spoon.
• Wash the rice and malka and strain the water.
• Add the rice and malka to the pan, and stir the ingredients for a few minutes.
• Add the water to the ingredients, the pan should make a bit of a sizzling noise.
• Increase the flame to high and bring the pressure to first ring (7 bar), reduce the flame to low.
• Set timer to 5 minutes, and turn off the flame and remove the pressure cooker from the stove.
• Let the pressure drop. The meal is ready to serve, just add Niter kibbe(Ethiopian spiced butter).
• Total cooking time: 10 to 12 minutes.

Heat the rice and lentils with the spices for a few minutes.

 

Add the water and close the pressure cooker.

 

Here you can see the two rings, the first one is 7 bar and the second is 14 bar. Cook at first ring. The pressure cooker in the picture is 5-liter Duromatic Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker.

 

Served with Niter Kibbe(Ethiopian Spiced Butter)