The weekend of Hurricane Irene was pretty stellar for me in terms of cooking, as I literally cooked my hiney off the entire time, creating dynamic dishes for three days straight. One of these were vegetarian South Indian lentil cakes, which were a bit of a pain to put together, but in the end were really rewarding.
Made of a mix of dried legumes (in my case lentils), brown rice, peas, cilantro, mint and a big hunk of roasted garlic on top, it was a healthy yet very hearty dish that satisfied our insatiable bellies during time of intense boredom and restlessness. I loved making the dish, especially since I got to create my own raita, made of low fat yogurt, garlic, cumin, cucumber, fresh herbs and lemon juice.
The entire combination was deliciously fresh and the raita added something special, raising the sophistication of this dish and at the same time making it feel more authentic. Even though it takes a little while to prepare, all the effort is absolutely worth it. In Dan's words, it tasted like a "flavorful falafel cake." I'll take that compliment, thank you.
Here's the recipe by way of Bon Appetit.
South Indian Lentil Cakes with Raita
The inspiration behind this dish came from the Indian Food Rocks blog, by way of Foodista.com. Fun stuff! Not only was the recipe easy, but it lent itself to a lot of variations and I took the liberty of taking them. For example, instead of using each individual spice to create curry flavor, I used a curry spice mix I already had on hand. I know...cheating a bit, but so much simpler, especially for a quick weeknight dinner. And I also substituted the herbs - from fresh mint to fresh basil from a delicious supply provided by my co-worker, Kanu. I think she'll appreciate this dish with a slightly tweaked veggie version (tofu maybe).
I encourage you to take your own creative license with this and enjoy!
Here's the recipe, courtesy of Indian Food Rocks blog.
