Dahl with Leek & Aubergine Tart Tatin

Two vegetarian (and nearly vegan) recipes from the ABC TV programme The Cook and the Chef http://www.abc.net.au/tv/cookandchef/... DAHL -- Ingredients -- 200g lentils, channa dahl or toor dahl (soak for a few hours) 2 garlic cloves 2-3cm piece ginger (sliced in chunks) 1g brown mustard seeds 1 small red chili 5g cumin seeds 1 onion, chopped 3 tomatoes, chopped 4g red chili powder 5g coriander powder 3g turmeric powder 15g ginger garlic paste (blend equal parts of garlic and ginger in a food processor to a paste) 15ml oil Salt to taste Lemon juice to taste (2 lemons) ½ tablespoon tamarind concentrate 10g coriander, chopped 2 tomatoes, finely diced Chopped chill (optional) Chapatis to serve 2 teaspoons ghee* (Don't use ghee to make the dahl vegan.) -- Method -- Boil the soaked dahl in a saucepan with cold water, whole garlic cloves and ginger chunks. Cook until soft. Drain but keep liquid, and toss out ginger and garlic. Heat a pan with oil. Add cumin and mustard seeds and gently heat till can smell the cumin. Fold in the onions, and fry until soft and lightly browned. Add ginger garlic paste, and stir for 30 seconds. Add the red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and then chopped tomato and salt. Cook until oil separates. Add boiled dahl to the tomato mix, add more liquid to the consistency you like, a thick soup, and allow it to simmer for 5 to 6 minutes. Season to taste. Add lemon juice / tamarind juice, diced tomato, chopped chili (optional) and coriander and serve with chapatis. Cooking with Kurma: How to make Chapatis    • Video   -------------------------------------------- LEEK & AUBERGINE TART TATIN -- Ingredients -- 2 fat leeks mostly white part sliced into 3cm 'batons' ¼ cup verjuice 1 large aubergine Evoo for frying Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon chopped mint 1 tablespoon chopped lemon thyme 1 tablespoon chopped marjoram Sugar syrup ½ cup water ½ cup verjuice ½ cup sugar 1 tablespoon vino cotto 1 Quantity Sour cream pastry* 120g Goats Curd cheese* Evoo (extra virgin olive oil) for finish 2 tablespoon freshly chopped mint -- Method -- Heat a little evoo in an oven proof frying pan, add the leek batons, cut side down and allow to caramelize before turning over and caramelizing on the other side. Transfer to an oven previously heated to 180C until just tender. Once tender remove from the oven and set aside until needed approximately 10 minutes. Cut the aubergine into large chunks, place in a bowl of well salted water and leave to soak for 30 minutes this reduces the amount of oil that the aubergine takes up when frying. Rinse the aubergine pieces and dry in a clean tea towel. Season with salt. Add a splash of evoo to another larger pan and colour the aubergine on all sides adding a little more oil as the pan dries out. Deglaze with verjuice and cook till all moisture absorbed. Dissolve the sugar in the water and verjuice and reduce until syrupy, about a quarter of a cup. Add the vino cotto and set aside to cool slightly. Roll out the pastry and cut to size of the frying pan that the leeks were cooked in, with a generous overlap. To assemble the tart tatin use the ovenproof frying pan that the leeks were cooked in dot the aubergine around the leeks, drizzle with the sugar syrup, add the chopped herbs and cover with pastry, tucking the edges in. Bake at 200C for ten minutes then reduce to 180C for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool then turn out onto a large platter. Garnish with freshly chopped mint and some dobs of soft goats curd on top, and a dribble of evoo. (*non vegan ingredients)