Lentil Dumplings Simmered in a Sweet Tamarind Sauce

This fragrant and elegant dish truly desires no problematic creation and I suppose your keen taste buds will agree. To me, that is pure comfort meals, especially when served as a part of a fancy spread. These stimulating and succulent lentil dumplings smothered in a sweet and spicy tamarind gravy as the centerpiece of a unique Indian-themed vegetarian menu are an ideal choice, however truly I could consume those for breakfast, lunch AND dinner, just as is.

For my unique Indian dinner, I served this dish with highly spiced green beans, Indian Mulligatawny soup, saffron rice and, for dessert, nicely, manifestly not a traditional quit to an Indian meal, however my blueberry goat cheese pie which regarded just right all the same. If you've got the time, consider serving stacks of steaming hot savory Indian flatbreads with the meal too.

I've adapted this recipe somewhat from Raghavan Iyer who has for the past few years greatly influenced my approach to Indian cooking. I am a proud owner of three of his informative books. 660 Curries continues to occupy a special place on my shelf and snuggled up next to it is Betty Crocker's Indian Home Cooking , from which this recipe has been slightly adapted, and a lovely copy of The Turmeric Trail . Mr. Iyer's recipes are based on traditional Indian creations from all over the continent. Combined with helpful and detailed information about pantry basics, culinary traditions and easy to follow instructions, it is always a pleasure to cook from his books; of course, once the dishes you are making are complete, an absolutely exquisite meal awaits. Regrettably, I am not able to pull up a chair at Mr. Iyer's table, but the next best thing is to have a treasure trove of tried and tested recipes at my fingertips to inspire my own culinary efforts.

Included in this dish is sambar powder and I always have a few reachable because this aromatic spice aggregate mainly famous in South India is a terrific addition to not handiest sambars, but rasams and some other curry dish that you need to boost with a unique contact. It's clean to locate in any Indian grocer, however the selfmade recipe which I have protected under keeps properly for months in a sealed jar stored in a cool, dry vicinity. If you do not have sambar powder available, you can use curry powder alternatively or a aggregate of your preferred spices for the sauce.

More recipes from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen proposing dumplings:

Chickpea Flour Dumplings in a Spicy Yogurt Sauce

Ricotta Dumplings Smothered in Mushroom Sauce

Split Pea Cilantro Dumplings in a Coconut Curry

On the top of the studying stack: South Indian cookbooks

Audio accompaniment: Carbon Based Lifeforms - World of Sleepers