Saturday 2 July 2011

Kenyan Dengu

Kitchen Play List:  Slash featuring Dave Grohl ~ Watch This! 
                                      Kylie ~ Two Hearts
                                      Jennifer Lopez ~ Si Ya Se Acabo
                                      Chris Cornell ~ Poison Eye
                                      Vivaldi: The Four Seasons ~ Summer
                                      Gun N' Roses ~ Sweet Child of Mine
                                      Shakira ~ Objection (Tango)

I finally got this recipe made and it was achieved over many days. No, not because the recipe is hard to make..lol. Life just kept getting in the way. So the first day I put the mung beans into soak. Life happened. Two days later I drained the slightly sprouted...ahem...lol..mung beans and then..yep..Life Happened. So they got stashed in a container and then sat in the fridge. Then...yep...Life Happened. I was getting very frustrated by now! lol. Then finally I was stood at the counter with streaming eyes from the chutney I was cooking...I finally put chopper to onions, peppers, chilli and garlic and got this recipe under way. But then realised I was supposed to have mashed the little blighters when they were freshly cooked and soft. So after a lot of attempted mashing and swearing, I gave up and used my hand held blender and blitzed them into the smooth paste they were supposed to be! Hurrah! lol. Then after that the recipe came together very easily and very quickly. lol. 

I wanted to make this dish as we regularly have a Mung Bean Casserole which is mung beans, veggie stock, carrots, onions, cumin and coriander. We have it served over a bed of steamed fennel and kale and it's delicious. So we are big fans of the mung bean in this house. So finding another recipe for the little green pearls was quite exciting (Oh alright...humour me...I don't get out much! lol) I'm serving the Dengu over a bed of steamed shredded red cabbage. It's a comforting, mildly spicy dish and cheap to make too.

Kenyan Dengu
Kenyan Dengu
(Recipe from The Best Ever Vegetarian Cookbook)

8oz mung beans, soaked overnight in enough water to cover
2 tbsp sunflower oil (I used 1/2 tbsp ~R~)
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
1 green pepper, deseeded and diced
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
10 fl oz veggie stock

Drain the mung beans and place then in a large saucepan. Cover with fresh water, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 1-1 1/4 hours or until the beans are tender. (Mine took 40 minutes ~R~) Drain well and then mash until they are a smooth paste. 


Heat the oil in a pan, add the oil and cook the onion for ten minutes, stirring occassionally. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes, then add the tomato puree and cook stirring, for 3 minutes. 


Stir the mashed beans into the onion mixture. Add the peppers, chilli and stock, stir well and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Transfer to a warm serving dish and serve immediately.


NB: I have a 'thing' about uncooked pepper so I added mine at the beginning with the onions. But I realise it's a personal preference. 


I had two photos I liked for this dish so here is the second...Kenyan Dengu ~ Close Up. lol
Enjoy!
~R~