Craving Spicy, Healthy, and Exotic

After a weekend of tradition French and Italian fare, I was really craving complex spices, vegetables, and healthy cuisine. I had most everything I needed for a recipe for Spicy Ethiopian Tomato Lentil Stew from PostPunk and a promising Naan recipe from Jugalbandi. As much as injera is the authentic bread of Ethiopian food, it doesn't appeal much to me and I am on a mission to make the perfect Naan. Last night, I came pretty close.


The Spicy Ethiopian Tomato Lentil Stew was a huge success, although I might add some green chilis next time or throw in more cayenne as it didn't pack as much heat as I thought it would. The flavors of the spice blend though, were perfect, so it didn't really need the heat anyway. This is rated an A for nutrition, coming in at only 184 calories per generous serving (this makes 8 portions), 5.3g fat (.7g saturated), 0 cholesterol, 319mg sodium, 8.7g dietary fiber, 8.2g sugars, 8.3g protein, 70% vitamin A, 67% vitamin C, 7% calcium, and 19% iron.

I took half a huge onion diced, one huge carrot diced, and four smashed and roughly chopped cloves of garlic and sauteed them in some EVOO. While those were cooking, I created a spice blend consisting of 2 tsp cumin, 2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp fenugreek, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp ground cardamom (a la coffee grinder -- seriously, invest in a good coffee grinder for your whole spices and you will not regret it!), 1/2 tsp ground coriander (again, coffee grinder -- coriander, cardamom, and nutmeg are three of the spices I find are far superior freshly ground), 1/8 tsp allspice, 1/8 tsp ground clove, 1/8 tsp cinnamin, 1/2 tsp cayenne (should have used more!), and salt to taste. Throw that all into the pot and let the heat draw out their scents and flavors. I also threw in about 1/4 cup of ground flaxseed at this point.

Now, at this point, I should have also added 2 tbsp of coarsly chopped ginger, but I ended up throwing it in towards the end. The result? The ginger maintained a wonderfully fresh flavor. I love ginger, so I think this may have been an improvement, but it definately stands out if you put it in too late.

Once the onions are almost translucent, add 1.5 cups of stock. I added almost two cups of low sodium chicken stock (but this can be vegetarianized) and 1 can of no salt diced tomatoes and let it come to a simmer. The recipe called for 10 plum tomatoes, but after seeing the beautiful tomatoes in France and the lackluster tomatoes at Whole Foods, I subbed the canned tomatoes. Although the recipe called for a cup of lentils, I used 1/2 cup of quinoa. Quinoa takes a while to cook so I put them in first and let them simmer for about 20 minutes. Then I added 1/2 cup of red lentils and about half a small can of tomato paste. When it was simmering again, I added the forgotten ginger, a cup of frozen peas and a little more water as the consistency was pretty thick), covered, and let simmer for another 20 minutes.

Make sure to stir this once every 5 minutes or so as the lentils and quinoa may stick to the bottom of the pan, especially if there isn't enough liquid. Saves really well and comes out nice and thick which serves over rice and flatbread wonderfully. I think you could also add some nice greens to this and it would be fantastic.

And now, the new and improved Naan. Behold, the glorious George Foreman Grill.


I believe that this is the secret to the perfect naan. At least the perfect, easy, and consistent naan in my kitchen ... which does not ever result in something pita-like.

I had found several million recipes for naan, ranging from using milk and baking powder to yeast and honey to using a baking stone to stovetop. My first attempt turned out like nice soft pita. Tasty, but lacked the nice char marks and crusty outside with chewy inside that good naan has. The baking stone seems too require perfect timing and I find is better for breads that need really high heat. The most successful naan, apparantly, is done over medium heat. So I ruled that out. Other cooking methods like using a cast iron pan or stovetop grill also seemed to be really determined by perfect timing. One idea was to use a regular wire rack and place it over a burner which was going to be my method, until I realized that the George Foreman grill is set permanently to medium heat and has grill sections. Hmmmm.

This recipe makes 10 small pieces of naan. The result is wonderfully crispy on the outside, chewy and fluffy on the inside, and doesn't require the diligence of some of the other methods of cooking naan. It grades A- for nutrition coming in at 122 calories per piece, 1.9g fat, 1mg cholestrol, 125mg sodium, 1.7g dietary fiber, 1.4g sugars, 3.7g protein, 6% vitamin C, 3% calcium, and 8% iron.



Take one small yukon gold potato and microwave it for 4-5 minutes until very well cooked. Let cool and mash so its about 1/2 cup. Mash really well because it needs to integrate with the flour. Yukon golds have a wonderfully naturally buttery flavor which eliminates the need to brush these babies with butter or ghee afterwards in the tradition of Indians.

Proof 1 1/4 tsp dry active yeast in 1/3 cup of warm water and 1 tsp of raw honey. Then add 6 tbsp nonfat greek yogurt and 1 tbsp oil (this is where I would change the recipe -- I think less oil would suffice, maybe just a teaspoon -- don't take this out because this is what helps the char in the cooking process -- I also used grapeseed oil for kicks to see what would happen -- couldn't really tell the difference except that it doesn't impart any particular flavor).

Take 2 1/4 cups flour (I mixed 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour, and then equal parts whole wheat flour, spelt flour, and millet flour ... I ended up using just under 2 cups of this though) and mix with the mashed potato, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbsp gluten, and 1/2 tsp baking powder. Slowly mix in the liquids and knead until the dough is flexible and elastic. The key is not to overdo the flour. Cover and let rise for about an hour.

Since I had used what I felt was too much oil, I ended up just using a bamboo cutting board which is polished with oil to keep it from drying out and using a tiny amount of oil on my rolling pint to roll these out. I also figured out that just taking a ball and stretching it out was successful, less messy, and provided for a chunkier texture, which I like. Divide into about 10 pieces. Don't go too thin on these because you want the dough to rise enough so that the George Foreman grill plates have contact on both the top and the bottom by the end of cooking.

Heat up the grill until the red light goes off. Put the dough down and close the grill. I had actually done a few where I kept it open and flipped them, but that is unnecessary so long as the dough is about 1/4 inch thick. Each one takes just a couple minutes. I figured out that the light goes on when you put the dough down, and when it goes off the first time, you can check to make sure everything is okay and/or rotate if you like crispier naan. Then close the lid and wait for it to go off again and then its done. This is a forgiving method as well. I had one or two I pulled off too early or too late, and they were still pretty good.



The great thing with this method is that since the grill marks are offset on the George Foreman grill, the dough rises into the cracks in between, so they still feel quite fluffy. I think the chewiness comes from the fact that no moisure can escape (and the potato adds moisture) since the grill is cooking both sides at once. Anyway, just saying, I love my George Foreman grill.