Yellow Split Pea Curry with Mock Injera

A six year old enjoying a plate of curry. Yes, that is a slice of potato kugel alongside the curry, No it isn't traditional, and yes, I put carrots in my potato kugel.


Sometimes I feel foolish posting such basic recipes, but as you can see from the photograph, Danny really enjoyed it. The bread is absurdly easy, and comes courtesy of Penniless Parenting (I swear, is there anything she can't make from scratch? If there's a next life, I want to come back as one of her kids). The curry was something I threw together.

For The Curry:

1 lb. Dried yellow split peas, sorted, rinsed and soaked overnight
6 carrots, finely diced
1 large onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bay leaf
3-4 tablespoons oil or ghee (I used oil)
1 veggie soup cube
1 teaspoon salt
Cooking liquid from peas
Spice mix:

1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried methe leaves (fenugreek)

Drain the soaked peas and place in a large pot. Cover well with fresh water and bring to a boil. Skim as needed. Reduce heat to simmer, cover leaving a vent for steam and cook about 2 hours until peas are tender, but not falling apart. Drain, reserving liquid.

In the same pot (why clean another?) heat the oil. Add the carrots, onions, garlic, and bay leaf. Cook over medium heat until onions and carrots have softened. Add the drained peas, the salt, veggie cube, and spice mix. Stir well for several minutes to let flavours combine. You may need more oil at this point. When everything is well coated, stir in enough of the cooking liquid to cover. Simmer slowly until most of the liquid has been cooked down-then add enough to cover again. This should use up most of the cooking liquid-you can go ahead and dump it all in at this point. Simmer again until nearly cooked down. With a potato masher, break-up some of the peas to make a thicker, soupy curry. You don't want to cook all the liquid out as it thickens upon cooling and standing. You can always add more water second day if needed. Taste, adjust seasonings if needed, and serve hot over rice, with mock injera (recipe follows).


Mock Injera:

1 1/2 cups white AP flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2-21/2 cups seltzer water
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
Oil for pan

Mix everything until you have a runny batter. Lightly grease pan, heat over medium heat (I used cast iron). Pour 1/2 cup of batter, tilt pan to coat and cook until bubbles form on top and pancake pulls from the sides. You only cook one side of this bread, and it should be soft and spongy (don't overcook it to a crispy crepe).

Serve hot (though they reheat acceptably in the microwave).

Peas Pudding-Meatless

If you think it looks inviting tonight, wait until it solidifies in the fridge overnight...then I can bread, and fry it for breakfast. I probably won't serve it between a couple slices of bread, but I've seen it done.

Right, so obviously I skipped the ham hock. I used a tablespoon of imitation bacon bits in the cooking water, and that seemed to do the trick. This is so far removed from traditional peas pudding, I really hesitated to post it as such. Traditionally, people stuck the peas in a cheesecloth bundle, and cooked it in the water with the ham hock. You can cook it slowly in a casserole in the oven to absorb the liquid, boil the hell out of it, or do as I did, which is a combination of both. You get the idea.

The dish received praise from the boys, and there's hardly enough left for frying in the morning (don't despair, I'll turn it into a proper breakfast).

You can make as much, or as little as you like-adjusting accordingly with the amount of sauce. The recipe makes more than you need anyway, so it would be safe to double the amount of peas leaving all else the same.

You Will Need:

3 cups dried, split green peas (you can also use yellow) soaked at least overnight, but better 12-15 hours with a change of water.

1 large onion
3 cloves garlic
1 carrot
2 large sprigs parsley
1 large bay leaf
1-2 tablespoons imitation bacon bits
Water to cover

For the sauce:

2 cups reserved cooking water from peas
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons AP flour


Rinse the peas very well, then soak several hours changing water at least once. Drain, and place in a large stockpot. Add everything else (except sauce ingredients) and bring to a boil. Skim any foam that accumulates. Cover, leaving room for steam to escape and simmer 1-2 hours, or until peas are quite soft. With a slotted spoon, remove the onion, garlic, carrot, parsley, bay leaf. Strain out the peas through a sieve over a bowl, reserving cooking liquid.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place peas in a casserole dish. Prepare the sauce.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture begins to brown and foam (about three minutes. Slowly whisk in the two cups of reserved cooking liquid. Whisk until thickened. Mix as much as needed into peas (this will largely be a matter of taste-use less if you like them thicker, keeping in mind it will firm up as it cooks). Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 200 degrees F. and continue cooking until you get the texture and dryness you like. Serve hot, or cold.