On beans and my dislike of edge-case kitchen implements.

[atomdrache]

My immersion blender does not make aquafaba, though I had hoped it could; I have only succeeded through the precise and laborious application of a manual whisk, and on reflection I actually have very few uses for aquafaba and I'm not sure I care enough about it to make it again. Apparently a motorized whisk works, but I despise an overabundance of single-use kitchen implements--indeed, I could barely justify the immersion blender, and for some time I regretted the purchase for the waste of space. The preponderance of oddly-shaped, difficult-to-clean edge-case kitchen implements it seems to entail is, indeed, one of my chief complaints against European-style cooking. Let me make do with a pot, a frying pan, a pair of chopsticks, a cutting board, and one good knife. (I'll tolerate a menkiri bōchō but only because I like udon and soba a lot. I suppose that also entails a rolling pin, but that is easy to clean and store.)

However, I make dal far more often than I make hummus or falafel--whose byproduct is that peculiar suspension of beanstuff--and I found that the immersion blender works splendidly on dal. Most recently I applied it to a simple chana dal recipe that I originally discovered as a filling for dal parathas.

When I am too lazy to make parathas, I just make the dal.

A single-use implement is justifiable if I will use it often--say, a rice cooker, a teapot, or something that works well for dal.

Comments

[premchaia_pre4]

I like this idea overall. I still want to learn kitcheny things from you at some point and maybe try to replicate your setup.

What do you use aquafaba for?

[atomdrache]

You can use it to make vegan analogues of mayonnaise, whipped cream, and ice-cream-like things. I think the trendy thing to do with it is to make meringues. I have even seen a pancake recipe.

[403]

Ooh. Share your paratha recipe?

[atomdrache]

I pretty much just use the one on Manjula's Kitchen, filtered through my laziness and general apathy toward exact measurement. I can do a write-up at some point. I've only made it a few times so there is still some variation between batches. In short, though:

For the dal:

• ~600cm³ dry chana dal, soaked overnight in twice that much water (there is always leftover dal; in practice this is "one of those bins, half full of chana dal, filled to the top with water")


• Chili powder (a bunch--that dal should go from yellow to orange)


• A tablespoon or so of whole fennel seeds, ground with mortar and pestle


• One dried turmeric root, pulverized into tiny pieces with mortar and pestle and then ground


• Salt


• Hing (a modest spoonful should be fine--in fact that is probably enough to make your kitchen smell funny, but I love the stuff so my kitchen often smells funny)

If hing is unavailable, you may be able to use a bunch of garlic and onion powder. I would recommend powders in this case because you will be going for a very smooth, even consistency with the dal, and you will not want it to be too wet.

For the dough:

• A few fistfuls of white flour


• A few fistfuls of whole-wheat flour


• A little salt


• A little mustard oil

This suffices to make enough parathas to feed a few people dinner, plus a good lot of leftover dal. Combine them for weird Indian-flavored bean burritos.

Cook dal until the beans are soft and no longer watery, taking care not to burn it, then attack with immersion blender or food processor so that you have a thick, pasty mass of beanstuff comparable in density to dough.

Mix dough ingredients, and knead just enough to get uniform consistency; the dough should not be too stiff.

Make little balls of dough about the size of golf balls and roll them out until they're a bit wider than your palm. Plop golf-ball-sized balls of dal on there and then seal them up so they look like those Chinese steamed pork buns. Turn them upside-down and let rest a few minutes.

Flour your rolling surface generously and roll these things out gently until they slightly exceed the span of your outstretched hand. Because the dal is similar in density and viscosity to the dough, the won't explode like you might expect--but if the dough sticks to the rolling pin or the surface underneath too much holes might develop. This is usually fine.

You will end up what are basically tortillas with an inner layer of beanstuff, and you can cook them the same way: On a frying pan or comal or other hot flat metal thing, over medium heat, a few minutes each side.

Detailed procedure will follow in a future write-up.