Wednesday 18 August 2010

Madeline's real Alecha


Eritrean alecha (based on an original recipe from Eritta)

Ingredients
...
* 2-3 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 cup red or white onion, chopped (optional: 1 1/2 cup chopped cabbage)
* 2 cups yellow or red split peas
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
* 5 cups water
* 4 pods cardomom (crush)
* 5 grains whole black pepper (crush)
* Salt to taste

Procedure

1. Pour oil into a large pot and place over medium heat.
2. Add onion, stirring often, (add optional cabbage half-way through) until golden brown.
3. Add all other ingredients.
4. Cook over medium heat until the veges are tender. Adjust pepper, salt, and other spices to taste. Check that it does not run out of water or burn, stir occasionally and add more water if needed. Consistency should be thick but not dry.
5. Serve with Injera, (‘Injera’ is special fermented pancake but you can also prepare your own unsweetened pancake without egg and served with drizzle of lemon)