Kothimbir Vadi

I found this recipe on findingvegan.com, and am so glad I stumbled across it because it is a gem! This is kind of like a frittata or fried polenta made from chickpea flour and cilantro. When I made it I didn’t use garlic pods or chilis (because I didn’t have them), although I threw in a little cayenne pepper. I think it came out good, a bit mild, but I don’t like spicy food.

The next day I served it with some black lentils I had cooked up and they went great together for a protein heavy lunch. It also makes a great alternate “tea cake” to serve with chai (-:

To make this in Senegal ask for “Persi Sinioux” at the local market: that is cilantro. It is also called coriander (to clarify, what we call cilantro is really just the leaves of the coriander plant). Chickpea flour can be found at Hypermarche, it is unmarked but found in the Indian Foods aisle. They have been out of stock lately, but promise it is coming soon. Ask for “Ble de Pois Chiches”. Most of the spices you can find in Dakar, but feel free to substitute if you don’t want to spend the money. I found ginger and garlic in the market, and then just used curry powder instead of the correct spices. It is not as good, but still very tasty.