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Vegetarian Ashak

A vegetarian version of the classic Afghan dish Ashak - a dumpling filled with leeks and topped with a tomato-lentil sauce.

Ingredients

  • 20-25 wonton wrappers may also use fresh dough

Dumpling Filling

  • 3 leeks (may add or substitute with scallions)
  • 1/4 cup dill optional, may simply substitute with more leeks/scallions
  • salt to taste
  • pepper to taste
  • 2 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Sauce

  • 2 roma tomatoes
  • 1 cup eggplant (diced)
  • 3/4 cup onion
  • 1 roasted bell pepper optional
  • 2 Tbsp parsley
  • 3-4 garlic cloves
  • 1.5 tsp chana daal
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1/4 tsp cumin
  • salt to taste

Yogurt Sauce

  • 2/3 cup yogurt
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 tsp dried mint

Instructions

Dumpling Filling

  1. Wash your leeks, scallions, and dills really well. Add to a food processor and chop until fine.

  2. In a pot or pan, add some extra virgin olive oil. Lightly sautee leek-mixture until soft and transculescent. Make sure to add salt and pepper. Set aside.

Vegetarian Tomato and Lentil Sauce

  1. Soak your channa daal (split pea lentils at least an hour before in some water). Note - if you have forgotten this step or don't have this ingredient, no worries. You can opt to leave it out all together.

  2. Chop up all your veggies- eggplant, tomatoes, garlic, roasted bell pepper.

  3. In a pan, add some olive oil. Sautee you eggplants and onions. Once translucent, add in your chopped tomatoes, lentils, and spices. Season with salt as you go. Add a cup of water, bring to a boil then a low simmer. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Garlic Yogurt Sauce

  1. Finely grate or mince the clove of garlic into the yogurt sauce. Add the dried mint. Combine and set aside.

Assembly

  1. Either using fresh dough or store-bought wonton wrappers, add a small amount of filling to the center of your wrapper. Press the corners together. Seal with water + cornstarch to prevent them from opening.

  2. If using fresh dough - boil and cook like ravioli. If using wonton wrappers, feel free to steam the dumplings until translucent.

  3. In your serving dish, add a layer of yogurt, then your dumplings, then your tomato-lentil sauce, and finally your yogurt sauce. Top with a few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil and paprika. Your ashak is ready to serve!