Mauritian Creole style Pork Sausages with Black Lentils and Bilimbi Pickles
For the Black Lentils:
- 250g black lentils
- 2 cardamom pods
- 15g peeled and sliced ginger
- 2 cl sunflower oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon dried red chilli
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
- 15 cl water
- 1 peeled and crushed tomato
- 1 leek
- 2 carrots
- Salt and black pepper
Preparation and Cooking:
1. In a pot, cover the lentils, cardamom and sliced ginger with 2 cl of water. Bring to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the lentils start to soften, about 10 minutes. Drain the lentils and transfer to a bowl; discard the cardamom and ginger.
2. Add in the pot 2 cl of oil and then add the onion, garlic and minced ginger and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 8 minutes. Reduce the heat to low. Add the coriander, leek, carrots, cumin, chilli and garam masala and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 4 minutes.
3. Add the rest of the water, tomatoes and lentils to the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer over moderate heat until the lentils are softened and the soup has thickened, about 1 hour. Stir and season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and serve.
For the Pork Sausages cooked in Mauritian Creole style:
- 500g Mauritian Creole sausages
- 2 stems of thyme
- 3g fresh chopped coriander
- Salt and pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 whole big tomatoes, diced
- 2 medium onions, sliced
- 1 green chili without seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon dry red chili
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala
- 15 cl water
- 1 peeled and crushed tomato
- 1 leek
- 2 carrots
Preparation and Cooking:
1. In a hot pan, pour the oil and add the sausages, let it cook for about 8 minutes.
2. Then add all the other ingredients, stir well and cover
3. Let it cook with a cover for around 10 minutes, season well and serve hot.
For the Bilimbi pickles
- 200g Bilimbi cut into pieces
- 100g fine salt
- 10g red chili powder
- 15g crushed and roasted Mustard seeds
- 3g roasted fenugreek seeds
- 2g turmeric powder
- 2 cl sunflower oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 15g white sugar
Preparation and Cooking:
1. Take the light green bilimbi. Cut them into 1 cm. thick round pieces. Mix the required quantity of salt with these pieces and keep it aside for about 2-3hrs allowing the bilimbi to soak the salt.
2. Take the oil in a small pan and heat it on a low flame. Add mustard, fenugreek and turmeric. When the mustard seeds popping, cool them to room temperature and grind to powder. Add this powder to the bilimbi pieces along with chili powder and some sugar.
3. Cover with oil so that the pickles do not spoil.