Smokey Duvec (Balkan-Style Stew)

Mrs B's Note:

This recipe comes from Leah Leneman’s book “Easy Vegan Cooking”. A quick surf on the Internet revealed next to nothing about Duvec (which Leah tells us is pronounced as dyuvetch), but my guess is that traditionally it would be made with smoked sausage and not tofu! But I love tofu, especially smoked, so can’t wait to try this. This recipe uses brown rice, which depending on the brand and way you cook it can take anything between 35 minutes to 1 hour to cook. However, if you can find it in the shops, quick-cook brown rice can save time. Because of this, the cooking time shown here is a bit of a guesstimate; I’ve assumed the longest time and you may be able to get everything ready much quicker. Alternatively, cooking the rice and potatoes before hand makes this a very quick recipe. Recipe posted for the Zaar World Tour 2005.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 35 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 6 ounces brown rice
• 1 -1 ½ lb potato , peeled and cut into large chunks
• 1 large onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 bell peppers (bell peppers, green, red or a mix)
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 lb smoked tofu , diced
• 140 ml vegetable stock (or use water)
• 4 ounces frozen peas
• fresh ground black pepper , to taste
• 4 tablespoons chopped parsley

Directions:

1. Cook the rice according to packet instructions.
2. About 30 minutes before the end of the rice cooking time, start cooking the potatoes; bring to the boil and boil them for about 5 minutes.
3. While the potatoes are cooking and rice continues to cook, chop the onion and garlic and fry in a large saucepan for about 4 minutes.
4. Chop the peppers and tomatoes, add them to the pan and stir in the tofu, mixing everything together; drain the par-boiled potatoes and add them too; stirring constantly continue to fry the ingredients for a few minutes.
5. Pour the vegetable stock into the pan, bring to the boil then lower the heat, cover and leave to cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Stir in the cooked rice, peas and black pepper; the peas will reduce the temperature of the stew so bring the contents of the pan back to a healthy simmer, then cook for another few minutes over a low heat.
7. Serve sprinkled with parsley.