Bringing the east to the west

I am loving life in Santa Marta so far.  The weather is perfectly warm and it is always gloriously sunny.  There is usually a bit of a sea-breeze (although sometimes a massive gale) which cools us off on hot days.  The beach is close by, and there are a number of bays to choose from.  The people are absolutely beautiful.  Those I have met have all been incredibly friendly and hospitable - in the last 3 weeks we have had over a dozen dinner and lunch invitations to homes of friends and family!
And the food of course, is incredibly yummy and delightfully different from what I am used to!  There are a lot of corn-based meals: a variety of arepas; bollos; bunuelos (more on these later).  There are also so many interesting tropical fruits to sample!  My favorite so far is Zapote (a brown ball of a fruit that when opened exposes a dramatic fushia-coloured flesh that tastes a bit like caramel).
Restaurant-wise, Santa Marta has a number of Colombian joints where you can find any type of barbequed meat, tastey soups, tropical fruit juices, and patacones (deep friend platanos - a species of starchy green banana).  However, Lebanese-food is also incredibly popular here, as is Chinese food.  I am told that Chinese-Colombian food is "the best type of Chinese food in the world".  We are set to visit an old establishment down the road called "La Gran Muralla" ("The Great Wall") so we will see!  However, 2 things that I have been craving since arriving are Rice milk and Indian food (there is not one Indian restaurant in Santa Marta - or at least we have not found one yet).  Both are staples for me back at home.  
So to curb the cravings we made a delicious dhal, which was just what my belly was asking for (and a new experience for the in-laws)!  It was my first attempt at making rice milk, but it turned out better than I expected. 

Indian-Inspired Lentils with a Colombian twist 
1 kilo of dry green lentils
1 red onion
6 garlic cloves
1 tsp olive oil
water
2 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp cumin
meat of one coconut (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Let lentils soak for a few hours or overnight.  When you are ready to cook, wash lentils in a big pot to remove debris.  You may want to wash the lentils 3 or 4 times - draining out the water each time until it appears clean and not milky/starchy looking.  Drain out your water one last time and place your pot of lentils on the counter ready to put on the stove soon.
Finely chop your red onion and garlic cloves.  Heat up the oil in a pan and cook the onions and garlic until slightly browned.  Place onion/garlic mix on top of your lentils and mix through.  
Now put the pot of lentils/onion/garlic on the stove and cover the mixture with water (about 3 cups of water).  Let the mixture come to a boil as you stir constantly.  Once you bring the mixutre to the boil, turn the stove down a bit so that it can start to simmer.  Add your cinnamon and cumin, stir through, and cover the pot.
You can leave the lentils to simmer away, but come back to check on them and stir them to prevent burning the bottom of the pot.  You may need to add more water as you go along, in order to bring the lentils to a "mushy" consistency.  This will take about 45-60 minutes.  Once you get to this point where the lentils are soft and are not holding their shape, add your seasoning to taste.    
You can store the lentils in the fridge for a few days or divide them into containers and freeze.  These ca of course be served with a delicious curry and rice or maybe some paratha but I love to serve my lentils with chilli paste/sauce and with a friend egg on top. 

NOTE: I have found an incredibly tastey and preservative-free chilli sauce called "Amazon Red Hot Pepper Sauce" - so happy!

Gluten and Lactose-free Rice Milk
1 cup brown rice
8 cups water
2 tsp stevia

Bring your 8 cups of water to the boil.  Once boiling, pour your cup of rice into the pot and turn down heat a bit (so that the water comes to a simmer).  Add the stevia.  Stir every few minutes for 2 hours.  Take the mixture off the heat (the rice should be very mushy now).  Pour about a cup of cold water into a blender and the same amount of rice mixture - blend for about 30 seconds (or until the mixture looks creamy rather than grainy).  Empty the contents of the blender into a pitcher.  If you would like a thicker version then add less cold water to the blender, a more watery version calls for more water.
I can drink this rice milk by itself, but I love it heated with a a scoop of Colombian instant coffee and more stevia.