Recipes, Vegetable Forward

Vegetables and Chickpeas Tagine

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Vegetables and Chickpeas Tagine

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Serves: 6

The spices used in Moroccan Tagine recipes are very similar to spices used in Indian curries. I like to cook curries/stews with warm spices during winter months. It is very satisfying and comforting during cold season. I add chickpeas or lentils for protein to dishes like this.
Ingredients
Spice Blend:
  • 1 tablespoon turmeric
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 tablespoon dhana-jeeru (spice blend of ground coriander and cumin)
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon ginger powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground allspice
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
For Tagine:
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 inch piece of ginger, finely minced
  • ⅛ teaspoon saffron threads
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 cups cauliflower florets
  • 2 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 cup small red or yellow potatoes, cut in half
  • 1 cup vegetable stock or water
  • 1 zucchini, cut into 1 inch pieces
  • 1 cup different color peppers, cut into strips
  • 1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
  • 2 teaspoons salt or to taste
  • 1 cup large green olives
  • 2 preserved lemons, roughly chopped
  • ½ cup roughly chopped dry apricots or golden raisins
  • 1 cup cilantro, chopped for garnish
Directions
  1. In a mixing bowl make spice blend by combining all spices. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (optional, See step 3).
  2. In a large Dutch oven or oven proof sauté pan, heat olive oil on medium high heat for 1 minute. Add onions and sauté until translucent, 3 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, saffron and spice blend, and sauté until fragrant for 2 minutes. Next add tomato paste and sauté for 2 minutes.
  3. Add cauliflower florets, carrots and potatoes to pot. Stir to coat vegetables with spices. Add stock or water and bring it to boil. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and stir. Cover the pot and you can either cook vegetables on stove top or transfer to oven. Let vegetables cook for 10 to 12 minutes or just tender.
  4. Add remaining vegetables, preserved lemons, apricots or raisins and olives. Add diced tomatoes from can with juices and chickpeas. Season with remaining teaspoon of salt. Stir to combine everything and cover the pot. Transfer to oven or continue to cook on stove top for another 10 minutes or so until all vegetables are cooked through.
  5. Before serving garnish with cilantro. Serve with couscous and/or nan.

 

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Recipes, Street Food

Khaman

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Khaman

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Serves: 4

This Gujarati dish can be found all over Gujarat in shops called khaman house or farsan (savory) mart. It is eaten as a snack or with a meal as a farsan on special occasions.
Ingredients
  • 2 cups besan (chickpea flour)
  • 1 cup yogurt (not Greek)
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon minced jalapeno or serrano chili
  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh coconut, for garnish
  • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, for garnish
For tempering (Vaghar):
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon asafetida
  • 1 jalapeno or serrano chili, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon water
Directions
  1. Whisk together besan, yogurt and warm water in a medium mixing bowl until smooth batter. Cover the bowl with a plate and let it ferment for 4 to 5 hours.
  2. Once batter is fermented, add turmeric, salt, chili and ginger to batter and stir to combine.
  3. Grease two metal pie dishes with oil or nonstick cooking spray. Start heating steamer on medium high heat.
  4. Whisk lemon juice, oil and baking soda in a small mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously to emulsify oil and lemon juice and to aerate. Immediately add to fermented batter and whisk vigorously.
  5. Pour batter into pie dishes and steam it for 10 to 12 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from steamer and cut into squares. Keep it in pie dishes.
  6. While khaman are steaming, prepare vaghar. Combine sugar and water in a small mixing bowl until sugar dissolves. Set aside. In a small heavy bottomed sauce pan heat oil on medium high heat until shimmering. Add mustard seeds and let them sizzle. Lower heat to medium. Add asafetida and let it cook for 10 seconds. Add sesame seeds and chili. Let chili cook for 1 minute. Pour sugar water into vaghar. Take off heat.
  7. Pour ½ of vaghar on one pie dish and other ½ on second pie dish. Transfer khaman from pie dish to serving bowl. Stir gently to evenly coat vaghar. Garnish with coconut and cilantro. Serve immediately.
Notes
You can also make this recipe from ready to make packets available in Indian grocery stores.

 

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Recipes, Vegetable Forward

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Taco

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Sweet Potato and Chickpea Taco

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Serves: 6

This recipe is a fusion of Indian and Mexican flavors.
Ingredients
  • 3 medium to large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ inch dice
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 ½ teaspoons chipotle chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 15 oz. can of chickpeas, rinsed
  • 1 large poblano pepper, cut into ¼ inch dice
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
  • ⅛ teaspoon asafetida
  • 10 to 12 fresh curry leaves
  • 2 to 3 dry red chilies
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  • ¼ cup grated fresh coconut
  • ⅓ cup chopped cilantro
  • ½ cup yogurt
  • 1 teaspoon lime zest
  • Juice of half a lime
  • Salt to taste
  • 18 to 20 small tortillas
  • 1 cup crumbled Cotija or feta cheese
Directions
  1. Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick spray. Transfer diced sweet potatoes to baking pan. Drizzle potatoes with canola oil. Season with salt, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin and 1 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder. Toss potatoes to coat with spices and make even layer of potatoes. Roast potatoes until edges are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
  2. While potatoes are roasting, heat coconut oil in a large wok or frying pan until shimmering. Add mustard seeds and let then sizzle. Add asafetida, curry leaves, dry red chilies and let curry leaves fry for 30 seconds. Add turmeric and chili powder. Add poblano pepper and sauté it for a minute. Add chickpeas, ½ teaspoon cumin powder, and coriander powder. Season with salt and stir everything to combine with spices. Let chickpeas cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Once sweet potatoes are roasted, combine them with chickpeas. Add coconut, cilantro and stir. Let potatoes and chickpeas cook for 2 to 3 minutes more.
  3. Combine yogurt, lime zest, lime juice, ½ teaspoon cumin powder, and ½ teaspoon chipotle chili powder into a small mixing bowl. Whisk yogurt with spices to make it smooth. Season with salt.
  4. Heat tortilla on stove top or in a microwave. To serve taco, put about ¼ cup chickpeas and sweet potatoes on tortilla. Drizzle with about 1 tablespoon chili-lime yogurt. Sprinkle with cheese. Other toppings can be added to taste.

 

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Recipes, Street Food

Patra

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Patra

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Serves: 8 servings

This recipe is made with taro leaves, which are not easily available in Indian grocery stores. If you find it use it otherwise use collard greens or chard.
Ingredients
  • 1 bunch collard greens
  • 2 cups chickpea flour
  • 3 teaspoons salt or to taste
  • 5 teaspoons sugar or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon dhana-jeeru (spice blend of ground coriander and cumin)
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • ⅛ teaspoon clove powder
  • 2 teaspoons green chili, minced
  • 3 teaspoons ginger, minced
  • 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
  • 1 ½ cups water or more
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, for garnish
  • 2 tablespoons shredded unsweetened coconut, for garnish
For Vaghar:
  • 3 tablespoons oil
  • ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds, optional
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
  • ⅛ teaspoon asafetida
Directions
  1. Wash collard greens and drain water as much as possible. Dry each leaf with paper towel. Cut each leaf from each side of stem, discarding the stems. Make three piles of half leaves, big, medium and small. Cover with kitchen towel while you make chickpea flour paste.
  2. Make paste: Combine chickpea flour, dry spices, salt and sugar in a medium mixing bowl. Add green chili, ginger, garlic and lemon juice. Gradually add water and make a thick paste.
  3. On a flat surface, spread a big size half leaf and generously spread chickpea paste on the leaf with a hand or a spatula. Add a medium size half leaf on top of paste. Spread chickpea paste on the leaf. Take a small size half leaf, put on top of paste and spread chickpea paste on the leaf. Fold about 1 inch of left and right side of leaves inside (the paste side). Spread chickpea paste on the folds to tightly seal them. Tightly roll the leaves to resemble a small cylinder. Repeat the process until all the half leaves are used. If there are small pieces of leaves, you can spread it out on larger leaves and seal it with paste before rolling out. Try to make a roll with at least two half leaves. You will get 15-18 rolls.
  4. In a steamer pan, arrange the rolls in a single layer. If all the rolls do not fit, let the first layer steam for 5 minutes and then stack remaining rolls. Steam the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes or until rolls are fully cooked. Let it cool down for 30 to 40 minutes. After this the rolls can be frozen. First freeze on a baking sheet, leaving some space in between, then put in a zip lock bag. Before using them thaw them for 1 to 2 hours.
  5. Cut the rolls into ¾ inch wide pieces. Heat oil in a wok or a frying pan. Add fenugreek seeds and let it sizzle. Add mustard seeds and let it sizzle. Add asafetida and sesame seeds. Immediately add the rolls and stir everything. Let Patra heat on low heat until the bottom layer is golden brown, stirring few times. Garnish with cilantro and coconut flakes. Serve warm as an appetizer or a side dish.

 

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Flat Breads, Recipes

Puda

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Puda

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Serves: 6

In this recipe of Savory Pancakes you can also add finely chopped vegetables like carrots, spinach, peas etc.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup or more chickpea flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • ½ cup yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
  • 1 green chili, finely chopped or minced
  • 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped or minced
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped or minced ginger
  • ½ small tomato, finely chopped
  • ½ small onion, finely chopped
  • Water as needed
Directions
  1. Whisk flour and yogurt in a mixing bowl. Gradually add water as needed and make it into pancake like batter. Let it stand for 2 to 3 hours.
  2. Whisk remaining ingredients. If the batter becomes too thin, add more flour. Heat a griddle or a skillet and brush with oil. Pour about ½ cup batter and spread into thin pancake with a spatula. Let it cook for 1 to 2 minutes, flip it and cook for another minute. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve hot with cilanro chutney or ketchup.

 

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Beans & Legumes, Recipes

Chole

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Quick Chole

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Serves: 2

Chickpea Curry
Ingredients
  • 1 16 oz. can of chickpeas
  • 1 large yellow or red onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 medium size tomato, roughly chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic, cut into 3-4 pieces
  • 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, cut into 3-4 pieces
  • 1 jalapeno or serrano chili or to taste, cut into 3-4 pieces
  • ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon dhana-jeeru (spice blend of ground coriander and cumin)
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • ½ teaspoon chole masala
  • 3 tablespoons canola or neutral oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, for garnish
Directions
  1. In a food processor, process onion, garlic and green chili until it forms thick paste.
  2. Heat oil in a frying pan or a wok. Once oil is shimmering, add onion mixture, turmeric, dhana-jeeru, chili powder, garam masala, and sauté it until onion is light golden brown.
  3. Next process tomato and ginger in a food processor into a thick paste. Add little water if necessary to make it smooth. Add tomatoes and ginger mixture to pot and sauté until water from tomato evaporates.
  4. Add chick peas and salt. If gravy looks too dry add ¼ to ½ cup water. Cover pan or wok and let it simmer for 10 to 12 minutes. Uncover, add chole masala and let it simmer for another 3 to 4 minutes. Garnish with cilantro before serving. Serve warm with rice or any Indian flat bread. (Traditionally, chole are served with bhatoora (fried whole wheat flour bread).

 

 

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Instant Pot Chole

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Serves: 2

Ingredients
  • 1 cup dry chickpeas
  • 1 large yellow or red onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 medium size tomato, roughly chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic, cut into 3-4 pieces
  • 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, cut into 3-4 pieces
  • 1 jalapeno or serrano chili or to taste, cut into 3-4 pieces
  • ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon dhana-jeeru (spice blend of ground coriander and cumin)
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • ½ teaspoon chole masala
  • 3 tablespoons canola or neutral oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt or to taste
  • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, for garnish
Directions
  1. Pick through chickpeas and soak them in two cups of water for 5 to 6 hours or until chickpeas are soft. (Soaking is optional but it will speed up cooking process)
  2. In a food processor, process onion, garlic and green chili until it forms thick paste.
  3. Set instant pot to sauté setting for 30 minutes. Once it is hot, heat oil in insert until shimmering. Add onion mixture, turmeric, dhana-jeeru, chili powder, garam masala, and sauté it until onion is light golden brown.
  4. Next process tomato and ginger in a food processor into a thick paste. Add little water if necessary to make it smooth. Add tomatoes and ginger mixture to pot and sauté until water from tomato evaporates.
  5. Add chick peas and salt. Cover chickpeas with water. Set instant pot to pressure cooker setting and cook for 40 minutes. For unsoaked chickpeas increase time to one hour. Once cooking time is over, release steam (you can also wait for pressure to release) and uncover pot. Add chole masala and let it simmer for another 3 to 4 minutes on sauté setting. Garnish with cilantro before serving. Serve warm with rice or any Indian flat bread. (Traditionally, chole are served with bhatoora (fried whole wheat flour bread).

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Beans & Legumes, Recipes

Chana

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Bowl of Channa

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Chana

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Cook time: 

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Serves: 4

Sweet and Sour Indian Chickpeas
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup chana, uncooked
  • Water as needed
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ½ teaspoon sesame seeds
  • Pinch of asafoetida powder
  • 1 dry red chili (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon chickpea flour
  • ½ to 1 jalapeno or serrano chili, minced or finely chopped (optional)
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
  • ½ teaspoon red chili powder or to taste
  • ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon dhana jeeru (spice blend of coriander and cumin powder)
  • 1 small piece (half the size of golf ball) of jaggery (Indian raw sugar) or 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice or ½ teaspoon tamarind pulp
  • 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, for garnish
Directions
  1. Wash chana and soak into 1 to 1 ½ cup water for at least 6 to 8 hours or overnight in a medium soup pot or a Dutch oven or a pressure cooker.
  2. Season with salt and cook chana covered with enough water, about one hour or cook it in a pressure cooker according to manufacturer’s direction.
  3. In a separate medium soup pot or a Dutch oven, heat oil on medium high heat. Add mustard seeds and let it sizzle. Lower the heat and add sesame seeds and let it sizzle. Add chickpea flour and sauté for a second or two. Add asafoetida powder, red chili, turmeric and chili powder. Add channa with cooking water and green chili. Mix well. Chickpea flour will thicken the cooking water and turn into gravy like consistency. Add jaggery or sugar, dhana jeeru and lemon juice or tamarind pulp. Let chana cook for 8 to 10 minutes until all the flavors come together. If gravy is too thick add some water. Garnish with cilantro before serving. Serve warm with any flat Indian bread or rice.
Notes
You can also add 1 clove of minced garlic and 1 teaspoon of minced ginger in this recipe. In that case omit jaggery or sugar.

 

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