Coming Back to Reality: Chana Masala

Posted by Nichole Leigh


Hi Readers!  I hope that 2012 is already proving to be an exceptional year! After a much needed blogging break, I'm ready to hit the ground running! Er.... that is to say, hit the keyboard typing?

Anyway, J and I spent the holidays in Long Island with his family, and Oh My God did we eat! A lot. Every single day. Excessively, even. J's mother (who originally hails from an island off the coast of Italy) is some sort of seafood Goddess. She goes to the fish market nearly every day and haggles with the fishmongers (in Italian, of course) to secure the freshest seafood available. In the ten days that we stayed with J's family, I consumed fresh clams three times, octopus (yes!) twice, mussels twice, calamari, oysters, and god knows how many types of fish. The whole experience was incredible and we had a great time.

But, since we've returned to our little Pittsburgh apartment, I've barely cooked anything. We've been home for twelve days, and I have only cooked dinner once. So what have we been eating? Raw fruit, vegetables, and bread. The fare has been a bit simplistic, but I think we needed a break from complicated, multi-course meals.

Cooking exhaustion aside, I wanted to share the most recent thing I prepared for dinner: this simple, quick, and super satisfying Channa Masala, or Chickpea Curry. If your kitchen is stocked with Indian spices, this is a particularly easy dish to throw together. The whole thing takes about 20 minutes.

Channa Masala - Chickpea Curry

This recipe was adapted from Neelam Batra's 1000 Indian Recipes. I usually serve this dish with rice because it's a pretty soupy curry, but you can certainly eat it with chapati or naan too (if you have a Tandoor oven, that is!) The recipe features the use of canned chickpeas, which is not exactly authentic, but the curry is still delicious.

Photo Courtesy of Hookedonheat.com. View the original here. (I left my camera charger in NY - working on getting it back)

Ingredients

1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 fresh green chili peppers, such as serrano, stemmed

3 cloves fresh garlic, peeled

1 quarter-sized sliced peeled fresh ginger

2 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon Garam Masala + 1/4 teaspoon for garnish
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon ground paprika
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 cup plain soy milk whisked with 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch or arrowroot  

1 can chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans)

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro, including soft stems

Directions
1. In a food processor or a blender, combine the onion, green chili peppers, garlic, and ginger to make a paste. Remove to a bowl, then purée the tomatoes.

3. Heat the oil in a small nonstick saucepan over medium-high heat and add the cumin seeds; they should sizzle upon contact with the hot oil. Quickly add the onion, garlic, chili pepper, and ginger paste and cook, stirring over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until the juices evaporate, about 7 minutes.

4. Add the coriander, garam masala, turmeric, paprika, and lime juice, then add the soy a little at a time, stirring constantly.

5. Mix into the chickpeas and simmer about 15 minutes to blend the flavors. Add more water for a thinner curry.

6. Transfer to a serving dish, mix in the cilantro and the remaining garam masala, and serve.

Easy Tomato Paneer Curry

Posted by Nichole Leigh

When I make curry, it usually goes one of two ways: the preparation either takes me three hours, or it doesn't. The velocity of my curry preparation tends to depend on just how smooth and "restaurant-like" I want the sauce to be (without the cream). 

The following is a quick version of an everyday curry sauce that I prepare regularly. It is rather simple if you have a stockpile of diverse spices. (See Yogurt Curry with Onion Pakora for some tips on stocking up on Indian ingredients.) This curry features paneer cheese, which is something like an Indian farmer's cheese. You can purchase it in Indian markets, or if you're feeling really adventurous, you can make your own by following this recipe. 

Easy Tomato Paneer Curry

This curry is "easy" because I don't blend together the vegetables (wet masalas) before cooking them. Additionally, the familiar tomato flavor is generally palatable to newcomers to Indian food. The sauce is a little bit chunky, and absolutely delicious.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 hot peppers, like Serrano Peppers, minced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

1/2 teaspoon whole cloves

1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1 tablespoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon tumeric powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup plain yogurt

12 oz. paneer cheese

Directions

1. In a medium saute pan, heat olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, peppers, ginger, and cloves. Cook until the onions become translucent and begin to caramelize, about 7 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes and cilantro. Allow to cook until the oil rises to the top of the sauce, about 10 minutes. 

Mix in the spices. Add the yogurt one tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly to avoid curdling. Allow to cook for another 12-15 minutes.

3. Mix in the paneer cheese, and stir gently. Allow to cook for another 5-7 minutes so that the paneer cheese absorbs the flavors. 

4. Serve with basmati rice or chipati.

There are 375 Billion Vegetarians in India: Yogurt Curry with Onion Pakora

Readers, I have a confession to make. I adore Indian food and have been cooking it at home for years. But Nichole, you ask, why haven't we seen any recipes from you for Indian meals? (Note: Carrie did put up a lovely Sweet Potato Samosa Recipe.) Honestly, I have been depriving the Veggie Horizons audience of recipes because I've been too lazy to type them up. (For Shame!)

But I shan't be lax in my duty any longer. There are over 375,000,000 vegetarians on the huge Indian subcontinent, and they hail from the many ethnic and religious communities the make up India's extremely diverse population. To say that there is a single definition of "Indian cuisine" is like saying that there is a single type of "European cuisine."

There's an almost infinite amount to learn, but novice cooks need not face the task alone. From Indian Cuisine blogs to books, there are many wonderful resources out there. Some are very authentic, some not so much. However, in my opinion, if what you're cooking tastes good, then a little Indian-American fusion here and there never hurt anyone.

On that note, I'd like to present my personal Indian cooking bible: 1000 Indian Recipes, by Neelam Batra. I discovered this book about five years ago (long before I was hip to the blogging scene), and have probably used it once or twice a week since then. Well, maybe less often in the past two years or so, because I've memorized so many of the recipes by heart. Anyway, I love it for the following reasons:

1. The early sections of the book offer lots of information about how to stock an Indian-Cooking friendly kitchen. Chapters include information on basic ingredients and procedures (including making one's own paneer cheese, ghee, and garlic-ginger paste), as well as detailed explanations about the spices used throughout the book and possible substitutions
2. An intuitive and clear organization with a fabulous index searchable by both the Indian and English words
3. Um.... 1000 Recipes! One of my life goals is to try them all (except maybe the meat ones).

A final piece of advice for beginners before we get to the recipe of the day: Do. Not. Buy. Spices. At. The. Grocery. Store.

Seriously, don't do it. You will get ripped off so severely you will never forgive yourself. Find an Indian Grocery Store, take your 1000 Indian Recipes spice list, and stock up. You will be shocked at how affordable spices are at the Indian Grocery Store, and the prices on dried legumes and flour aren't bad either. The only caveat is that spices do go stale after a bit, so buy smaller containers if you're not planning on cooking Indian regularly. Okay, now you're ready!

Yogurt Curry  with Onion Pakora

This recipe is a slight adaption of "Nani Mama's Yogurt Curry with Onion Fritters" in Neelam Bartra's 1000 Indian Recipes. Make the fritters first, and then add them to the curry sauce at the end. The recipe for the pakora precedes the recipe for the yogurt curry sauce. 

Onion Pakora or Onion Fritters

Ingredients:

• 1/2 teaspoon Chaat Masala
• 1/2 cup chickpea flour (aka gram flour)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped or minced
• 1 small potato, peeled and grated
• 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro, including soft stems
• 1 tablespoon peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon dried, ground fenugreek
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ajwain seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 2 to 3 tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 to 2 cups of peanut oil for deep-frying

Directions:

1. Sift the chickpea flour into a medium bowl and mix in the onion, potato, ginger, coriander, fenugreek, cumin, ajwain seeds, baking soda, and salt. Add the water as needed to make a semi-thick mixture.

1. Heat the oil to 350F or 375F on a frying thermometer or a small teaspoon of batter dropped into the hot oil bubbles and rises to the top immediately.
2. Use a tablespoon to drop 1-inch uneven balls of the mixture carefully into the hot oil and fry as many pieces as the wok can hold at one time without crowding, turning each piece a few times with a slotted spoon until crispy and golden on all sides, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel to drain. 

1. Set aside until it is time to add them to the curry sauce. 

Yogurt Curry with Onion Pakora

Ingredients:

• 15 to 20 Onion Pakora
• 3 cups nonfat plain yogurt
• 3 cups water
• 1/4 cup chickpea flour
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground fenugreek
• 1/8 teaspoon ground asafoetida
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 2 tablespoons peeled minced fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander
• Chopped cilantro

Directions:

• Prepare the pakoras. Then, in a blender, blend together the yogurt, water, chickpea flour, and curry leaves until smooth. (Blend well, or the yogurt will curdle while cooking.) Transfer to a bowl and mix in the coriander, turmeric, and salt. 
• Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick wok or saucepan over medium-high heat and cook the onion and ginger, stirring, until golden about 1 minute. Add the black mustard seeds and continue to heat until they begin to pop. 

• Add the coriander, fenugreek, asafoetida, and tumeric. Stir momentarily. Then slowly add the yogurt mixture, stirring constantly, and continue to stir until it comes to a boil, 2 to 4 minutes. Watch carefully and reduce the heat if the sauce starts to boil over.

• Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally and watching carefully, until the sauce looks smooth and silky and traces of oil are visible on the top of the surface and the sides, 30 to 35 minutes. (At this point the sauce should be somewhat soupy; it will thicken after the pakoras are added.)

• Add the pakoras and simmer another 3 to 5 minutes, allowing the pakoras to soften as they absorb the sauce. 

• Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with chipped cilantro. Serve with rice or flat breads.