Tag Archives: chickpeas

Chana Masala Salad with Dried Tomatoes

This is the simpler version of the Chana Masala, a rather sophisticated dish that might require some time when all things are done from scratch. So, this one goes to all of you who are new into Indian cooking and still want your leafy veggies in your plate 🙂

You start by cooking the chickpeas over the pressure cooker, adding a piece of whole cinnamon, cumin seeds and salt. Meanwhile, prepare the rest of the yummy stuff: cut the onions finely, make a ginger garlic cream (simply mix it together with an immersion blender and a tad of water), slice half of a chilly and some dried tomatoes (if they’re hard, make sure you hydrate them in advance).

When your chickpeas are ready, put them aside to rest and fry the onions, the garlic-ginger cream and chillies with little oil and salt (use a skillet pan or a wok for that). When their water evaporates, add some chickpeas stock, sprinkle ground cumin and cinnamon, stir well and leave them to cook for a bit. Then add the chickpeas (a bit more stock is fine as well) and stir over the fire for another 5 to 10 minutes. You can use a fork or a special utensil to crush some of the beans.

Now the last details: take out the seeds of a pomegranate and prepare the fresh leaves you want to use – it can be spinach, kale, coriander, etc. When the chickpeas are not so hot anymore, mix everything together and, if you feel like, add some olive oil & lemon and sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

The Magic Yellow Powder

When I use turmeric, I feel that my dishes are not only vibrantly golden, but also nutritiously stronger. No wonder it has more health uses than any other medicinal herb! Over time, I learned to keep it handy and add it to almost any food being cooked over the fire or to sometimes use it for creating the loveliest salad dressings.

Most often, I let myself drawn by imagining how other vivid colors would look like next to the shining yellow and this is exactly how new taste combinations and dishes turn into reality.

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One of the dressings I love the most is inspired by this one, and I particularly like the texture given by the carrots inside, not to mention how well it balances the bitterness of the turmeric. What I use is:

  • carrots
  • turmeric
  • olive oil
  • tahina / cashews
  • soya sauce
  • honey
  • (mustard)
  • lemon
  • balsamic vinegar
  • garlic
  • (ginger)
  • salt

See that mustard is in itself pretty sour, so if you choose it, you won’t need to add vinegar or too much lemon. Similarly when using soya sauce be mindful regarding how much salt you add.

I like the combination between this sauce and the sweetness of chickpeas or the glutinosity of rice.

So here you have it next to a beautiful dark rice soaked in coconut milk and accompanied by autumn veggies – carrot, pumpkin, leek and sweet potatoes, them too sauteed with the magic yellow powder.

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And here’s a similar version with a cashew & tomato juice base

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Coconut Chana Masala

Introducing: favorite Indian dish cooked on European land! Because we cannot compare the flavors and the vibe of the food when here or there…each one is quite unique!

Nevertheless, I have to admit that the preparation of this one here turned out pretty authentic. Had I grated a real coconut, it would’ve been so much more Indian! But sometimes I get lazy when it comes to break open hard shells 🙂 So because the grated coconut I bought was an average one, I decided to mix it with a good coconut milk. That should work!

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First of all, here’s the inspiration for my preparation (thanks Radu!)

I won’t go through all the steps myself, as you already have it crystal clear in the recipe above. My only piece of advice is not to get stuck if one spice or another doesn’t come handy, just use the most common ones. What really makes the difference here is making your own masala, grinding and roasting it properly.

P1080158 As such, I haven’t done the paste in a wet grinder, but added the spices & the grated coconut (roasted together) to the tomato-onion stir fry. Using more tomatoes ensured me with enough liquid for the time being. I then added the coconut milk along with the chickpeas and brought it to the boil once more.

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Warning: the result it’s dangerously delicious!

(and the roasting pan for the masala will still release the flavor next time you use it :))

I sprinkled parsley instead of coriander leaves on top, and served it next to a summer salad made out of lettuce, cauliflower rice, red peppers and sunflower sprouts. Trust me, you’ll need even more leaves…

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list of ingredients

_the fresh masala_

  • cinnamon bark
  • fennel
  • cumin
  • coriander
  • dry red chilies
  • cloves
  • black cardamom
  • green cardamom
  • black pepper
  • stone flower
    _the rest_
    • chickpeas
    • grated coconut
    • coconut milk
    • cooking oil
    •  bay leaf
    •  mustard seeds
    •  curry leaves
    •  onions
    •  tomatoes
    •  turmeric
    •  ginger
    •  garlic
    •  green chillies
    • salt

Hummus + Tabbouleh = Love

Who doesn’t love hummus? This middle eastern creamy stuff makes everybody lick their fingers in amazement. And of course it goes perfect with his sister salad, the juicy tabbouleh.

P1080241After experimenting with different ways of preparing these dishes, I arrived at these basic rules:

1. the hummus

– forget about making hummus if you don’t have tahina (sesame cream) – you should always add it in generous amount – as well as a good quality olive oil

– part of the secret resides in how you boil the chickpeas. first of all, do it yourself: canned stuff won’t hold a tad of your energy :))

– always soak the chickpeas overnight (the more the better) and preferably boil it over the pressure cooker. add salt and whole spices for enhanced flavor

– keep the water in which they boiled handy and add it progressively during the preparation until you get a fluffy texture

– play around with spices: cumin, garlic, zatar, sumac, nigella seeds; I always choose to add ground cumin or crushed garlic into the composition, whereas I keep the other spices as add-ons

– balance the taste with enough lemon juice and salt, otherwise your hummus will turn out too heavy (it’s a pretty heavy dish anyway!)

– use a high power blender or your immersion blender to get the right texture; it can take in plenty of liquid (the chickpeas water & lemon juice) but make sure it doesn’t turn too watery. i’ve discovered that adding red lentils (around a quarter of the whole quantity of chickpeas) will help a lot in achieving a soft fluffy hummus.

2. the tabbouleh

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– the main ingredients should be: parsley, tomato, (cucumber), red onion, bulgur (cracked wheat), olive oil, pomegranate juice/concentrate or lemon juice

– depending on your taste, you can decide upon the quantity of each one; however, the main one is parsley and you should use it abundantly (especially because the citric acid contained in the pomegranate/lemon juice will half the initial quantity you started with)

– don’t add too much salt or you risk loosing the unique sweet & sour flavor of the salad

– alternatively, you can use buckwheat instead of bulgur. even cauliflower rice works out well, but then it’s something else than the original 🙂

– garnish it with pomegranate seeds or some nice olives

And if you don’t have bread – a good homemade bread or pita – try for once to have the hummus on spinach leaves. It could look like this 🙂

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Or you can simply go for your favorite salad as a side dish

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list of ingredients

1. hummus

  • chickpeas – soaked overnight and boiled until tender
  • tahina
  • olive oil
  • lemon juice
  • salt

optional:

  • cumin, garlic, zatar, sumac, nigella seeds

2. tabbouleh

  • parsley
  • tomatoes
  • (cucumber)
  • onion
  • bulgur / buckwheat
  • olive oil
  • lemon juice/pomegranate juice or concentrate (careful at the preservatives inside!)

optional:

  • pomegranate seeds
  • olives

Vegan Mayonnaise

Along the time I tried a few types of mayonnaise, some of them  occurring unexpectedly from one dressing or another. Let me tell you about my favorite ones.

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The one and only is the avocado mayo,   righteously deserving all its fame and glory. It’s also incredibly easy to prepare: you just crush the avocado (fork/blender) and mix it with cold pressed sunflower oil, mustard, lemon juice and salt. Its best companions are green onions and cucumbers, but I felt that it could also taste nice on kohlrabi (as in the above picture) or in a chickpeas based salad (as in the picture below).

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Here I garnished it with peppers, tomatoes, raisins and fresh mint.

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It happened that one day I’ve tried a mustard dressing that turned out to be pretty similar to mayonnaise. I simply mixed mustard, olive oil, onion flakes (previously rehydrated) and lemon juice in the food processor (you can also use the immersion  blender). If you’re not happy with the texture, help yourself with some starch flour. At the end I spiced it up with salt, black and red pepper and serve it on a cabbage, carrot and parsnip salad.  Mayo certainly asks for roots!

The third one is a tahini based mayo and it’s slowly turning into a favorite 🙂 You will get an amazing flavor only if by using a good quality balsamic vinegar. Besides that, you need olive oil, salt and ground flaxseeds – so it goes creamy enough and adds up to those omega 3 and fiber levels! Its superdelicious oily taste is again well balanced by pepper – use any type you wish according to your taste.

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Again with coleslaw (cabbage, carrot and celeriac) and green garlic on top. I’m sure you can crush it inside the mayo if you’re a true garlic lover!

list of ingredients

1. avocado based mayo

  • avocado
  • mustard
  • sunflower oil (cold pressed)
  • lemon juice
  • salt

2. mustard based mayo

  • mustard
  • olive oil
  • onion flakes
  • salt, pepper
  • optional: starch flour

3. tahini based mayo

  • tahina
  • olive oil
  • balsamic vinegar
  • ground flaxseeds
  • salt, pepper
  • optional: garlic