In the past few months, and last few weeks especially, Rob has had to do a lot more around the house. And when Rob does the cooking, it means the kitchen is filled with curry.
More of a creature of habit than me, Rob has been cooking through our favourites, Dal Bhat, Tamarind Lentils and innumerable batches of Creamy Broccoli Dal.
He must have become bored, because one day he opened up his favourite cookbook, 660 Curries, and made chana masala.
Every year, I pay particular attention to the weather. Usually it is because I cycle to work but this year it is because of the garden. It still blows my mind that 2 weeks ago, we were worried about frost and snow (it snowed in May, I saw it) and now, the highs are a humid 30°C a with a humidex of 33°C. No wonder the plants are confused; our magnolia tree bloomed but the city’s cherry trees opted out. The mild spring was short-lived and will likely herald a warmer than normal summer.
I remember someone told me they didn’t like curry because it always tastes like curry powder. Well, if you always use the same curry powder, of course they will be similar. Most of the time, I don’t use curry powder and try to use the individual spices to create new concoctions each time.
Examples: Martinique Sweet Potato Coconut Curry, A Riff on Massaman Curry, Cauliflower and Chickpea Balti, Cauliflower Dal with Panch Poran, and our favourite Nepalese Dal Bhat. Read the rest of this entry »
I hope you don’t mind me sharing recipes from my newest favourite kitchen gadget. Rob bought me an Instapot and we’ve been slowly exploring it – both with the slow cooker and pressure cooker functions (I will be waiting a while to try the yogurt function unless someone can point me in the right direction for something easy). Read the rest of this entry »
Please forgive me for being slightly misleading with my title.
There are no black eyed peas in this dish.
There should have been but in Rob’s enthusiasm to clean out the freezer, we swapped cooked flageolet beans. Considering the beans are completely smothered in the coconut curry sauce (true to the title of the recipe), one may not be the wiser. Read the rest of this entry »
Before I was vegan, the only Indian food I liked was butter chicken. Then I met Rob and we explored lots of great, naturally vegan curries. While we have veganized some of Rob’s favourite curries (see this Vegan Khao Soi), I never even thought to veganize butter chicken.
Until of course, I spotted a healthier version that was mostly vegan, except for that chicken. Read the rest of this entry »
Guys, I am super excited to share this cookbook review with you. It is Richa Hingle’s first cookbook: Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen. I am sure she needs no introduction, her blog focuses on drool-worthy vegan eats but her heart is in making vegan versions of Indian dishes. Her photography is nothing short of stunning (see above and below, both of the mango tofu curry) and her recipes are excellent. Many of her testers have been gushing over her book for some time, so I was thrilled to receive an advanced copy for my review.
Richa’s book is an excellent foray into Indian cuisine. In all honesty, I usually skip over the beginner introductions in cookbooks but I always found them incredibly important when learning how to cook Indian food. As an example, the names of beans can be so confusing with different names in different locations. With Richa’s slant to the North American kitchen, you can figure out that urad dal is also known as split and skinned black lentils, which is different than mung dal which is split and skinned petite yellow lentils. There are recipes with more easier to find to find ingredients but she relies heavily of traditional procedures and ingredients for authentic taste (tempering, fermenting, spice blends, etc). However, she also uses ingredients like tofu and tempeh to substitute the sometimes meat-laden classics.
The recipes never seem to end. Richa has structured her cookbook to cover breakfast (Chickpea Flour Pancakes and Savory Oats Hash), Small Plates and Snacks (Savory Lentil Pastries [Baked Dal Kachori] and Spiced Roasted Tofu and Vegetables [Tandoori Tikka]), Sides and Dry Vegetable Curries (Cauliflower Potatoes [Gobi Aloo], Cauliflower and Peas in Spicy Curry [Gobi Mutter Masala]), Lentils and Beans (Butternut Coconut Red Lentil Curry, Restaurant-Style Masoor Dal Tadka), One-Pot Meals and Casseroles (Mung Dal Kitchari, Quinoa Cauliflower Biryani), Main Dishes (Restaurant-Style Navratan Korma, Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Makhani Gravy, Malai Kofta, Chicken-Free Balti), Flatbreads (Avocado Naan, Spicy Chickpea Flour Flatbread), Desserts (Pistachio Almond Ice Cream, Gluten-Free Gulab Jamun) and a chapter for chutneys, spice blends and other basics.
I have made a few recipes and they have all been fantastic. The one I wanted to share with you was especially enjoyed by Rob. Mango Tofu Curry. I looked through my archives and I had no idea how many mango curries I have shared previously:
Mango Curry with Toor Dal (Cumin-Scented Pigeon Peas with Mango) — probably my favourite of the bunch
Spicy Thai Mango Tofu Curry with Vegetables
Mango Curry Chickpea Salad Wraps
This is definitely different than the others.
I used frozen mango which I pureed which leant subtle sweetness to the savoury backdrop. It was a very saucy curry amongst the tofu and we enjoyed it with some parathas. Rice or another type of bread could also work.
Thankfully, the publisher allowed me to giveaway a Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen cookbook to a reader living in the United States. My international readers are eligible to win a copy of the Bonus Recipe Bundle pdf (15 more recipes!). To be entered in the random draw for the book or ebook, please leave a comment below telling me which Indian dish you like the most (and please let me know if you are not from the US). The winners will be selected at random on June 5, 2015. Good luck!
Recipes from Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen spotted elsewhere:
Spicy Baked Cauliflower Florets
PS. There is still time to enter giveaways for Plant-Powered Families and Crave. Eat. Heal.
PPS. I am sharing this with Bookmarked Recipes.
Oddly enough, these last few months have been the hardest for me to blog. My new normal is scrambling the night before to cobble together a post. The recipes and photos are ready to go but I just don’t know what to say.
It isn’t that I am getting bored with my eats (I am most certainly not) but they are certainly fitting a similar theme each week. What can I say? I know what I like and I like to eat it.
Here, I took Gabby’s recipe which took an Indian-spiced tomato sauce with some (leftover, in my case) roasted spaghetti squash and cooked chickpeas. It did not disappoint in the slightest. Something a bit different than my bean-centric curries, loaded with strands of spaghetti squash. Totally a winner.
What are your oft-repeated meals?
I am sharing this with Bookmarked Recipes.
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
This weekend was a doozy of a cold fest. With the long weekend, I briefly contemplated using the snow in my favour by breaking out the snowshoes… until I realized just how cold it was. With temperatures near -40C with the wind, Rob and I opted to stay inside most the weekend.
We actually had a plan. We needed to study.
We are working to becoming PADI scuba certified. Since our wedding in one of the best places to go scuba diving, we decided to capitalize on the uniqueness of the location. 5 hours of videos, 300 pages of a manual and multiple questions, we spent the majority of the weekend tucked away reading. Next weekend, we will attempt our pool portion of the training. Sadly, outdoor dives here will not resume until June, so we won’t be certified before we go, but it will make it much easier to go scuba diving.
Around this time of year, it is probably a good idea for us to go through our pantries and cold rooms. Please tell me I am not the only one with winter squashes that always seem to linger throughout the winter. No better time to use the winter squash along with a new variety of bean. Especially in curry form.
Susan gifted me these black chickpeas awhile back and I will admit, I prefer regular chickpeas. However, this curry was spectacular. There were a multitude of spices, added at different times to the curry, which created a rather optimally spiced dish. The fennel and panch phoran make this Bengali-inspired and a bit different from our typical curries. The black chickpeas made for a beautiful visual contrast but regular chickpeas could work, too.
How did you stay warm this weekend? Any scuba divers with beginner tips? 🙂
I am sharing this with Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays and Extra Veg.
(Continuing with making a curry each week, although not necessarily blogging about them each week, ha!)
If you are looking for recipes with a pressure cooker, other than JL’s new book, I recommend checking out Indian cookbooks. Or more specifically, I knew there were plenty of bean-centric pressure cooker recipes in one of my Indian cookbooks, 1000 Indian Recipes. I ventured forth with a dish that required no pre-soaking and cooked reasonably fast.
Thank you, chana dal, which are split black chickpeas. They are more crunchy than most beans I cook although that may because I didn’t cook them with too much water (2:1 water to bean ratio, weird). This dish could also be made without a pressure cooker, it would just take longer and I would add the greens later.
While dill might seem like an unusual ingredient for curry, I know it works really well (see this fabulous chickpea dill curry). The tomato is familiar to both Indian and European foods although this is purely Indian with the ginger, cumin, garlic and cilantro. The spinach almost melted by the weight of the pressure cooker, so I may try something different next time (like using baby spinach added at the end) or use a heartier green like kale.
Rob gave me a high five for finishing up the last of our chana dal. I say high five for the chana dal for still being awesome after all these years on my bean shelf!! Yeah! 🙂
I am sharing this with Credit Crunch Munch, Cooking with Herbs and Eat Your Greens.
There is a special kind of familiarity to the Indian curries Rob and I cook up each week. Certainly, we have our favourites on a constant rotation, but most of our curries involve simmering some beans with garlic, ginger and turmeric with some tomatoes, perhaps some greens with a finishing tarka with cumin and a spritz from lemon or lime juice and a cilantro garnish.
This curry hits on nearly all those points. It did not disappoint.
As the weather remains cold, I am honestly considering making a curry each week. Definitely comfort food. My how things have changed. There was a time I would not have touched Indian food but over the years, Rob has shown me the way.
Other lentil-like curries spotted here:
Red Lentil and Root Veggie Dal
Vegan Tikka Masala (Red Lentil and Spinach Curry)
Indian Lentils and Spinach (Dal Palak)
Split Pea Dal with Ginger and Lime
I am sharing this with Shaheen’s Eat Your Greens and Lisa’s My Legume Love Affair.
I had all the best intentions of sharing a chocolate-based recipe this week. Sadly, not one but two recipes were a flop. How could that possibly be? One we had to throw out it was that bad but the other will still be happily eaten.
This will be a quick post to share another of my favourite repeater recipes from this year: Isa’s Coconut Chana Saag. I am still not sure why it looks like most of the curries I share, but this one is flippin fantastic. Perhaps the touch of fennel brought it to the next level? In any case, it is delicious and highly recommended.
While most people might be on holidays already (Rob is!!), I get 2 out of 3 statutory holidays off and otherwise working through the remainder of the days. Rob thinks I am working too much but I try to reassure him that this way I save my vacation for our honeymoon.
I may pop back in with a few quickie posts but if not, best wishes for the new year and happy holidays. 🙂
I am sharing this with Souper Sundays.
And like that, winter arrived. The snow dropped in full force and actually stuck around a bit.
I had a few short weeks for biking. My broken leg meant I was not fit for biking earlier this fall but it was nice while it lasted.
And what is better during the cold weather than a warm bowl of curry?
To keep things simple in the kitchen, I have resorted to remaking some favourites and making twice as much.
Most of my favourites have already been shared (Tamarind Lentils, Bengali Cauliflower Dal, Creamy Broccoli Dal, and Root Veggie Curry), so it does not surprise me to share yet another easy, delicious and healthy curry. This is one I first discovered while testing/eating through Gena’s fabulous cookbook and has become a staple ever since. Having blog worthy photos also helps keep me more speedy in the kitchen.
So, please, grab yourself a huge sweet potato and make a double batch. It freezes well should you want to save it until a colder day.
I am sharing this with Souper Sundays.
As I write this, it is snowing outside.
Not that it will last and stay on the ground, but it definitely marks the beginning of fall. The leaves and temperatures have both fallen.
I walked to the Saturday farmer’s market this morning and they had finally moved it indoors. With everyone crammed into a smaller place, it was cramped and crowded but I still walked away with my stash of apples. Earlier, Rob and I tried to go apple picking where we had gone a few years ago. Turns out that the farm was subsequently sold and the DIY apple picking was no more. Since the farmer’s market is so close to our home, we didn’t pursue it further this year.
While we typically eat the apples as snacks and in our morning oats, this time, I added it to a savoury autumn salad. Roasted cauliflower is combined with quinoa with Indian-inspired flavours such as roasted coconut with a touch of sweetness from the apple and raisins. I then drizzled my favourite curried maple tahini dressing, which I usually reserved for my chickpea and carrot salad with excellent results. I needed to double the dressing since this salad was so voluminous.
Did you see snow, too?
I am sharing this with No Croutons Required, ExtraVeg, Vegetable Palette, Virtual Vegan Potluck and Souper Sundays.
The other day my Mom admitted that Rob’s opinion is biased. And she doesn’t trust it.
I like to use Rob as my barometer. How would a regular person enjoy my meal?
I think my Mom meant that Rob always likes my food, which, uh, is completely far from the truth. While Rob will eat most anything and has a very open mind (he skipped out on the rotten shark in Iceland, though), he still has his food preferences. Some meals I make are not his style, so I may not even share the meal with him. But when something tastes really good, or includes a lot of his favourite ingredients, I want to know what he thinks.
This was a curry that I tracked down fresh fenugreek. Toor dal (split pigeon peas) was simmered with pumpkin along with a multitude of spices: cilantro, mint, coriander, cardamom, paprika, ginger, garlic, chili flakes and sambhar masala. To keep it vegan, I simply omitted the chicken from the original recipe.
This was a case, though, where the curry was only ok. I thought it was ok but not great. Too many flavours became a muddled dish. Rob liked it more than me, though. He likes curry more than me, although since we weren’t completely smitten with it, we decided to try out Curry Burgers. Super simple: mix together leftover curry with leftover rice and chickpea flour. Bake. Easy, peasy. Since we usually serve our curries with rice, this was a fun way to jazz up the leftovers.
I don’t know why but the burgers tasted better than the original curry. We ditched the standard ketchup and mustard for Indian chutneys.. with a side salad of pickled beets and spinach and just ditched the buns altogether. 🙂
the taste space 