This recipe came from Rainbow Plant Life. I cheated a bit with the spices, opting for some pre-ground things instead of toasting them all from scratch. The meal still took a couple hours altogether to prepare, but it was well worth it.
I think I’ll try a double batch of the full fledged version one of these weekends.
I had a few potatoes that needed to be used, so I made these Indian potato cakes for a quick brunch on Saturday Morning.
Using the recipe from Tiffin and Tea, I left out the corn starch and green chilies.
I peeled and cubed three potatoes and boiled until tender. After draining, I mashed them with the remaining ingredients.
These were easy to form into patties, and frying in the iron skillet didn’t take long. They were delicious. Three potatoes made a nice plate each for Claudia and I. We topped with a dollop of sour cream, but I would use cashew cream spread next time to keep it vegan. In India, they would likely top with yoghurt.
As a child, I always loved it when my mom would make potato pancakes from left over mashed potatoes. This was like that, but with the nice warm flavor profile of Indian spices.
For Sunday Brunch this week I made my second run at dosas, which are sort of like crêpes, except made from plant protein sources instead of eggs. Chana Dosa is a delicious and nutritious version using chickpeas as the batter base.
We had these last summer at the ISKCON Temple in Naperville during their vegetarian food festival, and have been wanting to make them ever since.
I adapted a recipe from the Bhusanur Cooking YouTube channel.
Rinse the chickpeas and rice a few times, then soak for at least 8 hours.
Drain, and place in Vitamix with 1 c water and the other ingredients, and mix until batter consistency.
Let mixture rest and ferment in a bowl at least 8 hours. After this, add a few tablespoons of water at a time and mix by hand until it’s pancake batter consistency.
I added probably 6 T of water total, and think I could have used more.
The first time I made these, I used a crêpe pan to cook, and had issues with sticking and trouble getting the thickness correct, so I opted for a cast iron skillet this time. I got the best results on medium/high heat using olive oil spray.
Add a dollop of batter to the hot pan and use the back of the ladle to spread it thin in a circular motion. Cover the pan with a lid and set a timer for 1 minute. At that point, the dosa is nearly done, it just needs to be flipped for a few seconds to toast the other side a bit before adding the filling.
I used a sauté of onions, bell peppers and celery, with savory seasonings and just a bit of the Fenugreek and Asofoetida. We also added some freshly shredded Swiss Cheese. After spooning that on half of the dosa, fold the top over and let things get hot and gooey.
This recipe made six nice size dosas, and they were delicious and surprisingly filling. Definitely a keeper.
Thank you, India.
Claudia makes an incredibly delicious curried chickpea dish with spinach and all sort of other goodies, so I was a little hesitant to even try this simple recipe, but it seemed like an easy weeknight meal, so I finally decided to give it a go.
I took a few liberties, but kept it simple.
I sautéed a chopped onion, some diced fresh ginger and a few minced cloves of garlic in some olive oil.
Then I squeezed in some tubed tomato paste, and added my standard curry spices, stirring everything together until it all was toasted and fragrant.
Finally, in went two cans of diced tomatoes, two cans of chickpeas (drained), and a can of coconut milk. Then it was just a matter of letting it combine and heat up well while making the rice to go under it.
From start to finish, this took a little more than half an hour to prepare. It fed three of us, and there was plenty left over.
It certainly didn’t measure up to Claudia’s recipe, but it wasn’t half bad.
Good for grounding, energy, digestion and detox, “Yogi Tea” is one of our favorite beverages.
Our friend (and Kundalini Yoga teacher) Warren Armstrong introduced us to this marvelous tea. It was popularized in America by followers of Yogi Bhajan. Warren serves it after Gong Healing sessions to help restore balance and equilibrium. It is also excellent for reducing inflammation. I sometimes drink it to help with joint pain or muscle soreness.
I researched recipes online and brewed several batches before arriving at our variation on the process. We brew two quarts at a time, and keep it in the refrigerator to drink either cold (diluted with a little water) or hot (warmed in the microwave with almond milk and honey or raw sugar).
Get two quarts of water boiling while preparing the ingredients.
Crack open the cardamom pods with the flat of a chef’s knife, and cube up a five or six inch piece of ginger. There’s no need to peel the ginger first.
Once the water is boiling, add the cloves and let them boil for a minute or so before adding the other ingredients. Add everything else except the black tea, return to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, covered, for thirty minutes. Remove from heat, add the tea bags, and cover to steep overnight (or at least six hours). Strain into a container, and add water to replace what has evaporated to make two quarts.
If serving cold, I dilute about half and half with water. For hot tea, the ratio is 2/3rds tea and 1/3rd milk. You may sweeten either, if you’d like. I prefer it without sweetener when cold, but with just a taste of honey or raw sugar when hot.