Yesterday was my 27th birthday! YAY! I love birthdays and I have so been looking forward to celebrating this year. Yesterday was my first day out of my ACT Inspiration cleanse and all month long I had been pinning all my hopes on this day. I didn’t have any serious cravings or problems on the cleanse (except for a few short days) but I would always comfort myself with the knowledge that I could dive head first into a vat of fried goodness on my birthday. I knew exactly what I would want too – Channa Masala, a very spicy onion and cashew gravy filled with tender chickpeas, Potato Vada – fried balls of heaven, filled with spicy mashed potatoes coated in a crispy chickpea flour batter, and a stack of Puri, crispy, tender, chewy bread to sop up all the greasy goodness. I usually get this great meal at Anand Bhavan, but since I couldn’t make it to Bahrain I decided to whip it up myself.
Channa Masala – this is one of my favorite dishes in the entire world. It is so comforting and rich and spicy and ooohhmmmm….just perfect! The spices all blend together to create a hearty, savory riot in your mouth that is balanced by the creaminess of the blended cashews and the earthy chickpeas. Add a sprig of bright green cilantro and you have the perfect mix.
Ingredients
4 cans chickpeas
2 yellow onions, chopped small
3 cloves garlic, diced fine
1 and 1/2 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp turmeric
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp fenugreek
pinch of cloves
pinch of salt and pepper
1 Tbsp garam masala
1 Tbsp kalonji black onion seeds
4 cups water
1 large can chopped tomatoes
1 cup ground raw cashews
- In a large soup pot in a drizzle of olive oil fry the 2 onions for 10 minutes until soft and slightly golden
- Add the garlic, curry, turmeric, cumin, fenugreek, cloves, salt and pepper and cook for another 5 minutes
- Add the can of tomatoes and the 3 cups of water and the garam masala and bring to an *almost* simmer, then remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly
- In a hand mixer or blender or food processor blend the entire mixture until smooth, place back on medium heat
- Add the ground cashews, chickpeas and kalonji to the blended mixture and bring to an *almost* simmer for at least 30 minutes. The longer it cooks and sits the better! Serve topped with fresh cilantro.
Potato Vada – The perfect snack food! The mashed potatoes in the center are lightly fluffy and fragrant with a delicate spice blend, then dipped in a simple batter and fried quickly to golden perfection.
Ingredients
4 large potatoes, peeled, chopped into chunks and boiled until soft
1 large yellow onion, chopped small
2 cloves garlic, diced fine
green chilli, seeded and diced fine
2 Tbsp vegan butter
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp fenugreek
pinch of cloves
1 tsp kalonji black onion seed
pinch of fennel seed
3 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Batter
2 and 1/2 cup chickpea flour
3 cups water
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
- In a large frying pan on medium heat fry the onions for 10 minutes and then add the garlic for 5 minutes
- Add the green chili, 2 Tbsp vegan butter, and all of the dried spices and cook for 2 or 3 minutes
- Add the spice mixture to the cooked and drained potatoes and mash together until they are light and fluffy, you don’t want them creamy and soft, they should be fairly dry
- Add the 3 Tbsp of vegan butter and the cilantro and combine. Set aside till they come to room temperature.
- Combine the batter ingredients and prepare a large pot of VERY HOT vegetable oil. You want the oil as hot as you can make it because you want the balls to fry very quickly, almost instantly so they don’t get heavy and soggy.
- Form the potato mixture into balls the size of a lime or lemon, dip into the batter and then drop them into the hot oil. As soon as they are nice and golden, take them out of the oil, sprinkle with salt and eat!
(For the puri bread recipe….well, let’s just say you try and try and try and they never taste good, so you go to your freezer and you pull out the frozen ones you bought from the store. Pop those into the frying pan and you are good to go! Ha ha!)
And what would a birthday be without cupcakes!?! And since I was the birthday girl I didn’t have to choose between chocolate and vanilla!
ps. This meal was delicious, really tasty and just what I had been dreaming of all month. But…I think the ACT Inspiration has warped my brain. While I was standing in the kitchen preparing this glorious feast of fried amazingness, all I kept thinking about was the huge bowl of fresh salad in the fridge. And while I did have a yummy plate of spicy channa puri and crispy potato vada, I must admit that the plate was small….and front and center on a BIG plate was my raw veggie salad. Sigh. What has become of me!?!?!
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