Chickpea Curry | Ayurvedic Meal 3

I attended a cooking class by Dr Sujatha Kekada in Ubud Bali. Dr Sujatha is an Ayurvedic doctor who owns Amrta Siddhi an Ayurvedic clinic at Nyuh Kuning in Ubud. The five recipes she planned out for us that afternoon was a dosha balancing meal. So far I've only tried out 3 of them.

I never knew it can be so therapeutic cooking indian dishes especially the part where you have to grind your own spices. I learned so much about spices just cooking this one dish.

Chickpea Curry (Channa Masala) Recipe

---

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups chickpea (channa dhal) soaked overnight. Boil for 40mins in 4 cups of water on medium low heat or till soft.
  

PASTE

• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsn fresh ginger
• 1/2 cup shallots

Blend the ingredients together with 1/2 cup of cooked chickpeas until smooth.

SPICES (Garam Masala)

• 1 tspn cumin seeds
• 1/2 tspn fennel
• 2 tspn coriander seeds
• 5 cloves
• 1 cardamom pod
• 1/2 a star anis
• 1/2 stick cinnamon

Grind the spices with a mortar and pastel until it's really fine. Roast in a large pan for 10 mins on low heat till fragrant.

SAUCE

• 2 tbsn ghee
• 4 tomatoes chopped
  
• 1 tspn mustard seeds
• 15-20 curry leaves
• 1/2 tbsn tumeric powder
• a handful coriander leaves
  

Directions

1. Add mustard seeds into hot oil and fry till pop.
2. Add in curry leaves and fry briefly.
3. Add in tomatoes and tumeric powder and cook for 5 mins
4. Add in paste and cook for 5 mins
5. Add in boiled chickpeas together with the broth and cook for 10 mins
6. Add in the garam masala spices and coriander leaves and cook briefly
   
7. Salt to taste
   

Serves 6 people.

Dhall Curry

A friend from Malaysia recently visited Beijing and she brought me a packet of yellow split peas! Split peas can be found here, but I would have to go to specialty gourmet markets and they rarely have them in stock. 

I love curries and that's one thing I sorely miss in Beijing. There are several nice Indian restaurants in the city, but boy are they expensive. It's understandable as spices and herbs such as garam masala and curry leaves are impossible to find here. 

Dhall, obviously, goes great with freshly baked naan but a nice loaf of crusty bread does just as well too.

Dhall Curry Recipe

---

Ingredients

• 1 cup of yellow split peas
• 1 small carrot, diced
• 1 small potato, diced
• 1 cup of chopped shallots or red onion
• 1 green chilli, cut into large slices
• 2 slices of ginger, minced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 cups of water

Seasoning and oils

• 1 tbsp of ghee plus 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tsp whole mustard seeds
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 2 cloves
• sea salt to taste

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine and moisten spices (mustard seeds, turmeric, cloves and curry powder) with a few tablespoons of water. I do this so it won't burn when I dry-fry them later. 
2. In a heavy pot, heat ghee and olive oil over medium-low heat.
3. Sauté shallots, ginger and garlic until onions are translucent, about 2-3 mins. Add in spices and continue sauteing until mixture is fragrant, about 2 mins.
4. Add water, split peas, potatoes and carrots and give a good stir.
5. Bring curry to a boil and let simmer over low heat for 1 hour, stir occasionally.
6. The dhall curry is ready when the split peas are soft and begin to break apart. You can add more water if curry is too thick. Check seasoning and serve with naan or hot rice.

Serves 2 people.

Dhall Curry With Multi-grain Brown Rice

This was an experimental dish that turned out pretty delicious and perfect if you're cooking for one person.

Dhall Curry With Multi-Grain Brown Rice Recipe

---

Ingredients 1

• 1.5 ltr water
  
• 1/2 cup lentils (dhall) and mung beans
  
• 1/2 cup organic multi grain brown rice (soak for 1/2 hr)
  
• 1/2 japanese cucumber
• 2 slices ginger, shreded
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup green beans
• 1 tsp curry powder
• A dash of Braggs liquid aminos
• Sea salt to taste

Ingredients 2

• 1 tbsp ghee
  
• 5 curry leaves
• 2 dried chillies, roughly broken into few pieces
  
• 1 large onion, sliced
  

Directions

1. Put ingredients 1 into a deep pan over medium heat for 1hr. Depending on the multi grain, some takes longer to cook than others, just make sure it's really soft.
   
2. In a small wok or frying pan, saute ingredients 2 with ghee/ butter until onion turns golden.
3. When onion is golden, mix in lentils and cook for 5 mins.
   

Serves 1

White bean stew with burdock

At the grocery store the other day, the produce guy was bailing out stalks and stalks of burdock which was on sale. I bought several stalks because I just can't resist a freshly stacked pile of anything that might be good. I got home and unloaded the burdock on the counter and realised I had no idea what to do with this root vegetable.

I've heard of burdock before. I knew it was used in Chinese cooking and I've probably had it when my mum makes her herbal concoctions for me, but I've never cooked with it before. A quick look on wikipedia revealed that burdock has many medicinal properties and is widely used in Asian cooking.

The most obvious solution for me was to put it in a stew and it worked out well. The burdock gave my stew an Asian flair and added sweetness to the broth. Great served on a cold day with a big piece of crusty bread.

White Bean Stew with Burdock Recipe

---

• 1 cup of white beans
• 1 white onion, diced
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 1 small potato, diced
• 1 small carrot, diced
• 1 cup of leek, sliced
• 1 cup burdock, diced
• 1/2 head of cabbage, shredded
• 3-4 cups of stock
• Toasted pine nuts to garnish (or you could use grated cheese)

Seasoning and oils

• 1 bay leaf
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp ghee (optional)
• crushed red pepper flakes for garnishing
  
• salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

1. The night before, soak white beans in a bowl of lukewarm water overnight.
   
2. In a soup pot, heat oil over medium low heat and saute onions until slightly translucent. Add diced potatoes and ginger. Continue to cook until onions have caramalized and potatoes are browned.
3. Add soaked white beans, carrots, leek, burdock and give a good stir. Then add stock, bay leaf and some salt and pepper . Cover pot and let it simmer until beans are tender. About 1 - 1.5 hours.
4. When beans are about done, add cabbage and check the seasoning. Allow to simmer for 15 more mins. Turn off heat and let the stew rest for about 20 mins before serving.

Serves 2 - 4 people