Cooking vegetarian for lent has been bringing me back to my University years, when I spent 6 years as a vegetarian. Dishes like these bring back glorious memories of those years, of whipping up fresh flat bread every day after class as I cut my teeth in the kitchen. My friend from that era, Laura Gangoo, whose birthday it is today, she and her family were the first to introduce me to the delights of West Indian food.
West Indian Chana Aloo (Chickpea and Potato)
Serves 4-6 (with side dishes)
1 tbsp butter (preferably clarified, like ghee)
1 large diced onion
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger (1/2 inch piece)
1/2-2 habanero peppers (seeds removed; adjust for desired heat)
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp garlic (2-3 cloves)
4 sprigs thyme
1 tbsp dark sugar (jaggery, palm sugar, or regular brown sugar will do)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1.5 tsp curry powder (see below)
1 tsp roasted ground coriander (mine start whole then get ground)
2 small potatoes, cubed (1 cup chopped)
1 cup chickpeas (pre-cooked or rinsed from a can)
1.5 tbsp tamarind
1.5 cups water
2/3 tsp salt
1 tbsp lime juice
First, bake your potatoes (400F for 45 mins) or use leftover potatoes or boiled potatoes; dice them when cooled.
Drop the ghee in a hot medium-sized pot or a wok. Once it is hot, but before it is smoking, toss in the diced onion, lower the heat to medium-low and cover the pot until the onions have softened. Plug the ginger, cumin, and habanero into the pot and crank the heat back up to medium-high, stirring frequently. As the ginger begins to soften, toss in the garlic and thyme for a few minutes, continuing to stir. In a couple of minutes these 3 essential components (onions, garlic, ginger) of your mother sauce should be golden. Add in the sugar and spices continue to cook for another 2 minutes. Lower the heat to medium-low and add the potatoes and chickpeas and continue to cook for another couple of minutes.
Add in the water, tamarind, and salt and finish cooking until thickened (~10 mins).
Add in the lime juice just prior to serving.
Curry Powder: You have a few choices here, you can use any Chana Masala spice mixture, you can take Garam Masala and toss in a tsp of tumeric, you can use a store-purchased Madras or other "curry powder" (although I do not recommend it), or you can do it this way:
1 tbsp Coriander seeds
1 tbsp Cumin seeds
1 tbsp Black Pepper
3 pods Black Cardamom
3 pods Green Cardamom
4 Cloves
1 stick Cinnamon (2-3 inch piece, preferably Indian Bark; not rolled)
1 Star Anise
1 Dried Bay Leaf
2 tsp Turmeric
Optional1/2 tsp Ajuwain (Bishop's weed; Caraway is a possible substitute)
2 tsps roasted White Poppy Seeds
1 tsp Amchur (dried mango powder)
1 tsp dried Pomegranate seeds
Roast spices individually and grind. To be quite honest, I probably rarely use the same seasoning, but adjust depending on my mood that day -- you know, the way all the West Indian mom's I know make it, which is why they can never impart their secret recipes -- they can only ever show them [off] to you. :D
Indian Chana Masala: My friend Ali Hassan has a great Indian Chana recipe on his blog Bland is Boring: Chana Masala. You'll notice the difference in the flavour profiles between Indian and West Indian cooking are the kinds of chilies used, the use of tomato sauce, and thyme.
Chapati
Yields 10+ chapati
Chapati is the simplest and therefore the fastest flatbread to make and became a quick staple for the pressed university student that I was.
2 cups whole wheat
2/3 tsp salt
3/4 cup water (+2 tbsps)
Butter, Olive Oil, or some other greasy substance
Mix the ingredients together in a food processor, mixer with a dough hook, or by hand (knead for at least 10 minutes by hand).
Roll it into a cylinder with parchment, plastic wrap, or just set it on the counter with a slightly damp tea towel to cover it. The key is really to prevent it from drying out. Let it sit for at least one hour. Letting the dough relax after kneading is the only way to achieve a thin roll.
Slice off rounds of chapati and roll them as thinly as possible with a dusting of flour; roll only on one side. Waggle them a bit to get off the excess flour. Slap the rolled on side onto a hot to very hot and ungreased griddle. When the dough bubbles, flip it to the other side and let it sit for a minute or so until brown spots begin to form.
Now is the tricky part. If you have a gas stove, slide the chapati over the direct flame until it puffs up as fully as possible. Flip it onto your stack of hot chapatis and paint on a bit of oil, butter, or similarly greasy goo.
If you do not have a gas stove, I highly recommend a VERY hot pizza stone, in the oven, which should do the trick. If you have neither, you're probably going to need to get some oil on the griddle and make sure the edges of the chapati are solid (purposefully squeeze them down a bit with your flat edged cooking implement of choice).
Frankly, when I made these as a student on my cast iron skillet, I could hardly wait for them to puff up. I greased the bubbled bread and jammed its hot crust down my gullet, slathered with steaming legumes, as quickly as I could without choking.
These? These are just some beet greens. I sauteed 1 onion and 2 cloves of garlic with some olive oil in my wok until they softened, and tossed in chopped beet greens. Stir until wilted and serve warm with a sprinkling of sea salt.
Other Side Dishes for this Meal included: Slice Mango and chopped coriander marinated in Lime Juice Chaat Masala and Habanero, Fresh Yogurt, Cucumber Slices with Sea Salt and Shiso Leaf.
You should probably also bust out some fresh habanero, habanero-based West Indian hot sauce, kuchela, lime pickle, or other spicy pickle or relish.
I like your food porn.
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