Pepper 'n Spice

 The ingredients...... Brown chickpeas - 1 cup Onion - 1 Ginger - 1/2 inch Garlic - 4 cloves Nutritional yeast - 1 tsp Chili powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp Garam masala - 1/2 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Tomato - 1 Water - for boiling chickpeas and cooking onion Spinach- 1 big bunch The recipe... Pressure cook chickpeas in water with little salt for 4 to 5 whistles.  Peel onion, ginger and garlic. Chop onion into thin slices. Mince ginger and garlic. In a deep - bottomed saucepan, fling in onion, ginger, garlic and a splash of water. Allow the onions to soften. Spoon in yeast flakes, salt, coriander powder and garam masala. Stir for a minute for the raw smell of the masalas to disappear. Add in roughly chopped tomato. Give a good stir so that the tomato blends in. Turn off heat. Wash spinach leaves well by soaking it in water with a dash of salt and apple cider vinegar for an hour. Clean well and break off stems. Throw in the masala mishmash,  spinach leaves and some w...

The Spanish derived name of chickpeas is called garbanzo beans. Crammed with protein, fiber and minerals, it is a great meat replacement for vegetarians. Harvard research says that eating chickpeas help to control diabetes, heart disease, obesity and gut flora. So, make this masala peranda channa and polish it off. :-) The integrants... Chickpeas - 2 cups Water - for boiling Olive oil - 3 tsp Carom seeds - 1/2 tsp Onion - 2 Ginger - 1 inch Garlic - 4 or 5 cloves Green chili - 1 Curry leaves - 2 sprigs Turmeric powder - a pinch Coriander powder - 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder - 1 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Tomato - 2 The tactic.. Soak chickpeas in water for 8 hours changing water time and again (at least 4 times). They will swell up. Drain water. Pressure cook the chickpeas with some water and a pinch of salt. Hew the onions, mince chili, ginger and garlic. Warm up a saucepan and trickle oil onto the edges. Sprinkle carom seeds. Add in curry leaves, onions, chili, ginger and garlic. Commix th...

 Another great way to use chickpea flour, this is an interesting manner to eat bland boiled eggs . The fragments of the egg dip are.. Chickpea flour - 1/2 cup Carom seeds - 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder - 1/2 tsp Pepper - 1/4 tsp Salt - a little less than 1/4 tsp Lemon juice - juice of 1 small lemon Water - 3 Tbsp The course of action ... Boil three eggs in water with a pinch of salt for 20 minutes. Allow to cool and remove shells. Divide each egg into three parts.  Put together all the egg dip portions mentioned above. Heat a saucepan and brush olive oil. Dip egg pieces in the chickpea dip mixture and gently place on pan. Cook on slow heat for 5 to 6 minutes and flip sides. It's done when the chickpea mixture is cooked and lightly browned on both sides of the egg pieces. Have a ball with the pakodas with tomato ketchup! Mark Edwards "Here to stay" is about a scientist guy called Eliiot who lives in a beautiful home that he renovated. He falls in love with Gemma and short...

 A healthy protein snack I heard about from the fitbit community. Crisp and crunchy! Adapted from another recipe site . The "preternatural" components are.. Chickpeas - 1 cup (soaked overnight, with 2 or 3 changes of water) Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Kashmiri chili powder - 1/4 tsp Garlic powder - 1 tsp Ginger powder - 1/2 tsp Pepper - a pinch Olive oil - 1 and 1/2 Tbsp Pressure cook chickpeas with little water and a pinch of salt. Drain water and keep aside to cool. In a glass bowl, add all the spices and salt. Mix well. Add olive oil and combine. Add cooked chickpeas and stir so that they are coated with the spices. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Spoon the chickpeas onto the baking tray.  Preheat oven to 180C. Bake for 45 minutes, tossing the chickpeas twice or thrice in between so that they are evenly roasted. Enjoy the spicy nibble!

An absolutely ravishing curry with quinoa, rice or parotta. I partnered it with quinoa and on the next day, with parotta. Yummmm! The illusive (but obvious in the taste) ingredients are.. Olive oil - 2 tsp Carom seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry leaves - a handful Onion - 2, medium Green chili - 1 Ginger - 1" Garlic - 5 or 6 cloves Tomato - 2, small Salt - 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder - a pinch Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp Kashmiri chili powder - 1/4 tsp Chicken masala - 1/2 tsp Water - 1/4 cup Chickpeas - 2 cups, soaked overnight Potato - 2, small Celery - 2 or 3 The magical way in which the delightful dish is made... Pressure cook chickpeas with water and a pinch of salt. Drain water and keep aside. Heat a saucepan and add oil. Add carom seeds and after a few seconds, add curry leaves. Then add thinly sliced onion, minced chili, ginger and garlic. Stir around for about 5 minutes. Add roughly chopped tomato. After a minute or two, add spices. Stir for 2 minutes and turn off heat. Leave aside to coo...

Hummus is a savoury spread made from chickpeas. It can also be eaten as a dip for crunchy vegetables like celery, cucumber and capsicum. We spread it on our toasted sandwich along with slices of boiled eggs and tomatoes. The money plants in the glass pots are from my grandmother's garden. I like to have my morning cup of masala chai among them, leaning on the charupadi (the traditional built-in wooden back rest running along my balcony)       Ingredients are :     Chickpeas - 2 cups, soaked overnight Sesame seeds, white - 2 tsp Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Garlic - 1 clove, peeled Salt - 1/2 tsp Lime - 3 Cold water - 1/4 cup Pressure cook the chickpeas with water and a pinch of salt until soft. Strain and keep aside to cool.                 Toast sesame and cumin seeds.            Add cooked chickpeas, garlic, sesame seeds, salt, cumin seeds, water and juice of lemons in a blender. Blend to a smoo...

When I saw some of the big green chilies in our local store, I was reminded of the crispy bajji's I have had when I was younger. Knowing that there was gram flour at home, I decided to buy the chilies. Since I cook on an induction stove with a shallow non-stick pan, I chopped the chilies into smaller pieces and used less oil. Traditionally, the chilies are dipped whole in the batter and deep fried. Bajjis can be made out of onion, banana, egg and potato too. You can have it with a dip of mint coriander chutney.( https://riyasspace.blogspot.com/2020/06/coriander-mint-chutney.html ) The Dala horse from the Dalarna province of Sweden is one of our souvenirs from there. It's carved and handcrafted from the wood of pine trees. It was originally made for barter trading and as toys. For the bajji, you need : Green chili - 10, large Besan (chickpea flour) - 2 cups Rice flour - 2 Tbsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp Water - 3/4 cup Olive oil - for brushing Slit the green chil...

Channa masala is made from chickpeas. Its a north Indian vegetarian dish served with poori, bhatoora or chapati. Chickpeas is commonly ground to make hummus, a spread popular in the Middle East. Recipe credits : Inspired by Mom's cooking and  https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/chana-masala/ I used spicy green chili instead of the red chili powder, and chicken masala in lieu of garam masala. The curry was spicy and great with brown rice. I am currently reading the Indian novel, "mai silently mother' by Geethanjali Shree. Its about the mother of the household who sacrifices all her wishes and needs for the happiness of the household. She is constantly cooking for her in-laws, husband and children; according to each of their tastes and fancy. Her children, as they grow up, want her to escape the burden. Let me read and see what they do.