The Curry Base

Like any good curry, this chana starts with the basics - onion, garlic and ginger. I love using red onion because of the slight sweetness it brings, but you could use normal yellow onions as well. Once the veggies are sauteed, you can mix in the spices and let them cook a bit with the onion, garlic, ginger and oil.

Making the sauce naturally creamy

The *key* to this creamy chana masala is the secret blend step!! Once the onion, garlic and ginger are well cooked with the spices, transfer the mixture to a blender and puree with a bit of water. The mixture will look thick but once you add back the puree to the tomatoes and let the mixture simmer, it will thin out a bit. At least 30 minutes is ideal for simmering, but if you have time you can throw everything in a slow cooker and let it cook on low for several hours. At the end you can add coconut milk for an even creamier touch - I find that this addition balances out the acidity of the tomatoes well.

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Creamy Chana Masala with Turmeric Rice

An easy, naturally vegan recipe for creamy chana masala, made with onion, garlic, ginger, anti-inflammatory Indian spices, and coconut milk.

Servings 4

Author Andrea | French Pressed Kitchen

Ingredients

Chana Masala

• 2 Tablespoons oil coconut or canola
• 1 red onion diced
• 5 cloves garlic minced
• 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger grated
• 1 Tablespoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon paprika smoked is great
• 1 ½ teaspoons turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon red chili flakes optional, for additional heat
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup water
• 1 28- ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste ketchup works too
• 1 can chickpeas garbanzo beans, drained (use 2 cans if you want a larger chickpea to sauce ratio)
• 1 ½ Tablespoons honey
• ½ cup full fat coconut milk
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Cilantro to taste

Turmeric Rice

• 1 cup white basmati rice
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Heat a pot or large pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and sautee until onions are soft. Add the garlic and ginger and continue sauteeing until just fragrant.
• Add in the dried spices (cumin, garam masala, chili powder, paprika, turmeric, salt, red pepper if using), stirring to coat. Once the spices are combined with the onion mixture, transfer to a blender. Puree the mixture with a ¼ water, until creamy.
• Add the puree back to the pot, adding in the tomato paste and diced tomatoes. Stir to combine. Once the mixture is homogeneous, add in the honey and chickpeas. At this point you can transfer the mixture to a slow cooker on low heat for 3-4 hours, OR let it simmer in the same pot for at least 30 minutes. You want the flavors to deepen and mature a bit!
• Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the package instructions. Once you add the rice and water together, add in the salt and turmeric, stirring to combine. The rice will have a slight yellow color and a subtle taste that complements the chana masala well.
• When the chickpea and tomato mixture is nearly done, turn off the heat and stir in the coconut milk. Stir to combine, then add in the lemon juice. Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Top with cilantro, if desired.

Enjoy!!

The post Creamy Chana Masala with Turmeric Rice appeared first on French Pressed Kitchen.

This recipe uses Indian spices in a less typical way - toasting seeds vs. just adding in curry or turmeric powder. "Golden" everything with turmeric is so popular lately, but I think the warmness of these spices is much more subtle. Adjust the spices according to the levels that you like. I think the cumin and mustard seeds really make it; the fennel is optional.

Start by warming a pan over medium heat and add in some oil (I used avocado oil). When the oil is getting hot, add in your spices and toast them up. You'll smell them get fragrant and they seeds will begin to pop! You can cover it at this point and let it cook a few more minutes.

Then just toss in the chickpeas with some lemon juice! Done.

Serve on top of a salad or yogurt or alone as a side dish. It would also be great if you mixed in the chickpeas with yogurt, lemon and cilantro into a salad. Bon appetit!

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Easy Indian Spiced Chickpeas

A quick, one pan recipe for Indian spiced chickpeas with cumin, fennel and mustard seeds. Perfect for a salad, on top of yogurt, or as a side salad dish.

Course Side Dish

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 15 minutes

Servings 4 -5 servings depending on how many chickpeas you use

Author Andrea @ French Pressed Kitchen

Ingredients

• 1 can chickpeas or about 2 cups cooked, drained
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 Tablespoon avocado or canola oil
• 1 lemon juiced
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Heat a pan over medium heat. Add the oil and let warm.
• Add in the spices and stir to coat. Continue cooking (toasting) the spices until fragrant and they begin popping (you may want to cover it or take it off the heat if your pan is small and they pop all over).
• Add in the chickpeas and toss to coat. Finally, stir in the lemon juice and combine.
• Serve as a side salad, on top of greens, or on top of savory yogurt.

The post Easy Indian Spiced Chickpeas appeared first on French Pressed Kitchen.

You've probably heard me rave about this rice recipe before but now I can share it with the WORLD and it should be shared with the WORLD because it's so good!!!!

But really, at some point we were making this at least once a week. Sometimes twice. That's pretty serious when you have a "to do" list of recipes as long as me.

This recipe came to me from an Indian cooking class done by Rupen Rao, one of our chef friends over at Culinaerie. Somehow things are always better when he makes them but we've managed to make this recipe quite delicious at home!

So what's so special about this you ask? Well, it's super creamy for starters. I also love the sweet and savory combination and the complexity of the cinnamon and mustard seed with the rice. Sounds so fancy but it's true. It's a great standalone dish, but also goes with anything (in my opinion!) since it's a powerhouse recipe. For an easy weeknight dinner, serve it with seared chicken or fish and some greens on the side, or with an Indian or Thai chickpea salad for a vegetarian option.

I'm getting excited just looking at these pictures and typing it up.

Note: Fresh ginger is missing form this photo but necessary!

A few notes about the recipe. I've tried several variations for this recipe - if I don't have fresh ginger on hand, powdered works as an okay substitute (just use a dash). I love the punch of the jalapeno but that can be left out as well if you prefer. If you don't want heat but still the jalapeno flavor, just leave out the seeds. One thing I DON'T recommend using is brown rice. I did this by mistake a couple times and it just wasn't the same. I ended up having to cook the rice quite a bit longer and add more water, so the texture wasn't quite right (i.e., as creamy as I'd like). I use jasmine or basmati rice - see Trader Joe's version below!

Don't forget to soak the rice and rinse at the beginning - it does make a difference! You can use this time to chop your onion and ginger and gather the other spices.

If you try this, let me know how it goes!! Be prepared to eat rice for days.

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The Best Coconut Rice

My very favorite rice recipe, made sweet and savory with coconut milk and an Indian spice base. Adapted from Rupen Rao via Culinaerie!

Course Side

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 3 -4 servings

Author Andrea @ French Pressed Kitchen

Ingredients

Rice Ingredients

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon peeled grated gingerroot
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 Tablespoon finely chopped onion or shallot
• ½ teaspoon brown mustard seeds I do up to 1 teaspoon sometimes
• 2 small red Thai chilis or 1 small jalapeno

Optional Toppings

• Flaked coconut
• Cashews or peanuts
• Sesame Seeds
• Scallions sliced
• Cilantro

Instructions

• Soak the rice in cold water for 20 minutes. Drain, rinse and repeat the rinse two more times. Drain.
• Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, mustard seeds, chilis or jalapenos if using, ginger and cinnamon stick; cook until onion is soft and mustard seeds are fragrant.
• Add the rice and salt to the pot and stir to coat the rice with the oil mixture. Pour in the coconut milk. Bring the mixture to a light boil, then reduce the heat to low (a gentle simmer) , cover the pan and cook the rice until the coconut milk is absorbed and the rice is soft. This usually takes about 15-20 minutes (*see note below for brown rice).

Notes

I've tried this recipe with brown rice (by accident) and it didn't work quite the same. Because the cook time is quite a bit longer you'll need more liquid (water or more coconut milk). The texture will be different for brown rice, too.

Bon appétit 🙂

The post The Best Coconut Rice appeared first on French Pressed Kitchen.

I thought I was going to escape this dreaded surgery but alas it was not so. My last trip to the dentist they should be I should have them out as soon as possible...blah! Well I went ahead and did it and here we are, 2 teeth less wise. Cue pureed foods.

First stop was a green smoothie. Thank you husband for the help!! I did my usual (spinach // almond milk // banana // almond butter // cinnamon) and added avocado. I knew I wouldn't be able to have much else for the day so I tried to make it as filling as possible!

Then Netflix. Then, SOUP! This Thai pumpkin soup took all of 5 minutes to get together and was a warm welcome to get started. I put the mini recipe on my Insta. High level summary: delicious, easy, one pot, and potentially no actual measuring required. Win.

Okay, back to the hummus! We had pumpkin and chickpeas in the pantry so I knew something hummus-y would happen sooner rather than later. And of course I'm always trying to sneak more turmeric into meals, so cue ideas of Indian spiced hummus. I started with chickpeas:

Added all the spices, ginger, tahini + olive oil:

And then pureed in the Ninja!! This is a pretty simple recipe; you could add cilantro, tomato, and/or sesame seeds on top - I kept it simple so nothing would bother my teeth. I did end up adding a few tablespoons of water to make it a bit smoother. You could do this, or more olive oil for a bit of a richer taste.

This will definitely keep for a few days in the fridge so make ahead for a quick and healthy snack for the week. It makes a lot more than a container of store bought hummus!!

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Indian Spiced Hummus

A light curry flavor spices up this hummus. Make it as spicy as you'd like by adjusting the red pepper! Great with naan, veggies, and of course on toast.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 14 ounce can chickpeas or 1 ¾ cups chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons tahini
• 1 Tablespoon lemon lime works too
• 1 inch peeled fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• Salt to taste
• Crushed red pepper flakes to taste.

Instructions

• Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and combine until smooth, stopping and scraping down the sides as needed.
• If the hummus is a little chunky (may depend on your blender), add a little water or more olive oil to thin it out. I ended up about about 3 Tablespoons of water.
• Garnish with more turmeric, red pepper flakes and then erve with veggies, pita, naan, or slather on an avocado toast!

Bon appétit!

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