Ghugni Masala | Kala Chana Masala [Video]

Ghugni Masala is a vegan and healthy curry made from black chickpeas or kala chana. The chickpeas are simmered in a masala made from pureed onions, tomatoes and spices. A perfect gluten free accompaniment to roti or naan bread.

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What's a better way to start of a week than with a healthy meal? And this Ghugni Masala or Kala Chana Masala is as healthy as it gets.

Kala Chana or Ghugni are desi black chickpeas. If you aren't Indian, there is a possibility you haven't seen the black chickpeas. Black chickpeas are smaller, denser and have a rougher skin than their cousin, the more popular, white chickpeas. Black chickpeas have more fiber and a lower glycemic index and make it perfect for someone trying to lose weight or just lead a healthier life. 

Also, I just love them!

I enjoy eating the black chickpeas way more than the lighter variety, also known locally as Kabuli Chana. And what I love even more than the black chickpeas? the water it is cooked in or the aqua faba. The black chickpeas release a lot of umami into the water that they were boiled in, making it perfect for using in curries. Which is why in this curry, we don't use regular water, we use the water in which the chickpeas were boiled. The water adds color as well as an oomph to the curry. 

Ghugni Masala is a very simple curry to make and stores brilliantly in the fridge. 

The curry is simply made by simmering boiled black chickpeas in a masala made from pureed onions and tomatoes that have been flavored with 4 simple spice powders - coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and garam masala. Whole spices are also used in the recipe to make the dish even more fragrant. If you don't have all the whole spices, just use what you have.

Kala Chana Masala fits right into the vegan diet as well as a gluten free diet. To make the dish fit the plant based diet, just replace the oil with water.

Kala Chana Masala tastes best when served with Naan bread or Roti, but you can also serve it with rice. In case serving with rice, adjust the consistency of the gravy.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are upto.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Ghugni Masala | Kala Chana Masala

Ghugni Masala is a vegan and healthy curry made from black chickpeas or kala chana. The chickpeas are simmered in a masala made from pureed onions, tomatoes and spices. A perfect gluten free accompaniment to roti or naan bread.

Recipe Type:  Main
Cuisine:            Indian
Prep Time:     8 hours
Cook time:     30 minutes
Total time:     8 Hours 30 Minutes
Yield:                2-3

Ingredients:

1 cup Black Chickpeas or Kala Chana
2 medium Onions
2 medium Tomatoes
1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
0.5 tsp Mustard Seeds
0.5 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 Bay leaf
2 Cloves
1 Mace
1" Cinnamon
1 tsp Coriander Powder
0.5 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
0.5 tsp Garam Masala
1 Tbsp Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
1 Tbsp Kasuri Methi (Optional)
2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
Salt to taste
Water as required

Method:

1. Soak the dried black chickpeas overnight. Pressure cook them the next day with 0.5 tsp salt until they are cooked.
2. Puree the onion and tomatoes separately.
3. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.
4. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the bay leaf, cloves, mace, cinnamon and cumin seeds.
5. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute until fragrant.
6. Add the onion paste and saute until slightly browned.
7. Now add the tomato paste and all the spice powders and cook on low heat for 5-7 minutes while stirring frequently.
8. Add 1 cup of water in which the chickpeas were cooked.
9. Add salt to taste.
10. Cover and cook on low heat for 5-7 minutes.
11. Add kasuri methi and mix well.
12. Garnish with the chopped coriander leaves.
13. Serve hot with roti or naan bread.

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Alsane Tonak

Lobia Masala

Double Beans Masala

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Spinach Tofu Scramble Recipe | How to make Scrambled Tofu [Video]

Scrambled Tofu made with wilted spinach. Serve it with some toast to make a vegan and healthy breakfast.

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Soooo... I'm back with another breakfast recipe. Just in case you aren't convinced I LOVE breakfast. 

But before I get into the recipe, have you checked out my new "Recipes" page? Do you like it better than the text version I had before? Or do you think I should still include the text version?

This is what I spent my entire long weekend doing. Unlike some other blogging platforms, Blogger has no plugins, so every new thing I want to add or anything existing that I want to tweak, takes a lot of my time. Countless searches on Google and several tests and trials on the blog lead to the effect that I desire. While it may be much easier to move to a different blogging platform, I love doing the dirty work myself. I don't even realize how time flies when I sit editing my blog.

If you're a regular visitor, you've noticed, I've also been doing a lot of video recipes. If you like them, you can encourage me by subscribing to my YouTube Channel - One Teaspoon Of Life. Videos take up a lot of time and every encouragement I receive just pushes me to make them despite all the effort involved.

Since I wanted to spend most of my time working, I cooked some of the simplest meals this long weekend. This scrambled tofu with wilted spinach fit the bill perfectly. 

I've been making these vegan and healthy scrambled Tofu for many years now, but the addition of spinach was recent. I love spinach as much as Popeye, but I usually make curries with it. Adding the spinach just makes the already healthy scramble even healthier and it tastes so delicious. It adds more fiber, more nutrients, more color, more everything to the dish!! 

The secret to making the best Scrambled Tofu, lies in... the salt. Yes, the salt!! Use regular salt and you will end up with a good Scrambled Tofu, use black salt and the Scrambled Tofu just goes from good to awesome. Black salt is a funky smelling salt that is made from salt rocks found in the Himalayan region. The salt adds an umami to the Scrambled Tofu, that takes it to another level. There are reviews that it makes the scrambled tofu taste similar to scrambled eggs. So you won't be missing your eggs if you just switched to a vegan diet. Use black salt in place of regular salt, or just use it in part along with regular salt. 

If you are on a plant based diet, you can skip the oil and saute the onions in water.

This scrambled tofu with spinach fits almost any diet. So you have no reason to skip making it. So go ahead, make it for weekend breakfast or brunch for your vegan friends.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are upto.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Spinach Tofu Scramble Recipe | How to make Scrambled Tofu

Scrambled Tofu made with wilted spinach. Serve it with some toast to make a vegan and healthy breakfast.

Recipe Type:  Breakfast
Cuisine:            International
Prep Time:     10 minutes
Cook time:     15 minutes
Total time:     25 minutes
Yield:                2

Ingredients:

200gms Tofu
2 cups chopped Spinach
1 Onion
1 Tomato
1 finely chopped Green Chilli
2 Tbsp Oil
0.5 tsp Turmeric Powder
0.5 tsp Red Chilli Powder
2 Tbsp chopped Coriander Leaves
Black Salt or Salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add finely chopped onion.
2. Saute until the onions are slightly browned and then add the chopped green chilli.
3. Add in the chopped tomato and cook until soft.
4. Add the chopped spinach abd saute.
5. Add salt and cover and cook until the spinach is cooked.
6. Add the turmeric powder and red chilli powder and mix well.
7. Crumble the tofu and add it to the pan and mix well.
8. Cook on low heat for 3-5 mins.
9. Adjust seasoning if required.
10. Garnish with the chopped coriander leaves and serve it with toast.

If you liked this, you may also like:

How to make Tofu

Chilli Tofu

Vegan Zucchini Spinach Frittata

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Shalgam Ke Kebab | Vegan Turnip Chops [Video]

Shalgam ke Kebab or Turnip Chops are crumb coated pan fried patties made from fresh seasonal turnips and mashed potatoes, flavored with spices. Perfect for winter evening tea !!

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It feels so good to eat seasonal!!

I cannot remember the last time I ate turnips. Being seasonal, turnips start coming into the market around this time, and because the demand isn't so high I guess, they tend to be available in very few shops across Bangalore. I'm lucky I found them in my vegetable store. 

I haven't cooked much with turnips in the past. But this year, I've been buying them every week. I made a dry curry with grated turnips, I added them to sambar, I made parathas, and lastly, I made these delicious, crispy kebabs.

Here are the details.

Since, they are called Shalgam ke Kebab, they have to taste of Shalgam (turnips). Turnips are slightly sharp or bitter in taste, but they are much milder than the daikon radish. At the peak of the season, they are actually sweet, which would be the best time to cook with them. You can either boil the turnips and use in this kebab or you can grate them like I did. Boiling them dilutes the flavor slightly as they combine very easily with the other ingredients. I grated them because I wanted the turnip flavor to be dominant in the kebabs. So, peel the turnips and grate them. Make sure you squeeze out as much water as you can from the turnips, this will prevent the kebabs from getting soggy on the inside.

We need binding agents to make the kebabs. And here, we are using two of them - potatoes and gram flour (besan). Use just enough to bind the mixture.

I mildly spiced the kebabs with turmeric powder, red chilli powder and some homemade garam masala. I added coriander leaves, because, well, I add coriander to pretty much everything. I love the freshness it adds. You can skip it or replace it with herbs like dill or parsley. 

In the absence of an egg wash, because I don't eat eggs, I made a simple plain flour slurry. This helps in crumb coating the kebabs. If you want to use eggs, you can.

The crumb coating - I ran out of bread crumbs, which would have been ideal, so I replaced them with coarsely powdered rolled oats. What can I say, it was fantastic. The oats behaved more like panko bread crumbs and they gave the kebab a nice crunchy outer layer. And may be made it feel a little healthier too. 

I shallow fried the kebabs until they were nice and brown. I've never tried baking them, so I don't know if that will work. But if you have already baked something similar, I'd say go ahead and bake them. If you do, leave me a comment so it helps out other readers who may want to bake.

Top the kebabs with some chat masala or squeeze some lime juice on them while eating. 

These Shalgam ke Kebab also go fantastically with green chutney. 

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are upto.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Shalgam ke Kebab Recipe

Shalgam ke Kebab or Turnip Chops are crumb coated pan fried patties made from fresh seasonal turnips and mashed potatoes, flavored with spices.

Recipe Type:  Snacks
Cuisine:            North Indian
Prep Time:     15 minutes
Cook time:     15 minutes
Total time:     30 minutes
Yield:                5

Ingredients:

3 small Turnips
1 boiled Potato
2 Tbsp chopped Coriander leaves
2 Tbsp Gram Flour (Besan)
1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
0.5 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
0.5 tsp Garam Masala
2 Tbsp Plain Flour (Maida)
0.5 cup Bread Crumbs or coarsely powdered Oats
Oil to fry
Salt to taste
Water as required

Method:

1. Peel and grate the turnips. Squeeze out as much water from the turnips as possible.
2. Mash the boiled potato and add it to the turnip.
3. Add in ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, chopped coriander leaves, garam masala, gram flour and salt.
4. Mix well until completely combined.
5. Divide the mixture and shape into kebabs or patties.
6. Mix together flour with 2-3 Tbsp of water to make a thick smooth slurry.
7. Dip the kebab into the slurry and coat it fully.
8. Dip the kebab into bread crumbs or powdered oats and coat it completely.
9. In a shallow pan, heat up oil.
10. When the oil is hot, add the kebab. Keep the stove on medium heat.
11. Fry until one side browns, then flip over and continue to fry until the other side browns.
12. Remove from the pan onto paper napkins.
13. Serve hot with chutney or ketchup.
14. Demould and serve hot with chutney or sambhar.
15. All rottis may not puff up completely, but do not worry, they are still cooked.
16. Serve the rottis hot/warm with curry.

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Vegetable Cutlet

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Instant Oats Idli Recipe [Video]

Oats Idli is a steamed cake made of oats and semolina. It is a healthy take on the popular South Indian breakfast of rice idli.

So what have you guys been up to? I know I missed posting last week, but I won't make any excuses. I'm just happy I managed to get a post this week.

But in between we got a lot of new additions to the house. 

In came some mango wood wall shelves that helped us drag out all our travel memoirs. I'm so happy I now get to display all the souvenirs we've collected over the years. If you've missed reading about our recent travels, you can now read them here. 

We also finally got a dining table!!! Since we never ate at the table, I never missed having one. But now that I have one, I love it. We had so many discussions and measurements until we finalized on a teak rectangle four seater. I cannot believe we contradicted each other on pretty much everything about the table - the size, the color, the shape. I wonder how we ever buy anything!! Now all I have to ensure is that the table is clutter free.

Straying back to our recipe of the day - Oats Idli. If you've ever been around a South Indian, you have to know how much we love our idlis. Idlis are light fluffy steamed rice cakes made by steaming a batter made from fermenting ground rice and black lentils. While that is healthy too, I now have a healthier version for you, and on the plus side, a quicker version too. 

Raise your hand if you hate oats but still want to include them in your diet for all the health benefits it gives you. That is exactly what inspired me to make these idlis. Raj hates oats, he'll only eat them if he doesn't know it is in the dish. So these oat idlis were the perfect place to hide them. These idlis are made with oats and semolina (cream of wheat) instead of the rice and lentils. Sour yogurt or curd is used to give it the slightly fermented taste. 

To make the idlis light and fluffy, I used Fruit Salt or Eno. To ensure that you don't end up with hard idlis, always have the steamer hot and ready for steaming before adding in the fruit salt to the batter. Once you add the fruit salt, don't over mix, just make sure it is combined and add it to the plate or bowl you want to steam the idlis in.

While I used rolled oats this time, I have made it in the past with oat meal too. Use either one of them to get the same results - Soft fluffy healthy Oats idlis. Serve them with traditional coconut chutney and piping hot sambar for best results.

Psst... All the pics in this photo are clicked on our new table :)


If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook,  tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com I'd love to see what you are upto.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

Video Recipe

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Oats Idli Recipe

Oats idli is a steamed cake made from oats and semolina. It is a healthier version of the popular south Indian breakfast of rice idli. This is an instant recipe and does not require any fermenting.

Recipe Type:  Breakfast
Cuisine:            South Indian
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     15 minutes
Total time:     45 minutes
Yield:                10 idlis

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled Oats or Oat meal
0.5 cup fine Semolina (chiroti rava) or cream of wheat
1 cup sour Yogurt or curd
0.75 cup grated Carrot
2 Tbsp chopped Coriander leaves
10-12 Cashewnuts
1.5 Tbsp Oil
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 finely chopped Green Chilli
1 Tbsp Chana Dal
1.5 tsp Fruit Salt or Eno
1 Tbsp chopped Curry leaves
Salt to taste
Water as required

Method:

1. Powder the oats until smooth.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.
3. Once they splutter, add in chopped curry leaves and chana dal. Saute for 30-45 seconds.
4. Add in split cashew nuts and fry until the cashews brown slightly.
5. Add the semolina and saute for 4-5 minutes until the semolina is fragrant.
6. Add in the powdered oats and fry for 2-3 minutes.
7. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
8. Add grated carrot, chopped coriander leaves, salt and whisked yogurt to the dry ingredients.
9. Mix well and keep aside for 10-15 minutes. If the batter feels very dry, add a little water. The consistency of the batter is slightly thicker than usual idli batter.
10. Heat up the steamer and grease the idli plate or small bowls.
11. Add the fruit salt and a little water and mix well until combined.
12. Pour spoonful of batter onto the greased idli plate or bowls.
13. Steam for 10-12 minutes.
14. Demould and serve hot with chutney or sambhar.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Paddu

Rava Idli

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Vegan Mushroom Leek Soup Recipe

Vegan Mushroom and Leek Soup flavored with garlic and pepper. Perfect for cold night when you want to make soup instantly.

It's a fabulous Friday, again! Hope you guys have something fun planned for the weekend.

I have planned to sleep my entire weekend off. I cannot wait to hit the bed. This week felt like such a long week. I'm glad it is ending and I get 2 days to rejuvenate and gear up for 2 more weeks of long weekdays.

Since I was short of time this whole week, I've been looking at making quick nutritious meals like this Vegan Mushroom Leek Soup. And it was so perfect for the rainy weather that has wrapped over Bangalore like a blanket. Rainy weather, hot soup and a good episode of Masterchef Australia, is there anything more a foodie needs?

This soup is one of those instant soups that do not come out of a packet or tin, but can be whipped up at home in a very short time. To make this delicious creamy vegan soup, all we need to do is sweat the leek along with some garlic and then add in the mushrooms. Once the mushrooms are cooked, we blend the soup and add in required seasoning. I kept the seasoning simple, just salt and pepper.

You can add in almond milk or regular milk to make this soup creamier. Cheese tastes awesome too. Flavor it with herbs that oregano or thyme, if you'd like a little variety in your soup. Serve it with some buttered croutons when you want to impress your guests or just get your picky kids to eat soup.

And if you know if the debate about whether we eat soup or drink soup has been settled, leave me a comment!!

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto. 

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family! 

You can follow One Teaspoon Of Life on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ or you can subscribe to One Teaspoon Of Life and receive all the latest updated via Email

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Vegan Mushroom Leek Soup

Mushroom and Leek soup is a vegan, low calorie, healthy, gluten free soup that can be made instantly. This soup can be modified to fit into a plant based diet.

Recipe Type:  Soup
Cuisine:            International
Prep Time:     10 minutes
Cook time:     20 minutes
Total time:     30 minutes
Yield:                Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 Leek
200 gms Mushrooms
4-5 Garlic cloves
3 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Water as required

Method:

1. Wash or wipe the mushrooms clean and chop them. Discard the outer tough layer of the leeks and the top green portion. Wash the leek and then slice tit.
2. Heat oil in a deep pot and fry chopped garlic until fragrant. Add the sliced leek and saute for 6-7 minutes on low to medium heat until the leeks soften.
3. Now add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt and cook them until the mushrooms are cooked. Remove from heat and allow to cool a little.
4. Blend into a puree with a little water. You can blend it either smooth or chunky based on your like. 
5. Return the soup to the pot to reheat. Add water if the soup is too thick. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve hot with crusty bread.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Vegn Miso Noodle Soup

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Broccoli Almond Soup

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