Curried Chickpeas (aka Chole or Chana Masala)

This recipe is from a hard copy cookbook I have by Anupy Singla, called The Indian Slow Cooker. Slow cookers aren't popular in India, but a lot of dishes do well in them because long cooking times in a lower heat setting can make the flavor blends simply amazing. We made this recipe a few weeks ago while my friend Katie was visiting, and Shyam commented it was some of the best chickpea curry he's ever had. He was a crockpot skeptic and is often critical of my cooking (in a kind, constructive way), so that say a lot about this recipe!

The entire batch per the measurements below comes out to 59 Weight Watchers Points Plus values, so if you divide into 12 servings, it's 5 Points Plus each. Not bad!

Ingredients

3 cups dried chickpeas, cleaned and washed thoroughly
1 medium yellow or red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium tomato, diced
1 (2 inches) piece ginger, peeled and chopped or grated
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped, minced, or grated
4-6 green Thai, serrano, or cayenne chilis, stems removed and chopped
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon chana masala
1 tablespoon red chile powder
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
12 cups water
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
thinly sliced red onion, for garnish
lime wedges, for garnish

Directions

1. Put all incrediences except the cilantro, red onion and lime wedges into a slow cooker.

2. Cook on high for 14 hours. Toward the end of the time, use the back of a large spoon to mash some of the beans against the wall of the slow cooker, or pulse 2-3 times with an immersion blender. This is to create a little bit of a 'paste' texture, but not critical to flavor. Then add the cilantro.

3. To serve, sprinkle sliced onions on top and eat with a lime wedge on the side, accompanied by roti or naan, or in a bowl over basmati or brown rice.

Suggested alternative from the author:
Toast a hamburger bun, place a slice of cheese on each half and a spoonful of chana masala in the middle. It's a fast and healthy veggie alternative to the open faced sandwich.

Gobi 65

Source: Shyam was pretty sure he knew how to make this one off the top of his head but pulled up a recipe for reference just to be safe. http://www.indobase.com/recipes/details/gobi-65.php

Ingredients:

• 1 Big flower cauliflower
• 2 tbsp Corn starch
• 1 tbsp Rice flour
• 2 tsp Gram flour
• 2 tbsp Maida
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 tsp Chili powder
• 2 tsp Soy sauce
• 1 tsp Ginger garlic paste
• Saffron Color
• 1 Pinch baking soda
• 2 Pinch ajinomoto
• Oil for frying
• Salt to taste
• Water as required


How to make Gobi 65:
• Wash and cut the vegetable into small flower.
• Heat a sauce full of water and bring it to a boil.
• Drop the cauliflowers and cook them.
• Now remove them from the heat and pat it dry.
• Add ginger garlic paste, gram flour, corn flour, rice flour, maida, soysauce, turmeric powder, baking soda, chili powder, saffron, ajinomoto and salt, mix well.
• Take a pan and heat oil and cook the vegetable until golden brown.

Points per the recipe above - 10 per serving if recipe is divided 6 ways
If you don't fry it, it cuts the points to 1 per serving (bake the cauliflower after dipping in spices)

Hyderabadi Biryani

We're having a group of about 20 friends from my mom's group over for dinner Sunday and serving Indian fare. It wouldn't be complete if we didn't serve biryani, a dish for which Shyam's hometown of Hyderabad is famous. I wouldn't exactly call this healthy, but we'll tag it as Indian and I will calculate the weight watchers points since myself and several of the moms in our group are following the plan.


The recipe below is taken from the book 'A Princely Legacy: Hyderabadi Cuisine' by Prathiba Karan. We've made it in the past, and while it's more labor intensive than using a jump start spice packet from the store, the flavor is rich and well worth it!

The common but much talked about Hyderabadi biryani is splendid in taste and in a way, an articulation of the Hyderabadi ethos and personality.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Marination time: 2 hours
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Serves: 8

Ingredients
1 kg mutton or other meat (mix of chops, bones with meat, etc)
1/2 kg long grain rice
4 onions, finely sliced
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 bunch fresh green coriander, chopped
1 small bunch of fresh green mint, chopped
4 green chillies, chopped

Spice Mix 'A'
4 cardamoms
6 cloves
1/2" cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon peppercorn


2 cups yoghurt
1/2 cup milk
a large pinch of saffron
juice of 2 lemons
6 green cardamoms
8 cloves
2 bay leaves
1" cinnamon stick
2/3 cup oil
2 tablespoons ghee
salt to taste

Directions:
Wash the meat and drain all the water.

Heat oil. Fry the onions till golden brown. When the onions become cool, crush or grind them. Set aside.

Rub ginger and garlic well into the meat. Then add salt, red chilli powder, half of coriander and mint and green chillies, lemon juice, and ground spices in 'A', the crushed onions and the oil in which the onions were fried. Leave to marniate for about 2 hours.

Soak saffron in milk and keep aside.

Take heavy-bottomed pan. Put in the marinated meat with the marinade. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cover and cook over medium slow heat till the meat is tender and the liquids are not fully dried up.

Simultaneously, wash rice. Boil about 8 glasses of water. Add the whole cardamoms, cloves, bay leaves and the cinnamon stick to the water and a little salt and rice. Parboil rice. Drain out all the water and spread the rice in a flat dish.

Now take another heavy-bottomed pan. Brush the bottom liberally with ghee. Place half the parboiled rice in a layer at the bottom. Cover the layer with the cooked meat. Cover the meat with the balance of rice. Sprinkle the saffron milk over the rice. Also sprinkle the remaining coriander, mint and green chillies. Dot it with ghee. Cover tightly and cook over slow fire till the rice is fully cooked and the fragrances blend. Take care to see that when the rice is cooked, each grain stands out separately and the rice under no circumstances is allowed to get mushy.

Gently take out the rice and meat, without mixing the two and serve steaming hot.

18 Weight Watchers Points for each of 8 servings. Ouch. An occasional treat, for sure.