Indian As Apple Pie

  The Indian Pressure Cooker Project is ON! Now I just need you to cook along with me as I recipe test full-flavored family-style Indian recipes in my pressure cooker. This one is for black chickpeas. If you are not Indian, you've probably never heard of them. They are smaller and meatier than their white chickpea counterparts. AND lower on the glycemic index. More on that later. First, the recipe.  RECIPE Instant Pot Black Chickpea CurryElectric Pressure Cooker Size: 6Q or largerWarm-Up: 20 minutes - Cook: 30 minutes - Cool Down: 33 minutesTOTAL: 1 hour 23 minutesMakes: 10 cups 2...

Get heart healthy this Valentine's Day and beyond with a recipe that has quickly become my morning routine. The oats immediately transport me to visits to my mother's childhood home and the city where I was born -- Chandigarh, India. Every breakfast included steaming bowls of chewy, delicious dalia.  All forms of oatmeal come from oat groats, the whole oat grain. This whole grain can be used in cooking, but typically must be soaked and remains chewy after cooking. These groats, when chopped up with steel blades into two to three pieces,  make steel-cut oats, also sometimes called Irish oats....

I'VE PERFECTED MY BLACK BEAN SOUP. The recipe is for the updated version of my first book, The Indian Slow Cooker, which will be released this fall from Agate Publishing. I know that's still a few months away. So, for now, enjoy! Black Bean Soup with Tomatillo, Roasted Corn and Jalapeno SLOW COOKER SIZE: 5-QUART COOKING TIME: 6 HOURS ON HIGH YIELD: 16 CUPS 3 cups dried black beans, picked over, washed, and soaked at least 2 hours2 tablespoons vegetable oil2 teaspoons cumin seeds1 teaspoon turmeric powder2 teaspoons ground black pepper5 cloves garlic, minced1 medium onion, minced2 carrots, diced2 tomatillos, husks removed and...

The Indian Slow Cooker is getting better! My first cookbook released in 2010 through Evanston-based Agate Publishing. When my publisher suggested updating it, I had to say yes. After all, it's the book the started the #HealthyIndian revolution. It's largely based on my working immigrant mother's recipes. The very ones she raised our family on as she struggled to balance dinner and work daily without help in the house and in a foreign country.  There are several new recipes in the book. One is for Dal Makhani. I know you love eating it out, but how about making it at home...

FOR ME, HEALTHY ISN'T ENOUGH - IT HAS TO BE DELICIOUS, TOO! My preteen actually made this recipe herself just to get more of it. It truly is that yummy. I used the healing spice, turmeric in here, which you know you should eat, but some of you may still not quite know how to get it into your days more regularly.  The key with this healthy anti-inflammatory of a spice? Mix it with a fat and black pepper. The fat can be obtained through dairy (i.e. the recent rage of turmeric milk), it can be through oil or through ghee (clarified...

I'M FEELING FEVERISH .... No, it's not because of the chilly Chicago weather. I always get like this when I'm writing a cookbook. Why my entire family collectively groaned when I told them I'm updating my first book, The Indian Slow Cooker, for release this fall. All of you, however, should be smiling. Why? Because I will be sharing some recipes right here on my website. Some are new. Some are improvements on the old. All are ones you'll want to try.  This week's recipe is Rasam. I originally showcased a recipe for it on page 90 of my second book, Vegan...

I was three when my obsession for onions began, or so the story goes. As a little girl my mother tells me I would pick off the crunchy, lemony onions from my family's plates around their table in Chandigarh, where I was born and where my grandparent's home is to this day. It seems I've passed this obsession onto my own two girls. They could brush their teeth and still come back for a slice of spicy, lemony onion. That's how much we love them in this Indian-American household.  It's also where I wanted to start my series of Indian...

This past weekend demoing at the Whole Foods in Willowbrook, I showcased one of the best-kept Indian food secrets - kala chana, or black chickpeas, high in protein and meatier in texture than their white counterpart. Not one person knew what they were trying, but once they did, they were sold! Here's an easy recipe for kala chana made with my Punjabi Masala, which is just onion/ginger/garlic/turmeric ground down into a paste.  Kala Chana Chaat with Punjabi MasalaMakes 6 cups  2 cups dried kala chana, cleaned and washed½ onion, finely chopped2 – 3 Thai, serrano, or cayenne chiles, stems removed and...

  Veggie burgers at home? Way too much work, right? Absolutely wrong. So utterly simple you'll kick yourself for not trying this sooner. I make mine from cooked chickpeas and help them bind with besan, or chickpea flour. This easily makes them vegan, gluten free, and super high in protein and fiber.  Chickpea-Quinoa Masala SlidersYield: about 27 patties (2 1/2 inches in diameter, 1/4 inch thick) 4 cups cooked chickpeas*2 cups cooked quinoa, preferably red2 cups grated uncooked sweet potato1/3 cup grated raw carrot1 cup grated white cabbage1 medium yellow or red onion, finely diced1 (2-inch) piece ginger, peeled and...

Not to worry if you've never heard of Kala Chana. Many non-Indian have not. For us Punjabis especially, though, black chickpeas hold a special place in our hearts. They are tiny, hearty, and give off a delicious aromatic broth that the more commonly found cousin, the white chickpea or garbanzo bean, just can't go up against. They are also slightly higher in protein and fiber than their white counterpart. For example, 1 cup of kala chana has about 15 grams of protein and 13 grams of dietary fiber.  Many folks just soak and boil them to add into snack foods and...