Chana Masala with Yellow Split Pea & Peanut Cakes

Curry n: any dish that consists of either meat, fish, poultry, legumes, vegetables, or fruits, simmered in or covered with a sauce, gravy, or other liquid that is redolent with any number of freshly ground and very fragrant spices and/or herbs. -Raghavan Iyer. 

To me, Indian cuisine had always seemed like an unattainable art. Many years back I attempted to make dahl, it turned out terrible and ever since I've steered clear of the dahls and masalas to avoid failure. Indian cuisine is definitely in my top 3 and it killed me that every time a hankering came on, I was forced to spend mucho $$ at restaurants or take-out. What was a girl to do??

Enter 660 Curries; the book that has changed my sad non-indian cuisine cooking life! This year for christmas my wonderful sister-in-law gave me "660 Curries" by Raghavan Iyer. This book is deemed "the gateway to Indian Cooking". And let me tell you, it is!!!! It's an awesome cookbook, not only are there 660 curries but also biryanis (rice-based dishes), breads, pickles, relishes, raitas (yogurt sauce), pastes, appitizers and sooo much more! This is an Indian Cuisine Bible and I just have to give a huge shout out to Mr. Iyer who was IACP's award winning teacher of the year. Now it's not geared towards vegans , and there are many poultry, beef, and seafood dishes.. . however, I bet they are easily substituted with tofu/seitan/tempeh and dairy of coarse can always be substituted by alternative milks and yogurts.

I decided to start with something simple (given my history) and a classic favorite ... Chana Masala. Then for a fun twist (and they sounded easy enough) I made Yellow Split Pea & Peanut Cakes with an awesome aioli that my dear friends and sous chefs whipped up.

I couldn't believe how simple and delicious the Chana Masala (chickpeas w/ a spicy tomato sauce) turned out. Basically it boils down to ginger and garlic sauted, throw in some coriander, turmeric, cayenne, cumin, and cilantro - add your chickpeas with tomato paste and water - cook on high until the sauce boils off and thickens and bam! Who knew?!!?!!?!

The Yellow Split Pea and Peanut Cakes (dal sengdana vadi) were a little on the dry side, but thanks to the awesome chef Lauren from Vegan Royale and our good friend Amy for their aioli saved the night. It was a perfect match and enabled us to wipe the plate clean. I don't know exactly what they put in it but it was a combination of just about everything we had lying around in the kitchen (coconut milk, ginger, garlic, cilantro, veganaise, tahini, carrots ... I know I'm missing some things, but you get the picture). The main ingredients in the cakes were yellow split peas (chana dal), raw peanuts, coconut, chilies, and ginger. Blend all together with more spices, fry up and voila! The author uses this recipe as a vegetarian answer to crab cakes. The greatest part is that the peanuts act as a binder so no flour or egg substitute is needed.

If you're into Indian Food, I highly suggest picking up a copy of 660 curries. It has tamed my fear of cooking indian cuisine and I can't wait to see what other amazing dishes will come out of it!!! I've got 659 to go!!!