Today I wanted to move away from my ranting and raving and talk about some yummy and I mean yummy in the tummy easy vegan recipes. I’m all about making the vegan experience easy as pie. And because I’m hungry this morning as I write this I thought I’d share a really easy vegan recipe that even the worst of us vegan chefs could do.
I”ve been thinking too, that probably one of the best ways to get folks on the vegan train is to offer them food that nourishes the soul (like all vegan food) but also to give them something tasty and easy and this my friends is the easy peasy vegan recipe that today is all about the chana masala.
Chana masala is a classic East Indian recipe and one of my personal favorites. I just love chickpeas and if you’re a new vegan or old you should have a basement shrine dedicated to cans of chickpeas stacked to the rafters. Chickpeas are like something sent from heaven. Manna from heaven perhaps? Well we’ll call this chana from heaven.
Okay, so what do you need for this?
1 can of chickpeas (a big can is better)
1 can of diced stewed tomatoes (can’t find stewed, that’s cool)
4 to 6 cloves of garlic (fighting those carnivorous vampires while we’re at it)
1 red onion
A generous splash of cooking oil (I like canola oil)
2 Tbs of chana masala mix
Now the chana masala mix you can usually find at most good grocery stores. If you can’t find this, don’t even try to make this unless you know what you’re doing. Chana masala spice mix is like made from over 100 vegan ingredients and I personally find it a chore to make. I’m all about keeping it real.. real simple. If you’re curious about what goes into chana masala mix here are the ingredients for it. Bear in mind their is some variation depending on the region your mix is coming from. Bay leaves, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, cloves, red chillies, cinnamon, cardamom pods, black pepper and pomegranate seeds.
Okay so here’s how we cook up a vegan feasty my beasties. A generous splash of oil goes into a large pot and then when that’s hot (over medium heat) you toss in your chopped onions. You stir those onions periodically until they’re translucent. Then toss in the minced or pressed garlic. Stir that up for just a couple of minutes, then toss in your dry masala mix and stir it for a couple of minutes.
Everything is getting fragrant now isn’t it? And you’re getting hungry ain’t ya? Next, toss in your chickpeas which have been drained and rinsed and stir that up for a couple of minutes. Lastly add your canned tomatoes and let it simmer for a half hour or so. Serve over some yummy brown rice and you’ve got a very delicious but simple meal.
I’m all about the easy peasy. Now I’m going to go eat a little sum sum. Next week I’ll be back with a bit more bite to my bark. There’s still shizzle going on that just ain’t right. I’m gonna turn up the heat in the kitchen and rant about meat.
Verily vegan,
Jason