a touch of spice

well folks, this post has been a long time coming. chai. oh, masala chai. words cannot express the love. all i know is that the first time i got a whiff of the spicy tea, my love affair with chai began. for a commercially available chai, celestial seasonings and tazo have to be my favourites. celestial seasonings has some hickory flavour added to it and it sometimes that bothers me. when it does, i just turn to tazo. i am one of those people who prefer their chai heavily spiced, and tazo does just that. plus they source their spices ethically and have several campaigns to give back to the communities where they get their tea. see their super cool website here. you all know that i can rarely resist a non-fat chai latte from starbucks. they use the tazo chai concentrate for their lattes. it doesn't have the same intensity as the teabags, but.. it's so rich and delicious that i'll take it!

spices are so prettttyyyyy

one thing i like about making my own masala chai is that i can adapt it to how i'm feeling at that moment. if i've got a sore throat, i'll generally add more peppercorns, or if i'm wanting something super sweet, i'll add more cinnamon. also, every batch you make comes out slightly different! the key is to play around with spices and see which combinations you like the best :)
the recipe below makes enough for 1 large, moderately spiced mug of chai

what you need:
1 stick of cinnamon
1 inch piece of ginger root
1 star anise
7 cloves
7 whole peppercorns
10 cardamom pods
1 or 2 teabags of plain black tea (or 2 tbsp loose)
2 cups water
1 cup milk
honey or sugar to taste

a cup of chai makes any study session a little more bearable!

step 1:
peel and thinly slice your ginger root. lightly crush your cardamom and cloves (peppercorns too if you want it spicyyy).
step 2: 
add water and milk to a pot with your spices and bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and lightly simmer for 10-15 minutes.
step 3:
add in your teabags and let steep for 3-5 minutes, depending on how strong you want it. strain really, really well into a mug and enjoy!

oh, hey, look what mug came in the mail!  : )

i decided to make this juuust as it started to hail/rain outside, perfect timing! i also settled down to watch the movie a touch of spice/politiki kouzina, which also finally came in the mail! it was pretty much a perfectly spiced afternoon. for those of you who haven't heard of/seen the movie, come over right NOW so you can watch it! it's the story about a boy who lives in istanbul, who's grandfather is a spice vendor and teaches him that life and food both need and a touch of spice. cute and funny all in one movie. what else can you ask for?

curry me chickpea

so last weekend i came back to vancouver after spending some time with the famjam. well, i was supposed to go grocery shopping on my way back, but it was so rainy that i just didn't feel like it. actually, i felt that way for the whole entire week. so basically, the only fresh thing i had in my fridge was an onion, not really too useful. so, i managed to make food so that i could survive - i had kd one night and tomato soup the next, not really inspiring or creative. but then i came up with this a super good meal, which to be honest i don't even know how i put together considering i basically had nothing.

chickpeas are always in my pantry. they are featured on one of my favourite websites, World's Healthiest Foods. it's basically a website that has a list of the top 100 vegetables, fruits, legumes and grains that are good for you, and includes an in-depth nutritional analysis and lists health benefits of the particular food. it's a super useful tool when deciding what to eat and what not to eat, and also has some interesting recipes too. i encourage you to check it out!

chickpeas  : )

anyways, chickpeas are really high in iron, manganese and molybdenum - a mineral which detoxifies sulfites (similar to MSG), which are preservatives added to prepared foods. people who are sensitive to sulfites can have symptons such as rapid heart rate, headaches and nausea. chickpeas are also high in dietary fibre, which lowers cholesterol and prevents your blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal. important to note: if you're vegetarian you may have heard of creating a 'complete protein'. by mixing chickpeas with whole grains you create a high quality, fat-free protein.

anyways, onto the meal!

what you will need:
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 an onion, diced finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp ginger, crushed
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garam masala
small splash of white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1/2 can of diced tomatoes (with some of the liquid)
medium cube of frozen spinach

step 1:
in a pot on medium heat, saute onions for ~5 minutes or till soft. add in garlic and ginger and stir. once a bit brown, add in curry powder, garam masala and cumin. stir and let cook for ~1 minute. add wine to deglaze the pan.
step 2:
stir in chickpeas and tomatoes (with liquid). add in chicken stock and stir. simmer for about 10 minutes or until desired consistency. (i made mine more thick)
step 3:
add in spinach and sugar (if desired) and stir. take off heat and serve with brown rice, naan or lettuce leaves.

curried chickpeas on brown rice

indian style burrito

here's what's up. i just made the best leftovers, and am so excited!! i know i just put up the recipe for dahl earlier today, but i'm gonna show you how i used it to make the best dinner evveerrr - what i call an indian style burrito. simply delishhh.

sooo goooood  : )

indian style burrito. what the hell? well, i substituted the tortilla for a pita pocket (also less calories), the salsa would be the dahl (thus why i left it cold) the veggies would be like the lettuce or the tomato, and the eggs are like the meat/beans. it's just epic.

so, here's how you do it!

you will need:

1/2 a whole wheat pita pocket

2 tbsp leftover dahl

1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp chili flakes

1 tsp olive oil

splash of low sodium, low calorie chicken broth

1/2 a green pepper

1/4 a zucchini 

1/4 onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 or 2 eggs

1/2 tsp butter/margarine

step 1:

dice zucchini and green pepper, finely chop onion and crush garlic.

step 2:

in a medium sized pan set to medium heat, add oil. when hot, add in the garlic and onion. cook stirring constantly until onion is translucent. then add in spices and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

step 3: 

add in zucchini and green pepper. add a little chicken broth, and cook for 10 minutes. at this point, get a separate, smaller pan and prepare it for your eggs. set to medium heat and add in some margarine/butter. 

step 4: 

when veggies are soft, crack your eggs into a small bowl and whip them. if you like, you can add milk to make them fluffier. add eggs into small pan and scramble them. 

step 5: 

once eggs are cooked, take the pita pocket and open it. add a layer of dahl. (i left it cold, but you can heat it up if you want)

layer of dahl

step 6:

on top of the dahl, add a layer of eggs.

layer of eggs

step 7:

add the curried veggies on top of the eggs. voila!

layer of curried veggies.

note: if you open your pita pocket and the sides are particularly thin, be careful while adding the dahl, it will cause one side to become soft. you can add in any veggies you want, i just had the green pepper and zucchini handy.

i will definitely be having this again tomorrow, either for dinner or for lunch. it turned out SO GOOD!! so people, you now have another reason to make the dahl - so you can experience the awesome indian style burrito.

roald dahl

i've always loved indian food: the curries, the spices and the spiciness! not to mention, indian food can be super healthy. in fact, according to health.com's article, World's Best Superfoods, indian sits at a comfortable 5 out of the 10 healthiest ethnic cuisines in the world (who sits at 1? you guessed it. greek). this is mainly due to the spices found in indian cooking, such as turmeric, ginger, cumin and cardamom.

spices featured heavily in indian cuisine

the majority of these spices have cancer fighting properties and anti-inflammatory properties. research is being done on turmeric and garlic, as evidence suggests they can help prevent Alzheimer's Disease (rates of the disease in india are 4 times lower than those in america). indian cuisine also heavily features chickpeas, beans and lentils as super, super healthy alternatives to fatty meats for their large vegetarian population.

so, since i love lentils so much (tasty and really healthy), i decided that i should test my curry-ing skills and attempted to make dahl, a spicy lentil curry. i wanted to change the recipe to make it healthier by adding lots of veg. so let's call this eva's super-healthy-vitamin-and-mineral-and-iron-rich dahl. so, here's the recipe!

you will need:
~ 1 1/2 cups of lentils (i used red and i put in a bit extra, but any kind will do)
4 cups water 
1/2 an onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 tsp curry powder (or to taste - i used a lot)
1 1/2 tsp cumin (i know, there's cumin in the curry powder, but i like it so i added extra)
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp chilli flakes (i added extra cause i like it spicy)
1/2 tsp ginger
2 tsp garam masala (or to taste)
1 tsp olive oil
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
4 celery sticks
1 large green and red pepper (i used 1 1/2 of each cause i had some from the day before)
1 small/medium pack frozen spinach

 red, black and green lentils

preparation:
get a tray or large plate, pour the lentils out and sift through them for rocks or twigs.
chop onions fine, dice veggies, crush garlic and take spinach out of the freezer.

step 1:
in a large pot, heat olive oil on medium heat. when ready, add in garlic, ginger and onions. cook, stirring often for 5 minutes until onions are translucent
step 2:
once onions are translucent, add in all spices and cook for a 2 more minutes, stirring often.
step 3: 
add in celery, green and red pepper and tomatoes (with liquid) and stir together. cook for 10 minutes.
step 4:
once veggies have softened a little, add the water and the lentils. turn the temperature down to low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.
step 5:
add in the frozen spinach and cook for 10 more minutes or until the desired consistency is reached. if needed, add more water.

to serve:
i served the dahl on the leaves of  iceberg lettuce, but it can also be served with brown rice or naan.

dahl served on lettuce leaves

side note: this dahl recipe makes TONS, and it freezes really well. i kept half for the week, and froze the other half for later.