We enjoyed this dish with a side of lightly steamed broccoli and carrots, which were a nice sweet side with the flavorful stew. Before settling with my version I was happy to find Nupur’s lovely and thorough blog post about khichdi, and closely read through quite a few kitchari recipes. Heikki loved this dish and commented that kids would probably enjoy it as well – before he even knew that it’s often the first solid food introduced to children in India!

This is what I used (serves 3-4):

• 2 dl brown basmati rice, soaked for 2 hours (unsoaked cooks longer)
• 1 and 1/2 dl green  mung beans, soaked overnight
• 1 or 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 2 teaspoons each: ground coriander and cumin
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• pinch of asafoetida
• 6-8 dl water, and maybe more as needed
• sea salt to taste
• 2 tablespoons of vegan margarine
• 1 tablespoon of tamarind paste or lemon juice

I first heated the oil and fried the mustard seeds until they started to pop. Then I added the chopped ginger and fried it for a few seconds, followed with fennel, coriander, cumin and asafoetida, which I fried just until fragrant, being careful not to burn. Now, I added the rice and the beans along with about 6 dl of hot water and the turmeric, brought to boil, then lowered the heat and let the stew simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes. I added a little bit of water as needed, but not too much – I didn’t want this to be a soupy stew.

When the rice was soft, I removed the pot from heat, and added in the margarine, tamarind paste, and salt to taste. I stirred the stew briskly with a ladle for a few minutes to mash some of the beans and make it a bit creamier, and then it was ready to be served.

Most tandoori sauces seem to have red food coloring, and that’s not something I wanted to include in this recipe. I added a chopped beet to get a little bit of that red tandoori color, but my endeavor wasn’t a complete success: the result was unevenly colored, partly bright fuchsia, partly yellowish. Now that I think of it, I could have added the beets in when I was pre-cooking the rice, and the color would’ve most likely come out prettier! Another option would’ve been to add some beet juice in the sauce, so that the tofu would’ve had a pink color as well.

This recipe makes a lot of food, enough for about 4 hungry or 6 not quite as hungry eaters. I like to make a larger batch of food once I heat up the oven, so there’s leftovers for the days to come.

The Tandoori Sauce (adapted from this recipe):

• 5 garlic cloves
• 5 cm peeled ginger
• 3 shallots (or 1 regular onion)
• 1 small red chili with seeds
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons muscovado sugar
• 1 and 1/2 dl plain soy yogurt
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon each: ground cumin and turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon each: cinnamon and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon each: freshly grated nutmeg, ground cardamom, and ground clove

Also Used:

• 500 g firm tofu, pressed and cubed
• 2 potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
• 1 beet, peeled and finely cubed
• 4 dl brown basmati rice
• 1 bay leaf
• water to cook rice in
• 4 dl vegetable stock

Three and a half hours before we planned to have dinner we started the preparations. I blended all the tandoori sauce ingredients with our immersion blender until smooth. Heikki pressed and cubed the tofu, and I mixed it with the sauce and put it in the fridge to marinate for two hours (overnight would be even better). I rinsed the rice at this point and let it soak in fresh water for two hours as well.

An hour and a half before dinner time I set the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Then I rinsed the rice, cooked it in ample water with the bay leaf for about 20 minutes, and drained it.  While the rice was cooking, I cubed the potatoes and the beet. When everything was prepped, I just mixed it all together in a large baking dish – tofu with the tandoori sauce, pre-cooked rice, potatoes, beets, and the veggie stock. Now, I covered the dish with a lid, and baked it for one hour.

I think that chopped cilantro leaves would be a nice compliment to this curry as well, we just didn’t have any on hand at the time of making.

Here’s what I used (serves 4):

• 1 medium head cauliflower, cut into smaller florets
• 2 onions, finely cubed
• 6 small potatoes, cubed
• 3 dl cooked chick peas
• 1 dl green peas
• 4 dl coconut milk (one can)
• 1 tomato, finely cubed
• 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon (muscovado) sugar
• a 3 cm long piece of a ginger root
• 6 cloves garlic
• 3 tablespoons peanut oil

The Spices:

• 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• a pinch of asafoetida powder
• 2 teaspoons dried red chili, crushed
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons turmeric
• 2 teaspoons coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon Garam Masala powder
• (1/2-1 teaspoon hot chili powder)

First I chopped up all the veggies and pulsed the garlic and the ginger in our mini food processor into a coarse paste. My ingredients made about 3 tablespoons of ginger-garlic paste.

Then I fried the cumin, mustard, and fennel seeds in the peanut oil on high heat until they started to pop, and added a pinch of asafoetida, lowering the heat to medium. Right after asafoetida I stirred in the ginger-garlic paste, the crushed chili, the coriander, and the turmeric powder, and fried for a few seconds more. Now, I added the onions to the pan, and fried them until they were a little soft, for a few minutes.

I poured the potatoes and the cauliflower florets in the frying pan, and stirred to coat with the spice mixture. Then I added the green peas and the chick peas in the pan, stirred again, poured in the coconut milk, and added the salt and the sugar. Now I let the curry simmer for about 15-20 minutes until the potatoes had softened.

Before serving, I stirred in the lemon juice, chili powder, and Garam Masala, and then served the curry over basmati rice, sprinkled with the cubed tomato.

Asafoetida, also known as stinking gum, or hajupihka in Finnish, is a very pungent spice, and isn’t to everyone’s liking. We only recently started using it, and I don’t find its fragrance all too repulsive, but Heikki is pretty sensitive about it. So, if you’re unsure, use it sparingly and see if you like it – I think it’s worth a try. Maybe the best bet is to try and not smell your spices while you are frying them, because that’s when the asafoetida odours really can get you – then you probably won’t even notice which part of the delicious curry taste comes from that particular spice component.

While I was cooking the spinach, I started to wonder why it didn’t turn brown like the spinach in Indian restaurants does, and googled my way to a few recipes for Palak Tofu on two of my favorite blogs Mahanandi and Fatfree Vegan. They both have fresh tomatoes in them, which explains the color – maybe I’ll include those next time, but I think that my addition of lemon juice provides some of the fruitiness that would normally come from tomatoes.

The Tofu:

• 300 g firm tofu
• 1/2 dl freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons brown rice miso

The Spinach Purée:

• 250 g fresh spinach leaves
• 3 tablespoons peanut oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried curry leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried ground coriander
• 1 dried crushed chili
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin (jeera)
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing) – be careful!
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dl water
• (1 tablespoon plain, unsweetened soy yogurt)

Heikki prepared the tofu by pressing it and then cutting it in small squares not thicker than half a centimeter. Then he patted the squares to get most of the moisture out. Now, he mixed the lemon juice with the miso paste, and placed the marinade with the tofu in an air tight container and let them sit in the room temperature while we proceeded with the rest of the cooking.

I minced the onions, ginger, and garlic, and heated the peanut oil in a frying pan on medium-low heat. Now, I fried the onions for 10 minutes, until they started to turn golden but not yet brown, and added ginger and garlic to the pan. I fried them for a minute or so, turned up the heat a bit, and then added the rest of the spices (except salt and sugar). I toasted them for a minute or so, stirring all the time.

Meanwhile, Heikki had rinsed and chopped the spinach leaves, and I added them to the pan. I fried them until wilted, and then we placed the spinach mixture in a small bowl and Heikki puréed it with an immersion blender. He poured it back in the pan, added 1 dl of water, the sugar and the salt, and let the mixture simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Then I added the tofu in the pan, reserving the marinade, and simmered the curry for another 10 minutes. Before serving, I mixed in the soy yogurt, adjusted the saltiness of the dish, and then we enjoyed our Palak Tofu over jasmine rice.

What I used:

• 1,5 dl dry urid dal (black or white), thoroughly rinsed
• 8 potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 150 g frozen spinach
• 1 onion, finely cut
• 6-7 dl water

Spices and seasonings:

• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons mild curry paste (we have Rajah brand)
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried crushed chili

These I added before serving:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable margarine
• 2 tablespoons plain soy yogurt
• a little splash of freshly squeezed lemon juice
• a pinch of salt
• a pinch of sugar

First, I fried the onion in 1 tablespoon canola oil until it was translucent and slightly browned. Then, I added the cubed potatoes, and covered the pan. Now, I tossed the potatoes around every 2 minutes, and then covered the pan again, to fry and steam them at the same time.

After 10 minutes, I added all the spices and seasonings in the pan, mixed to coat the potatoes, and fried this for some 5 minutes. Then I added the dal, and fried it for a few minutes with the potatoes.

Then I added the water and the spinach, covered the pot, and simmered the curry for 40 minutes or so, until the dal was cooked. I had to add a little bit of water every now and then to keep it simmering.

When the legumes were done, I removed the pan from heat, and mixed in yogurt, margarine, lemon, salt, and sugar. Now, I was completely happy with the taste, and me and Heikki enjoyed this curry for dinner with a refreshing carrot salad with cashews.