Monday, January 11, 2010

Cookbook Week: Eggplant Chana Masala

The Chef: Lyndsay

The Menu: Hearty, spicy Eggplant Chana Masala courtesy of The Kind Diet by our very own January+February cover girl Alicia Silverstone! This take on a classic Indian vegetable dish calls for eggplant, onion, garlic, chickpeas, tomatoes, and a can of vegetarian chili—Lyndsay chose Pinto Beans and Spelt Chili by Eden Organic. Lyndsay seasoned the chana masala with cumin, curry powder, and fresh cilantro, and served the stewy mixture over piping-hot white basmati rice. Paired with a lovely green salad, this filling meal was the perfect perk-up for our particularly overcast Monday afternoon.

The Goods: Today kicks off our cookbook week for The Kind Diet, which is good news for VN staffers and readers alike. For the staff, it means having a recipe to follow instead of our usual flying-blind approach to lunchtime meal-making. For our readers, it means the chance to win a copy of Alicia's kind cookbook! To win today's copy, simply tell us in the comments: What is your favorite veg Indian dish?

85 comments:

Nidiyao said...

my fave indian dish is samosa!

Ashley Gibson said...

Chana masala or aloo gobi!

esme said...

yellow daal with lots of cilantro and rice

Rob said...

Any kind of dosa

Fat Bottom Bakery said...

Aloo gobi or mixed vegetable masala from the Indian restaurant by my house!

Jennie said...

dal anything with some garlic naan bread!

Courtney said...

channa or bhindi masala--i heart chickpeas and okra <3

Unknown said...
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Nicole said...

Love masala dosa

birdfeed said...

Chana Masala because I simply cannot get enough chickpeas.

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

I recently had an amazing green chili tofu dish at a local Indian restaurant. It was amazing!

VerdantSage@yahoo.com said...

Actually, chana masala is! Kashi makes a convenient frozen veggie chana masala entree I often take to work, but my fav is made by a native Indian friend along with her homemade poori.

Starheart said...

Idli Sambar!
Those lovely yummy disks in a lentil sambar is a great entree or quick meal.

jenny said...

samosa, chana masala and gobi machurian. YUM

Jennifer said...

Mala kofta and some veggie pakora... Yummmm

Mona said...

Aloo Matar - the one with potatoes!

bitt said...

vegetable vindaloo

laura said...

Yellow dal and saag soy "paneer"!

EARTH MOTHER said...

This Vegan Dahl from Chef Tej at the Awaroa Lodge in New Zealand is da bomb! ツ

Chantal said...

channa masala!

Unknown said...

naan!!

Carla said...

I love a good channa Dal! with naan bread, and maybe some saag aloo on the side. and pilau rice.

Boy!

Alicia said...

I love bhindi (okra) masala! I want some right now actually.

Anonymous said...

My favorite vegetarian Indian dish is vegi bryani! all the spices & flavors in that dish just makes the food exciting, tasty, delicious, and spicy.

e-mail: wasteland@rocketmail.com

HD said...

Oh my. Aloo gobi and biryani. Nom nom nom.

Thatcher said...

All dal every day!

Anonymous said...

Freshly made naan straight out of the oven. Mango chutney.

Julie said...

anything with chickpeas & potatoes!

Unknown said...

I really have never been able to try true indian cuisine.. I wish I could have the chance/guidance to do so and cook an amazing meal! I know I love the ingredients that they use.. but I always get nervous trying to cook a dish like that myself.

JW said...

I love samosa, but also love taking ingredients like tofu, potatoe, pea, carrot, onion, eggplants, etc and just adding curry and cardamon and cinnamon until it taste fantastic!

Unknown said...

channa masala!

Unknown said...

Favorite Indian dish is Aloo Tikki: like a spicy knish!

B said...

Palak "Paneer" with tofu instead of cheese. Yum!!

Jordan Kelter said...

I lovelovelove lentil dal, vegetable curry, and saag aloo!

Diana said...

chana masala

Laviyah said...

saag tofu

Josiane said...

I love Indian cuisine, and was really having a hard time trying to narrow it down to one favorite dish... until I remembered how much my gentleman friend and I liked being able to pick up some onion bhaji at the Indian restaurant that was close to our previous house. Since then, we moved to a different city where there is no Indian restaurant at all (I know!) and I dearly miss those yummy onion bhaji.

radioactivegan said...

I love indian food. Any kind of dal is fine by me! I love the lentils :)

PJ said...

I have a bunch of faves:
Bisibela baath
Puri aloo
Aloo paratha
Paneer butter masala
Rasam
Palak paneer

organic baby crib said...

I have lots of favorite vegetarian dish! I like the Indian veggie food because it tastes good because of the spices.

Mia C. said...

saag paneer, with a feta-like tofu instead of cheese.and fresh, garlicy naan. yeah!

MizzB said...

Aloo palak - potato and spinach curry with naan to soak up the sauce

Sarah S. said...

I am a sucker for any kind of saag dish, yum!! :)

Georgie said...

Aloo paratha - Spicy potato stuffed flaky bread goodness. All those carbs make me so happy!

TracyP said...

Warm and comforting daal with red lentils.

Chrissy said...

I love samosas most of all, but about a million other dishes come close.

ulchabhán said...
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ulchabhán said...

I love Rajma! It makes my kitchen smell so wonderful when I make it!

Anonymous said...

Red lentil daal..yum!!
Lauren

dutchess said...

homemade naan with chana masala. yum. in fact, i'm eating it for lunch today!

Unknown said...

I love red lentil dal with fresh roti... YUM.

JP said...

Dosas!

allison said...

I really love a simple daal over rice. Really Indian food is just one of my favorites in general... I like it spicy, too!

Tracy H. said...

I love aloo gobi and am actually have leftovers of it for dinner tonight. :)

Lee Ann said...

SAMOSAS

Lauren Christine. said...

i like chana masala with cauliflower!

notatwit said...

I love almost all indian food - we have a restaurant here in sacramento that is all vegetarian/vegan. my favorite dish to make is aloo gobi.

londonware said...

Aloo palak and samosa.

Chessa said...

My fave would be pakoras! How can you not love the deep-fried delicious veggie fritters?!

Tanya said...

Channa Masala or anything with potatoes and a tomato based sauce. But my husband loves Veg Vindaloo or anything EXTRA spicy!

ladydi115 said...

My favorite is probably Saag but I also love vegetable Korma. So many to choose from!

Marina (yusqueya@hotmail.com) said...

gotta be yellow daal. Of course samosas and pakoras are pretty good too. Actually I could eat Indian every day of the week!

birdgherl said...

aloo gobi, hands down!

Unknown said...

My mom's pumpkin bhajji (vegetable) - spicy, slightly sweet, and oh so comforting.

2nd and 3rd place: Dal Makhani (veganized), and good Hyderabadi Vegetable Biriyani

Neta said...

My favorite Indian dish must be veg pakora, I love it!

Unknown said...

it's a toss-up between chana masala and daal... mm

Unknown said...

Gosh so many yummy indian dishes...for southern Indian, nothing can beat a dosa. Northern Indian, I love dal - any kind will do! Makes me hungry just thinking about it.

sheepguy42 said...

Chana masala with some good naan FTW!

Lisa said...

Can't go past a good biryani... and a yummy daal is hard to pass up. Nom nom nom!!!!

srz said...

I love samosas and daal and anything with potatoes and/or chickpeas.

bagwasher said...

My favorite Indian dish is any kind of dahl.

shannon said...

aloo gobi or palak paneer

Kate said...

biryani is amazing, as are samosas.

kim g. said...

I think my favorites have to be veggie samosas and naan - I love my carbs!

Nichole said...

Saag, it's also one of the best spinach dishes in the world!

day*dreamer said...

chana masala

Nimisha said...

Idli with spicy sambhar for sure - yum!

Happy Older Hippie Woman! said...

Dal, Dal, and more Dal!
Dal is one of the most satisfying savory foods on the planet.
Who would have thought that a little bowl could bring such great comfort to one's soul. It's so easy to make, plus, everyone usually has all the ingredients on hand...what could be better?!

HeyitsBeth said...

ANYthing with coconut milk in it! Those kinds of curries are so creamy, it makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

Vanessa Rae said...

Even though they're fatty, I love samosas. I also love mixed vegetable Utthappam with coconut chutney & sambar, any kind of vegan Dosai, Bindhi Masala, Balngan bhartha, yellow daal, garlic naan & some mango juice. I guess I really like indian food. NYC has some of the best!

Gretchen said...

It's not really a dish, but samosas all the way!

4 Hounds said...

Aloo paratha! I love the potatoes and peas!!

Julie said...

veggie pakora

Laidatu said...

i don't know what it's called, but it has cauliflower and peas i think in a light brown curry sauce.

Chef Amber Shea said...

Dal makhani! (Sans ghee.) I can't get enough lentils.
Runner-up: chana masala, love my chickpeas.