My FreshPrep cooking endeavours continue with me making their Chana Masala and a side of Roasted Sweet Potatoes. I consider myself an expert at Chana Masala - eating - plus me being Indian only meant this recipe is being held up to some pretty high standards. Oh, and I have never made Chana Masala, but I do eat it once a week!
I love beans and lentils because they are a great source of protein and energy and are often supplemented in place of meat. Beans are also really versatile ingredient and is used in just about every cuisine. Traditionally, chana masala is either eaten with a fried indian bread or rice since the two together are considered complimentary foods and would provide you with all 9 essential amino acids (the building blocks of protein). The other amino acids our body can produce; however, the remaining 9 are categorized as essential and need to be obtained from our diet. So by having both complimentary foods, you are able to get all 9 of those essential amino acids making it a complete protein source.
Beans and rice are the most common pairing for a complete protein source, so I was curious why FreshPrep chose to use sweet potato as a side. I did a little research sweet potato's protein content and learned they contain all but one of the essential amino acids, but overall, do not contain very much protein albeit a little more than rice. So when comparing the two, sweet potato could be argued to be better since it has half the amount of calories, but food is also about enjoyment. I love my curries with rice, so I am probably going to continue having it!
Chana Masala is a classic Indian curry, so my mum wanted to see how I would make out on my own. Just like our family, the recipe used canned chickpeas because they are far quicker than used dried beans. The garam masala and spice mix was really good and gave it the right flavour. What was different from how my mum does it was that the recipe used canned tomatoes while my mum uses fresh ones that she then purees. I loved the addition of lemon juice because it gave the curry the tang I love which generally comes from the tamarind sauce we add.
Was it the best chana masala I have ever had? Nope.
Did I like it? Yes!
I know FreshPrep recipes are meant to take less than 30 minutes, but a good curry takes time to develop flavour. You want to let it simmer for a while, so the curry can thicken thus making it more concentrated in flavour and more of a sauce to the chickpeas. The ratio of curry liquid to chickpeas was off. We ended up with too much liquid, but mum's being the masters at cooking that they are just whipped out another can of chickpeas from the cupboard and added it in.
I really did like this recipe and I am glad I got it because now I know that I can make one of my favourite curries. This is also a vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free -friendly dish that is going to provide you lots of great protein.
Would I re-order this recipe? YES
I strongly encourage you to try out their service because I genuinely think FreshPrep is an incredible service that makes cooking at home so much easier. Especially if you are like me who often does not have a full pantry at their disposal. It is real food, it is fresh food and the best part, you actually get to learn to make some really delicious recipes!
Use my code PTLFRESH18 at FreshPrep to get THREE FREE PLATES! It also supports me and allows me to continue bringing you new and fun content.
BYES
Products received as PR samples for review consideration; all opinions are my own. Affiliate codes used.
No comments:
Post a Comment