One thing I have got ready though is this post about a rather lovely cook book called Saffron Soul by Mira Manek that I was sent to review along with the book from my last post so as you might guess this post is a little late…..
This is a gorgeous recipe book filled with mouth watering recipes backed up with gorgeous photography, I really love to see what I am making is supposed to look like and this book does just that. I said yes to reviewing this book one because it looked and sounded great and two because I am all about this kind of food. I’d actually go so far to say that Indian cuisine is probably my favourite source of food I love the spice and flavour plus there is lots of vegetarian options which suits me as I am trying to cut meat out of my diet but thats a whole other blog post!
Mira’s style of food is a modern take on classic Indian recipes which have been inspired by her mother and grandmothers cooking, she uses basic ingredients such as lentils, grains and spices and shows how these simple everyday items are filled with health benefits. There is so many good looking recipes in this book I found it hard to choose which one I would feature on here but eventually I decided on these chickpea tikkis which by the way are bloody delicious!
Chickpea Tikkis
Tikki ingredients:
1 x 400g can of chickpeas, drained
1/2 tsp coconut oil or rapeseed oil, plus 2-3 tsp for frying
1 red onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp garlic, ginger and chilli paste*
1/2 tsp garam masala or chaat masala
1 green chilli, finely chopped, optional
2 Tbsp tahini
1-2 Tbsp coarsely ground peanuts
handful of chopped coriander leaves
5 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp himalayan salt
small bowl of sesame seeds
To make:
Immerse the chickpeas in a saucepan or bowl of boiling water for a few minutes so they soften and are easier to mash. Drain the water and mash the chickpeas.
Heat the oil in a medium-large saucepan, add the onion. Stir for a couple of minutes on a low heat and then add the garlic, ginger and chilli paste*, garam masala and green chilli. Stir again for half a minute then add the mashed chickpeas, tahini, peanuts, coriander, water and salt then stir together and take off the heat.
Divide the chickpea mixture into 8 and roll between your palms to form balls, then flatten to form tikkis. Heat a frying pan and melt 1 Tbsp of coconut oil in the pan.
Dip each tikki in sesame seeds and place half the tikkis in the pan, adding a few more drops of oil round each tikki so it cooks well. Leave to cook on a low heat for a couple of minutes until the underside is lightly browned and then turn the tikkis. Again, add a few drops of oil around each tikki and let them cook for a minute or two. Turn again if necessary and add more oil if required. Repeat with the rest of the tikkis.
Serve hot with yogurt sauce**,tamarind and date chutney** and a wedge of lemon or lime to squeeze.
* I used fresh garlic, ginger and chilli instead of the paste
** yogurt sauce and tamarind and date chutney recipes can be found in this book
I invited my sister round for dinner and made these tikkis for her, we had a yummy fresh salad on the side and she made a vegan yogurt, tahini and lemon dressing which was delicious! The tikkis were so tasty, really nice nutty spiced flavour and they were really filling too. They kind of remind me of a nutty falafel, they would be perfect for vegan pattie options at a BBQ or popped in a wrap/pitta for a healthy filling lunch or just straight up with a dip…very tasty and very versatile.
If you want to see more from Mira you can check out her Twitter and Instagramaccounts for some tasty food inspiration.
