A DASH of Cooking: Chana Masala with Shaved Brussel Sprouts

This delicious vegan main dish is a wonderful way to help you meet your New Year’s health goals and also feed your family!

Why I decided to Make Chana Masala with Shaved Brussel Sprouts

Shortly after Christmas, I decided I was going to make lamb cassoulet (yes, I realize this has nothing to do with Chana Masala, but bear with me).  This is one my favorite recipes, however, an unusual thing occurred as I was making the dish.  As I opened the wrapped lamb shanks needed to make the dish, the smell of the fresh lamb started making me gag.  The lamb was very fresh so I had no idea why this was happening. I assumed this was just some fluke and continued preparing the dish.

A little later in the day, I was stripping the meat from the bones after braising the lamb shanks for a couple hours, and again, the smell of the lamb started making me gag.  This has never happened before, though lamb does have a slightly musky smell, I’ve never had this issue with it.  I was so concerned at this point I had somehow purchased bad meat, I asked my husband to smell and check the meat.  After an thorough sniff test and even sampling the cooked meat, my husband could not detect anything unusual about it.  To him it smelled and tasted just as lamb should, and as it tasted and smelled when I made this dish specifically in the past.  So we concluded that for some reason I was being extra sensitive and I continued prepping the cassoulet.

After assembling and baking the entire dish, I served dinner and was extremely happy with how it turned out. It tasted delicious and I was not at all bothered by the smell anymore. Now, despite this, over the next couple days as I tried to eat this as leftovers, I again started having issues with the smell to the point I could no longer eat the cassoulet.  My sensitivity even started affecting my ability to eat other meat products.  I just could not stomach their smell or taste.

Now, before anyone starts freaking out, I want to make it clear, I definitely was not pregnant.  That’s not a possibility right now, so it was not part of any sort of morning sickness starting.  That said, I am aware of many women having issues with the smell of cooking meat while in early pregnancy, so the thought did briefly cross my mind though I know for medical reasons I cannot be pregnant right now.  So I have no clue why I suddenly lost my tolerance for meat.

Now I was left with a new conundrum. What the heck was I going to eat?

A Vegan Start to the New Year

Back in college, I was mostly vegan for a year. I say “mostly” because when out for dinner I did occasionally cheat and have some meat, cheese, or dairy.  It was just easier at the time since vegan and vegetarian meals at restaurants were mostly restricted to salads and steamed vegetables sides.  Those left a lot to be desired when you were spending money to go out for dinner and you already eat those things nearly every day at home.  So cheating happened.

Anyways, my experience had taught me a lot about what things to eat and things I could prepare myself that would be filling and also feel like a decadent dinner. One of these things is Chana Masala.

Chana masala is a dish from India of cooked chickpeas in a spicy onion and tomato based sauce. Indian cuisine can be an intimidating thing to tackle at home, but I have found that vegetarian based Indian foods are some of the easiest ways to transition into a vegetarian diet because they have so much flavor, protein, and can be made richer with the addition of some full fat coconut milk. These things elevate any vegan meal from bunny food to comfort food.

Tips for Making Chana Masala with Shaved Brussel Sprouts

There are a few things you should consider before you start making this dish:

• Prep all the ingredients ahead of actually cooking the dish, including setting the coriander, cumin, turmeric, and red pepper flakes aside in a small dish so they can easily be tossed in at one time.
• Use a mandolin or food processor to shred whole Brussel sprouts. I can sometimes find pre-shaved sprouts at the grocery store, but that is not always the case, so using a mandolin or food processor will make shaving them much faster than slowly slicing by hand.
• Try to dice the onion as small as possible, but don’t fret if you can’t. It will still be delicious. My dicing of onions always starts small and then gets a little less tight around the curved parts.
• Use a spoon to peel the ginger! This is an easy and fast way to get the skin off the unusually shaped ginger root without wasting any of the meat. Sounds strange until you try it.

How to Make Chana Masala with Shaved Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons avocado or olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 inch of ginger root, peeled and grated (or minced if you don’t have a grater)
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 1/2 tablespoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 14oz can crushed San Marzano tomatoes
• 2 14oz cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock
• 2 cups shaved brussel sprouts
• Large pinch of salt
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 2/3 cup of full fat coconut milk
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (for garnish)
• 2 tablespoons diced shallot (for garnish)
• Cooked Rice for Serving

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook until mostly translucent and starting to brown slightly.
2. Add the garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes more.
3. Add in the coriander, cumin, turmeric, and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute while gently mixing so the spices do not burn.
4. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, chickpeas, and vegetable stock. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to bring everything down to a gentle simmer. Allow everything to simmer for about 10 minutes, being sure to stir every so often.
5. Add in the salt, sugar, and Brussel sprouts and continue simmering for about 5 more minutes or until the Brussels have wilted.
6. Stir in the garam masala and coconut milk and bring back up to a quick simmer before removing from heat.
7. Serve with some hot cooked rice, topping with a sprinkle of cilantro and shallots.