Masala Roast Vegetable Spice Blend

Over the summer, I taught a course in Ayurveda to physicians. It was one of the most rewarding times of my professional career as I shared something I am enormously excited about. For instance, each week we did a cooking class exploring the flavors and principles found in Ayurvedic cooking. If you are interested, my favorite cookbook can be found here; it is called Ayurvedic Cooking for Self-Healing. One of the weeks, we had a guest chef, Dr. Neha Shaw. Dr. Shaw is a Rheumatologist who also completed a fellowship in Integrative Medicine. She shared a recipe from her family that I loved, and subsequently with her permission, I am sharing it here. The following is her recipe for Masala Roast Vegetable Spice Blend.

I hope you enjoy it!

“The rose is a rose from the time it is a seed to the time it dies. Within it, at all times, it contains its whole potential. It seems to be constantly in the process of change: Yet at each state, at each moment, it is perfectly all right as it is.”

Paulo Coelho

Author

Each time we enter the kitchen, it is a chance to start anew. There is a possibility to discover the combination of where we are and where we might like to go without judgment. For example, there is an abundance of information on the web with regard to information about nutritional choices and not all of it is helpful. However, it is also important to find a passage to feeling peaceful when we are cooking.

Roasting Fresh Vegetables

The amazing, flavorful spices in the Masala Roast Vegetable Spice blend combine in the most magical ways! Moreover, there is a lot of flexibility in how you create the spice blend. I do like to keep the oven temps below 350 to help keep the fats in the seeds as stable as possible.

Right before the COVID outbreak, I was planning to partner with a local group to start sharing culinary medicine principles here in Phoenix at an educational center. Therefore, I had to put those plans on hold like so many of us. However, it did create time for me to pivot online and then share with a wider group of people who are interested in learning more about the HOW of creating a plant-based kitchen.

This year, I will be hosting a “thanksliving” cook along celebration the week of thanksgiving. This event was created for people looking for something new to bring into their life this year and help with streamlining the process.

Learn more about the journey here: THANKSLIVING 2020

Join the 2020 Thanksliving

Meal, cook along, and workshop

Vegan Masala Spice Blend

When learning Ayurvedic or Indian cooking, there are terms and concepts that need more definition. In the same vein, the term masala essentially means a blend of ground spices that can be used for flavoring food. Garam masala is one that is well known.

Masala Roast Vegetables Facebook live cooking demo

Join me each week on Facebook lives to ask questions in real-time. Tune in below to review the recipe after the fact. Hop on YouTube and let me know. Please share this post with a friend who is interested in learning more plant-based recipes.

After you have had a chance to learn more about how to make the dish from the video above, please find below a print out of the recipe. You can print the recipe for your own records. Sample them overtime or share this to your Pinterest board. Check out last week’s recipe, Vegan Mac-n-Cheese.

Recipe INFO

Tag me if you make this at home with your own variation and process. There are so many ways to cook this dish. Therefore, I would like to encourage you to be in the kitchen and experiment. Thanks, Neha for this great recipe!

Vegan Masala Roast Vegetable Blend

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• Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Yield: 4 1x

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Description

A falvorful spice blend that can be added to any roast vegetable dish

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Ingredients

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Spice Blend

• 1 cup roughly ground roasted peanuts (can sub roasted sunflower seeds, pepitas, soy nuts, or other even crushed dry cereal like bran flakes or corn flakes if peanut allergy)
• 1/2 cup finely shredded dry coconut
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed
• 2 tbsp fennel seeds (adjust to taste-)
• 1–2 tbsp tava fry masala (Find Tava Fry Masala. You can sub garam masala or chat masala.)
• 1.5 tbsp turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp coriander-cumin powder
• 4 tbsp finely chopped/minced cilantro
• 1–2 inch grated fresh ginger
• 1–2 inch diced piece jalapeño
• pinch of ENO or baking soda
• salt – adjust to persona taste

Veggies

• 1.5 cup sweet potato cubes (diced into 1.5 inch cubes)
• 1.5 cup potato cubes, diced into 1.5 inch cubes, or 1.5 cup fingerling or pearl potatoes
• 1 cup purple yam, diced in 1 inch cubes (can buy these fresh or frozen at Indian grocery store – Ratalu (link)
• 1 cup Indian broad beans, strung and halved (can buy these fresh or frozen at Indian grocery store – Surti Papdi (link)
• 1–2 medium eggplant, cut to 2 inch cubes or 4 small Indian eggplant, quartered with stem intact
• 1 slightly green small banana – cut into quarters with skin still on1/2 cup pearl onions (optional)

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Instructions

1. Place all vegetables in a large baking tray or can layer in a dutch oven
2. Drizzle olive oil generously over all the vegetables (can omit if fat free)
3. Add enough of the masala to cover/coat all the vegetables
4. Gently pour water into all 4 corners of the tray/dutch oven (about 1-1.5 cup)
5. Cover the tray tightly with silicone cover or if using Dutch oven, fit lid tightly
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes – turn vegetables gently half way through and add a bit more water/olive oil if needed
7. Garnish with chopped cilantro and a sprinkling of shredded coconut
8. Can serve with rotis, chapatis, puris (all types of Indian flat breads)
9. Variations:- use whichever vegetables you have on hand noting that this seasonal food is typically made in Gujarate in the Fall/Winter. Can add fresh or frozen broad beans (link)

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Category: dinner
• Cuisine: Indian

Kitchen resources

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