By Audrey Anderson
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Indian cook Sandhya demonstrated how to make both channa masala and sandesh at the Needham Free Public Library (NFPL). With detailed explanations of the steps and descriptions of the ingredients, Sandhya, of Cooking with Sandhya, brought attendees along to her homeland through story, scent, and delicious tastes.
Sandhya explained that when she and her husband first came to the U.S. from India, she was not allowed to work as a spouse under her husband’s visa. As soon as she was able to work, she decided to do something she knew very well. She taught Indian cooking classes at Whole Foods and to private groups. She continues to teach cooking in the evenings, while she also teaches at a Montessori school during the day.
To get both items made during her program, Sandhya started by heating milk for the cheese dessert, sandesh, and also putting a pan of pan of water on to heat for the channa masala, a North Indian chick pea curry dish. She worked on each recipe at the same time. For clarity, the processes are separated in this article.
The milk for the Sandesh had to be gradually heated to a boil, but not burnt. When it was hot enough, Sandhya added vinegar to the milk to separate the curds from the whey, noting that other types of acid can be used instead of vinegar, including lime or lemon juice. The separation occurred almost immediately.
Sandhya then strained the curds with a cheesecloth. The whey, she explained, could be added to a dish for extra protein or included in a smoothie, and it would also be good for soaking dried beans. After straining the curds, she then kneaded them for a while with the palms of her hands and added a few drops of rosewater and some powdered sugar and cardamom powder to them. Then she pushed the curds through a sieve and rolled them into small individual balls. In a pastry cup, with a bit of turmeric on top, they were picture-perfect and tasted delicious and moderately sweet.
Turning to the channa masala, Sandhya added rinsed canned chickpeas to the pot of water and brought it to a boil. She flavored the chickpeas with a black tea bag and a tea strainer holding cardamon pods, cloves, star anise, a cinnamon stick, and a bay leaf, and she let the mixture simmer for 25 minutes.
Sandhya then heated olive oil in a sauté pan and added cumin seeds and a paste of pureed onion, ginger, and garlic. After about 10 minutes, she added cilantro power and heated it for 30 seconds, and then added tomato puree and let it cook for 6-8 minutes. Then she added garam masala (a traditional spice mixture), and cumin, chili, and pomegranate powders, letting the mixture cook for another 2 minutes.
In the final steps, Sandhya removed the tea bag and tea strainer with spices, and combined the chickpea broth with the bloomed seasonings, adding sugar and salt to taste. The seasoned broth with chickpeas could be served on jasmine or basmati rice, and the dish could also be made with proteins other than chickpeas, such as chicken, or tofu.
When tasting the channa masala, program attendees were amazed by the complex taste and the density of the broth, some saying it was almost like beef stew broth.
For more information, see @CookingwithSandhya on Facebook.
