A Masala Sauce (recipe)

Okay, so lets start with the masala sauce. This sauce forms the body and soul of the worlds most popular pseudo-indian dish. I'm working to bring it on the trail with me next weekend. Because heavy cream is not trail friendly, I've decided to substitute mori-nu tofu for the heavy cream. This dish, as prepared, is vegan and vegetarian.

I got distracted when cooks illustrated covered chicken tikka masala in their current issue. I made their recipe, and I didn't see what was so great about it. Honestly. I found it lacking in flavor, and color. It had great texture, but with heavy cream, texture isn't much to brag about.

I've tried to keep this recipe as trail friendly as possible. I didn't take pictures during the preparation because my battery was charging. I'll take pictures when I prepare it for this weekends adventure.

To make this dish backpacker friendly, I will prepare a simple spicy tomato sauce and dehydrate it at home. This will give me a fresh flavor tomato sauce without weight. It will also save me the need to carry an extensive spice rack with me.

On the trail, mori-nu tofu will be whipped into the sauce to add protein and thickness.

Masala Tomato Sauce
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• 6-8 ripe tomatoes
• a slice of butter/veggie stuff (optional. I don't use fats in things I want to dry)
  
• 2tbls minced garlic
• one medium white onion, minced and optional
  
• 1-2 jalepeno or equivalent chillies
  
• 1-2 tsp Paprika
• 1-2 tbls fresh coriander
• "1/2 amount of coriander" cumin seed
• 1/2-1 tsp cinnamon
• 1-2tsp garam masala spice blend
• 1 inch minced ginger root

1. toast whole coriander and cumin seeds till fragrant and aromatic before grinding with mortar and pestle.
   
2. puree tomatoes with Jalepenos, seeds and ribs included
   
3. Cook onion in butter over medium -medium high heat 3-5 minutes
4. add spices (parika, coriander, cinnamon, cumin, garam masala blend ) and cook 45s-1:30, till fragrant
5. add tomato-jalepeno puree and minced ginger
6. cook 10 minutes
7. dehydrate on parchment paper till dry . I use my over on the lowest setting with the door propped open. I flip the sauce after 8 hours to dry the other side of the slap.

**NOTE: If you are making this at home, you could puree the tofu in with the tomatoes and jalepenos, or whip it in by hand during the cooking. **

On the trail, rehydrate the dried tomato sauce in boiling water, and add mori-nu silken soft tofu to cream up the sauce. I recommend mashing the tofu up right in the box with your knife or spoon before adding it to the sauce. This sauce is delicious with rice, noodles, dumplings, falafel balls, breads, and eaten plain with a spoon.

I'll be posting an update on my fake meat recipe soon . . . Thank you for reading my blog,
Cayenne


Tofu and Tomato sauce with masala spices (below)

Caribbean Sauced Beans

I made this seasoning sauce to use with beans, lentils, or pasta. I have paired the sauce with black beans I made yesterday. I'll use the seasoned beans with the mango chipotle jerky and some smoked nuts on the trail. This sauce has a spice blend similar to what I would use in my dahl, but there are some notable differences. I avoided cardamon, fenugreek, and mustard seed to avoid tasting indian, and added Allspice, and lots of it, for more Caribbean flavor. Onion and garlic were left in big chunks to keep texture after rehydrating.
The tomatoes were sauteed to remove moisture and increase flavor before being put into the blender. Doing this step will improve the drying time of the sauce quite a bit. I probably cooked them for around ten minutes. I deglazed the dutch over with broth in which I had the black beans resting overnight.

The sauce was mixed with organic black beans I prepared from dry in beef broth. I soaked them in water for five hours, and simmered them in broth until almost done. They were chilled under running cold water, and then left to sit in cold beef broth until I prepared this seasoning sauce. The beans were drained and added to the sauce and simmered for ten minutes. A layer of organic brown basmati was spread on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper. The beans were then layered on, and covered with white basmati rice. The food was dried in the oven, with repeated flipping and breaking up of chunks to ensure complete dehydration.

I ate this for dinner last night before assembling the drying apparatus. I really liked the way it explodes in the mouth with sweet, hot, and savory flavors. The cilantro and nuts finished off the dish with hints of citrus and smoke.

Here is the recipe, gratuitous pictures at bottom post.

Caribbean Beans Seasoning Sauce

• 1/4c brown sugar
• 4 tomatoes
• 8 cloves garlic
• 1tsp coriander seeds
  
• 1tsp cumin seeds
  
• 1tsp ginger
• 2Tbls whole allspice
  
• 1tsp whole cloves
• fresh nutmeg
• ground cinnamon (prefer whole, but was out)
  
• 1Tbls paprika
  
• 1 red habanero
• some thick soy sauce / paste
  
• 1 red fresno chili
• onion
• celery
• salt
• pepper
• cilantro
• smoked almonds

Prepare Spice Mixture

• Toast coriander, cumin, allspice, and cloves over med-high heat till aromatic
• grind to powder in mortar with pestle
• set aside
  

Prepare Tomato Chili Blend

• Core and Seed six tomatoes
• dice two tomatoes and set aside for later
  
• brown in dutch over over med-high heat, no oil
• seed and rib habanero and red fresno chilies
• puree tomatoes and chilies till no chunks remain

Build Seasoning Sauce

• sautee chiopped onion and celery till well sweat (3-6 min)
  
• add 3 cloves chopped garlic, cook 30 sec
  
• add spice mixture, parika, and pinch of salt. Cook 30 sec
• add tomato puree and diced tomatoes
• adjust salt
• add big palm full of brown sugar
• add tamari, or thick soy sauce + worcestershire, to taste (~1/4 cup)
• cook over med-low / low heat for ten minutes
• grate fresh nutmeg, and add four-five cloves of chopped garlic
• chill the sauce in the refridgerator until ready to mix with beans.