Food Blog: By Chinmayie Bhat, Food Blogger http://www.lovefoodeat.com

A couple of months ago I met Vandana of ‘eSvasa‘ at the BioFach Event where she gave me a few sample products by the well known organic brand ‘Down to Earth’. Since I am always interesting in trying out new ingredients I was more than happy to experiment and come up with an interesting recipe. I came home exited about it hoping to cook with it soon. Like I have mentioned earlier, I am a very spontaneous cook and I blog whatever I cook. This meant that I completely forgot about the wonderful samples by ‘Down to Earth’ for months! Recently when I was digging through my pantry for something, I found them and felt terrible about forgetting about them all these days. Better late than never right? So here I am with a recipe using ‘Down To Earth’ products today.

Let me tell you a little more about ’eSvasa’ and ‘Down To Earth’

* eSvasa is India’s largest Organic food & health resource. They are committed to providing an unbiased opinion on everything organic, and constantly updating readers about new products, brand & retail developments and changes within this sector. Their website features organic store listings across various cities, brand details, new product reviews and health based articles.
* Down to Earth is an organic food brand from the house of Morarka Organic – an enterprise, that is the outcome of more than 12 years of organic food research and development. Down To Earth’ is an attempt to provide food that can bring harmony and wellness in life for all.

The Organic products I have cooked with today are - Dried Yellow Peas or Vatana, Dilli Tadka Masala and Heeng Munakka Chutney (Sweet Asafetida and Sultana Chutney)

I wanted to use all the ingredients together in one recipe and after a bit of thinking and planning I decided to create a soup with it. A pea soup is a classic of course but this particular one with warming Indian spices is packed with lots of flavor. If you are familiar with the popular Indian street food known as ‘Chaat’, I would say that this soup tastes almost like that. In Bangalore we have a unique Chaat called ‘Masala Puri’ which is basically thick curried pea ‘masala’ over crispy fried ‘puris’, topped with some finely chopped onions, coriander and some sweet and spicy chutneys. I have almost re-created similar flavors here without all the deep fried crisps in it.

The Dilli Chaat masala is a fabulous spice mix. It single handedly managed to add such a depth of flavor to this soup which I would normally only achieve with a combination of at least 4-5 different spice powders. The Heeng Munakka Chutney is my latest favorite in the kitchen! The musky aroma or Heeng or asafetida with the gorgeous sweetness of Munakka or sultanas is a clear winner! Thank you so much ‘Down to Earth’ and ‘eSvasa’ for introducing me to these wonderful new ingredients.

I would definitely buy these ingredients again as the soup was loved by everybody at home. I also highly recommend this soup for all the Chaat lovers out there as this is the easiest (and healthiest) way to satisfy your tastebuds when you crave for a little something that’s sweet, sour, spicy and piping hot.

Notes

You can use 1tbsp Gharam Masala + 1/2 tsp cumin powder + 1/2 tsp coriander powder + 1/2 tsp dry red chili powder instead of the Dilli Tadka Masala. Flavours might not be the same but it’ll be pretty good.

Of course the flavor of Heeng Munakka Chutney is very unique but you can also make a quick sweet chutney with 1/4 cup jaggery syrup + 1/4 cup tamarind paste + salt + 1/4 tsp cumin powder + 1/4 tsp dry red chili powder (taste and adjust sweet and sour flavors according to your taste)

You can not use fresh or frozen peas instead of dry peas in this recipe. Dry green or yellow peas get thick and creamy when they are soaked and cooked which is what makes this soup unique.

Grind equal proportions of ginger and garlic together without any water to make your own ginger garlic paste at home. You can store this in an airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

>> 1 cup Down to Earth dry yellow peas
>> 1 tsp coconut oil
>> 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
>> 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
>> 1-2 tbsp Down to Earth Dilli Tadka Masala
>> salt

>>1/4 cup finely chopped shallots/onions
>>2-3 tbsp Down to Earth Heeng Munakka Chutney
>>1-2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro

Soak the dry yellow peas for 6-8 hours or overnight. Discard the water it was soaked in and rinse well. With fresh water, pressure cook the peas till soft.

Heat the coconut oil in a big pot. Add the cumin seeds and when it starts to splutter add the ginger garlic paste and the cooked yellow peas. Add enough water to achieve a thick soup consistency and bring it to a boil. Now reduce the flame, season it with salt and Dilli Tadka Masala powder. Let it simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

To serve, place the hot soup in a bowl and top it with a little bit of finely chopped shallots or onions and cilantro. Drizzle a big dollop of the Heeng Munakka Chutney and sprinkle a little more of the Dilli Tadka Masala on top on required. Serve hot.