In the mood for Indian food…?

How amazing would it be if you could consume all of your favorite Indian dishes without feeling bloated, sluggish or fatigued after your meal?

Indian food that you may find at a restaurant in the West is quite the paradox; traditionally, it is cooked with very healthy nutrient-packed, spices such as cumin, fenugreek, turmeric, cinnamon, and cardamom (just to name a few). Yet despite the anti-inflammatory effects of these spices, the food is also typically cooked in a low quality oil such as soybean oil. Not to mention, it’s few and far between I come across an organic Indian restaurant…

Regardless, one of my favorite endeavors lies in ‘healthifying’ my favorite foods (yes, I just made that word up)…

Here’s my take (well, I must admit, my Mom had something to do with it) on traditional Aloo Gobi. The following dish is vegan if you prepare it with coconut oil, and vegetarian if you make it with ghee. I chose coconut oil and ghee because they are both highly nutritious and able to stand high cooking temperatures without becoming rancid and toxic. I also swapped the white potato with kabocha squash. Nothing wrong with white potato (well, kind of), but kabocha wins the game. Hands down. If there’s even a game at all…

Enjoy!

Love you Mom :-)

INGREDIENTS (all organic if possible):

2 tablespoons coconut oil or ghee

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 medium yellow onion, sliced very thinly (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled and minced

1/2 pound cut and cubed kabocha squash (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 head of cauliflower cut into bite-size florets

1 small tomato, diced (optional)

1/4 cup water

Handful chopped cilantro leaves

1/2 lime

Sea salt & pepper

LOVE

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil in a large pot or sauté pan over medium heat.

Add cumin seeds until they give off a scent, then add garlic and cook for a few seconds or until golden brown.

Add onions and ginger. Stir often. Cook until onions become soft, about 5 minutes. Lower heat if they start to crisp.

Add kabocha and spices. Toss to coat the kabocha. Stir occasionally for approx 3-4 minutes in order to combine the spices into the squash.

Add the cauliflower to the spices and onions mix and cook another minute.

Add tomato, water and 1 tsp sea salt. Cover and turn heat to low. Cook 25-30 minutes, until cauliflower is soft and kabocha is cooked through. Finish with a squeeze of lime and top with cilantro. Salt and pepper for taste.

Sprinkle some love on top, eat mindfully and enjoy every guilt-free bite!