Nov 05

Paleo Friendly Vegan Roasted Onion and Cashew Sauce

A twist on the favorite Indian dish, Malai-Kofta

Diwali brings back my childhood memories. The pomp, glory, color, food, lights everywhere and just endless vibrant smiles. As you may know, I grew up in India, eating my mom's delicious creations, and unknowingly coached by my dad on respecting home-cooked meals, quality ingredients, and well-balanced foods.

Of all the several festivals throughout the year, Diwali was my favorite. And we largely ate vegetarian foods. I am always looking for foods that go down easy with the kiddos and pack a punch. This sauce is inspired by Malai-Kofta, a popular north Indian dish.

There are two parts to it. 1) the kofta - use either Minty Lentil or Turmeric Lentil Wundernuggets 2) The Malai (the gravy)

Ingredients for the sauce:

1 cup onions
2 tsp grated ginger paste
2 tsp grated garlic paste
3-4 cloves
1 small stack of whole cinnamon
2 tsp whole cumin
1 tsp whole coriander
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/3 cup of cashews

Cooking Method:

Grind the whole spices listed above in mortar and pestle (if you have one) or use any mixer
Sauté the onions till it's medium brown
Add ginger and garlic paste to it and continue mixing them up for another 2-3 minutes.
Mix turmeric and other ground whole spices and sauté for another 1 minute.
Add cashews after sautéing everything
Now, take that from the pan into the jar with an immersion blender and blend it till the sauce is completely mashed, thick and creamy
Make some Wundernuggets as per instructions on the back of the package. Here we have used the Minty Lentil but you can pair this sauce with any Wundernugget variety.
For dressing create a nice layer of sauce at the bottom of the bowl and place Wundernuugets on top of it.
Drizzle some more sauce and yogurt cumin sauce or just plain yogurt.