Tuesday, October 25, 2011

VeganMoFo 25: Anardana powder: Dried Pomegrantate Fairy Dust

Today's Spice is: Anardana Powder
(powdered dry pomegranate seeds)

I've had this jar of Anardana Powder for a while now. It was either a total impulse purchase or a gift, but either way I didn't know what to do with it, and never used it. Good move, Amey! Even looking around on the internet, I didn't find too many recipes that called for it. Luckily though, all you need is one recipe, and I found a good one: Sweet Potato Kofta in Curry Sauce.

First up, I made the delicious dumplings, or kofta. I changed the recipe a bit - I used mashed up white beans instead of cheese, and I used half pumpkin - half sweet potato. Most of all, I baked my dumplings instead of deep frying them. (375 F 15 min, flip, cook 15-20 min more). Of course they were totally delicious even without frying them. I especially loved the gentle little hit of jalapeno in the dumplings.

Listen folks, I know that is not an attractive photo. But, please, believe me when I tell you that it was crazy, crazy good. The curry sauce was made with pureed fresh tomatoes, pureed cashews, pureed-onion-ginger-garlic, loads of spices, and almond milk and it was such a glorious combination. Rich, but not overwhelmingly so, and full of flavor. Between the pomegranate powder in the dumplings and the pomegranate concentrate in the curry (which I halved), the sweet-sour-astringency of the pomegranate had a definite presence. It's really a great flavor amplifier, because there was very little salt in this dish, but the meal was very vibrant. We had it over rice with a side of roasted beets and steamed beet greens. What this dish lacks in beauty, it more than makes up for in the taste department!

(*also the Chana Masala recipe that Hobby & More posted has Anardana as an optional ingredient, so I'm going to try that next!)

12 comments:

  1. Ha! I see that it came from Kalustyan's which is an awesome ethnic foods market right in my NYC neighborhood. Small world! You'd love it there, the spice section is EPIC. I think the koftas look and sound delightful!

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  2. There's nothing wrong with that photo! That whole meal looks crazy delicious& I love all of these spices you've been using that I've never even heard of!

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  3. It's not ugly, it's "authentic"! Sounds absolutely delicious.

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  4. Mmmm, magic pomegranate fairy dust! It sounds good to me and I don't think it looks bad either!

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  5. I literally had a bag of this in my hand today - darn it all! I put it back! :(

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  6. Anardana powder? New to me!

    Hey, I think that last photo looks super-mouthwatering :)

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  7. The problem with you posts is that I will likely end up searching out anardana now! I adore pom molasses so I imagine I will love anardana, too. :)

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  8. Anonymous10:45 PM

    Sounds so delicious. What an interesting spice - I wouldn't immediately know what to do with it either!

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  9. Yummo, I want to make those kofta, they look delicious!

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  10. This looks beyond amazing! Sweet potatoes are my absolute favourite food and I used to always order koftas at Indian restaurants in my pregan days. Definitely bookmarking this one!

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  11. Will you just come over and make all of these tasty meals for me?? Seriously. These all look and sound so delicious but I don't have any fairy dust. So I will need you to come over and supply me with some :)

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  12. yumm.. i love all koftas in curry.. those koftas looks too delcious..!
    u can use anardana as an ingredient in any indian curry or gravy to add a little extra grainy sourness.. :).. goes best with any chickpea or whole beans/kidney beans, black eyed peas curries, or any meaty curries with substituted meat! let me know how the chana masala turned out!

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