I wish I had experimented with Edamame during my pregnancy. My friend told me about it during my last trimester and I was too tired to experiment. At that point I just trusted my doctors and not what I was eating. But now since I’ve become very health conscious, I have been experimenting with different ways to cook healthy and eat healthily. The quinoa puffed rice dosa batter was a flop, but I learned my lesson and will not repeat it. But I think the reason the dosa didn’t come out well is that I didn’t let the batter rise enough, or because I didn’t add salt. I thought I did, maybe I didn’t. I don’t remember now. I want Arlo to see that we are trying to be healthy too. I’ve been pushing VJ to exercise too so that Arlo can see that we do it at least twice in a week. I did not add a lot of spices and worked around the ones I would have lying around the house.

I don’t like tofu or soy or any soy-related products. I despise tofu. That being said, I like edamame. I tried out edamame pav bhaji and it was quite good. I was in the midst of making Paneer Butter Masala when I realized I had no paneer at home. Raiding the fridge I found this frozen Edamame that I had bought to make a paste and add it in rotis. But it laid forgotten for a month now, so I decided to add Edamame instead of paneer. I don’t know what other vegetables will go well, but edamame paired quite well with the spicy gravy. Edamame is too bland, so I spiced up the gravy quite a lot. The cream or cream of cashew that is used in the recipe, makes the Masala a bit sweeter. But if you like the sweet taste, you can reduce the red chilies to bring out the sweetness of the cream.

Ingredients

Edamame – 1 pack

Butter – 4 tablespoons (I only used 4)

Cumin Seeds – 1 teaspoon

Asafoetida – 1/4 teaspoon

Turmeric – 1/4 teaspoon

Garam masala – 1 tablespoon

Coriander Powder – 1 tablespoon

Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves) – 1 tablespoon

Coriander Leaves – 1 tablespoon (optional)

For Gravy

Butter – 4 tablespoons

Coriander Seeds – 1 tablespoon

Cumin Seeds – 2 tablespoon

Shajeera – 1 teaspoon

Cloves – 2

Black peppercorn – 3 or 4

Cinnamon stick – 1-inch stick

Bay leaf – 1

Dried Red Chilies – 3

Ginger – 1 inch piece

Garlic – 1 whole pod

Green Chilies – 2 (optional)

Onions – 2 (small)

Turmeric – 1/4 teaspoon

Salt – As required

Tomato – 2

Cherry Tomatoes – 8 (optional, use another tomato instead)

Kashmiri Red Chili Powder – 1 teaspoon

Cashews – 1/3 cup

Milk – 1/2 cup

How to Make

Step 1: In a cup take the cashews and soak them in milk for at least 2 hours.

Step 2: Steam the Edamame in Instapot for 12 minutes (PIP method) or just boil water over the stove and toss the edamame in for 10 minutes and strain them.

Step 3: In a cup assemble the coriander, cinnamon, cloves, peppers, cumin, shajeera, bay leaf and dried red chilies. In a pan add 4 tablespoons of butter (I used 2) and add everything at once.

Step 4: Fry them until they start browning and then add ginger, garlic and green chilies. Fry them until turn brown.

Step 5: Now add the onions and fry them until they turn transparent. Now add turmeric and salt. Stir it a little and leave it for two minutes.

Step 6: Now add the tomatoes and the cherry tomatoes, and mix them up with the onions. Add the Kashmiri Red Chili Powder and let them cook until the tomatoes turn mushy.

Step 7: Keep them aside until it cools down a little, and then add all the contents into a blender jar and puree it smooth.

Step 8: In a pan, add 4 tablespoons of butter (I used 2), add some cumin seeds and some asafoetida and let the cumin seeds crackle.

Step 9: Once the cumin seeds crackle, add the edamame, a pinch of turmeric and the puree and mix it. In the same blender jar, add the soaked cashews and puree them until smooth. Add the pureed cashew paste into the edamame now.

Step 10: Add 1/2 a cup of water and keep stirring until it starts boiling.

Step 11: Add garam masala, coriander powder and mix it well. Then add coriander leaves and Kasuri Methi. Turn off the stove.

Step 12: Serve it with roti or naan or Jeera Rice with onions sprinkled and lemon squeezed on top.

Love,
Po