Echota's Baked Pakora Three Ways (Recipe)

 
(This recipe is has a fat-free option, is oil-free, gluten-free, corn-free, soy-free, dairy-free, vegan, nut-free)

I get pretty bored of reading people's life stories with every recipe I'm trying to look up so I will leave you with only this: every member of my family loved this recipe, including my cat, who you see here trying to get some. (It has onions so he cannot have any though.) The sauce is delicious as written or fat-free. Everyone has different taste buds so you decide if ours match, but my family loved this, it is an absolute hit.

Echota's Baked Pakora Three Ways 
(Printable Recipe Here)

Ingredients

• 2 cups garbanzo flour OR 1 steamed sweet potato + 5 steamed cooked potatoes + 1/2 cup arrowroot flour or cassava flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp garam masala or curry powder
• 1.5 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper
• ½ tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves fresh, crushed garlic (I used fresh because I always use fresh whenever possible)
• 1 head small cauliflower, chopped into small bite-size pieces
• 1/2 steamed sweet potato
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup peas (fresh/frozen)
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 1 potato, grated

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 500F. Line a large baking with parchment paper (recipe makes about 3 large sheets of 12 per sheet)
2. In a large bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Option 1: If using garbanzo flour, stir in enough water to create a batter, almost pancake-batter consistency, but a little thicker. It took me about 1 3/4 cups of water. Don't add extra water! Add the steamed mashed sweet potato and combine. Option 2: If using the steamed sweet potato/potato/arrowroot mixture, mash to combine and add seasonings and crushed garlic.
3. Prepare veggies and then dump them all into the batter, mixing well to coat. I did the grated veggies first, then the finely diced onion, and the cauliflower and peas last.
4. Using a tablespoon, take scoops of battered veggies and drop onto the well oiled baking sheet. I also more tightly formed them with my fingers and patted them down a bit to slightly flatten make make easier to flip when it's time.
5. Bake for 8-9 minutes, then flip and bake another 10 minutes, until golden brown.
6. Serve hot with Echota's Pakora Sauce (recipe below).

A third option if not eating baked veggies is to steam everything. Sweet potatoes/potatoes/onion first, mashed together with seasonings including crushed garlic. Then lightly steam the cauliflower and carrot and add, along with frozen peas. Top with the sauce and some chopped cilantro and mint and serve.

Echota's Pakora Sauce

• 2 Tbs tomato paste
• 2 Tbs water
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 pinky tip of fresh ginger
• 1 tsp of maple syrup
• 2 medjool dates
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon of mint sauce or 2-3 fresh mint leaves (optional)
• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder, or omit if you want your sauce to be cool
• 3 Tbs coconut milk or coconut yogurt (optional, omit for FF)
• handful fresh cilantro, chopped

Blend all ingredients together. If you want to make this ahead to allow the flavors to combine longer, leave in the refrigerator for several hours, or overnight, to cool. I tend to make everything at once and it's still delicious to me and my family. Enjoy! Let me know if you make it, tag me on Instagram or leave a comment here, whichever works!

Easy Vegan Fat-Free Marinara Sauce [Medical Medium Compliant]

Oh my, I'm sorry about the photo. I'm so not a proper food blogger. I don't take particularly beautiful photos of my food, and I honestly didn't know I'd be typing up this recipe just now, so I am wholly unprepared. This happens to be the photo I have of this sauce - it's not even over any noodles or anything pretty - I just wanted to get the recipe posted as a series of three recipes I'm doing for one big recipe, which is pizza.

But we use this sauce for pasta, for dipping veggies and potatoes in, and for pizza. And I'm sure there could even be other food uses for it as well. It's easy, versatile and delicious. And because I'm getting this pizza video together, I wanted to get it up quickly. So here it is, without further ado, and I am so very aware that the photo is not selling it at all.

Easy Vegan Fat-Free Marinara Sauce (fat-free, medicalmedium, vegan, paleo, plant-based)

(printable recipe here)

Ingredients

1 lg onion, diced

2 jars strained tomatoes

5-6 cloves garlic, pressed

3 lg carrots, chopped

3 Tbs Italian seasoning

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

3 Tbs maple syrup

s&p to taste

I make this in the Instant Pot, but it can easily be made in a regular pot on the stove with just as little fuss. 

1. Saute the onions in a bit of water in the Instant Pot, with the lid off. 
2. When onions are clear, add carrot and garlic and saute a couple of more minutes. 
3. Add seasoning and strained tomatoes, stir until combined. 
4. Put lid on Instant Pot and seal, cook on manual, high pressure for 10 minutes. 
5. When cooked, you can vent the steam slowly or quickly, then with a hand blender, blend the sauce until smooth. 
6. Add maple syrup and combine. 
7. Also at this stage if I have them I like to add fresh herbs as well, like thyme, oregano, sage, basil. Sauce is ready to serve over pasta or as a pizza topping or as a dip. Enjoy!