L ifestyles /C ulture
Vegetarian Indian, Two Ways
F O OD
WE RECENTLY HOSTED
a backyard dinner for neigh-
borhood friends. One half of
the couple has gone vegan for
health reasons and, in an effort
to accommodate her regimen,
I created a recipe for vegan
“koftas,” or meatballs.

Having overprovisioned, I
had a lot of surplus ingredients,
so I ended up making chana
masala, a chickpea vegetarian
curry, later in the week.

The flavor profile for both
dishes is similar — classic
Indian — but the textures
and presentation are different,
and the curry allows for
significant variety with the
addition of whatever vegeta-
bles you choose to include.

I had some past-their-prime
string beans, but you can be
creative: Add fresh greens like
spinach or kale, or frozen peas,
sweet potatoes, parsnips or
cauliflower. I served brown basmati rice
with both of these meals, as
well as warm naan, and sliced
cucumbers sprinkled with lime
juice, salt, pepper and chopped
cilantro. Healthy, simple and
delicious! VEGAN KOFTAS
Makes about 12 koftas, which
serves 4-6 people
These are not difficult to make,
but there are several steps
involved — not your average
“throw it in the pot and
simmer” Indian dish, but well
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worth the effort. They are sort
of like an Indian falafel in a
spicy tomato sauce.

A word on the curry powder:
I used a packaged masala spice
blend that was intended for
chicken biryani but it worked
beautifully here (brand name:
Shan). Any version that you
like or have on hand works,
such as garam masala, red or
yellow curry powder, etc.

½ onion, coarsely chopped
1-inch piece ginger, sliced in
a few pieces
4 cloves garlic
½ of a jalapeño pepper
(more or less, to taste)
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons curry or
masala powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 14-ounce cans chickpeas,
drained well
½ cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2½ cups water
Fresh cilantro and/or
scallions for garnish
Vegan koftas
minutes until crusty on the
outside. Place the cooked koftas in
the tomato gravy and stir to
coat. Return the dish to the
oven to keep the dish warm, or
serve immediately, garnished
Puree the onion, garlic, with fresh cilantro and/or
jalapeño and oil in a blender or scallions.

food processor. Remove half of
this paste and put it in a skillet. CHANA MASALA
Add the chickpeas and bread Serves 6
crumbs to a blender and puree
until well mixed. Place this “Chana” is the word for chick-
mixture in a bowl and refrig- peas and “masala” refers to a
erate for 20 minutes to solidify. blend of spices used in Indian
While the chickpea mixture cooking. This dish is an Indian-
chills, sauté the onion mixture style curry or stew of vegetables
in the skillet until fragrant. and chickpeas swimming in
Add the curry powder and salt, an aromatic, flavorful tomato
then add the tomato paste and gravy.

stir until it begins to separate.

You can vary it with
Add water, stir well, scraping whatever vegetables you wish
the bottom of the pan, and to use, or need to get rid of.

bring it to a simmer. Cook until
slightly thickened, remove it
1 onion, chopped
from the heat and set aside.

1-inch piece ginger, grated
Heat your oven to 350 F, and
4 cloves garlic, crushed
line a cooking tray with parch-
½ of a jalapeño pepper,
ment. Remove the chickpea
finely chopped (more or
mixture from the refrigerator.

less, to taste)
With wet hands, form the
3 tablespoons canola oil
mixture into golf ball-sized
2 tablespoons curry powder
rounds and place them on
½ teaspoon salt
a cooking tray. Bake for 30
4 carrots, sliced
JEWISH EXPONENT
Photo by Keri White
1 large or 2 medium-sized
potatoes, cut in bite-sized
chunks 1 28-ounce can crushed
tomatoes ½ cup water, more if needed
2 14-ounce cans chickpeas,
drained well
2 cups string beans, cut in
1-inch pieces
Cilantro and scallions for
garnish Heat the oil in a large pot
and add the onion, garlic,
ginger, jalapeño, curry powder
and salt. Sauté until fragrant,
about 5 minutes. Add the
carrots and potatoes, and
sauté to coat. Add the crushed
tomatoes and water, bring it to
a simmer and lower the heat.

Add the chickpeas and
simmer for 30-60 minutes.

Check periodically to make
sure the liquid has not cooked
down too much; it should be
soupy — add water in half-cup
increments to keep the consis-
tency, if needed. Add the string
beans for the last 15 minutes of
cooking (they will get soggy if
overcooked). Serve the curry
over rice, topped with chopped
fresh cilantro and scallions. l
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H EADLINES
Protest Continued from Page 16
were killed, were also linked
to the Black Hebrew Israelite
movement. The man who appears to
have shot the extended video
and uploaded it to Instagram
has the handle @hoi_philly.

HOI, or the House of Israel, is
a subgroup of Black Hebrew
Israelites that also took part
in a widely publicized alter-
cation at the March for Life
in 2019.

Th e owner of the Instagram
account has posted other
content disparaging Jews. Th is
week, he posted a meme juxta-
posing a photo of an Orthodox
man wearing a yarmulke with
a photo of a Black man. Th e
caption reads “Jew-ish” below
the Orthodox man and “Jew”
below the Black man.

Th e ADL’s fact sheet on
the group notes: “It should be
emphasized that the extremist
and anti-Semitic sects of Black
Hebrew Israelites are unrelated
to the thousands of black
Jews and other Jews of color
in the U.S., who are genuine
members of the Jewish faith.

Furthermore, they should not
be confused with Ethiopian
Jews who mostly live in Israel
today.” Graie Hagans, a Jew of color
who lives in West Philadelphia
and participated in last week’s
racial justice protests, said he is
“deeply heartbroken” because
of Wallace’s death and police
abuse he’s seen, and he is
concerned that the video will
reinforce the mistaken idea,
among some Jews, that crowds
of Black people are inherently
dangerous. ●
jbernstein@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
lspikol@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0747
Election Continued from Page 17
as long as it usually was on
Election Day.

Sam Maron came from
the bris as well. Fearful that
mail-in voting would not be
secure, Maron had decided
to vote in person. As the full
length of the line came into
view, Maron shook his head.

“I hope they’re voting for
Trump,” he said.

Yaakov Yermish, a fellow
past president of Ahavas Torah,
joined the back of the line with
his son; both were wearing
MAGA apparel.Th e latter was
excited to push the button in
the voting booth, whereas the
former was more excited about
who the button was being
pushed for.

“It’s an important year,”
Yermish said.

Andrew Goldman brought
his daughter to vote with him,
just as he had in 2016. Like
everyone else, he was astounded
at the length of the line, and
was thankful that he had arrived
early. Lift ing his kippah for a
moment, he said, “I’m voting
for the same guy that 90% of
people who wear this are.”
Meanwhile, in Center
City, the line to vote at the
Th e Kimmel Center for the
Performing Arts already
stretched down Spruce Street,
along Broad and onto Pine
before 8 a.m. Several news
crews set up cameras outside
and representatives from the
Biden campaign off ered voters
free selfi es with a cardboard
cutout of Joe Biden and Kamala
Harris (no donations allowed).

Th e lines for other polls in
the area were shorter.

Th e William Way LGBT
Community Center on Spruce
Street and the Philadelphia
Senior Center and the Land
Title Building on Broad each
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had a dozen or fewer voters
waiting outside this morning.

A few older voters brought
chairs to sit on.

And in Fishtown around
8:30 a.m., voters lined up by
district outside the Fishtown
Recreation Center, and in a
shorter line at the Alexander
Adaire School playground.

Ronnie Kessler, a Jewish
parent at the school, was
staffi ng a bake sale fundraiser
for the nonprofi t Friends of
Adaire and had already cast
her ballot by mail.

She couldn’t say anything
political due to her volunteering
position, but she was happy to
see everyone complying with
rules about masks. She noted
that there was strong turnout,
though there seemed to be
fewer children accompanying
their parents than she had seen
in previous years.

“It’s really exciting to see so
many people here,” she said. ●
Jason Alexander
Miri Ben-Ari
David Broza
Idan Raichel
JEWISH EXPONENT
Howie Mandel
Dudu Fisher
Lior Suchard
NOVEMBER 5, 2020
21