Raw Chick Pea Cashew Paste on Rainbow Chard
As mentioned earlier I’m experimenting with raw foods (Indian-style, wherever possible) for at least 30 days or until the weather stays hot.
My reasons for going raw are threefold:
1) Raw foods taste better since foods are fresh, crisp and full of flavour in a way Mother Nature intended them to be. If going raw, it’s also important to choose organic and local for the reason of flavour and freshness.
2) Raw food energizes. With higher nutrients found in raw foods makes you feel more energetic and revived.
3) Eating raw in August makes sense! With the great summer heat this year, eating fresh and raw is cooling and refreshing on the system.
On day one, I made Chick Pea Cashew Paste on organic Rainbow Chard. The organic chard came from The Fresh Veggies at the Harbourside Organic Farmers’ Market.
I used chick pea flour, also known as besan or gram flour and mixed it with a little water, ground cashews, unsweetened coconut, raw sesame seeds, Arvinda’s Curry Masala, onion, garlic cloves and sea salt blended in the food processor to make a paste.
Chick Pea Cashew Paste
Spread onto top of swiss rainbow chard with a garnish of ground cashews.
Chick pea flour is a good source of protein as it’s derived from ground dried Indian chick peas. Its most common use in the Indian kitchen is in a batter for the popular Indian snack Pakoras or Bhajias. Of course in Pakoras the batter is deep-fried and results in a fluffy, savoury snack.
This was the first time I had chick pea flour raw. My definite feeling is that chick pea flour should be cooked! After consuming my Raw Chick Pea & Cashew Paste on Rainbow Chard snack I felt a little queasy in the stomach. Chick pea flour is an amazing and versatile ingredient so I’ll save my chick pea flour recipes for after my raw foods stint!
A teaspoon of: Metric. Listening to: Combat Baby. Anyone catch Metric’s ‘secret’ concert the other day at Toronto’s Union Station?!
