Roasted barley and pea flour stirred into simmering root vegetables creating a thick nutritious stew — the most filling daily meal of Ladakhi farming communities at altitude.
Ingredients
1/2 cup tsampa (roasted barley flour)
1/4 cup roasted pea flour or besan
3 cups water or vegetable broth
1 cup mixed vegetables — potato cubed, turnip cubed, spinach
1 medium onion — roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves — crushed
1 tsp ginger — sliced
2 dried red chillies
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp butter
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander
Method
Bring 3 cups water or broth to a boil. Add chopped onion, garlic, ginger, dried red chillies and turmeric.
Add diced potato and turnip. Cook 8 minutes until partially cooked.
Mix roasted barley flour and pea flour together in a small bowl.
Add 1/2 cup cold water and whisk to a completely smooth lump-free paste.
Reduce the simmering broth to medium heat.
Pour the flour paste in slowly while stirring continuously — the stew thickens immediately as the flour cooks into the broth.
Add spinach. Cook stirring for 5 to 6 minutes until the stew is thick, smooth and the flour is fully cooked through.
It should be much thicker than soup.
Add butter and salt. Garnish with coriander. Serve hot in bowls.