Guest Post on Susmitha's blog: Spiced Pumpkin Mousse

I think the Pumpkin is a rather ignored vegetable. You give me pumpkin for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I will happily eat it. I have hardly come across Indian recipes that use pumpkin in desserts and that is strange because if you have tasted raw yellow pumpkin (you must if you haven't) it is delicious with a slight hint of sweetness that increases after you cook it. Americans make it into Pumpkin Pies and the Portuguese make a Pumpkin Jam that I love, so this time I put it in a mousse and sent it over as a guest post to Veganosaurus.

Veganosaurus is a blog by Susmitha who is based in Bangalore. The recipes on her blog are simple, use healthy, local ingredients and look absolutely inspiring. Head on over to her blog so check out how I used my favourite squash - Veganosaurus

Enjoy!

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Rice Paper Rolls with Peanut and Mustard Dipping Sauces

I've always been intrigued by Rice Paper Rolls. They are dry, thin sheets of rice that become translucent when you immerse them in warm water. I love the idea of blurred colours of the vegetables stuffed in them popping through the sheets, waiting to be dipped into spicy sauces.

I found Rice Paper rolls in a store inside Crawford Market here in Mumbai. They are a bit expensive because they are imported but they are worth every rupee. They are perfect to make rolls or wraps and I'm sure would taste great with sweet stuffing.

What I love about them is that you can do so much with them. You can stuff them with thin noodles or lots of lovely raw vegetables. It doesn't have to be the same every time.

To make them you need:

Rice Paper
A continuous supply of hot water
A large deep plate big enough to fit one rice paper sheet in it

Cooked Rice Vermicelli Noodles (optional)

Any of the following:
Cabbage
Purple Cabbage
Peppers- Red, Yellow and Green
Carrots
Leeks
Sauteed Mushrooms
Sauteed Spinach, Chard, Kale
Coriander to Garnish

Chop all the raw vegetables into long, thin slices.

Dipping Sauces:

Peanut Sauce
2 tbsp Peanut Butter
1 Clove of Garlic
1/2 tsp lime juice
Red Chilli Powder(Optional)
Salt
Water

Mustard Sauce
3 tsps Whole Yellow/Black Mustard
1 Red Chilli
1/2 inch piece of Ginger
1/4 tsp vinegar
Salt
Water

Sriracha (because it makes everything better)

To make the sauces, grind the ingredients of each sauce until smooth.

To assemble the dish, pour a little of the hot water into a plate. Now carefully immerse the rice paper roll in it while keeping it pressed so that it doesn't roll up. Be careful not to burn yourself. Once the rice paper has gone from white and hard to translucent and lose, it is ready. Carefully pick it up without folding it and put it on a dry plate. Add you choice of stuffing in the center in a line leaving at least 2 inches space along the top and bottom edges. You can also add a bit of the sauces inside the roll. Working quickly, roll the top and bottom of the rice paper towards the stuffing and then do the same with the sides. Either top it with your sauces or serve them separately. Garnish with coriander.

Continue to do the same with every sheet of paper while replacing the water in the plate as it gets cooler.

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Tandoori Baby Bellas (Oil Free Recipe)

I'm always so excited when I find new ingredients to experiment with. And I'm so thankful there are people close to Bombay growing all these lovely vegetables that would only otherwise remain fond memories of holidays I have taken in the past.

Since my last post on the  amazing "foreign" produce I found in Mumbai, I have come across so many new vegetables and leafy greens that are coming in now. One among the new finds is Baby Bellas, also known as "crimini mushroom, baby portobello, baby bella, mini bella, portabellini, Roman mushroom, Italian mushroom, or brown mushroom" says Wikipedia

I love mushrooms and I was super kicked when we started getting Oyster Mushrooms in Bombay. Now of course there are gourmet food stores selling dried and tinned varieties of many kinds. To find fresh, locally grown stuff is rare and I almost pounced on the packet of Baby Bellas when I saw them.

Portobellos have a fond food-memory corner in my brain. I ate a lot of them when I was travelling through the US. The yummiest of which was a grilled Portobello Burger I had a B.A.D. Burger in Brooklyn. I wish I had the sense to click a picture of it. After walking past the Brooklyn Bridge and walking around Brooklyn for almost two hours I was starving and I all I could think of was to eat that burger.

The first time I bought the Baby Bellas, I don't quite remember what I used them for. It was a while before I found them at my usual vegetable vendor again. This time I decided I would make something more worthwhile and document the process.

Tandoori food is something us vegans cannot enjoy at a restaurant. Everything is marinated in spicy yogurt and then grilled over a coal barbecue. I love the smell of the spices used in a Tandoori and may be one day I will gather my lazy bones to make the tandoori spice mix. This time I used a ready mix that I use every so often when I make my version of Tandoori vegetables.

It has no Chicken!

This recipe can be used on almost any vegetable like Potatoes, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Zucchini, Carrots even Tofu. I usually steam the vegetables that take longer to cook for 10 minutes or so before I marinate them. Since Mushrooms cook quickly, there is no need to steam them. This recipe is also oil free because for one, the cashews have enough (good) fat in them to see the mushrooms through to the end and secondly who needs oil in their diet?


You need:

250gms of Baby Bellas (Or whatever vegetable you are using)
1/2 cup of raw, unsalted cashews powdered
3 tsp of Tandoori Chicken Masala (I like it spicy but you can start with 2tsp and add more if you like)
2 cloves of Garlic
1 inch piece of Ginger
1/2 tsp Rock Salt
1/4 tsp of Black Salt
Juice of 1 Lime
Water

Wash and cut off a small portion of the stems of the mushrooms. Halve or quarter the mushrooms.

In a small bowl, mix the cashew powder, tandoori masala, garlic, ginger, salt and lime juice. Add water and make a thick paste. It should be a thick mayonnaise-like consistency. Add this to the mushrooms, mix well and cover the bowl with cling wrap. Let it rest in the fridge overnight or for 6 to 8 hours. I kept mine for almost a whole day.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for about 25 to 35 mins covered with aluminium foil.

My herb mill being put to good use

Serve hot with some mint chutney

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Carrot n Coconut Date Squares

It has been too long. Way too long. I don't know where the last three months went by (apart from five weddings and a vacation)  but I'm hoping to keep a tab on the coming months. Thankfully I have no more excuses left to update recipes now, so I hope to do this more often.

I don't ever remember having Date Squares before I made this one. It intrigued me even more when I was planning to make it for a cook along because it sounded so healthy and because I knew I could make it even healthier. I used this recipe from Joy Of Baking as my base and played around with it to make it vegan and healthy. I eliminated wheat from the recipe (though I know sometimes oats can be contaminated with wheat) and also used organic jaggery instead of sugar. The addition of coconut to the base gives it a nice nutty flavour and the carrots are just for added bursts of orange.

I was not so convinced about this recipe until I tried it and I think you should too.

You need:

For the base and crumble:

3 cups Oats powdered

¼ tsp Salt

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp Cinnamon

½ cup Desiccated Coconut

1 medium carrot grated

½ cup jaggery melted

½ tsp vanilla extract

4 tbsp oil

For the filling:

400gms pitted dates

1/2 cup water

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp orange peel

Preheat your oven to 180

Mix all the dry ingredients for the crumble and then add the wet ingredients. Make it into a thick firm dough.

Boil the dates with ½ cup water for 15 minutes. Make sure it doesn’t burn. Once it cools, blend it into a smooth paste and add more water if required. Add the vanilla and orange peel.

In a square or rectangular baking dish lined with parchment paper, put 2/3rds of the oat mixture and spread evenly. Spread the date mixture on top of it. Crumble the rest of the oat mixture on top of it.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

It should be a lovely golden brown on top.

In other news, I am on my way to improving my "make a cake look pretty" skills. This is something I made for an order as an engagement cake at The Green Stove. The bottom tier is a Vanilla Sponge with Vegan White chocolate Frosting and the top is all Dark Chocolate. What do you think?

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Basic Tomato Gravy for Indian Curries

This one is kind of a rushed post. I wanted to do a vegetable chutney two ways but the sun has set in this part of the world and I won't be able to click pictures of it.So I thought I would instead let you in on my never-fail recipe for Indian gravys. I usually use this for curries that are made with pulses and lentils like Chana Masala/ Chole, sprouted mung beans or any other sprouted pulses, or even if I want a wet curry using only one or a mix of vegetables like potatoes, carrots, beans, cauliflower, peas and the like

Before that, today's find of the day on my Vegan MoFo journey is Life Up North. Fanny from Sweden has a neat blog and is writing about very interesting Swedish cuisine. I love the look of the lingonberry jam! Do not forget to check out her virtual fish tank at the bottom of the page and feed some fish!

I'm not so much an onion person specially if it is raw. I would rather eat a raw chilli than a raw onion. I have spoken about why so many Indians like Jains and some South Indians do not eat onions and garlic in my post about Chana Masala or Chole. So this particular recipe is what I usually make at home on a regular basis.

There are two ways to do this, with raw tomatoes or blanched and peeled tomatoes. Both give very different results. The raw tomatoes are less watery and will, for obvious reasons, take longer to reach the deep red colour. Sometimes I am lazy to blanch tomatoes (yes I have taken laziness to another level) so I just blend them up raw. But ever since I bought an immersion blender, blanching and pureeing has become a little easier.

This recipe is oil free too!

For a curry enough for about 4 people you need

6 tomatoes (or 4 if using onions)
1 Big Onion (totally optional, I usually avoid this)
1-2 cloves or garlic (again something I avoid most of the time)
1 Green Chilli (if you like it spicy)
1 inch piece of fresh ginger
1 tsp Cumin seeds or Cumin powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp of raw mango powder (Amchoor in hindi)
1/2 tsp of Black Salt (Kala Namak in hindi)
2 Bay leaves or Indian Bay leaves (optional)
2 cloves
2 tsp Garam Masala or Chole Masala (I have a big jar of Chole Masala which I use for everything!)
Salt

If you plan to add onions and garlic, cook them with a little water and then blend them with the tomatoes.

If you plan on cooking the tomatoes, blanch and peel them. Then follow the directions below.

Blend the tomatoes, green chilli and ginger to a smooth paste. Put the Cumin seeds in a hot heavy bottomed vessel. When they begin to splutter put the tomato purée. Be careful because the purée will jump all over the kitchen. Now add the rest of the dry powders, spices and salt. Let it cook away for 15 minutes till it becomes thick, dark and spews bubbles all over the place.

This one was made by blending raw tomatoes

This is how dark it should look

Add your pre-cooked/steamed vegetables or pulses. Let it come together for another 10 minutes or so.

Chana Masala anyone? 

Garnish with fresh coriander and add a dash of lime or lemon after it's cooked. The addition of fresh coriander makes a lot of difference. So if you can get your hands on some, do it.

Enjoy your gravy!

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