Vegan on the Prowl

Oil free Sorrel/Gongura Chutney

2012-03-06T17:37:00.000+05:30

I've always been a rebel. Ever since I can remember I would want to take the off beaten path. I enjoy the thrill of a new challenge. I notice that I do that with my cooking too, right from the point of buying vegetables. I am always attracted to stuff I haven't seen in my mom's kitchen and I always pick it up just to try it out. The first time I picked up sorrel leaves I only knew I could make the famous gongura chutney with them. But as I delved deeper I realized sorrel is a very commonly used leafy green all throughout Europe and Africa. They use it in soups, salads, cakes and even as a drink.

Sorrel is varitey of sour leafy greens that we usually get after the monsoon right up into winter. They could replace the tamarind in dals or add another dimension to the bitter Fenugreek/ Methi leaves. I just stuck to doing what I knew and that was the chutney. On another attempt I might try the soup.

Since I cook oil-free 95% of the time, this recipe avoids the oil needed for tempering. It might not last as long as it should but fresh food is always tastier.

Ingredients:
One bunch of sorrel leaves, stalks removed and chopped
2-3 dried red chillies
1/2 teaspoon husked, split urad dal
Salt to taste
Water

Put about a tablespoon of water in a deep bottomed pan. When it begins to boil, add the sorrel leaves and salt. Cover with a lid. Keep checking on in. They will eventually wilt and change colour to an olive green.If there is too much water in the pan don't cover it. If they begin to stick to the bottom add a teaspoon of water at a time and stir it around. Once all the leaves are cooked take it off the stove. Let it cool for a while before you grind it to a paste.

In a small wok or a tempering spoon like the one on the left, add the split urad dal once it is hot. Keep shaking the wok/spoon until the dal is evenly brown.

Remove it and in the same wok/spoon, roast the red chillies till they are slightly darker.

You can grind the chillies with the sorrel if you like it spicy.

Add the dal and the chilli to the sorrel. Serve with some warm rice. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Oil-Free Lime Vermicelli (Sevai)

2012-02-15T21:36:00.000+05:30

Sevai is the quintessential Tamil breakfast. I don't know where it originated from but its probably made at least once a week in Tamil homes. It's a light noodle snack that is usually served with coconut chutney and even Sambar (a spicy squash, vegetable and lentil soup).

What's so special about the one I made? Well, it's completely devoid of refined oil. Why? For one, the word 'refined' should be a clue. Apart from the fact that it is a processed food, it is completely unnecessary in our diet. We all need essential fatty acids since our bodies don't synthesize them but we are wrong to think that we need it or get it from refined oils. We can get the same from whole nuts, seeds and leafy vegetables. Think of it this way: One teaspoon of peanut oil comes from two cups of peanuts. I'm sure I won't be able to eat two cups of peanuts, but one teaspoon of oil (and more) will easily go into any food I cook. When we refine foods, specially oils, it involves removing fiber, other essential vitamins and also heating them. Once heated, oils should ideally not be heated again because they become carcinogenic. The best oils to use are cold pressed oils but again they are devoid of much of the nutrition they are supposed to have. Also many people have successfully reversed Diabetes and Heart Disease by eliminating all animal foods and refined foods like maida, oils, fried stuff, sugar from their diet. You won't know unless you try it.

So in my daily cooking I avoid heating oils. I temper the spices on a dry pan and I cook onions and tomatoes in water. If I made it for you, you wouldn't be able to tell there wasn't any oil in it. But if you made it for yourself, you might feel that there is something lacking. It's all in the head!

This breakfast recipe is pretty much the same as any South Indian would make it, just that it is completely devoid of refined oil. I used store bought rice vermicelli but you can use brown rice or even ragi vermicelli to make it healthier.

Serves 3-4
Recipe:

1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
1/2 teaspoon urad dal
1 teaspoon roasted chana dal
2 green chillis chopped
1/2 inch piece of ginger
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
1 small pack of rice vermicelli (about 180gms), cooked as per instructions
Salt
2 tablespoons roasted peanuts
Juice of 1 big lime
Salt
Water
Chopped Coriander to garnish

In a hot wok, add in the mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal and stir it around till the mustard seeds splutter and the urad and chana dals being to brown. Add in the chillis and ginger and a teaspoon or two of water to prevent them from burning. Add the turmeric and asafoetida and stir. If you require more water add a teaspoon at a time. Once the turmeric is incorporated, add the cooked vermicelli and mix it well till it is an even yellow. If it dries out, add a little water. Add the salt and peanuts. Take it off the stove and then add the lemon juice and mix it well. Garnish with coriander and serve hot.

Peanut Butter Pillows or Heaven in a bite

2012-02-05T21:31:00.000+05:30

Sometimes I indulge and most times it's by coming up with recipes I think up before I go to bed. Then I will dream that I'm in Charlie's (Vegan) Chocolate Factory and Johnny Depp is baking the most delicious looking things for me. Sigh. This recipe I did not dream up, but dreamed of a lot. It's a recipe I had bookmarked a long time ago because it involves mixing my two favourite things, chocolate and peanut butter.

Every time I stole this cookie from my fridge I wanted to pinch myself for giving in again. I am trying to reverse my cavities and the progress so far has been pretty good. I don't feel immense pain when I eat something sweet and that's only because I have stayed away from the good stuff (refined, sugary and fried food). It's hard to stop eating sweet specially because I bake mostly sweet stuff and I have to keep tasting batters and frosting which then starts the whole craving sugar cycle. But this cookie will destroy all resolutions. It can be made healthier and may be one day I will dare to try it again. Whoever got a few of these cookies finished it all within the hour.

This recipe is an adaption of Terry Hope Romero's recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows which I found on the Post Punk Kitchen's website. The instructions are the same with a few changes I made, like making the peanut butter from scratch and using whole wheat instead of maida.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup any neutral oil

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 tablespoons non-dairy milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2 tablespoons black cocoa or more cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:
1 cup roasted peanuts

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons non-dairy milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl combine oil, sugar, non-dairy milk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, black cocoa if using, baking soda and salt. Mix to form a moist dough.

To make the peanut butter, put the roasted peanuts in a grinder jar and grind it. Stop after the sound changes to scrape the sides off. Continue the grinding process and stop at intervals of about 20 seconds to scrape the sides. Do it till you get a creamy peanut butter (takes less than 5 minutes). Add salt and proceed to make the filling.

In another mixing bowl beat together peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk and vanilla extract to form a moist but firm dough. If peanut butter dough is too dry, stir in remaining tablespoon of non-dairy milk. If dough is too wet knead in a little extra powdered sugar.

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease your baking tray.

Shape the cookies. Create the centers of the cookies by rolling the peanut butter dough into 24 balls. Scoop a generous tablespoon of chocolate dough, flatten into a disc and place a peanut butter ball in the center. Fold the sides of the chocolate dough up and around the peanut butter center and roll the chocolate ball into an smooth ball between your palms. Place on a sheet of waxed paper and repeat with remaining doughs. If desired gently flatten cookies a little, but this is not necessary (I did flatten them).

Place dough balls on lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and let cookies for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to complete cooling.

Store it in the fridge. They are nicer when they are warm and they tend to become softer cookies as days go by. So you can heat up the oven and warm them for about 5 or 7 minutes before you eat them again.

This is going over to the #chocolatelove bloghop, being co-hosted by Richa @ HobbyandMore and so many other wonderful bloggers.

Book Review - 'Southern Flavours'

2012-01-30T14:11:00.000+05:30

My Review of Southern Flavours by Chandra Padmanabhan for BlogAdda.

No matter what they say, I always judge a book by it's cover. The first impression of any book is very important to me specially if it is a cookbook. On first glance Southern Flavours has a warm homely feel to it. It has a classy hard bound cover photograph that combines two aspects of South India - Food and Temple Jewellery. The author of the book, Chandra Padmanabhan, is a renowned author in her own right. She has a three best selling cookbooks to her credit. This is they first of hers that I have read and may be the first South Indian cookbook I have ever gone through so thoroughly. Being a Tamillian myself, I never thought of picking up a South Indian cookbook simply because I come from a family of extraordinary cooks (which South Indian doesn't?!). So the most I would do is pick up the phone and call my mother or my grandmothers or my mother-in-law and ask for help.

So even before I read this one, I passed it off to my mom-in-law so she could do the first round of scrutiny for me. I wanted see this book through two different perspectives - from someone who has cooked lovely South Indian food all her life and from another South Indian who pretends to be one.

Let me start with what the seasoned cook thought about it. From the easy-to-handle, hard bound design to the way the recipes are explained so well, my mom-in-law was impressed. She thought the book is a perfect gift for someone who wants to learn a few South Indian recipes. She also remarked that the book not only covers recipes from Tamil Nadu and Kerala but also from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. She was impressed with the varieties of dosa recipes, the ingredient index and the menu options at the back. She also thought that it was important that the recipe names were given in original languages as they would be called from where they originated. She did mention that she missed a few more pictures, recipes of Neer Dosa, Avial and a few Kerala specialties but said that would be nitpicking.

I couldn't agree more. On first glance the book is a great resource for me since it has important recipes from all four states from what is considered to be the South of India. The book has basic recipes, sambhar and kuzahmbhus, rasams, poriyals, rice recipes, snacks, sweets, accompaniments and buffet spreads. The suggested Menus at the back are great for people planning to make an entire South Indian spread for a meal.

So on a sunday afternoon, I decided to try out two recipes from the book. I made Kothamalli-Pudina Sadam (Pg.93) and Alu Gadde Mosaru Kuzhambu (pg.38). Kothamalli-Pudina Sadam, or Coriander Mint Rice originates from Tamil Nadu according to the book. It involves cooking the rice separately and adding a cooked paste of coriander, mint, onions and green chillies along with vegetables and spices. I used some fragrant Ambhe Mohar rice and made the recipe completely oil free and vegan (it involved some ghee to fry cashew nuts). It had the right amount of spice and the fragrance of coriander and mint coming from warm rice on a cold afternoon was perfect.

Coriander-Mint Rice

The Alu Gadde Mosaru Kuzhambu or Curd Curry with Potatoes is from the Hebbar Iyengar Community of Karnataka. Luckily for me I had a batch of peanut curd at home which I used to substitute the dairy curd. The recipe is simple and is also oil free. It turned out really good and tasted pretty similar to what we Tamillians call Moru Kozhambu.

Vegan Peanut Curd (set using the tops of chillies)

Curd Curry with Potatoes

I am forced to review this book in seven days (blogadda rules) and I surely won't be doing justice to such a great book. A review of a cookbook is an ongoing process and can take months till I try out every recipe. I will keep posting recipes that I try from the book, veganising them along the way.

A big Thank you to Blogadda!

Banana Strawberry Smoothie

2012-01-16T19:06:00.000+05:30

Nothing can be simpler than this.

For the past few weeks I have been on a fruit breakfast. Initially it was tough. Once you are used to eating cooked foods in the morning switching over to fruits requires some dedication. There is always the devil inside you wanting to have a bite of that warm pancake or dosa with spicy chutney. The weather being so nice, you want to put something warm into your mouth. But once you learn (as I have at THAC) that fruits are the perfect foods for your body, you will only want to do good to your body.

As the title suggests, this smoothie only contains bananas and strawberries. No sugar, no natural/ artificial sweeteners, no nuts, no seeds, no nonsense. Do it with any fruit.

You need 2 Bananas and 12 strawberries. Blend it together, pour into a glass and serve. This will give you a thick smoothie, if you'd like it thinner use 1 Banana, 6-8 strawberries and half a cup of water.

It's exceptionally sweet and delicious!

Goa, how it always manages to surprise me!

2012-01-06T05:24:00.000+05:30

Goa, the land of sun and sea. Our closest escape out of Maharashtra and where you will almost always bump in to someone you know. India's smallest state known mostly because of its beaches, Goa is India's most touristy state.

For me, Goa is divided into two parts - North and South Goa. North Goa is the more crowded, 'Boom Shankar' kind of place where you will find a mix of the young kids and families from Bombay, Pune and tourists from neighboring towns along with the foreign tourists of course. In the South, there are the seasoned Goa travelers (who prefer not to be stuck in traffic jams on New Years Eve), old Russian couples who are way past their bikini wearing days but still flaunt it like they got it, the seasoned foreigners who either live in Goa or have traveled enough through it and lots of south Indians from neighbouring states.

What you like depends on what kind of person you are. If you don't mind the crowds, then North Goa is the place to be. There are more places to eat at, more shacks on the beach to sip your poison and watch the sun set. If you prefer no one on the beaches at 8am or 8.30pm and like to pretend you are on a private beach then head down South. Having already covered enough of the North on a previous visit, we decided to stick to the South.

This post is a collection of a few pictures I took on the beaches of animals (including humans), the sun, and the lovely vegan food I had.

Fields and fields of Sugarcane en route NH17

Trucks packed with sugarcane headed to the factories

A pretty Kingfisher poses

Goa boasts two vegan/vegetarian restaurants Bean Me Up and Blue Planet. I was fortunate enough to manage to visit them both during my short trip. Both restaurants have many options for vegans and they are very different experiences in their own ways.

@Bean Me Up - Apple-Banana-Peanut Butter Smoothie. Yum!

@ Bean Me Up - Vegan 'chicken' Burger

@Bean Me Up - Tofu Brownie with Soy 'Cream Cheese'

@Blue Planet - Passion Fruit, Papaya Smoothie and Avocado Chocolate Smoothie

@Blue Planet - Vegan Carrot Coconut Cake with a Chocolate Topping

@Blue Planet - Wholemeal bread with Cashew Butter

We also ate at Palacio Do Deao in Quepem. It is a heritage house built in the 1700s being managed by an architect couple. They live in that house with their kids and invite you to sample a traditional Portuguese lunch cooked by the wife. It begins with a tour of the house by the husband where he describes how they went about restoring the house and the garden to look like it did. Most of the furniture and architecture is still intact from the original house. A traditional portuguese meal usually consists of a lot of sea food and meat, but you can inform them about your preferences before hand and they will accomodate. They went out of their way for my vegan request and made so many different varieties. You will see them on my plate.

The entrance to the mansion

Library

The Living Room

An ornate table in the living room

Antique fruit basket in the garden

Vegetable Fingers with Chutney

Sauteed Mushrooms

Lunch included a salad of Avocado and Lettuce, Sauteed Carrots and Basil, Beans and Coconut, Sauteed Daikon and leaves and some Kohlrabi

They also served us a Portuguese style Cauliflower in Coconut Milk Curry with local brown rice

@The Flea Market - A million flavours of tea!

Sunrise

Ahem!

One of the many dogs I saw enjoying the water

Beach Bum

Fetched!

The 3C Cookie - Coconut, Cinnamon and Candied Orange Peel

2011-12-07T10:51:00.000+05:30

It's holiday season all over the world and wedding season in India. Moral of the story- It's time to celebrate! While we don't really do much for Christmas other than start packing our bags to head out for the New Year parties, I wanted to make something 'Christmasy' for my friends in New York. The cookies are on their way as I write this and will be part of the festive season in NY. How I wish I was on my way instead.

In all my cookie making experiences, I have learnt that it is very important to have a good oven to make your cookie. I made these using as many organic ingredients as I could in the lovely shape of a star. It's not common to see cookies other than round or square here, so when I do other shapes it draws a lot of amusing stares. Cookies store so much more better than cakes and it's always fun to make your cookies yourself so you don't end up eating as much as the store bought hydrogenated ones.

This recipe yielded 40 cookies for me, but it depends on how thin you roll out your dough.

You need:

1 and 1/2 cups organic whole wheat flour

1/2 cup dessicated coconut
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cold pressed oil (any neutral oil)
1/2 plus 2 teaspoons cup organic cane sugar or a any sweetener of your choice
1 tbsp flax seed powder
1 tbsp water
1 teaspoon organic cinnamon
6-7 candies orange peels chopped

Preheat the oven to 175C.

Mix the flax seed powder with the 1tbsp water and set aside.

Mix the rest of the dry ingredients and make a well in the center. The flax seed mix should have become a thick pulp by now. Add that and the rest of the wet ingredients to the mix. Knead and roll out the dough and cut it in any shape you wish. You could even just make them round using a small bowl to cut it out. Poke holes using a fork in every cookie.

Arrange in a tray and put it into a freezer for 5 minutes. Bake for 10-15 minutes till the edges are firm. Remove and let it cool completely for it to firm up.

Don't forget to share some!

UFO attacked my pasta- How I saved the world one bite at a time

2011-12-05T17:39:00.000+05:30

As I was walking down the supermarket aisle I noticed an odd looking pasta shape. I picked it up thinking we could use it for dinner that night and then kept it back because we decided to make our own pasta. But then when I looked at it again I actually noticed what it was. It was UFO shaped pasta! I remember seeing all kinds of unmentionable shapes and colours in Italy. But UFOs?! As weird as it may sound, the pack was filled with the cutest little durum wheat alien vehicles. How could I not pick it up?!

Uncooked UFOs

Cooked UFOs

We ended up making Lasagna for dinner that night, but the next morning our pasta quota wasn't over just as yet. It was almost brunch time till I decided I was going to attempt the American junk classic Macaroni and Cheese. I searched the internet for inspiration and then finally came up with my own version using whatever I had and thought was healthy enough to be added into the sauce.

Here's how it went.

You need:

1 cup whole cashews
1/3rd cup Nutritional Yeast
3 cloves of Garlic
1 small Onion
1 tbsp Corn Starch
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
Salt
Pepper
Water

2 cups Cooked Pasta

Blend the cashews till they are a fine powder. Don't let it get to the butter stage. Add in the nutritional yeast, garlic, onion and blend. It might all clump up together. Add a little water to make it a fine paste.

In a saucepan, mix the corn starch, soy sauce and mustard powder. Add a little water and bring to a boil. Add in the cashew paste and add water little bit at a time till it gets to a nice thick consistency. Add salt, pepper and take it off the stove.

At this stage I added some chopped capsicum but you could leave it out if you want or add any vegetables of your choice.

Mix it with the cooked pasta in a bake proof dish and bake for 10 minutes at 175C till the top browns a bit.

Serve hot.

We're safe now. I ate the last UFO.

Raw food with Lisa and a month of surprises.

2011-12-03T22:00:00.000+05:30

Lisa Pitman was in town and what a week that was. Lisa is a raw food chef from Canada who was travelling though India talking about her journey with raw food and sharing some lovely recipes. She had two events in Bombay one of which was a talk followed by a lovely raw vegan lunch, the other was a cooking demo done by Lisa followed by a lunch of the recipes she showed. Fresh salads, date cookies, Zucchini rolls in a marinara sauce, PAd Thai Salad and an amazing raw cheesecake were a few of the things we got to try. I also got to accompany Lisa to Elephanta caves. It was the first visit for both of us! It is such great fun to hang out with a fellow foodie who shares a similar love for food and travel. I wish Lisa had more time in Bombay!

For more pictures of Lisa's talk and demo check out SHARAN's album

I love making lists of things I need to get my hands on for my kitchen and I love it even more when I can tick certain things off my list. November being birthday month was special not only because I turned a year older, but also because I had many Santa Claus moments this month. K was in London shopping for things for me and working whenever he got free from shopping and my two Yankee friends (Ara and Sri) got me lots of things I'm going to keep using in my kitchen!

I finally got my hands on a Pasta Machine and it is so much fun. I don't think I'll ever buy a sheets of Lasagne again! I made me some Semolina Lasagna in a tomato sauce with my depleting stock of Daiya on top.

We love mushrooms in this house and K called me from Borough Market all excited about how excited I would be if I was there. He picked some Chanterelle, dried Portobello and one huge Portobello from someone selling tonnes of mushrooms.

Avocados from UK v/s BIG Avocado from Bangalore!

Portobello Mushroom

After keeping the Portobello for 5 days, it started showing signs that it was time to use it quickly. I made a quick lunch of Portobello Risotto from an old cookbook that belongs to my mom called Traditional Italian Food by Laura Birch. I also made a soda bread and an Arugula & Roasted Yellow Pepper salad to go along with it. You could use regular button mushrooms or avoid the mushrooms completely if you prefer them on the trees.

November also saw the addition of the newest member to our family. (K's brother and wife welcomed a baby girl) Babies are so much fun! And I spotted a dog I have never seen before. He was massive with enough hair for two St Bernards and the sweetest face ever. I don't know why but the bigger the dog gets the more friendlier they are! This one is called a Leonberger and they are native to Germany. I saw him after two nights and he instantly recognized me and jumped up to lick my face. If my neighbour wasn't trying his best to hold him back he would've knocked me down. He was easily 6 feet tall while on his hind feet. Unfortunately he was just visiting for a few days.

It's hard to believe how big he is!

Quick Dessert: Chocolate Agar Agar Mousse

2011-12-01T08:35:00.000+05:30

A lot of times we have impromptu film screenings or friends pop in and I can never let anyone go without eating something. On one such 45 minute notice period I made a quick dessert for our visitors since they were coming post diner.

This recipe uses agar agar also known as china grass or as I heard someone on Master Chef Australia call it Aey-gaar Aey-gaar. (I bet they must be making fun of our accents. Have you ever wondered if there is ONE true accent?)

Agar Agar calls for some experimentation on your part. Sometimes it's hard to get it right but you will learn from your mistakes. I have previously made a Lime Nutmeg Jelly with Agar Agar which is a bit more work than this recipe. For this recipe, I used the strips of Agar Agar which are available in the grocery stores if you ask for China Grass. Each pack of Agar Agar has one thick strip which is enough for half a litre of milk.

This is the plain, unflavoured Agar Agar (China Grass) I like to use

Since this wasn't planned with enough time, I used sweetened chocolate flavoured soy milk which I had. But you could do the same with any other non dairy milk if you prefer. You can do it with cashew, almond, coconut or even rice milk.

You need:

1/2 litre (roughly 2 and a half cups) of Chocolate Soy milk at room temperature

1 Strip of Agar Agar (Cut and powdered in a dry mixer)

1/4 cup water

Mix the powdered agar agar flakes with the water and bring it to a boil. Stir frequently and make sure most of the agar agar has disappeared. A few small lumps are okay. Now, little bit at a time, while stirring continuously, add the chocolate soy milk. Keep it on the stove for about 3 minutes more till the soy milk is hot and take it off the stove. Pour into a big glass bowl or small moulds to set. Keep it in the fridge and let it set for at least 45 minutes.

It always has a better texture after about 6 hours, but it's like a perfect mousse after an hour.

Top with some grated/ chopped vegan chocolate (Bournville, Mordes) and serve cold.

Organic Mung Daal and Bottle Gourd Crepes (Chillas)

2011-11-06T21:12:00.000+05:30

I emphasize on the Organic for a reason.

As an agrarian nation, we are probably more connected to what we put on our plates than many other countries. Or at least we used to be.

Do we know what is in season anymore? Do we know where our vegetables and fruits are sourced from? What about the hybridization of our food? Do you know our food is in the danger of being genetically modified?

Lately I have been buying more organic food than ever. Yes, it is only slightly more expensive than the poisoned food (thanks to inflation). We have many choices in Bombay now with a multitude of organic stores cropping up and the Farmers Market. While the stores source the organic produce and send it to you, at the farmers market you can buy directly from the farmer. Many stores claim to be selling 100% organic produce, but it is up to you to find out and decide whom to trust. Dry grains, pulses, oils, etc are easy to find organic since everyone is riding the 'Green Wave'. But be careful and compare prices. In the guise of it being organic there is no excuse for it to be exorbitant. I have a few links on a FAQs at the end of this post in case you are wondering.

I recently signed up for a very interesting initiative, something I have been wanting to do for a while. This group of volunteers (MOFCA - Hari Bhari Tokri) are aiming to connect the consumers with the organic farmers and have them grow seasonal, local veggies and supply on a weekly basis. I cannot wait for my first basket of the winter vegetables!

I'm quite the lazy cook in the morning and thinking up new and exciting ideas for breakfast is a task. My cooking tube light only shines towards the evening. I never used to be a morning person, but these days I'm all bright and chirpy in the mornings and unfortunately not creative enough to come up with breakfast ideas. So that usually means I have to think it up the previous night, or dig into the fridge for the dosai batter or serve up some cereal! K never complains, but sometimes I wish he would.

The good thing about this Chilla or crepe is that it doesn't require the whole previous night planning bit. If you have the ingredients you can make it in half an hour. The mung daal is what takes about half hour to soak, you could soak it longer, but if you forget worry not because half an hour is fine.

You need:

2 cups Organic Yellow Mung Daal (you could use the green ones with the skins too) Soaked for at least half an hour

1 cup Organic Bottle Gourd (Dudhi) grated with the skin

2-3 Organic Green Chillies

1 inch piece of Organic Ginger

1 teaspoon Organic Cumin (Jeera)

1 teaspoon Organic Turmeric Powder

1/2 teaspoon Rock Salt (kala namak)

Sea Salt

Grind the mung daal little bit at a time till it is a nice smooth paste. Add in the green chillies and ginger while grinding or chop them fine and add them to the batter. To the grated bottle gourd, add the cumin, turmeric and both the salts. Add the ground mung daal and mix well.

On a hot iron pan or tawa spread out the batter evenly and flip over to cook the other side.

You don't need to use oil if you have a well seasoned tawa.

Serve with coriander chutney or ketchup or as we like to have it with some French's Mustard. Mustard is the new ketchup.

Why Organic in India?

10 reasons to eat organic

Why organic can feed the world

Why is organic food more expensive?

This post is going to Kavitha's Healthy Cooking Challenge over at her blog Edible Entertainment. Thanks for hosting the challenge Kavitha and Smita!

Chunky Pumpkin n' Pasta

2011-11-06T17:21:00.000+05:30

I make Italian food at least twice a week. Usually it's on weekends when we don't feel like paying through our noses for restaurant food and I still have a few tricks up my fridge from my shopping spree in Italy. There's nothing like eating a home cooked bowl of pasta while sitting on the sofa watching a film about a chef. The film I'm referring to is Toast, about chef Nigel Slater. The film is co-written by the chef himself and chronicles his early childhood memories from his canned-food loving mother to his sneaky but excellent cook step mother. His love for food started young like many of us and he was able to turn his life around to become a leading chef of Britain.

In India and particularly in Bombay, sandwiches are available on every street. The Khau Gallis (streets where only food is made and sold) have a minimum of 3 stalls selling toasted sandwiches. Only in Bombay, you can find a sandwich that costs anywhere from Rs.15 to Rs. 150 on the street! They have endless stuffing choices and you will be charged depending on how posh the stall is. I also see many places have different rate cards for the weekends now. The toasted ones are surely not vegan since they smother the bread with butter on top before toasting. The reason I rant so much about the sandwich is because I am getting to the ketchup served along with these sandwiches. On a recent junk food binge, I happened to read a label of a ketchup bottle at a sandwich stall. You usually associate ketchup with lots of tomatoes. But in this country we have found a cheaper alternative - Pumpkins! This particular ketchup had no tomatoes. Pumpkins, sugar, salt, preservative and some food colour! You can tell the difference if you are a ketchup geek because usually they are lumpier and tend to look a little more orange than red.

So here I was wanting to make some pasta for lunch and I didn't have any tomatoes. What's the next best alternative? Why Pumpkin of course! Pumpkin is very commonly added to pasta sauces, I haven't really invented anything new here. K was very skeptical about this attempt of mine because I left the pumpkins in big chunks and didn't puree them. But if you prefer a purée, just go ahead and blend it up at the end of the cooking and you will get a nice bright orange pasta sauce.

You need:

1/4 kilo Yellow Pumpkin cut into bite size chunks

1 onion

1-2 cloves of garlic

6-7 Mushrooms (which you could avoid and add capsicums instead)

Fresh/ Dried Oregano

Fresh/ Dried Sage

Red Chilli Flakes

Olive Oil

Nutritional Yeast (Optional)

Salt

Pine nuts as a garnish (optional)/ you could also use walnuts

Cooked Pasta of your choice (I used Penne)

Sauté the garlic, herbs and onion until the onion is translucent. Add in the yellow pumpkin and chilli flakes. Cook till it is nice and tender. I covered it so it cooked faster and kept checking on it in intervals. Add nutritional yeast (optional), salt and mix with the pasta. Garnish with nuts.

A Vegan Lunch in Bangalore

2011-11-02T17:25:00.000+05:30

A whirlwind weekend trip to Bangalore got me to meet all the lovely vegans who live in the city with the most awesome weather! It was a vegan buffet at In the Pink, an organic vegetarian restaurant. The menu was customized for us and what a spread we had. A lot of great food, a lot of great new friends and lots of talking.

It was very hard for me to click pictures because one, I was hungry and two there were so many new people, I absolutely had to meet them! Unfortunately I forgot to click a picture with all of them! Sigh.

That Saturday was well spent!

My plate (Before) : Pumpkin Ravioli in a Bechamel sauce, Veggie Pizza, Falafels, Hummus, Potato Salad, Tabouleh, Cucumber Peanut Salad, Chilli Bhajjis, Curd Rice

My plate (After)

Dessert: Strawberry and Lemongrass Pudding

There was also a chocolate soymilk ice cream

Pretty Vegan!

No points for guessing what this means! It's not that difficult.

Fostering Puppies and Awards!

2011-10-28T14:29:00.000+05:30

This week has been really busy for me. I volunteered tofoster two puppies for two and a half days while their caretaker was away. He'smore angel than care taker. Currently he has 19 animals that he is taking careof. (Yes that's right EIGHTEEN! I only had two pups and I am dead by the end ofit.) Of the ninteen, 14 are his own (they include dogs, cats, guinea pigs,rabbits, puppies and kittens). I didn't realize how much goes into taking careof puppies. They sleep a lot, but when they are up and about they are all overthe place. It is a lot of fun to see thesilly things they get scared of, the crazy lengths they go to just to get whatthey want and the most adorable is the way they intently listen to what you aresaying by tilting their heads from side to side. By the end of two days I wasas attached to them as they were to me.

Here is my excuse for the lack lustre Vegan MoFo performancelast week! What's yours?

Pulling at my camera strap!

The exceptional Richa of Hobby and More, the wonderful Sarahof Winged Snail and the amazing Louise of Louise by Degrees were kind enough to honour me and so manyother bloggers with the 'Liebster Award' (Liebster in German means 'dearest' or'beloved')! My blog has never gotten an award! So THANK YOU SO MUCH Richa,Sarah and Louise!!

More than an award it is an appreciation of friendship overfood. It is so nice to be connected to so many people who I have never met andwho share the love of food, specially vegan food. There are so many deservingfood bloggers out there sharing their hard work with millions of people. Whatdo they get in return? For me it is when people try out the recipes and tell mehow much they liked it, or call me up in the middle of making the recipe with a'Help!' or experiment with new ingredients. Everyone makes the recipe their ownand that is what I love about food. You may have read millions of cookbooks andblogs but you get the most out of it when you make the recipe your own.

The idea behind the award is to give recognition to blogsthat have less than 200 followers. Here is what you do when your blog isnominated for an award:

1. Show your thanks to those who gave you the award bylinking back to them.

2. Link to 5 of your top picks and let them know they'vebeen nominated by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Post the the award on your blog.

4. Enjoy the love and support of some wonderful people onthe interweb!

http://aucklandvegan.wordpress.com/ : Who writes about thelovely food she eats from her travels and her home town

http://grimconfetti.blogspot.com/ : A vegan mom with thecutest little 4 year old who cooks up some yum food I'd love to eat!

http://myveganlondon.wordpress.com/ : Giving us the veganscoop from London.

http://www.emmakat79.blogspot.com/ : For some lovely photosand the cutest fanged pumpkins!

http://vegfortworth.com/ : Whose Marmite-baked Chickpeas I'dlove to try!

It's been a busy week for me and tomorrow I head south for apower packed weekend which includes a vegan lunch meeting at an organicrestaurant and the Metallica Concert!

Diwali in Pictures!

2011-10-27T09:55:00.000+05:30

It's Diwali in India and I thought I'd give Vegan MoFo a peek into what it is like here in India right now.

Diwali is a once in a year phenomenon in India that goes on for almost a week. The roads are full of people, the shops are decked to attract maximum crowds, lanterns and lights adorn balconies and the kitchen is a mess! It's that time of the year when you get together with family and eat from the time to wake up till the time you sleep. It also involves a lot of noise and bad air in the form of pollution, but I have to admit, this has been one of the quietest Diwalis I have experienced so far and that is such a boon.

This post is a dedication to all the women who toil day and night in the kitchen to make the best traditional recipes for their visitors. It's also for all those people who did not burst crackers. All the birds and animals thank you!

This post is more of a picture essay of my Diwali day spent with the best cooks in my family making the best food.

A Common sight in most houses - Chivda (Flattened rice which is roasted and seasoned with mustard seeds, coriander seeds, turmeric, green chillies, peanuts and dried coconut)

Baby Potatoes with mustard seeds, turmeric and red chilli powder

My grandmother making a vegan Chakkai Payasam (Jackfruit Pudding in Coconut Milk)

The vegan Chakkai Payasam

Fried Plantain Chips

My Lunch! Clockwise from top: Baby Potato Curry, Appam, Rice and Mung Dal Pongal, Avial, Spicy Potato Chips, Kosumalli

A very potent Diwali 'Medicine' (Ginger, Jaggery and Coriander)

My sister's Payal

Athai's Kolam (A fine powder is made with rice and geometric designs are made outside houses every morning. On festival days, the designs get bigger and elaborate. These geometric designs are considered to invite special energies in to the houses and also serve as food for the ants!)

My mother's Kolam (I forgot to click a picture during the day!)

By night, everyone lights tiny lamps and candles all over the house and outside.

My sister made that lantern!

Probably the best time to play with Bokeh

Neighbour's Hand Painted Lantern

Another neighbour's terracotta lampost

Starry Lantern

Firecrackers in the sky

My apartment complex

My contribution to Diwali - Carrot Payasam with Cashew Milk

An unfortunate end to my Diwali - a tree on fire. I hope they managed to put that out.

Mushroom and Bean Burgers from scratch

2011-10-22T12:18:00.000+05:30

This is the actual name of the burger: 'Shroom-Kidney-Horse-Sage Burgers with Pesto smeared Hand Made Buns. :)

Sounds corny, I know. Who would've thought you could have them all in one sentence!

I desperately wanted to eat a burger! Having never made one from scratch, I thought it was apt specially because BBC's Good Food Magazine was launching and they'd asked us to come up with something that we've never done.

I hate the burger breads you get in the stores. The bread we get here is thoroughly refined and seasoned with lots of dough conditioners, improvers and preservatives. Let me tell you, once you make whole wheat bread at home, you will cringe every time you eat so called 'whole wheat' bread outside.

It had to be a veggie burger and I absolutely did not want to put potatoes in! Such a misconception the Mc Ds of the world have created!

Here's what you need:

For the Bread:

500gm Whole Wheat Flour
2 tsp Instant Yeast
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Sugar
1/3rd cup oil
Warm water
Herbs of your choice (I used fresh Oregano and Thyme)
Sesame/ Flax Seeds (optional)

Mix all the dry ingredients.

Stir in the water and add till you get a nice workable dough. Add in the oil and knead for about 5 minutes.

Cover it with cling film and let it rest for about one and a half hours or till the dough is now almost double in size.

Preheat your oven now to about 180C

After that, punch the dough down and knead for another five minutes. Add in the herbs and make them into burger bun shapes but flatten the tops. Brush on some water and sprinkle sesame and flax seeds.

Let it rest for ten minutes and pop them in the oven for about 30 minutes till they are golden brown and sound hollow when you knock on them.

Notice the lack of sesame seeds? They all fell off because I brushed the top with oil instead of water! Nevertheless, a tasty burger bun.

For the Burger Patty:

1 cup horsegram (soaked for 4 hours and cooked)
1 cup Red Kidney BEan (soaked for 8 hours and cooked)
1/2 cup Soya chunks (soaked for an hour and bolied for ten minutes)
1 steamed carrot
(you can add other vegetables like steamed potatoes, peas, pumpkin, etc)

1 Onion diced
2 cloves of Garlic
1/2 a Red Pepper diced
15 Button Mushrooms diced
Fresh or dried Sage
Salt
Pepper
A Few sprinkles of Habanero Tobasco Sauce (Because i like it spicy)
A dash Soy Sauce
Oil or water for sauteeing

Saute the onion and garlic in oil or water. Add the Red Pepper, Habanero Tobasco, Soy Sauce and Sage. Add the mushrooms.

Mash the cooked beans with a potato masher. Cut up the soy chunks and carrot. Add them all in to the pan with the mushrooms and mix well. Take it off the flame and start making the patties.

Cook each side of the pattice on a flat pan or a grill till crispy and brown.

The Assembly:

You need any or all of the below:

Pre-made Pesto (I use fresh Basil, cashew, salt, garlic and olive oil)
Jalapenos
Sliced Yellow and Green Peppers
Sliced Cucumbers
Sliced Tomatoes
Mustard
Ketchup

Assemble and enjoy!

Pickle me up! - DIY Daikon n' Mustard Pickle

2011-10-22T00:15:00.000+05:30

Who doesn't love pickles?! They could be sweet, salty, sour, oily and spicy too. All those lovely flavours in a jar. I've never really tried to pickle anything even though I love them and associate some lovely food memories with pickles. Of all the pickles a few of my favourites are a vegetable pickle my paternal grandma makes, the spicy mango my maternal grandma makes, a very north indian Carrot-Turnip-Cauliflower pickle which was sent to my room mate in Auroville and a very mustard-y Bengali Mango pickle made by Naturellement.

For two weeks in a row I saw giant White Radishes / Daikons (Moolis) in the market. And by giant I mean really big, like over a foot long. I couldn't resist picking it up. Having never pickled anything, I decided to use my memory of the taste of the Bengali Mango pickle and use the radish. I ended up with a huge jar of lovely yellowy radish pickle.

I must warn you though, open the jar of pickle in another room before serving it. The inital smell every time you open the bottle can put people off, but luckily that lasts only for a few minutes.

You need:

One White Raddish

1tsp Mustard Seeds (Rai)

1tsp Cumin Seeds (Jeera)

1tsp Fenugreek Seeds (Methi)

1tsp Aniseed (Sauf)

1/2 tsp Asafoetida powder (hing)

1/2 tsp Dry Mango Powder (amchur)

1/2 tsp Turmeric (haldi)

1tsp Red Chilli Powder

Salt

1/2 cup Oil

Wash and dry the radish. Cut it up into juliennes (long thin strips).

In a wok, dry roast the mustard, cumin, fenugreek and aniseed will they are fragrant. Powder them till they are fine. Once it is cool, mix in the asafoetida, dry mango powder, tumeric, red chilli powder and salt.

Add in the oil and mix it with the radish strips. A lot of pickle recipes I've read ask you to keep the jar in the sun for a day. I don't get too much sunlight at home, so I just left it out on the windowsill for the day and kept it in the fridge at night. By the next day, the radish had started fermenting and had taken on the wonderful flavour of the spice mix.

My sister, not a big radish fan, used the pickle gravy on another green chilli pickle I had made. This spice mix could go well with almost anything you want to pickle. You could try carrots, cauliflowers, peas, capsicums.

South Indian Gun Powder

2011-10-17T07:03:00.000+05:30

If you have ever eaten South Indian food, you know what I am talking about. Molagapodi (moh-lah-ha poh-dee) is often served with Dosas and Idlis, but actually it can be eaten with almost anything. It's a reddish-brown scary looking powder, served smothered in sesame oil, often known for being overly spicy. Every Tamillian household makes their own version of it and you will never find the same taste anywhere even if the recipe is the same exact thing because not only does it depend on who is making it, it also relies on the level of spiciness and colour of the red chilli depending on the variety, the amount of time you spend roasting every ingredient and your mood when you are making it!

Moplagapodi literally means 'chilli powder' but I think Gun Powder is a more accurate description. It's actually a very cleverly disguised powder containing lots of protein (lentils) and calcium (sesame). There are numerous versions of this powder but I like to use my grandmother's recipe simply because I really really like her gun powder (and I am not alone).

My granny's Gun Powder with Dosas

Best served with hot Dosas and Idlis, sesame oil is added to it to tone down the spiciness. I prefer it without the oil. Why would you want to tone down anything that is spicy! You can alter the level of spiciness depending on your capacity by adding the chilli little bit at a time.

This is the way my grandmother explained the recipe to me. So I won't change it.

You need:

For 15 dry red chillies use the following measure. (I used organic red chillies that were pretty spicy)

1 small cup (standard 1/2 cup measure is what i used) Split chickpeas without the seedcoat (Chana Dal)

1 small cup white Urad Dal

2 small cups (1 cup measure) White Sesame (you can even use black sesame for a deeper colour and better flavour)

Oil (Any oil that can be heated)

Asafoetida (hing) 1/4 teaspoon or more

Salt

A powerful dry grinder to make the powder

Wash the sesame and then roast it on a heavy bottom iron wok. The reason you wash it is so that when it starts to puff up while roasting it won't jump out of the wok. Keep stirring it around to make sure it is evenly roasted. Once it starts to make that splitting sound at frequent intervals and if it has become slightly darker in colour, it's done.

In the same wok, roast the Chana Dal and the Urad Dal one after the other till they are a very light brown colour. Mix it with the roasted sesame.

Add oil to the wok and fry the red chillies. They will start puffing up quickly. Remove the Chillies and drain as much oil as you can while removing them.

Grind everything together. I like it to be a crunchy powder, so some tiny chunks are okay by me. Some people like it as fine as possible. Add in the salt and asafoetida. Mix well and transfer it into a bottle. Let it cool completely before closing the lid. This will stay for months outside.

Some people also fry Curry Leaves and add it while powdering. It adds some colour and lovely flavour to it.

Clockwise from right: Fried Red Chillies, Roasted Sesame, Roasted Urad Dal and Roasted Chana Dal

It goes very well with south Indian food, but sometimes I like to add it to a vegetable I am cooking. It also goes very well with vegan yogurt so you can even make it into a dip. The possibilities are endless. I, however, catch myself eating this as it is.

My freshly ground Gun Powder

It is said, whoever is cooking adds their own flavours depending on their energies. That is why the same recipe made by two people will almost never taste the same. I still haven't gotten to my grandmother's level, but this batch got her approval!

Right Side Up Banana Cake with pour over Coffee Caramel

2011-10-16T01:21:00.000+05:30

It's Vegan Mofo Iron Chef Challenge #2 and Isa decided to spice things up by giving us two ingredients - Banana and Coffee. One I love, the other, well...

I eat bananas everyday - in breakfast smoothies, as an evening snack, for dessert. Recently I even made gluten free pancakes using dried banana flour.

So it's safe to say that I could survive on bananas if it ever came to that.

Coffee, well it ends there for me. Coming from a South Indian family, coffee is a very integral part of the day and it's freshly brewed (filter coffee) every single day in all kitchens. Tamillians cannot breathe without their coffee. They start the day (6am) with a hot cup of strong coffee, have one more by 11pm may be, another at 4pm and if they really are insane, then another one after dinner. My mom never allowed us to drink coffee (and tea). It just wasn't offered to us. Her father (a doctor and a coffee addict) used to warn everyone about the dangers of coffee while drinking his daily cup of coffee. And it was well known then that children don't need the caffeine high. [I don't know how that perception has changed now and how it is okay to 'caffeinate' your child every day (a la Gatorade, Coca Cola, Tea, Coffee, the works)]

So it's safe to say that I don't like coffee.

This challenge was tricky for me. Since I was already up to my neck in cakes today, I decided I would try to make something sweet out of it. Yeah I read the challenge, brownie points for savoury stuff, I had a brainwave and I had to do it. I had 4 friends coming over, so I had an audience for feedback which was nice. Feedback I got, it's all gone!

This is a dense cake that's best served warm, but it makes a nice cold dessert too. I prefer using whole wheat flour because it makes the cake dense and fulfilling. I added chocolate because, well who doesn't love chocolate? And the pour over Coffee Caramel added some gooey quotient to it. I suggest pouring the caramel just before serving, since the flavour of coffee tends to disappear quickly.

Right Side Up Banana Cake with pour over Coffee Caramel

For the Caramel:

I had a previous batch of caramel sauce I'd made from this recipe. It makes the most delicious caramel sauce ever.

I brewed some coffee and mixed one part coffee to two parts caramel. This was a mild mix, good enough for me. If you like coffee, then you could use equal quantities of both.

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 175C

1 Big Ripe Banana

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 a lime

1 tablespoon water

Cut the bananas into 1/2 inch thick slices.

In a saucepan, melt the sugar and water. Once it's melted, add in the lime juice. Pour it into the baking pan and spread. Arrange the banana slices to cover the entire bottom of the pan in an overlapping fashion.

Prepare the cake mix:

1 and a 1/2 cups of Whole Wheat Flour

3/4 cup sugar or any sweetener

1/4 cup chunks of vegan chocolate

1/2 tsp Cinnamon Powder

1/2 tsp All Spice

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Corn starch

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup Soy Milk/ Water or any non dairy milk

1/4 cup oil

1 tsp vinegar

Combine wet and dry ingredients separately. Mix and fold the batter lightly. Add into the pan with the bananas and spread evenly.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Loosen the edges of the cake and invert it onto a grill.

Slice, pour the Coffee Caramel on the cake and serve!

Mmmm Mmmm Mmmmmm!

I ♥ Avocado

2011-10-14T20:17:00.000+05:30

If wishes were horses, I would own a farm full of Avocado trees. I've planted two and wish they would start bearing me the damn avocados. I'm so obsessed with them that I once went six straight months in three different countries eating them at least twice a week. So it's not a surprise that this post is dedicated to my favourite fruit and I'm so going to want to eat one after writing this!

About 12 feet tall now!

Avocados are almost tasteless. I know what you're thinking, 'what an anti-climax!', right? All this for a tasteless fruit. But it's buttery like no other butter, juicy and succulent like nothing else in this world and it takes on the flavour of anything you add to it so beautifully. There are no tiny pits or seeds that you need to spit out while eating it, there is nothing in between you and that fresh, green bite of heaven.

Not many people in India know how to deal with this big green 'dinasour egg' looking fruit. Most of the people I have spoken to have said they don't like the taste of it. (But it is tasteless!) You probably just don't know when or how to eat it. I have done a post earlier about guacamole where I also go on to digress about sprouting the seed into a plant. But what do you do with the ripe light green almost-goo thats inside? How do you know when it is right? Do you know how to buy it?

Fear not, because in all my avocado (read guacamole) experiences I have some knowlegde about buying this fruit and using it effectively. Here is what you need to look out for:

1. A Dark Green (Not black) clear skin with minimum or no blemishes

2. Should be hard to slightly hard when you touch

3. Should not have fungus or damaged skin (on the top of the fruit) near where it joins the tree

4. Could be any shape or size, but is usually round like an orange or pear shaped

Where to buy it?

In Bombay, you can get it now in almost any suburban vegetable market. Usually the guys with the "fancy vegetables" like broccoli, zucchini, celery, etc. have it. But I prefer to buy it from Crawford Market.

When to buy?

Avocados are now available almost all year round. But I have heard that the ones after summer are the best. All (or most) of the avocados come from Karnataka to Bombay. Sometimes if you are lucky you will get the Pondicherry ones but I like to believe that the people in Auroville eat it all up, because that is what I did in the two months I spent there.

What to do with them?

Wait till they ripen! It is a very important phase of the fruit. So many ways to hasten the process, but the avocado will take it's own sweet time. Sometimes it can take upto two weeks, so be very patient. Let me tell you it all pays off in the end. If you cut into an unripe avocado be ready for some bitter experiences which will put you off the fruit forever. The best way to know if it is ripe is to press the fruit with a finger. If the skin gives in without too much pressure and you have made an indentation on the fruit, it is ready. You will learn from your mistakes. I have been so eager sometimes to eat the fruit that I cut it open too early and end up with a bitter taste. Sometimes the fruit is not bitter even when it is slightly unripe.

This time I was in for a surprise when I went to pick avocados from my usual vendor. The avocados were bigger than I have ever seen, even bigger than the ones in Mexico! They were literally the size of musk melons, each weighing a kilo! I was jumping inside at the thought of having a HUMONGOUS portion of Guacamole which is exactly what I did for breakfast. This fruit was so big, it made me easily one and a half kilos of guacamole which K and I polished off for breakfast one morning with some toasted bread. We were so full after that we couldn't eat lunch.

The Avocado is as big as my face!

Orange v/s Avocado

Ready for the Guac!

Everytime I buy avocados I decide I am going to try something different with at least one of them. Almost all the time they end up as guacamole because I just cannot resist temptation to eat it immediately. This time I held back and made some avocado ice cream (Yes I made something sweet again, I have cavaties remember). Depending on how big the avocado is, you blend the ripe avocado and add a sweetener with some flavouring. I made some chocolate icecream with it and served it up with some chocolate cake and chocolate ganache since the ice cream was not sweet enough. There is a lot more you could do with it also like put it in raw salads, put it inside sandwiches, burgers or tacos and even puree it to make a raw pasta sauce or mousse.

I don't know why but only when it comes to the avocado, I have no patience to try anything else with it. It's only if I have had two ripe avocados waiting to be opened on the same day will I try anything else with it. I know, I'm crazy.

All hail the Avocado.

Chocolate Avocado Ice cream with Dark Chocolate Cake

Eat and Meditate - Chole/Chana Masala

2011-10-09T23:37:00.000+05:30

I was saving this post for tomorrow, but since the Vegan Mofo Iron Chef Challenge #1's secret ingredient is Chickpea and since the challenge ends soon, I can't stop myself.

Have you ever tried making Chana Masala or Rajma without Onions and Garlic? I just did and it's quite awesome! Why would I do something like that? Sometimes it's nice not to end up with skin smelling of onion/garlic for the next three days. It does happen if you eat more garlic than anything else and most often when you eat out. I don't know why but restaurants really love their garlic and may be they think that without the addition of the same, food won't taste good. Even Italian food in India ends up tasting only of garlic. I just can't stand it anymore.

Being a South Indian, our daily cooking is all vegetarian and also doesn't involve onion and garlic. Of course now with the bastardization of traditional cooking with the invention of the microwave, non-stick and what not, even the ingredients added to traditional foods are changing. Of course some call it invention, but excuse me for not liking onion in my sambar unless it is an Onion Sambar.

My great-grandmother to this day won't touch food with onion and garlic. I did ask my grandmother why it wasn't added in food then and why to this day she also is just like her mother (except on Sundays..haha). She said in those days, left over water from fish farming was added to grow Onions and Garlic. But I think somewhere the roots of these decisions lie in Ayurvedic cooking where onion and garlic were considered Rajasic and Tamasic (the energies in these foods don't allow you to meditate). Even if you do certain meditation courses, they will tell you not to eat onion and garlic. Apart from the South Indians, Jains also follow these guidelines and also omit all root vegetables for many more reasons.

So this recipe is something that my great-grandmother, grandmothers and mother would enjoy. If you wouldn't tell anyone that it didn't have any onion and garlic they wouldn't believe it.

Oh and it also has no oil and is gluten free of course!

Serves 2 to 4

You need:

1 cup Chickpeas/ Garbanzo beans (If using dried, soak for 8 hours,drain and cook in fresh water)

6 ripe tomatoes

1 inch piece of ginger (omit this for the jains)

2 green chilies (optional)

3 pieces of Tamarind soaked in just enough warm water for ten minutes

1 tsp Cumin Seeds / Jeera

1 tsp Coriander Powder

2 tsp + 1/2 tsp store bought or home made chole/ rajma masala (I used Everest Masala for this)

1/2 tsp asafoetida / hing

A small piece of Jaggery

Rock Salt

Salt

Puree the tomatoes with the ginger and green chilies if you're using them.

Heat up a wok / kadhai and add the Cumin. Toss it around a bit and it should start emitting a beautiful aroma. Quickly add the coriander powder, rock salt and chole masala. Stir is around a bit and make sure it doesn't burn.

Add the tomato puree carefully. You have to let this cook really well. This step is the key. Stir is once in a while to make sure it's not burning at the bottom, if it is, add very little water and turn the heat down. It comes to an almost ketchup stage after about 12-15 minutes. It should be much more darker in colour and should be spluttering small bubbles all over.

Looks like a million-eyed monster face!

In the mean time, squeeze 'the life' out of the tamarind and use only the pulp. Add this to the tomato gravy once you are satisfied with the thickness of the gravy. Add the cooked chickpeas and the jaggery with about half cup water.

Let it cook away till the gravy reaches the desired thickness. Add salt and 1.2 tsp more of the chole masala.

Take it off the heat, squeeze half a lime and garnish it with some fresh coriander.

Serve hot with brown rice or rotis.

Buckwheat & Banana Flour Pancakes with Video!

2011-10-09T22:01:00.000+05:30

It's VeganMoFo Sunday and it's time for some gluten free, oil free pancakes!

Off late for no rhyme or reason I have been trying a gluten free diet. It basically means I avoid anything with wheat and it's relatives. Here, even though wheat is such a major part of the diet, it's not that difficult to avoid. I have no signs or symptoms of any intolerance or allergy, but every once in a while I like to give myself some challenges.

It's very easy when you're cooking for yourself and also becomes easier if you are chosen for a trial for a new vegan lunch service for one whole week and their lunches are wheat free! What fun. I enjoyed the dabbawala delivered lunches for a week, but sadly that was only lunch.

Living in a Gujrati dominated suburb of Bombay has it's advantages. During the months when people are fasting most of the days, all these incredible non wheat flours suddenly come into the grocery stores. I always tend to bend towards the unknown and so I pick stuff that I wouldn't normally use. On one such pit stop I found Banana Flour. Banana Flour is common in the south of India. It is made out of dried raw bananas and thus is very starchy. It is made into a porridge and fed to babies who are just beginning to eat. I just bought it not knowing what to do with it.

I have been wanting to make wheat free pancakes for the longest time. I had a whole pack of lovely Organic Buckwheat Flour (another 'fasting' flour, also called kuttu, kutti) which is so commonly used in gluten free baking. I mixed in some Banana Flour and made lovely sugar-free, oil-free pancakes with them. These pancakes are super healthy, super fluffy and super tasty.

This post if specially for Harini, who is such an inspiration with her lovely personality, amazing food and tasty photos! She is specially trying to cook up gluten free stuff for her daughter and this would be a perfect Sunday morning breakfast for her!

I made a short time lapse video of how I made the pancakes which you will find at the end of this post!

You need:

1 cup Buckwheat Flour

1/2 cup Banana Flour

A pinch of baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tablespoon Date Syrup or any sweetener of your choice.

1 tsp vinegar

1 tablespoon Flax meal

1 tsp Vanilla Essence or One Vanilla Bean scraped

Water

(These pancakes are not sweet at all. If you like your pancakes sweet, add more date syrup and reduce the water added to the batter)

Mix the flaxmeal with 2 tbsp water and set aside for 10 minutes. In a big bowl mix the Buckwheat Flour, Banana Flour, Baking soda and salt.

After ten minutes, the flax meal-water mixture would've become a stiff, thick, gooey mix. Make a well in the center of the flours and add this flax mixture, vinegar and vanilla. Add water and start stirring it till you get a nice thick meal. When you pull up the mixture with your spoon and drop it in, it should be stringy like in the picture below.

On a hot iron tawa/pan (I don't use non-stick stuff) put about 1/2 a teaspoon of oil and spread it around. Put a small spoonful of this pancake mixture in it and let it cook on one side. This is the way we usually start making doasas at home. We put a small amount of the dough/batter on a hot pan and let it cook on both sides before we start making the actual dosa/uttappam/ pancake. I guess it makes sure the tawa is evenly heated and if done properly, you don't need any oil for the rest of the dosas/ pancakes, etc. Of course this also depends on your batter, but this worked very well for these pancakes.

So just dab a nice big spoonful of the batter, spread it around quickly and carefully to about 1/2 inch thick and let the heat do the magic. Turn it over after about 20 seconds and let the other side cook. Drizzle with date syrup, add a few bananas or whatever fruits you fancy and enjoy them hot.

Don't forget to watch the video!

Lime and Nutmeg Jelly

2011-10-06T17:22:00.000+05:30

It's Vegan MoFo day 6 already and I am under prepared. I'm aiming for at least 20 posts, thank god for that bottom limit! I don't think if it wasn't the Vegan Month of Food, I would have even clicked so many pictures in advance. Problem is I click the pictures and don't write down the recipe. So I end up having to recollect every teaspoon of whatever I put into that final picture.

Today it's time for something sweet!

I hate going to the doctor, let alone the orthodontist. When last week we went to get K's very bad teeth fixed, I decided to let my mouth be looked into. I shouldn't have. I knew I was asking for trouble. She took a very pointy instrument and jammed it into four of my molars and said what I didn't want her to say. I'm all for doctors and the like (not really), but getting treated conventionally is not my cup of sugar. I'm in the business of making sweet stuff, I eat meals between desserts and I brush once a day. I think I was asking for trouble. I bought one week from her and said I would do the fillings next week. I'm not going to.

I'm going to give myself six months to treat these cavities naturally. She warned me about a root canal if I ignore them. Little did she know, I'm also not into root canals.

So I have taken an oath. Unless absolutely necessary (i.e. only when I'm baking orders) I am not going to indulge in anything sweet and also start brushing twice a day. It's tough, very very tough. And here I am writing about a jelly that is setting in the fridge.

Since I'm off the refined sweets, I made this with a not so refined sweet - date syrup. I'm using the store bought variety for this recipe, but you could as well make it yourself. I made this recipe long back for a vegan potluck that I hosted, I have tweaked the recipe since then and find that it sets better now.

This recipe uses agar agar which is a sea weed. It needs heat to get activated and hence needs to be heated with liquid for it to set. In Bombay we easily get agar agar sheets (aka China Grass) in local grocery stores. Since it is difficult to dissolve when it is so big, I put it in the blender to make it flakey.

You need:

1 cups freshly squeezed Coconut Milk

2 tbsp agar agar big flakes (If you have fine powder you reduce the quantity of the agar agar)

1 cup water

1/4 cup or more date syrup / Sugar/ Jaggery (add little at a time while you taste depending on how sweet you want it)
Juice of 1 lime
Vanilla Essence
Nutmeg Powder
A pinch of turmeric powder for colour

Boil the water with the Agar Agar flakes till it is completely dissolved (it takes about 5 minutes). Add in the coconut milk, sweetener, vanilla essence, turmeric. Bring it to one boil and take it off the stove. Now add the lime juice and stir. Put it into the serving bowl and let it stay absolutely still. I keep it inside the fridge so it sets faster. After about 10 minutes, sprinkle the nutmeg powder on top and make some art. Leave it in the fridge for about 45 minutes.

It sets like a jelly and is so much fun to eat.

Serve cold.

Picture courtesy Harini Prakash

Bloggers Everywhere!

2011-10-04T01:05:00.000+05:30

It's October and it is Vegan Mofo time! For the first time I will be taking part along with over 650 vegan bloggers from across the globe in the 2011 Vegan Month of Food! And I can't think of a better way to start it off other than with a Bloggers Dinner!

Every month Rushina gives us food bloggers from Mumbai a change to meet up and indulge. This time it was at the ITC Maratha's West View Grill. Famously know for the 'Girls on the Grill', their speciality is the grilled course. You can choose from a variety of food and have it grilled while you enjoy your salad and soup course. Then of course, you get dessert!

I will let the pictures do the talking!

Marinated Artichokes

Spicy Melon Balls

Flavoured Olive Oil

My Salad Plate

Apples with Caramalised Onions (Delish!), Pumpkin with Eggplant Caponata

Zucchini with Sauteed Spinach, Cous Cous stuffed Tomatoes

Grilled and ready to eat!

Rushina clicking away

Harini with her Sparkling Wine

Sous Chef and Head Chef

Some more girl power! The blogger girls!

Jyo all ready to take on the chefs!

Jyo's vegan plate with her 'Papa's magic Masala'

Paparazzi

Pretty Blogger and Tea Connoisseur Snigdha

Writing her reviews, Sunayan

Vegan Dessert Part I - Chocolate Fondue

Vegan Dessert Part II - Apple baked with a center of Marzipan and Blueberries

Gifts from Jyo - 'Layya Channa' made by her dad and Snigdha's Handpicked Sri Lankan Tea

Stuffed Capsicum Islands

2011-10-03T08:22:00.000+05:30

The vegetable market is a wonderful place to get lost. I always find ways to amuse myself looking at what's new in season and which cart will sell it cheaper. (I refuse to buy vegetables from super markets) I've just moved to a new part of the city and am still learning about whom I can trust in that market. I have noticed that everyone bargains, every single person! And it comes so naturally to them. I, for one, cannot bargain. I just know that if there is even a one second pause after I ask for the rate of the day, he's lying. In the same narrow lane of that market, you will be able to find at least three different rates for every vegetable. Someday I will get the pulse of this market.

There are a million ways and means to stuff the Capsicum / Bell Pepper/ Shimla Mirch. While cooking, many times I end up making things simply because I only have particular ingredients in my fridge. This recipe was born on one of those days. I had just paid my visit to the market ended up buying tiny green capsicums because I thought they'd be perfect to serve stuffed.

I ended up stuffing them with spicy shredded tofu with some black salt. Black Salt has become my favourite spice off late and I think I add it in almost everything. I love how pungent and sweet it is at the same time. Then I baked the capsicums in my tandoor while I made a tomato gravy.

This goes well with hot rotis and may be some nice salad on the side.

You need:

6 small capsicums halved
( I cut them in half and scooped out the seeds with a spoon)
200gms firm tofu, Shredded with a small hole grater
2 green chillies
1 inch piece of ginger
1/2 tsp black salt
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp chaat masala

For the Gravy:
6 tomatoes
1 onion
1 clove of Garlic
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp dried ginger powder
1/2 tsp dried mango powder (amchoor)
1 tsp red chilly powder or more
1/2 tsp oil
1 bay leaf
Salt
Chopped coriander for the garnish

Mix the chillies, ginger, cumin powder, chaat masala and salt with the shredded tofu. Add more chillies if you want it more spicy. Stuff the capsicums and bake at 120C till the capsicums are soft to touch. They should look cooked.

Blend the tomatoes, onion, garlic and ginger into a smooth paste.

Add cumin seeds and coriander powder to some hot oil in a wide wok. Add the garam masala and the rest of the masalas. Add the tomato-onion paste and the bay leaf. Cook this till the gravy reduces to about 3/4th of it's original. Add in the baked capsicums carefully. Cover and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander.

Serve hot.

Banana Oat Smoothie

2011-09-16T03:08:00.000+05:30

Oat Milk is probably one of the easiest things to make compared to any other non-dairy milk. It can be as complicated as you want to make it or easier than ever. I searched a lot to find the best way to make oat milk like it is available in tetra packs abroad. I found many complicated procedures that involved fermenting it overnight, or cooking, grinding, straining. But I think there is no better way than to just grind it up with water and add fruit, very little or no sweetener and some flavouring.

I make this quite often as a breakfast smoothie and it is very filling and so yummm!

You need:

(For two glasses)

1 Banana (or any fruit you like in your smoothie)
1/2 cup Oats (Quick cooking or white)
1/2 or 1 tsp sweetener of your choice (Sugar/ Jaggery syrup/ Raw Sugar/ Brown Sugar/ etc)
1 cup Water
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
Chopped nuts (optional)

Put only the oats into the blender and blend it dry till it is powdery. Add water, banana, sweetener, cinnamon. Blend till it is all mixed up and frothy. Add chopped walnuts or almonds and sprinkle some cinnamon on top.

Serve and consume immediately!

(This recipe was part of an article of kid-friendly vegan recipes I did for Mother & Baby Magazine's July 2011 issue.)

Mayo Dips! Vegan Mayo on the shelves.

2011-08-13T09:11:00.000+05:30

Ever since I went vegan, mayonnaise went off my list. I wasn't a big fan, so I didn't miss it much. I did try Vegenaise in the US, but the taste was too close to mayonnaise for me, it made me sick.

While shopping at some supermarket, I suddenly saw that we now have at least 20 different types of Mayonnaise available and they all are local brands. So I just picked some and started reading their ingredients. To my surprise I found 4 vegan flavours. The first one I tried was Dr Oetker Fun Foods Eggless Diet Mayonnaise. It's really good and has the perfect amount of sweet and salt. Also all of Kissan's Creamy Spreads are vegan. They have plain, tomato and garlic flavours. The problem with Kissan's is that it is way to sweet to be Mayonnaise. Even when I made some spicy dip, I could still taste the sugar in it. The one from Fun Foods on the other hand is perfect for dips and even in sandwiches. It's just like mayonnaise without the eggy flavour.

Dips are perfect for small gatherings and you really can't tell the difference between the vegan and non vegan mayo. They can be served with chips, breads, nachos, sticks of raw vegetables. It's best to serve the dip cold so you can make it a few hours in advance and chill it before serving.

Here are a few ideas that I tried and loved.

The 4C DIP :

Cucumber, grated fine

Chillies, cut fine

Capsicum, cut fine

Coriander leaves, cut fine

Salt

Vegan Mayo

Mix and Serve!

Roasted Pepper Dip:

Capsicum of any colour, roasted on open flame till black. Put it in an air tight container for about 10 minutes immediately. Remove, peel, chop.

Mix with salt, red chilli flakes, mayo. Serve.

Dill Dip:

Dill is a very strange herb. It's really strong and I think it has a concentrated flavour of grass. Many people don't like it, but I love it. For this dip, be sure to use only a few leaves because you don't want the dill to over power the dip.

Few Dill leaves chopped fine.

Green Chillies

Half an onion chopped fine

Salt

Mayonnaise

Fresh Dill (also known as Suva)

Caramelized Onion Celery Dip:

Sauté a finely chopped onion in very little or no oil till it's light brown. Add some freshly chopped celery and garlic to it and cook for two more minutes. Mix with some chilli, coriander powder, salt and mayo. Chill and serve.

Spring Onion Dip:

Chop up one or two spring onions depending on how much you are making. Chop up the leaves and the bulb. Add some chillies, coriander, salt and squeeze in very little lemon juice. Serve Chilled.

The possibilities are endless. You can omit a few ingredients, replace them, add more. You can add the mayo to some Guacamole, add some fresh or dried herbs to flavour them, use carrots for some colour, make a green spinach dip with some cooked spinach puree, make a pumpkin dip after mashing some steamed pumpkin and so much more.

Avocado

Most of the dips I make are dictated by what I find in my vegetable drawer. Store bought vegan mayonnaise is probably not healthy. But once in a while it doesn't hurt specially if you run an extra km on the treadmill the next day.

Travelling Vegan - Venezia, Italia

2011-08-13T07:37:00.000+05:30

Venice as romantic as it sounds and has been made out to be in fairy tales and history books is quite a charmer. You will overlook the fact that there's an open almost-sewage flowing through the city (mind you a sewage in Europe is very different from a sewage in Bombay), and will be awestruck at how someone probably just stopped the clock in Venice. She just doesn't seem to have moved beyond the 1950s, at least from the outside. From the inside, Venice is warm, loving and will invite you to lose yourself. You don't want to trust anyone but yourself in Venice, she has mischief flowing through her veins, in the narrow alleys and graffiti-ed back lanes.

Venice was the most alive city we stopped at. At any given time there will be people, drunk or not so drunk. Venice is a lot like what Bombay is now, just replace the pot holes with waterways and the rickshaws with water taxis. The only thing you can drive in Venice is a boat. We even saw packages on a DHL Express boat sailing by at a not so express speed, a water ambulance and policemen zooming by on police boats. It's quite a sight.

Once we got past all the water, tourists, canals and restaurants by the canals we got to the food. Sometimes the weather smells fishy, other times there is a cool sea breeze blowing through the air. Our first meal was dinner in Venice and we were worried we wouldn't get anything to eat since we only got there after 10pm. Venice is alive and kicking all through the night, we learned. The food is not very different from the other cities and mainly sticks to the basics for the tourists. We also saw a very interesting Japanese restaurant near the Grand Canal. The only difference in Venice is that the condiment tray comes with Red Wine Vinegar and Not Balsamic Vinegar.

The best Bruschetta ever! EVER!

Pizza with Black Olives

Got me some flavoured Soy Yogurt.

Gelaterias are aplenty and many of them had the frulatis or what we call sorbettos here. One Gelateria on all the vegan lists was Gelateria Il Doge. Il Doge has a few gelatis made with rice milk. It's much more lighter than a frulati or a gelati made with soy milk, but it was good none the less.

Il Doge - looks run down because it poured on us that day

Chocolate Gelati made with Rice Milk

Strawberry Frulati

If I had a kitchenette, I would've cooked my way through Venice. The vegetable markets were full of huge peppers, zucchini, egg plant, salad leaves, artichoke hearts, beans. All the markets have small boards naming the produce, price and the origin of each produce - peppers and egg plant from Sicily, Zucchini from St Erasmo, assorted salad leaves sourced locally.

Summer Berries

Zucchini with flowers intact

Check out those peppers! HUGE!

Salad, anyone?

Venice has many bakeries with their products displayed in their windows. Everything looked beautiful and I managed to find something vegan -brittle(Italian chikki) made with different nuts. My favourite was hazelnut. Brittle is usually just nuts and caramalized sugar cut into flat pieces and sold by weight.

Hazelnut Brittle

Giant Pizza

Breads with faces

Since Venice was our last stop, I shopped till I dropped. I bought every imaginable pasta thats not so common here, organic Italian tomatoes, Arborio rice for risottos, olive oil, vinegars, porcini mushrooms, olives. I found quite a few specialty shops selling mostly vegan goodies. They had mock meats, vegan cheese, gluten free pastas, sea weeds, flavoured tofu, rice cream and so many other interesting things. Something about shopping for food and kitchen related goodies gives me a high. My refrigerator right now looks like I'm stocking up for the end of the world, hopefully I'll start using everything soon!

Italy is amazing, not only for whats there to see but also for what you can eat. Vegan or not, Italy has a lot to offer and I hope someday I can go back and devour the country.

Travelling Vegan- Positano, Italia

2011-08-03T05:55:00.000+05:30

The (Postcard) view of Positano from the sea

Positano to Italy is what the Nicobar Islands are to India. It's absolutely stunning, not too many Italians can afford to go there and all the locals are in the tourism business. (I myself have never been to Nicobar and of course Positano has no indigenous tribes that live there)

Wikipedia has the right description for Positano:

"... a relatively poor fishing village during the first half of the 20th century. It began to attract large numbers of tourists in the 1950s, especially after John Steinbeck published his essay about Positano in Harper's Bazaar in May, 1953: "Positano bites deep", Steinbeck wrote. "It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone."

I can vouch for that!

Positano is a picture perfect town by the Amalfi Coast. The towns on the Amalfi Coastline are known for their Lemons and they are full of them. Everywhere you go you see Lemons either growing by the hills, on pottery as designs, hanging by store fronts, displayed proudly outside with other produce and also as table settings in restaurants. It's everywhere and they are so proud of it. They should be! Those lemons are absolutely stunning. There is a whiff of it's scent in the air whenever you're close to one and I was always found myself singing 'Lemon Tree' by Fool's Garden.

Hoping just one would fall as we rode by!

Slopes and slopes of lemon plantations

Lemons that are bigger than Oranges!

Lemons that are bigger than Pineapples!!

Pottery from Amalfi

After stuffing myself in Rome, I didn't have much to expect from a sea side coastal town. I knew I'd come across a lot of sea food. And there is also the Limoncello (lemon gelati) made from local lemons. I also read about Almond milk sold locally in a small shop en route to the beach. It was very intense, too sweet for my liking but I drank it nevertheless.

Spaghetti al Pomodoro

Pizza with Tomatoes and Arugula

Aglio Olio

Pizza with Mushrooms and Oregano

Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Black Olives and Basil

Pizza Margherita

Vegetable Soup

Almond Milk

Positano is full of slopes and narrow lanes with walls lined with beautiful Bouganvilleas and lovely Jasmine shrubs. There are pots of tiny blue flowers and you will find lemons and oranges as if they were fallen leaves. By night, Positano turns into a Bond film - everyone puts on their best dresses and dinner coats and steps out of their hotels for dinner. Travelling musicians pull up in their cars, get off and serenade you with Italian songs (and at least two versions of Volare / Nel blu dipinto di blu). One night, to celebrate Positano, we made our own dinner (open sandwiches) using local ingredients and sat by the gorgeous view from our pretty balcony. We got the local lemons, cherry tomatoes, red peppers with some bread from a bakery, mushrooms in olive oil, a piquant black olive pate, acidic red wine vinegar with some mustard. It was a melee of flavours and it all came together wonderfully with some champagne, the silent sea, and faint music playing somewhere below.

Bouganvilleas - pretty in pink!

Jasmine

(Did you know Jasmine and Olives are from the same plant family!)

Prepping Dinner

Nothing beats the views that Positano, Ravello, Amalfi and Capri have to offer and the food is not going to be topmost on your mind when you are here. The coast takes the cake.

Capri's Faraglioni -

that have a species of lizards that are only found on these isolated rocks and no where else in the world!

Positano sizzles and shivers by the night light

A Perfect ending on our last night in Positano

(This picture has not been edited!)

Next stop : Venezia!

Travelling Vegan - Roma, Italia!

2011-07-15T11:43:00.001+05:30

It has been a dream of mine to travel to Italy and eat the food I love the most, made from authentic and not imported ingredients. And my wish was granted in the form of a ten day trip through three cities. If we had more time (and money) we could have disappeared in Italy.

Before going I was scared. Knowing the love for cheese and meat the Italians have, what will a vegan eat? I was even more scared when I saw the shock on the face of a good friend - an Italian restaurateur as I told him about my predicament. But thanks to the internet and thanks to a significant number of lactose intolerant Italians, I must admit, I ate much more than I had prepared for.

Rome is overwhelming. The city reminds me of New York with its small buildings and busy people. The subway system is as confusing as it is if you are travelling through the New York subway for the first time. The only difference architecturally is the grandeur of the Roman Empire and how some parts of the city have just stopped in time. It's a city full of tourists, touts and tour guides.

I must've spent all my free time at home looking up vegan brands in Italy and one name stood out on a few websites - Valsoia. Valsoia is a company that makes everything out of Soia (Soya). They are an Italian based company that makes everything from Soy Milk to Ice Creams to Yogurts out of Soy. The first thing I did when I entered the supermarket in Rome was to head straight to the freezer section. And there it was staring back at me - Soya Ice cream in many different varieties (Cornetto, Ice cream sandwiches, Sticks...). I wanted to take them all! Of course I tried as much as I could and they were great. But since I was in Italy, what interested me more was Gelati. Again with Gelati, there isn't much information out there about what to expect when you go to a Gelateria. The internet gave me a few places in Rome and Venice that had Soy and Rice milk based Gelatis. I was wrong, I underestimated the Italians!

Averaging anywhere from 4 to 6 Gelatis in a day, we devoured every Gelati. Rome is full of

Gelaterias, even if it's a hole in the wall they will put up a freezer and sell it under the guise of a Gelaterie Artigianale. The prices range from €2 t0 €6 depending on the size, cup or waffle cone and flavours. Since we went in June it was summer, all the berries were in season. Frulatis (gelatis made with fruit, ice and sugar) were almost always vegan. The attendants at the stores knew if they had milk or not. Many were even without sugar. They melt in your mouth, the flavours just stay on your tongue and give you the perfect hit. All the gelatos available in India are way too sweet but that's because we have an excessive palate. Everything is either sweet or spicy, there is no in between.

One Gelateria I found online that made soy gelatos was Gelateria Blue Ice. I'd read about it, saved the address but found this by mistake while walking back from the Vatican. I had stuffed myself with a strawberry gelati (their small serving is huge!) from another gelateria and had no inclination of giving myself a brain freeze. But I could not miss this opportunity and I am so glad I didn't. That day they had hazelnut (nocciola) made with soy milk and it was HEAVEN! Everywhere I went I tried to sample a new flavour. Over ten days, I must've eaten strawberry (fragola) the most. But my favourite was and always will be the nocciola. I can give up anything for another bite of that, anything!

Hazelnut and Chocolate Gelato from Blue Ice

*Drool

Wild Berry and Black Berry Gelati

Eating out wasn't trouble at all and one place was on all the vegetarian websites - Il Margutta. A vegetarian restaurant since 1979, Il Margutta is situated at the end of a narrow alley close to Rome's famous Spanish Steps (we had a bit of difficulty finding it). It's a very quaint and charming restaurant with open air and indoor seating. We chose open air, because it was a beautiful evening. In Italy many restaurants have what is called a 'cover charge'. They usually levy a €2 charge per person to cover the cost of their cutlery and table covers. Some restaurants will advertise 'No Cover Charge'. Many restaurants will also charge for water and bread. Il Margutta charged us for everything.

We went into Il Margutta mostly because it was Rome's only vegetarian restaurant that we knew of and I was hoping they would understand vegans better. They have an extensive vegetarian menu with some vegan options. They didn't have a few vegan dishes listed on the menu which I asked for, but we settled for the Risotto with Courgette flowers and a spaghetti with cherry tomatoes. The food was excellent of course, but we would've enjoyed it a little more if we hadn't stuffed ourselves all day. For dessert they had two vegan options and they were nice enough to give us a little bit of both - a carrot cake and a chocolate cake with a serving of soy gelato. The cakes were made with walnut flour and were dense, flavourful and so good! Il Margutta is a bit on the expensive side and I'd suggest eating light the day you plan to eat there. I only wish they were a little more vegan friendly.

Otherwise, I ate Pizza everyday, every single day! Turns out the Italians love their Pizzas even without cheese. Same with the pastas. All the menus had at least two Pizzas without cheese and meat. The Margharita - tomatoes, garlic and fresh basil (tell them to avoid the cheese) was on every menu. Or you can request the pizza or pasta you want without cheese. There are some Indian and Mediterranean restaurants in Rome which would probably be vegetarian friendly, but when in Rome do as the (vegan) Romans do! A very sweet lady at our hotel told us about an Indian restaurant that served very good Samosas near by. But I don't think it would be the same as the ones you get here. They never are.

Pizza Marinara

Spaghetti with Tomato and Basil

There was lots to choose from, no need to starve. Almost anything that is freshly made can be altered to become vegan friendly. You only have to look out for the pastas made with eggs, squid ink pastas which are black in colour, milk and cheese. It helps to learn the key words of any language before going to a country where English is not the first language. And when I say key words I always start with food. A lot of the food in the supermarket is labeled in Italian and it really helped because I knew that 'uovo/a' is 'egg' and 'con latte' is 'with milk'. Bread and Olive oil with Balsamic vinegar is to die for and all the restaurants either greeted you with a free bread basket or asked you if you wanted some. I can eat it every single day.

A million varieties of Pasta and more

Rome is abundant and will surprise you. The food and the grandiose of the architecture will take you to the era of the Roman Empire and back. You will want to preserve every bite of what you see and eat.

Next Stop: Positano!

Give me some Protein!

2011-07-15T11:07:00.000+05:30

As I was waiting for a video about the new FDA guidelines for contanimation of food in the US to load, I was treated with an ad for Bob Evans juicy farm burger menu. They showed beautiful, colourful farms with even more beautifully animated colours of crops and then CUT TO the burger - A huge (American size) burger with lots of cheese. Of course they mention in passing that the burger comes from a 'juicy' 100% black Agnus (which is beef) and also that the burger is topped with bacon (which is pig). What is funny is that there were no pictures of 'happy' cows or pigs in the entire ad. We have now graduated to advertising that at least 60% of any meal's origins don't need to be shown.

I've wanted to write about protein for a long time but I kept putting it off because there are so many articles all over the place about our protein requirements and where we should be getting it from. I have talked to many people who are of the opinion that they need animal protein to survive, put on weight, build muscles and so on. Of course I disagree, but why is anyone going to listen to me? I don't have any written proof that I am qualified to make such comments. What I only have is proof that I am alive (and kicking) and that like me, there are hundreds and thousands of people all over the world who are doing very well without any animal protein in their diets. There are also many many doctors who highly recommend omission of all animal protein from the diet to reverse many diseases and to stay healthy (I have a list of books below). So many people also ask me why do I want to live longer by being so restrictive. I think I'd rather live longer and healthier rather than die with a disease.

So what is the big deal about protein? And why has it gathered so much press that everyone is so concerned about getting 'enough protein'?

Proteins are organic compounds made up of amino acids and are essential constituents of any living cell. Proteins as nutrients are required to build, maintain and repair tissues in our bodies. Aside from water, protein is the most abundant molecule in the body.

This is my three line definition for protein. Of course books and more can be written about protein but I'll leave that for the Phds.

Where do we get our protein from?

Apart from the protein that our cells are made up of, the amino acids that form protein can be obtained when our stomachs digest the food we eat just as we get carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, etc from our food.

The next BIG question on people's minds is usually where do I get my proteins from?

The moment people know about my food choices (or the lack of it), there are two questions that I get asked the most. One being about calcium (which I will write about someday) and the next about protein. There is this (unnecessary) worry about not getting 'enough' protein. What people might not realize is that they are getting too much of it!

For that I always remember what I learned at Dr Nandita Shah's workshops. When was the last time you saw someone who was deficient in protein? I hope you have not, but to be deficient in protein you have to have been starving. This is a very valid deficiency in India more so in Africa and it is called Kwashiorkar. We learn about it in school and it is accompanied with a picture of a listless, pot bellied child with his rib cage showing from the back. It is a deficiency mainly caused because the child has not been eating anything or eating way too little.

So where do I get my proteins from?

From fruits and vegetables of course!

The human body is designed to be herbivorous. An article by Dr Nandita Shah in Upper Crust gives a good idea of the comparison between our digestive systems and those of the carnivores.

But milk, meat and eggs have lots of protein. And vegetables and fruits are not enough.

Milk, meat and eggs are classified as animal protein and fish is meat too.

The problem with any animal protein, as I have read in many many books and have been told by many doctors, is that it is very similar in its make-up to the proteins found in the human body. The body is not able to differentiate between the good and bad cells and hence attacks itself. This is one of the main reasons why auto-immune diseases and cancers are on the rise. A very comprehensive research study is available in the book The China Study by Dr. T Colin Campbell.

Apart from that, animal products do come with cholesterol and saturated fat. MNCs advertising zero cholesterol butters and yogurts are just saying there is no cholesterol or saturated fat in .000001mg of their butter! No one reads the fine print anyway and butter tastes so good and makes everything else taste so good.

The whole protein myth probably started when the non vegetarians came across the vegetarians, when the meat industry realized they needed a new strategy to combat the rise of the vegetarians. That is my theory. But this protein myth is so widely accepted that now even in nutrition school they are taught that Indian lacto-vegetarian diets don't have enough protein and Indians need to start eating eggs and chicken. Try telling that to my grandparents, who have been raised on lacto-vegetarian diets all their lives, or even their parents who probably had a bath if they were in the same room as an egg. There is also another line floating around that protein from meat, milk and eggs is superior to plant protein. Also that our bodies have evolved to consume and digest meat. Of course, that is why we have claws, canines, hunt for our meat, eat it raw, have the saliva to digest meat, have a short small intestine so that the meat passes by quickly through our systems and are not constipated at all.

How do I know I am getting enough protein?

For one I show no signs of protein deficiency and like me the scores of people on healthy vegan diets are also healthier than ever.

The problem these days is of too much protein. People on non-vegetarian and vegetarian diets alike are eating more animal protein than ever and it's showing. Everyday there are reports of how obese and overweight people are getting. But every other day there are reports to show that we need milk for strong bones and eggs for protein. The most ridiculous advertisement I spotted recently by India's favourite butter brand,was about how butter is on top of the food chain! Thanks to India's 'White Revolution' we are now going in the same direction as US and Europe. And I don't need to mention that the US has the heaviest population on this planet.

Protein deficiency is caused when your body is not getting enough or any food. Developing countries where famines and droughts ensure that no food gets to its people, are subject to kwashiorkar - a disease that affects children the most.

Cutting out animal protein certainly doesn't mean you cannot eat anything. There are a multitude of fruits, vegetables, grains and pulses you can eat and how!

The Devil that is CARBS!

Carbohydrates are very simply carbon, hydrogen and oxygen come together needed to provide our bodies and brains with energy. Without them we would be comatose zombies! (Skinny Bitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin).

Thanks to the Atkins diet and so many others, Carbohydrates have been tagged as the bad guys. So you can eat all the dead animals and cheesy food, just avoid the fruits and the grains and you will be as thin as you want. You will lose weight but that will only be your initial water weight, if you continue to be on this diet life long you are asking for some trouble (aka osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer and so on). I also think diets that say you need one nutrient more than the other have got it all wrong because no one nutrition can work in isolation. They all need each other to synthesize and transform into energy for us.

As long as you fill you your plate with complex carbs (brown red rice, natural unprocessessed sweetners, whole grains) and avoid simple carbs (sugar, white rice, polished grains, white bread and even store bought brown bread in India) you will be doing your body a whole lot of good. Of course don't forget your fruits, vegetables and legumes.

I don't sit in front of my plate and measure 1/3rd carbs or 2/3rd proteins or 5/7th minerals or any such thing. I think the whole concept of a diet by classifying foods according to their main nutrient is bull crap. I eat whole, healthy and as much raw as i can.I don't count my calories and I do not measure every meal. I make sure I eat at least one fresh fruit a day though I'd like it increase that. There's a multitude of junk food you can eat even if you follow a vegan diet. Almost everything that is fried is vegan except when they add cheese or milk powder to it. I can go on and may be even write a book with the amount of information that is available out there. Finally it boils down to whether you want to believe it or not. If you still believe you need to have egg white and a piece of chicken to survive, I can only ask you to open your mind to the possibility that it might not be good for you and you won't know unless you try.

Books you must read:

The China Study - Dr T Colin Campbell

Skinny Bitch / Skinny Bastard - Rory freedman and Kim Barnouin

for an extensive list of books available in Mumbai at the SHARAN Library, try http://sharan-india.org/resources/sharan-library-books/

....

2011-06-27T19:17:00.000+05:30

A lot has happened since the last post and I promise I have many stories. I will be back to blogging soon!

Discovering and Experimenting

2011-04-14T17:23:00.000+05:30

Kale and Tofu Bhajiyas with some Gun Powder Chutney!

I have to admit, one thing I cannot get rid of is my love of fried food. Everyday I tell myself that

yesterday was the last day I had something fried (or sweet) and the next day I have to say the same thing to myself!

I love discovering new ingredients in the markets and it's more exciting if they are locally grown because I know I can find it again and also I know I can grow it someday. The best place to discover new stuff in Bombay is Crawford Market. Every time I go I end up spending much more than I budget for. It's like a treasure hunt in there!

The last time I went, I found me some fresh artichoke, Chinese Kale and some beautiful Chard. Of course when I heard that they had Kale I got super excited and thought it was the calcium

rich Kale available in the US and without looking at it I planned to make some Kale chips only to realise that this was another variety. [I wouldn't recommend anyone to buy artichoke or asparagus grown in India because we still haven't mastered it. The artichokes are too small, the asparagus too thin and both are quite expensive.]

So I come back home with three bags full of my new exotic findings (i always over do it since it takes me a couple of hours to get to Crawford market) and excite my mom in to experimenting with it.

I'd forgotten about the Chinese Kale when one day my mom was frying up some bhajiyas and we decided it was time to use the Kale. It's as easy as it looks and tastes awesome. The chutney was an on the spot invention and it was a perfect combination.

You need:

Some chickpea flour (say 1 cup)

A teaspoon of Bishop's Weed (Ajwain)

Half teaspoon of turmeric

Half teaspoon of red chilli powder

Salt

Water

Nicely washed and dried Chinese Kale with the stocks

Tofu (cut up however you want, I made tofu blocks)

Oil for frying

Heat the oil in a deep dish wok preferable cast iron.

Mix the chickpea flour, bishop's weed, turmeric, chilli powder and salt. Add water little bit at a time and keep stirring till you get a thick batter.

When the oil is hot, dip the kale leaves in the batter till they are coated. You won't get an even coat but do it until you are happy and fry till golden brown.

Do the same with the tofu. One thing I did with the tofu is I rolled it in some Chaat Masala and then dipped it into the batter before frying. So after you bite into the crispy chickpea-chilli batter you're hit with the sourness of the masala and then you bite into the soft tofu!

For the Chutney, throw in some dried whole red chillies, a couple of pieces of tamarind, a couple of pieces of jaggery and some salt into a blender. Blend it till it's all mixed up and gooey.

This will go well with almost anything, if you can handle the spice.

For the ♥ of Artichoke

2011-03-02T00:23:00.001+05:30

Where do I begin? If you haven't had an Artichoke, you're missing something BIG. Of course it's

not available fresh in India, but go and get that can of tender, sweet love and you'll know what I'm talking about.

I am always very excited to get myself a can of Artichoke hearts. I absolutely love Artichoke hearts and crave for it every so often, much to my chagrin (you'll know why by the time I end this post).

Artichoke is very versatile. It has no particular taste of it's own but also reminds me somewhat of an asparagus. It melts in your mouth as the layers unfold and goes well with or on top of almost anything.

This time I decided to punctuate the mild sweetness of the Artichoke with Fire Roasted Peppers and drizzled it with a sour Greek Style Olive Oil Dressing and it was heaven. K and I ended up eating the entire bowl of salad meant for five and even added more artichokes in towards the end.

Artichokes, according to a Wikipedia entry, have the highest reported total antioxidant capacity amongst vegetables. It is also known to aid digestion, strengthen the liver and gall bladder functions and raide the HDL/LDL ratios.

A warning though, about an hour after we ate our meal, we couldn't stop our bowels clearing themselves out! After about 4 such trips, I searched for 'artichoke diuretic' and there it was. We found the culprit! It's a good cleanse, though we ended up feeling hungry for a midnight snack. Lesson learnt - Go slow on the Artichoke.

Anything for the ♥ of Artichoke!

Vegan Caesar Salad

2011-03-01T23:47:00.000+05:30

The usual recipe for a Caesar Salad contains, besides the lettuce and croutons, some egg, some fish and of course some Parmesan Cheese. In India, the fish and eggs are usually replaced by Mayonnaise for the vegetarians, so that still leaves us non dairy eating folk out of this salad since we still don't get Vegenaise or any vegan cheese alternative in India. I used a simple replacement for the mayonnaise leaving the basic ingredients the same.

This replacement is an adaptation of my friend T's invention that I have also used to add some 'cheese' to the Eggplant Lasagne. I love her for making this and I know I am going to add it to many more recipes.

For the Salad:

Lettuce Leaves (you can use as many kinds of lettuce you find!)

A handful of cherry tomatoes, halved (I like some colour in my salad)

Pepper

Salt

A dash of Worcestershire Sauce (always placed right next to Soy sauce!)

Croutons (I cut up bread into small cubes, drizzle some oil and herbs and bake it till it's crunchy)

Lemon Juice

For the cheese/mayo replacement:

1 block of firm tofu (200gms)

Olive Oil

2 cloves of Garlic

Squeeze out the water from the tofu by pressing it between your hands. Break it up and put it into a blender/ chopper. Let it get mushy and look almost like spoilt curd (you can grate it alternatively, but I find the blender easier). Heat one teaspoon oil in a pan, add some garlic, and add in this tofu puree. Cook it well while stirring at intervals till the tofu softens, which will happen in about 5 minutes or more. Add some salt.

In a large salad bowl, add in the lettuce, tomatoes, pepper, garlic, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce salt and mix well. When the tofu-cheese has cooled down add it in. Refrigerate before serving and don't forget the croutons.

Cheesy Eggplant Lasagne

2011-03-01T22:46:00.000+05:30

This recipe is a culmination of inspirations from two close childhood friends/neighbours. One, my dear friend S who now lives in the Emerald City and another dear friend T who is one of the very few chaddi buddies of mine who hasn't left this country (yet)!

S wrote to me about the Eggplant Lasagne she makes at home all the time replacing those sheets of whole wheat with sliced eggplant. Eggplant might not be everyone's favourite vegetable, but this recipe turns it into something else. It's quite a common recipe and it's very easy to veganise.

T on the other hand, cooked up this lovely appetizer for the (three) vegans at her birthday party using mushrooms, peppers and tofu. It so happened that the morning S wrote to me, this was my dinner and I had to use T's method of making tofu into cheese for the lasagne.

This is not my original recipe, in fact you will find hundreds if you search for it. I just adapted it to my taste.

You need:

One large Eggplant, peeled and sliced thin

2 cups Red Pasta Sauce (Home made or store bought. I usually blanch/ steam the tomatoes,

puree them and put it through a seive. Cook Onions, Garlic, Capsicum, add herbs and add the tomato puree, a hint of chilli, salt and pepper. Let it simmer for 15 mins.)

1 block of firm tofu (200gms)

2 cloves of garlic

Any more veggies you want to add in to the lasagne like mushrooms, spinach, steamed carrots, peppers, zucchini, etc or you can just keep it simple and serve a salad on the side.

Any oil (olive/ rice bran/ sunflower/ safflower)

Oregano and Thyme

Salt

The Eggplant has to be cooked well before it is assembled into the lasagne. There are two ways of doing it in your oven or on a pan. If you don't have an oven, just heat a little bit of oil in a pan and put in as many slices of eggplant as you can. Turn it over when it is soft and brown underneath and cook both sides well. This may be a bit of a mess specially because the eggplant sticks easily.

The other way is to preheat your oven and arrange the eggplant in an oiled tray. Sprinkle some salt, oil, oregano, thyme and chunks of garlic. Let this cook for 20 mins or till brown and then turn it over and cook for another 15 minutes.

While this is happening you can get started on the tofu. Squeeze out the water from the tofu by pressing it between your hands. Break it up and put it into a blender/ chopper. Let it get mushy and look almost like spoilt curd (you can grate it alternatively, but I find the blender easier). Heat one teaspoon oil in a pan, add some garlic, herbs, salt and add in this tofu puree. Cook it well till the tofu softens which will happen in about 5 minutes. It takes a bit of stirring and scraping, but it's totally worth it. This can be used as a base for so many more recipes. I also made a Vegan Caesar Salad with this which I will add next.

Once you have everything ready, it's time to assemble. Remember to preheat your oven/ grill at least ten minutes before so you can get your hands on this thing faster!

Use a wide bowl and start with a layer of the cooked eggplant. Once you have your base covered, top it up with some of the sauce and vegetables if using any. Then comes the cheesy layer of the tofu. Repeat till you are exhausted with all your ingredients and remember to end with the tofu cheese. Sprinkle some oregano and thyme on top and pop it in the oven for about 20-30 minutes. The idea is to get it nice and hot and maybe even allow the tofu on top to brown a bit (only if your oven has a top heating device).

That's it! Serve hot with some nice salad (I made Fire Roasted Peppers, Artichokes and Cherry

Tomatoes in the Greek inspired Olive Oil Dressing)

(Sorry about the bad picture, when the food is ready to eat, taking a picture is the last thing on my mind.)

The juicy eggplant is such a brilliant replacement for the sheets of wheat. It sucks in all the flavour of the tomato sauce and has a lovely flavour of its own to add to the experience.

Four Seasons, four wines, four hours.

2011-01-31T16:35:00.001+05:30

This is probably my first post about wine / alcohol. Being vegan does not mean you can't have a good time once in a while. Of course many people choose not to drink, but an occasional drink doesn't hurt, especially when it is a part of the Food Bloggers Dinner. Of course I was stupid enough to forget my camera at home, but luckily there's no dearth of photos when you go out for dinner with fellow food bloggers.

The Food Blogger Dinner is a brainchild of Rushina of A Perfect Bite. Having missed the previous two gatherings and then repenting after looking at the beautiful food everyone had, I really wanted to make it for this one. Rushina and Jyotika, both very talented individuals organised for this dinner with Melissa and UB Group who are introducing a bunch of interesting wines into the Indian market. The meet was a full house with many famously talented bloggers from all over town, held at Olive at Mahalakshmi Race Course.

We were introduced to our host of the evening Mr. Abhay Kewadkar who is the Chief Winemaker at UB Wines and we got straight to business (the best part of course).

The traditional pairing of food and wine includes a lot of meat and cheese. Being one of two vegans there (Harini was the other vegan to give me company...phew!) the food was altered for us specially and like how!

We started off with Sauvignon Blanc, a very earthy white wine paired with a wine marinated Grape salad with Walnuts, Lettuce and Arugula. As we were told, Sauvignon Blanc has flavours of gooseberries, grass, capsicums and herbs and it goes best with raw green salads like the one we had.

Then we went on to Viognier, another white with fruity aromas. Having never tasted more than one wine in a span of a few hours this session was really interesting. I could really taste the difference between both the wines and immediately fell in love with the Viognier. The food pairing for this wine had to be greatly altered for us vegans and we were not disappointed. In fact many people liked what we got better. We got some pepper sauteed mushrooms topped with thin slices of croutons.

Our next course was the main course. After eating so much food and drinking two glasses of wine, we frankly had not much capacity. But avoiding all the meat and cheese sure does leave you with more space than the rest. We were served two red wines, a Merlot and a Cabarnet Sauvignon. The dish was a Morroccan Vegetable Tagine with Couscous. Tagine is a morroccan main course usually served in ceramic pot-plate covered with a cone shaped cover. The gravy is usually cooked in that pot and served in it too. I wasn't too fond of either of the wines, but if I had to choose I'd go with the Merlot.

Next came dessert and there was not much they could do for the vegans. But we all got a special Sangria made with Rose (also called Blush because its a light pink coloured wine). After the Voignier, this was the best part for me. The Rose was mixed with hints of cranberry juice, granadine and littered with strawberries and watermelons. I was in a pretty fruity mood that evening!

I came back from this dinner with much more respect for blogging and bloggers. I wish I didn't make so many excuses to update my blog more frequently.

I have no pictures of the event, but many people I met that day have some lovely pictures.

and many many more...

My Vegan Navratan Korma

2011-01-03T13:46:00.000+05:30

I'm not a big fan of Mughali food and getting myself to cook something other than dessert or non-Indian food is asking for a bit more effort. So this recipe of Navratan Korma was born out of necessity for someone I recently catered to for a lunch. 'Navratan' meaning nine gems, ideally should include nine varieties of vegetables and fruits in the 'Korma' meaning gravy, made with yogurt, cream and a nut paste.

I don't remember when I had a Navratan Korma the last time, but I know it's sweet and from what I have gathered from reading recipes online is there are two ways to make it(with tomatoes and without). For me Navratan Korma is a rich whitish gravy with lots of vegetables and a few nuts sprinkled on top. There are two things I avoid while making Mughali food - adding too much or any sweet to the gravy and adding fruits (specially pineapple) to it. Most of the recipes call for such additions, hence this recipe is my vegan version of the Navratan Korma, how I like it.

This recipe is my vegan adaptation from one recipe I found on www.vahrevah.com. If you haven't seen any videos of the 'vah chef' I think you should do it right away. He's really something to watch and has some really good recipes of course.

For this recipe you need:

(Serves 3 to 4)

Steamed Vegetables and Legumes of your choice (Potatoes, Carrots, French Beans, Sweet Potato, Raw Banana, Chickpeas, Cauliflower, Capsicum*, Peas*, Broccoli, any other beans...)

* I like to add the Capsicum and Peas to the gravy raw so they maintain their colour and don't get too mushy.

1/4 cup Cashews

1 Onion chopped

1 teaspoon Oil (Rice Bran/ sunflower/ safflower/ canola) Optional

1/2 teaspoon Cumin seeds/ Jeera

1 teaspoon Garam Masala

1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste or 1/2 inch ginger grated and 1 clove of garlic

1 teaspoon Coriander Powder

1 bay leaf

2-4 cloves

A dash of cinnamon or some cinnamon sticks

1 cup (200ml) plain unflavoured Soy Milk

Red Chilli Powder

Pepper

Salt

Roasted or Fried Raisins, Cashews, Almonds

In a saucepan, add the chopped onions and cashews to about 1/4 cup water and cook till the onions become translucent and the cashews becomes soft. Put this into a blender and blend it to a smooth paste.

Heat the oil in a pan if using oil or do a dry roast of the spices. Add the cumin seeds, garam masala, ginger garlic, coriander powder, bay leaf and cloves. Let it all blend and then add the cashew-onion paste. Cook it for a good 5 to 7 mins till it gets thick and starts oozing out the oil. At this point add about half cup of water and add the capsicum and green peas. Let it come to one boil and assimilate. Add the rest of the steamed vegetables and 1 cup of soy milk. Also add in the salt, cinnamon and red chilli powders. Cover it and let it simmer for 10 minutes on a low flame. Add the pepper and stir it well. Add the raisins, cashews and almonds on top.

Serve hot with plain or flavoured rice, rotis or parathas.

Korean Miso 'Fish Egg' Soup

2010-11-24T21:51:00.000+05:30

This recipe started off as a usual stir fry and ended up with the title of a Korean Miso 'Fish Egg' Soup. The story will unfold itself eventually, I hope.

It started out with a 'what to make for dinner' thought. The family was eating out so since I had to cook only for myself, I thought why not put a few vegetables that cook real quick together. But the kitchen had other plans for me.

So I open the fridge pick out half of a Yellow Zucchini, half a pack of Mushrooms, some tofu, a Green Chilli, few florets of Cauliflower and some pieces of Yam. I steamed the cauliflower and yam, cut the rest of the vegetables and proceeded to make my usual stir fry dinner. Oil, green chilli, tofu, yam, cauliflower, soy sauce etc all in, stirring around. Suddenly I remember I have some miso (which I have been treating like it was made out of gold) bought from Auroville. Miso is a fermented soybean paste that adds a lot of flavour to soups, stews and is used in many Japanese recipes. Though it is common in almost all of South East Asian cuisine, Miso Soup is a popular Japanese appetizer. It has a sour-sweet taste and it is usually added to the dish after everything has cooked. (I am not sure where it is available in Mumbai but I will find out and update this post. Also it is totally optional to this recipe.)

So I remember that I can make my stir fry in to a miso soup and while I'm doing that I spot the 'fish eggs'. Of course they are not fish eggs, they don't smell like fish eggs, but they look slimy, gelatinous and look very much like fish eggs. More about that later.

I added water, salt and pepper to the vegetables, covered them so they could cook a bit, took it off the stove and added a teaspoon of miso. Let it all sit for a bit and served myself the soup and added a spoon of the 'fish eggs' on top. This is what it looked like...

So I thought to myself why not search if there is any such thing as a fish egg soup and there actually is a Korean fish egg soup I found online made with tofu, vegetables and fish eggs of course. It looks nothing like what I ate and I'm sure it tasted nothing like it either. My sister saw me clicking pictures of my dinner and with a lot of disgust on her face asked me what the hell I was planning to eat.

Okay, if you know your Indian dessert you probably know what my 'fish eggs' were. They were basil seeds or sabja seeds or sabza seeds, infamous for their addition to Falooda here in India. It is usually soaked till it becomes all gelatinous and then added to the dessert. It is also consumed because it is known to treat digestive problems and also bring down the pitta or heat in your body.

They have no taste, they look like little speckled eggs and have a rubbery texture. Except for the taste, colour and smell, the texture is very much like what people eat as the real fish eggs. They added nothing more than a novelty to my soup, which is what I look for in most of what I eat, even if I have eaten the very same thing gazillion times before.

What does a vegan eat?

2010-11-16T13:33:00.000+05:30

This is an ever growing list of things a vegan can eat off the shelves of a store or at a restaurant in India. Most of them just happen to be accidentally vegan. Of course it might not be all healthy but it's just a list we should all be aware of.

I have this note on Facebook that keeps getting updated by people living all over India. But for those who cannot see it on Facebook, it's pasted below. I will keep updating it from time to time.

I'm not going to include fruit juices, fruits or veggies. Feel free to add restaurants from your respective cities that might have some vegan options in the comments and I will add them to the main article.

Please add stuff you know for sure that is vegan because I may not be aware of all things vegan!

Biscuits and Other Junk:

Hide and Seek by Parle

Pickwick Biscuits - Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla

Parle's Coconut Biscuits

Parle Bourbon Biscuits

Oreo's Cream Biscuits (even though it's not an Indian brand, it's widely available in lots of common grocery stores these days)

McVities Hobnobs (almost all other McVities biscuits are also vegan).

Haldiram's Bhujiyas and other fried stuff

Haldiram's Soanpapdi

All local fried chips - potato, jackfruit, sweet potato, banana,....

Most Khakras (unless it mentions 'pure ghee')

Kellogs Chocos and some other cereals

Coconut Milk Powders - Beware of the powders because most of them (like Nestle) have milk powder added. Coconut Milk in tetra packs by Dabur and Godrej are good.

Drinks:

Staetta Soy Milk in all flavours

Sofit Soy Milk in all flavours

Vegan Shake and Irish Coffee at Cafe Coffee Day

(Im not going to list the sodas because they are way too unhealthy for this list! :)

Chocolate:

Bournville

Frozen Food:

All stuff by Fry's - Fry's Veggie Burgers, Veggie Polony and Veggie Sausages

Street Junk:

Paani Puri

Bhel Puri

Sev Puri

Ragda Pattice (A growing trend I have noticed is to fry the pattice in ghee, so it might not always be vegan)

Samosa Chole

Chole Bature

Vada Pav

Samosa Pav

Misal pav

Jalebis (Always check if they have added yogurt to the batter and/or fried it in ghee)

Kaju Katli (Again ask if milk or ghee has been added)

Dhoklas (Ask if curd has been added to the batter. Most shops don't do it to increase the shelf life of the dhokla.)

Restaurants in Bombay with Vegan Stuff:

Mocha Mojo, Bandra - has some raw food options, also has a raw dessert that is vegan

Ray's Pizzeria, Bandra - Has a vegan Pizza. But it's just a pizza without cheese, so don't expect too much.

Swati Snacks, Tardeo - Has some good gujarati snacks most of which are vegan

The Green Stove in Thane and Mumbai for vegan cakes, cookies, breads, cheesecakes, chocolates and appetizers. Only on order.

Indian cuisine is easily vegan if you know what to avoid - paneer, ghee, butter, cheese, curd. Barbeque Nation always has a vegan mousse in the desserts section and the dal is not always vegan. The complimentary green chutneys at most north indian places has curds and also Naan almost always has eggs.

All Udipi restaurants have vegan options. So this means all Dosas (except the ghee spcials), Idlis, Vadas, Rice Dishes, Sambhar, Coconut Chutney...

All Italian Restaurants (Except Mia Cucina, Bandra) will avoid the cheese on your Red Sauce Pastas (or make stuff for you without cheese or butter) which include Little Italy outlets, Casa Mia in Ghatkopar, Spaghetti Kitchen outlets, Botticino at BKC. Casa Mia has a vegan version of the Bolognaise made with soy chunks.

South East Asian Vegetarian dishes are vegan, but by popular demand (!) have started adding paneer. So ask them to avoid paneer and the MSG - The Bowl House at Ghatkopar, China One at Dadar, Joss at Fort, 5 Spice outlets, Shiro's at Lower Parel, Flavors of spices (earlier known as Peter Wang) on Ghodbunder Road, Thane has many vegan options and they also customize your dishes if you specify that you want them dairy free.

Mediterranean and Fusion Cuisine - Blue Frog, Lower Parel (even made a non vegetarian dish vegan for me), Cafe Basilico at Bandra, Falafel's outlets, Bistro Grill outlets. It's important to know that in almost all falafel dishes, the tahini has been invaded by mayonnaise, so ask them not to add that. Kajun spice potatoes on most restaurant menus are vegan, but please check always. At Moshe's you get an amazing Balinese curry that is vegan but you must let the table attendant know that tofu is ok because they avoid tofu if you ask for vegan curries. Moshe also has a unique roasted fruit smoothie that is vegan.

Bangalore Brownies and Cakes:-

Bagels and Bakes brand chocolate brownies and chocolate muffins (available at all Namdharis).-

Carnival Bakery has a separate vegan menu filled with delicious cakes, pies, puddings, mousses, breads, donuts and cookies. They're a delivery only bakery.

Bangalore Restaurants (specialty global cuisines):

Soo Ra Sang on Wind Tunnel Road (off old Airport Road) - Korean - nearly all the vegetarian dishes (including all the little kim chees, veggies, beans, pancakes etc... that they serve on the side) happen to be vegan by default.

Fava at UB City - Mediterranean - a lot of the vegetarian dishes can be veganized. Just make sure you specify many times that you do not have dairy products and cross check the dips (they have a habit of sneaking a yogurt based dip into some foods so ensure that isn't there).

Monsoon at The Park Hotel - all cuisines - call them in advance and they will prepare a special vegan meal just for you, including a deliciously decadent vegan pastry.

Shiro at UB City - Japanese, Balinese, Chinese (the authentic kind) - limited vegetarian and vegan choices but whatever is available is very tasty.

Tasty Tangles- vegetarian dishes on their menu are vegan except for the dessert section.

My Freckled Stir Fry Dinner

2010-11-15T22:01:00.000+05:30

This is one was tonight's impromptu dinner stir fried by my brother. I just put together a bunch of ingredients, nothing special, just whatever I found around the kitchen and in the fridge that I thought would go well together.

I was looking for black sesame seeds instead of the white ones but found Nigella Seeds (on left)

instead (Nigella sounds like a person!). These seeds are commonly used in Indian cooking. They are also called Onion seeds or Kalonji. To me they taste like Ajwain (Carom Seeds) but lots of people think otherwise.

Why did I add them? For some colour actually. It adds some nice looking black freckles and some nice flavour too.

I used:

1/2 a pack of Button Mushrooms (about ten of them)

1 Green Pepper (Capsicum) chopped in to chunks

1/2 a pack of tofu (about 100 gms)

2 stalks of Celery

1 Onion sliced in thin strips

Sesame Seeds

Nigella Seeds (Also called Onion seeds or Kalonji in Hindi)

1 tsp Rice Bran Oil

Pepper or a Red Chilli

Heat the oil in a wok. Add the Red Chilli, Sesame and Nigella Seeds. Add the tofu and stir it for a bit till the tofu starts getting light brown. Add in the onions and let them cook a bit (I'm not a big fan of raw onions) After a couple of minutes add the mushrooms, capsicum and celery. I used the entire stalk of celery, with the leaves. Cover it for about 4 minutes. Add salt and pepper. Eat!

How easy was that?!

You can put it on top of some toasted bread, add some cooked noodles or rice to it, or just have it as is. Makes a nice, light and healthy dinner.

Veggie Burgers

2010-10-10T11:36:00.000+05:30

Once in a while I like to eat burgers and this is a result of that craving and also because there were too many veggies at home!

This is my version of a healthy burger. Of course you can go ahead and buy the frozen ones from the store but if you're crazy enough like me you'll like these better.

You need:

Any kind of vegetables. It's better to use a few of the starchy veggies so they all hold together.

Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes

Carrots

Peas

Pumpkins

Beetroot

Beans

Yams

Raw Bananas

Onions (optional)

Garlic (optional)

Oregano

Thyme

Basil

Celery

Coriander

Chilli Flakes / Red Chilli Powder

Salt

Pepper

1/2 cup soy granules if you like

Rice Flour

Oil

Steam all the veggies and mash them up.

Chop up the onion and garlic. Sauté them with the herbs and a little bit of water or oil till the onions are caramelized or dark brown.

Soak the soy granules for 5 minutes in some water. Once the veggies are steamed, you can grate

them up or mash them all together. Drain the soy granules off the excess water and mix them with the vegetables. Add the onions, herbs of your choice, the red chilli, salt and mix it well. It's best to use your hands for this.

Make them into your burger patty shapes and put them in a plate with some rice flour. Cover up them up.

In a flat frying pan, put about 2 teaspoons of oil. Once hot, start putting the patties in.

Cook both sides till dark brown like in the picture on the left.

Have it with some burger bread, salad leaves, diced tomatoes, cucumbers and onions, with some mustard and pepper on top.

I put it on white bread (picture on the right) with vegetables and

grilled it all together.

Yes that is a cucumber, almost the size of the patty! It's an organic cucumber grown on the outskirts of Mumbai.

Vegan Peanut Pesto

2010-10-05T17:29:00.000+05:30

Pesto is a paste/ sauce, made usually with Basil, Pine nuts, Cheese and Olive Oil. Basil is now easily available here and if you're not growing it in your herb garden, you should start now!

Since pine nuts are not grown in India and are pretty expensive, I prefer to use something that is locally available and doesn't affect the taste at all. Actually, pesto can be made with any type of nut (cashews, walnuts, almonds, peanuts)

Here's what I used:

A handful of basil leaves

A handful of roasted peanuts

A teaspoon (may be less than one) of sea salt

A clove of garlic

A teaspoon or two of olive oil

A pinch of black pepper

Blend everything and it's done.

Serve it with some cooked plain pasta, or on top of toasted bread or as a dip for some raw veggies or in your salad dressing or in your tomato based pasta sauce or with some cooked rice. The possibilities are endless.

I just had it with some plain Penne. *Bliss

Vegan More Kozambu (Buttermilk Gravy)

2010-10-05T12:53:00.000+05:30

More Kozambu (pronounced More Koyambu) is a typically South Indian gravy that is usually made with More (Buttermilk). It is a spicy, sour mix of buttermilk and red chilli with vegetables.

This one is made with Peanut Buttermilk. It sounds complicated, but its's worth the effort.

So to start off, you need a cup of peanuts. Soak it in water over night. The next morning, drain it and put it in a blender with 2 cups water. Strain this pulp and what you get below is Peanut Milk. You can put the pulp back in with 1/2 cup water, blend it one more time and strain it out.

The Peanut milk now has to be set like you usually would set cow's milk. You could use dairy yogurt as a starter, but strict vegans prefer not to. So I set it with Rejuvelac. I'd suggest you soak the peanuts and the wheat at the same time, so the next morning you can use the rejuvelac to set the milk into curds. You might not get the same consistency as dairy curds the first time around. But if you continue to use this as a starter to set further trials of peanut or soy milk even, the end result will get thicker as time passes.

Since we are going to use it for a buttermilk type preparation, it's okay if the milk sets into a watery state. It takes about 8 hours for the peanut milk to set. I still get some curds that look like it's set on top but when you stir it there's only a watery mess below.

Seems like a lot of work! Anyway, once you have your (somewhat) set curd you can stir it up if you're going to use it as a buttermilk.

The buttermilk can also be made into a vegan Masala Chaas (Buttermilk with Masala)

Just add some Asafoetida, grind curry leaves and some green chillies together, salt and water. Chill it and have it after your meal. It's really really good!

For the More Kozambu, you need:

Any vegetable (carrots, red pumpkin, capsicum, drumstick) I used White Pumpkin which was steamed earlier

2-3 Red chillies

a little Tamarind

1 tsp rice flour

1/2 teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds (Methi)

1/2 Teaspoon oil (optional)

1 cup Peanut Buttermilk (recipe above)

Salt

Curry Leaves

Grind the Red Chilli, Tamarind, Fenugreek seeds and the rice flour. In a saucepan, add this mixture to some oil or just add it in the hot saucepan. Stir it around a bit. Add the Peanut Buttermilk, the vegetable, salt and water.

Let it simmer for about 6 minutes. Garnish with curry leaves. And it's ready to be served!

Pumpkin & Fenugreek Soup

2010-09-27T12:16:00.000+05:30

This one is inspired from my non vegan days. I once had this soup at a restaurant in Mumbai. Of course it was a really thick, cream laden soup but I never forgot how much I appreciated the flavours. So I tried and tested one idea I had of replacing the cream with coconut milk and the result was a wonderful blend of flavours in a beautiful orange broth with speckles of green and red. (I will put up a picture soon!)

You need:

About 250 gms of Red Pumpkin (Lal bhopla in hindi / marathi), you can remove the seeds and the fibre around the seeds but don't remove the green skin

1 teaspoon Fenugreek seeds (Methi seeds)

1/2 cup coconut milk (I always prefer freshly made coconut milk)

3 Red Chillies ground to flakes or chilli flakes

Water

Salt

Fresh chopped coriander / parsley

Steam the pumpkin and the fenugreek seeds separately. Once the pumpkin is steamed, purée it in a blender.

Put this is into a saucepan and add the red chillies, fenugreek seeds and a little water. Once it comes to a slight boil, add the salt and coconut milk and take it off the stove.

You can make it as thick as you like. If you prefer thicker soups, omit the water and add just the coconut milk.

Garnish with chopped coriander or parsley and serve hot.

Serves two.