Travelling Vegan: Eating out in Brussels & Ghent

It's been a while. I just realised my last post was in March. Time has got the better of me. While I type this, the rains in Mumbai have been lashing us through the night and giving us a break during the day. The husband and I managed to take our annual break last month. This time we jam packed our two weeks with so much activity we needed a break after the break. Our first stop was Brussels, probably Belgium's most visited city with a statue of a boy peeing as one of the most famous tourist attractions.

Like last year, this time also I did not chalk out the vegan restaurants I had to eat at. Frankly I did not have the time. I was baking cakes for people until the night of the flight. Even before I knew it I was passed out on the short flight to Paris. A quick train ride later we were in a grey, rainy Brussels.

Belgium is known for its chocolate and they want you, the tourist, to be very clear about that. While walking towards the touristy center of the town, every second shop is a chocolate shop. Put on some blinkers on the sides of your eyes if you don't want to enter every chocolate shop. They have amazing selections of dark chocolate most of which are vegan in a variety of flavours. You can buy an assortment of whatever you like by the kilo.You can also buy dark chocolate spread at these small chocolate stores. Make sure you check ingredients.

Drooling yet?

Everyone is welcome!

My loot - Dark Chocolate squares with Dark Hazelnuts, Strawberry and Cocoa Nibs

While on this trip, I'd decided I would also try to be as wheat-free as possible. Yes, I love challenges! I've noticed a marked difference in the way my body reacts if I eat wheat. While in Belgium I managed to stay wheat-free snacking on these amazing Tartines (almost like the rusk) made from Chestnut flour with a Truffle Pâté. I may have even made it a meal on one occasion.

Very crunchy snack. Also available in lots of different flour options.

Tartex is a famous brand that makes lots of yummy vegan stuff.

We took a day trip to the pretty Ghent which is supposed to have the most number of vegetarian restaurants per capita in the world. They even officially have announced Thursday as a meat-free day. We literally waited outside a vegan restaurant until the friendly manager opened for business for lunch. Komkommertijd is run by a worker's co-operative and serves an all you can eat buffet. I skipped breakfast so that I could fill up on the lovely food there!

We were the first to arrive, but it got full very quickly.

The manager was a little unsure if we would like the food when she realised we were Indians. She said they are always worried about Indians finding the food bland. The food and decor were perfect for the cold, rainy day Ghent was having. They had a warm soup, lots of salad greens with native leaves and edible flowers with a choice of dressings (veganaise, mustard, vinaigrette), herb baked potatoes, cheesy root vegetables, a goulash, rice, Portobello Bhajjis, Spring Rolls, a baked dish with carrots and other root vegetables and not to forget a beautifully dense coconut cake baked with blood oranges and raspberries.

Beautiful green salad leaves and edible flowers

Veganaise!

Herb Roasted Potatoes

Goulash

Cheesy Roasted Root Vegetables

Round One!

Simple and stunning

Back in Brussels and on the prowl for lunch one day, we entered a quaint and brightly lit cafe De Markten. We didn't intend to eat lunch there. I wanted to try Den Teepot but when we went there they were closed for renovation which was a shame because it was my last day in Brussels. De Markten did not have anything vegan on the menu, but by my third day I was craving for some good salad. I asked the young waitress if they could make anything vegan for me and she suggested a salad. What came was the tastiest salad I have ever gobbled up. I ate the whole thing!

Den Teepot has an organic market downstairs

Tastiest Salad Ever!

We also went to a brewery in Brussels that brews some amazing beer. This part of Europe likes their beer flavoured too. So besides the regular varieties of beers, you will find cherry, raspberry, strawberry flavoured beers.

Plain and Raspberry Beer

If you are looking for dessert other than chocolate, you can head on to any of the dozen Le Pain Quotidiens. They always have a vegan muffin - either apple cinnamon or banana blueberry. Marked as Bio with a carrot sign next to it on the menu. They also have other vegan stuff on the menu all marked with a tiny orange carrot next to it.

Vegan and Organic Blueberry Muffin from Le Pain Quotidien

Vegetarianism is bigger than it ever was in Europe and I noticed it everywhere. All restaurant menus have more then one veggie option. The smaller cafes and restaurants by the busy streets dont have that many options and also I would ask you to give up the idea of eating Belgian waffles if you are a vegan. I still remember when we traveled to Europe in the early 90s, my mom had smuggled a single electric cooktop in to our hotel rooms. If we didn't find anything to eat outside, hot rice and dal was always there as a backup. What is even more surprising is the Gluten-Free movement. Every restaurant has gluten-free options (not always vegan) and even the gluten-free section in supermarkets are bigger and better than I have ever seen. I continue on my vegan, gluten-free quest towards Amsterdam in my next post.

Some things to keep in mind:

• Many restaurants have off days during the week. Check the websites for when they are open.
• Always look for restaurant timings before you venture towards them. Sometimes they are not open on weekend evenings.
• It's better to know or learn key words of the language they speak. Most touristy cities have an English speaking population. But my (poor) French skills were of tremendous use during this trip.

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Sol Kadhi - Savoury Coconut & Kokam Drink

I'm back after a two month silence. Travel, weddings, work, baking and everything else has been keeping my off the computer. If only typing was easier on the phone! I break my silence with the simplest of recipes that is astonishingly delicious.

Solkadhi is a drink made with a fruit called kokam that is used to add sourness to recipes. Someone told me that they spotted kokam at a Whole Foods store in California. I won't be surprised if it is the next next big thing to replace Moringa, Quinoa, Coconut Oil or whatever the latest "Super food" is. It is a simple recipe that is not only vegan but also can be raw and is one of my favourites. It is a traditional Maharashtrian drink that is served chilled after a meal and is a wonderful light pink colour that is very refreshing on a sunny afternoon.

Dried Kokam

I usually make it with freshly pressed coconut milk but you could use the tinned variety too. This recipe also uses raw garlic cloves, but I stay as far away from raw garlic (or onions) as possible. I don't like my breath and my skin smelling of garlic for the next 24 hours. I also add a pinch of Pink Salt or Kala Namak which gives it a mild kick.

Sol Kadhi

Here is what you need:

2 cups of coconut milk

6-8 pieces of dried kokam, soaked in a tiny bit of water for an hour at least

2 small garlic cloves (Optional, I avoid it)

1 Green Chilli Pepper (Mildly Spicy variety)

1 tsp Cumin Powder (Omit this if you want to make it raw)

A pinch of Pink Salt (also known as Kala Namak)

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves to garnish

Blend the Coconut milk, Kokam, garlic, green chilli. Put it through a sieve. Add the rest of the ingredients, chill and serve.

If you are making Coconut milk from scratch then add the soaked kokam fruit pieces to the coconut meat with the rest of the ingredients while grinding with water. After two extractions you can add the rest of the ingredients and chill it.

Stir well before serving.

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Carrot n Coconut Date Squares

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

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

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

You need:

For the base and crumble:

3 cups Oats powdered

¼ tsp Salt

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp Cinnamon

½ cup Desiccated Coconut

1 medium carrot grated

½ cup jaggery melted

½ tsp vanilla extract

4 tbsp oil

For the filling:

400gms pitted dates

1/2 cup water

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp orange peel

Preheat your oven to 180

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

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

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

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

It should be a lovely golden brown on top.

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

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Coriander Mint Chutney aka Basic Green Chutney

I'm beginning the awesome Month of Vegan food with the simplest, most versatile green chutney. This chutney can be found in most homes and even on the streets of Bombay. It is used as a side with rotis, it can be added to a vegetable while cooking it, even to a pulav/pilaf, it is used as a sandwich spread in the famous Chutney Sandwich and is used in my favourite street food in Bombay- Paani Puri.

It is a dark green, chlorophyll laden, lump of goodness. It is usually the spicy chutney and served with a sweet chutney which I will put up soon. To this basic recipe, you can add fresh grated coconut or raw peanuts to give the chutney a thicker body and tone down the spice. Us Indians love our chutneys hot, so this one might be way too spicy if you are not used to the Indian level of spiciness. I have used the dark green chillies which are the spiciest. If you find a milder green chilli, you can use it. They are usually lighter in colour. You can also add raw onions and raw garlic to the mix to give it a nice depth of flavour. But I'm not a big fan of raw onions or garlic. There are quite a few people who don't like coriander but they usually don't mind it in this chutney form.

So here is the recipe for the most versatile chutney ever with a few ideas for its use listed below.

You need:

A Big bunch of the freshest coriander/ cilantro - washed and de-stemmed (about three cups)*
Half the amount of fresh mint leaves - washed and de-stemmed (about two cups)*
4 dark green chillies
1 inch piece of ginger
Juice of 1 lime
1tsp Salt or more
a pinch of black salt if you have some
Water

Optional ingredients:
1/2 medium sized red onion
2 cloves of garlic

OR
4 tbsp fresh, shredded coconut

OR
a handful of raw peanuts


*The reason the stems are removed is so that the chutney stays thick because the stems have quite a bit of water in them. Mint takes a bit of time to clean and remove each leaf from the stem, but thin coriander stems are okay to add. Just make sure you don't add any roots.

Add into a blender and blend away. (This has to be the shortest description ever!)

You might have to stop a few times to push the ingredients down towards the blades. Add a little water if required. Squeeze the lime at the end and mix well.

Store in the refrigerator for up to ten days or freeze it for a hundred years. :)

A few ideas to use this chutney:
Sandwiches are great ways to use this chutney. A popular chutney sandwich is made with two slices of bread with chutney and ketchup smothered on them. It goes well on bagels too.

On the streets of bombay, a toasted chutney sandwich is made using this chutney spread on bread with raw tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, boiled potatoes and beetroot. It is served with ketchup and a generous sprinkle of sev. Other street foods like Bhel puri, sev puri and paani puri use this chutney extensively.

This chutney can be served with dosas and samosas.

You could add this chutney to onions while cooking them to add more flavour to your vegetable, bean and grain dishes.

I've even used this chutney with some vegan mayo as a dip for chips and vegetable sticks.

It can be added to a salad of raw vegetables or even to a salad with root vegetables.

Sandwich one morning: Whole wheat rosemary and garlic bread with chutney and cucumbers.

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Oil free Sorrel/Gongura Chutney

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.

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Peanut Butter Pillows or Heaven in a bite

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. 

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Book Review - 'Southern Flavours'

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!

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Banana Strawberry Smoothie

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!

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Organic Mung Daal and Bottle Gourd Crepes (Chillas)

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!

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South Indian Gun Powder

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!

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Cheesy Eggplant Lasagne

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.

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Vegan Peanut Pesto

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

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