~~Veganosaurus~~

Vegan Hazelnut Kahlua Dark Chocolate Truffles

2012-01-24T22:42:00.000+05:30

There's this story my paternal grandma used to tell us when we were kids. It's the Mysore Pak story. My granny is super adorable and she made all these sounds and expressions when she recited it. It was an absolute delight for a child to watch! :)

One day, a man says to his wife, "Darling, I have a hankering for Mysore Pak. Please make some for me".
The wife replies, "I don't know how to make it sweetheart but I'll ask the auntie next door to teach me".
And so she asked the neighbor who very sweetly agreed to teach her.

The wife asked her husband to buy all the ingredients from the market and the following day she went to the neighbor's house for a cooking lesson. She learnt how to toast the flour and add the sugar and the oil (yes, I'm veganizing it!!) and how to spread the mixture into a tray and slice it after it's cooled. As a thank you for teaching her, she gave the neighbor auntie half the Mysore Paks and brought the rest back home.

The Mysore Paks looked and smelt amazing!! The wife bit into one and her eyes went wide. "Mmmmmmm", she said, "my hubby's going to looooove these!!" She couldn't wait for him to come home from work that evening and taste them.

After sometime, she thought to herself, "I have got to eat another, they are so very tasty!" And so she did. A little while later, she couldn't resist having another one.

As the evening neared, she started pacing up and down on the front porch, waiting for her hubby. The excitement was too much! She kept going up to the table where she's placed the Mysore Paks to check on them and each time she checked, she couldn't help but pop one into her mouth. One, then another, then another one.

In this way time passed by and finally the evening arrived. She saw her hubby walking in through the gate. She ran up to him and excitedly told him all about the delicious Mysore Paks she'd made just for him!! She took him lovingly by the hand and led him to the table.

On the table, he saw one lonely Mysore Pak sitting in a tray with a few crumbs here and there.

"Is this all??" asked the hubby with shock.
"There were more", she replied sheepishly, "but I couldn't stop myself from eating them".
"But, but, HOW did you eat them all?" he asked, and regretted it the very next moment because his wife hypnotically reached out to the Mysore Pak, picked it up and said, "Like this!" and as a he gaped in amazement, the Mysore Pak disappeared into her mouth forever.

The End. :oP

Now why did I tell you this story? Because that is EXACTLY what has been happening to these Vegan Hazelnut Kahlua Dark Chocolate Truffles. Need I say more? :D

1/2 C Hazelnuts (toasted)
1 Bar 100% Bitter Dark Chocolate
1/2 Bar Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate
1/4 C Brown Sugar + Agave for more sweetening as required
Kahlua (and/or Dark Rum)
2-3 T Soymilk

Keep half the toasted hazelnuts aside and crush the other half into a medium fine powder (I used a mortar and pestle but you could use a grinder if you like).

Melt the chocolate using the double boiler method. Basically one kettle/pan/vessel at the bottom and another, slightly larger one on top, covering it. Water in the bottom one and broken chocolate in the top one. Place on medium-low flame (water should get hot but not start boiling) and stir chocolate till half of it is melted. Then switch off the stove and continue stirring until it's completely melted.

Add sugar and mix well and keep stirring for a while longer.

Take the chocolate vessel off the water vessel and let it sit until it comes down to room temperature. VERY IMPORTANT!

Add the kahlua and/or rum and the soymilk and mix well. As soon as the alcohol hits, the texture changes slightly but that's absolutely okay.

Let the mixture sit in the fridge for a couple of hours.

With your palms, shape the chocolate into balls and press a whole hazlenut into the center of each ball as you form it.

Chill for another hour in the fridge.

Start popping them into your mouth and be transported to heaven.

The End. :oP

Creamy Vegan Sweet Potato Pumpkin Tofu Stew

2012-01-20T22:14:00.005+05:30

January 15th was a festival day here. It's called Sankranthi/Pongal and it's the festival of harvest. You can read more about it in an older post I've written about the festival, its meaning and the traditional foods we make on this day.

During Sankranthi, there is an abundance of sweet potatoes, pumpkins and sugarcane in people's houses. On the festival day my mom makes this amazing Sambar with peanuts, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and avarekai (the most delicious kind of bean in existence). Along with this Sambar, she sent me some pumpkin, sweet potato and sugarcane. The sugarcane was quickly chopped by hubby so we could chew and slurp on the sweet sweet juice. Ahhh the simple pleasures of life! With the other two I decided to make this stew.

It started off as a soup but then the previous night's dinner of Korean stew at Shiro must've had a subconscious influence because before I knew it, I was stewing chunks of tofu in the soup. Either ways, it was a delicious, hearty meal.

I used just one small sweet potato because that's all I had at home but I tweaked the recipe because this'll taste far more scrumptious when the flavor of the sweet potato is stronger.

1 Small Pumpkin
3 Sweet Potatoes
1 Medium Red Onion
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp All Spice Powder
1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/2 tsp Pepper Powder
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
2 200gm packs Tofu
1 200ml pack Thick Coconut Mylk
Salt

Wash the pumpkin and de-seed it. Scrub the sweet potato and clean it well. Make large cubes of both vegetables with their peels intact.

In a large pot, heat the oil and stir fry the vegetables. Add the spices and salt and stir fry again.

Add 4-5 Cups of water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on a medium flame for about 20 minutes, until the vegetables have become soft. Stir once in a while in between.

Meanwhile, chop the onion into big chunks and spread them out on a baking sheet by separating the layers with your hands. Grill/broil them in an oven until they are crispy and almost burnt (or cook in the microwave on high for 5-6 minutes). These onion 'chips' take on a sweet flavor and are yummy to eat plain!

Also cube the tofu and keep aside.

Once the vegetables are cooked, let them cool for a few minutes. Then add the burnt onions and puree everything together (I find a hand blender to be very convenient for this purpose. They are inexpensive and handy).

Add the coconut mylk and more water if required and blend some more. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Place the pot back on the stove and add the chunks of tofu. Simmer covered, on a low flame, for 10-15 minutes.

Serve hot over plain rice or straight by itself in a big bowl.

Enjoy! :)

Baked Bread Bonda

2012-01-17T19:52:00.002+05:30

Bondas are balls of spiced mashed potatoes dipped in a gram flour batter and deep fried. Bread Bondas are essentially the same thing, except, the potato mixture is wrapped in moistened bread instead and deep fried. Main theme? Potato. Deep fried.

I made a baked version of the Bread Bondas instead. It's not that I'm overly health conscious and scoff at deep friend deliciousness. It's simply because deep frying can be quite a tedious process and what with the boiling, mashing, spicing and wrapping involved, I just felt like skipping the deep frying part. Lining them up on a baking sheet and popping them into an oven was soooo much easier.

So how did I keep them crispy? Just when I began to wonder if brushing oil onto the outer layer would be the next move, my oh so sprightly mind came up with a fairly healthy solution... Coconut Mylk!

Heck, I wasn't gonna deep fry anyways, so might as well keep the oil at bay right?

Read on...

BAKED BREAD BONDA

8-10 slices Vegan Whole Wheat Bread (crusts removed)
1/4 C thick Coconut Mylk
5-6 medium sized Potatoes (steamed/boiled in salted water, peeled and mashed)
1 Carrot (finely chopped and nuked/steamed for a few minutes)
Small handful Green Peas (nuked/steamed for a few minutes)
1 tsp Coconut Oil + a few drops for greasing
1 Green Chilli (very finely chopped)
6-10 cloves of Garlic (crushed)
1/2 tsp Ginger Paste
1/4 tsp Pav Bhaji Masala Powder
1/4 tsp Garam Masala Powder
1/8 tsp Asafoetida Powder
1/8 tsp Turmeric Powder
Curry Leaves (finely chopped)
Salt

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add the garlic, ginger, curry leaves and chillies.

Stir on medium flame for half a minute.

Add the carrot and peas and stir fry for another half a minute.

Add the rest of the spices and salt and mix for a few seconds.

Add the mashed potatoes and mix well.

Turn off flame and keep aside.

Once the mixture has cooled a bit, shape into elongated balls.

Lightly grease a baking tray.

Preheat the oven to 250 C (475 F)

Pour the coconut mylk into a wide, flat pan and dilute with 1/8 C of water.

Quickly dip a slice of bread into the coconut mylk to moisten it completely, very gently squeeze between your palms to remove any excess coconut mylk and place it on a flat surface.

Place a ball of the potato mixture in the middle and fold the bread over it.

If the bread tends to break, don't worry, just take the whole thing in your palms and gently squeeze the bread onto the potato filling till it's covered on all sides. With a little bit of practice, you'll get the hang of this.

Place the prepared Bondas on the baking tray 1 inch apart.

Once the tray is full pop into the oven and grill for 10 minutes.

Carefully turn the Bondas over and continue grilling for another 10 minutes (until the bread is all toasty and golden brown).

Serve hot but be careful when you bite into it because the inside will be piping hot.

I like mine with ketchup but Tabasco would work too if you like it to be spicier than it is.

Enjoy! :)

Vegan Jackfruit Coconut Mylk Ice Cream

2012-01-04T16:57:00.002+05:30

It all began on Sunday, the first day of the new year, when we were on the way back from buying jackfruits from our regular vendor. My sis had an inspired thought, she said, "hey ka, you should make some awesome dessert with jackfruit... like jackfruit ice cream!" I laughed at first but then I got to thinking for a moment and I was like, "you know what chinni, I think I could!"

My little sis is craaaaazy about jackfruit! In fact, I think it is her favorite fruit in the whole wide world. If she were left on a deserted island with nothing but jackfruit trees, she'd happily survive.

Every time she arrives at the cart, the vendor has a huge, welcoming smile on his face. Maybe it's because he knows he's getting big business or perhaps it heartens him to see someone express so much joy while they eat the fruits of his labor.

Jackfruits are very commonly sold by street vendors here in South India. These men and women open shop in the morning and spend all day cutting open the large fruits, oiling their palms and separating the juicy jackfruit pods from the body of the fruit and selling them. It's a slow, sticky, not so easy procedure but the vendors are pros at it and thanks to them we get to relish the sweet, delicious flavor of these heavenly tropical fruits.

We add jackfruit to a variety of South Indian dishes (we even save the seeds and make some yummy stews and curries with them) but as far as I know, jackfruit ice cream has not been done before. I can proudly say that I invented this whole recipe from scratch. And this means I did keep a note of the measurements, well mostly. :op

10 Jackfruit pods - deseeded and sliced
1/3 C Brown Sugar
1 very small drop Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 C Cashews
2 200ml packs of Coconut Mylk (I use the Dabur Hommade brand)
3/4 C Vegan Whipping Cream Liquid (I use Merry Whip but Rich's can be substituted too)
2 T Agave Nectar
Pinch of Salt

Place the jackfruit slices in a heavy bottomed pan, add the brown sugar and the tiny drop of apple cider vinegar on top and cook them together on low heat while stirring continuously to allow the brown sugar to caramelize and the jackfruits to cook and become soft. You should reach a halwa/jam like consistency (5-10 mins). Keep aside and let it cool down to room temperature. Warning: This jam/halwa is highly yummy by itself so you'll have to overcome the temptation to finish it off straight.

In a blender, turn the cashews into a fine powder. To this add the coconut mylk and blend again. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the caramelized jackfruit, and blend some more. Taste and add more agave nectar if required.

Chill everything in the fridge for 8 hours or more.

If you have an ice cream maker, follow the instructions and freeze into ice cream. If you don't, then pour the ice cream liquid into a freezable container and freeze for half an hour, then whip and freeze again for another half an hour and then whip again and so on for 2-3 hours until you get the consistency you desire.

Enjoy! :)

This thing turned out absolutely amazing!! My dad who recently turned vegan, but still has some misgivings about the superiority of vegan desserts over the non vegan ones, was totally blown away by the Jackfruit Ice Cream. He was like, "Wow! This doesn't taste vegan!" Well, I am now on a mission to teach him that the *best* tasting desserts are the vegan ones. :)

Stuffed Potatoes.

2011-12-16T14:31:00.003+05:30

One of the first things I looked at in my inbox this morning was the VegNewsletter. The Holiday Recipes edition! I eagerly scrolled down to the list of recipes and the first one that struck me was Super Stuffed Potato Skins!

I love stuffed veggies but I've never made stuffed potatoes before for some reason. This simple recipe inspired me so much that I had to take action immediately! Upon entering my kitchen for the day, the first thing I did was to grab the two potatoes in the basket and began working.

As always, I modified the recipe to make it my own. While watering my plants in the morning, I noticed a bunch of rainforest sized mustard leaves so I was very tempted to harvest and incorporate them into the recipe. I also continued my trend of throwing in some sesame seeds to increase the calcium content of the dish

It's one of those easily changeable recipes, so if you don't have or like any of the ingredients, don't feel shy to switch things around. :)

2 Potatoes - scrubbed clean and de-eyed.
10-12 large Mustard Leaves
1 tsp Sesame Seeds
2 T Nutritional Yeast
Big splosh of plain Tabasco Sauce
Small dash of Tomato Ketchup
Large pinch of Rock Salt
Daiya Mozzarella Shreds
Sunflower Seeds (the roasted, unsalted kind)
Tomato - chopped

Poke holes all over the potato and nuke it int he microwave for 5 minutes.

Slice in half lengthwise and scoop out about 3/4 of the insides.

Arrange, scooped side up, on a microwave safe baking dish.

Place a few shreds of daiya into the center of each potato half and top with a few sunflower seeds each.

Pop the scooped out potato insides with the mustard leaves, sesame seeds, nutritional yeast, tabasco, ketchup and rock salt into a grinder jar and process into a thick, mostly creamy mixture (using a tiny bit of water if required).

Stuff the potatoes with this mixture and top with a few shreds of daiya.

Bake in a preheated microwave using the convection option at 250 C (or you can use a regular oven too) for 6-7 minutes. Then use the grill option and grill the potatoes for another 4-5 minutes (the daiya will slightly browned).

Let them cool for a few minutes, top with the chopped tomatoes and serve.

Enjoy! :)

To the leftover stuffing, I mixed chopped onions, carrots and tomatoes, wrapped them in cabbage and baked and grilled them in a similar way. Those were pretty yummy too!

Raw, Vegan 'Rasmalai'

2011-12-15T09:46:00.004+05:30

When I saw this link for Raw, Vegan 'Rasmalai' on my friend P's facebook profile yesterday, I was consumed by the desire to immediately attempt it. One just can't have the words VEGAN and RASMALAI jumping out from the same sentence and resist its pull. Any plans I'd had to laze around after lunch went right out the window. I prepared and gobbled up the chapati and tofu/capsicum curry in a big, fat hurry and lunged for my mixie, all the while showering a thousand blessings upon the heads of Rohit and Rishi of Roshi's who came up with this ingenious, raw concoction.

I tweaked the original recipe a wee bit. Here's the version I followed.

Cardamom and Saffron Flavored Cashew Mylk Base:

1/2 C Cashews
2-3 T Agave Nectar
4 Green Cardamom Seeds (crushed)
1 generous pinch Saffron Strands
1 3/4 C Water

Add all ingredients, except water, into a grinder jar and powder well. Add water a little at a time and make a smooth paste. Add the rest of the water and blend well to form a creamy vegan mylk. Keep aside.

Rasgulla Balls:

1 C Cashews
1 C Almonds
1/2 tsp Sesame Seeds (optional ingredient for added calcium)
5 Soft Dates (chopped)

In a dry jar, grind 1/2 C cashews and 1/2 C almonds into a fine powder. Separately grind the rest of the cashews and almonds along with the sesame seeds into small granules.

In a large bowl, mix everything with dates by hand until evenly distributed. Add 2 tablespoons of the cashew mylk and knead. Shape into 1 inch balls and lightly flatten them into saucers.

Place in a wide bowl and pour the prepared cashew mylk over them. Sprinkle sliced pistachios and a small pinch of saffron on top. Cover and keep aside for 7-8 hours for the balls to soak up the mylk and soften (this is the hardest part!!).

Tastes best when served cold.

Note: This is a rich, healthy and extremely delicious dessert but it didn't turn out exactly like normal Rasmalai. The mylk did taste like the kind used in Rasmalai but the texture of the balls was not soft and creamy like Rasgulla should be. They were more like a rich, dry fruits barfi/ball soaked in decadent saffron mylk.

I will be redoing this recipe again and next time I will eliminate the dates and also lightly mix and shape the 'dough' rather than kneading.

But in the end, even if it doesn't turn out like Rasmalai, I don't really care because it tastes absolutely heavenly!! Plus it's easy to make, raw and healthy (not a single bad ingredient in there!). I even guiltlessly ate it for breakfast just now. :D

I have a feeling that this will be a staple dessert at our home. :)

Eating Without Heating Raw Food Demo with Lisa Pitman and SHARAN India

2011-11-17T00:23:00.001+05:30

Last Friday I had the pleasure of attending a demo and dinner event by certified Vegan Raw Chef Lisa Pitman, better known in the blogging and social networking circles as Veganlisa. Toronto based Lisa turned vegan at the age of 6. And now at the age of 33 (which you could *never* guess by looking at her) she not only continues to be vegan but also follows a mostly raw diet. One can clearly see the benefits of a completely plant based diet just by looking at her youthfulness, vivacity and glowing skin.

The 3 1/2 hour long session was organised by SHARAN India at In The Pink Organic Restaurant and Bazaar. The introductory part of the program had Lisa speaking about The Healing Power of Plants where she shared her personal story about the magnificent benefits of Veganism in her life and the life of her loved ones. This was followed by the Eating Without Heating 'uncooking' demo where she showed us how to prepare a delicious, completely raw meal without ever turning on the stove.

As Lisa churned out dish after dish with the help of a good, strong blender...

Dr. Nandita Shah and Millie Mitra of SHARAN were in the background assisting her in any way she required.

We could clearly see the passion Lisa has for raw food preparation and it was easy for us to get carried away by it.

Whenever Lisa was about to switch on the blender she asked us to sing a song in our heads to pass the seconds. For some reason, I hummed Alouetta to myself. :oP

During the demo, we got to glug down large glassfuls of delicious smoothies - Green Fruit Smoothie and Immuno Blast Smoothie.

After the demo, we got to indulge in a sumptuous spread of all the things she had taught us to make - Broccoli Salad with Cashew Dressing, Zucchini Rolls with Fermented Cashew Cheeze and Sun Dried Tomato Marinara Sauce, Date Squares and Coconut Lime Cheezecake.

It was a sublime and highly satisfying meal. And though I ate till I was bursting, I was feeling active and joyful, unlike I feel after most heavy meals.

The workshops in Bangalore are over but there are more in Gokarna, Mumbai and New Delhi. If you'd like to attend them then you can find the details on the SHARAN India events page.

You can get delicious raw food recipes and see beautiful photographs of the food and Lisa's current tour on her blog.

Vegan Vanilla and Agave Nectar Cupcakes from VCTOTW

2011-11-03T17:47:00.000+05:30

This Sunday was supposed to have been my very first vegan bake sale at a local fair called the Sunday Soul Sante. I kept putting off the registering because of sheer laziness and procrastination but then a fellow vegan who makes delicious cheezes out of nuts and tofu very kindly offered to split her stall with me. It was just the push I needed. But yesterday when I called her to confirm, she said that the Sante had been postponed because of the rains. The new date hasn't been fixed yet and it might be a couple of weeks at least before I know.

But in a way it's a good thing that it's not this weekend because now I can relax and prepare. Try a few new recipes, buy ingredients in bulk and get the packaging details organized. I know that cakes and cookies wrapped in cellophane with a little ribbon look adorable but I'm really looking for a more environmentally friendly option.

Since I was all agog with the idea of baking this week, I decided to go ahead and make something special yesterday. So I broke out my copy of Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World.

I bought this book over a year ago and have truly enjoyed reading it over and over again. The writing style is so amusing and the cupcake photos are TDF! However, I hadn't gotten around to baking anything from it because my older 12 cup nonstick pan doesn't fit into my current oven. But a few weeks ago I treated myself to a 9 cup pan (shiny aluminum, as recommended in the book) and had been really looking forward to taking it for a spin. And finally yesterday it happened. :) I decided to make the Simple Vanilla and Agave Nectar Cupcakes from page 44 of VCTOTW.

This is my first time baking cupcakes with a proper cupcake recipe. In the past I've just used plain yellow cake and brownie batter to make cupcakes. I must say that when using a proper cupcake recipe, the difference in texture is stark!! I was simply blown away by the sponginess and perfect crumb. I *finally* understand what the big deal is with cupcakes as compared to a slice of regular cake. LOL

Needless to say, my baking is going to involve only cupcakes for a while.

I frosted these cupcakes with Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting from page 142. Thanks to a very generous friend of mine, I had some delicious vegan margarine from Australia in my fridge and I also had some non hydrogenated Earth Balance shortening remaining from last year's stock. So I used them and modified the recipe slightly by replacing the soymilk/creamer with cold espresso.

I sprinkled the frosting with dark chocolate shavings, instant coffee granules and drizzled on some liquified chocolate rum ganache. Finally I topped each cupcake with a dark chocolate chunk.

My very first cupcake decorating attempt and it was so much fun! :)

Something crazy happened too. I'd left the cupcake on the window sill and had stepped away for a moment but when I returned, the cupcake had disappeared. I checked the hidden camera and my jaw dropped as I watched the hijack!

Sambar for Idli - Vegan MoFo Post 19

2011-11-01T01:33:00.000+05:30

A bonus post. I guess this is my way of holding on to Vegan MoFo and prolonging the last day. :oP

My first recipe for Vegan MoFo 2011 was for Idlis. I thought it would be apt to end the month with a recipe for Sambar which is commonly served with Idlis.

There are a few different authentic South Indian recipes for homemade Sambar and I enjoy the taste of most of them. The one I'm about to share with you is a quick and simple one.

2 C Mixed Vegetables - Carrots, Beans, Potatoes, Chow Chow (Chayote), Peas, Radish etc...
1 Large Diced Onion or 15-20 Peeled Sambar Onions (Shallots) - this is optional
2-3 Diced Tomatoes
1/2 C Toor Dal
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
2-3 tsp Sambar Powder (this spice mix tastes best when home made but it is also commercially available in the masalas section of Indian grocery stores)
1-2 tsp Tamarind Paste
1 tsp Jaggery
Salt
For the seasoning: Coconut Oil, Mustard Seeds, Curry Leaves, Dry Red Chillies (broken into halves), Hing (Asafotedia)

Wash and dice the vegetables. Wash the toor dal thoroughly. Bring 3-4 C of water with the turmeric to boil in a pressure cooker. Add the toor dal, vegetables and a small pinch of salt and pressure cook for 5-10 minutes (depending on your pressure cooker). Let it cool completely before opening the lid.

Meanwhile heat 1-2 tsp of the coconut oil in a deep pan. Add mustard seeds and let them crackle for a few seconds. Add the remaining seasoning ingredients. Add the onions/shallots and stir fry until they are tender. Add the sambar powder, tamarind paste, jaggery and salt and mix well. Add the tomatoes and turn off the heat. Cover and keep aside.

Once the vegetables and dal have cooled, add the tomato mixture and bring everything to a boil. Reduce the flame and simmer for a few minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Taste and adjust.

Serve hot ladled over Idlis or cooked rice.

Enjoy! :)

Special Vegan Bengaluru Buffet Lunch - Vegan MoFo Post 18

2011-10-31T17:54:00.000+05:30

Ack! I can't believe that we're already on the last day of Vegan MoFo! :( I'm feeling sad that the fun is ending and even more sad that I wasn't able to post every single day like I had intended to. I suppose 18 posts in 31 days isn't all that bad for a first time MoFo-er so I'll try not to feel too disappointed in myself.

Next year I'll be better prepared and have many more posts scheduled in advance so that throughout the month of Vegan MoFo I'll be able to just blog hop and chit chat. I'm thrilled with all the awesome new vegan bloggers I have discovered this month and am looking forward to continued interaction with these cool people. :)

Now on to today's post...

So as I told you in an earlier post, on Saturday we had a special vegan buffet lunch arranged at In The Pink Organic Restaurant. All of last month Mr.Vegantastic, Mil Mil and I have been running around trying to get this event organized. We planned the menu, tasted and approved the offerings and promoted the event. It was lunch followed by the screening of a very interesting documentary about food choices, nutrition and health.

More than 35 people turned up and everyone loved the food. The menu was:

Herbed Potato Salad
Mixed Greens Salad
Cucumber Salad with Peanuts and Coconut (Dr. Nandita's Recipe)
Tabbouleh

Hummus
Falafel
Super Spicy Chilli Bajjis
Pizza

Pumpkin and Tofu Ravioli
Herbed Rice
Arrabbiata Sauce
Peanut Curd Rice

Fresh Cut Fruits - Banana, Guava, Sapota
Strawberry Lemongrass Pudding
Chocolate Soymilk Ice Cream

I originally planned to go there early and take pics of the individual buffet items but wasn't able to manage that. So I settled for taking pics of my platter for you. :)

All in all the event was a success and many of the members of Vegan Bengaluru have asked that we do a lunch buffet instead of the monthly potluck at least 3-4 times a year.

Gulab Jamuns and Gratitude - Vegan MoFo Post 17

2011-10-28T22:31:00.002+05:30

I've had a pretty physically and mentally exhausting two weeks. It's so not like me to say these words because I normally manage to lead a comfortably slow paced life. But sometimes unexpected stuff happens and all we can do is drop everything else and deal with the unwanted stuff in the best way we can. Anyways, I like keeping things cheerful around here so enough about this topic. I only told you all this because I just wanted to explain my lack of MoFo activity.

I normally have a tendency to focus on the positive (and there is always plenty to be thankful for when we open our eyes and look around us), so today I'll focus on some foodalicious things I've been enjoying with gratitude since my last Vegan MoFo post.

For Diwali every year, the hubs and I have been making Baadushas for the past few years. But this time I decided to attempt Vegan Gulab Jamuns (yet again) and they turned out closer to the regular kind than they have been in a long time. I am very grateful to Richa of Hobby and More for this awesome recipe. I followed it to a T and these beauties were the result. :)

I definitely have a bit of a way to go before I perfect the precise Jamun texture, but the almonds and oats that Richa has brilliantly included in the recipe make them so delicious that the texture almost didn't matter!

The next thing that I'm *extremely* thankful for is good friends!! At times like these, there's nothing like hanging out with a few buddies to lighten things up.

A few days ago I had lunch with two of my very close friends from high school. It was so wonderful to meet up with them after a long time. We had lunch at Infinitea (a tea room close to my heart) and yakked away to our hearts' content. We were celebrating M's birthday. She had come with her very sweet hubby. We later dropped into their hotel room to play with her super cute 6 month old munchkin. I love little babies! They bring so much joy!! :)

This is the tea I had at Infinitea. Rose Hip and Hibiscus. What a gorgeous colour!!

For many years now, it's been a Diwali tradition for me and my little sis to hang out with our cousins on the terrace at our parents' apartment. We watch the fireworks in the sky all around us and talk and laugh until the wee hours of the morning. This year everything's change and we weren't able to do our yearly ritual. :( But I am thankful for all the sweet memories from years past that I can fondly look back on and I hope that some day we can all be together again.

Diwali has always been about home and family but this year on the night of the main day of Diwali, hubs and I did something different. We went out for dinner with our dear vegan friends to Little Italy, Indiranagar. While the people of Bengaluru were bursting loud crackers outside, our cozy little group was sitting indoors and sharing a delicious vegan meal. We were celebrating World Go Vegan Week. I'm so thankful to have these awesome, cool, compassionate souls in my life.

Out of everything I ate, my favorite was the Zorba Pizza with added capers. Ooh lala! It was a slice of garlicalicious heaven.

All of us shared all the dishes so I got only one slice of this baby but I think I'll be getting myself a whole Zorba pizza the next time I'm at Little Italy.

Tomorrow's our monthly Vegan Bengaluru meeting. The lunch buffet that I was telling you about last week. I already know that this is going to be something that my tummy will be grateful for. Needless to say, my camera's coming along. :)

So here's hoping that life goes back to being simple and peaceful once again so that I can give you all a visual treat of the special vegan lunch buffet very soon.

Khara Avalakki Dosa - Vegan MoFo Post 16

2011-10-19T23:30:00.000+05:30

Due to a family emergency (all good now, thankfully) I skipped doing a MoFo post yesterday. But today I'm back in action with a yummy recipe for you. :)

Dosas are a South India staple dish. Dosa batter is made of lentils or grains (most commonly rice) or a combination of both. There are innumerable varieties of traditional dosas which range from crispy thin crèpes to soft and fluffy pancakes. Avalakki dosa belongs to the latter category.

This batter can be used plain or turned into Khara Avalakki Dosa by adding chopped and grated veggies, green chillies, herbs etc... It can also be poured into Paddu/Paniyaram moulds and turned into a different dish altogether.

For the plain Avalakki Dosa:

1 C Uncooked Rice
1 C Thick Beaten Rice Flakes (Avalakki/Poha)
1 T Fenugreek Seeds (Methi)
Salt (Rock or Sea)
Thick Peanut or Soy Yogurt (optional)

Soak the rice, beaten rice and fenugreek seeds overnight in water or vegan yogurt or a combination of both in a wide vessel. There should be enough liquid to cover everything.

In the morning, grind them well into a smooth, thick batter gradually adding all of the soaking liquid plus more water if required.

Transfer to a large, airtight container (the batter should fill it only halfway through to give it space to expand), add salt and mix well with your hand.

Cover and let it sit in a warm place for 8-16 hours.

The batter will ferment and grow.

Heat a Dosa pan (Tava) or a flat frying pan.

Pour a ladleful of Avalakki Dosa batter onto the centre of the pan and drizzle with oil.

Cover and cook for about half a minute on a medium-high flame.

When uncovered, there should be bubbles and holes in the Dosa and the top should be cooked well.

You can optionally flip the Dosa over and cook on the other side too for a few seconds.

Remove the Dosa with a metal spatula and serve hot with chutney or pickle or curry.

For Khara Avalakki Dosa, stir in the following into the batter and proceed to cook on the same way as above:

Chopped Onions
Chopped Fresh Cilantro
Grated Carrots and/or Beets
Crushed Green Chillies
Asafoetida Powder (a pinch)
Soaked Channa Dal
Chopped Curry Leaves
Finely Chopped Coconut Pieces

You can also optionally top the batter with sliced tomatoes and then cook it.

All the above ingredients make for a delicious Khara Avalakki Dosa but you can choose to eliminate some of them or add your own stuff. Get creative. :) This is a very versatile batter.

What do you think you'd add to the batter?

Vegan Bengaluru Event on 29th October 2011 - Vegan MoFo Post 15

2011-10-17T23:32:00.002+05:30

As I told you all in my first Vegan Mofo post, every month our local Vegan Bengaluru group holds a meet-up event. Usually it's a potluck but this time we're doing something different. On 29th October we've organized a special vegan buffet at In The Pink Organic Restaurant and Bazaar.

We've been in touch with the owners, Aparna and Paneesh and also Chef Joydeb to come up with a delicious menu. It's important to us that the spread be something special. There will be four salads, a couple of starters, a handful of main dishes and even a few desserts.

The buffet will cost Rs.250 per head and I can say that it's shaping into something that is well worth every paise!

On Friday Mr. Vegantastic, Mil Mil and I went to In The Pink for a tasting session. They had prepped four things for us out of which we picked three.

Here's a little sneak peek for you:

Since In The Pink is also participating in our World Go Vegan Week event next week, a vegan pizza was anyway going to be a default part of 29th's menu. Daiya or other vegan cheezes are not commercially available here in India but this pizza goes to show that you don't even need direct replacements. The delicious Grilled Vegetable and Basil topping was yummy in its own right!

Yeah that wasn't my best food photo shot but it was past sunset by the time we got to eat the pizza and I had to make do with indoor lighting *shudders*. Considering that, it isn't such a bad picture. :oP

This next one is Chef Joydeb's own concoction. Strawberry and Lemongrass based dessert. A very new and interesting taste. It's definitely going to add variety to the menu.

And finally the pièce de résistance... Pumpkin Whole Wheat Ravioli in a Spinach Béchamel Sauce. One word - GLORIOUS! I know it's usually the dessert which is worthy of such praise but OMG this ravioli was goooood!! I'm proud of myself for suggesting the recipe and giving pointers to Chef Joydeb on how to make it vegan. He himself was totally impressed by how awesome the vegan version turned out. LOL

Needless to say, this is the main thing I'll be stuffing my face with on the buffet day. :D

Earlier I said that we'd tasted four things and picked only three of them. The fourth was a pasta dish, Penne in a Creamy Basil Sauce. And the only reason we ditched it was because we figured since we had ravioli already, another pasta would be repetitive. But that doesn't mean that this dish was not super delicious. I already feel bad that it had to be left behind. The least I can do is make it famous on my blog. ;)

And because I'm addicted to claymation now, I'm ending even today's post with a romantic veganosaurus video featuring Cerlt The Evil and Witchy Poo.

Enjoy! :oP

Week 2 Flashback and a Video - Vegan Mofo Post 14

2011-10-16T22:53:00.007+05:30

So last week was super duper busy and as we got closer to the weekend, things got busier. I'm a stay at home kind of girl so busy for me = going out anywhere. And if I go out three days in a row, even if it is to have fun, that takes a toll on my homebody self. So come Friday, when I had to go out again in the late afternoon (for something nice but more on that in tomorrow's post) and returned home only by 9pm after which dinner was made and eaten only past 11pm (yeah, super late for eating, I know!) I just didn't have it in me to do a Vegan MoFo post. So I gave in and figured I'd take a day or two off.

However, two days of staying away from the fun is enough. I'm back now, and equipped for the week to come I might add. And because I took off for the two days, I thought I'd share something extra special with you all for today's post... My first Veganosaurus monster video! :)

But before that, let's take a quick look at last week's entries on my blog:

Day 8 - Round up of Vegan MoFo week 1's activities followed by a huge bunch of random photos of vegan food made by me.

Day 9 - Another photo blog post filled with images from my first professional photography session at In The Pink.

Day 10 - A focus on two of my favorite simple and tasty festival foods - a sweet and a snack.

Day 11 - A quickie organic salad that I make often.

Day 12 - One glorious vegan burrito!

Day 13 - This delicious potato baked dish that I concocted in a jiffy.

Day 14 and 15, I rested.

And now for the star of today's show.

This one's a quickie 2 second claymation video but there are plenty more, perhaps longer ones to come because I had so much fun making this one and playing it over and over again. :oP

Back story:

Someone had been surreptitiously taking big bites off my vegan chocolate chip cookies and DH claimed he was innocent. A hidden camera caught this shot of the little burglar.

Finish those vegan cookies while you can because this little guy has the ability to teleport into your cookie jar.

Have a great week ahead! :)

Cheezy Potato Rosemary Casserole - Vegan MoFo post 13

2011-10-14T00:22:00.004+05:30

Sometimes the foods you put together in a hurry can have an unmatchable taste. This Cheezy Vegan Potato Rosemary Casserole was definitely one of them.

I was so hungry on Monday night and I hadn't even begun to think of what to make for dinner. Suddenly I remembered this delicious potato casserole thingy which we used to enjoy at Casa Piccola during our pre vegan days (yeah, apparently extreme hunger causes long forgotten favorite dishes to pop up in ones head). So I did a quick google search for vegan potato casserole and a whole bunch of recipes came up. I skimmed through a few of them and absorbed ideas. Then I walked into my kitchen and commenced slicing the large, organic potatoes I'd gotten from In The Pink last week.

Since I baked this at night, I wasn't able to get a good picture of the whole thing in the casserole dish. If you think the potatoes look good in this picture, you should have seen them fresh out of the oven. Yum!

Preheat oven to 215C/420F

For the potatoes:

3 Large Potatoes (scrubbed clean under running water and thinly sliced)
3 T Olive Oil
3 Cloves of Garlic (finely chopped)
1 T Fresh or Dry Rosemary (gently crushed)
Nutritional Yeast
Black Pepper (freshly crushed)
Salt

Put everything together in an oven safe dish, cover and toss well and keep aside.

For the creamy, cheezy béschamel sauce:

3 T C All Purpose Flour
3 T Daiya Vegan Mozzarella Cheeze
1 C Water

Lightly toast the all purpose flour in a dry pan on a medium-low flame.
Add the daiya, mix well and reduce the flame to low.
Slowly add water and keep stirring continuously until the sauce thickens and becomes creamy (there might be a few small lumps left but that's okay).

How to proceed:

Pour the sauce over the potatoes and mix well.
Cover the baking dish.
Place in the preheated oven.
Bake covered for half and hour.
Then uncover and bake for another twenty minutes.
Turn the oven off and leave the casserole inside for another ten minutes.
Serve hot drizzled with Tabasco sauce and freshly crushed pepper.

Enjoy! :)

Super Loaded Burritos - Vegan MoFo post 12

2011-10-13T01:30:00.004+05:30

So earlier this evening my internet suddenly went off and didn't come back on even after three modem reboots. My first thought was, "Egad! There's no Vegan MoFo post!!"

Thankfully, after about an hour it came back on. *Phew*

I'm seriously reconsidering the post scheduling thing once again. It's been nice to update the blog everyday with a new post, something special to look forward to each day. :) But if I line up a few posts, I think it'll give me more peace of mind.

To schedule or not to schedule, that is the question. Hmm.

Anyways, since today's post involves a long back story and even longer recipe (which is TOTALLY worth the hard work), let me get on with the Burrito talk.

On Sunday a couple of my vegan friends were planning to come over to our house and the plan was for all of us to make Burritos together. Each of us were assigned certain parts of the dish and whatever could be pre-made at their houses, they would prepare that and bring it here.

Mr. Vegantastic is the Burritomeister of our gang. He's been making Burritos for a while now and has this specific set of recipes which he follows. He is very particular about the exact ingredients which go into each thing so he took the trouble to create little document files for each dish and e-mailed them to the rest of us.

My portion of the work involved tortillas and beans. As I've mentioned before, I normally prefer to do a quick soak for beans, but Mr. Vegantastic control freak (and I say that term with love because I am one too when it comes to cooking) was particular that the beans be soaked overnight. So on Saturday night I soaked the beans.

Then on Sunday morning Ms. Pepa's flu took a turn for the worse, poor thing. So she had to drop out. The rest of us thought it over and decided to just throw the plan out the window entirely. But then, I was already in the mood for Burritos so I just decided to take whatever ingredients I had at home and adapt the recipes to my tastes and just make those Burritos anyways.

Cooking alone was less fun, but... on the up side, I could add as many chillies as I liked and there'd be no spice-wusses around to cry about it. :oP

Besides, you know me, I am incapable of cooking by following exact instructions. Intuitive cooks can be like that. ;) So I started with a couple of the basic recipes that Mr. Vegantastic sent, turned them into something else and added a bunch of other ingredients. The end result was amazing! So much so that I over ate and suffered big time. hehe

Thanks for the inspiration Mr. Vegantastic! :)

Wheat and Corn Tortillas:

1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 C Corn (Maize) Flour
2 tsp Coconut Oil
1/2 tsp Salt

Mix everything together with warm water and form a soft dough. Cover and keep aside for an hour or so.
Pinch off golf ball sized pieces of dough, dip in flour and roll into large tortillas on a flat surface (I am most comfortable using my cleaned kitchen counter top).
Toast on a hot pan on both sides.

Herbed Rice (I've commonly seen basil rice inside burritos but I made this with chives instead):

1 C Rice (Red or Black or Brown)
2 C Water
1 tsp Dried Chives
1/8 tsp Salt

Wash the rice.
Bring water to a rolling boil in a large pot.
Add rice, cover the pot and reduce flame to lowest setting.
Let it cook for half an hour.
Check once and see if the rice is fully cooked and the water has been absorbed. If not cook for another 5-15 mins (cooking time varies by type of rice).
Mix in the salt and chives.

Chilli Beans Spread:

1 C Kidney Beans (Rajma) - not the red ones but the other kind, creamy colored with the dark pink blotches.
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/4 tsp Cumin Powder
1/4 C Olive Oil
Rock Salt (to taste)

Wash and soak beans overnight and drain the water in the morning.
Bring fresh water to boil in a pressure cooker.
Add the soaked beans with the oil, chilli powder, cumin powder and a pinch of salt.
Pressure cook until the beans are very well cooked and soft (time and number of whistles will vary according to your cooker).
Alternately, you can boil it in a large pot too but this will take a lot more time.
Add the remaining salt and cook on a low flame while mashing and stirring.
Most of the beans should be mashed with some chunks left.

Spicy Salsa:

2 Large Tomatoes (chopped)
1/2 Onion (chopped)
5 Cloves of Garlic (chopped)
1/8 tsp Cumin Powder
1 T Olive Oil
Tabasco Sauce
Ketchup

Heat the oil on a medium-low flame.
Add the garlic and onion and saute briefly until softened but not browned.
Mix in the cumin and stir gently until well incorporated.
Increase heat to medium and add the tomatoes.
Stir and simmer gently for a minute or so.
Turn off the flame, add the sauces and mix well.
Cover and keep aside.

Avocado Pico De Gallo:

1 Large Avocado
2 Tomatoes (chopped)
1/2 Onion (chopped finely)
2 Green Chillies
1 Clove of Garlic
Fresh Cilantro (finely chopped)
Lime/Lemon Juice
Salt

In a mortar and pestle, crush together the green chilli, garlic and salt.
In an airtight container, mash the avacado with your fingers.
Add in all the ingredients and mix well.
Cover tightly and store in fridge.

Roasted Yellow Bell Pepper Salad:

3 Yellow Bell Peppers
1/2 Onion
1 Tomato

Grill the whole bell peppers directly on a flame.
Cover in an airtight container and keep aside for a few minutes.
Slice the onions, tomatoes and bell peppers and mix together.
Keep aside in a closed container to let the flavors of the veggies blend in.

Cashew Sour Cream:

1 C Cashews
2 T Lemon/Lime Juice
2 T Vinegar
1/8 tsp Salt

Soak the cashews for an hour.
Drain the water and rinse.
Put the cashews along with the salt, vinegar and lemon/lime juice in a blender jar.
Process into a smooth, fluffy paste, adding a little bit of water as desired.
Transfer to airtight container and store in the fridge.

Putting the burrito together:

Place a tortilla on a plate.
Spread some beans in the center.
Put some guacamole over it.
Add some rice on top.
Spoon salsa over.
Top with salad.
Drizzle generously with sour cream.
Roll up and prepare yourself to bite into a delectable chunk of heaven.

Enjoy! :)

Nice Big Salad - Vegan MoFo post 11

2011-10-11T23:15:00.003+05:30

So I spent the last hour editing pictures for the burritos I made on Sunday so I could make today's post all about them. But... I woke up early this morning (9am gaaah!) to meet up with a few of my dear Reiki friends (I wouldn't start off my days so early for just anyone, so you can appreciate how important these people are to me) and therefore I am extremely sleepy right now.

How shameful is that? It isn't even midnight yet! *Tsk Tsk*

Anyways, long story short, if you've been following my blog to get recipes for your daily cooking, today you won't be eating burritos. Here's a healthy and super delicious salad instead.

Organic lettuce, organic cherry tomatoes, organic cucumber, pecans, apricots all tossed in olive oil, lemon juice, black salt and chilli powder. Optionally Tamari, Balsamic Vinegar and Nooch can be added too.

Done.

This must be my shortest Vegan Mofo post eva!

Sundal and Payasam - Vegan Mofo Post 10

2011-10-10T23:00:00.003+05:30

Last week we had a series of festivals called Dussera (also known as Navarathri). Traditionally we have ten days of celebration and this means lots of sweets and snacks. The most important of these festivals for us is Ayudha Pooja. It's a special occasion reserved to give thanks to all the tools, machines and vehicles we are blessed with.

On the day of Ayudha Pooja this year, hubby and I made a simple sweet and snack combination for Naiveidhyam (offering to the Gods and Goddesses). Something quick and delicious which we could eat and share.

Whatever is cooked with the intention of being placed at the altar as a food offering should only be eaten by us after the ritual is over. So while we prepare the food, we don't have the luxury of tasting and adjusting. But for some reason, every time we make Naiveidhyam food, it turns out perfect! This always reminds me that the taste of a dish is largely dependent on the energy and intention of love that goes into preparing it. Positive vibrations always yield beautiful results. :)

Sundal is a savory dish made of Garbanzo Beans/Chickpeas. We can use any kind of chick peas to make these but this time we had Kabuli Channa (the larger ones) on hand so we used them. I normally follow the quick soak method to soak pulses but this time I soaked them overnight.

1 C Dry Chickpeas
2 Chopped Green Chillies
2 tsp Coconut Oil
Mustard Seeds
Curry Leaves
Asafoetida Powder (a pinch)
Dessicated Coconut
Chopped Cilantro
Lime Juice
Salt

Wash and soak the chickpeas over night (about 8 hours). Throw out the water, add fresh water and steam for 45 minutes or pressure cook for about 15 minutes until the chickpeas are soft.

In a wide, heavy bottomed pan heat the oil. Add the mustard seeds and let them crackle. Add the chopped green chillies, asafoetida powder and curry leaves and stir for a half a minute.

Now add the cooked chickpeas and salt and a wee bit of the cooking liquid and cook on medium high heat while stir frying continuously. After about 5 mintues of this, once the water has evaporated, add the dessicated coconut and toss well and turn off the heat.

Mix in the lime juice and garnish with the chopped cilantro and serve hot.

--

Payasam is a liquidy dessert which is best eaten hot. It is served at the beginning of traditional South Indian meals.

Payasam can be made with many things - Rice, Dals, Tapioca, Semiya (fine semolina noodles), Broken Wheat etc... This time we made Channa Dal (Split Bengal Gram) Payasam.

1 C Channa Dal
1/4 C Dessicated Coconut
1/4 C Grated Jaggery
6 tsp Sugar
1 T Chopped Cashews
1 t Raisins
2 Cardamom Pods (crushed well with a stone/hammer/mortar and pestle)

Soak the channa dal for an hour. Add dessicated coconut and steam (in the soaking water) for half an hour.

Meanwhile, dry roast the cashews to a golden color, add the raisins and stir for a few seconds, until they brown slightly. Keep aside.

Once the channa is ready, add jaggery and sugar and mix well. Bring to a simmer on medium heat and stir till the sugar and jaggery have dissolved. Add the crushed cardamom, lower the heat and simmer for a few minutes.

Turn off the heat and serve hot.

First Professional Food Photography Shoot - Vegan MoFo post 9

2011-10-09T23:55:00.004+05:30

So... all my obsessive food photo shooting and posting has culminated in my first professional food photography project. :)

A few weeks ago, I attended this Art of New Age Cooking workshop by Dr. Nandita Shah of SHARAN India at In The Pink Organic Restaurant and Bazaar. While I was there, I clicked a lot of pictures of the event and the food so that I could do a write up for our Vegan Bengaluru blog.

Aparna of In The Pink saw my pictures and approached me to do a professional photo shoot for them. She wanted a handful of images of the restaurant and store, a few featuring herself and Paneesh (who co-owns the place with her) and lots of pictures of the food. I happily agreed, with one caveat that I would be shooting pictures of only vegan food. Aparna said that would be no problem at all since their menu is mostly vegan anyways and they would veganize the other items on the day I go there to click the photos.

In The Pink has a rustic, welcoming atmosphere and the staff is very friendly and helpful. I had an enjoyable time taking these pictures. :)

The grocery store section is stacked with all kinds of interesting products.

The restaurant is across the hall from the store. It is a simple and spacious setup with plenty of natural light.

Aparna and Paneesh were in quite the giggly mood when the pics were being shot.

The buffet.

And finally, the food pictures.

I will end this post with my favorite dish at In The Pink... Mysore Pak. The yummiest Indian vegan sweet I've had in a long, long time! :)

Week 1 Flashback and Some Food Porn - Vegan Mofo Post 8

2011-10-09T01:44:00.003+05:30

After a successful and fun first week of Vegan Month of Food 2011, I've decided to take it a little easy today. So in this post I'll do a quick recap of all my posts from Vegan Mofo Week One and then share some of my vegan food photography pictures.

Day 1 - A short video clip from our local Vegan Bengaluru potluck.

Day 2 - A recipe for fluffy idlis and a pic of my awesome idli batter grinder.

Day 3 - All about ice creams and my 'method' of making them.

Day 4 - Pizza with Daiya. Ooooh yeah!

Day 5 - Dessert that I concocted out of almonds.

Day 6 - Fluffy corn bread.

Day 7 - An exotic twist on curd rice.

And now on to the random food porn...

Wish you all a wonderful and relaxing weekend! :)

Seasoned Peanut Yogurt Black Rice - Vegan Mofo post 7

2011-10-08T03:29:00.004+05:30

We've come to the end of the first week of Vegan Mofo and I've successfully managed to post every single day! Woohoo!! :D

Over the past few months, I have found two great local sources of organic produce and grains. One was Pristine Nature, an online store I spoke about on my blog a few weeks ago and the other is In The Pink, a restaurant and bazaar which I will be featuring on my blog very soon.

At both these places, I have been able to obtain black rice which I have gotten addicted to. Pristine Nature sells Burmese black rice and In The Pink has a slightly different variety. But both of them taste equally delicious!

The rice cooks to a beautiful deep grape colour and a sticky texture. It's perfect to be mixed and had with liquidy stuff like sambar, rasam or dal and it works fantastically in stewy dishes like Bisi Bele Bath and Pongal. But my most favorite way to eat it is in the form of Seasoned Curd Rice made of Peanut Yogurt.

This is an exotic twist to a very traditional South Indian dish. :)

For the curd rice, mix together:

1 C Cooked and cooled Black Rice
1 C (or more if you like) Peanut Curds
1/2 t Vinegar/Lemon Juice
Salt

For the seasoning:

1/2 t Coconut Oil
1/4 t Black Mustard Seeds (Sasive)
1/4 t Cumin Seeds (Jeerige)
1 t Split Black Gram Dal (Uddina Bele)
1 t Split Bengal Gram Dal (Kadale Bele)
2 Green Chillies chopped into little circles
Asafoetida Powder (Ingu)
Curry Leaves (Karibevina Soppu)

Heat oil in a small, heavy bottomed pan for half a minute. Add mustard and cumin seeds. They will crackle so cover lightly for a few seconds. Add the dals and stir for a few seconds until they are lightly browned. Add the asafoetida, curry leaves and green chillies. Stir for a few seconds, turn off the heat and stir some more.

Add the seasoning mixture to the prepared curd rice. Mix well and serve.

Enjoy! :)

Notes:

Curd rice is traditionally eaten at the end of a spicy meal.

It tastes great after sitting around for a couple of hours because the curds will ferment and develop a light tangy taste.

You can add grated or finely chopped coconut, pomegranate, fresh grapes or raisins to this according to your taste preferences.

Maize Bread - Vegan Mofo Post 6

2011-10-07T00:41:00.005+05:30

Maize is the term we use to refer to the locally available variety of corn in India. Ever since I tasted corn bread for the first time at Angelica Kitchen in downtown Manhattan, I knew I'd wanted to add the recipe to my baking repertoire. After returning to Bangalore, I searched in vain for corn meal here. Then one fine day I saw broken maize at the grocery store and even though it had more of the texture of corn grits as opposed to corn meal, I knew it would do the trick! :)

I adapted this recipe from the very first vegan recipe book in my collection, Very Vegetarian by Jannequin Bennett. A beautiful hard cover with recipes ranging from simple to gourmet and pictures ranging from super delicious to droolalicious! To this day, the book continues to give me guidance and inspiration.

Corn bread a very simple and quick bread with the right balance of moistness and crumbliness. Hubby and I enjoy it best with vegan chilli (as you can see in the picture). The crumbs soak up all the flavors from the chilli and combine to create a delicious burst of flavors and textures in the mouth.

1 C Broken Maize or Yellow Cornmeal
1 C Maize Flour or Corn Flour or All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 t Baking Powder
1/2 t Baking Soda
1/4 t Salt
1/4 C Maple Syrup or Sugar Syrup
1/3 C Soymylk or Almond Mylk or Cashew Mylk*
1 T Lemon Juice or Vinegar (I prefer Apple Cider Vinegar best)
3 T Warm Olive Oil or other Vegetable Oil
3/4 C Warm Water

Preheat oven to 190 C / 375 F.

Keep a 9 inch square baking pan ready.

Pour the warm water over the broken maize and keep aside.

Sift together the dry ingredients.

Beat together the wet ingredients.

Mix everything together.

Pour into the baking pan and quickly and lightly spread to make a more or less even layer.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Serve warm.

Enjoy! :)

*Note: I tried using water instead of Vegan Mylk and it really messed up the texture. I think a certain amount of protein/fat is required in the liquid for the crumbs to come out perfect.

Saffron Infused Almond Dessert - Vegan MoFo post 5

2011-10-05T22:56:00.002+05:30

As this highly addictive veganmofo madness continues, I have been feeling extremely grateful for my prior procrastination! Over the last few months, I had created a bunch of stuff in my kitchen and taken pictures, but I hadn't updated my blog with all of them. So now, during vegan mofo, since blog hopping and commenting has taken over my online life, I'm able to keep my blog up with the activity because the yummy food pictures are already waiting to be linked here. Phew! See, being lazy has its benefits. :D

This is an almond cream based mousse like dessert I concocted a while ago. It's raw, except for the little bit of agar agar (which needs to be cooked to work well). Pretty simple to make too! It would also have been a super quick dessert if it weren't for the slightly painful almond skin peeling step. But hey, even that is something you get a hang of over time. I've become a lot faster at it now than I used to be during my initial attempts.

1 C Almonds
2 pinches Saffron Strands
Raw Agave Nectar (to taste)
2 T Agar Agar flakes

Soak almonds overnight in filtered water to start the sprouting process.

In the morning, throw out the water and rinse the almonds thoroughly. This step ensures that your body absorbs the enzymes in the almonds better.

Now the part which involves effort. Patiently peel the skin off the almonds. You can pour more water over them so they stay moist through the peeling process, making it easier and quicker.

Blend the peeled almond into a smooth, creamy paste adding a wee bit of of fresh, filtered water.

Add the saffron and agave nectar and blend again. Taste and adjust the level of agave. Keep aside in the blender jar.

Boil 1/2 C water and add the agar agar flakes. Stir and cook on medium flame until the flakes have dissolved. Let it cool for a few minutes until slightly warmer than room temperature.

Pour this agar agar mixture into the blender jar with the almond paste in it and blend for a few beats just to get everything mixed well and whipped up.

Pour the almond cream into individual dessert bowls and chill in the fridge for a few hours.

Serve cold and enjoy! :)

Daiya Pizza - Vegan MoFo post 4

2011-10-04T22:18:00.005+05:30

Day 4 of Vegan MoFo. I seriously should have scheduled a lot more posts (I just had 3 lined up) well in advance. Now, instead of writing up blog posts, I've been spending all my online hours MoFo blog hopping!

It's too hard to resist. I'm discovering all these awesome blogs and with all the criss-cross interactivity happening between mofoers all over the interwebs (blogs, twitter, facebook...), I feel like I'm a part of this large, global community of warm and friendly people and I wish veganmofo would last forever!

Today's post is going to be quick and simple. But not without a back story of course. :oP

In my pre vegan days, I was never a fan of cheese. When our parents took us to Wimpy (a pretty nice UK based fast food restaurant that existed here in Bangalore before the icky US fast food chains flooded India and wiped Wimpy out), sis and I always asked them to put very less cheese on our pizzas. And that was only because they claimed they couldn't make them cheese-less because the toppings wouldn't stay on then. So when I went vegan, 8 years ago, I never even gave a second thought to cheese.

Then last year, when DH and I visited the US for a few months, we got to taste Daiya vegan cheeze for the first time at Sugar Plum Vegan Café at Sacramento. I never knew cheeze could be so delicious!!

So a couple of months ago, when my cousin's friend was visiting here from the US, we asked her to please please please bring a pack of Daiya for us (packed safely between ice bags of course) in her luggage and she very kindly did so. :)

Needless to say, I've been using it very sparingly to make it last and thankfully, a little does go a long way.

The other day I made this pizza. Looks yum, huh? :D

I'm still working on getting a perfect pizza crust (mine's pretty yummy but it's more like bread than crust) so I won't post the recipe for that here. But here's how I made the topping:

Daiya
1 Pack Tofu - pressed gently to squeeze out water, patted dry and cubed
3 Ripe Tomatoes - quartered
3-4 cloves Garlic - chopped roughly
Nutritional Yeast
Balsamic Vinegar
Jaggery (or other sweetener)
Tabasco Sauce or Chilli Powder (or a bit of both)
Dried Oregano
Pepper
Salt

Put everything, except Daiya and Tofu, into a blender and liquefy.

Add Tofu cubes and toss.

Pour the sauce over olive oil coated, partially baked pizza base.

Sprinkle Daiya over everything and bake for about 20-25 minutes.

Slice and serve hot.

Enjoy! :)

I Scream You Scream We All Scream For Ice Cream - Vegan Mofo post 3

2011-10-03T21:45:00.000+05:30

Today's Vegan Mofo post is a photo blog of a few vegan ice creams I've made in the recent past and my ice cream making process.

I never follow exact recipes while making anything (except in my baking) and ice creams are no exception. I just have a method that I stick to and have developed a 'feel' over time for attaining the right texture.

For the base, I usually use a combination of a nut and a creamy fruit or a vegan mylk and vegan whipped cream. To this I add any flavor that hubby and I are in a mood for - coffee powder, melted dark chocolate, pure vanilla extract, saffron, cardamom, rum (any alcohol is to be added only in the last minutes of the freezing process)...- and a sweetener of some sort - sugar, raw agave nectar, maple syrup... - et voila, the vegan ice cream mix is ready! :)

Pointers:

*Tasting and adjusting is of course a must.
*Make it a wee bit sweeter than you might like because after the freezing process the level of sweetness reduces.
*Add a tiny pinch of salt to enhance the taste.
*Chill the mix for over a day before freezing - either in an ice cream maker or by following the whipping and freezing method.

The latter involves whipping and freezing and whipping and freezing and so on once every half an hour for the first two hours of the freezing process. And then once an hour for the next two hours (or until the consistency feels about right). The way to achieve a good ice creamy texture is to use a blender (hand blender would be more convenient than transferring the ice cream into a jar each time) but you can also use a wire whisk, a spatula or a fork.

Without further ado, here are my droolalicious, creamy, scoop-able vegan ice creams. :)

Very Vanilla Cashew Mylk Ice Cream

- recipe for the vanilla cake in the background here

Cashew Mocha Rum Ice Cream

Raw Pistachio Mango Ice Cream

- recipe here

Mango Ice Cream

Idli the fluffy South Indian Rice Cake - Vegan MoFo post 2

2011-10-02T20:15:00.001+05:30

Idlis are a staple breakfast food in South India. These fluffy rice cakes are made by soaking, grinding and fermenting a combination of a specific type of rice and urad dal (split black gram). Adding a handful of methi (fenugreek) seeds in the mix makes the Idlis extra soft and fluffy.

AWESOME KITCHEN GADGET ALERT!!! :)

I use my trusty Kailash Tilting Wet Grinder to make a super smooth Idli batter. It has a motor unit over which the grinding vessel is placed. The inner base of the vessel has a granite layer. There is also a grinding attachment made of three granite stones which is placed into the vessel where it is held in place. When the machine is turned on the vessel starts to rotate which causes the stones to rotate in the opposite direction. No grain or lentil can hold the hope of staying whole under the pressure of those awesome stones. ;)

The tilting mechanism in my grinder makes it very convenient to pour out the batter without having to carry the weight of the heavy vessel.

For those who make Idlis just occasionally, a good blender with sharp blades will do fine. You just have to remember to soak the urad dal and rice separately and make a very smooth paste of the dal before grinding the rice (the methi seeds are soaked with the rice). But for someone who is looking to be a regular Idli pro, a wet grinder is would make for a very nifty gadget. It's been a truly worthy investment for me! :)

Ingredients:

1 C Whole or Split Black Gram
5 C Short Grained Idli Rice (I also like to use Mulleri Red Rice for my Idlis sometimes)
2 T Fenugreek Seeds
Salt

Soak everything (except salt) together in plain water overnight.

Drain the soaking water into a vessel and keep aside.

Set up the idli grinder according to instructions, pour some soaking water into it and switch it on.

With the motor running, slowly add in the rice, dal and methi mixture.

Pour in some more of the water to ensure the steady movement of the grinding stones.

Cover the vessel with the lid and get online and blog for the next 20 minutes.

Look in on the batter and add more water if required (the batter should have a fairly thick but pourable consistency) and let the grinder run for another 15 minutes or so.

Once the batter is completely smooth turn it off and pour it into a large container (batter should fill it only halfway to allow it to expand while fermenting).

Add salt and mix lightly with your hand, cover and keep aside in a warm place for about 12 hours (more if you live in a cold climate).

Once the batter has risen well and attained a slightly sour smell, it is ready for use.

Ladle the batter into Idli mold trays.

Meanwhile, bring water to boil in a steamer and once it begins to boil place the Idli trays into the steamer.

Cover and steam for 8-10 minutes on medium heat.

You should be able to smell the cooked Idlis in the steam wafting out of the steamer.

Carefully remove the Idly trays out of the steamer and let the Idlis cool for a few minutes.

Gently unmold the Idlis using a wide, flatish spoon.

Drizzle sesame oil over the Idlis and serve them hot with Sambar or Coconut Chutney.

Enjoy! :)

My first Vegan MoFo post. A short video clip.

2011-10-01T12:30:00.000+05:30

Thought I'd start off my very first Vegan MoFo post with a video. I didn't film it but I am featured in it. :)

Last Saturday we had our monthly Vegan Bengaluru potluck at Jaaga - Creative Common Ground. We hold these potlucks and keep them open to vegans and non-vegans alike. The idea is to have anyone who is interested in veganism come share the vegan food and clarify any questions they might have which might make it easier for them to get on the vegan path. The atmosphere of these events is very relaxed and chilled out.

Jaaga is a beautiful, airy structure and was a perfect space for our local vegan group to enjoy the delicious food and interesting conversation. The people who run the place are very friendly and welcoming. They even joined us at our potluck for some time.

While we were there, Clemence Barret (one of the founders of Jaaga) asked to shoot a video clip of our vegan event and we were more than happy to oblige. Here's the result:

And here are some drool worthy images of the food we ate that day.

To see more goodies and snapshots of the Vegan Bengaluru potluck, visit my original post about this event on the Vegan Bengaluru blog.

Ganesha Chaturthi and Yummy Kadubus

2011-09-05T01:02:00.005+05:30

I love a good, filling festival feast! But then, who doesn't? No matter what religious festival it is that one is celebrating, the love for the associated food is commonly shared. :)

It's probably because of a combination of the joyous childhood memories we have associated with festivals and the amount of care and hard work which always goes into making food fit for celebration.

Being a strong believer in the power of spiritual vibrations, I feel that food when it's made with the intention of a offering to a deity as neiveidhya first before being eaten is most sublime.

Among all the festival we grew up celebrating, my fondest memories are of Gowri and Ganesha (not even Diwali with all its fire crackers matches up). For the first half of my life, I lived in a big, happy joint family. We were fourteen of us in one huge bungalow. All festivals were celebrated together, as a family.

On the first day was the Gowri pooja followed on the next day by the Ganesha pooja. The story is that Gowri comes down to Earth on that day to visit her mother and Ganesha (Gowri's youngest son) accompanies her to stay at his grandma's place. And grandma spoils him with all kinds of delicious goodies. After the festivals are done, a few days later Ganesha safely takes his mother Gowri back up to Kailasa (heaven). That's when we leave the clay idols in water as a send off until the following year.

A few days before the festival, when the adults purchased the larger Gowri and Ganesha clay idols for the ritual, they always purchased smaller ones for us kids.

Me, my little sister and our two little cousin brothers used to willingly and enthusiastically wake up at the ungodly hour of 4 am on both festival days, get dressed in traditional clothes and sit at our mini altar to do the ritual to our little Gowri and Ganesha. The girls did the Gowri ritual and the boys did the Ganesha ritual. We even had miniature silver vessels, aarthis and all the other stuff required for the ceremony. And at the end of the ritual, the feast was brought out and placed in front of the deities as an offering. This marked the end of the ceremony. After this, we could commence wolfing down the yummy goodies! :D

Those were such utterly joyful days!!

Now hubby and I bring home only the Ganesha (I visit my mom's place and all my aunt's places on the day of the Gowri festival) and perform a simple, short pooja. But we do make sure to cook a whole bunch of the traditional delicacies for the neiveidhya offering so we can stuff ourselves later to our tummies' content. :D

This year we made three types of kadubus/kozakottais, unfermented idli with coconut cilantro chutney, sundal out of small, brown channa and these miniature steamed snacks (don't really know what they are called).

For the three kadubu fillings - coconut jaggery, sesame jaggery, savory urad dal - we followed the recipes from Subbu's Kitchen. For the outer rice dough covering we used a slightly different method.

Kadubu Dough

1 C rice flour
1 C water
2 tsp oil
a pinch of salt

Mix everything into a paste in a heavy bottomed pan and place on medium heat. Stir continuously (will take maybe 5-10 minutes) and let it cook until the paste starts coming together into a ball of dough.

Take the pan off the stove and once the dough cools a bit, dip your palm in cold water and knead the dough until it's smooth. Follow instructions to make various fillings, stuff and steam.

Fun Little Savory Steamed Snacks

These are usually made out of leftover kadubu dough but I like them so much that I always make extra dough just for these. :)

Kadubu dough
1 tsp moong dal and 1 tsp channa dal (soaked together for half an hour)
2 fresh green chillies, asafoetida and salt (crushed well together)
2 tsp chopped fresh cilantro

Mix everything together.
Form into fun little shapes - ball, stick, ring, disk etc...
Steam along with the kadubu for 5-8 minutes.

Another Ganesha Chaturthi dish that I truly relish is Kandundes (didn't make them this time around though). They are made of four kinds of lentils soaked together and ground to a thick paste along with spices, shaped into balls and steamed. Then they are dunked in a yogurt based gravy and served. I make these on non festival days too because then I get to add onion (a festival no no) and also a bunch of chopped veggies. I either serve those in a vegan yogurt based gravy or just plainly spiced vegan yogurt. I'll share a recipe for those the next time I make them.

What goodies do you prepare for Gowri Pooja and Ganesha Chaturthi and which ones are your favorites?

Featured on The Students Mag August 2011 issue.

2011-08-24T20:37:00.007+05:30

I'm pleased to share that I have been featured in The Students Magazine in a 3 page interview by Satya Kandala (Sub Editor). She framed the questions around my creative journey, my art, my cooking and how my veganism has woven itself into all these parts of my life. I have answered them in detail.

The August issue of the magazine, in which my interview has been published, hit the stands a couple of weeks ago and is available in leading book stores in Bangalore. Since their website is not completely up and running, they don't have an online version of the magazine available yet. Satya was kind enough to send me a couple of physical copies of the mag for my collection.

I've taken digital images of the 3 pages and have posted them below if you'd like to read. :)

You can click on each image to be taken to a slightly larger version for clearer viewing if you like.

Mediterranean Sun Dried Tomato Bread

2011-07-21T13:17:00.004+05:30

1 1/2 C soymilk
2 T sugar
4 T olive oil
2 t active dry yeast
2 T raw flax seed powder
1 t salt
1 C all purpose flour
3-4 C whole wheat flour

sun dried tomatoes (soaked in warm water and re-hydrated)
chilli powder
herbs - oregano, rosemary etc...

Heat the soymilk until lukewarm (test the temperature with your knuckle). Pour into a large mixing bowl and whisk in the sugar, oil and yeast. Leave for 15 minutes for the yeast to dissolve. It should be all bubbly and frothy by the end of this time.

Add the salt and flax seed powder and beat a little. Slowly whisk in the 1 C all purpose flour and 2 1/2 cups of the whole wheat flour a little at a time while continuing to beat it as much as possible. Once the dough gets too thick to beat, add just a little more flour and mix with your palms to obtain a rough dough.

Form this dough into a ball and transfer it onto a flat, floured surface (I use my cleaned granite counter top). Knead well for about 10 mins at least (add a little more whole wheat flour while kneading if the dough is sticky but make sure it doesn't get too dry) until it reaches a smooth, elastic consistency.

An effective way to knead is to press the dough away from you with the base of your palms, then fold the dough over towards you and then it press again.

Form the kneaded dough into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl with a little bit of oil. Place the dough ball into the bowl and swirl it around until it's coated with the oil. Cover with a clean plastic bag and let it sit in a warm spot for about 2 hours, until doubled in volume.

Punch down the dough and give it a quick knead for a few seconds. Divide it into two balls. Roll the balls out into large rectangles about 1 centimeter (a little less than 1/2 inch) thick and place them flat. Lightly coat these rectangles with a very thin layer of olive oil and spread the sun dried tomatoes and sprinkle the chilli powder and herbs over them (you can add sliced olives too but I didn't have any when I made the bread so they're not in there). Gently roll up the sheets and form them into loaves. Place them in loaf pans, cover again with the plastic bags and let them sit for 1 1/2 hours to double in volume.

I actually made one bread with this rolling up method and the other with bits of the sun dried tomatoes and herbs and spices kneaded into the loaf. Both were nice but I personally preferred the taste of the rolled up style bread better.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Bake the loaves for 50 minutes.

A great way to get a nicely browned, crusty top is to spray the bread with water every 15 minutes or so while it is baking.

Cool for some time in the loaf pans. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely. Slice with a serrated knife and serve.

Tastes great with Hummus!

Lazy Pizza

2011-07-06T20:46:00.003+05:30

Though I normally prefer to bake my own pizza base, sometimes I get lazy and look for the easy/quick way out. Thankfully Nilgiris carries pretty decent whole wheat flattened bread which works. Well, when commercial products say 'whole wheat', it means they have some amount of whole wheat in there along with the usual lot of maida (all purpose flour), but at least it's a little better than getting breads made blatantly of white flour! Or so claims my slothful side. :oP

I concocted a nice, thick, fairly healthy and more importantly quick pizza sauce last night so all I needed to do is slather it onto the pizza base, bake it for 15 minutes in a hot 200C oven, sprinkle on some herbs, crush some pepper et voila! A super yummy dinner done in less than half an hour. :D

Here's what went into the pizza sauce:

4 Tomatoes
1/2 C Sun Dried Tomatoes
6-7 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 C Pecans
1/4 C Balsamic Vinegar
3 T Nutritional Yeast
1/2 t Jaggery
Chilli Powder
Salt
1/4 C Olive Oil

Rehydrate the sun dried tomatoes in 1/4 C warm water. Blend everything, except olive oil, together (including sun dried tomato water) into a smooth, creamy, slightly thick sauce.

Transfer to airtight container and add the olive oil on top. Mix well. Close lid and store in fridge for up to a week and use as required.

As always, I made this instinctively by throwing in handfuls and splashes so the quantities mentioned are indicative. Taste and adjust as you blend. Follow your tongue. :)

Raw Vegan Hazelnut Cheese

2011-07-01T17:14:00.006+05:30

The first time I tasted nut 'cheese' was at VegFest 2010 at Portland, Oregon. I can still remember the explosion in my tastebuds when I put that delicious cheese made of Hazelnuts by Heidi Ho Organics into my mouth! Mmmm mmm!

It's such a pity they were only giving out samples that day. DH and I wanted to buy loads to stuff our faces with. Needless to say, the next time I'm at Portland, Ima gettin' me some Heidi Ho hazelnut cheese.

Since nut and seed cheeses are made of raw nuts and seeds which have been put through a fermentation process, they are rich in enzymes, nutrients and lactobacilli (the good kind of bacterial cultures). A most delectable way to put probiotics into your system! :)

I've been wanting to experiment with nut cheese making for a while now but I was under the impression that it is a difficult task and that it needs some 'exotic' ingredients like miso or dulse. That was until I saw this recipe by Dr. Nandita Shah on the Sharan India website. From the first step until the cheese is ready for consumption it takes a few days so it is time consuming process, but the effort which you need to put into it is hardly much. With patience, anyone can make raw, vegan cheeses right in their home. And as we already know, homemade is always the tastiest and healthiest option. :)

So couple of days ago, on a whim I decided to attempt making nut cheese. Luckily, I already had a little bit of rejuvelac on hand and it was enough for the small, experimental quantity I intended to begin with. I decided to go for hazelnuts. Firstly because I was out of cashews and almonds and secondly because hazelnut cheese is the only kind I'd ever tasted (and loved!).

I pretty much followed Dr. Nandita's recipe except that after the cheese was ready, I pressed out the water from the it by putting it into a cloth bag inside a colander and placing a weight over it overnight. I preferred the taste and texture of the pressed version more than the softer kind.

For flavoring, I used nutritional yeast, salt, oregano, a pinch of turmeric for color and a dash of chilli powder (hey, come on, I had to Indianize it at least a wee bit).

So here it is, my very first batch of Raw Vegan Hazelnut Cheese! :)

It's the first of many more to come. I wouldn't call it perfect but it was gosh darned scrumptious! Notice that I say 'was' (past tense)? It's because we gobbled up almost the whole batch during lunch. :D

Next time I'll be tweaking things. I plan to use a combination of nuts and seeds. I'll be blending them into a more creamy finish. And I'll be adding the spices before the fermentation process begins.

Earlier today I was reading up more about making home made raw, vegan cheeses in this amazing, highly informative post. I found the part where it speaks of cheese 'seasons' and moon cycles extremely interesting. I already try to do certain things based on the moon cycle in my day to day life and it makes complete sense to me that the behavior of the lactobacilli would be dependent upon them too.

After having read that post, I'm all riled up and really looking forward to more successful adventures in raw, vegan nut and cheese making. Can't wait to get the next batch started! :)

Pristine Nature and Lettuce Tomato Pecan Salad with Pudina Red Rice

2011-06-29T19:28:00.011+05:30

My friend K recommended an online site called Pristine-Nature when I was looking for fresh, organic vegetables. They source a good variety of organic produce, grains, beans, lentils, spices and oils from mainly local (in and around Bengaluru) farms and offer a once a week home delivery service.

Inspired by the founders of Adi Naturals (a community service organisation aiming at connecting the farmer directly with the consumer to lower costs), this is what they have to say about themselves...

"Pristine-Nature does not offer any goods or services of its own, and neither do we buy or sell any products. We only provide an online presence and voluntary service at no-charge, to like-minded community service organizations who work for no profit or minimal profit for covering their expenses. These organizations purchase from marginal organic farmers and retail their wares. Our idea is to enable such organizations to reach wider audience / customer-base over the internet and enable them with IT services with the help of volunteers, to streamline their operations."

In less than half an hour of me registering at the site, I got a call from their customer service representative (a very nice, polite lady) who patiently explained all about Adi Naturals and Pristine Nature to me. The call really encouraged me to go ahead and avail of their services without feeling hounded in any way.

DH and I decided to place an order with them over the weekend. We ordered a variety of red rices along with a few vegetables, some yelakki bananas and turmeric powder. After much excited waiting, today the stuff arrived! :)

I was very happy to note that they didn't use unnecessary plastic bags to pack the things. Except for the red rices, all items were without packaging. The young man who was delivering my order carried everything into my kitchen in a crate and transferred them onto the counter. The produce was very fresh and healthy looking. The rice seemed clean and in very good condition. He informed me that the chou chou (chayote) I'd ordered was in a slightly poor condition so he voluntarily asked me to subtract the amount for it from the payment even before I could take a closer look at the vegetables and he left the single chou chou behind anyways. I found that to be very professional.

The prices of the products are slightly on the higher side compared to inorganic products (which is to be expected) but compared to the prices of organic products at some other stores, Pristine Nature seems fairly competitive. They used to be a lot more expensive last year but according to what they told me, the prices are lower now in comparison because they've stabilized more. I believe that as more and more people switch to organic food, the prices will come down further.

The only issue I have with Pristine-Nature is that they charge 20% of the total bill as the delivery fee (with a capping meter of Rs.150). That in my opinion is a tad high. It discourages one from buying too many things because each time the total increases, so does the delivery fee. In fact, I had originally added a few more items to my shopping cart but ended up removing them simply because they were high priced items and would run up the delivery fee too much. Gingelly (sesame) oil for example is around Rs. 165, which by itself is a pretty good price for organic gingelly oil, but the thought of the price going up another 20% discouraged us from buying it. I think if they had fixed delivery charges of Rs.50 to Rs.100, depending on the distance of the house from their place, it would surely encourage people to add more items to their cart.

Overall though, I was very happy with the transaction and very much intend to continue ordering from them on a regular basis. All this time I had not made the change to organic simple because I didn't have an organic store close enough to me to walk to but now with everything coming right to my door, I have no excuses.

I recommend Pristine-Nature to everyone in Bengaluru who is looking to switch to a partial or full organic diet.

***

Now lets come to my lunch...

There is nothing more inspiring to a cook than a fresh batch of produce spread out on the kitchen counter. Greens, herbs, vegetables... my mind was whirring on high speed with all kinds of ideas! Do I make quinoa tabbouleh with the fresh mint, coriander and country tomatoes or do I make capsicum stuffed with rice and beans with a pasta salad on the side? Or better yet, a hummus and pita bread sandwich stuffed with loads of cruncy, munchy lettuce?

I finally settled on making a simple lettuce salad with red rice on the side. That would meet my objective of making a large portion of our meal raw and yet have a cooked dish in the mix to make it more filling.

For the Lettuce Tomato Pecan Salad with Balsamic Sambar Powder Dressing:

Lightly Shredded Organic Lettuce
Halved Organic Yellow Cherry Tomatoes
Pecan Halves
Splash of Tamari
Splash of Balsamic Vinegar
Sprinkle of Sambar Powder

Mix the lettuce, tomatoes and pecans together and keep aside. Just before serving, add the remaining ingredients, toss well and serve.

Note: If you mix the dressing ingredients to the salad in advance then the lettuce will lose its texture and taste lousy.

For the Pudina Red Rice:

1 C Organic Red Rice
2 C Organic Pudina (Spearmint Leaves)
2 Spicy Green Chillies
Allspice Powder
Salt
Lemon Juice
Nutritional Yeast
Freshly Crushed Pepper
Small Splash of Agave

Wash the red rice well. Bring 4 C of water to a rolling boil and add the rice. Reduce the flame to the lowest, cover and cook.

Meanwhile, chop the mint leaves and the green chillies and add them to the boiling rice along with the allspice powder. Cover and continue to cook for about 40 minutes. Check once after 30 minutes and add salt at this point. Cook till all the water is absorbed and the rice has split.

Turn off the flame and take the pot off the stove. Add the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, agave and mix well. Crush pepper on top.

How to proceed:

In a plate, spread the salad all around the sides and leave a small space in the center. Place the rice in this space. Top with a few pieces of pecans and tomatoes. Enjoy! :)

This was a very satisfying, delicious and filling meal. The tomatoes were the best part. Bursting with flavor and so juicy! If you place a order with Pristine Nature Organics, be sure to get some of them.

Raw Vegan Mango Pistachio Ice Cream

2011-06-28T12:33:00.003+05:30

This one is soooooo easy peasy to make! Doesn't look like it and definitely doesn't taste like it. It's so delicious that you'd think it took hours of labor. Well, I didn't even need to make the effort of pulling out the ice cream maker for it. :oP

When you start with just plain fruits you can get a sorbet out of it. Well sorbets are light and slightly icy and can be nice sometimes, but they are just not ice creams! However, by adding a nut into the mix, you can achieve the kind of rich, creamy texture that all ice creams should have.

The beauty of this raw ice cream is that it has only healthy ingredients and you can eat as many scoops as you like without guilt (unless you're allergic to nuts).

Raw Vegan Mango Pistachio Ice Cream

3 very ripe mangoes (I used large Alphonsos)
1/4 cup plain, raw pistachios (without the shells) + 1-2 tsp (chopped/sliced)
Raw agave nectar to taste

Peel, cube and chill the mangoes in the fridge for a day.
Soak the 1/4 C pistas in filtered water for 5-6 hours.
Drain the pistas completely and chuck the water away.
Place the pistas in a blender/grinder/food processor and grind well.
Add the mangoes and blend some more, until you get a creamy mixture (it'll have the color of avocado).
Squirt in a little bit of the raw agave nectar and blend again.
Taste, add more agave if you desire and blend more.
Transfer to a freezer safe container, add sliced pista and whip with hand whisk for a few minutes.
Freeze overnight.
Transfer to fridge and leave for about an hour to soften it. Serve with an ice cream scoop. Enjoy! :)

Note: You can refreeze it after you've had your fill and then leave it in the fridge again for a while before eating each time.

My EtsyVeg team needs your vote.

2011-06-23T14:49:00.005+05:30

So I might have mentioned to you before that I'm an active member of a few, really great street teams on Etsy. Amongst these, Team EtsyVeg is one of the kickass-est teams eva! My fellow teamies are group of vegans and vegetarians who are compassionate and fun-loving. Not to mention highly talented! When you do a search on Etsy.com using the keywords EtsyVeg Team, you'll be totally blown away by the many fabulous offerings.

We are an incredibly active group with many enthusiastic members who are willing to jump at an opportunity to get involved in team events. It is for one such event that I'm asking for YOUR help. Handmadeology.com is running an Etsy Top 10 Teams challenge and Team EtsyVeg is participating.

Members submit items to be rated on a scale of 1 to 10 and each day people can stop by and rate the creations. The team with the largest number of rated items and the highest ratings wins!

So please take a few moments to drop by our EtsyVeg list, admire the many items and rate the listings. You can rate one item or multiple items. Of course, if you rate ALL the items on out EtsyVeg list, we'd be very, very grateful. :)

Vegan Pineapple Pastry

2011-05-18T15:05:00.003+05:30

Since my very vanilla cake recipe was such a hit, I thought I'd share the pineapple pastry recipe too. When we say 'pastry' here in India, we refer to a form of extra succulent cake. The main way this decadence is obtained is by dousing the cake with flavored sugar syrup to add moistness. Another thing that makes a pastry what it is, is the inclusion of fresh or canned fruits to enhance the richness of the flavors and textures.

1 Basic Yellow Cake made by replacing the pure vanilla extract with 1/2 t of pineapple essence
1 small can of Pineapple Slices in Syrup
Vegan Whipped Cream like Rich's Non-Dairy Whip Topping or Merry Whip

After the cake has cooled completely, slice it horizontally to form two layers.
Place one layer of cake in a large container and pierce randomly with a fork.
Pour half the syrup from the pineapple can over this layer of cake.
Cover with a thin layer of vegan whipped cream.
Spread most of the pineapple pieces over this saving some for the final topping.
Cover with the second layer of cake and pierce it randomly with a fork.
Pour the remaining syrup evenly over this.
Spread vegan whipped cream over the top and sides of the cake and cover it completely.
Place the remaining pineapple slices on top of the cake in an aesthetically appealing way.

Cover the container and place the pineapple pastry in the fridge. Let it sit for at least a day to soak up the syrup and some of the whipped cream. Serve cold and enjoy! :)

Will last for a minimum of one week when stored in a tightly closed container inside the fridge.

Note: Pastries and cakes taste more delicious as the days go by. Especially chocolate flavored ones. I personally prefer them most two days after they've been made.

Vegan Very Vanilla Cake

2011-05-11T14:15:00.000+05:30

Basic Vanilla Cake:

1 3/4 C all purpose flour
2 t arrowroot powder (optional)
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/4 C brown sugar
3/4 C white sugar
3 t pure vanilla extract
1 t vinegar or lemon juice
5 T oil (canola or sunflower)
1 C cold water

Preheat oven to 180C/350F.

Lightly oil a 9 inch baking pan and keep it aside.

In a large mixing bowl, sieve together the flour, arrowroot powder, baking powder and baking soda about 6-7 times (the more number of times you sieve, the fluffier the cake will be).

Mix the remaining ingredients separately and beat well to dissolve the sugar to some extent.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk together with a few quick strokes just until no lumps remain (too much mixing is not advisable). Pour the cake batter into the baking pan and immediately pop into the preheated oven.

Bake for about 35 minutes. Test by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake and see if it comes out clean. If so, the cake is done. If not, then bake for a few more minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and keep it aside. Let the cake cool completely before you remove it from the pan.

This cake is delicious eaten as it is but it can also be enjoyed layered with vegan whipped cream.

Vanilla Cream Cake:

Prepare vegan whip topping by carefully following the directions on the package. Rich's is the most well known brand of non-dairy whip topping in India. I also like to use the Merry Whip brand which is available at the Institute of Baking, Bangalore (these guys also carry another non-dairy brand called Gold Top but stay away from that one because it tastes too artificial essence-y!)

Slice the cooled cake horizontally to form two layers. On a large plate, place the bottom layer. Cover it with some of the whipped cream. Place the top layer over this and cover the whole cake with whipped cream with the help of a spatula.

Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.

The cake is best stored in a closed container in the fridge. It will last at least a week IF it hasn't been finished well before that. :)

Pecan Pesto Cabbage Patty Wraps

2011-05-03T16:21:00.006+05:30

It's always fun to walk into the kitchen clueless as to what I'm going to cook for dinner, just grab a few ingredients and then invent a dish as I go along. As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge fan of stuffed/wrapped meals. Multiple layers and textures are a great way to make any dish interesting.

It all started with a cabbage. I first thought I'd be making stuffed cabbage rolls but because it was raining, I had a hankering for deep fried goodies. So I decided to make cabbage patties and then make them healthier (I say 'ier' because deep fried or not, veggies are healthy to begin with) by turning them into whole wheat wraps with raw veggies and a nice pesto.

Pecan Pesto Cabbage Patty Wraps

For the Cabbage Patties:

1 Small Cabbage chopped finely
1 Large Onion chopped finely
1/4 c Rice Flour
1/2 c Besan Flour (aka Gram Flour)
1 t Red Chilli Powder
1/2 t Cumin Powder
1 1/2 t Coriander Powder
Salt to taste
Pinch of Baking Soda
Sesame Oil for deep frying (Canola or Sunflower Oils are fine too)

Heat the oil in a wide pan or wok.

Place the rest of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Add a little bit of water and mix to form into a rough ball of dough. It should hold its shape (add a little more fried gram flour if required) Pinch off little bits, form them into balls and flatten them into a patty shape.

Deep fry them, a couple at a time, on medium flame until golden brown and keep aside on a plate layered with tissue paper so any oil can get absorbed.

For the Pesto:

Spinach
Baby Mustard Greens (I grow them at home in a little pot and pick them while they're tender)
Cilantro
Pecans
Salt
Green chillies
Nutritional Yeast (optional)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Blend everything, except for the olive oil, together into a smooth paste using a little bit of filtered water. After it's smooth, keep the blender running and drizzle in the olive oil so it gets incorporated well. Transfer to an airtight container and keep aside.

This pesto will keep well in the fridge for at least a week when stored properly.

Other ingredients:

Whole Wheat Chapathies (any other thin flat breads like Pita or Tortillas would work too)
Tomatoes sliced into rounds
Capsicums (Green Bell Peppers) sliced into strips
Carrots grated
Black Pepper freshly crushed

How to proceed:

Place a chapathi on a flat surface and spread the pesto on it evenly in a thin layer. In the center, place three slices of tomatoes in a vertical line. Place the cabbage patties on the tomato slices. Top with green bell pepper strips and grated carrot. Crush pepper over everything and roll up the chapati snugly to form a wrap.

Bite into it and enjoy the burst of flavors in your mouth. :)

Vegan Whole Wheat Cinnabuns

2011-04-29T11:00:00.006+05:30

Last year I had the pleasure of tasting a gourmet cinnamon roll at Cinnaholic and I was absolutely blown away by it! Ever since then I've been craving a cinnabun as perfect in taste and texture as that particular roll. Now if it were up to me, every time I craved a cinnabun, I'd just teleport right on over to Cinnaholic and stuff my face to my heart's content. Heck, I'd even be happy to be their employee just so I could be constantly enveloped in the smell of cinnamon rolls baking. And that says a lot because if you know me, you'd know I'm not into 'work'. But let's face it, it's going to be at least another year before I perfect my teleportation powers and Berkley is too far away from Bangalore to risk it. Imagine if I apparate in some remote island in the middle of the Indian Ocean where no one's heard of cinnamon rolls?? *shudders*

So my only option has been to bake and bake with the aim to arrive at the recipe for an amazing cinnabun. Something to keep my happy until the next time I'm able to experience a heavenly Cinnaholic cinnamon roll once more.

I first took a non vegan clover leaf rolls recipe and then tweaked it and tweaked it some more to not only veganize it and make it healthy with whole wheat in the mix but to also get the perfect, fluffy texture. Then when those rolls turned out great, I finally decided to take the leap and adapt that recipe into one for cinnabuns. And FINALLY, these delicious Vegan Whole Wheat Cinnabuns came into being. :)

Baking bread takes a bit of effort and a LOT of patience. But both these things pay off ten fold when your house is filled by the smell of bread baking and your mouth delighted with the amazing taste of artisan bread which you had the satisfaction of making with your own two hands.

So plan in advance, assign a day to make an event out of it and enjoy the process!

Vegan Whole Wheat Cinnabuns

1 1/4 C soymilk
1/2 C agave nectar or maple syrup or sugar syrup
4 T olive oil
2 t active dry yeast
1/4 t sugar
1 1/2 T raw flax seed powder
1 t salt
1 C All Purpose Flour
3-4 C Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 C or more Cinnamon powder

Heat the soymilk until lukewarm (test the temperature with your knuckle). Pour into a large mixing bowl and whisk in the agave nectar, oil and yeast. Sprinkle the sugar on top. Leave for 15 minutes for the yeast to dissolve. It should be all bubbly and frothy by the end of this time.

Add the salt, 2 T of the cinnamon powder and flax seed powder and beat a little. Slowly whisk in the 1 C all purpose flour and 2 1/2 cups of the whole wheat flour a little at a time while continuing to beat it as much as possible. Once the dough gets too thick to beat, add just a little more flour and mix with your palms to obtain a rough dough.

Form this dough into a ball and transfer it onto a flat, floured surface (I use my cleaned granite counter top). Knead well for about 10 mins at least (add a little more whole wheat flour while kneading if the dough is sticky but make sure it doesn't get too dry) until it reaches a smooth, elastic consistency.

An effective way to knead is to press the dough away from you with the base of your palms, then fold the dough over towards you and then it press again.

Form the kneaded dough into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl with a little bit of oil. Place the dough ball into the bowl and twirl it around until it's coated with the oil. Cover with a clean plastic grocery bag and let it sit in a sunny spot for about 2 hours. It should rise and double in volume by the end of this time.

Punch down the dough and give it a quick knead for a few seconds. Roll it out into a large rectangle about 1 centimeter (a little less than 1/2 inch) thick and place it with the long side towards you. Lightly coat this rectangle with a very thin layer of agave nectar and sprinkle generously with cinnamon powder. starting from your side, gently roll up the dough to form a long, log shape. Cut this log into 1 inch slices and place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper about 1 inch apart. Cover again with the plastic bag and let them sit for 1 1/2 hours to double in volume.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Bake the rolls for about 35 minutes. Enjoy the smell of cinnabuns wafting through your home.

Cool slightly on the baking sheet. Transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm and be transported to another dimension.

Carrot and Radish Stuffed Chapathis

2011-03-30T19:29:00.000+05:30

Simple enough to make but OMG are these babies deeeelicious. Serve with a splosh of ketchup and a dash of Tabasco on the side and it's pure heaven! :)

For the stuffing:

Grated Carrots
Grated Radish
Finely Chopped Onion
Crushed Green Chillies
Chopped Cilantro
Salt

Mix everything together and keep aside.

For the chapathi:

2 C whole wheat flour
2 tsp vegetable oil
salt

Mix everything together with a little water to form a ball. Knead till it reaches an elastic consistency. Pinch off equal sized balls and roll out into circles.

Place one rolled out chapathi on a flat surface and spread some of the stuffing mixture on it leaving a little bit of space around the edges. Place a second chapathi over it and seal the edges by pressing together gently.

Roast both sides of the chapathi on a pan over medium flame until golden brown.

Serve hot and enjoy! :)

Well actually, I love these at room temperate too after they've sat around for a few hours because the layers soak up the flavors and get a little soggy. So these make a great lunch box dish!

Roasted Garlic and Cilantro Hummus

2011-03-18T18:04:00.008+05:30

I just concocted this hummus a short while ago and it turned out so perfect that I just had to note the recipe down before I forgot the ingredients. Yeah, it's happened before. So many delicious, made up recipes lost forever simply because I was too negligent to write them down immediately. Well, ain't gonna happen this time! :)

As usual, the quantities of the ingredients were my usual "splash of this dash of that", but I've tried to put down proper measurements for your benefit. So make sure you taste and adjust as required.

Hummus tastes best after sitting for a day. But if you must serve it on the same day, make sure you give it at least an hour in the fridge before serving.

1 C Quick Soaked and Cooked Chickpeas (throw out the soaking water and use fresh water to cook)
1/4 C Chopped Cilantro
2-3 bulbs Oven Roasted Garlic
1 medium Oven Roasted Onion
1/2 t Sesame Seeds
1/4 t Tamarind Paste
3/4 t Red Chilli Powder
1/2 t Amchoor Powder
1 T Nutritional Yeast
1/8 t Cumin Powder
1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt

To roast the onion and garlic, rub them with olive oil and salt. Place them in a baking tray lined with aluminum foil. Cover them tightly with foil. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Bake for about an hour. Let them cool. Peel the onion and cut it into large cubes. Separate the garlic cloves and peel them.

For the hummus, cool and drain the chickpeas and keep the cooking liquid aside. Place all the ingredients, except olive oil, in a blender jar. Grind to a smooth paste by adding as much of the chickpeas cooking liquid as required, a little at a time. Taste and adjust seasonings. When it's a fluffy, liquidy paste, keep the grinder running and slowly drizzle the olive oil into the jar. This will emulsify the oil and give the hummus a creamier consistency.

Transfer to an airtight container and chill in the fridge to let the flavors get incorporated. Tastes great in the traditional falafel and pita wrap, but besides that the serving options are endless! Serve as a dip for vegetables, a spread or topping for breads (I've served it over home made corn bread in the picture) or eat straight out of a bowl. Enjoy! :)

Special Vegan Chocolate Mousse

2011-03-09T18:40:00.006+05:30

I prefer to make this with freshly home made tofu when possible. Since I make soymilk at home anyways, making tofu is just another step. Turns out sooo creamy and soft!

If you can't make tofu at home, then use silken tofu. In India, the only silken tofu we get commercially is Mori-Nu (yeah, the terribly expensive imported brand.... but hey, for special occasions, this mousse is TOTALLY worth it!)

Most local tofu brands use vinegar to break the soymilk and that makes the texture and taste of the final tofu suitable only for savory dishes. You could try asking at an Asian restaurant if they make their tofu in house and if you can buy some off of them. They'll most likely be using gypsum aka calcium sulphate or nigari aka magnesium chloride to break the milk to get that soft and creamy texture.

1 Package/block firm silken tofu
1/2 C Vegan semi sweet dark chocolate chips or bar broken to small pieces (easiest in India is to use Bournville plain dark chocolate bar since it happens to be vegan)
Pure vanilla extract
Maple Syrup (Sugar can also be used)
Soymilk
Small dash of olive oil
Rum - the good kind

Melt chocolate chips by tempering on a double boiler.
Bring down to room temperature.
Blend melted chocolate, tofu and maple syrup (according to taste) until completely
smooth.
Add vanilla, olive oil and rum and blend again.
If required, add a splosh of soymilk and blend again until creamy and
fluffy.
The consistency should be like a very thick smoothie.
Transfer into little bowls and place in the fridge (not freezer).
Let it set for at least 2 hours (more if you have time).

Enjoy!

The simplest, most delicious vegan mousse eva!! :)

Refreshing Spicy Chickpea Salad

2011-01-31T14:59:00.004+05:30

This vegan salad is delicious and filling. And apart from the chick pea cooking process, quite a jiffy to put together.

2 C Cooked Chickpeas (I always recommend the quick soak method to cook beans of any kind)
4 Tomatoes (diced)
1 Small, Tender Cucumber (sliced into tiny pieces)
1 Green Bell Pepper (sliced into small pieces)
3-4 Carrots (grated)
1 Medium Onion (chopped finely)
2 Spicy Green Chillies
1 Garlic Clove
Salt (Black Salt tastes yummiest but some people might not like the smell)
Turmeric (small pinch)
Red chilli powder
Asafoetida
Juice of 1 large Lime/Lemon

Crush together the green chillies, garlic, salt, turmeric and asafoetida. Mix in with the rest of the ingredients. Toss everything together well. Serve and enjoy! :)

This salad tastes delicious when freshly made but on hot days it makes an amazingly refreshing lunch or mid-morning treat after being chilled in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Vegan Wholewheat Lasagna Type Thingies

2011-01-28T21:13:00.003+05:30

I use the word 'thingies' here because these aren't exactly traditional Lasagnas, but rather a bunch of dishes I invented based on the same basic principle - sheets of pasta layered with an ensemble of sauces and fillings and then baked.

Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta Sheets layered with Spinach Babycorn Béchamel Sauce, Spicy Tomato Mint Sauce, Grated Carrots, Sliced Green Bell Peppers and topped with Sesame Seeds and Rosemary

For the Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta Sheets:

2 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 t Oil (olive oil or coconut oil work best but any other plant based oil should be fine too)
Salt to taste

Mix together the above. Add a little water at a time and knead into a soft, pliable dough. Keep aside.

When the fillings are ready, pinch off large balls of this dough and roll into thin sheets. Cut to roughly fit the baking tray that you're using.

The sheets are the only common factor between these Lasagna dishes. All the other components are flexible. You can use the recipes below for the fillings and sauces or use your imagination and create your own combination. :)

Whole Wheat Homemade Pasta Sheets layered with Basmati Rice, Mint Béchamel Sauce, Grated Beets and topped with Sliced Tomatoes with Nutritional Yeast sprinkled on

For the Vegan Spinach Babycorn Béchamel Sauce:

Wash and chop as much spinach as you like (I do about 3/4 C).

Blanch and slice 8-10 babycorns into thin circles.

Finely chop 2-3 cloves of garlic (can use more or less depending on your taste).

Lightly toast 1/4 C wheat flour in a dry pan until very slightly browned. Keep aside.

Place 2 C plain, unsweetened soymilk (or other vegan milk) in a pan and heat it on a low flame.

Add a few spoons of soymilk, a little at a time, to the toasted wheat flour and make a smooth paste. (You can optionally mix a dash of olive oil into this paste for an extra creamy end result).

Pour the paste into the soymilk slowly and keep stirring constantly. Continue to stir and heat on a low flame (sauce should not boil) until it thickens. The continuous stirring is very important to keep it smooth and distribute the heat evenly.

Add the chopped spinach, sliced babycorn, chopped garlic, freshly crushed pepper and salt and mix. Heat for another minute or so (still stirring) and turn off the flame.
Your creamy, vegan béchamel sauce is ready! :) (I love to eat spoonfuls of this thing just on its own!)

Note: If you're using this sauce for pastas or any other dish where it's not baked, then cook the baby corn well rather than blanching and lightly fry the garlic in a little olive oil before mixing them into the sauce.

Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta Sheets layered with a mix and match of Plain Béchamel Sauce, Special Mashed Potatoes, Small Chick Peas, Coconut Milk and Marinated - Tofu, Tomatoes, Broccoli, Zucchini, Green Bell Peppers

For the Spicy Tomato Mint Sauce:

3 large, ripe Tomatoes diced
1 C chopped Spearmint leaves
3-4 cloves of Garlic
1/2 C raw cashews
2-3 spicy Green Chillies
1 T Nutritional Yeast
Salt to taste

Blend everything, except the tomatoes, together into a paste. Add the tomatoes and blend again to reach a saucy consistency.

Pour into a pan, bring to a boil, reduce the flame and simmer for about 3 minutes while stirring continuously.

For the Baked Beans Sauce:

1 1/2 C White Butter Beans - washed, quick soaked, cooked, drained (water kept aside) and cooled
2 large, ripe Tomatoes
2 cloves of Garlic
Red Chilli Powder/Flakes
1 t Olive Oil
Spicy Green Chillies chopped
Whole Spices - Cinnamon, Cloves, Bay Leaf
Tamarind Paste
Nutritional Yeast
Salt to taste
Ketchup

Place half the cooked beans, tomatoes, garlic, tamarind paste, red chilli powder/flakes and salt in a blender and blend into a smooth paste using some of the beans cooking water as required.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet, add the whole spices and green chillies and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Add the remaining cooked beans and stir fry.

Add the tomato/bean paste and mix well (adding more of the beans cooking water if required). Stir and simmer this sauce on medium heat for a few minutes.

Turn off the heat. Add a splosh of ketchup and the nutritional yeast and stir.

Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta Sheets layered with Mint Béchamel Sauce, Baked Beans Sauce, Sweet Corn, Sliced Green Bell Peppers and topped with Sliced Tomatoes with Nutritional Yeast sprinkled on

For the Special Mashed Potatoes:

5 medium sized Potatoes - boiled and peeled
Olive Oil
Marinade Liquid leftover from the Marinated Tofu/Veggie Topping
Coconut Milk (small splash)
2 T Nutritional Yeast
Dried Herbs - Thyme, Chives, Rosemary etc...
Salt to taste

Mash the potatoes, add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Building the Lasagna:

Layer your home made whole wheat lasagna sheets with your choice of sauces and fillings - crumbled tofu, grated carrots, grated beets, sliced tomatoes, sliced bell peppers, sweet corn, marinated tofu/veggie mixture, coconut milk, cooked small chick peas etc...

Bake at 400F/250C for 45-50 minutes. Let it cool for half an hour. Serve and enjoy! :)

(Tastes even better on the next day because all the flavors get incorporated really well!)

Vegan Chocolate Chip Coconut Pecan Cookies

2011-01-28T00:28:00.003+05:30

My chinni wanted chocolate chip cookies and my DH wanted coconut ones. The happy compromise? My favorite vegan chocolate chip cookies with a coconutty twist. :)

1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 C All Purpose Flour
1 T Baking Powder
1 t Pure Vanilla Extract (if you don't have the pure kind, then don't bother using it at all)
1/2 C Agave Nectar
3/4 C Chopped Pecans
1 C Vegan Dark Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 C Cold Ricemilk or Water
Dessicated Coconut Powder

Preheat oven to 180C/350F

Spread as much coconut powder as you like on a small plate.

Put the rest of dry ingredients (except pecans and chocolate chips) in a large bowl and mix. Make a deep well in the center. Pour the wet ingredients into the hole and mix everything. Stir in the pecans and chocolate chips.

Form cookie dough into little balls and roll them around in the coconut powder and press gently. Place on cookie sheets 1-2 inches apart.

Bake for 20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on the sheet. Transfer to cooling rack.

Serve hot or cold. Enjoy! :)

These cookies were so yum that the Veganosaurus monsters loved them too! They had a big munching party and there was plenty to go around. They ate and they ate and they ate and in the end they fell over backwards, patted their tummies and fell into a deep, chocolate-y, comatose sleep.

Vegan Masala Crust Pizza with Marinaded Toppings

2011-01-07T09:37:00.007+05:30

The most important advice I can give you about this pizza is MAKE LOTS!! I wish I had done so because it melted away into thin air in no time!

For the Masala Crust Pizza Base:

1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 C All Purpose Flour (Maida)
1/2 C Oatmeal
2 T Flax Seed Powder
1 C Grated Veggies - Carrots, Radish...
1 t Freshly Chopped Cilantro
1 t Seasame Seeds
1 t Flax Seeds
2 t Mixed Dried Herbs - Chives, Thyme, Dill...
2 Spicy Green Chillies crushed (could be replaced with Serrano Peppers)
1/4 C Sugar
2 T Oil (I used coconut)
2 t Active Dry Yeast
1/2 C Soymilk
Salt

Heat the soymilk, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Let the soymilk cool down till it's a little hotter than lukewarm (you should be able to dip your index finger in and keep it there for a few seconds at least). Mix in the yeast and keep aside for about 15 minutes to let it froth and rise. Add the oil and stir vigorously.

Warm up 1 C of water to lukewarm temperature.

Place the rest of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix together lightly. Make a deep well in the center and pour the yeast mixture into it. Use your hands and start mixing everything. Add enough of the warmed water, a little at a time and keep mixing until a rough ball of dough is formed. A wetter dough is always preferable to a dry one.

Transfer the ball to a floured surface (I use my cleaned granite counter top) and knead well, for at least 10 minutes, until it's soft and elasticky.

Form into a ball, place back into the mixing bowl and cover with a warm, wet cloth. Keep it aside in a warm/sunny spot to let it rise.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping...

For the Marinade (use whatever's available and feel free to switch things around):

1 C Peanut Yogurt (any vegan yogurt can be used as a replacement but peanut yogurt tastes most delicious!)
2 Spicy Green Chillies crushed (could be replaced with Serrano Peppers)
1/8 t Powdered Black Pepper
1/8 t Kitchen King or Garam Masala Powder (available at Indian stores)
1 t Nutritional Yeast
1 squirt of Agave Nectar
1 splosh of Tamari
Salt

Whisk everything together until well blended.

Topping Ingredients:

1 Zucchini (sliced into thin rounds)
Florets from 1 small head of Broccoli
4-5 Tomatoes (cubed)
1 Green Bell Pepper (sliced into thin strips)
1 Block of Tofu (cubed)

Place the above in a wide bowl or marinade box and pour the marinade liquid over everything. Toss well. Cover and keep aside.

How to proceed...

After the dough has risen for 1 hour, punch it down and let it rise again for another 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

Divide the dough into two and form two pizza bases out of it. They could be rolled out but I prefer to tap them flat with my palms (about 1/4 inch thick) directly onto oiled cookie sheets.

Pick the veggies and tofu out of the marinade liquid and spread them over the pizza bases equally. (The marinade liquid can be reused with other veggies or more tofu for another recipe).

Bake for 25 minutes until the tops of the tofu and the sides of the pizza crust have slightly browned.

Serve hot with pepper freshly crushed over it. Enjoy! :)

Creamy Peanut Milk Curds/Yogurt

2011-01-06T15:05:00.003+05:30

A quicky post just to explain the process of extracting milk out of peanuts and turning it into yogurt. Peanut milk by itself does NOT taste good. I put it in my tea this one time and ended up having to pour it down the drain! Highly painful for someone like me who does not like to waste food. But OMG how it changes in yogurt form!! Simply delicious!

I've been using this in more and more recipes lately so figured I'd share how it's made. It's my favorite kind of yogurt to date!

Creamy Peanut Milk Yogurt

Soak half a cup of plain, raw peanuts overnight. Grind them into a fine paste with some fresh water (the soaking water should be thrown out).

Transfer to a large pot, add lots of water (about 2 1/2 litres), bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and continue to simmer for about 30-40 minutes (stir once in a while). Once it has cooled down to room temperature, strain through a fine sieve. The peanut milk is ready! (The peanut grounds left in the sieve can be used in soups and curries or kneaded into chapathi or bread dough).

Heat the milk to a lukewarm temperature, add a wee bit (just 1-2 tsp will do) of soy yogurt and stir it in lightly with your fingers to introduce the cultures.

Cover and keep aside in a warm spot (a turned off oven or microwave is a great place!) and in about 6-8 hours, you'll have thick, creamy peanut yogurt. :)

It can be stored in the fridge for at least one week (maybe more but it's never lasted that long at our home because we finish it up really quickly! LOL). As the days go by, it gets even thicker and creamier.

A note about Starters:

While making vegan yogurt, if you don't have soy yogurt on hand to use as a starter, then take half a cup of soy milk, heat it to lukewarm, squeeze in a little bit of fresh lime/lemon juice, stir and keep aside. This will turn into yogurt after 6-8 hours but the texture isn't perfect. That's why you make this yogurt in a small quantity and then use that as a starter to make more vegan yogurt. Always make sure to save a few spoonfuls of yogurt in every batch to use as a starter for the next batch. I've noticed that when an old line of starter is used like this for 'generations', the texture and taste of the yogurt gets more delicious over time.

Alternately, you can also use rejeuvelac made out soaked of wheat berries.

I have also tried using chilli crowns as a starter as described on Tongue Ticklers and that worked well too.

Potato Buttermilk Bread

2011-01-03T20:53:00.005+05:30

Before I post the recipe, I'd first like to say that as much as it might look like it, the bread doesn't have whole potatoes in it. The top just looks that way because it's just been shaped accordingly. *grin*

Normally, I prefer to use 100% whole wheat (or other whole grains) in my bread recipes. But this time, I gave in and used partly whole wheat flour with mainly white flour. The 100% whole wheat bread is delicious when there are inclusions in the dough like herbs and grated veggies to add interesting textures to the final product. But with plain, untextured breads, just whole wheat makes it too dense.

Well sometimes, I don't mind giving into taste over wholesomeness. Besides, this being a vegan bread, white flour is the only less-than-perfectly-healthy ingredient in there. So indulge away! :)

2 t active dry yeast
1/2 t sugar
2 large potatoes (peeled, cubed and boiled until soft)
1/2 C cooking liquid from the potatoes cooled a little bit
1/2 C lukewarm soymilk
1/2 t apple cider vinegar (regular, white vinegar is also fine)
1 T oil (I used olive in this one)
2 t salt
2 C all purpose (white) flour (maida)
1 - 1 1/2 C whole wheat flour (chapathi atta)

Mix the flours together and keep aside.

Combine the potato cooking liquid (should be slightly warmer than lukewarm), sugar and yeast and keep it aside for about 15 minutes. It should froth and bubble and rise a bit by the end of this time (very important).

Combine the soymilk and the apple cider vinegar and keep aside for a couple of minutes to allow the soymilk to curdle well. This acts as the buttermilk.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the boiled potatoes. Add the oil, salt, soymilk mixture and frothed yeast mixture and stir well.

Now slowly add one cup of flour at a time and keep mixing until it forms into a stiff ball of dough.

Transfer to a floured surface and knead very well until it's smooth and elastic (very important).

Form into a ball and place it back into the mixing bowl. Cover it with a warm, wet cloth and keep it aside in a warm place or sunny spot for 1 1/2 hours to let it rise (it should at least double in size).

Punch down and again let it rise for 40 minutes.

Form the dough into 12 balls. Place 10 of these balls in two rows in a 9 X 5 inch loaf pan. Break the remaining 2 balls into 4-5 pieces, roll them into little balls and place them randomly on top any way you like.

Cover and let it rise until the dough has risen above the well over the rim of the pan (about 30-40 minutes).

Preheat oven to 205C (400F).

Dust the dough lightly with flour and place the pan in the middle of the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 190C (375F) and bake for another 40 minutes.

Once the oven goes off, leave the loaf in there for another 10 minutes and then remove immediately.

Let the bread cool in the pan for half an hour, remove from the pan, transfer it on to a cooling rack and let it cool completely before cutting with a serrated knife.

Tastes great served with a big bowl of soup or spicy bean chili.

Enjoy! :)

Pretty Pink Vegan Beet Wheat Bread

2010-12-02T21:54:00.004+05:30

She looked outside her window and saw the dull and dreary clouds. "Hmm", she said. "It looks like a home baked bread kind of day". And off she disappeared into the kitchen with thoughts of dough kneading in her head while Facebook looked on sadly at the momentary lapse in its addicting powers...

That's how it started. I was right in the middle of my facebooking (it warrants its own verb by now, don't you think?) and suddenly I upped and walked into the kitchen with the strong desire to bake bread (but not before updating my status message to reflect this). The exercise from the dough kneading, the smell as the bread bakes, the warmth of the oven... perfect activity to cheer one up on a cold, cloudy day!

I started off with my basic khara bread recipe and then modified a bit... just because I felt like it!

Since I've been improving upon the khara bread over time (and it sure has gotten yummier!), I figured I would share this beet bread recipe as a separate one instead of just referring people to the original post.

As always, the spices, herbs, seeds, nuts and even the vegetables used for that matter can be switched around to suit your taste. Personally, every time I make it, I use a different combination.

Today, this is what went into my bread.

Pretty Pink Vegan Beet Wheat Bread

Yeah, the final bread isn't all that pink. But the dough surely is! Besides, the name sounds so poetic this way. :oP

4 C whole wheat flour (chapathi atta)
3 C okara (soybean paste after the milk has been extracted)
1 large beet - peeled and grated
1 onion - chopped
1 T sugar
3/4 T active dry yeast
2 T raw flax seed powder
1 T white sesame seeds
1 T poppy seeds
3 T roasted sunflower seeds (without skin)
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil

crushed together:
5 green chillies
9 cloves garlic (the garlic cloves in India are quarter the size of the US ones)
3/4 T rock salt
pinch asafoetida powder

Place 1/2 C water in a small pan and heat it for a minute or so. Switch off the flame and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Cool the water a bit. It should be hotter than lukewarm but not burning hot. (I know the temperature is right when I can dip my finger in it and keep it there without needing to scream).

Sprinkle the yeast over the water and keep aside for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the flour and okara in a large mixing bowl and prep the veggies and spices - grating, chopping, crushing etc...- and add them to the flour. Add the nuts and seeds too.

By this time the yeast should have frothed well and risen. If it hasn't frothed, it means the water is either too hot or too cold. In which case you'll need to start again and get it right! It's very important that the yeast mixture has frothed before it can be used.

Pour the olive oil and flax seed powder into the frothed yeast mixture and beat with a spoon until it's all gooey and well blended. Add this to the bowl which has the other ingredients in it.

Now the kneading begins. This is THE most important part of baking bread. A well kneaded dough is the key to the final result. The dough should be moist but not sticky. I like to first mix everything lightly in the bowl and once they come together I form it into a rough ball and transfer it onto my clean counter top (which has been dusted with wheat flour) to continue the kneading.

Keep kneading with both palms for at least 15 minutes. Take it easy, go slow and enjoy the process. Press the dough away from you with the bottom of your palms and then fold the outer edge over the inner side. Keep repeating this. Press down, fold over, press down, fold over. Keep dusting your palms and the dough with flour if it's too sticky as you knead. If the dough is on the slightly dry side then rub your palms with olive oil and pat some on the dough as you knead. Remember that a moist dough is always better than a dry one (keep that in mind when you mix the rough dough in the bowl and add water if required). The final result after kneading should be soft and elasticky.

Now rub oil on the whole inside of the mixing bowl. Make a ball of the dough and place it in the bowl and swirl it around to coat with the oil all over.

Cover with a warm, moist cloth and keep in a warm place to let it rise for a minimum of 2 hours (you can leave it up to 4 hours if you like).

After 2 hours the dough would have risen a lot and doubled in size (at least). Punch it down, shape into a loaf (this forms one super sized loaf!) and place it in a bread pan. Cover with the moist cloth once more and let it rise for at least another 1 hour (not more than 2 hours).

Pre heat the oven to 450F/230C.

Remove the cloth and pop the pan into the oven. Let the bread bake at this temperature for 15 minutes. If you'd like a crispy crust, open the oven door halfway and carefully spray a few light squirts of water on top of the loaf a couple of times during this period.

After 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 400F/200C and bake for 45 minutes (do not open the oven door during this time for any reason).

Once the oven goes off remove the bread (check to see if it's done by tapping the top of the loaf and sides of the pan lightly and ensure it sounds hollow-ish). Let the bread cool in the pan for about 15-20 minutes. Then gently remove from the pan onto a cooling rack and let it sit there to cool completely.

Cut with a serrated knife and enjoy! :)

Marinated Herbed Baked Potatoes, Beets and Carrots

2010-12-01T11:55:00.002+05:30

Baked potatoes are yum of course, but I love the taste of carrots and beets in the mix! They add a special sweet flavor. You won't even need ketchup on the side! :oP

I made this for dinner last night and by the time I clicked a photo of it in the daylight this morning, we'd finished the carrots. That's why you only see potatoes and beets in the pic below.

5-6 medium sized Potatoes
3-4 Carrots
2 small Beets

Scrub and clean the carrots and potatoes under running water. Do not peel them. Cut them into chunks. Wash and peel the beets and cut them into chunks too.

Bring water to a rolling boil in a large pot. Pop only the potatoes into the water. Let them cook for 5-10 minutes, until slightly tender. Switch off the flame and drain.

Place all the veggies in a wide dish/container.

For the Marinade, whisk together with a fork/spoon the following ingredients in a bowl (quantities according to your taste) until well blended and creamy:

Freshly crushed Green Chilli and Garlic paste (crush them together with crystal salt and a pinch of asafoetida)
Olive oil
Tamari
Balsamic Vinegar
Nutritional Yeast
Freshly crushed Pepper
Dried Rosemary
Dried Chives

Note: I just switch things around with the marinade depending on my mood. You can feel free to do the same too. :)

Pour the marinade over the veggies and toss well. Cover and keep aside for a few hours. The longer they sit, the better. I had everything mixed in the morning so by dinner time they were soaked well and ready to be baked.

Pre heat the oven to 250 C.

Pick the veggies out of the marinade liquid and spread them on a cookie sheet and bake them for about half an hour.

After the oven goes off, let them sit inside for 5-10 minutes.

Serve hot.

Enjoy! :)

Vegan Baadusha Recipe

2010-11-29T19:42:00.001+05:30

Do you know why Baadusha starts with 'baad'? Because it is one baaadass sweet! heheh Ok stop cringing, I promise not to make anymore poor jokes for the rest of this post. :oP

We've been making these babies for Diwali in the recent years. One of the quickest desserts to make! The only 'work' involved is the deep frying and even that can be easy with a partner. In my case, I shape the Baadushas and pop them into the oil and DH deep fries them and transfers them into the sugar syrup. 10-15 minutes of this et voilà, all done! :)

2 C maida/all purpose flour (I do intend to try these out with whole wheat flour at some point though)
1/2 C cold coconut oil + more for deep frying
2 C sugar
2 C water + more for the dough
A generous pinch of baking soda
Tiny pinch of salt
Chopped nuts - pista, almond, cashew

Fry the chopped nuts in a bit of coconut oil until lightly brown, strain and keep aside.

Pour this strained oil plus the remainder of the 1/2 C oil into the flour along with the salt and rub everything together until crumbs form.

Sprinkle the soda on top, add a little bit of water and knead into a soft dough.

Cover with a moist cloth and keep aside for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare a slightly thick sugar syrup with the sugar and water by boiling them together.

While the syrup is still warm, heat the oil for deep frying.

Shape the dough into little balls, flatten them and press your thumb (or index or whichever finger you like) down in the middle to form a crater in each one.

In batches, deep fry them in the hot oil on a medium flame until golden brown and transfer them directly into the warm sugar syrup.

Let them soak for about 10 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer them onto a plate and place the nuts in the craters.

After they cool slightly, the sugar syrup will harden a bit and form a layer on top.

At this point the Baadushas are ready to munch on. :)

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-11-12T09:38:00.005+05:30

I often make these delicious vegan chocolate chip cookies and they are always a hit! :) Most recently, I made it for one of the Diwali nights for all my cousins and they were polished off super quickly! I have been asked for the recipe multiple times and I figured it's high time I post it up on my blog so I can just link it then next time someone asks me how to make them. :)

1 C whole wheat flour
1 C all purpose flour (maida)
1 C vegan chocolate chips (in India, chopped Bournville dark chocolate bars would work since they're the most common vegan chocolate bars available here)
3/4 chopped walnuts or pecans
3/4 maple syrup (can be replaced with sugar syrup too but please no date syrup or liquid jaggery because they just don't produce the best taste or texture)
1/2 C oil (I like to use either coconut or olive oil)
1 T Baking Powder
1 t Vanilla Extract
1/8 t Salt
1/2 C water (or any vegan milk like ricemilk/soymilk etc...)

Preheat oven to 180 C/350 F
Mix the dry ingredients together (except chocolate and nuts).
Add wet ingredients and mix.
Stir in the chocolate and walnuts.
Pop some fresh cookie dough in your mouth and take a deep, blissful breath.
Resist the temptation to finish the rest of the dough.
Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheet.
Bake for 15-20 mins.

Serve hot and enjoy! :)

In Celebration of Veganism

2010-11-01T11:19:00.004+05:30

Been a long time since I've posted here! I'm back home now and all settled in. Ready to start wildly experimenting in the kitchen again. :) So I expect to get back to my regular posting schedule soon.

For now, here's a quick Artfire Collection I created for World Vegan Day.

In Celebration of Veganism

Curated By: artbysusmitha

ArtFire.com

And just for today I have a special discount going on at my Artfire Studio too:

Visit artbysusmitha's Studio

SAVE 15.00 % On
All Items

Use Coupon Code:

VEGANAWESOMENESS1NOV2010

during checkout.

Art by Susmitha

And the winners of the Go Max Go vegan chocolates are...

2010-09-16T23:46:00.003+05:30

Congratulations to:
Christina @calmond
and
Julie @VeganGurl44
for winning the Go Max Go Vegan Candybars!! :)

Woo Hoo!!! :) :) :)

Please send me a convo on etsy with your mailing address so I can ship them out to you! :)

Chocolate Dipped Bananas

2010-09-16T05:06:00.002+05:30

Considering how delicious these frozen treats are, it's hard to believe how easy they are to make! :)

2 large, very ripe bananas
1/4 C dark semi-sweet vegan chocolate chips
1 T vanilla ricemilk

Peel and freeze the bananas overnight. Remove from freezer and cut into chunks.

Melt the chocolate chips with the ricemilk. You can do this by either tempering in a double boiler or in a microwave by heating for 30 seconds at a time (maximum 2 times) and stirring until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.

Dip the banana chunks into the chocolate with the help of a fork and arrange on a plate lined with wax paper (I didn't use the wax paper but it would make things a bit easier if you did). The chocolate sets very quickly because the bananas are frozen so work as quickly as possible.

Re freeze everything for a couple of hours.

This tastes yummy straight out of the freezer but I also like to warm it up in the mircowave for about 20 seconds for a melty, gooey dessert. :)

Hypnotic Energy Paintings

2010-09-11T21:00:00.001+05:30

I was soaking in the jacuzzi next to the hotel pool one evening and this sweet little girl came into the tub and struck up a conversation with me. We started playing "who can hold their breath the longest under water" and she kicked my butt at it most of the time! LOL After some time she introduced herself as Gloria and the two ladies with her were her mom Denisa and her aunt Sania.

And that's how I met Dr. Denisa Legac, one of the very interesting people I've crossed paths with on this trip. She is a Life Coach from Croatia and also a very talented artist. She creates beautiful paintings with healing messages behind them. These are called Hypnotic Energy Paintings and she incorporates them into the therapy process.

I decided to do an audio interview with her so that you can hear in her own voice all about this amazing healing style. I have chosen a few of her art pieces which spoke to me most and under each picture I've posted an audio clip in which Denisa describes the underlying message.

You can find more of her paintings on her gallery page at her No Limits Therapy website.

Vegan Polenta Pizza

2010-09-11T02:23:00.004+05:30

Well it isn't exactly like regular pizza but it is sooo yum and super easy to make too. I only have access to a microwave right now so I baked this pizza in it but once I get back home I'm definitely going to try this out in a real oven.

Crust:
1 C polenta corn grits
Olive Oil
Salt
2 C water

Bring the water to boil. Add salt and a dash of olive oil. Slowly add the corn grits while stirring continuously with a fork. Reduce the heat and keep stirring until all the water is absorbed. Close the pan and let it sit.

Topping (you can use any combination of veggies of course but here's mine):
Tomatoes sliced into circles
Onions sliced thin and long
Rice Vegan Cheese Slices cut into little pieces

Marinade:
Tamari
Ground Black Pepper
Sugar or Agave (teeny bit)
Tabasco Chilli Sauce

Max the marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Place the chopped onions in the marinade and toss well. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes.

Oil your pizza tray (I directly used my glass microwave turn table) and transfer the polenta onto it. Dip your palm in a generous amount of olive oil and pat the polenta down into an even base. Bake on high power for 5 minutes.

Take the onion slices out of the marinade and spread them evenly over the base. Place the sliced tomatoes over this and top with the rice vegan cheese pieces.

Bake on medium power for 5 minutes and then on high for 2 more minutes.

Slice and serve hot. Enjoy! :)

Go Max Go Vegan Candybars Giveaway

2010-09-01T11:00:00.002+05:30

Who wants to win chocolates? Yes, I said CHOCOLATES! :)

The kind people of Go Max Go Foods have sent me these awesome Vegan Ricemilk Chocolate Candybars.

I received three sets of bars. One set for myself and two sets to giveaway. Two winners will be picked and each one will receive four bars - one each of Mahalo, Buccaneer, Jokerz and Twilight.

This giveaway is open to everyone! Yippee!! You can enter no matter which part of the world you live in and if you win I will ship the candybars right to you. :)

Among the four, Buccaneer has got to be my most favorite Go Max Go bar! It's a thick layer of delicious chocolate with a really decadent nougat filling. Mmm mmm mmm. The best part is that it has just the right level of sweetness so you can eat multiple bars and enjoy every single bite. Honestly, it's scary how quickly one can go through one bar after another of Buccaneer without even thinking about it! Arrrr.

The Jokerz bar has been designed with the peanut connoisseur in mind. It is full of rich peanutty delight mixed in with chocolate and caramel. The flavor and texture of the peanuts meld well with the chocolate taste in a perfect balance. And it doesn't have that overpowering saltiness that the peanut-chocolate combination often does! This is quite a filling treat. Perfect for when you're hit by those mid-morning munchies! Or the late afternoon munches. Or the midnight munchies... you get the idea.

And now we come to the Twilight bar. This little guy is basically the same as Buccaneer except that, apart from the fluffy nougat and creamy chocolate, it also has a super-thick layer of caramel in between. I'm not normally into caramel but Twilight is definitely an exception for me. It reminds me of the 5 Star bars that we used to enjoy while growing up but like a zillion times better! I think it's that ricemilk chocolate which makes a world of difference here. For people who can't resist the marriage of caramel and chocolate, this bar will be pure heaven for you!

Finally, we have the Mahalo bar! *Hawaiian music* Mahalo is a Hawaiian word for gratitude and when a coconut lover bites into this bar, gratitude is exactly what they'll be feeling! This delectable goody is made primarily of coconut with a thin layer of chocolate and roasted almonds for added taste. So if you're not that into coconuts then move on please, nothing here for you to see. To those of us from India, Mahalo would taste pretty much like Coconut Barfi dipped in a delicious chocolatey coating. Tempted yet? :D A word of warning though, this bar is a tad higher on the sweetness compared to the rest of them so only if you have a real strong sweet tooth are you totally ready for Mahalo!

You can easily find the Go Max Go bars at various locations within the USA and also internationally. Not available in your country? Not to worry, there are plenty of online stores which will ship the bars to you. My favorite online vegan stores which ship worldwide are Pangea - The Vegan Store and Vegan Essentials. Sure, the chocolate will melt a little during transit but the little packs are sealed well so all you need to do is pop them into the fridge for a bit and they'll be ready to enjoy! :)

Now let me tell you about how you can win these bars for yourself...

There are various ways to participate (listed below) and each thing you do counts as an entry. The first one is mandatory but the rest of them are completely up to you! But make sure you leave a separate comment for every entry.

1. Tell us which Go Max Go candybar is closest to your heart (or if you haven't tasted them which one do you imagine you would like most). And more importantly, what flavor/style of chocolate candybar would you like Go Max Go Foods to create in the future?

2. Follow Go Max Go Foods on Twitter.

3. Follow Veganosaurus and/or Art by Susmitha on Twitter.

4. Follow this blog.

5. 'Like' Veganosaurus and/or Art by Susmitha on Facebook.

6. Write on your blog about this giveaway with a link to this blog post.

7. Post about this giveaway on facebook with a link to this blog post.

8. Tweet to @veganosaurus about this giveaway with a link to this blog post. (This can be done as many times as you like throughout the giveaway and each time will be considered as an additional entry. Just make sure you come back and post a comment here every time you tweet).

Just remember, leave a separate comment here for every entry. Also, leave your e-mail id or etsy id in your first comment for me to be able to contact you in case you win.

This giveaway will be open until Wednesday, 15th September 2010 (exactly two weeks from today). After that, TWO winners will be chosen with the help of a random number generator. I will post the results here on my blog.

Winners, I'll contact you by means of the contact details you have left me here, get your snail mail addresses and mail each of you one set of four candybars. (If you're in India, I'll carry the bars back home to Bangalore with me and post them to you in October).

Good luck everyone! LET THE GAMES BEGIN! :D

----------------------------------------------------------

UPDATE: GIVEAWAY CLOSED. WINNERS ANNOUNCED HERE :)

----------------------------------------------------------

Winners of the Coconut Bliss Giveaway!!!

2010-08-28T00:34:00.004+05:30

Ladies and gentleladies (yeah I don't think any men participated this time) I now present the winners of the Blissfully Coconutty Coconut Bliss Giveaway....

*trumpets*

HEATHER and MEGHNA!!!

*applause*

CONGRATULATIONS ladies!! Send me your postal addresses on Etsy and your Coconut Bliss Ice Cream coupons will be on their way to you! :)

Sweet, Sweet, Sweet V Confections

2010-08-18T12:45:00.000+05:30

I originally wrote this review for the awesome Vegan Cupcake Thursday blog which is run by my dear friend Roni of Daisywares (my TOP FAVORITE store for amazing vegan bath and body products!! She makes gorgeous vegan jewelry too).

Even though this Sweet V Confections review has already been posted on Vegan Cupcake Thursday, I wanted to share it here on my blog too because this is a store which deserves to be featured many times at multiple places. :)

So there it was, a pretty, pink, striped bakery box. I was thrilled that it had arrived in the mail so quickly after the order had been placed! The packaging was so lovely that I almost didn't want to open it right away... almost. But the thought of the goodies inside overtook my power of restraint and before I knew it, I was looking at a delectable collection of tempting concoctions from Sweet V Confections.

I know this is a cupcake themed blog, but first I must speak of the most delightful surprise treat in the package... The Puppy Chow! "Peanut buttery, chocolatey goodness with a crunch!" that's what the description claims and I most definitely concur! Just talking about these little bursts of glee is making me crave some right now so please bear with me while I run to my fridge and pop some into my mouth.

*crunch* *munch* There! That hit the spot. :)

Now, where were we? Oh yes, the cupcake. The variety I got the was the Red Velvet Cupcake. These cupcakes are a sight to behold! Such a beautiful, rich, deep red color (obtained by using natural, beet based food coloring). The fluffy icing came in a little box on the side. I just scooped up spoonfuls of it and piled it onto the cake before wolfing it down. These cupcakes are delectably moist and could be thoroughly enjoyed even without the icing.

The other goodies I ordered were the Vanilla Shortbread Sandwiches and the Fudge Filled Sandwich Cookies. I can't decide which one I like more. They're so darned good! Each bite is like a little piece of heaven. I highly recommend them!

Kristen (the awesome lady behind Sweet V Confections) also included some extra surprise goodies in the package, like the Peanut Butter and Jelly Cups (SO much better than plain peanut butter cups!) and the Vegan Chocolate Fudge. Both of them exceptionally yummy!

If you're anything like me, I know what you're thinking now... there are so many options at this store, it's hard to decide which one to pick. Well don't you worry about that. Just go for the Sinfully Sweet Vegan Variety Sampler and you will *not* be disappointed! If there's anything particular that you want included in the sampler, all you need to do is send Kristen a convo about it. She is really friendly and approachable.

Sweet V Confections has been included in the Vegnews Mag's 2010 Veggie Awards Poll under the "Best Online Bakery" category. I'd request you to vote for her, but once you have tasted these delicious baked goods, I'm confident you will want to do so without having to be asked at all. :)

Signing off,
- Susmitha :) (Veganosaurus)

Blissfully Coconutty Coconut Bliss review and giveaway

2010-08-12T07:49:00.009+05:30

I've been having a hard time writing this review and it's not for the lack of words to describe the delectable goodness of Coconut Bliss organic coconut milk ice creams. It's just that each time I've begun to write this blog post, I've had the overwhelming urge to run to the freezer and help myself to large dollops of these scrumptious drops of heaven!! (Imagine my plight when I was in the process of clicking these pictures)!

Coconut Bliss... what a perfect name Luna and Larry (the blessed souls behind this brilliant idea of turning coconut milk into ice cream) have come up with. In my opinion, adding a couple more 'S'es at the end would've better expressed the true effects of these ice creams... Blissss. *Ahhhhh*

When I wanted to do this review, the kind people at Coconut Bliss sent me coupons for four free pints of their ice creams. Two for me and two to share. :)

***

For myself, I decided to get the Naked Coconut and Pineapple Coconut flavors. I even shared some with DH, purely out of the kindness of my heart (any coconut karma points I happened to gain in the process were purely unintentional *blinks innocently*).

First, let me tell you about the Naked Coconut flavor.

I tasted it for the first time when I was here in the US last year and fell in love immediately! Normally, when I get a chance to try something out for free, I pick a flavor I've never tasted before. But Naked Coconut is sooooo awesome that I couldn't help but get one this time too!

When you open the cap of a new pint of Naked Coconut, the fresh, untouched ice cream looks just like snow. Sweet, delicious snow. I suggest that you do not bend over the container while opening the cap, you'd risk droolifying the ice cream.

Let the ice cream sit outside for a few minutes before you start eating it to truly experience the optimum level of creaminess and flavor.

Delicious organic coconut milk is blended with pure organic agave nectar to give it just the right level of sweetness. And it's loaded with dry coconut flakes for a delightful texture! Each spoonful is simply divine.

Coconut Bliss ice creams come in many flavors but Naked Coconut is hands down the best of the lot! Last week I noticed in the freezer section of the nearest grocery that they have Coconut Bliss bars now and Naked Coconut is one of the two flavors!! Boy am I buying me some of that action the next time I'm at the store. :D

Now, let's move on to Pineapple Coconut.

Even though I love fruits, I'm generally not a fan of most fruit flavored ice creams. They're either too tangy or too essence-y for my tastes. But I decided to be adventurous and grab the Pineapple Coconut this time. And it turned out to be an excellent decision. :)

Here's the beauty of this ice cream, it contains only pure, organic pineapple fruit and juice. Absolutely no artificial ('artificial' almost feels like a dirty word in this post) pineapple essence! This makes a whole world of difference to the taste. It's like Naked Coconut with just the slightest hint of pineapple in it. A very palatable combination.

Pineapple Coconut is quite a yummy flavor so I do recommend it. But make sure you get the Naked Coconut before all else. :D

Coconut Bliss ice creams might seem a tad on the expensive side when you compare prices with the regular vegan ice creams out there, but they are worth every single penny! And this is not only because they taste so good but also because they are made of completely organic, natural and healthy ingredients. They're vegan, soy-free, gluten-free and have a low glycemic index. And what's more, they're committed to sustainability and fair trade to the maximum extent possible.

***

Finally, let's get to the juiciest part of this post... The Giveaway! :)

This giveaway applies to people in the USA ONLY (my apologies to international readers) because Coconut Bliss is available only in the US and Canada but they are unable to generate coupons for Canada yet.

Here's how YOU could win yourself a free pint of Coconut Bliss:

There are various ways to participate (listed below) and each thing you do counts as one entry. The first one is mandatory but the rest of them are completely up to you! But make sure you leave a separate comment for every entry.

1. Tell me which is your favorite Coconut Bliss product (or if you haven't tasted any yet, which flavor you would like to try the most).

2. Follow Coconut Bliss on Twitter.

3. "Like" Coconut Bliss on Facebook.

4. Follow this blog.

5. Follow Veganosaurus on Twitter.

6. Follow Art by Susmitha on Twitter.

7. Write a blog entry on your blog about this giveaway with a link to this blog post.

8. Post about this giveaway on your facebook with a link to this blog post.

9. Tweet to @veganosaurus about this giveaway with a link to this blog post. (This can be done as many times as you like throughout the giveaway and each time will be considered as an additional entry).

Just remember, leave a separate comment here for every entry. Also, leave your e-mail id or etsy id in your first comment for me to be able to contact you in case you win.

This giveaway will be open until the 26th of August (exactly two weeks from today). After that, TWO winners will be chosen with the help of a random number generator. I will post the results here.

Winners, I'll contact you by means of the contact details you have left me here, get your snail mail addresses and mail you one coupon each for a pint of Coconut Bliss ice cream. You can claim the coupon at a grocery store near you which sells these ice creams (I got mine from Whole Foods). You get to pick any flavor you like.

So wish you all the very best! LET THE GAMES BEGIN! :D

***

GIVEAWAY CLOSED. WINNERS ANNOUNCED HERE! :)

Red Quinoa Pilaf

2010-07-28T05:55:00.005+05:30

I just tasted red quinoa for the first time and I must say that it is a gazillion times more delicious than regular quinoa, in terms of flavor AND texture! I fell in love with it at first crunch! When they coined the term "manna from heaven", I have no doubts that this delectable, nutrient-rich South American seed-grain is precisely what they were talking about.

I've put together this dish with red quinoa and vegetables and for the lack of a better term I'm referring to it as Pilaf (apparently the most commonly prepared quinoa dish by people all over the net world).

1 C Red Quinoa
2-3 C Mixed veggies - Edamame, Zucchini, Broccoli florets, chopped Carrots (an exotic grain such as this is deserving of only the finest vegetables)
2 Serrano Peppers (or Green Chillies) halved lengthwise
2 T Peanut oil (preferable the unrefined, expeller pressed variety if available)
1/2 t Garlic paste
Mixed spices - Turmeric powder, ground Coriander, ground Cumin, crushed Pepper
Salt
Freshly squeezed lime juice from half a large lime or one small lime.

Rinse the quinoa well through a finely meshed sieve or a cheesecloth.
Bring 2 C of water to boil in a wide pan, add a large pinch of salt and the washed quinoa.
Reduce heat to its lowest, cover the pan and cook for about 15 minutes, until the quinoa has absorbed all the water (lift the lid and check only after the 15 minutes, otherwise precious steam will escape and slow down the cooking process).
Turn off flame, fluff the quinoa with a fork and let it sit covered for a few more minutes.

Meanwhile, place all the vegetables (including the chillies) in a microwave safe glass dish.
Splash in the peanut oil and toss well.
Cook uncovered in the microwave for 5 minutes on high.
Add the spices, garlic paste and salt and mix well.
Cook uncovered for 3 minutes on high.

Transfer the cooked quinoa over the veggies and mix together with a fork.
Cook covered for 2 minutes.
Uncover and cook for 1 more minute.

Squeeze the lime juice over everything and mix well with a fork.
Serve this crunchy and delicious Red Quinoa Pilaf hot.

Winner of the Name the Monsters Giveaway.

2010-06-29T10:11:00.004+05:30

When I started this giveaway I thought I'd be choosing a winner myself but all the entries are so clever and cute, it was really difficult to just pick one as the best. So I assigned each monster name a number in the order of entry, and let an online random number generator do the job for me.

And the winner is... *trumpets*

Lazlo by Kala of Vegancraftastic!

Congratulations Kala!! :)

Please send me a convo at my main etsy store with your mailing address. Your surprise Tiny Terrarium Cyclops Monster will be on his/her way to you soon. :)

Name the Monsters giveaway.

2010-06-25T12:11:00.003+05:30

Making monsters is as easy as pie because they're so much fun to make! Once I get my fingers into the clay, I just keep going and all these little characters take shape. But when it comes to naming them, that's where the flow of creativity sometimes faces hurdles. Most of my monsters have names as loud and clear as their personalities. But there are those who, despite their innumerable traits, just don't seem to attract a perfect name. And that's where I need your help.

So I've decided that I'm going to have a Name the Monsters giveaway! :)

It's very simple, all you need to do is leave a comment on my Veganosaurus Page on Facebook (under the photo of the above monsters) with your ideas for Monster Names. On Monday, the 28th of June, I will pick a winner. And the prize? A surprise Tiny Terrarium Cyclops Monster of course! :)

So what're you waiting for. Start spinning out those monster names! :)

Crunchy Coconut Biscuits

2010-06-09T21:10:00.005+05:30

Coconut biscuits (cookies are called biscuits here) were one of my top favorites while growing up. Particularly the ones sold at local bakeries. Sadly they are not vegan at the bakeries so I don't buy them anymore. Needless to say, I couldn't resist putting together my own recipe for them and am highly pleased with the results.

If you have the ingredients on hand, this is one quick and easy easy recipe. I find that these biscuits taste best when freshly out of the oven. So it's a great idea to mix together all the ingredients (except water) and store them in the fridge in an airtight container. Then whenever the craving hits you, just pull out as much as you like, mix in the water and bake.

Crunchy Coconut Biscuits

1 C all purpose flour
1 C dessicated coconut (dry coconut powder)
1 C brown sugar
1/2 C coconut oil (yes it must to be coconut oil)
1/4 t salt
1 t baking powder

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Rub the oil into the mixture. Add a little cold water, just enough to form a dough. Knead the dough a little.

Pinch off balls, lightly flatten on your palm and place on a cookie sheet.

Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350 F. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the edges brown.

Let them cool for a couple of minutes on the sheet and then transfer them to a cooling rack.

The sugar caramelizes in the oil and gives a special crunch to these biscuits. When you eat them warm they will be slightly chewey. After cooling completely, they become fully crunchy. Both ways are yum! :)

VSPCA needs our help.

2010-05-23T15:48:00.004+05:30

As some of you might know, VSPCA - Visakha Society for Protection and Care of Animals is the chosen charity at Art by Susmitha. Each month, a portion of the sales from my store goes to their Cow Sanctuary.

The people at VSPCA do some amazing work to help the animals in the surrounding areas. And now that they are faced with Cyclone Laila, they need all the support and help they can get.

Here is an excerpt from the message sent out by Eileen Weintraub - VSPCA Volunteer for Global Outreach.

"Dear friends and supporters of VSPCA,

As you may know VSPCA collects funds to go out and rescue stranded and sick animals in distress when there are natural disasters.

First the shelter report:

We are worried about the front and the back stream – when there are rains (we have been experiencing heavy rains for the past three days) these are dangerous streams that can flood us.

We have shifted all the star tortoises to a higher place; all the birds to higher areas; all the ducks to higher ground and also the rabbits. The dogs have been all kept indoors in the kennels. Cats are OK and can climb up. We have asked at least ten workers on extra payroll to stay overnight.

Our shelter managers (Raj and Sarada) are staying overnight while Pradeep is taking care of this area and meeting and communications and materials . We purchased 20 raincoats and another 10 for the workers. The rest of the workers (40) have rain gear from other disasters.

The biggest problem is the 300 loose cattle who have no sheds (another 350 cattle and buffalo have sheds). If these 300 are brought in during the day there will be no possibility to clean and give them food. Therefore alternative feeding is going on. It is still raining very hard and we are doing our best to remove water logging, etc. Given the experience with past cyclones the shelter has also been built on five feet high structures with strong metal with good drainage to resist the water rush from the hills and streams.

We have kept all feed and medicines in the natural disaster rooms.

The only upsides of the cyclone are that we now have more water in our wells and borewells which were quite dry. The shelter plants and trees (although we lost several in the storm) are intact. The severe heat has come down considerably. It is only because of past planning and new drainage systems – and your support – that our shelter has survived!

Aside from our ongoing needs for food, medicine and animal birth control, currently our urgent needs for the shelter include: one genset, a new vehicle (another one is down due to old age) and a new submersible pump.

Now for our disaster outreach work:

We are concerned for the animals in the 400 km area surrounding us. This is a hurried note to inform you all as we cannot sit by while animals need our help. Kindly consider donating any amount for our efforts.

Please see our ongoing updates on Facebook (you do not have to be a Facebook member to view them).

On behalf of all at VSPCA,
Eileen Weintraub
VSPCA Volunteer for Global Outreach"

Bille Kadubu - South Indian Steamed Delicacy

2010-05-19T17:07:00.003+05:30

I have a nice book in Kannada called Paakadarshi which is filled with recipes of wonderful traditional dishes from Karnataka. My mom took it out of her collection and gave it to me soon after I got married and was about to move away from Bangalore for a long time. As a new cook it acted like the Gita to me in the kitchen. :)

I later bloomed into an experimental cook who rarely follows recipes to a tee. But even after all these years, when it comes to the very traditional recipes, the kind of wonderful stuff that my mom makes, I still fall back on my Paakadarshi. And it has always caused great results!

Here's a quick and easy recipe for this delicious dish called Bille (pronounced Bil-lay) Kadubu.

2 C Rice Semolina (sold as Idli Rava at Indian stores)
3/4 C fresh coconut (I use half grated and half cut into tiny pieces)
2 t Channa Dal (soaked)
1 t Jaggery
Salt

For the seasoning:
Black mustard seeds, Curry leaves, Oil (canola, coconut... anything)

Heat a few spoons of oil in a wok/pan. Add mustard seeds and let them crackle. Turn off the stove and add curry leaves. Add 5 cups of water, jaggery and salt and turn on the heat once again. Bring the water to a boil. Lower the heat and gently pour in the rice semolina while continuously stirring. Once the water has been absorbed completely, take the pan off the stove and stir in the coconut. Mix well.

Let the mixture cool slightly (but not too much). Lightly oil your palms and make little balls out of the dough. Steam them for 8-10 minutes.

Serve hot with Coconut Cilantro Chutney. (Just posting this recipe here is making me want to eat some right now! :oP)

Whole Grain and Seed Khara Bread

2010-05-12T21:27:00.006+05:30

I've been meaning to post this recipe here for a while now but every time I've made the bread, it's been finished so quickly that I never had a chance to catch a picture! I figured I might as well share the recipe and the picture can be added the next time I bake it. It's one of the most delicious breads I've tasted till date (even if I say so myself)!! It would be a crime to delay sharing the recipe any longer.

(Update: Baked it again on 16th May and clicked pics which got added here on 17th May.)

Whole Grain and Seed Khara (Spicy) Bread

2 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 C okara (optional)
1 1/2 t active dry yeast
3 t organic jaggery (you can use sugar instead but it won't be as great)
1 - 1 1/2 t salt
1/4 C olive oil

1 medium onion (chopped finely)
handful of fresh cilantro (chopped)

Crushed Together:
3-5 spicy green chillies
5-7 small cloves of garlic
1/8 t asafoetida

Further ingredients: (add whichever of these you have on hand)
2-3 T wheat berries (soaked overnight, drained and chopped roughly)
1 T sesame seeds
1 T flax seeds
1-2 T pumpkin/sunflower/melon seeds
2-3 t mixed dried herbs - chives, thyme, oregano, parsley...

Heat a cup of water and add salt and jaggery to it. Let them dissolve and then strain the water (to remove fine sand particles from the jaggery). Let the water cool a little until it's slightly hotter than lukewarm.

Place the whole wheat flour in a large bowl and make a deep well in the center. Add the water and sprinkle the yeast over it. Let this sit for 10-15 minutes. The yeast should froth well.

Pour in the oil, add the okara (helps make the dough extra soft) and form a rough ball of dough, adding warm water as required. Add the rest of the ingredients and do some preliminary kneading. Then transfer the dough to a flat, floured surface (I use my cleaned counter top) and knead well for about 10 minutes, until the dough is soft and flexible in texture. The kneading is the most important part of bread making and a wetter dough is always preferable to a drier one.

Coat the mixing bowl with olive oil and swirl the ball of dough in it so it's coated with oil on all sides. Cover with a wet cloth and let it sit in a warm/sunny spot for 2 hours. The dough should have at least doubled in volume after sitting like this.

Punch down the dough, gently shape it into a loaf and place it in a loaf pan. Cover with wet cloth and let it rise again for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 390 F/ 200 C. Place the loaf pan in the oven and let it bake for 45-50 minutes. Once the oven goes off, let it sit in the oven for 5 minutes. Then take the pan out of the oven and let it the bread cool in the pan for about 20 mins. Turn the bread over onto a wire rack and let it cool completely before cutting it with a serrated knife.

This is a soft, thick and moist bread and tastes absolutely heavenly dipped in herbed extra virgin olive oil or lathered with Earth Balance buttery spread. I also like to cut it into thick cubes and serve it with a hearty stew.

Beet Hummus

2010-04-09T09:05:00.004+05:30

When they invented the words "manna from heaven", THIS is what they must've taken a lick of. Beets take Hummus to a whole new level of orgasmic delight! I normally reserve the term "orgasmic" for only chocolate based foods, so you can see how serious I am about Beet Hummus.

It's just as simple to make as regular Hummus, so try it out for yourself and you'll know what I mean.

I want to shower a thousand blessings upon Julia for sharing the link of the original recipe with all of us at the EtsyVeg group. Until that moment, I had not fathomed the addition of Beets into Hummus. And now, my Hummus making days have changed forever!

As always, I tweaked the recipe a bit to suit my tastes. I've served it over organic red rice and topped it with a herb chutney (the green of the chutney looked so pretty with the deep pink of the hummus, I couldn't resist placing them together for the picture hehe). All of them tasted yummy together, but believe me when I say, the hummus tasted quite heavenly by itself too! You can just keep eating it in spoonfuls, straight from the container (like ice cream). So just be warned before you make some. :)

2 Medium Sized Beets - peeled, diced and cooked
2 Cups Cooked Chickpeas (I recommend starting with dry chick peas, soaking them using the Quick Soak Method* and then cooking them)
5-10 small cloves of garlic (depends on how garlicky you like it)
2-3 Shallots (Sambar Onions)
1 t Tahini (or dry roasted sesame seeds)
1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 T Nutritional Yeast (optional)
To taste - red chilli flakes, coriander powder, salt, freshly squeezed lemon juice

Grind/Process everything together (except the olive oil). Use enough of the cooking liquid from the beets/chickpeas and blend everything to a smooth paste. With the food processor running, drizzle in the Olive Oil and continue to blend until it gets incorporated completely. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Use more of the cooking liquid and blend until desired consistency is reached. Put into an airtight container and store in the fridge.

Hummus tastes delicious soon after it's made but it tastes best after a day of sitting in the fridge because the flavors develop well by then.

*Quick Soak Method (can be used for all beans) - Bring a pot of water to boil. Wash beans and put into the boiling water. Turn off the heat and cover the pot. Let it sit for 1-4 hours. Drain and throw out the soaking water completely and wash the beans. This removes 80-90 % of the flatulence causing properties inherent in most beans, hence making them even more healthier. The beans are now ready to be cooked, either in a pressure cooker (much quicker) or in a pot of boiling water (takes a couple of hours depending on the type of bean involved).

Vegan Craft Samples - Earth Day 2010

2010-03-31T10:21:00.004+05:30

My friend from the Vegan Etsy and Etsy Veg teams Heather Snogles started up Vegan Craft Samples a while ago and it's been a huge success ever since! Each year has about 4 Vegan Craft Samples Bags getting released to which various artists and crafters contribute their wonderful creations. When you purchase a bag, not only do you get a mix of beautiful stuff made by various talented people, you also help out an animal charity to which all profits from the bags go.

While there are many sample bags of this sort being run, Heather is the only one who runs an all Vegan bag and also donates 100% of the profits to an animal sanctuary.

The next bag is the one for Earth Day 2010 and they go on sale on the 4th of April 2010 (only a few days away!!). The chosen animal charity for this time is Carolina Pet Rescue.

The bags will be available in 3 sizes - small (8-10 items), regular (17-20 items) and large (22+ items). They will be up for sale at the Vegan Craft Samples Website and Etsy Store.

Once these babies come out, they sell like hotcakes so make sure you grab them quickly! :)

Currently, the Etsy Store also has a yearly subscription for all 2010 bags up for sale. If you buy this, you'll receive all the 3 remaining bags for 2010 without having to worry about remembering to grab them in time.

About 2 weeks ago, I sent in my goodies for the bags from both my stores - Art by Susmitha and Veganosaurus. This morning, I logged in to find an e-mail from Heather, saying that my box has reached. :)

While I had been making my creations to send in, I had been hunting for a fun packaging idea, particularly for the monsters. I really wanted it to be whimsical yet different. Then one day, while I was doing my normal chores and basically feeling thoughtless, the idea just hit me... Comic Strips! :)

So I spent a couple of days, snipping comics from the daily newspaper and used them to wrap the monsters and a few of the other goodies. It took a bit of effort but it was totally worth it!

Keep an eye out for the Veganosaurus Monsters or the Art by Susmitha Jewelry and Wire Book Marks in your Vegan Samples Bag. And if you find one, I'd love to hear from you about it! Please drop a comment right here to let me know what you think. :)

A Carnival of Vegan Decadence - Namma Bengaluru

2010-02-25T18:00:00.005+05:30

Call Carnival Bakery and a lady with a sweet voice is the one who's likely to answer the phone. After you ask her if their baked goods have eggs or dairy, she calmly assures you that she knows what Vegan means and politely waits while you first gasp and then recover from this delightful news. Then she proceeds to spring upon you the information that they have a separate special Vegan menu!! I'm guessing that by now she's well enough trained to immediately move the receiver away from her to protect her ear drums from the high pitched screech which emanates from your mouth.

It was K, my sister in Veganism, who stumbled upon this rare pearl (let me clarify that I'm referring to a Vegan Swarovski glass pearl here) while on a hunt for the perfect bagels. When she called me to share this news, I nearly did the Nakka Mukka. I vaguely recall registering the life-changingness of this information while my head swam with innumerable possibilities.

Sure, I'm quite capable of whipping up some fabulous Vegan desserts of my own at anytime. But now, when the craving hits me and I'm feeling lazy, the delicious treats are just a phone call away. And the BEST part is that I don't have to bake my own Birthday cake ever again! :D

My first order with them was a Black Forest Cake. No surprises there because that was my favorite gateau from my evil pre-Vegan days. It had been 7 years since I'd had a bite of the perfect Black Forest. Well I must admit that this wasn't the perfect Black Forest, but it sure was a delightful sight and pretty yummy too! Particularly after soaking in the fridge for a day (I've seen that cakes always need ripening time of at least 24 hours, ideally 48, before they reach their peak). The sponge didn't seem to have any cocoa so I did ask them why the weren't doing the traditional chocolate cake base. They said that they do use cocoa powder but in a limited quantity and that's why the chocolate cake wasn't of a chocolate color. Plus they claim that other bakeries use brown food coloring to enhance the look of the chocolate cake but they don't. That is definitely a good thing!

Then last week I succumbed to temptation once again and ordered a Rum Ganache Cake and some Doughnuts with various frostings (sorry no pics of the doughnuts). OMG the Rum Ganache was amazing!!! I was totally blown away by the presentation as well as the pure decadent taste! And the middle layer was soaked and moist to perfection!

THIS is what I recommend as your very first order from Carnival Bakery! Then you can follow it up by ordering the delightfully soft, moist and creamy 7 Fruit Cake (the birthday cake featured above which K ordered for her DH).

Carnival Bakery offers home delivery. Within a 2 kilometer radius of their premises the minimum order is Rs. 200 and the delivery is free. But hey, it's likely that you, like me, live no where near Sarjapur Road. And so for kindly traveling through the horrible Bangalore traffic in the sweltering heat, it is only fair that your order makes it worth their while. The minimum order in this case starts at Rs. 1000 and the delivery charges would depend on your order. Rs. 50, Rs. 100 and so on.

I must mention here that the person who delivers is a polite, professional guy called Karthik. And judging by my last order, where he was really nice after I made him wait for about 10 minutes, he seems to be quite patient too.

So here are the details of Carnival Bakery for you. Enjoy! :)

Carnival Cakes

Manager: Mr Sadhish Kumar

No.65/3, Nr Shoba Onyx,

Agara Post, Sarjapur Main Rd,

Sarjapur Road,

Bangalore – 560034

Tel. (80)-25723148 / 9916754689

Email: cakecarnival@gmail.com

They will e-mail you their Vegan Menu or if you'd like to see it online you can find it on the Vegan Bengaluru Blog.

Apple Crumble Pie (a tad sweet for my liking but nice enough).

Spicy Hummus Whole Wheat Ravioli in Mint Coconut Milk Sauce

2010-02-05T16:48:00.004+05:30

One of those things I invented as I cooked and OMG were the results amazing! It has Italian, Mediterranean, East Asian and Indian flairs all mixed in. I think I outfusioned myself with this one. :D

Spicy Hummus Ravioli in Mint Coconut Milk Sauce

For the Spicy Hummus:

Quick-soaked, drained and cooked Chickpeas
Toasted Sesame Seeds
Smoked Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
Asian Super Spicy Chilli Paste
Olive Oil
Coriander Powder
Raw Garlic
Lime Juice
Nutritional Yeast (if available)
Salt

Blend everything together adding a little water at a time until it reaches a creamy consistency. I determine ingredient quantities by the "taste and add and taste and add" method.

For the Whole Wheat Ravioli:

2 C Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 t Salt
3 t Oil
Water

Mix the flour and salt together. Rub the oil into the flour. Add a little water at a time and knead well into an elastic-y dough. Cover and keep aside.

Bring a large pot of water to boil, add salt and let it continue to boil. Start preparing the ravioli on the side.

Pinch off large balls of dough and roll them out thin like tortillas/chapatis. Use a circular cookie cutter (or the edge of a steel tumbler) and cut out rounds. Take one circle and spoon a bit of the hummus into the centre, cover with a second circle. Carefully seal the edges. You can make little twists all around the side for extra safety.

Prepare all the ravioli and then put them into the boiling water gently. Cook for about 20 minutes on a medium flame. About 5 minutes into the cooking, stir carefully so that they don't stick together or break. Do this a few more times through the cooking process. And start preparing the sauce on the side as the Ravioli boils.

If a couple of the Ravioli's break during the boiling process try not to fret. I used the cooking water as a stock to make soup the next day. :)

For the Sauce:

Big bunch fresh Mint Leaves
Thick Coconut Milk (about 1 Cup)
Green Chillies
Pepper
Salt

Blend everything together into a creamy sauce consistency.

How to proceed:

Pour a bit of the sauce into a glass baking dish. Place the ravioli in layers and pour the sauce between each layer. And top it off with the rest of the sauce.

Bake in a regular oven at 200 C/ 400 F for about 40 minutes or in a microwave in the convection+micro mode for 20 minutes.

Serve hot, garnished with grated carrot.

Enjoy! :)

Over $600 raised for the 3 bulls in three days! :)

2010-02-03T10:03:00.019+05:30

I'm so happy to share that between online and offline donations, Jodi has raised over $600 for these bulls in less than 3 days! :)

This is from one of the latest updates from Jodi: "I am forever grateful to all of you! These cows are just the sweetest - and I think they know something's going on. Yesterday Dan was walking by them, and Spotty Friend was just staring at him intently. Dan told him that we are doing everything we can to save them - and he look at him and let out the longest "MOOOOOOO" ever! :)"

There are many kind and generous people of the Vegan Etsy, EtsyVeg, CFE and EFA teams donating proceeds from their Etsy stores towards this cause. These stores are filled with some wonderful goodies so if there was a time to buy things from them, it is now!

I'll keep updating this list as new people join in to contribute a portion or all of their sales so please keep checking in.

thisisit.etsy.com - donating 100% of sales on both 3rd Feb and 10th Feb

oooohshiny.etsy.com - donating 50% of the sales through 13th Feb

veganosaurus.etsy.com - donating 50% (or more) of sales through 13th Feb

mvegan5.etsy.com - donating 10% of sales through 15th Feb

holisticallyheather.etsy.com - donating 100% of sales through 13th Feb

aktie9.etsy.com - donating 100% of sales through 13th Feb

lolalynn.etsy.com - donating 75% of bracelet sales through 13th Feb

leandogpottery.etsy.com - donating 20% of sales through 13th Feb

kimbascritters.etsy.com - donating 50% of sales through 11th Feb

AuntFlosPads.etsy.com - donating 100% of sales through 13th Feb

dragonhouseofyuen.etsy.com - donating 10% of the next baby hare sale from her store

Karramandi.etsy.com - donating 20% of the next sale from her store

jenoconnell.etsy.com - donating 20% of sales through the end of Feb

silentlotus.etsy.com - donating 25% of sales through 13th Feb

vegandogslife.etsy.com - donating 100% of sales through 12th Feb

Made my first sale for the bulls! :)

2010-02-02T23:07:00.005+05:30

A very kindhearted person just made a large purchase at my Veganosaurus store to help save the bulls. She purchased:

The Pokey Gang

Angelica Piggy

Snaizel Hazel

and

Tomatoey

I had stated yesterday that 50% of all sales at my Veganosaurus store until the 13th of Feb 2010 would be going towards this cause. But I wanted to donate in more from this sale. So I just sent $50 to Jodi.

It's heartening to see those numbers in the chip in widget increasing. Within one day, more than 10% has been raised. We are extremely grateful for this incredible generosity shown by everyone and are confident that the goal will be reached and the 3 beautiful boys saved. :) Please keep chipping in, in any way that you can.

Help Save 3 Bulls from Being Slaughtered

2010-02-01T15:16:00.004+05:30

My friend Jodi of This Is It! Creations just found out that the 3 bulls who graze on their land were scheduled to be slaughtered today. They asked the owner if he would consider selling them the bulls instead and he has agreed. But he needs them to pay the full amount of $3600 in just under two weeks time.

These three are amazing animals. They have been named Pooka Cow (the brown one), Spotty Friend, and Less Spotty Friend. They are only 2 years old and have many more years of happy lives to live.

I will be donating 50% of all sales from my Veganosaurus store on etsy until 13th Feb 2010 towards these beautiful creatures.

Please help Jodi and her family save these boys through donations, networking and getting the word out to everyone you know.

Donate here:

Also, if you would rather mail a check, please send it to:

This Is IT! Creations
P.O. Box 1252
Jacksonville, OR 97530

Future of these animals? Jodi says, "We've been asked where the cows will go if we do raise enough money to save them - they will stay here, at least for the short term. We have 11 acres of land, a barn, and a stream. We are planning to create a line of products where all of the profits will go toward their care (hay, vet bills, fence mending, etc.) If we can find a loving family with enough land to adopt them, we are definitely open to that as well. :)"

Thank you in advance for all your help!

Baked Potatoes, a post eclipse feast. :)

2010-01-15T20:03:00.004+05:30

We had a long annular solar eclipse today. From start to finish it lasted for about 4 hours. Here in Bangalore, the eclipse started around quarter past 11 am and ended at a little past 3 pm. It hit its peak of approximately 84% at 1:23 pm.

Traditionally we believe that during an eclipse, the stomach should be completely empty. And after the eclipse is entirely done, we bathe and then cook something fresh to eat. Any previously cooked food that's been lying around during an eclipse is chucked away, never to meet a mouth or a tummy.

This practice stems from a mythological story about the Demon-God, Rahu, swallowing the Sun (or the Moon, depending on his mood), making any eclipse a very inauspicious period of time. Hmm so why doesn't the Sun (or the Moon) stay swallowed beyond a few hours, you ask? Well that's because Rahu is a severed head (his body being considered a whole other Demon-God, Ketu, the history of which I might narrate to you on another day) with a large gaping hole at the end of his neck, through which the chosen celestial body escapes.

The scientific explanation given to us is slightly simpler. Something to do with the rays of the sun and bacteria. Well whatever the reason, I believe that some traditions are meant to be followed. Even if it's simply because I've grown up with these practices as part of my culture. And by me following them, no one's getting harmed in any way.

So I had my breakfast a little before 9 am hoping that it would be digested (well most of it at least) by the time the eclipse started and peaked. Now normally, I go without eating for hours in the afternoon without even realizing it. But today of course, since I couldn't eat, that was pretty much all I did want to do!

I was fine for the first couple of hours. I even meditated a bit during the peak eclipse time and it felt awesome! Then at a little past 2 pm, the thought of chocolates floated into my head, immediately followed by a sudden craving for potatoes. One of my friends on Facebook had mentioned earlier that he ate masala dosa, crepes stuffed with a savory potato mixture, for breakfast. My oatmeal, though I had it with mom's scrumptious mixed veggie Sankranthi sambar from yesterday, had paled in comparison. So those potatoes from the dosa must've stayed somewhere at the back of my head all along and then suddenly popped out shouting, "look at me! look at me!" with all their might when my tummy awoke from its calm reverie at the word "chocolate".

You might agree that the thought of potatoes is a hard thing to get off the brain. Especially if every time you nearly shake it off, your tummy ominously rumbles it right back into place! I'd soon forgotten all about the chocolate and was holding on to one single image... delicious baked potatoes. I tried to distract myself for the remaining hour of the eclipse (thank goodness there was only an hour left!) by watching the latest episode of House MD. It was a mostly successful attempt... except for that one moment where I could've sworn that Eric Foreman's whole head morphed into a potato and said, "the phrase 'Who's Your Daddy?' comes to mind".

At 3:11 pm, I shot out of bed like hot coals had stung my rear end and zipped to the bathroom. In such a hurry was I to get done with that bath that I considered not conditioning my hair *gasp* but I overcame that temptation.

Then I ate a yelakki banana to soothe my tummy and finally got down to my cooking! :)

Et Voila! Here is the result...

Whole wheat and flax chapatis, piled with herbed baked potatoes, topped with fresh tomato salad. I still can't believe I mustered up the will power to actually take pictures of the feast before wolfing it down!

Herbed Baked Potatoes

Small to medium sized potatoes
Sea Salt
Pepper
Turmeric Powder
Sambar Powder (or Red Chilli Powder if that's more accessible to you)
Dried Herbs - Thyme, Dill, Chives
Dry dessicated coconut powder
Coconut oil
Nutritional Yeast Flakes
Lime Juice

Wash and scrub the potatoes along with the peel.

Boil water in a large pot and add a little sea salt.

Toss in the potatoes whole and boil for about 15 minutes.

Take the potatoes out with a slotted spoon, cut them in half and place in a microwave safe baking dish.

Add the rest of the ingredients (except nutritional yeast and lime juice) adjusting quantities according to your taste and toss until all the potatoes are coated.

Place in the microwave oven and bake covered under the micro option for 5 minutes. Uncover and bake with the micro-grill combination option for 5 minutes.

Sprinkle on the nutritional yeast and lime juice and toss again.

Finally bake in the grill option for 5 more minutes.

(You could also just bake in a regular oven for about half an hour instead of using the microwave).

Taste to make sure that the top layer is slightly crunchy and the insides are soft and well cooked. Bake a little more if required.

Serve hot.

Fresh Tomato Salad

Diced fresh tomatoes
Chopped fresh basil and mint
Lime juice
Green chilli paste or crushed green chillies
Black salt
Balsamic vinegar
Parma! - vegan Parmesan

Put everything into a bowl and mix with your hand, gently squeezing the tomatoes to merge the flavors together.

Enjoy with a satisfied smile! :)

December's EtsyVeg Challenge Entries - My Frostwind is in it.

2010-01-08T13:29:00.005+05:30

Each month EtsyVeg team holds a challenge for its members. Based on the month's theme, we create an item and submit it. At the beginning of the following month, a poll is held on the Etsyveg blog where anyone (even non-members) can drop by, admire all the gorgeous submissions and vote for their favorite item.

December's theme was "Winter Daydreams". Please take a moment to stop by the EtsyVeg team's December Challenge Blog post and vote for your favorite entry. It's got a lot of gorgeous creations by the artists of the EtsyVeg team and believe me when I say it is not easy to pick just one favorite!

Of course, I'd be very grateful if you'd vote for my Frostwind - Exquisite Fine Silver Wire and Swarovski Crystal Pearl Brooch Pin that's part of this challenge.

Also January's challenge theme is "Fresh Start" as we kick off a brand new year and a "fresh" opportunity to set intentions, renew, recharge, and move forward (maybe in new directions)! To find all the items submitted for January, please do a search on Etsy for "FreshStart EtsyVeg team". Members will be submitting new items all through the month.

Vegan Southern-style Tofu Fry (Super-Quick Party Snack)

2009-12-31T15:18:00.003+05:30

This recipe recently got published in a local mag Time Out Bengaluru.

They wanted a Vegan recipe that was quick and easy to make with easily available ingredients. Something to serve along with cocktails. And most importantly, something original. So this is what I came up with...

Vegan Southern-style Tofu Fry.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 packet of Firm Tofu
¼- ½ tsp Sambar Powder
Salt to taste

Method
Gently press the block of tofu to squeeze out any excess water. Cube the tofu into bite-sized pieces. Heat oil in a pan and add the tofu. Gently stir till the cubes are lightly browned. Sprinkle on the salt and sambar powder. Alternatively, pepper or red chilli powder can be used instead (but then it won't be very Southern :oP). Stir fry for another minute. Pierce the cubes with toothpicks and serve.

P.S: The best Sambar Powder is the homemade kind but if you're feeling lazy or don't know how to make any, it's easily available at Indian Stores. A well known brand is MTR.

Feeding Etsy to Twitter.

2009-12-25T00:22:00.008+05:30

Here's a quick step by step, followed by a video, on how to link your Etsy shop's RSS feed to your Twitter account so each time you create a new listing or relist or renew, this activity gets tweeted automatically.

1. Create an account on TwitterFeed and login.
2. In your dashboard click on "Create New Feed".
3. Enter a name for the feed under "Feed Name" - your Etsy shop name for example.
4. In a new tab/window open your Etsy shop's main page and find the "Subscribe to shop feed" link at the bottom of the right hand column. Right click and copy the link location. Or you can even click on it and copy the link from the address bar.
5. Go back to your TwitterFeed account and paste the link under "RSS Feed URL".
6. Click on "test rss feed" button. It should test and say "Feed parsed OK" in green.
7. Ensure the "Active" box is ticked.
8. The default "Advanced Settings" are fine as they are so leave them alone for now.
9. Click on "Continue to Step 2".
10. Under "Available Services" click on "Twitter".
11. Authenticate your Twitter account or select it from the drop down list if you've already authenticated it before.
12. Click on "Create Service".
13. You can also use TwitterFeed to automatically post your new Etsy listings to your Facebook account or Fan Page at this point if you like by clicking on Facebook and authenticating your account (not shown in video).
14. Click on "All Done".
15. Your Etsy store feed is now set up to automatically post to Twitter whenever you list/renew/relist an item.

You can also link your blog's RSS feed to Twitter using the same method. In Step 5 you just enter your blog's RSS feed link which can be found right at the bottom of your blog - "Subscribe: Posts (Atom)."

Avocado Mint Smoothie

2009-12-16T19:03:00.004+05:30

This one has Avocado, Date Syrup, Agave Nectar, Fresh Mint Leaves and plenty of water. All just blended well into a delightfully refreshing and delicious smoothie. YUM!

Caramelized Bananas

2009-12-14T17:13:00.007+05:30

Last weekend we attended this awesome seminar by Dr. Neal Barnard and Dr. Nandita Shah (of SHARAN India). It was 2 1/2 days of highly interesting lectures, super-fun cooking demos and yummy, healthy, vegan food. Both doctors are really nice people and patiently answered all of our questions - the intelligent as well as the silly ones. :)

One of my favorite recipes demonstrated by Dr. Nandita was Caramelized Bananas. These bananas are scrumptious! They contain absolutely no added sweetener and are ridiculously simple to make! It barely takes 10 minutes to get the whole thing done!

Did I mention they're delicious? :)

Sesame seeds - toasted well in a dry pan.
Ripe Bananas - cut in half lengthwise and horizontally.

Heat a pan (non-stick/Teflon makes things a lot easier). Place the bananas in a single layer in the pan. Gently flip the bananas once in a while as they cook. Once they reach a delicious looking golden color take them off the flame.

Serve sprinkled with the toasted sesame seeds.

I bet it takes you lesser time to make this dish than in took me to type it out for you. Enjoy! :)

~*~Veganosaurus~*~

Vegan Hazelnut Kahlua Dark Chocolate Truffles

Creamy Vegan Sweet Potato Pumpkin Tofu Stew

Baked Bread Bonda

Vegan Jackfruit Coconut Mylk Ice Cream

Stuffed Potatoes.

Raw, Vegan 'Rasmalai'

Eating Without Heating Raw Food Demo with Lisa Pitman and SHARAN India

Vegan Vanilla and Agave Nectar Cupcakes from VCTOTW

Sambar for Idli - Vegan MoFo Post 19

Special Vegan Bengaluru Buffet Lunch - Vegan MoFo Post 18

Gulab Jamuns and Gratitude - Vegan MoFo Post 17

Khara Avalakki Dosa - Vegan MoFo Post 16

Vegan Bengaluru Event on 29th October 2011 - Vegan MoFo Post 15

Week 2 Flashback and a Video - Vegan Mofo Post 14

Cheezy Potato Rosemary Casserole - Vegan MoFo post 13

Super Loaded Burritos - Vegan MoFo post 12

Nice Big Salad - Vegan MoFo post 11

Sundal and Payasam - Vegan Mofo Post 10

First Professional Food Photography Shoot - Vegan MoFo post 9

Week 1 Flashback and Some Food Porn - Vegan Mofo Post 8

Seasoned Peanut Yogurt Black Rice - Vegan Mofo post 7

Maize Bread - Vegan Mofo Post 6

Saffron Infused Almond Dessert - Vegan MoFo post 5

Daiya Pizza - Vegan MoFo post 4

I Scream You Scream We All Scream For Ice Cream - Vegan Mofo post 3

Very Vanilla Cashew Mylk Ice Cream

Cashew Mocha Rum Ice Cream

Raw Pistachio Mango Ice Cream

Mango Ice Cream

Idli the fluffy South Indian Rice Cake - Vegan MoFo post 2

My first Vegan MoFo post. A short video clip.

Ganesha Chaturthi and Yummy Kadubus

Featured on The Students Mag August 2011 issue.

Mediterranean Sun Dried Tomato Bread

Lazy Pizza

Raw Vegan Hazelnut Cheese

Pristine Nature and Lettuce Tomato Pecan Salad with Pudina Red Rice

Raw Vegan Mango Pistachio Ice Cream

Raw Vegan Mango Pistachio Ice Cream

My EtsyVeg team needs your vote.

Vegan Pineapple Pastry

Vegan Very Vanilla Cake

Pecan Pesto Cabbage Patty Wraps

Vegan Whole Wheat Cinnabuns

Carrot and Radish Stuffed Chapathis

Roasted Garlic and Cilantro Hummus

Special Vegan Chocolate Mousse

Refreshing Spicy Chickpea Salad

Vegan Wholewheat Lasagna Type Thingies

For the Homemade Whole Wheat Pasta Sheets:

For the Vegan Spinach Babycorn Béchamel Sauce:

For the Spicy Tomato Mint Sauce:

For the Baked Beans Sauce:

For the Special Mashed Potatoes:

Building the Lasagna:

Vegan Chocolate Chip Coconut Pecan Cookies

Vegan Masala Crust Pizza with Marinaded Toppings

Creamy Peanut Milk Curds/Yogurt

Creamy Peanut Milk Yogurt

Potato Buttermilk Bread

Pretty Pink Vegan Beet Wheat Bread

Pretty Pink Vegan Beet Wheat Bread

Marinated Herbed Baked Potatoes, Beets and Carrots

Vegan Baadusha Recipe

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

In Celebration of Veganism

And the winners of the Go Max Go vegan chocolates are...

Chocolate Dipped Bananas

Hypnotic Energy Paintings

Vegan Polenta Pizza

Go Max Go Vegan Candybars Giveaway

Winners of the Coconut Bliss Giveaway!!!

Sweet, Sweet, Sweet V Confections

Blissfully Coconutty Coconut Bliss review and giveaway

Red Quinoa Pilaf

Winner of the Name the Monsters Giveaway.

Name the Monsters giveaway.

Crunchy Coconut Biscuits

VSPCA needs our help.

~~Veganosaurus~~