Cashew Barfi Truffles and a Video Vegan MoFo day 4

Just when I had the Vegan MoFo blogs all organized, I discovered Rando and he created chaos in my life!! Randomofo.com is a brilliant tool created by the people of Vegan MoFo. What it does is that every time you visit the link, a random Vegan MoFo blog post gets loaded. The surprise factor makes it so much more fun that I've blog hopped on it all day yesterday and my Newsify app pretty much got ignored. :oP

Cashew Barfi is a very common Indian sweet. It's made by grinding cashews into a paste and cooking it with cardamom powder and sugar. The paste is then spread onto a plate in a thin layer and scored in a criss-cross pattern. Once the paste cools, the Barfis harden and can be removed and served as individual diamond shaped pieces.

This sweet is vegan by default, except when some idiot decides the plate needs to be greased with ghee (yuck!). Cashews have plenty of oils on their own and the plates really don't require any greasing to begin with. And if a person wants to make things easier, they could just line the plate with a sheet of plastic or foil and it becomes super simple to pop off the set pieces of Barfi.

I started out making a mostly raw version of Cashew Barfis but I soon learnt that the cooked paste sets to a firm consistency, whereas the raw paste remains sticky and soft, even after being chilled in the fridge for a few hours. That's why I decided to shape the paste into balls and make truffles out of it. The texture turned out to be perfect for truffles!

I rolled some of my truffles in cocoa powder and the others in saffron strands, just for variety (and because I really hadn't intended to do yet another chocolate based post today). One could also use coconut powder, toasted sesame seeds or a variety of other things to coat the Barfi Balls.

I had mentioned in September that my theme for Vegan MoFo would be dishes for a four course meal with each week featuring recipes for one course. My first week's theme is Desserts. But if you've been following my posts all week, you might notice that there's a sub-theme going on. Can you guess what it is? :)

Cashew Barfi Truffles - vegan, gluten free, mostly raw

1 C Cashews
2 T Sugar (the only non-raw ingredient)
2 Cardomon Pods (use only the seeds, the skins can go into your tea powder to add a mild flavour)
1/8 tsp Saffron Strands
Pinch of Salt

Cocoa Powder
Saffron Strands

Grind everything in a food processor for a few minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the grinding jar once in a while through the grinding process.
Continue processing until the cashews start releasing their oil and you get a smooth, buttery paste.
Transfer the paste into a bowl and chill for half an hour.
Shape the paste into balls and roll onto cocoa powder and saffron strands.
Chill in the fridge for a little more time.
Enjoy! :)

And now for the video I promised (in the title of this post). You might all be familiar with my dear friend GiGi of Veganville, who did a guest post on my blog earlier this year. She's doing a series of video interviews called "Who Dat Vegan" on Thursdays through Vegan MoFo this year. I'm stoked to be the first person to be interviewed. :)

Here's the question video she sent me:

And here's my long, rambling reply:

Visit GiGi's blog, Veganville to read more about her Thursday program, Who Dat Vegan and also read her other hilarious recipe posts for Vegan MoFo. You'll thoroughly enjoy her write ups and laugh your head off at the videos. Check out her MoFo intro video along with her hubby, Crazy Boy aka Psycho Boy aka Larry. They're even all dressed up for it! haha

Also, if you live in the USA, then order some delicious Veganville Voppee Pies made by GiGi herself.