Friday, September 27, 2013

Frozen Basil Seed Pudding - Vegan MoFo 2013 Day 15


I'm not a flake. I swear! There's a reason I haven't been blogging this whole week. A very valid one. I got bitten/stung by something. I don't know what. A spider, I think. And I have been feeling neither friendly nor neighbourhood-y.

All kinds of crazy, painful stuff happened to my leg, which thankfully is recovering well now. I will not bore you with the morbid details. Pus has no place in food posts. Unless of course, the recipe involves animal milk, in which case there's *plenty* of pus in there. :P

Don't mind me, that's just a little insider vegan joke. You know why it's funny? Because it's TRUE! And yes, it's true in India too.

On hindsight, there's *nothing* funny about those facts. But it is knowledge that is definitely worth sharing. Everybody has the right to know what they're putting into their bodies.

Aaaanyway...moving on to more cheerful things, here's a nice dessert recipe I created a few days ago. It's a healthy, nummy pudding I made out of sweet basil seeds.

Frozen Basil Seed Pudding

I started out with the idea of making a layered parfait but halfway through the process, I decided to blend the gelatinous seeds into the creamy part and ended up freezing the whole thing.

Though it's frozen, it isn't exactly an ice cream, that's why I'm calling it what it is, a frozen pudding. :)

Frozen Basil Seed Pudding

Sweet basil seeds are a locally available superfood cousin of Chia. They are a powerhouse of nutrients and have been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years.

While we were growing up, we always had these seeds in stock at home. My mom and grandma used to soak them in water for us as a home remedy for ushna (high body heat) during the summer months. Sis and I loved to mix sugar into the gelatinous soaked seeds and ate it by the spoonfuls. It was a soothing, dessert-like snack for us everyday.

We used to call this mixture isamboosa (which is totally incorrect). It wasn't until recently that I even knew these were a variety of basil seeds and that they have all these other beneficial properties.

If you live in India and have no idea what seeds I'm talking about, you're probably more familiar with one of the local names - sabja, falooda seeds, kama kasturi, tukmaria.

You can use chia seeds in case you can't get your hands on basil seeds. They are really similar to each other.

Frozen Basil Seed Pudding

Frozen Basil Seed Pudding
Serves 2

4 tsp Sweet Basil/Chia Seeds soaked in 1 C Water
4 Dried Figs soaked in 1 C Water
1/2 C Cashews
1 Banana
Agave Nectar to taste (optional)
Cinnamon powder for sprinkling

*Grind cashews into a powder
*Add the figs, along with their soaking water and blend into a cream
*Add the basil seeds (they would've soaked up all the water) and blend for a few seconds
*Serve into two individual bowls and swirl in the agave nectar (if using)
*Slice the banana and divide the slices between both bowls
*Sprinkle cinnamon powder on top
*Freeze for 2-3 hours
*Enjoy! :)

Frozen Basil Seed Pudding

11 comments:

  1. Oh NO Susmitha. So sorry to hear you been ill but we're all glad it wasn't too too serious. And we've missed your raw postings ;( This one looks fab.
    You'll just have to keep your theme going a little longer past the MoFo!
    Take care Girl and watch out for those spiders...

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    1. Thanks Angela. :) Yeah doing raw recipes for MoFo has certainly inspired me to do many more raw recipes on my blog now.

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  2. I'm sorry to hear about your stinging mishap! You'd think being the non-violent type, they could have let you pass on by. Where's the justice? ;) I'm glad you're recovering now and hope that you'll be back to your old self again soon.

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    1. Cadry, you know, after turning vegan, my fear of critters reduced considerably because I do believe in Karma and that they won't harm me in any way. And guess what, turns out this wasn't a spider bite after all. :)

      Though I'd never want to go through this suffering again, it does hearten me that it didn't originate from the animal kingdom. :)

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  3. Aah! I've been looking for sweet basil seeds here in the US ever since having a sweet basil drink from an Indian grocer in Ft. Lauderdale. Now I need to redouble my efforts!

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    1. Becky, just ask for Falooda or Sabja seeds at any Indian grocery store. Or maybe you can order them online. I saw this website called Seeds of India (NJ) and they seem to carry Thai Basil.

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  4. Flake! bahahah. Not fun Not fun! sending you healing vibes. I love chia, and bananas and want to make your frozen pudding thing.

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    1. Thanks for the healing vibes sweetie. They worked. :)

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  5. Can the bananas be substituted with any other fruits?

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    1. Sure Shobha, you can use any combination of fruits that you like as the topping. :)

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  6. can the bananas be substituted with any other fruits?

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