Second Vegan event at the Taj 5th May 2012

Last week I shared a long, detailed blog post about the vegan demo and lunch at the Taj on 28th April and a video of a mini-demo by me at that event.

There was another such event on 5th May, and earlier this week I shared the video of me showing the participants how to make Chocolate Mousse. Today's post is about the rest of the event and as always, I took loads of pictures to share with you all. :)

This was the second in a series of vegan events that have been organised at Graze, the fine dining, European cuisine restaurant at Vivanta by Taj, in association with FIAPO - Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations. FIAPO's head office is situated at Delhi, where they were contacted by the people of the Taj, Bangalore when the idea of doing this event occurred to them. The people at Delhi got in touch with Himani Shetty at their Mumbai branch and she in turn contacted a few of us members of Vegan Bengaluru asking if we'd be interested to help the chef veganise food.

As a vegan food blogger, this opportunity interested me very much and I got in touch with Chef Uday Nathan and over the next couple of weeks, I helped him out with recipes and veganising tips. The first event on the 28th of April was a big hit among the participants and we were all looking forward to the second event too.

On Saturday, 5th May, I walked into Graze a little after 12 noon, the scheduled start time for the vegan demo, followed by lunch. Only a handful of people had arrived and Uday was in the main kitchen behind the huge glass window. He motioned me to quickly come into the kitchen where I found him frantically trying to whip the cashew sour cream in a large bowl that was placed in an ice bath. The cream just wasn't holding its shape because it wasn't thick enough. The problem was quickly solved by adding more cashew cream into the mix and it soon achieved the right consistency.



By the time we were done with the sour cream, Executive Chef Ramasamy Selvaraju walked in and introduced himself. I'd seen him before on my first visit to Graze and also when he made a brief appearance at the first event but we hadn't gotten a chance to speak. He was really nice and took me on a short, behind the scenes tour of the hotel kitchen system. I got to meet the head baker and the head chef of the room service section. I even got a peek at their awesome, top of the line oven at the bakery. I was so caught up in looking at everything that I forgot to click pictures. :( I would've liked to share a picture of him and a few of the gadgets with you all. Next time I'm there, I'll make sure to grab some shots.

What I did remember this time, was to click a picture of Restaurant Manager Ashvin Singh and the service team who took good care of us during both events.



I also managed to get F & B Manager Vivek Sharma in a few shots at the end of the event which you'll find at the bottom of the blog post.

After my tour through the labyrinths which connected all the kitchens of the hotel, I came out and took my place at the bar seat in front of the open kitchen. By and by more participants joined in and the area around the open kitchen was packed. This time there were more non vegans than vegans. By the time the last few guests arrived, it was a quarter to one and by then the Chefs had finished the basic prep work and the demo began. It was a slightly late start but much earlier than the first time.

The first thing we learnt how to make was the Chilled Gazpacho of Cherry Tomatoes. It was absolutely brilliant and hands down the best item that was served that day! It was bursting with the tangy flavour of the tomatoes, with a hint of sweetness from the red bell peppers. Amazing stuff. The little shot that was served to us got gulped down way too quickly. This is definitely a chilled soup that's to be served in large helpings.



Next, they showed us how to prepare a plate of salad of Marinated Beets and Fresh Greens tossed in Sherry Vinaigrette and Walnut Oil.



The artist at work. :oP



This was followed by a demo on making Spanakopita of Spinach, Tofu and Mushrooms.



Here's a video of the whole process, including how to fold and shape the Spanakopita.



I found the filling to be the tastiest part and I think I will enjoy it more as a stuffing inside bread.



The Spanakopita was served on a bed of extremely scrumptious Smoked Red Pepper Compote. They smoke it by placing the chopped peppers and other ingredients in a large pot and in the middle of this pot they place a small pot of coal doused in oil. They then cover the whole thing in aluminium foil and keep it on the stove. The smoke from the coal gets infused into the peppers and creates a remarkable flavour.



The second main dish was Pumpkin Risotto which was topped with Roasted Salsify, Crisp Shallots and Cashew Sour Cream.

Here you can see Pushpender adding the special rice for the Risotto into the pot. I asked if the Risotto could be made with local rices or other grains but Uday said he hasn't tried that out. I do intend to try it soon though. It's always fun to experiment with using local ingredients in world cuisine. Plus, we reduce our green footprints.



Most of the participants found the risotto to be a tad too sweet because of the apple juice added to the pumpkin puree, but I enjoyed it. I guess I have my Karnataka taste buds to thank for that. :)



One thing that everybody enjoyed in this dish was the Salsify. It's an imported root vegetable and not easy to find here. We were told that some local root veggies can be used in its place in this dish. Here's a shot of the Salsify being peeled. It has to be done very quickly because it tends to oxidise very fast.



After the main dishes were done being taught, I did my Chocolate Mousse demo.

For dessert, we had Chocolate Mousse in Almond Tart Shell along with Cinnamon Coconut Milk Ice Cream.





After the delicious lunch, most people left and a handful of us from Vegan Bengaluru hung out with Uday, Vivek and Ashvin and chatted about the success of the event.









They told us that after this kind of excellent response, they definitely intend to make this into a regular affair. Maybe once or twice a month on fixed Saturdays. Uday said that he wants Graze to be known for the monthly Vegan Demo-Lunches. Also, they will be launching a separate vegan section in their menu where all the dishes they make for these demos will be available.

I am very happy to have had this opportunity to be involved in the making of these events. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. :)

My Vegan Chocolate Mousse Demo Video at Vivanta by Taj

Last week I shared a video of my first demo on making nut milks and ice creams at Vivanta by Taj on 28th April. It was a part of the Vegan Demo and Lunch event organized at their fine dining restaurant, Graze in association with FIAPO.

There was another such event again last Saturday (5th May) with a completely different menu than the first event. After Sous Chef Uday Nathan had finished demoing the first three courses of the menu, I showed everyone how to make the dessert, Chocolate Mousse made of Tofu. It was really nice of Uday to readily let me do this demo at his event.

The Mousse was originally not part of the menu, the accompaniment for the Cinnamon Coconut Mylk Ice Cream (the other portion of the dessert) was to be Espresso Brownies. But a week before the first event, members of the press were to drop in for dinner on short notice. I hadn't taught Uday how to make the brownies yet. Well, I'd given him the recipe but he wanted me to be present in is kitchen when attempting it for the first time because he was nervous about trying a Vegan Brownie out himself and getting the texture right. That's when I told him how to make Chocolate Mousse with Tofu. It was simple enough to explain on the phone and after a couple of phone calls, he had picked up the method.

That night the press people were completely blown away by the Tofu Mousse. Not surprising to me, as almost everyone has this reaction to the Vegan Mousse. :) They had high praises for it in their newspaper write-ups. After that, making it a part of the menu was a no-brainer.

Here's a video of my demo:



You'll get to read more about the event with pictures of the food in another blog post.

Gluten Free Vegan Bajra (Pearl Millet) Flatbread

I've often seen Gluten Free baked goods pop up when I'm browsing in the Vegan blogosphere. I never really paid too much attention to GF baking though because most GF cakes and breads called for certain gums and such. Besides, I figured, why put the extra effort when GF was meant for people with wheat allergies?

Then I came across Hobby and More's Vegan, Gluten Free Breads. Even though she doesn't *need* to follow a wheat-free diet, Richa of Hobby and More makes amazing looking GF breads and that got me very interested. I kept thinking I should attempt some of her GF bread recipes using her innovative steaming method but kept procrastinating because I needed to go out and buy potato or tapioca starches.

Then Rithika of Vegan on the Prowl made this Very Versatile Gluten Free Flatbread. She based it on Richa's recipe and switched up the ingredients to things that are more easily available in India. Now I had no excuses left!

Plus, a few weeks ago, hubby and I decided to follow a GF diet and see if it makes any difference in general health and energy. I'd been making rotis with various grain flours (jowar, bajra, makki...) but was jonesing for something more bread-y. This was a perfect time to try out the GF flatbread!

I made this bread twice. The first time around I followed Rithika's recipe exactly. But the next time I wanted to use a local grain (as opposed to the ground oats) and I remembered Harini of Tongue Ticklers mentioning that Bajra (Pearl Millet) is good in GF recipes. Harini has years of experience making delicious Gluten Free baked goods because her daughter requires it so I confidently took her word for it. I'm glad I did. Bajra turned out to be an excellent replacement for wheat! I've continued to use it in all GF baking recipes since.

Also, I was out of arrowroot powder. So I used the last of my organ egg replacer powder stock instead since it is made of starches. And I eliminated the baking powder because the egg replacer contains leavening agents. But in future recipes I'll be going back to using arrowroot powder and baking powder.

Here's my version:

2 heaping C Bajra (Pearl Millet) Flour
2/3 C Orgran No-Egg Powder
2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
5 tsp Organic Jaggery Powder dissolved in 1/4 C Hot Water
2 T Coconut Oil
1/2 tsp Salt
1 - 1 1/4 C Warm Water

Mix dry ingredients.
Add wet ingredients (except water) and mix.
Add water, a little at a time and knead into a sticky dough.
Cover the bowl with a plastic bag and let it sit for 1 1/2 hours to let it rise.
Punch down dough and break off balls.
Tap each ball into a flat shape on wax paper.
Cover and let rise for 15 minutes.
Place the flattened dough along with the wax paper in a tray inside a steamer and steam for 5 minutes.
Peel off the wax paper and let the bread cool.
Toast on a griddle or grill in an oven.
Enjoy! :)

Vegan Demo and Lunch at Vivanta by Taj Bangalore

Lounging on comfy bar seats around an open kitchen, friendly conversations, sips of green tea and Mojitos, watching the chef and his team whip up a delicious vegan lunch, then proceeding to relish said lunch...that's the definition of a perfect, relaxing weekend afternoon!

We got to enjoy exactly such an afternoon last Saturday, thanks to Sous Chef Uday and his colleagues - Anish, Pushpendar, Ashvin and Giri - at Graze, the high-end European cuisine restaurant at Vivanta by Taj.

Formerly known as Taj Residency, this 5 Star hotel is a part of old Bangalore and after all these years, it still retains its charm. I have fond memories of going there as a kid to attend their exclusive lifestyle exhibitions (this was long before these kinds of exhibitions became a dime a dozen) and eating hot jalebis afterwards. Graze is one of their 3 restaurants and it is situated just across from the pool. Even though some of the poolside tables are tempting, the indoor setting of the restaurant is appealing enough to make one want to stay inside. What can I say? I truly appreciate places with cozy lighting and soft jazz playing in the background.

The attendees consisted of a small group (about a dozen) of vegans and non-vegans. And all of us enjoyed the demo and the food alike. Throughout the whole event, Ashvin (the Restaurant Manager) and Giri were very attentive, friendly and helpful. They took good care of us while Uday, Anish and Pushpendar taught us how to make simple yet gourmet vegan delicacies. A well planned four course meal. By the time the demo was done, the wafting flavors of spices and vegetables had us all famished and we were about ready to wolf down everything that was placed in front of us. And what a treat it was! The flavors, the textures...I'd say we were transported into another world but the ambiance at Graze was too perfect for that to happen. :)

This vegan event was the fruition of many weeks of planning and veganising. I spoke about the background and my involvement in it in an earlier blog post. Now here are some captured moments from the event itself.

The Cooking:

The Close Up Views:

The firm feel of a tomato after being blanched in boiling water for about 8 seconds and immediately dunked into ice water. Just the peel is cooked so it comes off easily.



The simple and versatile tomato sauce.



Finely sliced lemon rind for the Polenta. These pieces were so tiny and uniform. Truly the work of a patient and skillful person!



Neatly seeded and diced provençal vegetables for the Polenta dish - Zucchini, Onion, Aubergine (Brinjal), Red Pepper, Mushroom.

Video Tutorial:

Mixing and shaping the Gnocchi.

Plating:

Sampling:

Everyone wanted a taste of the raw cashew butter that was used to make cashew cream for the vanilla ice cream.

The Scrumptious Meal:

Bread Rolls.



Chunky Chick Pea and Olive Oil Dip for the Breads.



Chilled Melon Gazpacho infused with Mint and Thyme.



Salad Platter. The greens were tossed in an amaaaaazing Raspberry Vinaigrette!! *slurp* And the pickled onions topped with fried capers were yummy! I wish there were more onions and capers in there.



Hearts of Palm.



Wine Steeped Mushrooms. These were brilliant!! The colour and the flavor really added to the whole appeal of the Salad.



The Palette Cleanser. A truly refreshing Cognac and Tamarind Sorbet. Yum yum *hic*. :oP



The main course choices.

"Milanese" Polenta topped with Grilled Provençal Vegetables and served with this *heavenly* Essence of Sweet Red Peppers sauce. This signature concoction of Graze, was bursting with citrus-y flavors and was the star of the dish! All of us who ate it were completely blown away. It took me a lot of self control not to start licking the last drops directly off the plate after I'd had every bit my forkfuls of Polenta could sap up. *slurpity slurpity*



OR

Deep Fried Gnocchi tossed in a chunky Tomato, Red Pepper Sauce and topped with crunchy, tender Asparagus.



The desserts were Vanilla Ice Cream made of Cashew Cream and Poached Pears and Figs in an Almond Tart Shell.





There is another vegan demo/lunch coming up at Graze this Saturday, May 5th 2012. The menu will be completely different.

Course 1 - Gazpacho of cherry tomatoes – served chilled.

Course 2 - Marinated beets, fresh greens, sherry vinaigrette and walnut oil.

Course 3 -“Spanakopita” of spinach, tofu and mushrooms, smoked red pepper compote and aged balsamic OR Pumpkin risotto, roasted salsify, crisp shallots and cashew sour cream.

Course 4 - Tofu chocolate mousse with cinnamon coconut milk ice cream.

The event starts at 12 noon. The price is Rs.1200 plus taxes. If you'd like to attend, call and register with Ashvin at +91 80 6660 3270 or +91 77606 35477. They're limiting the number to 15 so that the event is more personal and interactive.

Here's a picture of the dessert to tempt you. :oP



Most of these vegan dishes are going to be a part of a new vegan menu section to be launched at Graze. They also plan to have more vegan demo-lunches in the future.

Video of my first vegan demo at Vivanta by Taj Bangalore

A few weeks ago, a friend from Mumbai contacted a few of us Bangalore Vegans to let us know that the Taj was planning to hold a vegan demo and lunch event and the chef had mentioned to FIAPO, the event facilitators that he needed help with veganising the food. This project interested me very much and I went to Taj Residency (aka Vivanta by Taj) to meet Sous Chef Uday Nathan of Graze (their European cuisine restaurant).

Uday said that he thought veganising food would be very difficult and asked me to help him with the menu by cooking with him for the next few days and also on the days of the demos (they planned to have two and then maybe more later). I laughed and assured him that vegan food can be very simple to make and he just needs to stop thinking in terms of what he cannot use and start looking in the direction of the various dairy better-natives.

On the next day I got a chance to step into their kitchen and I taught him how to make almond milk, cashew milk, cashew cream and vegan ice cream. I also gave him a few more recipes and pointers on veganising stuff. That one session was all it took for Uday to see how easy vegan cooking can be. "Deceptively simple" is what he called it. :)

Over the following weeks Uday designed two delicious menus for 4 course meals and he consulted me for a few inputs here and there (mostly over the phone). I taught him how to make vegan chocolate mousse with tofu for when the press people (The Hindu and The New Indian Express) visited and there wasn't enough time to make the espresso brownies as originally planned. The mousse was such a big hit that it quickly replaced the brownies in the menu.

The first demo and lunch was on last Saturday, 28th April and I got a chance to do a mini demo at the end of Uday's main demo. I showed the process of making almond milk and also explained how to make nut milks, nut butters, nut creams and vegan ice cream using these. The next demo is on 5th May and I'll be demoing something else on that day.

I'll be sharing a fully detailed blog post, bursting with pictures of course, of the demo and the delicious meal we had as soon as I'm done working on the pics. For now, here's a video of my mini demo that hubby shot.

Cherry Nirvana Vegan Ice Cream

A few days ago my dear friend GiGi of Veganville said to me, "you are an ice cream inspiration". I know I have made some kickass vegan ice creams but so have many other vegans I know, including GiGi herself. So I never really thought of myself as an inspiration in the field until she said those words. Now when someone gives you that kind of a heartfelt compliment, you just *got* to live up to it. Thank you Geegers! :)

Turtle Mountain is hubby and my most favorite vegan ice cream company. Whenever we go to the US, we fill our freezer and our tummies with Purely Decadents and So Deliciouses to the point of bursting! If they branched out to India, we'd be their biggest (pun intended :oP) customers. Hubby wrote in and told them this. Sadly they don't plan to come here in the near future. :( Something about logistics and maintaining optimum temperatures while shipping overseas blah blah blah. Excuses, excuses! We can find all kinds of international puscreams on the shelves here so I don't see why veganlicious TM can't come too. Humph! But enough of the ranting, because making something happen is waaaay more rewarding than sitting around pining for it.

I have tapped into my vegan ice cream ninja powers and there's going to be no vegan ice cream that I will be left desiring for. Whether it's an existing flavor from a brand that isn't available to me or a new combination that suddenly clicks in my head, it's going to get created in my kitchen. So there!

I started by making an ice cream inspired by one of Turtle Mountain's *best* offerings... Cherry Nirvana. It's hubby's absolute favorite and when I grabbed a can of dark cherries in syrup to make Black Forest Pastries, I decided to save some and attempt Cherry Nirvana. The result wasn't the exact same as the original of course, but it was pretty close and extremely delicious.

Cherry Nirvana Vegan Ice Cream

2 C thawed but cold unwhipped non-dairy whipping cream (Rich's is the commonly available vegan one in Bangalore but there are other brands too and this time I used something called Value Star which I found at Metro)
2 C chilled soymilk
1/2 C sugar (or more if you like)
pinch salt
drop of almond essence
1/2 C dark cherries along with the syrup
1/2 C dark chocolate chunks (I broke into chunks Trader Joe's Almonds in Dark Chocolate Pound Plus bar which a very kind friend brought back for me from the US, but any other vegan plain dark chocolate bar can be used too)

Blend the first five ingredients together. Add the cherries in syrup and pulse a few times so there are cherry pieces floating around.

Chill in the fridge for a a few hours.

If you have an ice cream maker:

Pour into your ice cream maker and process.

In the last few minutes, add the chocolate chunks.

Transfer to airtight container and freeze for another hour at least before serving.

If you don't have an ice cream maker:

Whip the thoroughly chilled mixture with a wire whisk for a few minutes.

Mix in the dark chocolate chunks.

Pour into an airtight container and pop it into the freezer.

After half an hour, take it out, whip it with a spatula or fork and freeze it again.

Continue doing this every half an hour for about 2-3 hours until you reach the desired ice cream consistency.

Note: Whether you use an ice cream maker or not, after a day of freezing the ice cream, you will need to thaw it for a few minutes each time to be able to scoop it into neat, round servings.

Enjoy! :)

Vegan Avial South Indian Yogurt Vegetable Stew

We have various festivals in India which mark the start of a New Year. People from different states and languages mark the beginning of their year based on moon cycles, star cycles, seasons etc. Two weeks ago we had Ugadi here in the state of Karnataka. We celebrate this every year at my parents place where we do the customary eating of "bevu bella". The neem flowers (bevu) are bitter and the jaggery (bella) is sweet. We mix them in a little plate and place it at the holy altar and begin our day by eating a large pinch of this mixture while saying "neem is sweet, jaggery is bitter". This is to signify our acceptance of all bitter experiences and sweet experiences that life throws at us as equal and that without either, life would be incomplete.

After this, we proceed to stuff our faces with delicious festival foods. This year my mom and both my grandmas together made a bunch of stuff, the key ones being maavinakai chitranna (mango and lemon based rice dish), holige saaru (a sweet and sour liquid that we mix with rice and slurp) and holige/obbattu a thin flatbread made of semolina and flour, stuffed with a sweet lentil and jaggery mixture.

I didn't take pictures of any of these because I was too busy enjoying myself with my family and stuffing my face that day. But on hindsight, I did feel bad that I didn't capture everything to share here.

So I decided that since yesterday was the Tamil New Year festival which hubby and I celebrate here at home, I should share at least one recipe with you all.

Avial, is a special South Indian stew (hailing from the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala) of vegetables simmered in a spicy coconut and yogurt based sauce. It's a very simple recipe but takes time to make because of all the vegetable cutting involved. Traditionally vegetables like yam, drumstick, plantain (raw banana) which are native to South India play the main role in Avial. Other than these potatoes, carrots, french beans and peas are included. Veggies like capsicum (bell peppers), radish, beets, turnips etc... are avoided because they change the texture completely (being very soft when cooked) and don't go well with the yogurt base.

This is what went into my Avial yesterday (I didn't have plantain and drumstick on hand otherwise I'd have definitely included them).

3 C Vegetables cut into long (approx 1 inch) pieces - yam, carrot, beans, potato, baby corn, peas
1/4 tsp Turmeric
Salt

5-6 Green Chillies
1/4 tsp Cumin
1 inch piece Ginger
2 C Dry Coconut Powder (grated fresh coconut is even better)

1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
Curry Leaves
1/8 tsp Asafetida Powder
3-4 Dry Red Chillies (each broken into 3-4 pieces)
Coconut Oil

1/2 C Vinegar
1/4 C Lemon/Lime Juice
2 C Peanut Yogurt

Toss the chopped veggies in turmeric and some salt and steam them until tender (about half an hour).

Grind the coconut, ginger, green chillies, cumin and a little more salt together into a paste using water as required.

In a large, heavy bottomed vessel heat a few tablespoons of coconut oil and add the mustard seeds and cover loosely. As soon as they have stopped crackling (half a minute), add the dry red chillies, curry leaves and asafetida.

Add the steamed vegetables and spicy coconut paste and mix together. Add a cup of water, cover and simmer everything together for a few minutes.

Turn off the flame and mix in the vinegar, lemon juice and peanut yogurt. Taste and adjust the salt and sour ingredients.

Serve over steamed rice.

Enjoy! :)

--

Apart from the Avial, I also made two other things (these are old pictures that I clicked a long time ago though):

Jevvarisi payasam - a tapioca pudding of sorts.

Parappu vada - spicy, deep fried fritters made of a combination of lentils which can be enjoyed plain or soaked in vegan yogurt.

I'll share recipes of these at some other point. For now, make yourself some Avial and enjoy! :)

A Sun Dried Tomato Adventure

It's been a bloody hot summer this year!! And this coming from a girl who normally basks in comfortably toasty tropical weather. Through the worst days in March, I held onto the hope that April showers would bring with them some soothing temperatures, but alas, we are yet to have any April showers at all. *sigh*

But every cloud has a silver lining, or in this case, the lack of clouds. :oP My spotting of the said lining occurred when I saw a cool (or should I say 'hot'?) photo album demonstrating the process of sun drying tomatoes by SaffronTrail. Boy was I inspired!

I got down to it right away. I also created a Sun Dried Tomatoes album on my Veganosaurus Facebook page and documented the process as it happened.

I decided to use our local Nati Tomatoes for this one. Even though they have a high juice content and would take longer than others to get done, I feel that their flavor is unmatched. I quartered them, placed them on a plate and sprinkled on salt, red chill powder and dried oregano.

Here they are, just about to begin their journey...

At the end of Day 2, a very small amount of drying can be noticed.

On the evening of Day 3, the drying is more apparent. The juices have reduced considerably. I've been putting them in the sun all day and popping them in the fridge at night.

No photos for days 4 and 5 because I was busy with the weekend and by the time I was able to get to them on both evenings the sun had set. And I surely wasn't about to click pictures in poor lighting!

On the night of Day 5, the tomatoes seem to be about 70% dry. Just the parts around the seeds seem moist now. So instead of putting them into the fridge I decide to leave them out all night, covered with a cheesecloth. I believe that the little bit of salt I'd originally sprinkled on top would keep them safe.

I am wrong! The salt content is nowhere near enough to protect.

On the morning of Day 6, I hit a roadblock. Some of the tomatoes have developed a layer of fungus/mold on top. :( Look how beautifully they were drying, if it hadn't been for the mold, they'd be perfect!!

Thankfully, I am able to salvage most of the tomatoes. I remove the seed portion which contains the maximum amount of the remaining moisture and carefully wash them. Then I toss them in salt and turmeric (plus some chill powder and oregano because the original stuff is now washed away) and place them in the sun again to dry all day. They go straight into the fridge at sunset. Taking no chances this time!

7 days and 7 nights of drying and finally here they are all bottled up and ready on the morning of Day 8. :)

Aren't they just beautiful? I am totally proud of them and of myself for taking full advantage of this hot, sunny summer. You know what they say... "make sun dried tomatoes while the sun shines". :oP (I bet I'm not the first person to have cracked that lame joke. Hehe).

And now, on to vegan curd chillies. A South Indian speciality. I've just started off the soaking process and the sun drying begins tomorrow. Once they are ready I'll share a recipe with you all. Until then, keep an eye on my Facebook page for continuous updates and pictures.

Now go make your own Sun Dried Tomatoes. They are totally worth the effort! :)

Vegan Hazelnut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream

I admit that I am verrrry partial to the combination of toasted hazelnuts with chocolate over other flavours so my claims here might seem like they're coloured by this favoritism, but believe me when I say that is not the case.

This ice cream starts tasting amazing even before it becomes ice cream! Each step of the recipe process is more delicious than the previous one - the simple nut butter, the sweet chocolate hazelnut cream, the heavenly pre-ice cream mylk... OMG the things they did to my tongue!!

I took a lot of will power on my part for this thing to actually reach its goal of becoming ice cream. But I am so glad I pushed through because this is THE BEST ice cream that I have ever made. Period.

And the kicker? It is dangerously simple to make!

So without further ado, I present to you...

Vegan Hazelnut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream

3/4 C Hazelnuts
3/4 C Cashew Nuts
6 T + 2 tsp Sugar
2 T Cocoa Powder
Pinch of Salt
Pinch of Soy Lecithin (optional)
Handful of Ice Cubes
3 C Filtered Water

Toast the hazelnuts to bring out their flavor and set aside until they are cooled completely.

Rub them between your fingers to remove as much of the skin as possible.

Grind the hazelnuts and cashews together, with breaks in between to scrape down the sides of the jar, until they start releasing oil and turn buttery.

Add the sugar, cocoa powder, salt and soy lecithin (if adding) and blend again.

Add 1 C of water, a little at a time and bring to a creamy consistency. Throw in the ice cubes and blend well. Add the remaining water and blend and whip for a minute or so until it's a nice, frothy mixture.

If you have the patience, let this chill in the fridge for a few hours and then pour into your ice cream maker. I didn't have the patience nor the confidence in my resistance to glug, therefore I skipped the chilling step and went straight to the ice cream making step.

In the ice cream maker, it will reach a soft-serve consistency. After it's ready, transfer to an airtight container and freeze for an additional hour or two to get a scoopable consistency.

If you don't own an ice cream maker, don't worry. Just pour the pre ice cream mylk in an airtight container and freeze. Every half an hour, take it out of the freezer and whip vigorously with a spatula. Repeat this step 3-4 times. Then finally freeze for an hour and you have your ice cream ready.

After a day or so in the freezer, I've seen that home made ice creams become slightly hard/icy. For the perfect consistency, transfer the container to the fridge and let it thaw for half an hour before serving.

Enjoy!! :)

Macaroni Potato Salad

I love eating fresh, vegetable salads as a meal in themselves but hubby prefers to have some carbs involved. He says that if he eats just a salad for lunch, it fills him up quickly, but then he gets hungry again very soon. So I've started adding a bit of pasta into my salads to add body to them and that's been a nice compromise.

I used macaroni here because I'd run out of penne but it worked out nicely enough for me to try again even when I have regular pasta around. The texture of the macaroni goes well with this soft and filling salad.

Macaroni Potato Salad

Here are the ingredients, the quantities are completely up to you.

Macaroni - cooked, drained and rinsed in cold water.
Potatoes - boiled and cubed
Fresh Mint - chopped
Carrots - scrubbed clean and grated
Green Chillies - crushed to a paste
Red Chilli Powder
Lime Juice
Agave
Salt

Toss everything together and serve with freshly crushed pepper and nutritional yeast sprinkled over it.

Enjoy! :)

Steamed Ragi Sweet, my guest post on Tongue Ticklers.

Want to know what that is and how to make it? Check out my guest post on Tongue Ticklers (that website has unfortunately disappeared now).

Tongue Ticklers is a vegan blog run by Harini. It's filled with beautiful food photography, interesting recipes and lots of handy tips on vegan and gluten free cooking and baking. I'm super happy to have a guest post featured on it. :)

Vegan Tofu Scramble Salad Rice Paper Wraps.

I disliked eggs (aka hen periods) even during my pre vegan days. I only ate them when they were hidden in cakes and mousses and such desserts. If by mistake I put anything with the slightest eggy smell into my mouth, I immediately gagged and discarded it. So it's no surprise that after I turned vegan, I never really went out of my way to try out savory vegan egg-style dishes. The only time I had one was the Tofu Akuri made by Dr.Nandita Shah of SHARAN at the Reversing Diabetes with Dr.Neal Barnard seminar a few years ago. I liked it but not enough to inspire me try making it myself.

But last month, my friend Heather of Worceatsveg wrote a post about Vegan Eggless Salad and it got me curious enough to attempt a version of my own. I decided to turn it into rice paper rolls along with a few fresh veggies and the result was simply delicious!!



For the tofu filling:

2 200gm packs Tofu (rinsed, drained and patted dry)
1 Small Onion (finely chopped)
1 Medium Tomato (finely chopped)
3 T Nutritional Yeast
Turmeric (a pinch)
1/4 tsp Chilli Powder
1/4 tsp Pepper Powder
1 T Lemon Juice
1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Agave (small splash)
Salt (Black Salt works best but I didn't have any so I used regular salt)

In a large bowl, crumble the tofu.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
Taste and adjust the seasonings.



To proceed:

Sliced Vegetables - carrot, capsicum, cucumber.
Tapioca Sheets

Dip a tapioca sheet in warm water and place it carefully on a flat surface.
Place some tofu mixture in the middle of the sheet.
Top with sliced veggies.
Carefully roll up the tapioca sheet by folding the bottom half over the filling, then the sides and then the top half.

Enjoy immediately!

Vegan Hazelnut Kahlua Dark Chocolate Truffles

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

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

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

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.

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'

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. :)