Name the Monsters giveaway.

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

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.

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

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

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.