Sambar for Idli - Vegan MoFo Post 19

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

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

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

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

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