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. :)