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! :)

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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! :)