Basil and Walnut Sauce with Broccoli and Baby Corn

There's nothing more inspiring to me than a crisper full of fresh vegetables! My tastiest dinners are always made on the evenings my Towness groceries come home.

Town Essentials is a gem of an online grocery store that was recommended to us early this year by our friends Amrita and Vijay of Vegan India! They told us that the quality of vegetables and fruits was very impressive and the service is great. Towness turned out to be all that and much more. The veggies are truly hand picked and so very clean and fresh. And their customer service is hands down *the best* compared to any other Bangalore store we've shopped at or ordered from. They are extremely dependable when it comes to delivering at the promised time and they take very good care to ensure that the veggies reach us in perfect condition.

All other stores seem to be lacking in service when compared to these guys. They've really spoiled our shopping experience for life! :oP

One Towness veggie that I'm most happy with is Broccoli. It isn't always easy to get good, clean Broccoli here in Bangalore. There's usually a lot of effort involved in cleaning it before it's in an acceptable condition to cook with. But Towness magically seems to get its hands on super fresh Broccoli that can be quickly washed, cut and used.

This time, apart from Broccoli, I ordered Baby Corn and Italian Basil from the 'exotic vegetables' section and the moment they hit my kitchen counter, the gears started turning in my head and I found myself whipping up a simple and delicious dinner.

I find local (Naati) Tomatoes to be most flavourful and use them in a lot of my cooking. For a less tangy sauce, use Plum (Hybrid) Tomatoes.

This is a fairly mild sauce but if you like to spice it up a bit, add a fresh Green Chilly while blending the sauce.



Handful Italian Basil Leaves
Handful Walnuts
1/4 Onion
3-4 Garlic Cloves
2 Medium Tomatoes
Turmeric (a pinch)
Pepper
Salt

Baby Corn (sliced)
Broccoli Florets
Capsicum (sliced)

Lime Juice
Freshly Crushed Pepper

Steam or nuke the veggies with a pinch of salt and keep aside.
Meanwhile, blend the first eight ingredients together into a smooth sauce, using a bit of water if required.
Pour the sauce over the veggies and cook for a few minutes (I microwaved for 3 minutes but if you prefer, you can just boil it in a pan while stirring).
Let it cool for a minute and then add lime juice and mix well.
Crush pepper on top and serve hot.

I served this Basil and Walnut Sauce over Kodo Millet but it will go very well with Rice or Bread.

Enjoy! :)

Adzuki Bean and Pumpkin Stew/Chilli

Adzuki is an East Asian bean and I've seen it being mentioned in a few vegan recipe books. But since we don't get it here, I hadn't got a chance to try it. I normally like to cook beans from scratch, using dry beans by quick soaking them and then pressure cooking with a wee bit of salt and spices. But a few days ago, I found a can of pre-cooked Adzuki Beans at Brown Tree and I couldn't resist grabbing one. Anyone who enjoys cooking will tell you that 'exotic' ingredients are hard to resist. :oP

Since they are commonly used to make sweet dishes, like Amanattō, I figured the beans would have a slightly sweet taste to them, but when I popped one into my mouth, it kind of tasted like Karamani (Black Eyed Peas) to me. A bean that looks like a small Rajma (Red Kidney Beans) and tastes like Karamani, interesting but not worth ₹139 for 400 gms (to their credit, they were organic). It is possible that the canning made it more bland in taste, so the next time I buy the Adzuki bean is when I find it locally grown in dried form.

I don't have any regrets though because this Chilli/Stew turned out a-mazing!! *slurp* It was sweet, tart, spicy, salty, umami all at once. A beautiful balance in flavours achieved by the super enthusiasm that only working with a new ingredient can inspire. :D

When you try this recipe, I recommend using a combination of beans - Pink and Red Rajma, Chickpeas, White and Red Double Beans, Butter Beans, Adzuki Beans... each spoonful will bring wholesome heavenly goodness into your mouth.



Stir Frying Ingredients:

1 Large Onion - thinly sliced
7-8 Cloves of Garlic - roughly crushed
4 Green Chillies - chopped finely
1 Carrot - chopped into small cubes
1 200gms block of Tofu (I really like the Ka Kims brand in Bangalore) - cubed
1 400gms can Adzuki Beans - drained and rinsed
2 tsp Cumin Powder
1 T Coriander Powder
Pinch of Cumin Seeds
1 T Coconut Oil

Pumpkin Sauce Ingredients:

1 medium slice of Red Pumpkin - cubed (with peel) and steamed or microwaved
1 small Banana (the Yelakki kind, because it has a very mild flavour)
4 medium sized Tomatoes (local, Naati ones)
1/4 tsp Red Chilly Powder
Pinch of Turmeric
Salt
Nutritional Yeast (optional)
Handful Italian Basil Leaves (optional)

Additional Ingredients:

1 tsp Tamarind Paste
Lime Juice
Raw Onion - chopped
Almonds - sliced
Fresh Cilantro - Chopped

Blend all the sauce ingredients together until creamy, using a bit of water as required. Keep aside.

Heat the coconut oil in a large wok or pan.
Add the cumin seeds and let them crackle for a few seconds.
Reduce flame to medium and add the garlic, onion and green chillies.
Leave them without stirring for a couple of minutes.
Once the garlic and onion has browned a bit, increase the heat and stir fry them for a minute.
Add the carrot and stir fry for a few minutes (until carrot is half cooked).
Reduce the flame to medium again, add the tofu and stir carefully without allowing it to break or stick to the bottom of the wok, until the tofu has slightly browned.
Add the adzuki beans, coriander powder, cumin powder and a tiny bit of salt and mix well.

Pour the blended sauce over everything and mix.
At this point, if you want it to be like a chilli, add one or two cups of water so it can be had in a big bowl with a spoon.
For a thicker stew that can be served over rice or bread, add only about half a cup of water, if you feel it's necessary or don't add any water at all.
Mix and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.
Add tamarind paste, mix well and simmer for another minute.

Turn off the flame and let it cool for a few minutes.
Stir in lime juice when serving.
Optionally top with chopped onions, cilantro and sliced almonds.

Serve hot.
Enjoy! :)

Spiced Cashew Mylk Hot Chocolate

Tis the season. The season of rain. The season of cravings and the season of laziness. Not the best of combinations!

I woke up this Monday (boo) morning to beautifully slothful weather. Sighhhh. All I wanted to do was get under a blankie and soak up my Game of Thrones book. And that's exactly what I did. Except, at mid morning, a strong craving for something steamy hot hit me like a ton of bricks. Hot chocolate would be perfect! So would masala chai (especially since poor hubby had a sore throat and wanted something to soothe it).

Ideally we'd get everything. But considering *I* was the one who had to drag my butt to the kitchen and make something, the quickest, easiest thing would be the most ideal. I've said this before and I'll say it again... laziness is the mother of invention. The speed at which I concocted this Masala Hot Chocolate was incredible. Blend, heat, serve. Gotta love nut mylks. :D

Within 10 minutes (including the time taken to shoot pics), I was back in bed sipping on my awesome fusion drink with a ridiculously contented smile on my face.



1/2 C Cashews
1 inch Fresh Ginger
2 T Cocoa Powder
4 tsp Organic Jaggery
1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1 Clove
4 Black Peppercorns
1/2 Cardamom (just use the seeds and not the pod skin)

Grind everything together into a fine powder.
Add a little water at a time and grind into a smooth paste.
Add about 3 cups of water and blend well.
Pour into microwavable mugs and nuke for 2 minutes (or more).
Keep a close watch while microwaving to ensure the mylk desn't overflow.
Alternately, it can also be heated in a pan on a stove and then served once it's steaming hot.
Dust with cocoa powder.
Slurp.

Enjoy the monsoons! :)

Pale Green Smoothie

Green smoothies are an amazingly nutritious and energy boosting breakfast option. All it takes is greens and fruit to make a basic smoothie. Wash, blend, drink. But sometimes I like to make my breakfast drink a bit special with additional ingredients for extra nutrients and taste. This one that I made today turned out super delicious (so much so that the empty mug got invaded by ants a few minutes after it was put down)! And the pale green colour was so pretty that I just had to grab some pics.

Dates are very rich in iron so I like using them to sweeten foods which are healthy to begin with. Sesame seeds are an excellent source of calcium. Lemon juice helps the nutrients get absorbed better. Turmeric has anti bacterial properties so a small pinch helps to make the raw food more safe.



1 Handful Spinach
1 Large Banana
8-10 Cashews
5 Pitted Dates
1 tsp Sesame Seeds
Pinch Turmeric
Pinch Salt
Pinch Pepper
Large Splash Lemon Juice

Blend everything together with as much or little water as you like.
Pour into a pretty mug.
Slurp away!

Enjoy. :)



What kind of stuff do you like adding into your green smoothie?

Healthy Date Almond Bakery Style Biscuits

Quick to make and just as quick to be polished off, these cookies are a hundred percent healthy. That means no cane sugar, no processed oil, no white flour.

They taste a lot like the salt benne biscuits we get at small, local bakeries here. You could add pepper and spices to turn them into masala biscuits or more dry fruits to make them sweeter. They are really versatile.



1 C Almonds
1 T Sesame Seeds
1 T Flax Seed Powder
8 Pitted Dates
1/8 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 C Bajra Flour
1 T Water

Preheat oven to 250 C
Grind the almonds, sesame seeds, flax seed powder and salt together to a fine meal.
Add the pitted dates and grind again until it turns into a slightly sticky mixture.
Mix with the rest of the ingredients to form a slightly crumbly dough.
Shape into cookies by making balls and flattening between your palms.
Line on cookie sheet and bake for about 5 minutes, until browned.
Transfer to cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
Enjoy guilt free goodness! :)