Avocado Orange Chocolate Mousse Vegan Mofo day 1

Since I'm a huge huge fan of vegan mousse, I thought it was apt to kick start Vegan MoFo 2012 with this mostly raw Avo-Orange Chocolate Mousse. As I mentioned in an earlier post, my theme for MoFo this year is Super Scrumptious Four Course Meal. Recipes for one course of a meal each week and my first week's course is Desserts! :)

Because of the chocolate, the mousse is only about 70% raw. If you'd like to make it completely raw then use raw cacao powder and eliminate the alcohol and orange essence/extract, but be warned that it will compromise the taste and texture quite a bit. Also, I find the sweetness from the chocolate bar to be sufficient but if you like it sweeter, then you could add 2 or 3 soaked, pitted dates or a few spoons of sugar (I would not recommend jaggery as its flavour will overpower the others). You could use raw agave nectar but even though it's raw it's a highly processed product so you're better off using a small amount of sugar instead.

I found this delicious 74% Dark Chocolate with Orange Peel at Brown Tree and love to use that in my avo-orange-choclate mousse. Rs.120 is a fairly good price for a bar of 100 gms (3.5 oz).

Even though I usually prefer actual dark chocolate, with a *minimum* of 74% cocoa content, I have to admit that this mousse tastes pretty delicious even when it's made with the cheaper, more commonly available Morde 45% "Dark" Chocolate. I've seen those at Nilgiris, MK Retail and Metro, among other places. But watch out for the Morde Dark Compound (different from Morde Dark Chocolate) and DO NOT even consider touching it with a ten foot pole because it is pumped with all kinds of disgusting processed crap and hydrogenated fats which are horrid for health (even if they are technically vegan). Not that I never have processed foods, but the compound is worse than most processed foods and it doesn't taste good either (yep, I tried it once long ago, before I knew how bad for health it was).

If you have ripe avocados at home, this mousse can be whipped up very quickly. It's almost as if a genie said, "yes master" *poof* and there it is, your delicious vegan mousse! :oP

I prefer to melt my chocolate using the double boiler method because somehow the texture seems better that way. But you can further reduce the preparation time by melting the chocolate in a microwave. Just place the chocolate in a micro safe glass dish, heat for 30 seconds, stir, heat for another 30 seconds and stir again and repeat until the chocolate is completely melted.

Avocado Orange Chocolate Mousse

150 gms (1 1/2 Bars) Vegan Dark Chocolate with Orange Peel
1 large, ripe Avocado
1/4 - 1/2 C Raw Cashew or Almond Mylk
1/8 tsp Orange Extract/Essence or 1/4 tsp Dried and Powdered Orange Peel
Pinch of Salt
Sugar or Soaked Pitted Dates (optional)
A great, big splash of Scotch or Rum
Cocoa or Cinnamon Powder for dusting

To melt the chocolate using the double boiler method:

Break the chocolate into chunks and place in a medium sized, heat proof glass or ceramic bowl (steel is fine too but I find glass/ceramic easier to clean).

In a small pan, heat a cup of water and place the ceramic bowl on the pan (it should cover the mouth of the pan completely so no steam escapes).

Keep the heat on low so as not to allow the water at the bottom to boil and stir the chocolate with a spoon or small whisk.

When the chocolate is half melted, turn off the heat and keep stirring until completely melted.

Take the ceramic bowl off the pan and keep aside to cool for a few minutes.

For the mousse:

Scoop out the avocado flesh into a blender jar, add the melted chocolate and salt and blend to a creamy consistency, using a little almond or cashew mylk at a time.

Add the rum/scotch and the orange extract/essence/peel powder and blend well.

Taste and add the sugar or dates if required.

Blend again and transfer to a glass dish (I use the same bowl that I melted the chocolate in).

Whip for a couple of minutes with a wire whisk.

Tastes good at this point, tastes great after chilling in the fridge for at least half an hour and tastes amazingly awesome after sitting in the fridge for a day because the flavours ripen nicely.

Serve with cocoa powder or cinnamon dusted over it.

Enjoy! :)

Vegan MoFo yeah yeah yeah! :D

Goood morning MoFo-ers!!! :) It's 6:30 am on October 1st 2012 here in Bangalore, India. I woke up this morning to find that my Veganosaurus Facebook Page has crossed 1000 'likes'! Yay!! 1001 'fans' is a wonderful way to start Vegan MoFo month!! :)

Before you get any ideas, I don't have any habits of being awake at such early, ungodly hours in the morning. I just *happened* to be awake and I couldn't resist dropping in here to write a quick, "hello Vegan MoFo" post on my phone's Blogger app. :)

Have you ever tried typing out HTML on a teeny tiny touchscreen keyboard? It is a paaaain!! I am *so* glad I have the first two days of MoFo posts pre-scheduled because I might be outside my home a lot over these two days and I definitely don't want to be stuck doing MoFo posts on my phone! Haha

I have a recipe post scheduled for later in the day, when more MoFo-ers will be awake and blogging, but until then, if you'd like some food porn, then take a look at my Vegan MoFo 2012 Sneak Peek album.

Have a wonderful day and an even more awesome Vegan MoFo month!! Looking forward to visiting everyone's blogs to check out the drool-worthy awesomeness you'll all be posting. :)

Wheat berry Pilaf: guest post by Richa of Vegan Richa

I met Richa sometime in the middle of last year when she dropped into my Facebook page. Her blog, which was then called Hobby and More and is now Vegan Richa, is filled with scrumptious recipes of various kinds with totally drool worthy photographs. But what she's most famous for is her whole lot of creative, amazing bread recipes! It's very obvious that Richa loooooves to bake bread and also make all kinds of interesting dishes with bread, like her Tiramisu and Gulab Jamun French Toasts.

Richa also makes some yummy gluten free breads. I tried her steaming method to make Gluten Free Flatbreads earlier this year and was really happy with the results.

Today I'm happy to have her here as a guest blogger with a delicious, healthy Wheat Berry Pilaf recipe. All those pictures she's clicked of the pilaf are making my mouth water and I can almost feel the chewiness of the wheat berries in my mouth. Yum!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'll be participating in Vegan MoFo this year. You can see my Vegan MoFo Sneak Peek album here.

Last year was my first time doing MoFo and it was the first for Richa too. This year she is really busy and was hesitant to participate, but finally she decided to just go ahead and jump into the MoFo madness. :D I can't wait to see all the delicious recipes she comes up with all through October.

Now, without further ado, let's move on to Richa's post...

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I blog at Vegan Richa, where I vegan-ize Indian food, sweets, yeast breads, and other baked goodies. I met Susmitha I think around Vegan Mofo last year. :) Come to think of it, I met so many wonderful bloggers in that one whirlwind month.

I was instantly attracted to her super cute hand made monsters, beautiful jewellery and amazing and simple food creations!

When Sus asked me to do a guest post in the middle of Summer. I knew I was not going to find time till later. So here I am when the weather is cooling down, and in a few days I will be going crazy trying to blog every day of the month!



For the guest post, I was initially thinking of making some cookies. But Sus has been baking up super fun cookies already lately. So I decided on a delicious whole grain pilaf. For those on a gluten free diet, this pilaf can be made with any whole grains.



For variations: add mushrooms, greens, eggplants, chunky vegetables, nuts, biryani /pulav masala of choice, dried fruit (raisin/cranberries). Or make a simple one with vegetable broth, mushrooms and parsley.

For some of my Whole grain/Rice preparations see here and veganized Indian sweets see here.



Whole wheat berry pilaf

Vegan, soy, corn, nut free recipe

Cook Time: 30 minutes to 1 hour, Serves 2

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry wheat berries (Gejun grain)

3/4 cup water for pressure cooker, (1.5 cups for saucepan)

extra water for soaking

1 teaspoon organic canola or virgin coconut oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 green chili chopped

4-5 garlic cloves chopped

1/4 medium onion chopped

1/4 red bell pepper chopped

1/4 cup green peas

1 teaspoon coriander powder or biryani masala blend

chopped cilantro for garnish

Method:

Rinse the berries well and soak overnight in 2 cups water.

In a pressure cooker or pan, add oil.

Heat on medium heat. Add cumin seeds and let them crackle.

Add chili and onions and cook for 4-5 minutes until golden.

Add red bell pepper and peas and cook for a minute.

Add in the rinsed wheat berries, salt and cook on medium for 2 whistles in the pressure cooker, and then on low heat for 15-20 minutes (2-3 more whistles).

If cooking in saucepan, add the rinsed berries, 1.5 cups of water, cover and cook on low until berries are tender. Serve hot.

The water content and cook time depends on the wheat berries(hard or soft), add more water and cook longer if not tender at the suggested time. I use soft white or red wheat berries here.

You can also cook the wheat berries separately like pasta and keep ready. Cook with water and salt until tender.

Serve hot topped with cilantro and lemon juice/wedge.



Thank you for sharing your space with me Susmitha! Hope you all like this post. You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Have a great week.

Green Guava Grainee and Vegan MoFo Preparations

Though this is a technically a smoothie, I'd like to call it a "grainee" because the guava seeds get ground to a fine, grainy texture. It's a nice way to enjoy a smoothie, with a wee bit of crunchiness in every mouthful. :)

Makes for a delicious, nutritious, filling breakfast. Consume it as soon as it's made, to get the maximum benefits of the fruits and the spinach.

1 large Guava - cubed
3 Yelakki Bananas (small) - cut into chunks
1 1/2 C Spinach
8 Dates - seeds removed
1/2 C Cashews
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
3 Black Pepper Corns
A pinch of Salt
Lemon Juice

Blend everything together along with some water into a creamy smoothie.
Serve into large mugs.
Start slurping immediately.
Enjoy! :)

While you're slurping, let me tell you about what I've been up to and what's about to happen on my blog in October.

Shhhh, listen...can you hear that low rumbling sound? It's the chorus of thousands of tummies growling in anticipation. And soon you'll be hearing buckets drool dripping onto keyboards all over the world too because, it's that time of the year again...Vegan MoFo time!! :D

For those who are new to this, Vegan MoFo aka Vegan Month of Food, is a global blogging event. Hundreds of bloggers from all over the world take part each year and all month long blogs are flooded with talk about about vegan food, vegan food and more vegan food.

Last October was my first time participating in MoFo and it was a mad, last minute scramble. I did a lot of huffing and puffing and just barely reached my quota of posts for the month. This year however, I've turned into a super smart cookie (pun intended) and have started to cook and capture and choreograph.

I'd like to have at least half the blog posts ready and scheduled over the next week so that during MoFo I can chill and hoppity hop hop through all the awesome participating blogs.

I've even got a theme going this time - Super Scrumptious Four Course Meal. Each week, I will feature recipes for one course of a meal.

Week One - Desserts (well of course I have to start with desserts!)
Week Two - Soups and Salads
Week Three - Appetizers and Snacks
Week Four - Main Courses

There may or may not be sub-themes within each week. We'll just have to wait and watch. :oP

If you would like a taste of what's to come, here's my Vegan MoFo 2012 Sneak Peek album. It's going to keep getting filled up all week long and through October as the recipes start rolling out.

Until then, here are a few recipes from my last year's Vegan MoFo collection for you to try out:

Super Loaded Burritos



Idlis



Maize Bread



And of course, the MOST popular post of them all...Vegan Ice Cream Basics :D



If you're taking part in Vegan MoFo this year, do leave a comment and let me know so I can visit you often through October. Enjoy making magic in the kitchen and have a wonderful weekend! :)

Navané Dosé - Foxtail Millet Dosas: guest post by Chinmayie of Love Food Eat

It was a lovely Friday afternoon in April, the day before the first Vegan lunch/demo at Graze, Taj. Himani and I were lounging on bar stools and sipping on green tea. In the open kitchen we were facing, Uday was chatting with us while preparing scrumptious vegan dishes for us to taste for the next day's event. He told us that a food blogger was coming by soon to review the vegan menu on her blog. I remember thinking it'd be nice to meet another local food blogger in person.

The blogger was Chinmayie of Love Food Eat and she arrived at Graze with her husband and her adorable daughter. When I went up and introduced myself, she immediately said, "I visit your blog. A lot!" and then she called over her hubby and said, "you know that vegan blogger I was talking about on the way here? It's her". I was not expecting that at all and needless to say, I was totally flattered. :)

We didn't get to talk much that day because both of us were busy with having lunch and taking photographs. We just exchanged cards and spoke about how we should cook together sometime. It was only after coming back home and visiting her beautiful blog for the first time did I begin to learn about Chinmayie and her work.

Chinmayie is a vegetarian, but a very large portion of her recipes happen to be vegan. Like me, she is an intuitive cook. That means, instead of following recipes, she prefers to experiment with different ingredients and cuisines and whip up all kinds of interesting concoctions. Just look at this gorgeous, gorgeous Jamun Jam she invented!

Doesn't it make you want to dip your whole fist in and lick it up? :P

Over the past few months I've gotten to know Chinmayie better, mainly on our Foodies in Bangalore group on Facebook. She leans towards healthy cooking and is quite knowledgeable about plant based nutrition. And she is always interested to learn more about vegan cuisine and try out vegan recipes.

I'm very happy to have her here today with her Navané Dosé. Navané means Foxtail Millet in Kannada and in Karnataka, the word for Dosa is Dosé (the 'e' in both words is pronounced 'ay', as in - say, day, hay...).

Chinmayie has taken lovely shots of the ingredients and the steps involved in making these crispy Foxtail Millet Dosas. Thank you for being here Cinnmayie! :)

Let's move ahead to her guest post now...

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Hey All! This is Chinmayie from the blog Love Food Eat. I am here with a guest post for Susmitha's blog.

I have been seeing Veganosaurus from a long time, even before I started blogging. I initially came across her super cool miniature clay sculptures and beautiful jewelry which then lead me to her vegan food blog. I finally met her at a local restaurant recently in a vegan food event. The first words to slip out of my mouth were 'I am a big fan of you and your blog!'

Let's come to the recipe now. Those who know me and my blog, already know my love for millets. I have been working on adding more millets to my diet for more than just health benefits associated with it. While I enjoy them in most forms, my husband and daughter haven't really liked it much. They definitely prefer rice over millets in our daily meals.

A lot of people find it hard to figure out where to start. I also understand that if you are a rice+rasam loving South Indian like me, it'll be hard for you to include a foxtail millet salad into your everyday menu.

I noticed that it's always easier to start liking a new ingredient when it is used in a familiar way. We all love our good old south Indian breakfast staple dosas. We never get tired of them. I grew up eating all kinds of different dosas, not just the rice+lentil kind. We made dosas out of plantains, jackfruit, cucumbers, water melon rind, tender coconut, wheat, finger millets and a lot more… some sweet, some spicy and everything in between. Having eaten all those different kinds, I was sure foxtail millets would work perfectly in a dosa and I wasn't wrong.

If you wanted to include foxtail millet into your diet and wasn't too sure about using it in its whole form, try this dosa recipe. It works like a dream and tastes super good. You can eat them not just because they are healthy! I served my dosa with some sambar but even a simple coconut chutney will be good.

Notes:

You should be able to skip the rice altogether and make the dosas with just millets+lentils also.

Add green or red chilies, cumin, coriander seeds, cilantro leaves etc... while grinding the batter for more flavor.

You can also add grated vegetables and greens to the batter and make thick, pancake like dosas.

If you live in a cooler climate, cover the batter with something warm to help it ferment better.

Left over batter can be refrigerated and used for 3-4 days.

Ingredints:

Foxtail millets - 2 cups

Rice - 1/4 cup

Channa dal - 1/4 cup

Urad dal - 1/4 cup

Toor dal - 1/4 cup

Chopped onion - 1/2 cup

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Salt


Combine the foxtail millet with rice and all the lentils and wash them once. Soak them in clean water for 3-4 hours.

Drain the water fully and place them in a blender with onion, ginger and salt and blend it into a smooth paste. Add enough water to get the batter to a thick pancake batter consistency. Cover and let it ferment for 8-10 hours (or overnight).

After 8-10 hours or the next day, the dosa batter would have fermented well. There might be small little bubbles on the surface and it might smell slightly sour. Mix the batter well.

To make the dosas -

Heat a griddle well, brush it with a thin layer of oil. Pour a ladleful of batter in the center and spread it into a dosa with the help of your ladle. You can either make it thick like a pancake or thin like Crêpes.

When one side of the dosa looks lightly cooked with small bubbles on top, apply a little bit of oil and flip it.

Once ready, serve it with sambar or any kind of chutney.