Spicy Mulberry Balsamic Jam

This isn't a jam jam. It doesn't have a smooth, spreadable consistency. It's more like a sticky, yummy, eat-with-your-fingers type of jam.

I enjoy jam but I rarely ever make any. I like my fruits fresh and whole and I feel cooking them with loads of sugar takes away from the taste. So I don't have traditional jam making ingredients like pectin in my pantry. That's why this jam is not of a jammy consistency.

For those occasions when nothing but jam hits the spot (certain weekend mornings come to mind), I have a jar or two of fruity, pink and purple jams in my fridge. I'm a sucker for jams made of berries and grapes and mixed fruits. Yellow jams like mango and pineapple aren't too appealing to me. Not because of their colour, but because they have that tart taste which is distracting when I dip my bread and jam into coffee and take a bite.

I'm not particular about the make and brand. I appreciate the standard Kissan mixed fruit jam just as much as a fancy artisan one. My latest favourite is Towness' grape and strawberry jam.

When Towness announced that they were introducing seasonal mulberries at their store for a few days, people started to comment excitedly on their facebook page. Having never tasted this fruit before, I was really tempted to order some even though I usually avoid fruits which are expensive.

I hadn't realised that 200gms was a lot of mulberries! Hubby and I quickly finished half of it when the box arrived. But there is only so much mulberry one can eat and the other half was sitting in the fridge going soft for a few days. That's why I decided to make jam with it.

I really don't have quantities for the jam. It was one of those put together-taste-adjust things. So I'll just tell you the ingredients I used and the process I followed and you adjust the quantities to your taste. I think this recipe will work well with other berries too. I can easily picture it made with strawberries, blackberries and blueberries. Let me know if you try it with any of them.

Spicy Mulberry Balsamic Jam
Ingredients listed in descending order of quantities used.

Mulberries
Sugar
Balsamic Vinegar
Chilli Powder
Salt

Wash mulberries and drain.
Place them in a pan with sugar and cook while stirring.
Add a bit of salt and continue to stir and cook on medium heat.
When the whole mixture is mushy, add chilli powder and a generous splash of balsamic vinegar.
Reduce the heat to low and stir well.
Taste and adjust the chilli powder and salt quantities.
Once everything reaches a sort of jammy consistency turn off the heat and allow to cool completely.
Transfer to a glass jar and store in the fridge.
Enjoy! :)

Spicy Tamarind Brandy Sorbet

Summer's here. A wretchedly hot one at that! All cold things are a welcome bliss. So it's no wonder that when my beloved grocery store, Towness announced a recipe contest for their customers, my brain cogs turned towards icy ideas.

The theme for the contest was tamarind. Though puliyogare is at the top of my favourite tamarind based dishes, I wanted to be creative with my recipe submission. And I mean a little more creative than my usual navane puliyogare (made with foxtail millet instead of the traditional rice) which many of you tasted at VGF in Feb.

So I thought of making a tamarind based ice cream. But that idea flew right out the window the moment I started picturing how any kind of mylk would coagulate as soon as I started stirring the tamarind in. So I decided on a sorbet.



It started out being a goody goody sorbet, but somewhere in the process of putting random ingredients together, I felt the urge to slosh some brandy into it. *slurp* It added a kick and enhanced all the flavours. I tested it out on a couple of willing 'guinea pigs' (no animal testing here folks, only human testing). Two out of the three people who tried it said it was really good. And since I also enjoyed it thoroughly, I declared it tried, tested and contest worthy.

And guess what, it won me a dinner voucher to Imli!!! Yay! :D

I've heard many people speak well about this place so I'm really looking forward to going. I'm getting super hungry just looking at their menu. Yum!

There were 30+ recipes submitted and 15 of those were shortlisted by the judges for trial. They picked the prepared food from the 15 peoples' homes this last Sunday and after tasting everything for themselves, the winners were announced yesterday.



Here's the recipe if you want to try this out yourself. If you don't consume alcohol, don't worry, just skip the brandy and add a little more chilli powder. It'll still be yummy. :)

Spicy Tamarind Brandy Sorbet

2 T tamarind paste
2 T date syrup or jaggery syrup
1/4 tsp chaat masala
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
2 C water
Big splash of brandy *hic*

Blend everything together.
Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for 2 hours.
Whip vigorously and freeze again for 5-6 hours.
Transfer to a grinder jar and blend for a minute.
Put back into the airtight container and freeze for two to three more hours.
Serve in small scoops.
Enjoy! :) *hic*

This is this the point where I usually end my blog posts, but I realized that while I was talking about prizes, I had to tell you about the one I won in Feb. Heheh yep, apparently I'm on a prize winning streak since I won that Green Foodie Recipe Challenge by The Alternative as well as the VVP T-Shirt in December. :D

Towness had a Food Photography contest for Valentines month and my Baked Akki Rotti Bites photo got the 2nd Prize. :)





When I was asked which restaurant I'd like to have a romantic dinner at, I opted to get vouchers to my favourite grocery store instead. So for the last month, I've been having many romantic dinners. Thank you Towness! :)

Creamy Tabbouleh Salad Lettuce Wraps

These Creamy Tabbouleh Salad Lettuce Wraps are herb rich and full of flavour. They make for a nutritious and refreshing lunch on a sultry afternoon.

I have developed a whole new level of love for salads. And here's why...

There's a new healthy vegan restaurant in town, Carrots. I spoke about it in an earlier blog post. Since it's the first of its kind in Bangalore, it's a matter of great excitement in the local vegan community. And vegans from other Indian cities have been telling us how very jealous they are. Hehe

In India, it's extremely easy to be vegetarian. Ours is a largely vegetarian culture. More than half our restaurants are vegetarian. Even people who consume meat don't usually do so every single day, and definitely not three times a day. Eggs aren't considered vegetarian and they won't be found in any vegetarian restaurant.

When you go to a grocery store, each and every product has a symbol to indicate whether it is vegetarian or not. All vegetarian products are marked with a green dot and all non vegetarian products, including those with eggs, are marked with a red dot.

For vegans here, the big pain in the ass is dairy! Animal milk (usually from cows and buffaloes) and its derivatives are put into all kinds of foods. A non vegan person who isn't in the habit of reading labels would be surprised to hear about the innumerable ways dairy sneaks into their system.

So you can imagine what it means for us to finally have a place in town where we can order any item from the menu without the need to explain and shoot off a long list of taboo dairy products to the waiter. :)

Just before the launch of Carrots, hubby and I were invited there for a few tasting sessions by Krishna, the owner of the restaurant. Since the chef isn't vegan, he felt a need for inputs about his vegan cooking and pointers on making desserts. For a non vegan, Chef Anantha makes really delicious vegan food! He is a master of soups, salads and starters. His main dishes are really tasty and he's been making an extremely good effort at vegan desserts.

Among all the things we ate, hubby and I would say that the Greek Salad was hands down our favourite dish!!! Bursting with colourful veggies and pumped with flavourful, lemon soaked tofu, every bite of the salad was mind blowing!

Ever since we ate that Greek Salad at Carrots, hubby and I have been craving big salads like that one. And I've been ordering lettuce from Towness more regularly than I used to.

Thanks to the amazing Greek Salad at Carrots, we'll be eating a lot more salad at home this summer. :)

Creamy Tabbouleh Salad Lettuce Wraps



1/2 C Broken Wheat
10 large Romaine Lettuce Leaves
2 baby Apples (crunchy Mishri variety) - chopped
3 medium Plum Tomatoes - diced
1 C Fresh Mint - roughly chopped
1 C Fresh Parsley - roughly chopped
1 C Fresh Cilantro - roughly chopped
1/2 C Cashews
1/4 C Lime Juice
1 inch Ginger - grated
Black Salt
Black Pepper - freshly crushed

Soak the broken wheat in water for about 15-20 minutes and drain.

Blend together cashews and lime juice using a little water to get a sour cream.

Add the herbs and pulse a few times (but don't blend them completely).

Toss together all ingredients, except lettuce, cover and keep aside. You have your creamy tabbouleh.

Separate the lettuce leaves and clean them.

Spread a leaf on a flat surface and spoon some of the tabbouleh mixture in the centre of the leaf. Wrap and place seam side down on a plate.

Continue doing the same with the remaining lettuce leaves.

These nutritious, flavourful salad wraps are great for lunch, especially now since it's gotten so hot here.

Enjoy! :)

Tofu Shiitake Spinach in Balsamic Tomato Sauce

After my super long blog post earlier this week, I didn't think I'd be posting again so soon, but this stew that I made for dinner last night turned out soooo delicious that I had to share a recipe here.

I put it together with a bunch of random ingredients from my fridge and served it with phulkas. This morning, before having more for breakfast, I managed to grab a quick photo on my phone and shared it right away on Instagram. Here's the recipe with the pic.



Tofu Shiitake Spinach in Balsamic Tomato Sauce

8 small or 5 large Naati (local) Tomatoes
500 gms Tofu
100 gms Spinach
6 Dry Shiitake Mushrooms
10 cloves of Garlic
2 T Balsamic Vinegar
2 tsp Jaggery
1/2 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/4 tsp Chilli Powder
3 T Olive Oil
Omum (Carom) seeds
1 T Corn Starch
Salt

Tabasco Habenero Sauce (optional)
Black Pepper (optional)

Soak the dry shiitakes in 3/4 C warm water for 10-15 minutes.
Drain and slice the mushrooms.
***Save the soaking water, it's full of flavor!!!***

Drain the tofu and gently squeeze out as much water as possible.
Make large cubes.

Wash and roughly chop the spinach.

Blend the tomatoes with 2-3 cloves of garlic, balsamic vinegar, jaggery, salt and chilli powder.
Add the tofu to the tomato puree and keep aside.

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add a pinch of omum seeds.
Chop and add the remaining garlic and stir.
Add the shiitakes to the pan and stir fry for a few seconds.
Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon powder and mix well, stirring for a minute.
Add the chopped spinach and stir fry for a few seconds.

Pour the tomato-tofu sauce into the pan and mix well.
Allow to simmer on low heat for a few minutes, until the raw tomato smell is gone.

Use the shiitake soaking water and make a liquidy paste out of the corn starch.
You need to place the starch in a bowl and add a little water at a time and stir.

Pour this corn starch liquid into the pan and mix well.
Keep stirring and continue to simmer for a few more minutes.
The sauce will thicken just a little bit.

Turn off the heat and serve hot with freshly crushed pepper and a few drops of tabasco habanero sauce drizzled over it.

Enjoy! :)

Vegan Hazelnut Chocolate Cake and oh so many updates!

I made this deliciously hazelnutty chocolate dessert for my dad's birthday. Thought it would be a great come back recipe to share here after a long hiatus from blogging.



Before the recipe though, I thought I'd give you a few updates about what's happening with me.

It's been nearly a month since my last blog post and longer than that since my last recipe post. I feel bad to have ignored my blog all these weeks, however, the reason for this is that there are so many interesting things happening in my *real* life that I haven't had much time to be online. :)

VGF

The last I wrote here, I was talking about the VGF event that hubby and I were in the process of organising (with help from my parents and sis) for 24th February 2013. The vegan fair was overwhelmingly successful! :) The response was just wonderfully heartening! People, vegans and non vegans alike, turned up in droves even before we were ready to begin the event.

I had made double dark chocolate chunk walnut orange cookies, cinnamon rolls, pizzas with a chunky herbed tomato sauce and foxtail millet puliyogare to sell at my table. VGF started at 12 noon and by 2:15 pm, my stall had been cleaned out. Haha

It worked out perfectly too because I was scheduled to do a demo on extracting mylk out of peanuts and turning it into curds at 2 pm, so as soon as I ran out of food to sell, I was able to rush to the demo area without having to worry about my stall.

By 4 pm, most tables had sold out their goodies. Even though we'd scheduled the event to be from noon to 7 pm, by 5:30, we'd all started to pack up. :)

It was nice to see have so much support and interest from everyone. Many people even hung around for a few hours just eating and chatting, without being in any rush to leave.

Our friend Sharath captured some beautiful photographs at the event.









You can view the whole VGF album on his Facebook page Sharath Ramanna Photography.

The whole VGF experience was so encouraging that we've decided to make it a regular vegan event. Something to have 3-4 times a year. We're also full of ideas to make the next event even *more* interesting and fun for everyone.

Vegan cooking demo

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by a person about doing a vegan cooking demo at a local restaurant. I've been in talks with the people involved and planning out the menu and recipes. We're going to have a tasting session later this week and then I'll announce all the details of the event here. :)

More on the Vegan front

Apart from VGF and this demo, I have been busy with one more project that is going to take veganism in Bangalore to a whole new level. Something awesome is going to happen within the next few weeks. I'm not going to give anything away since things are still at the planning stage right now, but I will say that I'm *really* excited about this! You'll just have to wait and see what the big deal is all about. :D

Stuffing my face

Other than being busy hatching plots to turn the world vegan, I've also been getting plump eating at the very first all vegan restaurant that has opened up here in Bangalore. WOOHOO!

Carrots launched a little over a month ago. Even before they were officially open for business, Krishna (whose baby Carrots is), invited us over for a series of food tasting sessions. The chef, Anantha, isn't vegan but he does cook some really delicious plant based fare. It was nice to be involved with the menu creation process, give inputs and share vegan recipes and tips with him.

Now every time I want to eat out with friends, the first place that comes to mind is Carrots. Ah the joys of being spoilt for choice!

I'll do a full feature on the restaurant here on my blog at some point in the near future, but until then, I wanted to mention the place here so I could tell those of you who live in and around Bangalore to definitely visit and enjoy a meal at Carrots. And those who aren't close by, Carrots is a great reason to plan your next holiday at Bangalore. :)

Here are a few pics I clicked of the dishes at Carrots to entice you.







My virtual life

Even though I haven't been updating my blog as regularly as I used to, I have been sharing food related posts via two of my favourite phone apps - Instagram and HowDo.

If you're on Instagram, you can find me @veganosaurus. If you're not, or you're getting over your Instagram app addition, you can still view all my photos on your computer's browser at my online Instagram profile page - Veganosaurus without any need to login.

I'm really enjoying clicking photos on my phone and applying the filters on the app to them. I also regularly share my Instagram pics with my related Facebook pages. The food photos go onto Veganosaurus and the jewellery photos go on to Art by Susmitha.

I have been addicted to HowDo for a while now but ever since they enabled the feature to embed HowDo clips onto websites and blogs, my obsession with the app has reached a whole new level! It's not easy clicking step by step pictures during the process of cooking/baking. For one thing the phone can get quite messy, what with being handled with ingredient covered hands. Regardless, these days, I often have the phone next to me on the kitchen counter so that I can grab pics as I prepare food.

Once the food is ready and I have the final pic, I sit down and record the voice clips (often with additional sounds like the blender running or microwave beeping) and put the HowDo together. I then upload my HowDo tutorial and watch it at least two times with deep satisfaction. I really seem to like the sound of my own voice. Narcissistic much? :P

I recently created a dedicated HowDo section on my blog where you can see all my tutorials in one place. I'm hoping I will update it with more discipline than I do my blog's recipe index. :D

Vegan Hazelnut Chocolate Cake

Now that I've made you read all my updates, I'll finally get to today's recipe. I've created a HowDo tutorial for it. It's a lot more fun to click pics and record instructions by talking rather than typing it all out. I'm sure you'll have more fun watching the clip than reading the recipe.

I'll list out the ingredients for your benefit though.

For the cake:
150 gms hazelnuts
3/4 C cocoa powder
1 C whole wheat flour
3/4 C brown sugar
2 T flax seed powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 C water

For the cream:
100 gms hazelnuts
1 T cocoa powder
2-3 T sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 C water

Procedure:

Enjoy! :)