Peanut/Groundnut Mylk Curds/Yogurt Tutorial

Many new and potential vegans, especially in India, often ask about a plant based replacement for yogurt. Vegan curds can be made with a wide variety of plant mylks - soy, cashew, rice, coconut, almond, oat, peanut/groundnut... Each kind of yogurt has its own consistency and delicious flavour. And all of them have a longer shelf life than the curds made out of animal fluids.

My favourite of the lot, peanut curds, also happens to be the most popular vegan yogurt among vegans and non-vegans alike. Even my traditional, vegetarian grandmothers really enjoy the soothing, creamy taste and texture it offers.



Peanut curds is really versatile. It can be enjoyed straight by the spoonfuls or in the form or good old South Indian curd rice. It can be turned into majjige (buttermilk) or lassi or added into yogurt based dishes like avial, majjige huli, kadhi, raita, etc...

One of the most visited posts on my blog is Creamy Peanut Milk Curds/Yogurt. I wrote that post when I had newly learnt how to make yogurt out of groundnuts.

Today I created a video demonstrating the process step by step so that it'll be easier for everyone to understand.

Watch the clip, if you have any questions, post them as a comment here and I'll reply as soon as possible.

Enjoy! :)

Peanut Mylk Yogurt/Curds.

A few pointers (I've mentioned most of these in my older blog post too):

- You can optionally strain the cooked peanut mylk before turning it into curds. But I prefer to leave the pulp in there.

- I have said "green chilli crowns" as one of the starters but the crowns of any variety of chilli can be used.

- After making the first batch of curds using any of the starters I mentioned on the HowDo, start saving a spoonful of yogurt from each batch you make to use as a starter for the next batch. The flavour of the curds gets better and better with each generation of the lactobacilli.

- Peanut curds sets well in 8-12 hours (depending on the climate) but let it sit out at room temperature for up to 24 hours if you want it to sour well.

- The yogurt will stay fine in the fridge for 10-15 days at least. I think it might last longer but we usually finish up even our largest batches within two weeks. It's that yum! :)

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! :)