Rice Mylk Majjige - Spicy South Indian Buttermylk for Virtual Vegan Potluck 3.0

It's Virtual Vegan Potluck time once again! Wheee.

If you have been following the VVP blog route, you have arrived here from Veggie4ayear. You can click on the "Go Back" button below to go back to her VVP blog post which is the first in the Beverages category.



I took part in the VVP for the first time last November. I made Hot Spiced Chai with Cashew/Sesame Mylk which was voted as the Award Winning Recipe in the Beverage Course and got featured on the VVP blog last month. I even got a cool VVP Tee. :)

This VVP, I'm back with another Beverage offering, complete with a step-by-step HowDo tutorial. Spicy South Indian Buttermylk made of Rice Mylk.



Buttermilk/Moor/Majjige is a quintessential South Indian beverage. It's made out of yoghurt that's been blended with water, flavoured with lime and spices and seasoned. As I mentioned in my Peanut Curds post, the first thing a South Indian does when they turn vegan is to look for a vegan yoghurt alternative to make Curd Rice. More often than not, vegan Buttermylk is the very next thing curds get turned into.

Cold Majjige is one of the most delicious things to sip on a hot summer's day. It's spicy and soothing all at the same time. It is chock full of beneficial bacteria which are extremely soothing for your tummy and help to beat the ushna (body heat) that is generated because of all the mangoes you've been indulging in during the summer months. :)

I really like the gingery, mustard-y goodness, but it can also be prepared in a more simple and non-spicy way by just blending the curds with water, ice (optional), salt and lime. It's pretty tasty that way too.

You can start with any packaged or home made plant based yoghurt - soy, peanut, cashew, oat, rice... It just has to be absolutely plain - unflavoured and unsweetened. I've made this one with Rice Mylk that I turned into curds by adding a few cups of rejuvelac and letting it ferment overnight. Since Rice Mylk is already watery to begin with, I feel it suits the Buttermylk recipe well. And the starch in the rice makes the end result extra soothing.

Now on to the step-by-step How-Do recipe for Rice Mylk Majjige. Enjoy! :)

To continue on the VVP path, you can click on the "goforward" button below to be taken to Gazing In's VVP post, which is also a Beverage.

Or if you want to go to the beginning of the whole list of 169(!!!) blogs which are participating this time in the Virtual Vegan Potluck, you can find them on the host site Vegan Bloggers Unite.

Thank you Annie, Somer, Lidia, Jason and everyone else behind VVP for making this awesome event possible! :)

The Great Vegan Fix - cooking demo and lunch event at Soul Kadhi, Bangalore on Sat, 18th May 2013

My Hazelnut Chocolate Cake blog post in March was full of updates about all the awesome things happening in my vegan life. One of the things I'd mentioned was an upcoming vegan cooking demo at a local restaurant. I'd promised to tell you more about it as soon as all the details fell into place. They finally have and here's the story...

It had been a long and pleasantly tiring day. We were all winding down at the end of the first VGF, basking in the overwhelming success and fretting about how we hadn't gotten our hands on certain sinful delicacies which had sold out way too fast. That was when Aditi Shankar walked in and asked for me. She told me she had found me through my blog and wanted to speak to me about another vegan event which involved promoting vegan food.

I thought she meant an event like VGF, a fair of sorts, and having just finished one after weeks of planning and preparing, I didn't have the capacity to start thinking of another one right away. So Aditi and I decided to connect on Facebook the following week and I promised her I'd be happy to discuss further with her then.

As it turned out, this event happened to be a vegan cooking demo and lunch at a restaurant called Soul Kadhi. The concept is similar to the demo-lunches I helped organise at Vivanta by Taj last year, but with one significant difference, it's all about promoting Indian vegan food.



Soul Kadhi is a North Indian cuisine restaurant located on a cozy street just off Richmond Road, in the heart of Bangalore. It is owned and operated by Nirmala Balakrishnan, who also runs two other eateries on the same premises. Though it is not a completely vegetarian joint, they do serve a variety of vegetarian dishes. Unlike typical North Indian restaurants, they don't overly douse their food with fats and oils. Instead, they strive to serve good, simple, comfort food with a homemade feel. In fact, Nirmala says that ever since she opened the restaurant, she's not felt the need to cook at home. Her whole family eats the food served at the restaurant. :)

Now Nirmala wants to introduce vegan and veganisable options into the menu and that is where I come in. I met with Aditi and Nirmala in March and we came up with some interesting ideas for the event menu. When asked why Soul Kadhi wants to have this vegan event, Nirmala said, "Vegan food has become this trendy/fashionable concept and it is a general impression that to be vegan, one must eat fancy dishes with exotic ingredients. But what people don't realise is that in India, we just happen to eat vegan food at home on a daily basis. So the idea here is to show people that not only are they already eating vegan food as a part of their regular diet, they can also veganise everyday foods which might contain animal derived ingredients."

Everyday staples like rice, roti, dal, sambar, idli, dosa, etc... are already vegan by default. Most vegans already know how easy it is it be a vegan in India and how it takes barely any changes in day to day cooking/eating for a person to follow a cruelty-free diet. But I was *really* happy to hear a non vegan person understanding and explaining all this. It truly does show that veganism has come a long way in India and is growing each day.

We fixed an appointment for a cooking/tasting session in early April. I first spent some time in the Soul Kadhi kitchen, teaching Chef Ajay and his staff how to make basic dairy better-natives like peanut mylk/curds, cashew mylk/cream. The next day, we worked together for a couple of hours to create the tamarind tofu tikka, malai kofta, kadhi pakora, gajar ka halwa and basundi.

Chef Ajay is really nice and down to earth. He was very open to learning about vegan food and since he's an experienced chef, I ended up picking up some valuable cooking pointers from him as well. It was such a pleasure working with him!

All of us had a scrumptious food tasting session that afternoon. :)

Tamarind Tofu Tikka


Cucumber Raita


Kadhi Pakora


Malai Kofta


Gajar Ka Halwa


Basundi


Everything was delicious but the kadhi was hands down the *best* dish! Nirmala exclaimed to the chef that this vegan kadhi made of peanut curds was even better than his regular kadhi (which is supposed to be really good to begin with). :)

Event details:

Location: Soul Kadhi, #3, Laurel Lane, Richmond Town, Bangalore - 560025
Date: Saturday, 18th May 2013
Time: 12 noon
Price: Rs. 500 per person (inclusive of taxes)

At 12 noon, I will give a short introduction to vegan food. Then the chefs and I will begin the cooking demo and show you how to make the dishes pictured above. It will take about an hour to hour and half.

This will be followed by a sit down lunch where all the demo-ed dishes will be served, along with steamed rice and tandoori rotis. The lunch is not limited to single portions.

Registrations for the event begin after 12th May. You can reach Nirmala at +91 96866 01021 and book your place.

You can additionally RSVP on the Facebook Event Page.

This will be a nice event for veteran vegans to spend a relaxing afternoon indulging in some delicious fare. It will be even more useful to new vegans who want to learn some interesting vegan recipes and those people who are considering a vegan lifestyle or are curious about what completely plant-based food tastes like.

I'd love to see some of my fellow Bangalore Vegans at Soul Kadhi on the 18th. More importantly, if you have friends or family members who you've been talking to about switching to a vegan diet, this is an excellent opportunity for you to make them experience vegan food at a restaurant first hand.

Depending on the response to this event, Soul Kadhi plans to organise more vegan cooking events in the future. They also intend to introduce these and other vegan dishes into their regular menu based on the feedback of the participants.

Looking forward to seeing you there! :)

Tofu Walnut Dumplings and Balsamic Vegetables in Quinoa

This is one of my totally made up recipes. :D I cooked it up for lunch on a very hungry afternoon and as all hunger powered experiments go, it turned out to be scrumptious.

I had spent the most part of my late morning visiting my fellow food bloggers' spaces, and the constant barrage of yummy looking vegan food photography had left me feeling famished.

I *had* to make something delicious and special that would hit the spot and it had to be quick! Really, really quick!

Thence arrived the fancy looking, fancy sounding, super easy to make Tofu Walnut Dumplings and Balsamic Vegetables in Quinoa! :)



For the Quinoa:

3/4 C Quinoa
2 C Water
Cherry Tomatoes

Wash the quinoa well under running water and drain.
Heat a heavy bottomed pan and toast the quinoa for a minute.
Add the water and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low and cover with a lid or plate leaving a slight gap for the steam to escape.
Cook for 15-20 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed and the quinoa is translucent and fluffy.
Turn off the heat and keep the pot aside.
Slice the cherry tomatoes into halves and add to the cooked quinoa.
Mix well, cover and keep aside.

For the Balsamic Vegetables:

150 gms Baby Corn
1 Capsicum
5-7 large cloves of Garlic
2 T Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp Liquid Jaggery (or any other sweetener)
1 tsp Soy Sauce

Slice the baby corn and capsicum any way you like.
Roughly crush the garlic.
Toss all ingredients together and keep aside for 10-15 minutes.
Bake or microwave for 10 minutes.

For the Tofu Walnut Dumplings:

500 gms Tofu (I used Silken but Firm might be even better)
1 C Greens (I used a local green called Chilkavare Soppu)
1/2 C Walnuts
1 T Corn Starch (Corn Flour)
1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
Freshly Crushed Pepper
Salt

Blanch the greens, drain, gently squeeze out the excess water and chop finely.
Break the walnuts roughly into little pieces.
Drain the tofu and gently squeeze out as much water as possible.
Place everything in a bowl and mix with your hand while mashing the tofu.
Shape into balls and place on a baking tray.
Bake or microwave for 8-10 minutes.
Then grill/broil for 5 minutes, until it's browned lightly.
Allow to cool slightly and gently remove from the pan with the help of a spatula or flat spoon.

How to Proceed:

Pour the balsamic veggies along with their liquids over the quinoa and mix well.
Add the tofu walnut dumplings and gently toss, ensuring that the dumplings stay intact.
Serve hot with freshly crushed pepper on top.
Enjoy! :)



Update: 23rd June 2013

The ingredients for this recipe can now be purchased in India in the form of a recipe box from Global Graynz.



Here are the links to purchase the three kinds of boxes for this recipe:

1. Rare Ingredients box
2. All Packaged Ingredients
3. All Ingredients Including Fresh/Perishable Ones (pictured below)

Veg Kheema - Guest post by dassana of veg recipes of india

I met dassana, today's special guest, on the blogosphere and when I visited her blog Veg Recipes of India for the first time, I was overcome by a drool attack over all her delicious Indian recipes and the beautiful, step by step photographs.

Her recipes are vegetarian and a lot of them are vegan. My favourite is the amritsari chole. I loved her idea of using black tea while cooking the chickpeas! Ever since I read that recipe, I've often popped tea bags into the pressure cooker while cooking all kinds of beans.

A unique aspect of dassana's writing style on her blog and Facebook page is that she types in lowercase all the time. It's sort of her style. Just thought I'd share that bit of information in case you were wondering why I hadn't capitalised the 'd' in dassana's name. It's because she writes it that way. :)

Now on to the delicious veg kheema recipe that dassana is sharing today.

Thank you for guest posting on Veganosaurus, dassana! :)

--

susmitha had asked me long time back to guest post for her. not that i had forgotten but life became busy and i was not able to write the guest post. so finally i mailed susmitha that i will be writing the post and here it is.

this recipe of veg kheema is basically lightly spiced minced veggies cooked indian style. kheema is the hindi word which means to mince. the veggies are minced/grated/finely chopped and then steamed with indian herbs and spices. veg kheema goes well with rotis and even bread. they can also be stuffed in burgers or buns with some raw tomato-cucumber slices along with lettuce and you have a healthy snack or brunch.

any vegetables of your choice can be used. the dish is mildy spiced, aromatic & too good to taste and healthy as well. the recipe is easy to make and does not take much of your time.

veg kheema recipe details below:

1 medium size carrot, grated or minced or chopped finely
7-8 mushrooms, chopped finely
7-8 cauliflower florets, grated or minced or chopped finely
7-8 french beans, chopped finely
1/2 cup green peas, boiled
2 medium size tomatoes, finely chopped
1 medium size onion, finely chopped
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1/2 inch ginger and 2-3 garlic - crushed finely in a mortar-pestle or made into a paste
1 black cardamom
1 inch cinnamon
1/2 tp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 cups water
1-2 tbsp sunflower oil
salt as required

heat oil in a pan.
add whole garam masala spices - black cardamom & cinnamon.
add chopped onion.
fry till light brown.
add the ginger garlic paste.
then add tomatoes and all the spice powders.
fry the whole mixture till the oil separates.
add all the veggies except boiled green peas.
add water and salt.
cover and cook till all veggies are cooked well.
the mixture should become dry and there should be no moisture.
now add the green peas and stir.
check the seasonings.
serve hot garnished with coriander leaves with some rotis, phulkas, naan or bread.

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! :)