Creamy Coconut Mocha Couscous Mousse

As many of you know, I really love tofu. I enjoy it in all kinds of forms - marinated and baked, grilled, scrambled, stir fried, seared...the possibilities are endless with this versatile ingredient.

Tofu was one of the first new (to me) foods that I started to experiment with in my early years of vegan cooking. Though I mainly enjoy it in flavourful, savoury dishes now, in those days, tofu usually got turned into some form of dessert. I have made puddings, mousses, ice creams and cake toppings with it. I have even tried (unsuccessfully) to make jamoon and rasgulla with tofu.



Today I've found other, sometimes better, alternatives for many of the desserts, but when it comes to vegan mousse, nothing comes close to tofu, and silken tofu at that. No other kind of tofu can match up to the creaminess and flavour of the silken kind. Believe me, I've tried with all the local tofus available and though I enjoy many, if not all, of them in other dishes, silken tofu is the only one which hits the spot with mousse.

In India, the only brand of silken tofu I've seen is Mori-Nu. Though I would not normally trust soy products that come from USA, this one I'm more than happy to use because it's clearly labelled as Non-GMO. Plus, they also claim that they don't use any preservatives so that's a bonus.

If it isn't Mori-Nu Silken Tofu, then the only other tofu I would prefer to use in my vegan mousse is tofu that I've made at home from scratch. But I haven't done that in a while now because it's a lot of work. :p



I personally truly enjoy eating good old dark chocolate mousse all by itself, but sometimes I make variations on it when I have visitors over. I mean, one can't keep serving the same dessert to guests over and over again no matter how much they love it. :D

This Coconut Mocha Couscous Mousse is delicious way to wind up a dinner party. It's fairly easy to make and it has a fancy look and texture to it because of the layers. When I've served it to my friends and family, it has definitely made an impression.



Coconut Mocha Couscous Mousse

For the Couscous Base Layer:
1/2 C Couscous
1 T Cocoa Powder
1-2 tsp Instant Coffee Powder
1/4 C Sugar (adjust quantity to taste)
1 T Coconut Oil
1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract or Seeds Scraped out from half a Vanilla Bean
Splash of Malibu or other Rum
Pinch of Salt

* Bring 1/2 C water to boil in a heavy bottomed pan.
* Add couscous, stir and turn off the heat.
* Cover and keep aside for 5 minutes.
* Add all other ingredients, except rum and vanilla extract, and 1/4 C of water.
* Stir continuously and heat for a few minutes until the water is absorbed.
* Take the pan off the stove, add rum and vanilla and mix well.
* Allow to cool to room temperature.
* Place in fridge.

For the Mousse Layer:
1 block Mori-Nu Silken Tofu
1/2 C Cashews
1 T Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Instant Coffee Powder
3 T Coconut Oil
1/4 C Sugar (adjust quantity to taste)
1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract or Seeds Scraped out from half a Vanilla Bean
Generous splash of Malibu or other Rum
Pinch of Salt

* Blend all the ingredients together.
* Add a little water and blend into a thick cream.
* Taste and adjust sugar and flavourings as desired.
* Whip for a few minutes.

To assemble:
* Place some of the mocha couscous in a few serving cups/glasses and press.
* Spoon mousse layer over the couscous.
* Chill in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
* Serve cold.
* Enjoy! :)

Notes:
* Malibu is the best rum to use in the mousse to enhance the coconut flavour but plain rum can be substituted.
* Alcohol can be skipped entirely but mousse tastes best with at least some amount of alcohol in it.
* The cocoa powder has to be of excellent quality.
* I like using Bru Gold instant coffee powder in my recipes but any other high quality, 100% pure, instant coffee powder can be used too.



If you live in India and would like to make this recipe at home, you can source the special ingredients easily by purchasing the Creamy Coconut Mocha Couscous Mousse Rare Ingredients Chef's Box that's been put together by Global Graynz.

Vegan Baking Demo at Carrots on Saturday, 20th July 2013

About ten days ago, I had a vegan baking demo at Carrots, The Healthy Kitchen and Store. I've mentioned Carrots, the first vegan restaurant in Bangalore, in my blog posts many times this year.



A few weeks ago, Krishna, the co-founder of Carrots, invited me to teach baking/cooking classes to his staff. Many people who follow my blog and facebook page have asked me to conduct vegan baking classes, so I figured that since I was going to teach some recipes to Chef Ram (Carrots' new Bakery Chef), we could extend that into an interesting demo event. We decided on a Monsoon Afternoon Chai and Baked Goodies theme.

About 11 people signed up to attend the event but we had a bunch of walk-ins and ended up with a total of 15 participants. A couple of them were my good friends who attended to support me but most others were people I met for the first time. I was very happy that I got to meet and speak with all these new, interesting people. It was also nice to hear that some of them have been following my blog and trying out the recipes here for a while now. :)

The event went well for the most part and despite certain imperfections, many participants said that they enjoyed the demo and would be trying out the recipes at home once I posted them here.

My darling hubby, Milesh, patiently recorded the demo. It has taken me some time to edit the videos. I wanted to do this last week but I was travelling. As soon as I got back this week, I started working on the videos so I could share them here along with the recipes. I've divided them into multiple parts for the purpose of organisation.

I apologize in advance for the annoying background noises in the videos. The screaming toddler, creaking buffet vessels, clanking cutlery, the buzz of customers and staff talking in the background - we hadn't anticipated any of these disturbances. The expectation was that the buffet would be closed and the crowd cleared out by 3:30 or so, leaving us with a fairly silent space to do the demo. The participants themselves were watching the demo with rapt attention and were NOT the ones responsible for the ruckus. :p

Now without further ado, let's move on to the recipes you've all been waiting for.

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Basic Vegan Chocolate Cake



Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 C Whole Wheat Flour or Maida
3 T Good Quality Cocoa
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder (or 1/2 tsp Baking Powder and 1/2 tsp Baking Soda)

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 to 1 C White or Brown Sugar
5 T Coconut or Olive Oil
1 T White or Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp Coffee Powder - or Vanilla/Orange/Almond/Mint Extracts
1 C Cool or Cold Water

* Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F.
* Lightly grease an 8 or 9 inch, round or square cake pan (no greasing required if using a non-stick pan).

* Sieve the dry ingredients together a few times.
* Whisk all the wet ingredients (except oil) together until at least half the sugar has dissolved.
* Add the oil and whisk some more.

* To make the cake batter, pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and quickly mix until there are no large lumps.
* Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and immediately pop it into the preheated oven.
* Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a few cracks have formed on the cake's surface.
* Cool completely in the pan.
* Slice and Serve.
* Enjoy! :)

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Whole Wheat Buns



For the yeast proofing:
1/2 C Warm Water
2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
2 T Sugar

Dry ingredients for the dough:
3-4 C Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 C Sugar - can be less
2 tsp Salt
2 T Flax Seed Powder

Wet ingredients for the dough:
1 C Vegan Mylk or Water
3 T Coconut Oil or Olive Oil

* Add 2 T sugar and yeast to 1/2 C warm water.
* Stir and keep aside for 10-15 minutes, until the yeast has dissolved and is frothing a bit.

* Mix 3 C of the whole wheat flour with the remaining dry ingredients in a large bowl.
* Add the oil and mix.
* Add the yeast mixture and 1 C vegan mylk or water and whisk.

* Gradually add whole wheat flour and mix until the dough comes together into a rough ball.
* Transfer to a floured surface and knead very well until you get a soft, elastic ball of dough.
* Pour some oil in the large mixing bowl, place the ball of dough in it and twirl to coat with oil.
* Cover and allow to rise in a warm spot for 2 hours, until doubled in volume.

* Press down on the risen dough and shape into buns.
* Optionally stuff the buns with your favourite vegetable mixture (a potato palya filling tastes yum).
* Place the buns on a tray, cover and keep aside for 1 hour, until the buns have risen well.

* Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F.
* Bake the buns for about 40 minutes.
* Cool in the tray for 10 minutes.
* Transfer to cooling rack and cool well.
* Enjoy! :)

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Quick and Easy, Gluten Free Almond Coconut Cookies



1 C Almond-Sesame Flour (grind almonds and sesame seeds in a ratio of 3:1 to get this flour)
1 C Desiccated Coconut Powder
1/2 C Bajra (Pearl Millet) Flour
1/2 C Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
Water

* Preheat oven to 250°C / 480°F.
* Lightly grease a baking tray or line it with aluminium foil.

* Mix all the dry ingredients.
* Add a little water at a time to form a stiff dough.
* Pinch off small balls of the dough and flatten into 1 1/2 inch cookies that are about 1/4 inch thick.

* Bake for 10 minutes.
* Allow to cool slightly and transfer to wire rack.
* You can have it warm or at room temperature.
* Enjoy! :)

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Vegan Mylk and Masala Chai



For the Nut and Seed Mylk:
1/4 C Cashews
1/4 C Sesame Seeds
1/4 C Flax Seeds
Water

* Grind the nuts and seeds together into a fine powder.
* Add a little water at a time and blend to get a smooth, creamy paste.
* Add more water and blend until you reach the desired consistency.

For the Masala Chai:
3/4 C Water
3 Cloves
1 Cardamom Pod
1/2 inch Cinnamon Stick
1/2 inch Fresh Ginger - crushed
5 Black Pepper Corns - crushed
1/2 to 1 tsp Sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp Tea Powder
1/2 to 3/4 C Nut and Seed Mylk (should not be too thick)

* Boil the spices in the water for a couple of minutes.
* Add sugar at this point and boil.
* Add the tea powder and boil for a few seconds.
* Reduce the heat to low, quickly pour in the mylk and stir.
* Bring to a short boil and turn off the heat.
* Strain and serve hot.
* Enjoy! :)

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If you attended the demo, I'd love to hear your thoughts about how you liked it and how we can make future events a better experience for you.

Thanks for reading and watching all the videos. When you try out the recipes, do leave a comment here letting me know how you like them. :)

Happy Morning Banana Mocha Smoothie

Monday morning zombiness? Treat yourself to a large mug full of Happy Morning Banana Mocha Smoothie and zip through your week like a boss! :D



I'm probably going to be hated for saying this, but Monday mornings aren't such a big deal to me. :p Considering I work for myself, on my own schedule, I sometimes like to extend my weekend until late afternoon on Mondays. But, this means my Fridays are very packed. I want to finish off all pending work and household chores from the week so that I am mentally free during the weekends.

This last Saturday was a busy one for me. I had a baking event at Carrots where I demonstrated how to make vegan brownies, cookies, bread and tea. I'll be posting the event video and recipes next week. So Friday was an especially busy day for me because I had a lot to get done. I made this awesome smoothie for myself on Friday morning and it really helped me buzz about my day's work super smoothly. :D

I figured, Monday would be a great day to share this recipe with all of you. Here's a step by step tutorial:

 

Couscous Stuffed Tomatoes with Sriracha Grilled Tofu and Green Olives

I have a deep seated love for stuffed foods - momo, ravioli, paratha, masala dosa, grilled sandwich, rice paper wraps...I really enjoy making and eating these dishes. But what I love most of all are stuffed vegetables! There's something so delicious about a fat, healthy, outer vegetable layer bursting with a variety of textures and flavours on the inside when you bite into it.



Potatoes, tomatoes, capsicums (peppers), zucchinis, brinjals (aubergines) and ladies fingers (okra) are the most commonly stuffed vegetables. But one can always get creative and stuff all kinds of other local vegetables too. What are your favourite veggies to stuff?

This recipe was inspired by a bunch of cute, little, local, naati tomatoes that I got my hands on. It was almost as if they came with labels that said, "STUFF ME" in big, bold letters. hehe





This is yet another recipe that I created for Global Graynz who in turn gathered all the required ingredients and turned them into beautiful packages. If you live in India and would like to make this recipe at home, then visit the links below to source the ingredients super easily by purchasing any of these Chef's Boxes. There are three kinds:

1. Rare/Exotic Ingredients (home delivery to anywhere in India)
2. All Packaged Ingredients (home delivery to anywhere in India)
3. All Ingredients Including Fresh/Perishable Ones (available in Chennai only)




Couscous Stuffed Tomatoes with Sriracha Grilled Tofu and Green Olives

For the Tofu:
3/4 Block Mori-Nu Silken Tofu
Sriracha Sauce
Oil for greasing
12 Green Olives (pitted)

Drain the tofu and gently pat it dry with a clean cloth or tissue.
Slice into cubes.
Lightly grease a non-stick baking tray and arrange the tofu cubes in a single layer.
Drizzle Sriracha sauce over the tofu.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200°C for 15 minutes.
Increase the heat to 250°C and grill for 10 minutes.
Allow to cool slightly.
Skewer the tofu and olives on toothpicks and keep aside.

For the Stuffed Tomatoes:
12 Small, Firm Tomatoes
1/2 C Couscous
1/4 Block Mori-Nu Silken Tofu
10 Cloves of Garlic
1 Small Onion - I used White Onion
1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/4 tsp Chilli Powder
12 Capers (optional) - can be replaced with sliced green olives
1 T Oil - I used Coconut Oil
Salt

Bring 3/4 C of lightly salted water to a boil.
Stir in the couscous and turn off the heat.
Cover and keep aside.

Cut the tops off the tomatoes.
Using a small spoon, very carefully scoop out the insides of the tomatoes and keep aside.
Roughly crush the garlic.
Finely chop the onion.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the coconut oil.
Add the crushed garlic and onion and stir fry until they have softened.
Crumble the tofu over this and stir for a minute.
Add the scooped out insides of the tomatoes, cinnamon powder, chilli powder and salt and mix well.
Cover and allow to simmer on low heat for a few minutes.
Add the cooked couscous and mix well.
Turn off the heat and allow to cool for a short while.

Now generously stuff the couscous mixture into the hollowed out tomatoes.
Optionally, press a caper or a slice of olive on top.
Place the tomatoes in a single layer on a greased, non-stick baking tray and grill at 250°C for 10 minutes.

Serve hot along with the skewered tofu and olives.
Enjoy! :)

Krya Sustainable Goodies Vegan Challenge and Giveaway

After hearing a lot of praises about it, we started using the Krya Natural Detergent Powder at the end of last year. I will only say two things about it: One, we should've switched to Krya earlier. Two, we're never going back to commercial, chemical clothes wash detergents again. Period.



Krya Natural Detergent Powder is made from certified, organic soapberries that have been sun ripened, dried and ground. It is designed to be used for washing clothes by hand as well as in front and top loading washing machines.

A pack of 400g costs ₹290 (inclusive of shipping to anywhere in India). This might seem expensive at first when you look at it in terms of weight. But just one tablespoon of the powder, that's about 10g, is enough for a single 5kg wash load (as compared to the 60g per wash load recommended by commercial detergent brands). At an average of ₹7.50 per wash, the price is definitely comparable to any chemical filled washing powder. And in terms of value, the Krya natural powder kicks any commercial detergent's butt any day!

Krya's parents are Preethi and Srinivas. They are focussed on creating natural products that are good for us and the environment. Of course they are vegan, and so are the goodies they create. Sustainability is incorporated in every step - creation, packaging and shipping. Read the Krya story to understand the wonderful principles behind their business. Also follow their Facebook Page to get lots of useful information on natural home products.

After three years of specialising in their Natural Detergent, they have now launched their second product - Krya Natural Dishwash Powder. This dish wash is made on the same principles as the detergent. It consists of certified organic ingredients - soapberries, neem, zedoary and lemongrass essential oil.



I was lucky to be one of the pre-launch testers for this product and I shared some with my mom too. Mom, me and Sharadamma (lady who washes the dishes at mom's place) were all very impressed with the results! The dishwash powder does an excellent job on glass, ceramic, silver, plastic and steel. I am particularly impressed with the way glass sparkles after being washed with the Krya Dishwash without any water marks on it.

Though the dishwash powder is designed to work for manual washing of vessels, I tested it out in my dishwasher too and am happy with the results. But I'm inclined to using it more for hand washing vessels because I enjoy the powder's fragrance. :)

I also used some of the powder to mop the floors at our home as an experiment and am super thrilled with how clean the finish is!

The Krya Natural Dishwash Powder is priced at ₹190 for a pack of 350g. A little powder goes a long way!

Now that the introductions are over, let's move on to our Challenge and Giveaway.



To celebrate the launch of their new product, Krya is giving away a few prizes on Veganosaurus. We have two different challenges with a total of five winners. The first challenge is for vegans and the second is for people who are not vegan. Every winner will get of one box each of the Krya Detergent and the Krya Dishwash.

This giveaway is open only to people living in India (apologies to my overseas peeps).

Challenge for vegans (two winners):

* Prepare any recipe from this blog
* Share a photograph of it on the Veganosaurus Facebook Page or email it to shop at veganosaurus dot com
* Also tell us why you feel you should win this prize
* Last date for submission is Sunday, 5th August 2013 (was originally 28th July but has now been extended)
* All photos will then be posted here on the blog for public voting
* The two people whose photos have the most votes will win the goodies :)

Challenge for non-vegans (three winners):

* Have one completely vegan meal - breakfast or lunch or dinner
* Click a photo of your meal and post it with a description on the Veganosaurus Facebook Page or email it to shop at veganosaurus dot com
* The description should have all the following information:
a) What did you eat?
b) How did you feel about eating a completely vegan meal?
c) Did you miss anything about going vegan?
* Last date for submission is Sunday, 5th August 2013 (was originally 28th July but has now been extended)
* All entries will then be posted here on the blog for public voting
* The three people whose entries have the most votes will win the goodies :)

Looking forward to all your submissions.
Enjoy! :)