Vegan MoFo Day 16 - MoFo Mondays - Cheddar stuffed black bean burgers and Sindhi bhindi masala

Yesterday was the half way mark of Vegan MoFo, it was also the first day I have missed a post! Weekends are generally pretty hectic around here and as the one that just passed was busier than most, I couldn't find time to sit down and condense my growing bookmarks into a Summary Sundays post. 

This week for MoFo Mondays it was time to get stuck into some recipes from the last couple of weeks - first were Dawn from Veg-am's cheddar stuffed black bean burgers. As I'm not a big fan of commercial BBQ sauce and didn't have a homemade one on hand I switched it up and used Frank's Red Hot sauce to give the burgers a buffalo flavour. This change worked well for me and the other minor things I did differently was to use cheezly mozzarella in the burgers (as it was the only melting type of cheese I had in the fridge) and a little bit of rice flour when the burger mixture wasn't quite holding together. I was quite excited to discover that asparagus had come into season so the burgers were served with oven baked potato wedges and asparagus. These burgers had a great texture and I loved the buffalo flavouring but regretted not stuffing a larger quantity of cheezly into the centres. 

We have been right into okra curries lately and I've made a handful of different recipes over the past couple of months without being able to find a favourite. When I saw River from Wing It Vegan post about a gorgeous looking sindhi bhindi masala I simply had to give it a try. The recipe is posted at The Lotus and the Artichoke and includes a few handy tips about how the curry can be customised. This was just the sort of recipe I needed, after tinkering with it slightly it turned out to be the okra curry I've been searching for. The gravy was richer than the other recipes I've made and the spices packed a decent punch. I'll definitely be making this one every now and then to have on our regular curry nights.   

If you read last Monday's post which talked about a corned beef seitan you may recall that the seitan wasn't quite what I was searching for. More than half of the seitan was remaining as well as heaps of sauerkraut so I combined them with a cheesy sauce into a oven bake I named Reubenesque casserole. We enjoyed the seitan in this casserole more than we had in sandwiches and this casserole kept us going for a few meals. 

Vegan MoFo Day 9 - MoFo Mondays - Corned beef seitan and Pudla

Last Monday saw me rummaging through my Vegan MoFo bookmarks from 2011. This week for MoFo Mondays, I'm focussing on a couple of bookmarked recipes from Vegan MoFo 2012.

First up is corned beef seitan from Inspired Eats. This is the second time I've made a corned beef seitan and both times the recipes haven't been exactly what I'm searching for. The corned beef I used to eat in my youth was quite salty with a slight amount of clove flavouring which used to be accompanied with roast vegetables or mashed potatoes. This recipe and the one I tried previously have been a bit too heavy on cinnamon and allspice and not seasoned enough to please my salt tooth.

Having said that the seitan did work really well in a reuben styled sandwich (on white bread rather than rye) loaded with sauerkraut and the homemade mustard from The Vegan Ronin I posted about last Monday. Something I really liked about this recipe was how the thinly sliced pieces of seitan were cooked in a broth containing beetroot powder to give them a pinkish colour.

Kittee Bee Berns from Cake Maker to the Stars had me drooling over her Indian pancakes called pudla during Vegan MoFo last year. I'm kicking myself that it took me so long to get around to making these as it's such a quick, easy and tasty recipe which is adaptable to the vegetables you have on hand. 

These savoury pancakes are based on chickpea flour and have a few spices added to the batter. I gave the pudla a little extra heat by adding a chopped red chilli in with my chosen vegetables - shredded baby spinach, grated carrot, finely chopped mushroom, tomato and sliced spring onions. They are perfect for a weekend brunch and will be a regular around here as the man and I loved them. Next time I'll try to get my act together and serve them with a homemade cilantro chutney rather than the store bought mango chutney we had them with on this occasion.

Now that I've gone through a few Vegan MoFo bookmarks from the past couple of years I'm looking forward to getting stuck into some inspirational recipes from 2013!

Vegan MoFo Day 3 - Tempeh Tuesdays - Tempeh Matar

Out of all the daily themes I've selected, Tempeh Tuesdays is the one that has filled me with the most concern. I've cooked way more mediocre tempeh meals that successful ones - as a result this has made me rather unadventurous with it. The prospect of cooking and eating four unappetising tempeh based meals in the space of a month has been weighing heavily on my mind but thanks to the success of this first effort for Vegan MoFo, I'm feeling more optimistic.

To kick off this theme I tried to play it as safely as I possibly could, combining the tempeh preparation method in my favourite lasagne recipe with a recipe we used to love back in our omnivorous days - kheema matar. Kheema matar is a dry Indian curry traditionally made with minced lamb meat and peas. I posted about it during my first vegan MoFo using a faux mince meat recipe courtesy of Diet, Dessert and Dogs made from cauliflower and nuts. This is a fantastic recipe but the downside is that it needs to be prepared in advance so I was hoping that tempeh would also work well in this recipe.

For the initial preparation of the tempeh I used the same technique that is used in this tempeh lasagne - frying the minced tempeh in oil until browned and then pouring soy sauce over the tempeh in order for it to absorb the salty flavours. The rest of the recipe was made in a fairly similar fashion to the meaty version in my favourite non-vegan cookbook The Food of India, although some of the cooking durations in the later stages were shortened a little as the minced tempeh began to clump together a little.

The man doesn't have the same issues with tempeh that I do, in fact he is quite the fan, so it wasn't surprising that he loved this version of kheema matar. The tempeh matar was served with cauliflower tikka masala - a recent addition to our rotation of curry dishes which was also veganised from The Food of India. This tempeh dish won't take the top spot away from my favourite lasagne but I'm happy to say that it is something I'll be repeating again!

Tempeh Matar (Adapted from The Food of India)

1 onion, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

2cm piece ginger, roughly chopped

1 large green chilli, roughly chopped

1 medium tomato

2 tablespoons olive oil (divided)

300g tempeh, minced

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon soy yoghurt
½ cup water

1 cup frozen peas

Pinch of garam masala

2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves

Place the onion, garlic, ginger, green chilli and tomato in a blender or food processor and blend until it becomes a smooth paste. 

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a deep sided frying pan over medium-high and cook the minced tempeh for 15 minutes until browned, stirring every couple of minutes. Pour the soy sauce over the tempeh, stir well to combine and cook until the liquid has been absorbed. Transfer the tempeh to a bowl.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the same pan and pour in the contents of the blender. Allow to cook for 5 minutes over medium meat, stirring occasionally. Add the coriander, cumin, turmeric and salt and stir through for a minute. Add the tempeh back to the pan along with the yoghurt and water and stir to combine thoroughly. Cover and allow to simmer on low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally - if it looks too dry and is sticking to the pan, add some additional water.

Add the peas and garam masala and cook for a further 5 minutes. Stir through the coriander leaves and serve.

Tikka Masala - two ways

Sometimes it can be worthwhile delaying a post. Earlier this year I began tinkering with a tikka masala recipe from one of my favourite omnivorous cookbooks – The Food of India. My original efforts used tofu in place of chicken which is the usually the main ingredient in this type of curry. An equally delicious version using cauliflower found it's way onto our plates several months later. Due to the tardiness of this post I am now able to provide you with two versions of this curry we have enjoyed many times and will continue to remain on our rotation of curry dishes.

The tofu for the tikka masala was prepared three different ways before deciding I preferred the latter method most. I followed a part of the original recipe too closely on my first two attempts, by threading the marinated tofu cubes onto skewers and frying them in a grill pan or broiling them in the top rack of my oven. Using skewers added more time to the dish without any benefit so my final method simply baked the marinated tofu cubes in the oven.

The beetroot powder in the marinade is not essential to the flavour of the curry, it's purely there to impart a colour similar to tandoori. I wasn't able to ascertain the ingredients of a tandoori colouring I bought many years ago from an Indian grocer so it went into the bin in case it contained cochineal. Experimenting with beetroot powder was initially a learning curve - it took a while for me to work out that the colour turned out less brilliant the longer the tofu or cauliflower was left to marinate.

Tofu tikka masala became a frequent request which I usually serve alongside a vegetable curry. The cauliflower alternative was instigated as I wanted to eat tikka masala with dal but felt we didn't really need another high protein dish on our plates and I always enjoy a good vegetable curry. Cauliflower seemed like a perfect vegetable to put to the tikka masala test as it is so lovely when roasted. And it most definitely passed the test!

Tikka masala is usually a mild creamy curry although the original version in The Food of India is very spicy like most of the recipes in this cookbook. I have lowered the spice quantities a little and would rate my version as a medium spicy dish. The creaminess is achieved by blending cashews with water into a thin liquid which tends to thicken when it is added to the curry sauce.

These days I am smitten with cauliflower tikka masala and rarely make the tofu version any more – not because I don't enjoy tofu tikka masala, merely as I love a combination of dal with a vegetable curry so much more.

Cauliflower or Tofu Tikka Masala (Adapted from The Food of India)

Marinade

1 medium head cauliflower, cut into bite sized florets OR 500g firm tofu, drained, pressed and cut into 2cm cubes
1½ teaspoons paprika
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon beetroot powder (optional)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 cloves garlic
5 cm piece ginger
½ cup coriander leaves
½ cup soy yoghurt
½ teaspoon sea salt

Curry sauce

½ cup cashews, soaked in water for a couple of hours, then drained and rinsed well
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
2 cardamom pods
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 x 400g tin crushed tomatoes
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon brown sugar
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon coriander leaves, chopped for garnish

Place the paprika, cayenne pepper, garam masala, beetroot powder, lemon juice, garlic, ginger, coriander, soy yoghurt and salt in a blender or food processor and blend until it becomes a smooth paste, scraping down the sides a few times as necessary. Spread the cauliflower florets or tofu cubes in a single layer in a baking dish, pour over the marinade and mix thoroughly. Allow cauliflower to marinate for 30 minutes or the tofu for an hour or two.

Preheat oven to 200C. Bake cauliflower for 30 minutes or tofu for 40 minutes flipping the pieces over at the halfway mark.

Blend cashews and water until it becomes a smooth watery consistency.

Heat oil in a large deep sided pan over medium heat. Add the cardamom pods and onion and cook until the onions are soft and starting to brown. Stir through the garlic for a minute, then add the tinned tomatoes and cook for a few minutes until slightly thickened. Stir through the ground cinnamon, cayenne pepper, brown sugar and garam masala for a minute then pour in the thin cashew cream. Combine throughly then add the cooked caulifower florets or tofu cubes and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove the cardamom pods before serving if you can find them! Serve garnished with chopped coriander leaves.

In my kitchen - July 2013

Busy periods with work and home life over recent months has not provided me with as much time to post about what I've been cooking as I would like. Writing an "In my kitchen" post gives me the opportunity to skim over a few items that otherwise would have passed by. Thanks again to Celia at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial for hosting this monthly event.

In my kitchen are Coco Luscious blueberry and choc chip cookie dough flavoured coconut ice-creams. I purchased a plain flavoured tub for the man a couple of months ago - he adored it so much that he volunteered to come to the health food store with me just so he could check out the other flavours! They are incredibly expensive so I'm glad he is eating them in moderation but I'm also happy that he has found a product to satisfy his ice-cream cravings. I wasn't a fan of the plain flavour as I'm not fond of big coconut flavours and found it was too strong for my taste. The blueberry flavour is nicer but I'm leaving these products for the man to enjoy as I've always preferred fruit flavoured sorbets over ice-creams.

In my kitchen was a Red and White Cauliflower bake. Years ago I used to make this recipe from Vegan Yum Yum on a semi-regular basis before tiring of it. I had separate requests from the man and young man within the space of a few hours to make this – funnily enough it was my okara loaf that reminded them both of this dish (I couldn't make the connection at all). The cauliflower bake was always a favourite meal of theirs so I had to come through with the goods. The base is made of a herb infused tofu "ricotta", the centre layer contains steamed cauliflower tossed through a cheezy sauce and a napoli sauce topped with breadcrumbs completes the dish.

In my kitchen is home brewed beer. We attempted to brew our own beer many years ago and it was a miserable failure. Some of the man's work colleagues are keen beer brewers so their know-how and tips convinced him to give it another shot. This project mainly takes place in the laundry although the kitchen is also used for boiling heaps of water, preparing brewers yeast and sterilising bottles. I'm happy to say that these recent efforts have been worth it!

In my kitchen is Frank's Red Hot Sauce. I nearly fell over last weekend when I spotted this new addition to the condiments section at my local Woolworths as I've seen so many buffalo tofu and seitan recipes on US blogs that use this sauce as one of the main ingredients. I'm looking forward to playing around with this spicy sauce very soon.

In my kitchen is some kale from the garden. The plants look like they have so much to offer but after I cut so much off them I'm always disappointed with how the kale cooks down into such a tiny amount. Perhaps I'll add some into a stew or curry next time instead of cooking it separately as a side dish. Kale chips are another option I'm considering...

In my kitchen are lots of Indian curries! I'm always in the mood for curries and have been making them very regularly lately. Cold weather is perfect for eating spicy curries so I've been enjoying trying out different recipes on a weekly basis. The new recipes aren't always as successful as the ones I love and often revisit but every now and then I come across one that's a keeper. This week featured toor dal saag and aloo pooriyal, both were nice enough but didn't quite meet the high standards we have for curry recipes.

What’s been happening in your kitchen lately?

Punjab cafe

Last Friday evening I crossed a couple of items off my to-do list in one hit - eating dosa for the first time and purchasing vegan takeaway food from my local suburb. I've been hankering to try dosas ever since reading about them on blogs and have considered attempting to make my own yet I thought it would be a good idea to try the real deal first.

We have lived in Clayton for almost 10 years and haven’t purchased takeaway food or dined at local restaurants for the past three years. Our more recent eating out experiences usually involve travelling to another suburb to eat at a restaurant we know has a variety of good vegan options. Clayton is home to several Indian restaurants as well as Chinese, Malaysian, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian and Japanese. In the midst of searching for the closest place to buy dosa, I was delighted to discover that Punjab cafe, one of our local Indian eateries, listed a variety of dosas on their menu. The man wasn't entirely keen on the sound of them and it took a couple of weeks of not-so-subtle hints for him to come around to the idea.

Punjab cafe is reminiscent of the other Indian eateries around Clayton, the decor is cheap and minimal, the clientele is mainly of Indian origin and the food is fairly inexpensive. After speaking with the waiter and chef to inform them of our dietary requirements we ordered a couple of masala dosas ($7.50 each), bindhi masala (okra curry - $7.50) and garlic naan ($2 each). I've been under the impression that naan dough usually contains yoghurt (as most recipes I've seen include it) but we were assured that there would be no yoghurt or other dairy products in the naan and that it could be topped with vegetable oil and garlic.

The man succumbed to the gorgeous aroma of garlic naan during our trip home, tearing off a few pieces to keep him satisfied until we could get stuck into the rest of the food. The masala dosa was as wonderful as I imagined it would be – a thin crispy pancake made with a fermented lentil and rice batter filled with spiced potatoes, accompanied by a tangy dal. I was expecting some chutneys to be included with our meal as I think they are usually served with dosas, perhaps they forgot to include them? The bindhi masalas I've eaten in the past have been served in a sauce/gravy so I was little surprised to find that this version was a dry curry. We ordered it to be hot and were pleased that it delivered on spiciness.

My first dosa experience was thoroughly enjoyable and has made me eager to try more dosas at other Indian restaurants for comparative purposes. I would also like have a go at making dosas at home although they will need to be a miniature versions as I don't own a frying pan large enough to make dosas bigger than our dinner plates!

Punjab cafe

143 Carinish Road, Clayton

9544 4218

Melbourne to Perth road trip

Hello dear readers, apologies once again for the lengthy break between posts. I’ve just returned from my longest holiday ever (as well as the biggest break I've had from full-time work) travelling around Western Australia. Previous vacations of around two weeks have always gone by too quickly so the man and I have been saving up our dollars and annual leave for a while so we could enjoy a month long holiday. After we adopted Ollie our travel plans developed into an Australian based road trip and dog friendly vacation as we didn’t feel it would be fair to leave our new family member in a boarding kennel for such a long period.

Map of our road trip including nightly stops

For those who are unfamiliar with where I live and/or with the geography of Australia, the distance from Melbourne in Victoria to Perth in Western Australia is approximately 3500 km by road. Most of the drive is through incredibly isolated terrain and includes crossing the Nullarbor Plain which runs across the Great Australian Bight. In the most remote areas, roadhouses (service stations selling fuel, snacks and souvenirs) are up to 200 km apart, often without a single residence in between.

A giant galah stands outside a shop in Kimba - "Half way across Australia"

Travelling from Melbourne to Perth with a dog meant that we were limited to camping along the way as the motel style accommodation at roadhouses don’t allow you to stay with pets. Knowing that it would be virtually impossible to find suitable food for us on the road trip, I planned ahead and prepared tofu bacon, chickpea eggs (adapted from Vegan Eats World) and delicious seitan pastrami from Vegan Diner. These items were kept cold in our Esky (Aussie brand of cooler/car fridge) along with dairy-free margarine, vegan cheeses, Fry’s chicken-style burgers, Linda McCartney sausages and salad items.

Cooking up breakfast on our little camping stove 

A portable pantry in the form of a large plastic tub accompanied us on our month long journey which was depleted and restocked several times. Its contents included tinned baked beans, kidney beans, chickpeas and tomatoes, olive oil, bread, rice, Vegemite (yeast extract), ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, Tapatio hot sauce, curry powder, cayenne pepper, mango chutney and snacks such as BBQ shapes, potato chips, nuts and dried fruit amongst other things.

Vegemite on toast (plus avocado for me) is what the man and I eat for breakfast on a regular basis and we continued this tradition throughout our travels. It was a challenge to perfect cooking toast over a naked flame on our gas cooking stove so we did have to suffice with the odd burnt section every so often. We enjoyed a big brekky on one occasion which was simply a matter of heating up precooked tofu bacon, chickpea eggs, baked beans and frying some tomatoes.

The spectacular Bunda cliffs 

Packing up campsites, driving long distances and setting up a new campsite at the end of each day meant that we didn’t have much time to stop and look at a lot of the sights along the way. Apart from roadhouse rests for fuel and toilets the only unscheduled stop I insisted on making was to one of the Bunda Cliffs lookouts close to the SA/WA border. This breathtaking spectacle of 120m high limestone cliffs above the crashing brilliant blue ocean was definitely worth a 10 minute break. Heaps of other photos on our 5 day trip across were taken from a moving vehicle which is not ideal although it did allow me to capture the ever changing landscapes along our hasty travels.

As we were spending somewhere between 7 to 10 hours on the road every day, a pre-made sandwich was usually on the lunch menu. Seitan pastrami, Vegusto vegan cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomato and cucumber with the man’s favourite combination of vegan mayonnaise, American mustard and hot sauce kept us satisfied until we crossed the border from South Australia into Western Australia. There are restrictions about bringing fresh fruit and vegetables into Western Australia which meant that we had to ditch our remaining salad items, scoff down the last of our fresh fruit and rely on packaged foods until we reached Kalgoorlie.

Whilst I’m on the topic of packaged foods, our saving grace over the month eventuated from a trip to a local Indian grocer just before our departure. I had been on the lookout for easy, nutritious meals and found some heat and eat curries on their shelves. There only appeared to be 3 vegan meals out of around 15 varieties of vegetable curries as most of the others contained butter or cream. If you do come across the Pattu range, the Baignan Bharta (eggplant curry), Bhindi Masala (okra curry) and Peas Pulav (basmati rice with green peas and cashews) are all vegan. I wasn’t convinced they would be the most authentic tasting meals or spicy enough for our tastes and planned to perk them up with additional spices but it didn't turn out to be necessary. These meals were such a pleasant surprise so we continued to try out other brands of Indian convenience foods from standard supermarkets during the rest our trip.

The sachets are placed into boiling water for 5 minutes or microwaved if you happen to have one handy. Even though some of the curries are rather oily, they aren't particularly high in calories and fat and are free of any preservatives and artificial colours and flavours. The Tasty Bite range are not as flavoursome as the Pattu curries but they are available at most large Australian supermarkets with the Indian foods and are clearly labelled as vegan or vegetarian meals. We particularly enjoyed Punjab Eggplant and Mumbai Mushrooms from the Tasty Bite range. Some nights we scooped the curries up with chappatis rather than bothering to serve them with rice.

Sunrise over wetlands at Port Wakefield

So that's pretty much how we ate whilst travelling remotely for 5 days. Burgers and a few other meals were consumed along the way which I didn't remember to take photos of. There will be more posts to follow about Perth eats and the rest of the food on our trip over the the next few weeks. For now I'll leave you with a recipe which the man fondly refers to as "eggies". I've been making this since testing Ethiopian But'echa (Fluffy scrambled chickpea eggs) for Terry Hope Romero's cookbook Vegan Eats World. My adaptation omits the chillies, includes some black salt and cuts down on a couple of steps and dishes.  

Sand dunes at Port Augusta with the Flinders Ranges in the background

Scrambled chickpea eggs aka. eggies (Adapted from Vegan Eats World)

1 cup besan/chickpea flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 2/3 cups warm water
3 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon black salt
¼ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
pepper, to taste

Cook the besan in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly for 2 minutes or until the flour darkens slightly and smells toasty. Transfer the besan to a bowl. Pour in the olive oil and fry the onions for about 5 minutes or until they soften. Transfer the onions to a plate or small bowl.

Pour the water, lemon juice, black salt and sea salt into the saucepan. Start adding the besan into the saucepan a few tablespoons at a time, whisking all the time. After all of the besan has been added, use a spatula and continue stirring until the mixture becomes very thick and begins to pull away from the sides. Fold through the onions, turn off the heat and allow it to cool down for 10 minutes.

Drag a fork through the mixture to break it up into small lumps resembling scrambled eggs. Season with additional salt if required and black pepper, to taste.

This may be eaten warm or cold and it can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least a week. Adding curry powder and mayonnaise at the end is on my to-do list to create curried "eggs" for sandwiches.

Spicy eggplant

My biggest problem when cooking for a crowd is that I get so caught up in cooking I often forget to take photos! It was almost the case this time as out of the three curries made, I only took a quick shot of one. Even though this isn't the greatest photo, I'm glad to have captured something otherwise I wouldn't have felt inspired to write about this dish.

Not much was changed from the original recipe, in fact the only alterations I made were to use lebanese eggplants in place of regular eggplant as well as reducing the amount of oil considerably. I was dubious about pieces of standard eggplant holding together after initial frying and then cooking in the curry sauce. Leaner shaped lebanese eggplants had an advantage as after they were cut, a strip of skin was present in every piece which made them more robust. The amount of oil in the recipe was listed as 310ml which seemed way more than necessary, particularly as we had fried pakoras on the menu. I cut this back to just under half by using what felt right and measuring along the way. A decent portion of oil was still used in the making of this dish as eggplants really do love to soak it up.

Even though this curry is called spicy eggplant, I didn't find it overwhelming spicy. Like most curries it developed a lot of flavour overnight and I enjoyed the leftovers that can be seen above even more. The other curries I made were my old favourite dal makhani which I hadn't made for the man's family before and Palak "paneer" from Holy Cow. The paneer substitute was made with marinated and fried tofu cubes, it's something I have tried before but not revisited for a while. All of the curries received many compliments yet I have a strong feeling that the pakoras were the stars of the night.

For dessert I made individual orange vanilla custard fruit tarts from Wrapped in Pastry which were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who tried them. I regret not taking a photo of them on the night as the custard had broken up a little by the next day. This photo taken days later will have to suffice.

Oh, one last thing! I have finally created a Twitter account and am in the process of getting that up and running. If you are on twitter, feel free to follow me and I'll return the favour.


Spicy eggplant (Adapted from The Food of India)

800g lebanese eggplant
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
400g tin diced tomatoes
10 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon kaloonji (nigella seeds)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon salt

Slice the eggplants lengthwise into halves or quarters depending on their size, then into pieces about 5cm long. Sprinkle the eggplant pieces with salt and allow to rest for 30 minutes in a colander. Rinse well with fresh water and pat dry with a clean tea towel.

Place the garlic, ginger and 1/3 of the tinned tomatoes in a blender and process until smooth.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a deep sided frying pan on medium heat and place as many slices of eggplant that will fit in a single layer. Cook until browned on both sides, then remove and place in a colander. Repeat until all of the eggplant is cooked. This took me 4 batches.

Heat the final 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan and add the fennel and kaloonji seeds.When the seeds begin to sizzle and smell fragrant, pour in the contents of the blender, then add the remainder of the tinned tomatoes, coriander, cayenne pepper, turmeric and salt. Stir frequently for 5 minutes, then add the eggplant pieces. Mix the eggplant through the sauce gently so the pieces don't fall apart. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Serve warm or refrigerate and serve it as a cold dish.

Raita for curry night

When the man and I were gobbling down gobi pakoras a couple of weeks ago, we decided it was time for us to host another curry night with his family. It was a great excuse to eat some more pakoras and spread their deliciousness around. This time I decided to experiment with some other vegetables and used some broccoli and sweet potato as well as cauliflower.

Terry's coriander chutney was perfect with the pakoras last time so I had to make it again. I also wanted to try a second dipping sauce this time, something cooler and not as spicy for people with lower heat preferences. After searching for vegan raita recipes, I settled on using a tofu based one from Vegetarian Times. It was very simple to put together and after an initial taste test I was concerned that there was still a slight taste of soy present so I added a bit of garlic just in case. I have found in the past that blended tofu sauces and dips develop more flavour after sitting in the fridge for a short period. The garlic may not have been entirely necessary in this recipe although no-one seemed to mind it either.

I made a small portion without cucumber as one of the dipping sauces for the pakoras and added cucumber to the remainder which was used as a cooling condiment on the dinner table to have with our curries. The pakoras were a huge success, particularly the broccoli and cauliflower ones even though the batter didn't work out quite as well as it had previously. Perhaps it wasn't a wise idea to mix it up too far in advance prior to using it.

Stay tuned for another post about our curry night soon!


Tofu raita with mint and cucumber (Adapted from Vegetarian Times)

224g silken tofu
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons brown rice vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
1 thai green chilli, seeded and minced
1/2 lebanese cucumber, diced
1 tablespoon fresh mint, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Place the tofu, olive oil, lemon juice, brown rice vinegar and salt in a blender and process until smooth. Transfer the contents to a bowl and stir through the garlic, chilli, cucumber, mint and cumin. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Gobi pakoras (Cauliflower pakoras)

Whilst I cook Indian meals on a fairly regular basis there are so many types of Indian foods I still haven't attempted to make at home. I generally rotate between vegetable based curries, several different dals, koftas and occasionally flatbreads. Apart from samosas and onion bhajis, Indian appetisers haven't really featured in my kitchen. Pakoras popped into my mind the other day when I was brainstorming something different to serve with my old favourite dal makhani. I have always enjoyed these spicy fried snacks in restaurants.    

After flicking through my cookbooks I couldn't settle on a recipe so I searched around the internet as well. The common theme was a 1:1 ratio of besan (chickpea flour) to water, bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice. The spices seemed to be the factor that gave these recipes their individuality. This research was quite interesting yet I still couldn't decide on a recipe. I ended up following one from an older cookbook of mine that has been a bit hit and miss at times and added a few extra spices I had liked the sound of in other recipes, kaloonji (nigella) seeds being one of them. 

This pakora batter could be used with a variety of vegetables, at the time I had an abundance of cauliflower and decide to use that solely. Coriander and tamarind chutneys as well as raitas were mentioned as being ideal condiments. I enjoyed testing a coriander chutney for Terry Hope Romero several months ago and whipped up a batch to have with these pakoras, this was a perfect match. The three of us couldn't quite make it through the quantity in this recipe as we also had dal to eat. It was difficult to show restraint as the pakoras were incredibly tasty. I highly recommend eating these on the night they are prepared, reheating the leftovers in the oven crisped them up a little yet they weren't as fantastic as they were fresh from the wok.

Gobi pakoras (Cauliflower pakoras)  (Adapted from The Essential Asian Cookbook) 

1/2 head cauliflower, cut into small florets

3/4 cup chickpea (besan) flour 

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon kalooni (nigella) seeds

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

3/4 cup water

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3/4 - 1 cup peanut oil, for frying 

Mix the chickpea flour, turmeric, garam masala, coriander, kaloonji, cayenne pepper, salt and bicarbonate of soda together in a large bowl. Pour in the water and lemon juice and whisk until a smooth batter forms.

Heat some oil in a wok or deep sided frying pan. Drop a tiny bit of the batter into the oil. If the oil bubbles around the batter it's ready for frying. Dredge the florets in the batter, then place into the oil and cook in batches for about 5 minutes or until golden. Remove the florets and place on paper towels to drain the excess oil. Serve immediately with a chutney or vegan raita of your choice.

Broccoli dal

This may not look like the most attractive meal in the world although it's delicious flavour has been enough to warrant this being repeated several times and that's saying a lot in this house! The concept of a creamy broccoli dal in Vegan Yum Yum interested me when I first purchased the book even though the amount of spices seemed lacking. I originally trialled the recipe with double the amount of spices which was nice yet I felt it could use some further improvement and began tinkering further.

During my second attempt, I discovered that my cumin seeds had run out. I used ground cumin instead and was on a kalonji/nigella seed craze at the time and added some as well. As you can see from the photo, I'm still hooked on these tasty seeds and also find them to be a tasty addition to saffron rice. I wasn't expecting the meal to be such a hit because a plate of dal doesn't usually excite the others as much as me. I didn't record quantities of ingredients used that time and it's been a challenge to win them over with this meal since.

It has taken a few attempts to rediscover the version that wowed my dal sceptics and I still received minor criticism this time that the broccoli to dal ratio was slightly low which was most likely due to using small heads of broccoli. My recommendation is to use medium or large sized heads of broccoli in order for the broccoli to work it's magic into this meal. Other notable tweaks I have made to the original recipe include the addition of some ground coriander and using blended cashews in place of soy milk to provide a thicker creamier texture. I also prefer to throw roughly chopped broccoli in the pot and blend the whole lot briefly at the end rather than finely chopping the broccoli at the start and serving the dal in a chunkier style.

The recipe below makes a decent sized pot of dal which would be enough to feed four without a side dish. I've been in the habit of making at least 2 curries when we have Indian food so there are always heaps of leftovers, as they reheat wonderfully and taste even better after the flavours have had a chance to meld further. We enjoyed broccoli dal on this occasion with spiced vegetable patties from Holy Cow and have previously loved it with "butter chicken" too.


Broccoli dal (Adapted from Vegan Yum Yum)

1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoon kalonji/nigella seeds
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon Indian chilli powder/cayenne pepper
1 cup red lentils
4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 medium-sized heads of broccoli
1/2 cup raw unsalted cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours
1/3 cup water
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Heat the peanut oil in a large saucepan and add the black mustard and kalonji seeds. When the seeds begin to sizzle, stir through the onion and cook over a medium heat for a few minutes until softened. Add the garlic and stir for a minute, then add the turmeric, coriander, cumin and cayenne pepper. After another minute, stir through the lentils then pour in the water. Add the salt and roughly chopped broccoli stalks and florets to the pot. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the lentils are soft, about 20-25 minutes.

Transfer the contents of the saucepan into a blender. Process the mixture and when the broccoli has broken down, pour everything back into the saucepan and return to low heat. Rinse out the blender and add the cashews with the water. Blend the cashews until they become smooth and creamy and pour this into the saucepan. Add the garam masala, lemon juice and additional seasoning, to taste.

Pista burfi

Last Saturday, I attended at vegan potluck at Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe's house with a theme of green food. It was lovely to catch up with the bloggers I had met before, meet some new bloggers, share so much wonderful food and have great conversations. An added bonus was Sylvia, Johanna's gorgeous daughter who was so shy at first and came out of her shell towards the end to entertain us all.

I had a couple of ideas for a green dessert to bring but it wasn't until the day before that I totally changed my mind and thought of making an Indian sweet called Pista burfi which is a pistachio fudge. I made a double batch of the the burfi as I also had a family curry dinner to attend that night so it served two purposes.

Although the ingredients for this fudge are rather basic, I found plenty of variations between the ingredients and techniques used when searching for recipes. Some recipes used milk or milk powder which gave them a lighter colour. I wanted a darker green colour so the recipe I ended up following most closely was the one that didn't include any dairy which meant there was no need for vegan substitutes.

All of the recipes I saw that didn't use dairy called for a sugar syrup to be made. The method for making the syrup and testing is readiness was somewhat perplexing. It was stated in every recipe I read that the syrup would be ready when it reached a one thread consistency. Huh? This was a totally foreign concept to me that was explained in this article. Hopefully I have managed to convey this part clearly enough in my adaptation of the recipe for other people to follow. The alternative and simpler method is to use a candy thermometer and wait for the syrup to reach 110C.

Blanching the pistachios and removing their skins was a tiresome job. I don't think I would bother doing this next time as their slight dampness meant that the food processor didn't do the greatest job of chopping them finely. Dry roasting the pistachios was another approach around that I would be inclined to try next time.

I was expecting the prepared fudge to harden very quickly, when that didn't happen I thought that my efforts were going to be wasted. The tray was plonked in the freezer (with my fingers crossed) whilst I tidied up and the short chilling time did it wonders. I wasn't confident if the texture of the fudge would remain firm enough after cutting it into squares so I opted to store the burfi in the fridge.

Pista burfi is a perfect sweet for me as it isn't over the top in sweetness and I do happen to love pistachios. I'll have to keep my eye out for a candy thermometer to make the process simpler next time!


You can read other posts about the potluck at Green Gourmet Giraffe, Laws of the Kitchen, Soya & Chocolat and where's the beef.

Pista burfi (Adapted from Chitra Amma's Kitchen)

2 cups pistachios

1 1/2 cups raw sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon

dairy-free margarine, for greasing

Place the pistachios in a bowl, then cover with boiling water. Drain in a colander after one minute then rinse well with cold water. Peel the skins off the pistachios and dry with a clean tea towel. Set aside about a dozen pistachios for the topping and chop them coarsely. Place the rest of the pistachios in a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped.

Mix the sugar and water together in a small saucepan and place on a medium heat. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Continue to cook, stirring more frequently after it has reached boiling point.

If you don't own a candy thermometer, test the thickness of the syrup every so often by scooping out a bit with the wooden spoon. Allow the syrup to cool for 10-15 seconds, then dab your forefinger into the syrup. Press your thumb and forefinger together, then separate them slowly. When a single thin thread forms between your fingers without breaking, the syrup is ready. Alternatively, if you have a candy thermometer, wait for the temperature to reach 110C.

Turn the heat down to low then stir through the ground pistachios and cardamon. Continue to cook, stirring all the time until the mixture begins to leave the side of the pan. Transfer the mixture onto a baking tray greased well with dairy free margarine. Spread into a square shape and sprinkle with the chopped pistachios. Cover with baking paper and use a rolling pin to gently press the chopped nuts into the mixture. Remove the baking paper, then place the tray in the fridge or freezer until it just sets. Cut into diamond or square pieces using a sharp knife. Store in a container at room temperature or keep refrigerated for a firmer texture.

Vegan MoFo - K is for Kheema Matar

Kheema Matar is an Indian dish traditionally made with ground lamb mince, green peas and spices. It's a recipe I wanted to revisit after enjoying Ricki's ground meat in spaghetti bolognese, chilli non carne, pot pies and chow mein. My previous attempt with Kheema Matar used TVP as the mince replacement which I wasn't very keen on so I had high hopes to restore this dish to it's former glory this time around.

Ricki's faux meat recipe is simply made of processed cauliflower and nuts with seasonings mixed through and baked in the oven until it has totally dried out. When added to sauces it absorbs a lot of liquid so it's a good idea to increase the quantity of the sauce from your standard recipe. I'm not going to tell you that this tastes exactly like meat but it certainly has the appearance of ground meat and imparts a nice subtle nutty flavour.

Even though I didn't have a couple of the recipe ingredients like green chillies and fresh coriander it was still a pretty tasty meal and won hands down as the best veg attempt to date. It's doesn't take too much time to prepare, especially if your ground "meat" is already on hand. Kheema Matar pairs well with bread and pappadums which is exactly how we enjoyed it.

Click here to see my A - Z of Vegan MoFo posts.

Kheema Matar (Adapted from The Food of India)

1/2 cup cashews, soaked for at least an hour
1 large onion, chopped roughly
2 green chillies, seeded and chopped (I didn't have any this time)
4 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 bay leaves
1/2 quantity ground "meat" (recipe below)
1/2 cup tomato puree
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
2 heaped teaspoons ground coriander
2 heaped teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

2 tablespoons fresh coriander (I didn't have any this time)

Drain and rinse the cashews, then process in a blender with about 1/3 cup water until it becomes a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl and rinse out the blender. Place the onions, chillies, garlic and ginger in the blender with 1/4 cup water and process until smooth.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion mixture and bay leaves and fry over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the ground meat and tomato puree and mix thoroughly. Stir through the turmeric, chilli powder, coriander and cumin and cook for a minute. Add the blended cashew cream, salt and pepper and continue frying for another 5 minutes. The mixture may become too dry so add a small amount of water if necessary.

Stir through the frozen peas and cook for 5 minutes, then add the garam masala and fresh coriander. Serve with flatbread or pappadums.

Ground "meat" recipe (Adapted from Diet, Dessert & Dogs)

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 cup walnuts
1 cup pecans
2 tablespoons olive oil (I forgot to add it this time)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon liquid smoke (I spilled in extra by accident)
1/2 teaspoon mixed herbs

Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the cauliflower florets and nuts in a food processor bowl and pulse until finely ground. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

Add the olive oil, garlic powder, soy sauce, salt, smoked paprika, liquid smoke and herbs and mix thoroughly with your hands until the ingredients are well combined.

Spread the mixture out evenly into a large oven tray lined with baking paper. Cook in the oven for 30 minutes, then stir the mixture around. Cook for another 15 minutes and stir again. Keep cooking the mixture until the mixture is dry and brown, stirring every 15 minutes. It usually takes an hour or a little longer for mine to be ready.

Use the ground "meat" straight away or store in the fridge or freezer for later use.

Vegan MoFo - D is for Dal Makhani

When it came to the letter D there was no question about what I was going to make - Dal Makhani! I used to make Indian food on a weekly basis until my husband and son started losing interest in all curries apart from "butter chicken" and koftas. There is something about those little balls that my boys can't get enough of. Personally, my love has always been for dal and although I have tried so many different varieties over the years it is difficult to pick a favourite.

Dal Makhani was chosen for Vegan MoFo as it is one of my most treasured dal recipes and judging from my post where you can find the recipe, it has been over 6 months since I last made it! Black lentils and kidney beans mixed with tomatoes and spices, finished off with a cashew cream is such a divine combination. The man isn't usually very enthused about dal but last night he totally enjoyed the meal and commented several times about how good it was. As we have eaten a fair bit of rice recently, I served the dal with frozen store-bought parathas which puffed up beautifully after a quick fry in the pan. We enjoyed the dal and bread with one of our regular Indian vegetable side dishes which also appeared in my dal makhani post, punjabi cabbage.

Click here to see my A - Z of Vegan Mofo posts.

Vegan MoFo - B is for "Butter Chicken"

Butter chicken was a favourite meal of ours back when we were omnis. Once I discovered that I could nail this dish and provide us with such a close vegan rendition of what we used to adore so much, it was a huge comfort. Before I knew of the existence of asian mock meats I tried to make this curry with vegetables and tofu which worked well enough but did not live up to the taste and texture of a butter chicken made with mock meat. We don't eat mock meat very often but when we do the temptation is always there to whip up another batch of this delicious "butter chicken".

The original recipe was given to my husband by a work colleague as stated in my previous post where you can find the recipe. I made it a little differently last night due to being out of Tofutti cream cheese and only used about 300g of mock meat and added a touch more soy milk and dairy-free margarine than usual. Some other vegetable side dishes I usually serve with this meal are gajar matar (carrots and peas) or punjabi cabbage. Last night was an exception as we ate this simply with rice and pappadums. It wasn't the healthiest of meals but it was extremely tasty!

Click here to see my A - Z of Vegan MoFo posts. 

Pumpkin and spinach dal

It feels like quite a while has passed between posts which has been for a good reason - a trip to Far North Queensland to thaw out my wintery bones! I'll write a bit about the holiday eats soon enough but first of all I wanted to post about something I discovered whilst clearing the fridge out before going away.

Half a chunk of pumpkin plus a yearning for some Indian led me to search for a pumpkin dal recipe. After reading through a couple of recipes, I settled upon making a version of one that I found on Vegan Culinary Crusade, a vegan blog I hadn't heard of before.

The pumpkin pieces were roasted in the oven the night before (whilst other baking was going on), then mashed into a puree. I decided to tweak a few of the spices to my liking and used the juice from half a large lemon rather than a lime. My initial thought was to serve this with some stuffed cabbage flatbreads I had seen on Allotment2Kitchen not long ago, however this was too ambitious with other holiday cooking preparations going on so I had a last minute change of mind and served the dal with our old faithful punjabi cabbage instead.

Over the years I have cooked countless different dals on so many occasions and the man sadly hasn't been very fond of them for a while. I was very pleased that he did enjoy this dal as did my son and I. The addition of a souring agent like lemon or lime juice in a dal brings out a different dimension of flavour that all three of us enjoyed a great deal. And anything with spinach is always popular too!  

Pumpkin and spinach dal (Adapted from Vegan Culinary Crusade)

1 cup red lentils

2 cups water

1 teaspoon vegetable stock powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tsp brown mustard seeds

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon chilli powder

2 teaspoons garam masala

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup pumpkin puree

Juice of 1/2 lemon

100g baby spinach leaves

Rinse the red lentils in a strainer until the water runs clear then place them in a saucepan with the water, vegetable stock powder and turmeric. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to the lowest possible and simmer, covered for 20 minutes. 

In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a frying pan on a medium flame. Add the mustard seeds and when then begin to pop, stir through the onion and fry for 5-10 minutes until the onions are translucent and begin to brown. Add the cumin, chilli powder, garam masala and salt, stir the spices through the onions evenly and cook for about 2 minutes. 

Mix the onions and spices through the lentils then stir in the pumpkin puree, lemon juice and spinach. Turn off the heat when the spinach has wilted and serve with rice.