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. 

Magical okara loaf

My initial success with home made tofu had me keen to continue making the odd batch on an occasional basis. I'm not sure why it took seven months to dig out the bag of soy beans from the pantry but I've been back in the swing of tofu making lately and have produced a couple of delicious batches this month.

After making tofu or soy milk you are left with a large quantity of okara (soy bean pulp) which can be used in burgers, loaves, cakes, biscuits and as a thickener in stews. I've also come across some other interesting recipes I would like to attempt one day like okara gnocchi and a Japanese stir-fry called Unohana. I was in the mood to try out a veggie loaf and turned to the Magical Loaf Studio on the Vegan Lunch Box blog for a bit of fun.

I've checked out the Magical Loaf Studio previously and loved the concept yet I hadn't put it to test before. The criteria for generating a loaf recipe is to select a protein, carbohydrate, nuts or seeds, liquid, binder, seasonings, oil and as many vegetables and herbs as you desire. The beauty of it is that your loaf can be tailored to suit any leftover cooked grains you have on hand, vegetables that need using up and items you have in the pantry.

The ingredients listed in each section of the tool are limited so I made a few substitutions where I saw fit. Okara wasn't listed as a protein so I selected soy beans to get an idea of the quantity required. After looking over my generated recipe I changed it up a little by using chickpea flour as my binder (which wasn't an option in the tool), a larger quantity of nutritional yeast and also added in some smoked paprika.

The loaf took around 15 minutes to construct and while it was baking there was plenty of time to organise other vegetable side dishes and gravy. It browned nicely on top and even though I rebelled against the instructions to allow some cooling time before slicing it up, it had a firm enough texture which held together wonderfully. I had also lined my dish with baking paper to ensure it would lift out easily. We were all impressed with the taste of the loaf so I can see myself using future batches of okara this way again.

Magical okara loaf (Adapted from the Magical Loaf Studio on Vegan Lunch Box)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots (200g), peeled and grated
2 cups wet okara
1 cup cooked rice
½ cup almond meal
1/3 cup water
3 tablespoons chickpea flour
1 teaspoon dried basil
¼ cup minced fresh parsley
¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 teaspoons vegan worcestershire sauce
1 heaped teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 20 x 20 cm square baking dish with baking paper or spray with olive oil spray.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion, garlic and carrot over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until softened. Place the remaining ingredients in a large bowl along with the contents of the frying pan and stir together thoroughly.

Press the mixture into the baking dish and bake for 45 minutes, or until the loaf is firm and browned on top. Turn the loaf out onto a chopping board, remove the baking paper (if used) and slice. Serve with gravy and other vegetables.

Esperance and the drive home

Norseman marks the start/end point of the Nullarbor crossing, from this town there are two main roads leading to Perth. The first is via the historic mining town of Kalgoorlie which we visited on our way over and the other takes you through the seaside town of Esperance. Before commencing our long drive home we planned to spend two nights in Esperance at a caravan park until I made a last minute discovery of some moderately priced pet-friendly accommodation. After an eight hour drive it was great to be able to check-in to the studio unit and not have to bother about unpacking and setting up camp.

Although the unit was equipped with a kitchenette I was tired from the drive on our first night so once again we ate heat and eat curries. Different varieties of the Tasty Bite curries had been available at the majority of decent sized supermarkets, punjab eggplant had remained one of our favourites throughout the trip. It wasn't until Margaret River that I spotted a different brand called Maharajah's Choice. The range in this brand wasn't as diverse, dhal tadka and saffron rice were the only ones I was able to find that were vegan.

Before leaving Cowaramup I picked some silverbeet/swiss chard and spinach from the garden, cooked them together and sealed them in a snap lock bag. The greens were stirred through the dal to provide some additional goodness. I went slightly overboard with the greens as they dominated the dal slightly too much yet I was still able to determine that this brand had a more interesting blend of spices than the Tasty Bite variety. The saffron rice wasn't terribly exciting, it was nowhere near as good as the basmati rice and peas we ate in the Pattu range.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms set in overnight and the weather was still looking very glum the following morning. We had planned to tour around the Esperance beaches some of which have been voted as Australia's best. As the rain looked like it was going to stick around for a while, instead of checking out the local beaches we took an hour long drive to Wharton Beach in the hope that we would out drive the bad weather.

The rain and heavy clouds followed us the whole way although it started to clear a little when we reached Wharton Beach. We had some fun with Ollie on the pristine, isolated beach with the whitest sand I've even seen before hopping in the car and heading back to Esperance. The weather was clearing when we reached Esperance so we took a shorter drive along the coast to marvel at more stunning beaches (top photo - lookout over Blue Haven beach).

Twilight Beach was named Australia's best beach in 2006. The white sands combined with crystal clear waters and tranquil rock surroundings were simply breathtaking. It was one of the only beaches where dogs were not permitted which didn't matter as the beaches just around the corner were equally gorgeous spots where you could exercise dogs.

The man was exhausted after so much driving and given we had to hit the Nullarbor the next day I suggested that he have an afternoon nap while I did some final bits of food shopping, filled up the car with fuel and took Ollie for a last romp at the beach. This was my best solo decision of the holiday as I spotted a pod of dolphins surfing the waves about 50 metres offshore. I watched them in awe and neglected Ollie's ball game until they eventually disappeared. Even though the sky became full of heavy clouds once again, it was the most perfect ending to the trip!

For dinner we ate a big bowl of spaghetti with a bolognese styled sauce topped with grated Vegusto piquant cheese. I usually make this type of sauce with lentils but couldn't find any dried or tinned lentils at a smallish IGA so I bought a tin of 4 bean mix instead. The sauce also included carrots, mushrooms and zucchini with a touch of chilli. I made a big batch of sauce as I figured it might be an easy meal to eat while travelling home.

After departing Esperance we had three full days of driving to get home which also meant two nights of setting and packing up camp. In the afternoon we started discussing possible stop off points for the night and the man asked how I would feel if he kept on driving. The only concern I voiced was regarding wildlife, night driving in these areas is considered extremely dangerous as it's when the animals are most active. Colliding with kangaroos or wild camels has claimed the lives of many drivers. I probably haven't mentioned before now that the man drove the entire time we were away!

Without going into all of the details, we did continue driving and made it home the following evening. Just under 3000 kms in 36 hours and neither of us had a wink of sleep! It was a crazy thing to do and I wouldn't recommend anyone do the same. The drive had some harrowing moments such as almost running out of fuel because there were no 24 hour service stations on the Eyre Peninsula, passing a huge kangaroo on the opposite side of the highway in the middle of the night, big groups of kangaroos grazing by the side of the road in the night, peak hour traffic in Adelaide, long weekend traffic and road works between Adelaide and Melbourne and more peak hour traffic when we made it back to Melbourne. We did manage to have a lengthy stop in a nice park in Adelaide to stretch Ollie's legs as well as our own.

After such a long drive it was wonderful to be home, especially as we had the young man and our cat Monty waiting for us. The entire trip was such an enjoyable travelling experience which has fuelled my passion for further road trips around this vast country. Over the past month we saw kangaroos, emus, dingos, goannas, lizards, frogs, dolphins, turtles, sting rays, colourful reef fish, water birds, birds of prey, parrots and a beautiful owl in Kalbarri. The total distance we travelled was almost 13,000 kms.

That brings me to the end of my travel posts. The emphasis wasn't solely on food so I apologise for that and thank you all for reading along. More food focussed blogging will be back very soon!

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.

Around the world - Stopover 24 - Bhutan

The kingdom of Bhutan is nestled between India and China at the eastern end of the Himalayas. The majority of the country is mountainous with only 10% of it's fertile land situated in the valleys. Red rice is one of the staples, a medium grain rice with a pinkish hue which is the only variety of rice that can be grown at high altitudes.

My food memory led me to a Bhutanese pineapple rice recipe in Appetite for Reduction as I've read many positive reviews of it around the blogosphere. I was able to track the red rice down in a local Indian spice shop, it has a texture that is similar to brown rice although the cooking time is slightly less. The man isn't a fan of brown rice at all so I was concerned he wouldn't like this and the inclusion of pineapple definitely wasn't going to win him over. I'm not particularly fond of fruit in savoury meals either and replaced the pineapple with some broccoli instead. After the red rice was cooked, it was fried with onion, garlic, ginger, Thai red curry paste, soy sauce, agave and coriander. An extra dash of curry paste and soy sauce was added after an initial taste test to give it some extra heat and flavour.

To round out the meal, I veganised a recipe originally made with chicken called Jasha Maroo. It was frustrating to find exactly the same recipe duplicated on several websites as the method was unclear and didn't state when to add some of the ingredients that were listed. I resorted to cooking it in the manner that seemed most logical to me, frying the onion first followed by the garlic, ginger and chilli and then adding the rest of the ingredients. The tofu I used in this dish was a new variety from the supermarket labelled as medium firm, it actually resembled silken tofu more than firm tofu so I was extremely careful during the cooking process.

This was a fantastic dinner, the tofu dish had a perfect amount of heat for us and it was an excellent partner for the red rice. I was happy with my decision to season the tofu with "chicken" stock rather than salt as it provided an extra depth of flavour. This was also a speedy meal which gave it extra bonus marks. I was very pleased that the man enjoyed it, particularly the rice dish and delighted when he kept going back for more! As a result of this successful meal, red rice may become my brown rice substitute from now on.


Jasha Maroo (Adapted from Asiarecipe)

300g medium firm or firm tofu, drained, pressed and cut into pea sized cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, sliced into rounds
2 cloves garlic, minced
2cm piece ginger, minced
2 green thai chillies, thinly sliced (use 1 chilli for a milder version)
1 tomato, diced
1 teaspoon vegan "chicken" stock powder
½ cup water

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, ginger and chillies a fry for a minute then gently stir through the tofu, tomato, "chicken" stock powder and water. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer, covered for 10 minutes.

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Did you know?

Bhutan was the first country to measure the national index of happiness which later became an accepted worldwide index. Bhutan's third king, Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, made a fleeting remark in a speech that was taken seriously by the Bhutanese. According to Buddhist beliefs, happiness is something that one needs to strive for and the country's leading thinkers set about to find a way to quantify it. The index of happiness is measured on four areas: sustainable development, cultural values, natural environment, and good governance.

Around the world - Stopover 23 - Greece

Greek food makes an appearance every so often in my kitchen. Moussaka, spanakopita and seitan gyros in home made pita bread are some of our favourite Greek dishes that I make on a semi regular basis. One of our highest rotation recipes from Vegan Eats World is Terry Hope Romero's oven roasted gyros made with chickpea and olive seitan because my fellows adore it and request it often. Despite being an avid hater of olives, it's the only meal where the young man will eat them as their strong flavour blends into the seitan so they are barely detectable. When Greece was drawn it was no surprise that I was hounded for gyros wraps to be on the menu again. On this occasion I made a similar tofu based garlic sauce to one I've previously posted about and added a touch of fresh dill.

All of the Greek recipes from Vegan Eats World that I tested were full of flavour and thoroughly enjoyed. I didn't get the chance to try Yemista (capsicums and tomatoes stuffed with rice) during testing and I still hadn't made anything new since the book arrived so I was well overdue for branching out into a new dish. Yemista take a little while to prepare although there was plenty of slack time whilst they were baking in the oven. The dill and mint flavoured rice filling was lovely and the Yemista paired wonderfully with some left-over oven roasted gyros and pita bread. This is another fantastic Greek recipe from Terry!

After flicking through World Vegan Feast by Bryanna Clark Grogan, I found some Greek recipes and picked out a Gigante bean and chard stew as I knew it would please the man. Due to time limitations I wasn't very faithful to the recipe. The tofu feta was omitted, the silverbeet/chard was simmered in the stew rather than pre-cooking it separately and as I cooked it on the stovetop rather than in the oven, it didn't make sense to top it with breadcrumbs. The use of tinned lima beans would have made this meal an even speedier process. It was still a very tasty meal with these changes, the flavour of the dill was the highlight amongst the onions, tomatoes, beans and silverbeet/chard. A slice of toasted olive bread from Crumbs Organic Bakehouse was the perfect tool to clean our plates with.

Gigante bean and silverbeet stew (Adapted from World Vegan Feast)

250g dried lima beans or 2 x 400g tins lima beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
6 spring onions, chopped
2 cups vegan "chicken" stock
1 x 400g tin diced tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
1 bunch silverbeet/chard leaves, washed well and chopped

If using dried lima beans, place them in a large bowl, cover well with water and allow to soak for at least 8 hours. Drain the beans in a colander and rinse thoroughly. Place the beans in a saucepan and fill with water so there is about 5cm of water above the beans. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the beans are tender (mine took about 2 hours).

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and fry the onions and spring onions until they have softened and are beginning to brown. Add the drained beans, "chicken" stock, tomatoes, dill, salt and pepper. Stir through the chopped silverbeet/chard in batches until each batch has softened and reduced in size slightly. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered for 30 minutes.

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Did you know?

Greece is the world’s third leading producer of olives. The Greeks have been cultivating olive trees since ancient times and there are some olive trees still producing olives that were planted in the thirteenth century.

Around the world - Stopover 21 - Myanmar (Burma)

Burmese cuisine draws it's influences from the neighbouring countries of India, China and Thailand. Burmese food is not entirely new to me as we used to eat at a Thai/Burmese restaurant years ago. Our favourite dishes were always Burmese curries (I posted a recipe for one earlier this year) which tastes like a combination of Thai and Indian food. Although Burmese curries are lovely, I wanted to try something different which wasn't difficult as I found plenty of dishes that sounded really good.

After I posted about making tofu a few weeks ago, Mandee commented that she wanted to try making chickpea tofu. Up until then I hadn't heard of chickpea tofu and discovered that it was a traditional Burmese recipe which originated from a fusion of Chinese styled tofu with Indian chickpea flour (besan). When Burma was drawn next I had to give it a try!

I looked up a few recipes, one of them seemed just as involved as the soy-based tofu making process and another on BestOodles sounded quick and easy so I referred to the latter. It was simply a matter of bringing water to the boil with some margarine and whisking through a slurry made with chickpea flour, water, turmeric, salt and sugar. About 5 minutes later, the mixture becomes incredibly thick and difficult to stir. After spooning it into a greased dish/tin the chickpea tofu is refrigerated for 4 hours, then it is ready to use.

BestOodles also listed a recipe for a Burmese tofu salad which contained a couple of fishy ingredients so I made a few changes to the dressing and the garnish. The recipe also included tamarind juice which sounded like a bit of a process to make from scratch so I subbed in tamarind puree in it's place. This was another simple dish which required a bit of chopping, mixing the dressing and putting it all together at the end. The dressing was very spicy although it really makes the dish and if you choose to serve it individually, you can go as crazy (or not) with the dressing as you like.

World Vegan Feast by Bryanna Clark Grogan contained one Burmese recipe which was a dal with roasted cauliflower. I adore dals especially when they have an added vegetable so I had to give it a go. This also came together pretty easily, while the lentils were simmering, the onion, garlic and spices were fried and the cauliflower was roasted in the oven. The dal was lovely, it contained a decent amount of spices and I enjoyed the addition of roasted cauliflower.

I'm not usually the biggest salad lover but the Burmese salad was the stand-out dish of the night. The texture of the chickpea tofu was fairly soft and probably fell somewhere in between silken and firm tofu. Chickpea tofu is also commonly fried so I'm planning to put this to the test with the remaining half of the batch.


Burmese tofu - Shan tohu (Adapted from BestOodles)

4 cups water, divided
1 tablespoon dairy free margarine
1 ½ cups chickpea flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon turmeric

Bring a pot containing 2 ½ cups of water and the margarine to the boil. Whisk together the chickpea flour, 1 ½ cups water, salt, sugar and turmeric in a bowl. Whisk the chickpea flour slurry through the boiling water, reduce the heat to low and continue to stir for about 5 minutes or until the mixture becomes very thick.

Pour the mixture into a 20 x 20cm greased glass dish or baking tray. Tap the dish on the surface of your bench to remove air bubbles and smooth out the top with a knife or the back of a spoon. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Use within one week of making.

Burmese salad - Tophu thohk (Adapted from BestOodles)

2 tablespoons chilli oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons Thai thin soy sauce
2 tablespoons tamarind puree
2 small cloves garlic, minced
½ small cabbage, finely shredded
4 spring onions, finely sliced
fresh coriander sprigs
½ quantity Burmese tofu, sliced
fried shallots, for garnish
shredded nori or dulse flakes, for garnish (optional)

Whisk together chilli oil, sesame oil, Thai thin soy sauce, tamarind puree and garlic in a small bowl. In a large bowl, combine the cabbage and spring onions together.

Arrange the cabbage and spring onions on serving plates followed by a couple of sprigs of coriander and some slices of Burmese tofu. Drizzle some of the chilli, sesame, soy sauce and tamarind dressing over the top. Garnish with fried shallots and nori or dulse flakes if desired.

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Did you know?

Burma is technologically behind the rest of the developed nations. Up until two months ago there were no ATMs, there is a limited mobile phone network, internet access is scarce, and people commonly use a horse and cart for transportation.

Vegan MoFo - Stopover 18 - Tajikstan

Tajik cuisine has similarities with Russian, Iranian, Afghan and Uzbek cuisines. Traditional Tajik meals begin with a spread of dried fruit, nuts, halva and other sweets before progressing to soup and the national dish of plov makes up the final dish. Plov is a festive rice dish similar to a pilaf which is traditionally made with meat.

It was an Uzbek plov recipe that caught my eye when I was searching as a commenter mentioned that the recipe was more similar to a Tajik style plov, so I adapted my vegan version from this using puy lentils and chickpeas as protein sources. The method of cooking plov is rather unique as the onions, garlic and vegetables are cooking in oil initially before being pushed to the outsides of the pot. Rice that has been soaked in salted water is placed in the centre of the pot, then it is covered and simmered for 30 minutes. Plov can also be cooked be cooked in a wok, as I don't have a lid for my wok I cooked this in a large deep sided pan.

I don't usually make rice laden dishes like this as my fellows aren't very enthused by them so I wasn't surprised that they didn't love it (they didn't hate it either, it was just alright). The abundance of onions was most definitely a highlight, the spices were quite mild yet they provided subtle flavours throughout. I couldn't resist adding some Sriracha chilli sauce to my lunch leftovers today, even though it's not traditional I enjoyed it more this way!  


Tajikstan plov (Adapted from food.com)

1 cup basmati rice
1/3 cup puy lentils
3 tablespoons peanut oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced into half moons
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large carrots, cut into matchsticks
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon chilli flakes
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 ¾ cups water
1 x 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

Wash the rice thoroughly then allow it to soak in salted water for 30 minutes. While the rice is soaking, simmer the lentils for 30 minutes and chop up the vegetables.

Heat the peanut oil in a deep sided frying pan or a wok (if you have one with a lid) over medium-high heat. Fry the onions until they are lightly browned, about 8 minutes then add the garlic and fry for another minute. Add the carrots, cumin, coriander, chilli flakes, salt, pepper and 1 cup of water, stir well then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes, the carrots should be slightly softened after this time.

Drain the cooked lentils in a colander and add them to the pan/wok along with the chickpeas and stir well. Push the vegetables to the outsides of the pan, leaving a hole in the centre. Drain the rice in a colander and add it to the centre of the pan (try not to mix it in with the vegetables), followed by ¾ cup of water. Cover and cook on low heat for 30 minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed.

Stir everything together thoroughly and add additional salt and pepper if required. Serve garnished with fresh parsley.

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Did you know?

Despite being the poorest country in Central Asia and the former Soviet Union the literacy rate in Tajikstan is 99.5% as the former Soviet system of free education has still been maintained to this day.

Do you want to know where else I've been this month? Click here for the round up.

Vegan MoFo - Stopover 17 - Oman

Oman's cuisine is a reflection of it's geographical position in the crossroads of Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Rice is a staple which is usually served with meat. Herbs, spices, onions, garlic and lime are also important ingredients in Omani cooking. Food differs regionally and some dishes can be spicy although they are not as spicy as Asian dishes.

After Mandee mentioned that she had done a world theme for Vegan MoFo a few years ago I took a peek at her posts and kept a few recipes in mind in case any of the same countries came up.  When Oman was drawn I made an instant decision to try Mandee's recipe for koftas with a tomato and zucchini sauce as it sounded so good. All of the koftas I've made in the past have been Indian curries with ball shaped koftas, in Middle Eastern dishes koftas are usually a flatter oblong shape.

I already had some precooked kidney beans in the freezer that equated to about one and a half cans so I made a slightly bigger batch and scaled the rest of the ingredients up accordingly. I didn't have any fresh coriander so I used some ground coriander in the koftas and garnished with fresh parsley at the end instead. I used a little less cinnamon as I ran out and also swapped fresh bird's eye chillies for chilli flakes in the tomato sauce. The mixture for the koftas was simple to make with the aid of a food processor, as the mixture was a bit sticky I shaped the kofta patties on the baking sheet with the back of a spoon.

This meal was fantastic, the koftas were very flavoursome and the cinnamon was still detectable even though I didn't use the full amount. The chickpea flour worked it's magic and turned the sticky patties into koftas with a nice crust and an interior that wasn't mushy or dry. The tomato and zucchini sauce had a nice amount of heat to it without being too spicy. It wasn't too difficult to put together and I would happily make this again.

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Did you know?

Traffic accidents are the number one cause of death in Oman because nobody wears seatbelts. It is also illegal not to stop your car if you hit a camel whilst driving.

Do you want to know where else I've been this month? Click here for the round up.

Vegan MoFo - Stopover 4 - Indonesia

Indonesia was another easy one for me, the meal was planned as soon as the country was drawn! Long time readers of this blog may recall that I struggled to enjoy tempeh for a while before finding some burgers and lasagne that I loved and even after all this time I'm still a bit wary about trying out new tempeh recipes. As tempeh originates from Indonesia I simply had to be brave and delve into a tempeh dish. A recipe called Oseng Oseng Tempe (Fried spiced tempeh) had been on my list to try for ages which is from World Vegetarian Classics by Celia Brooks Brown.

This has been one of my favourite cookbooks for years and definitely the most utilised non-vegan cookbook on my shelf these days. Celia's recipes have rarely left me disappointed, the photography is gorgeous and it covers food from so many countries. Up until now I had only made one of the Indonesian recipes which was a fantastic rendang curry using jackfruit during MoFo last year which still remains as my favourite way to eat jackfruit.

Oseng Oseng Tempeh is a simple dish of thinly sliced tempeh strips shallow fried in oil with shallots and is served with a delicious spicy mixture of cayenne pepper, soy sauce, lime juice, sugar and tomato paste. After the slices were fried there was none of that weird taste I'm not fond of and the young man who is an even bigger tempeh sceptic than me also gave it the thumbs up! I served this with Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice) which was also from World Vegetarian Classics as it's such a typical Indonesian dish and it seemed like a perfect partner for the tempeh. I'm pretty fussy when it comes to this sort of thing and this recipe needed a bit more spice for my liking so I'll probably tweak it a little next time. An interesting note in the cookbook states how it is best to use long grain rice that has been cooked 2-3 hours in advance for Nasi Goreng, fresh rice is no good neither are leftovers that have been sitting in the fridge overnight.

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Did you know?

Most people are aware that there are several volcanoes spread across the islands of Indonesia but how many of you have heard of Mount Kelimutu? It is a unique volcano which contains 3 summit crater lakes that are coloured blue, green and red.

Do you want to know where else I've been this month? Click here for the round up.

Burmese curry

A Thai/Burmese restaurant in our neighbourhood gave us an introduction to Burmese food many years ago, namely Burmese curries. They include many similar ingredients to Thai curries although they don't typically use coconut milk or kaffir lime. I used to reproduce one at home with the aid of a cookbook recipe that would have my boys raving that it tasted exactly the same as the one down the street. These curries were always meat based so it's something I've been keen to replicate with the aid of some mock meat.

This was in fact my second attempt at a mock meat version. When I first gave this a shot and it didn't taste quite right, I realised that I had used the wrong recipe. There are a couple of Burmese curry recipes in my cookbooks and I had completely forgotten which one I used to make. This time it turned out much closer to how we can recall it tasting although it still wasn't perfect in my mind. It was a dry curry rather than saucy which may have been due to using mock meat; that stuff really seems to absorb a lot of liquid.

People who aren't fond of mock meat may find that this recipe works well with tempeh which is something I will try at some stage. The amount of chillies could also be decreased to suit personal spice preferences. It was perfectly spiced for us which means it could be too spicy for others with lower heat tolerance. It's also quite a simple meal to put together. Preparing the paste is the most labour intensive task and once that's out of the way, it's just a matter of simmering with the occasional stir.


Burmese Curry (Adapted from Taste of Thailand by Kit Chan)

3 dried red chillies, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes
3 small shallots, roughly chopped
2 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 stalk lemongrass, roughly chopped
2 teaspoons roughly chopped ginger
1 teaspoon roughly chopped galangal
2 teaspoons Golden Mountain Thai thin soy sauce (or use soy sauce)
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
300g "beef" chunks
1 cup water
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon tamarind puree

Pound the chillies, shallots, garlic, lemongrass, ginger and galangal into a rough paste with a mortar and pestle. Add one teaspoon of the Golden Mountain Thai thin soy sauce and the brown sugar and continue to pound until it the paste is relatively smooth.

Heat a pan over medium heat, add the "beef" chunks and the paste and stir frequently for 5 minutes. Stir in a cup of water along with the turmeric and dark soy sauce. Cook over a low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The curry will be quite dry after this time.

Add the remaining teaspoon of Golden Mountain Thai thin soy sauce and tamarind puree and stir well. Serve with steamed rice and stir-fried Asian greens.

Cauliflower risotto

Christmas can be a logistical nightmare for trying to get families together. For many years, we would have a lunch with one family followed by a dinner with the other family on Christmas Day which was quite exhausting. In more recent times, our first family gathering kicks off on Christmas Eve with my side of the family. Christmas Day is relatively quiet consisting of a brunch with the man's family followed by a proper lunch on Boxing Day. It feels more relaxing to have the festivities spread out over a few days and it also gives me plenty of time for cooking!

Over the last few years I have made a couple of nut roasts from Johanna's Green Gourmet Giraffe blog, a tofurkey discovered on Where's The Beef and Carla from easy as vegan pie's cauliflower and caramelised onion tart amongst other things. This year I wanted to mix it up a little. When my sister announced that she was planning a BBQ on Christmas Eve, I had to put my thinking cap on because veggie burgers or sausages didn't feel special enough for the occasion. I threw a few ideas at the man and the one that we both happily agreed on was arancini.

Arancini or risotto balls are best made with day old risotto so I decided to make a double batch of risotto, serve some for dinner and use the remainder for the arancini. A smooth textured risotto suits arancini best as it makes rolling the balls much easier. A cauliflower risotto recipe had been sitting in my drafts for several months as I didn't record the recipe properly when I initially threw it together and also felt that my first effort needed a bit of tweaking. I knew that the texture would be perfect for arancini so it was time to give it another try.

This risotto starts off by cooking the cauliflower in vegetable stock and then blending it with a bit of stock. The thick cauliflower puree is reserved and added to the plain risotto when it has finishing cooking which makes it a very creamy dish. We like to eat this risotto garnished with sun-dried tomatoes and olives. I have also sampled it with toasted slivered almonds and fresh parsley which gives it a lighter taste and a bit of crunch.

I was out of of white wine and fresh herbs which I would usually include in a risotto. I had prepared a very simple basil pesto so this was used in place of herbs. My mum has shocking allergies to every variety of nut so I had made this batch of pesto only with basil, olive oil, nutritional yeast and salt. The man adored this risotto and I had cunningly made it on a night when our son wasn't home for dinner. I've mentioned before that he doesn't care for risotto and olives are another pet hate of his. Sun-dried tomatoes are tolerable for him but they are not something that he is mad about. The man requested this meal to become a regular so I suggested that it could be a regular when it's tea for two.

I would like to wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope you all enjoy the festive season and devour some delicious food with great company.

Cauliflower risotto

1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets

8 cups vegetable stock
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups arborio rice

1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
1 tablespoon basil pesto
salt and pepper, to taste
chopped sun dried tomatoes and olives, for garnish

Cook the cauliflower in a saucepan with the vegetable stock until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain the cauliflower in a colander and reserve the stock. Place the cauliflower florets in a blender with 1//2  - 1 cup of the vegetable stock and process until it becomes smooth and creamy.  Pour the rest of the stock back into the saucepan and simmer over a low heat.

Heat the olive oil in a large wide pot and fry the onions for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and cook for another minute then stir through the rice ensuring that the grains are coated evenly with the oil, onions and garlic. Add 1 cup of stock and stir until the stock has been absorbed. Turn the heat to low and continue adding stock 1/2 cup at a time, stirring often, until the rice is almost tender.

Stir through the cauliflower puree, nutritional yeast and basil pesto and cook for another minute or two. Season with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with chopped sun-dried tomatoes, olives and fresh herbs if desired.   

Vegan MoFo - W is for White Rice & Black Beans

A few posts back I mentioned that I have just started some recipe testing for Terry Hope Romero's new cookbook. I don't think I conveyed how thrilled I am to have this opportunity as my stress levels were rather high at the time. When I initially checked out the recipe index for testing, I searched for a couple of things that would fit in with the remainder of my MoFo theme to ease my workload a little.

Last night I tested a recipe called White Rice & Black Beans which was nice enough but it hasn't been a standout meal from testing so far. I found myself comparing it to Gallo Pinto (Costa Rican Refried Rice and Beans) from Viva Vegan but the flavours in this meal weren't as interesting. It was one of the simplest recipes I have tested, with minimal prep work and a fairly quick cooking time so from that perspective it was a win.

I served the rice and beans with guacamole, cashew crema and hot sauce although half-way through the meal I remembered there was some left-over sofrito in the fridge and we found that this was a really good addition.

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

Vegan MoFo - C is for Chow Mein

My original idea for the letter C was a little different to what I have ending up posting but the result was still equally delicious. A lack of vital ingredients for the planned meal changed my focus onto Chow Mein which is a great way to use up bits and pieces of food. That is precisely the type of meal I needed to cook.

I had never made chow mein prior to my post back in May but since trying Johanna's recipe it has been back on the menu on a few subsequent occasions. It's a great one-pot meal made up of noodles, rice and vegetables cooked with soy sauce, "chicken" stock and chilli. It also has the bonus of being quick to prepare. After my first attempt I have always added a couple of teaspoons of curry powder which makes it taste even better.

This time I had some fresh pho noodles that needed to be used so I added these instead of dried rice vermicelli and replaced the TVP with what is rapidly becoming one of my favourite meat substitutes - a ground "meat" recipe from Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs. I have plans to make more meals with Ricki's ground "meat" throughout Vegan Mofo and will discuss this wonderful concoction of cauliflower and nuts in more detail then.

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