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Namaste! Vegan Indian dinner

Okra masala

Sweet coconut chutney

Fragrant coriander chutney

Dinner is served...

There's nothing quite like cooking with friends and sharing a cozy meal.  I just love it!  Thank you to Zita and Mio for helping prepare the meal and for your lovely company.

This was my first foray into Indian cooking and I used recipes I collected while traveling in India earlier this year.
On the menu was: coconut chutney and coriander chutney with whole wheat naan (the naan was bought at Whole Foods and not homemade), and okra masala.  For a decidedly un-Indian dessert, we had my vegan banana bread and the inaugural batch of vegan chocolate hazelnut butter with organic salted pretzel sticks for dipping.  Quite an eclectic combo, yes!

In preparation for this meal, I went grocery shopping at Patel Brothers in Jackson Heights, Queens - a mecca for Indian food, spices and so much more.  More on the restaurants in this neighborhood another time.  This was the only place to get fresh okra, not to mention every single other item on my list.  By the way, the E train subway station in Jackson Heights (Roosevelt Ave) actually smells like Indian spices - it doesn't get much better than that!

The Recipes:

Coriander Chutney
Ingredients:
50 grams coriander leaves (we used almost all the leaves from one bunch of coriander)
1/4 green chile
1 pinch cumin seeds
1/4 t. salt
1/2 lemon or dry mango powder

Serving Size: about 4 (there are no serving sizes on my Indian recipe cards, so this is based on our actual cooking)
1. Wash the green chile and cut off the stems
2. Wash the coriander leaves
3. Blend the coriander, cumin and green chile together in a paste
4. Add salt and squish (yes, it says "squish") the lemon over the top, then stir.

We used both the mango powder and the lemon juice.  It was not the right consistency with just the mango powder alone.  We needed the liquid from the lemon to further break down the leaves into smaller pieces and to form a paste.

At Patel Brothers, I was overwhelmed by the (two) choices of green chile sizes - small or medium.  Rather than leave it to guess-work, I asked a friendly customer who informed me that the smaller chiles are spicier so that made the decision easily enough - I bought the medium-sized chiles to be on the safe side.

The finished product was delightful on our naan.

Coconut Chutney (from Vegetarian Indian Cooking, by Manju Kumari Singh):
Ingredients:
1 cup grated coconut, dry roasted on a pan (at 250 degrees for 5-10 minutes)
2 green chiles, chopped (seeds removed if you don't want too much spice)
2 onions, chopped
1/2 cup water
salt to taste
1 cup coriander or mint leaves, chopped (we used mint)
2 T. lemon juice

Put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend to a smooth paste.  Store in the fridge.

Easy enough.

Serving size: (again, none is listed on the recipe) - seriously, this recipe made a mountain of chutney, so let's say 100. :)

This was very good, nice and sweet but if anything, just a tad too onion-heavy for me.  I do love coconut chutney; it's usually my favorite part of a dosa meal.  If I make it again (and I will, assuming at some point I will run out of leftovers), I would only use one onion or maybe even none.   It made for a perfect appetizer on warm naan.

Okra (bhindi) Masala:

Ingredients:
1/2 kg. okra, chopped (do not use the ends)
1 large onion, chopped
1 t. cumin seeds
2 green chiles, chopped (seeds removed if you don't want too much spice)
1/2 t. dried mango powder
1/2 t. red chili powder (I thought I had some at home but turned out I only had cayenne, which we used but it was milder so I feel like we essentially skipped this ingredient)
1/2 t. turmeric powder
1/2 t. coriander powder
salt to taste
1. T. coriander leaves, chopped
2 T. cooking oil (I used canola)

1. In a karachi (not sure what that is but we used a large frying pan as you can see in the photos), heat the oil and cumin seeds
2. After cumin seeds start to sizzle, add onions and cook until onions are golden brown
3. Add okra and cook for 5-7 minutes
4. Add all the powders and salt
5. Stir gently for 8-10 minutes
6. Garnish with coriander.

Serving size: 3-4 large portions

Don't forget the salt like I did.  It really does help with the flavor, otherwise, it is a bit bland.  We added it at the table and all was good.  This was really delicious and satisfying, with a nice mix of subtle flavors.  Ayurvedically-speaking, okra is a perfect food for fall since it is slimy and therefore good for those dry vata constitutions!

Namaste!

Vegan Divas cupcakes

So scrumptious!  Can you see the flecks of gold?  It was a beautiful cupcake and received rave reviews from everyone who tasted and devoured them.

Shining beauties!  A pure delight for my taste buds!

I had one of those deal coupons from Living Social for eight vegan cupcakes (I think three big cookies were another option) and I could not wait to use it.  It works a bit differently than most deals, meaning you have to send them an email and the Vegan Divas let you know when to pick up the loot so don't expect them right away, as it does take a few days - four in my case.  The pickup location was at The Plaza Hotel.  I wish the exact pickup location within the food hall was specified because I was wandering for a bit until I asked at the FC Chocolate Bar counter (other dessert businesses had no idea what I was talking about when asking for vegan cupcakes).  Fernanda (one of the "divas") tells me I have found the pickup location for Vegan Divas delicious treats.   It happens to be a traditional French patisserie.  I do have a weakness for French pastries and everything looked delectable and so artful there.  As it so happens, there are a few vegan options there such as coconut macarons and certain donuts.  She soon hand-delivers the bag of eight cupcakes to me and to my surprise, they are all chocolate.  I expected more variety but certainly was not disappointed with chocolate.

As you can see in the photos, they are beautiful so I could hardly wait until I was home to taste them (but I did)!   They are incredibly moist throughout, which is amazing for vegan cupcakes, which tend to be on the dry side.   There is no way you could tell these were vegan creations.  The cupcakes were outrageously scrumptious, both the frosting and the cake, and so pretty with flecks of gold laced into the frosting.  My favorite part aside from the eating aspect is their products are sweetened with maple syrup, evaporated cane juice and sucanat - yah for natural sweeteners!  

Check out the nearest locations to you that carry Vegan Divas products on the website:

http://www.vegandivasnyc.com/

I know which store I will be headed to to get my fix. 

YUM.

Chocolate hazelnut butter (recipe by moi)

Okay, I admit I am obsessed with this stuff - specifically, Justin's organic and fair-trade brand, which is notoriously hard to find at Whole Foods.  I should know -- I've been known to ransack the shelves at two stores in a given day.  And at $10 a pop, it's really not the best habit.  So, I decided to make my own.  I didn't measure the ingredients, which is my favorite way to bake/cook but I have approximated the amounts, below.

Recipe (approximated):
3/4 c. hazelnuts
1/2 c. grapeseed oil
1/2 c. Theo's sipping chocolate (organic and fair-trade chocolate from Seattle)
 1/4 t. vanilla (alcohol-free)
pinch of pink Himalayan sea salt

All the ingredients are from Trader Joe's except for the chocolate, which is my not-so-secret secret ingredient.  You can substitute the semi-sweet dark chocolate chips from Trader Joe's.

Dry roast the hazelnuts for 5-10 minutes at 250 degrees.  Cool.

Place the hazelnuts in a food processor.  Puree.  Add the oil and pulse.  Add the chocolate, vanilla and sea salt.   Pulse again.

Taste.  Smile.  Share.

The salt is essential -- I tasted pre-salt and it was lacking something.  Salt makes the chocolate flavor sing!   Notice there is NO ADDED SUGAR in this recipe.  The only sugar is what is already in the sipping chocolate.   If it is not sweet enough for you (maybe you are used to Nutella, which is way sweeter than Justin's), just add some sucanat, molasses or even turbinado sugar (Trader Joe's sells the latter).  Whatever you do, don't add refined white sugar (or brown sugar, it's just as bad), please!  Your body will thank you...

It's delicious, not overly sweet and so easy to make.  Dip salty pretzels into the chocolate-y goodness and you are in business.  Or, if you are like me, just use a spoon. ;)

The star ingredients

Close-up of the luscious mixture

Even closer -- gritty goodness.

I will continue to experiment with the recipe, as I so love to do and may use coconut flakes, dried cherries or cinnamon in the future so stay tuned for yummy updates.  Also, I want to cut down on the oil and substitute some unsweetened applesauce in its place. I may even replace the Theo's chocolate with an unsweetened variety so that I can control the amount of sugar.  I would use a liquid sugar like agave nectar for the desired consistency (or pureed raisins or dates) rather than Sucanat/molasses granular sweeteners.  Can't wait to get some feedback on my initial batch and experiment some more!  As always, I will share the love!

Unnecessary Sweetness Cooking Blog

My friend, Zita has this wonderful cooking blog, Unnecessary Sweetness, where she cooks a healthy vegetarian meal each week for 52 weeks. She also captures the whole process on video    I enjoy her blog very much and had the pleasure of appearing as a guest chef on her cooking blog and video recently.  We cooked macrobiotic millet and vegan banana bread together.

Thank you, Zita for having me and thank you, Mio for the camera work - good job!

Check it out here!

http://www.unnecessarysweetness.com/

My 2010 post on vegan banana bread can be found here:
http://veg-out-gillian.blogspot.com/2010/12/mmm-vegan-banana-bread-loaf.html

New moon

It is time to set your intentions for this moon cycle. Look within and plant the seed and then watch it flourish.

Ayurveda summary and simple tips for digestion

Ayurveda is a 5000 year old form of medicine and holistic health care system that originated in India.  It is the sister science to Yoga.  In Sanskrit, “Ayer” means “life” and “veda” is “science” and so it is the “science of life”.  Ayurveda is a preventative science that is about balance and harmony within one’s body, mind and spirit and the belief in the body’s innate capacity to heal itself. According to Ayurveda, there are three “doshas” or body constitutions — pitta (fire/water), vata (air/space) and kapha (earth/water).  These relate to a person’s unique proportion of the the five elements — fire, water, air, space and earth.  When the elements are in balance, a person is in optimal health.  Usually, though a person has more of one element than others (especially during particular seasons) and this is determined by consulting with an Ayurvedic practitioner.  In order to bring a person into balance, Ayurveda takes into account the season (Fall is Vata season), the person’s dosha and evaluates the whole person and then addresses the imbalanced dosha.  A practitioner will suggest modifications to diet and lifestyle, practicing specific yoga postures, meditation, mantra and more  in order to bring about balance.

A few symptoms that help to identify each dosha are:

Pitta: anger, heartburn, oily skin

Vata: anxiety, bloating, dry skin

Kapha: depression, weight gain/overeating, lethargic

Below are a few Ayurvedic tips that you can start using right away at meal times that will help with digestion, which is a common vata issue:

-Chew mindfully, 32 times for each bite of food.  Eat slowly.

-Do not eat standing up or on the subway.  Eat at a table and do not watch TV or work on computer while eating.

-Avoid ice-water or cold drinks while you eat.  Once you are finished eating, drink room temperature water.

-Eat fresh food — no leftovers or frozen foods, which lack prana.

A beautiful, colorful photo of the bountiful produce at the local market in Udaipur, India...

My 7-day no-cooking challenge

I was recently without an oven or stove for seven days, as a result of a gas leak in my old appliance.   I had two false starts, where I had two brand-new stoves delivered only to find the first one blew out my fuse box and the second one broke on the way into the building.  I can't make this stuff up!   Considering I do not own a microwave by choice and have a small toaster oven that heats up my apartment to India-esque temps, I was basically on a raw diet at home, which is no good for my constitution and particularly detrimental during vata season (Fall).  In other words, I ate out every meal. Sigh. Poor me.  Actually it is way harder than it sounds.  First, there is the expense considering I live in Manhattan, and in a pricey neighborhood at that.  Second, I felt ungrounded (read, vata imbalance) without being able to cook myself a hot nourishing meal and moreover, I  especially missed baking, which is a very grounding and meditative activity for me.  Anyone who knows me knows that I love baking and vegan banana bread is my specialty.

Now, I wish I could tell you I've discovered all these great, inexpensive vegan restaurants as a result of this challenge, but in reality, I only came out with three suggestions for inexpensive and clean food in Manhattan.  Breakfast was the hardest for me since I always have an Ayurvedic breakfast, which means hot steel cut oats with local, pure maple syrup and pumpkin seeds (for iron).  The best place for this is actually the 99% veg truck, which is parked at the corner of Wall Street and Front Street daily, which just so happens to be only steps from my office.  They offer hot oatmeal in a huge container with bananas and raisins (other toppings are available, too) for get this, $2.50.  Yes, that's right.  The problem with this is I was only in the office once this past week so I had to scavenge the rest of the mornings.  Several mornings I had an avocado, which is OK but not ideal for breakfast.

The second standout was Blossom Du Jour for "shrewd fast food" as they call it, on 9th Ave in Chelsea (nearby the Blossom Restaurant, which is top-notch for organic and gourmet vegan food).  I had a huge black bean burrito ("burrito grande" was a fitting name) for $7.50 with avocado for an extra $1.50.  Now, that was simple, just plain great food.  Really nourishing.  I was still thinking about this burrito the next day.

Third, was Loving Hut in Chelsea on 7th Ave (between 29th and 30th), conveniently located near my beautiful kundalini yoga studio, www.harinyc.com.  I came in for dinner late one evening near closing time and it was evident that I was annoying the woman working there with all my questions about the ingredients but despite this, I will happily go back.  I settled on the spinach quesadilla on a sesame tortilla with daiya cheese, which came with and a side of guac and a salad for $8.50 - a bargain for all that delicious food.  The tortilla was perfectly flakey, too.  Love!

Sacred Chow (Greenwich Village, NYC)

I wasn't even planning to blog about my lunch at Sacred Chow, even though it was fantastic, as always.  I was just thrilled they were open til 4 on this "hurricane Irene" weekend.  This food here never disappoints - vegan, organic and kosher.  Just plain clean food prepared with love - my favorite!  Now I am sorry that I didn't even take photos of my three tapas (3 for $18) but for the record I had root vegetable latkes (delish, nice and crisp on the outside - it maybe my fave tapas item), spicy soba noodles and sesame collards (mmm, I needed a green infusion)....but when this dessert arrived, I knew I had to capture its decadence.  Chocolate truffle cake with strawberry ganache and pralines was simply divine!  The strawberry jam perfectly cut the dense chocolate and the pralines gave it that satisfying crunch.  It cost $8.50, which is a bit steep for dessert but it is huge so it's really two portions, if you need to justify it.  Trust me, it is pure chocolate heaven...

The NY Vegan Dosa Cart (Washington Sq. Park South)

The vegan dosa guy serves up fresh and delicious South Indian food, all vegan and very reasonably priced (and cash only).  Dosas are made out of rice and lentils.   If memory serves me, $6 was the priciest item on the menu and it's great value for generous portions of high quality food for lunch.  The service was warm and friendly, too, which I always appreciate in New York or anywhere for that matter.

Thiru Kumar, the talented and friendly chef was all smiles as he posed for me.

This is my perfect veggie uthappam on the grill.  YUM!

Absolutely scrumptious uthappam, crispy outside and fluffy inside, with lots of veggies.  Good sambhar (see above photo, cup top left) for dipping and the coconut chutney side (see above photo, chutney on the top right) is just plain amazing.  I could eat a cup of it alone, easily.

Samosa filled with potatoes and peas, served with the mint chutney, which was a delight!  The mint flavor really complemented the samosa nicely.