Gujarati Soy Raita

Indian food can be tantalizing with all those spice variations, each bite can reveal new nuances in flavour and heat. (I always wanted to use nuances in a sentence) Truth be told-to cool our palates before and after each bite, we can enjoy spicy Indian dishes with a side order of what I call SOYersion Raita, a vegan take on traditionally yogurt based dish.

Many regions of North India make "raita" differently. Since I am Gujarati, I use soy yogurt to make the following:

"Gujarati Soy Raita"

Gujarati dishes often play salty with sweetness....especially liked by children!

Ingredients:

• Soy Yogurt, plain (make sure the one you get is fortified with calcium, vitamins, and has pro biotic culture)
• 1 Banana, nicely riped and sweet
• Fresh coriander leaves, washed thoroughly
• Black salt (also called "Kala Namak" and can be found in South Asian grocery stores. It smells strong but adds great flavour)
• Finely ground pepper
• Finely ground chili powder or paprika

Steps:

1. Thinly slice banana, add to soy yogurt
2. Add fresh coriander leaves to soy yogurt (a small handful for a cereal bowl of soy yogurt)
3. Mix gently, keeping banana pieces intact
4. Sprinkle black salt, ground pepper, and paprika/chili powder in a pattern, one at a time (add to taste, maybe side by side swirls, starting from the outside edge to the centre of the dish). You can also add some mustard seeds, but I prefer limited spices, as "raita" is meant compliment a more complex dish.
5. Stir right before serving, for maximum ooohs and ahhhs

Goes well with "Indian Soy Keema Biryani"

Broccoli pancakes: Variation on a theme

A lot of my recipes are created as a result of what I call a "fridge cleaning exercise." That is, what's hanging out in the fridge that needs to be used AND what recipe do these loiterers fit into? As such, last night I made a Broccoli version of the Spiced Potato Pancakes. They were very good and made a beautiful batter. (Photos coming soon).

Ingredients: 1 'head' of broccoli (I used 3 heads since they were organic and are smaller than the usual grocery store variety), 6 small yellow potatoes, 1 yellow onion, 1 clove of garlic, 6 heaping tsp of brown rice flour, 1/3 cup unsweetened soy milk, 2 tbsp sunflower oil, 3 tbsp flax seeds. Spices: 2 tsp sea salt, 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, 1 tsp cumin, 1 oregano, 1/2 tsp chili powder.

Method: grate vegetables then add remaining ingredients and stir. Cook as described in Spiced Potato Pancake recipe. Makes 12 x 2.5 inch diametre pancakes. Hint: keep them in the oven once they are cooked so that you can serve them all together. Garnish with vegan mayonaise, dairy-free sour cream, salsa, sweet tomato sauce. I highly recommend a sauce with a sweet aspect to it to counter the pungent garlic and broccoli flavours.

Indian Soy-Keema Biryani

Embarking on a vegan lifestyle requires change in thought, consumption and consumerism. However, whenever asked the question "don't you find it difficult" I can comfortably say that it has been a rather easy progression-one that has not involved much stress, inconvenience or inner conflict. In fact, becoming vegan has been one of the easiest choices I have had to make!

In my recent experience I have found that it has been others who have been more affected by my veganism than myself. One of the positive outcomes has been the innovation and SOYersion of foods cooked by those close to me. The following twist on "Indian Keema Biryani" is a recipe created by my Mother, reminding me of those Sunday Keema Dinner nights at de Cherante.

"Indian Soy Keema Biryani"
Factoid: "Biryani" refers to an Indian rice preparation (there are hundreds of varieties)

Main Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1 cup (not heaped) basmati rice
• 1 packet of soy ground-rounds, seasoned (President Choice makes a good one)*this is a soy product that simulates ground beef or what is called "keema" in Hindi
• 1 large red onion
• Fresh piece of ginger (size of your thumb)
• 4-5 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup frozen or fresh peas or mixed vegetables *carrots, green beans, cauliflower, lima beans, peas
• 2 cups water

Spices:

• salt to taste
• 1 heaped Tbsp. whole cumin
• cinnamon sticks (1)
• whole cardamom pods (5)
• bay leaf (1-2)
• 1 tsp. roasted cumin powder (slowly roast whole cumin in a dry pan over slow heat and then grind the amount you need in a mortar. roasting gives for a more intense flavour. for a quicker alternative, add powdered spice in some heated oil and swirl it once. )
• 1 tsp. roasted coriander powder (see roasting instructions above)
• 1 heaped tsp. tumeric
• 1/2 tsp/ paprika
• 1/4 tsp. ground red chilli pepper

Add spices according to your taste/threshold, no need to measure exactly.

Steps:

1. Wash rice several times, until water on top becomes clear. Soak rice for 1/2 hr if possible (soaking rice makes it cook faster and makes rice softer and longer)
2. Chop onions into med. size pieces
3. Cover the base of a heavy pot or pressure cooker with canola oil, heat on medium-high
4. Once oil has heated add whole cumin seeds (to test put one seed in oil and if it crackles or quickly rises it is ready). This part is crucial, do not over cook the seeds or they will burn, become bitter and the base of your dish is caput. Instead, watch it carefully, and in a few seconds it will be done.
5. Immediately add onions after seeds, to avoid over cooking seeds. Cook till onions become pink.
6. Add minced garlic and ginger to onions. Both garlic and ginger cook fast, so do this step lickity-split!
7. Add cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, bay leaf, roasted cumin powder and coriander powder-stir quickly so nothing sticks to the pot.
8. Drain the rice, add rice to pot and mix well. The rice should be coated with the oil. Keep stirring.
9. Add tumeric, paprika and red chilli powders. The rice should be slightly yellow because of the tumeric.
10. Add peas and ground rounds "soy keema" -stir.
11. Add 2 cups water (ideally hot water) to cover rice and maybe a few inches above the rice line. For every cup of rice, 2 cups water is the rule. If your rice is well-soaked or if you are using a pressure cooker, the water should be adujsted accordingly. Also note that if you are using a pressure cooker you do not have to soak rice. A rough rule of thumb, literally, is to have the water level at the 1st segment of your three-segmented finger, when placed over the level of the rice - try and see if it works for you.
12. Keep stirring (don't worry the stirring will be well worth it, the rice does not become sticky this way), add salt. I have always been bad at adding salt. The best way to know if you have added enough is to taste the water on top of the rice, and if it is slightly salty- its good.
13. Let the mixture boil, once it does boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer until the water has evaporated and little holes form on top of the rice.

When it is done, remove from heat and do not cover, otherwise your rice will get soggy.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

You can eat it with some Gujarati Soy Raita (SOYersion Yogurt side dish)- will add that recipe to the next post!

This dish lasts a few days, it makes enough for 4 people and some leftover lunch the next day.

Chocolate-Almond Mousse

With the great success of the mousse I made last week, Matt has been asking me to make mousse again and again. Here is the recipe I made last night.

*Ingredients* 1 package soft tofu, 1/4 cup cocoa, 2-3 tsp raw sugar (adjust to taste), 1/2 tsp almond oil (I use this instead of essence - it's extract in vegetable glycerine instead of alcohol).

Method: Blend all ingredients for 4-5 minutes or until very smooth. Serve and garnish with fruit. Cool for an hour or so, if possible, before serving - this will help it set. Makes 4 servings.

Spiced Potato Pancakes

We got a huge bag of potatoes in our fruit and veggie basket this week. We aren't really potato people, since we prefer to eat or veggies raw or almost raw. However, since we didn't want the potatoes to go to waste I whipped up this recipe, which turned out to be delicious - and well liked by Ronan!

Ingredients: 6-7 medium red potatoes, 1 medium yellow onion, 1/3 cup unsweetened soy milk, 3 tbsp sunflower oil, 2-3 tsp sea sail, 1/2-1 tsp black pepper (freshly ground is best), 3/4 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp oregano (flakey not ground too much), 3 tsp flax seeds, 1 cup brown rice flour.
***All of the herbs and spices should be adjusted according to your flavour fancy. I like spiciness, so I tend toward the upper end of the measurements.

Method: Finely grate the potatoes (no need to peel them, just make sure they are really clean) and onion (wear ski or swim goggles if your eyes are sensitive, as grating onions can be very irritating to the eyes). In a big bowl combine potatoes and onion with all the other ingredients. Let the flavours develop for a few minutes while you heat up a frying pan. Make a ball from the batter and then place it on the pan, then smash it a little with a flipper to make it flatten out - about 1/2 inch thick. Let it cook at medium for about 10 minutes, or until browned. Then cook the other side, slightly less time. Serve with soy sour cream, salsa, or other sauce. They are even delicious plain. Make about 12 pancakes with a 3 inch diametre.

Strawberry-Orange Mousse

Made this on a whim the other day. Matt wanted a dessert. Sorry that there's no photo - I didn't have the blog in mind when I whipped this up.

*Recipe*

Ingredients:
1 package soft tofu, 500 grams frozen strawberry (about 2 cups), 1/2 tsp orange oil, 1/4 cup soy milk, 1/4 cup vegan icing sugar, 2 tbsp non-hydrogenated vegan margerine.

Method:
Blend all ingredients in a food processor for about 3-5 minutes. Serve in bowls or on top of fruit. Delicious. 3-4 servings.

Green Apple and Raspberry Zza

I've long dreamed of making a living preparing food for other people. Perhaps a bakery...catering...a cafe. At the very least I'd love to publish a book of recipes. So here....today...I will start to archive my creations.
This one I made the other day with leftovers from Ronan's birthday party (filo pastry) and fruits that needed to be used before we went away for the weekend. It turned out great!

*Recipe*

Ingredients: 3 sheets of vegan filo pasty, 2 green apples, cup of fresh raspberries, pinch of cinnamon, spoonful of raw sugar, a few drops of canola oil.

Method: Lay the sheets of pastry flat, one on top of the other, though slightly rotate each one so that the sheets make a six pointed star. Cut up apples into bite sized peices. Mix apples, raspeberries, cinnamon, and sugar. Place mixture in the centre of pasty. Fold up the pastry to enclose the fruit. Place a drop or two of oil between each peice of pastry as you close it, so as to 'glue' it shut. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Serve. Fruite will be crunchy but warm and delicious. Serves 2 pigs or 4 regular appetites. Garnish with cinnamon for eye appeal.