More green smoothies!

Banana
pineapple
plum
dill leaves
topped with soaked sabja seeds.

Sunflower microgreens, Mango and pineapple

Wheat grass, lemon, dates, tulsi.

Mango, peach, plum, lettuce.

Mango, pineapple, peach, dates, tulsi, ceylon spinach.
Tasted like green apples!!

Will keep adding as more combinations are experimented with!
Of course one may decrease increase the quantity of leaves and fruits to suit one's taste buds!

Sambhar

How do we make the sambhar?
Every one will have a unique recipe.  Each region from the south of India will have a regional twist to this healthy dish.
Some add jaggery to it, some add coconut, some make it with specific vegetables only. Kerala even has a sambhar with only the shallots or small onions!

I?
I add any and every vegetable, whatever is available!  hahaha.

Ingredients;
1 cup tur dal
1/2 kg mixed vegetables, diced.
1 tsp turmeric powder.
1 tsp red chilli powder.
2 tsp sambhar powder (There are many organic varieties available. this can be made at home and stored too, will update when I do that next.)
1/2 tsp asafoetida.
1 small ball of tamarind.
1 tsp mustard
1 small red chilli whole.
2-3 twigs of curry leaves.
Salt to taste

Process:

Soak the tur dal for 1 hour.
Place into a cooker vessel.  (Be sure to use ONLY steel vessels and steel pressure cookers.  The aluminium ones have a tendency to  lace our food with aluminium, leading to slow toxicity and other health issues.)
Add half spoon of turmeric.

In another cooker vessel, place the diced vegetables. Do not remove the skin as far as possible.  Here I have used brinjals, carrots, bottle gourd, tendli, red pumpkin, suran. Add about two cups of water.  Add the chilli powder and remaining turmeric powder.
Place the vessels one upon the other with the dal vessel below.
Allow to cook till three whistles.
Then put the flame on low and allow to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.

If using drumsticks, boil them seperately and add to the cooked vegetables.
If using okra or bhindi, steam them for 5 minutes and then add to cooked vegetables.

Meanwhile soak the tamarind.

Once cooked, remove the vegetables into a wider thickbottomed vessel.
Mix in the boiled tur dal.  If the dal is not mashed, use a thick spoon to mash it up well before adding in with the vegetables.
Bring to a boil, then add in the asafoetida and salt as required.
And the soaked tamarind--make it into a pulp before adding in.

Mix well.
Add in the sambhar powder.   Mix well and allow to boil for half a min or more.

Take off the flame.

Temper the mustard in a small thick bottom pan, without oil.
See the procedure in the chutney recipe.

The sambhar is ready, to be served with brown rice, or red rice idli, or dosa.

Vegan cheese cracker

Well, though I have named this cracker, it tastes more like the Monaco, without the oil, milk solids and preservatives!

Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup roasted peanuts
1 cup dry coconut powder
1 to 2 cups of wholewheat flour
1 small onion, finely sliced (can use onion powder if available)
1 tsp rock salt (or as per taste)
1 tbp black pepper
1/2 tsp yeast slightly heated to make inactive. ( Can use nutritional yeast instead.)
1/2 tsp cane syrup or date syrup (optional)

Procedure:

1.  In a mixie jar, grind together the peanuts and the sliced onion.  Add water as needed to make smooth paste.  Then add the yeast.

 2. Slightly grind the pepper pods.

 Measure the dry coconut powder and keep it ready.

3.  Add the pepper, salt, and coconut to the earlier mix.

4.  Grind all of them together.  Then add in the flour to make a soft dough.  Beat it well.

Then make small balls and roll out the dough.

 5.  Use a fancy cutter to cut out beautiful shapes.  I have used a playdough cutter which we had lying around!

 Makes beautiful flowery shapes.

6.  Preheat the oven at 250 degrees for 15 minutes.
Place the flowers on a baking tray.  I do not use aluminum sheets.  These have enough oil from the peanuts and coconut to prevent sticking.  But if your dough is too sticky you may dust the tray with flour or peanut powder, or sesame seeds before placing the crackers in.

7.  Bake the crackers for 15 minutes or till slightly brown.

The crackers have a cute center formed due to raising while baking!  Didnt see that coming!
What a pleasant surprise!

And the remaining dough I made into a few rectangles.

Such a beautiful looking treat!

Okay, now I am just going overboard with the snaps and my admiration.  Hahaha.

Makes an excellent school snack, or after school snack.
Stays for a week or more.
Have used all organic ingredients, and not a drop of oil.

Excellent taste, and healthy as well! What else do we want!

Variations:
Those allergic to peanuts, may use two cups of dry coconut and skip the peanuts.
Those not wanting to use onions can skip that, or can try ginger or grated carrot instead. Havent tried that. If you do, let me now how that turned out.
Can flavor with ajwain (carom seeds) as well.  I love that flavor too, will try this next time!

Eggplant/Baingan in peanut gravy

Baingan or brinjal or eggplant--that vegetable that most of us hate!
As a child I was told Roses were covered with thorns because they were delicate.
I figured, baingan was covered with thorns, because we arent meant to touch them!
(Yes, I had the good fortune to grow up in a home surrounded by farms! )

Transitioning to the vegan lifestyle did nothing for my relationship with the humble eggplant.
It was the organic lifestyle that forced me to look at this little vegetable as a potential friend.
We took our time to befriend each other resulting in searching online and researching in the kitchen all kinds of recipes, which would be tasty as well as can be converted into whole, no oil, no sugar.
And then we hit the jackpot with this one.
So here I present,
The Baigan in Peanut Gravy!

Ingredients:

Baby baingan - 12  nos

For grinding:

Peanut - 1 cup

Coconut (grated) - 1 cup

Red chillies- 4 nos (more if you like it spicy)

Curry leaves- Few

Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

Garam masala- 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder- 1 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Salt- As reqd

Amchur(dry mango powder)(if not available use tamarind paste/water) - As reqd

Process:

Step 1. Heat a thick bottom steel/iron pan. Add peanuts, roast till it becomes slightly brown, add jeera, urad dal and red chillies. Roast for a few seconds till urad dal turns brown.

Step 2. Add grated coconut and roast till light brown.You will see the mixture become a little bit oily.

Step 3. Add all the ingredients except brinjal, curry leaves and amchur/tamarind paste/water and roast for a few seconds. Turn off stove.

Step 4. Wait for it to cool and then grind the mixture without water. 

 

Step 5. Slit brinjal/baingan so you can stuff the above ground mixture into the brinjal. There would be extra mixture left for the gravy.

Step 6. Put on a steamer and steam the stuffed brinjal for a few minutes.

Step 7. In a thick bottom pan (you can use the one in which you roasted the masala),  add the remaining ground mixture and tamarind water. Bring to a boil. 

 

 Slowly slip in the steamed brinjals one by one, taking care not to spill them or open them up.  Cover it with lid and cook for 5-10 mins. 

Step 8: Put the stove off, and garnish with curry leaves and cover with a lid.  The flavor of the curry leaves will seep into the curry. 

Our Brinjal Peanut Gravy is ready to be served.

Goes well with brown rice, chapatis, bhakris, or whole wheat brown bread.

Papaya Pineapple Green smoothie

Is it possible to get addicted to something healthy?

If it is, would you call it bad?

For me the latest "addiction" is the morning smoothie.

I have been trying out various combinations, and most times the results have been yummy.

 General rules to keep in mind when it comes to mixing up smoothies:

1. Sweet fruits and sweet sour fruits can go together.
2. Sour fruits are a category of their own.
3. Fruits and vegetables never go together.
4. Once in a while can add soaked nuts to create texture, and dried fruits for sweetness.
5. Green leaves can go well with fruits or vegetables.
6. Melons can be combined with other melons only.
7.  While fruits like bananas and papaya can be used every day, its wise to keep pineapples and watermelon as "treat" options.
8. Pulpy fruits form the best base for green smoothies.

 Today's green smoothie :

Recipe:
1/2 a medium sized papaya (very ripe)
1/2 a small sized pineapple
1 bunch of fresh curry leaves.

 Process:
Blend them together.  No sieving.
Tastes best if the fruits have spent sometime in the refrigerator!

Wishing all a very healthy start to your day!

The vegan cheese spread

Cheese.
That addiction that stops us from giving up dairy products.
What if there was a healthy and more compassionate alternative?

My internet exploration brought me the vegan cheese spread, made of cashew.

Recipe:
1 cup cashew nuts
salt to taste
spices of your choice, if required.

Process:

Soak the cashew nuts in water for four hours.
Drain the water and adding just about enough water, grind it to a smooth paste.
Add in the salt (and the spices if required)  In this spread I have added basil leaves and a pinch of red chilli.
Pour it in a glass jar with a loose covering, with enough space on top.  It tends to raise.
Store  in a cool dark place for around 48 hours.

There, our cheese spread is ready!

To make for more solid cheese, use less water.  Just make sure that the grinding process does not overheat the cashews.  Once the oil starts separating, the cheese does not form properly.