Maple-Drunk Apple Pie

The perfect apple pie is a bit like a movie-star crush- so delicious and tempting, yet so unattainable.

When I set out to make my first apple pie years ago, it was pretty scary. There were so many things to watch out for. The fat had to be really cold. It had to mix in with the flour in "pea-sized" pieces (impossible!). The apples had to be the right kind.

Meanwhile, there was so much that could go wrong. You could make the pie dough too sticky or too dry, and either way it would be hard to roll and transfer to the pie plate. The apples could throw out too many juices, making a watery mess in your pie plate and turning even a perfect crust soggy. Why, even the temperature outside could sabotage your best intentions-- if it happened to be too warm, good luck with keeping the fat from melting into the dough before its time!

Needless to say, the first few times something always appeared to go wrong, no matter how hard I tried. Still, Desi, my very own apple-pie fanatic, seemed to enjoy them, and I kept at it.

Eventually, as with everything, practice began to make things just a bit easier. This past weekend I felt bold enough to try my hand at making a pie that I'd modified in many ways to make this sinfully rich dish as nutritious as possible. After all, if you're going to ingest the calories, why not put them to work for you?

An apple pie is fairly easy to adapt to a vegan kitchen While many recipes, including this one which I adapted from the Joy of Cooking, tout the flavor that butter brings to the crust, traditional recipes have usually called for shortening. And the availability of zero-trans-fat vegetable shortening, which has less saturated fat than butter, makes the choice easier. Shortening also produces a flakier crust because it remains solid at room temperature, unlike butter. I would guess substituting half the shortening with a vegan butter proxy like Earth Balance would also work.

I substituted the all-purpose flour typically used in the crust with whole-wheat pastry flour- I find that the whole-wheat pastry flour, in addition to being nutritionally superior, adds a great, nutty taste. I also used maple syrup instead of sugar, which added a richness that more than compensated for the lack of butter.

As you can see, I tried my hand at making a lattice top- maybe the second time I've tried one. The end result wasn't fabulous visually, but it wasn't bad either. What's more, it tasted delicious. And that was the proof of the puddin'...or in this case, the pie!

Maple-Drunk Apple Pie
Ingredients:

For the crust:

2 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour

1 cup zero trans-fat vegetable shortening

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

Iced water

Mix together the dry ingredients.

Break the shortening into small lumps and add to the flour.

Using a fork, cut in the larger-sized pieces of shortening until you have some small lumps (pea-sized or smaller) dispersed through the flour.

Add iced water one tablespoon at a time and mix with the fork until the dough comes together in a ball. (You'll be better off erring on the side of a bit too sticky versus too dry here.)

Divide the dough into half, shape into discs, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

For the filling:

5-6 medium Golden Delicious Apples, sliced thin

1 cup maple syrup (you can cut down on this by about 1/4 cup if the apples are sweet enough. Mine were a bit tangy)

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp powdered cinnamon

1/2 tsp powdered cardamom

1/2 tsp powdered nutmeg

1/4 tsp powdered cloves

1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

Mix all the ingredients for the filling together and set aside for about 15 minutes, turning them around once in a while so the apples soften which will make it easier to fit them inside the pie pan.

To assemble the pie:

Take one of the discs of the pie dough and, working on a floured surface, roll out to slightly wider than the diameter of a 9-inch pie plate. Turn the crust often while rolling to ensure it doesn't stick.

Transfer the crust to a pie plate. Refrigerate while you get the rest of the pie together.

Now roll out the other crust and, using a pizza cutter, cut into 10 strips.

Remove the refrigerated pie crust (in the pie plate and pour the apple filling into it, adjusting with a ladle to ensure it is evenly spread.

To form the lattice, place half the strips across the pie, at roughly one-inch intervals. Fold back alternate strips and place a strip across those already in place. Unfold the alternate strips, fold back the remaining strips, and place another strip across the pie. Continue doing this until you've used up all the strips.

Using your fingers, pinch together the overhanging dough at the edge of the plate. You can try your hand at making a prettier edge by pressing down the edges with the tines of a fork.

Brush the top of the pie with a mixture of 1 tbsp maple syrup and 1 tbsp soy milk. This gives the pie a lovely glaze when baked.

Place in a preheated 425-degree oven and bake 30 minutes.

Slide a baking sheet under the pie and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Continue to cook for another 30 minutes until you see juices bubbling through the lattice.

Remove and cool thoroughly on a rack before cutting into wedges. It will take about 3-4 hours for the pie to cool completely. I know that's too long to wait for pie, but believe me, it takes that much time for the juices to thicken.

Enjoy!

This Maple-Drunk Apple Pie is my entry to Meeta's Monthly Mingle: Comfort Foods at What's For Lunch Honey?

A Mean Veggie Moilee

Lush palms, backwaters that snake eternally, and beautiful people - Kerala has got to be one of the most exquisite places I've ever been to, and just writing about it now fills me with a deep longing to return.

Growing up in Bombay, I had lots of Malayali friends. I ate like a glutton at their homes, gazed enviously at their long, luxuriant tresses, and listened wistfully when they told me about the time they spent back in their beautiful native land over the summer vacation. But it was only a couple of years ago, on a business trip and after moving to the United States, that I first visited this beautiful, vibrant land.

It took my breath away. It was all I had heard of and so much more. In the city of Cochin I discovered the rich history and throbbing heart of this state, as well as some of the most wonderful food I had eaten in a long time. The appams, the aviyals and the curries were to die for.

Walking around the market in Cochin packed chock-a-block with stores selling everything from books and jewelry to souvenirs and artifacts, I gazed most longingly at the spice stores, their wooden shelves lined with jars and jars of cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

I returned to the United States with a few precious bagfuls and each time I hold some in my hand, I dream of the time when I will go back for more.

The dish I am about to share with you today, a vegetable moilee, draws a lot of its richness and sweetness from another signature Kerala ingredient, coconut milk. I adapted it from one of my oldest and most favorite cookbooks: Modern Cookery for Teaching and the Trade, by Thangam Philip, one of India's most legendary cookbook authors and the former principal of the Institute for Hotel Management in Bombay. This book, recommended to me by a friend years and years ago, is a bit like an Indian Joy of Cooking and one I often refer to when I need a recipe I can trust will turn out great.

A Mean Veggie Moilee

Ingredients:
1 tbsp canola oil

1 red onion, sliced thin

2 tbsp ginger, grated

2 sprigs curry leaves

2 green chilies, slit

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 13.5 ounce can of coconut milk

3 cups of chopped mixed vegetables (I used carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes and green peas)

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1/2 lemon or 2 tbsp lemon juice

Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the onions, curry leaves, chilies, ginger and a pinch of salt and cook on medium-low heat until the onions turn translucent.

Add the turmeric and mixed vegetables except peas and about 2 tbsp of the coconut milk with 1 cup of water. Cover and cook about 10-15 minutes until the veggies are tender.

Add half of the remaining coconut milk, the peas, the lemon juice and tomatoes.

Let the moilee come to a slow boil.

Add the remaining coconut milk and turn off the heat.

Serve hot with rice. I cooked a Tamil rice dish, Puliodarai to go with the moilee. The sweetness of the moilee and the tang of the Puliodarai were perfect together. The moilee, however, would also be great with some plain boiled white rice.

This moilee is my entry to RCI: Cuisine of Kerala, hosted by Jyothsna at Currybazaar. Thanks, Jyothsna, for letting me get in under the wire.

Amma's Puliodarai

Puliodarai, or Tamarind Rice, is one of my favorites.

Tamil cuisine includes a plethora of "prepared rice" dishes, including lemon rice, tomato rice, coconut rice and brinjal rice. But tamarind rice is quite special. When I first ate it at my in-laws' home, the irresistibly tangy tamarind, spicy chili and nuttily sweet peanuts burst into an explosion of flavors in my mouth.

Indian temples often serve this delicious rice in their kitchens and most Tamil homes usually have a jar of the tamarind sauce, or Pulikkachal, on hand at all times. Each time we visited Chennai from Bombay, Amma, my mother-in-law, would send us back home with a big jar that we'd enjoy for months.

Sometimes, on nights when the whole family was together, she would mix up a big plate of puliodarai and feed each and every one of us by hand. Amma has passed on since, but I still remember her loving touch each time I make this dish, many years later and miles away in my kitchen here in the United States.

This one is for you, dear Amma.

Amma's Puliodarai

Ingredients:

For the tamarind sauce (pulikkachal)

1 large lime-size ball of tamarind, soaked in about 4 cups of water. When the tamarind softens, crush it with your fingers to extract all the juice, and discard the solids.

2 red chilies

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tbsp chana dal (bengal gram)

1 tbsp udad dal (black gram)

2 tbsp peanuts

1 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil

A generous pinch of asafetida (hing)

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Dry-roast the fenugreek seeds until they darken slightly to a reddish hue.

In a tiny bit of oil, fry the red chilies. Remove, and use a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

In a spice grinder, powder the fenugreek and chilies along with about 1/2 tsp of salt. Set aside.

Heat remaining oil and add the mustard, asafetida, chilies, chana dal and udad dal. Fry for a minute, then add the peanuts.

Once the peanuts start browning, add the tamarind sauce, the chili-fenugreek powder, and check seasoning. Add more salt if needed.

Let the tamarind sauce reduce on a low flame until it has thickened to a consistency almost like that of molasses (it'll even look a little like molasses with the dals and peanuts suspended in it, but won't be as sticky)

This sauce will store for weeks if kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

To put together the Puliodarai:
2 cups boiled white rice (I used basmati because I love the taste and the fact that the grains do not mush easily, making for a pretty presentation)

2-3 tbsp of the tamarind sauce.

1 tsp canola oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp peanuts

1 sprig curry leaves

Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds. When the crackle, add the curry leaves and peanuts and fry until the peanuts turn pale brown.

Add the peanuts, mustard and curry leaves to the rice along with the tamarind sauce. Mix thoroughly. Add more tamarind sauce if you need.

Enjoy!

Easy-but-Spectacular Roasted Potatoes with Cilantro and Lemon

I love potatoes, but then, who doesn't?

Even those folks who claim to "hate" veggies -- believe it or not, they exist-- usually make an exception for the simply spectacular spud. Fried, boiled, roasted or mashed, potatoes are always delicious.

The bad rep potatoes have earned over the years as being fattening and unhealthy is quite undeserved. Sure, a large serving of french fries is loaded with calories, but then no food would be healthy deep-fried- not even spinach. Besides, moderation is always the keyword. Eaten in satisfying but sensible portions, potatoes can be health stars-- they contain good carbs, a ton of minerals, including potassium and manganese, that are located just under the skin (so don't peel the spuds for maximum benefit) and other goodies like fiber and even protein.

I like my potatoes crunchy, but I also like them without too much fat. So I roast them with a little bit of olive oil, along with some simple spices like garlic powder, turmeric and chili powder, which gives them the crunch without adding unwanted calories. A spritz of lemon juice, a sprinkle of cilantro, and you have a wonderful side-dish that's yummier than any order of french fries.

And this one's not going to stay on your hips for a lifetime.



Easy-but-Spectacular Roasted Potatoes with Cilantro and Lemon

Ingredients:

4 medium red potatoes (you could substitute with white), cubed into 1-inch chunks

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

Salt to taste.

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Wedges of lemon or lime

Mix all the ingredients (except lemon and cilantro) on a baking sheet, making sure the potatoes are coated evenly with the spices and oil.

Cover loosely with foil and bake in a 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes.

Remove the foil and continue baking for another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked and golden-brown.

Transfer to a bowl and add cilantro. Serve with wedges of lemon and spritz with lemon juice just before serving (don't add the lemon before serving as it can cause the potatoes to lose their crunch.)

This is my entry to The Potato: A Blog Event at Eating Leeds

Step Lightly For the Animals

As used as we are to our modern lives, not many of us stop to think about how heavily we are treading on the earth, and what irreparable harm that causes the creatures we share this world with.

We drive our cars profusely, think nothing of notching up the heat in the winter, and grab disposable coffee cups without a qualm. There still are people at my workplace who print reams and reams of reports on single-sided paper, and then forget it at the printer. A day later it gets tossed into the trash (or the recycling bin, hopefully) and they print it all over again.

The other day I watched the movie, Arctic Tale, that tells the stories of a polar bear cub and a walrus calf, both born around the same time in one of the earth's most beautiful and remote regions. From the moment of their birth, the two babies are in a battle for survival against predators who would love to have them for lunch. But a new danger soon starts to emerge, and it is a far more devastating one than any single enemy: global warming, which is melting the ice to a degree where it starts becoming impossible for the starving animals to find food.

The movie, which I found even more engaging than Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," (let's face it- it's far easier to watch cute polar bears and walruses romping around than Al posturing in front of fancy graphics), ends with a bunch of kids talking about the little changes we can make in our day-to-day lives to help save the planet and all its creatures.

Here are just a few simple changes all of us can make right now, if we haven't already:

1. Save energy-- replace your regular light bulbs with CFLs. They are widely available now, work great, and are getting cheaper by the day. Turn off the lights in a room you're not using. Dress warm inside the house in winter-- I always am blanketed in layers of sweaters and socks-- and turn on the heat only if you have to.

2. Reduce your trash-- learn to prepare foods from scratch, so you reduce the number of packaged items you buy. Also, try to buy goods with as little packaging as possible. Importantly, learn the value of reusing and recycling stuff so that you do not rob the earth of its natural resources. Discover yard sales and thrift stores and Web sites like freecycle.com-- I promise, you'll be addicted.

3. Bike or walk or take the bus-- this is something I am still working on, but hope to accomplish this year. Despite all we hear about the problems surrounding our dependence on oil, and the pollution that vehicles cause, most of us find it extremely difficult to take the step toward reducing our car use. Biking and walking are great alternatives, and they come with the added benefit of exercise!

4. Go vegan! Everyone knows by now (even if most choose to ignore it) that a meat-free lifestyle is far easier on the environment because animals raised for food are among the heaviest contributors to pollution. I personally can vouch that going vegan also improves your quality of life-- since I went animal-free, I've found it easy to maintain my weight, feel far healthier and am much more active than I ever was. I also eat far better and with far less guilt because I know that most of my food choices are inherently nutritious.

Delicious Crispy Dosa with Mixed-Veggie Sambar and Coconut-Cilantro Chutney

Being married to a Tamilian, I learned long ago to love Tamilian food. It was not a hard thing to do, by any means: Tamil Nadu cuisine is chock-full of such palate-pleasing delights as sambars, rasams, dosas and idlis. This South Indian state even gave the world the popular Mulligatawny Soup (milagu tanneer, or "pepper water" in Tamil).

Desi, my hubby, has a particular love for the food of his native land. While he enjoys anything I put before him, his eyes do light up just a little bit brighter when the food happens to be something he remembers his mom cooked for him when he was a little boy growing up in Chennai.

I feel a little guilty then that in all these years, I've very rarely tried making dosas, something most of us have enjoyed at one time or another at least at an Indian restaurant. Crispy and delicious, they are usually served up with a small bowl of steaming, spicy sambar and another bowl of green chutney.

But making dosas can be intimidating even to an otherwise experienced cook. While making the batter is quite easy--you do have to pay attention to the consistency--it is spreading the dosa into that perfectly thin round on a hot griddle that is the most daunting part. In fact, each of the handful of times I've tried in the past, I've messed it up.

This week I finally decided I had to take up the challenge of making a dosa at least as close to, if not as good as, the one Desi remembered from his childhood. To my own surprise, all it took was for me to shed my incredible fear of making mistakes while spreading the batter on the hot griddle. Once I did, I found that it was not that difficult, after all, and even some small mistakes in my novice technique did not ruin the end result. The dosas came out crisp and very delicious, and Desi was impressed!

To dunk the dosas, I made a mixed-vegetable sambar and green coconut-cilantro chutney. It was a perfect meal.

Delicious Crispy Dosa!

1 cup rice (I used a regular long-grain rice but you can even try this with parboiled rice, which is the traditional choice, or brown rice).
1/3 cup udad dal (black gram)
2 tbsp chana dal (bengal gram)
1 tbsp fenugreek (methi) seeds

Mix all ingredients and cover with water. Let it soak at least six hours or overnight.

Drain and then grind to a smooth paste in a blender, adding some water if necessary. The batter should be thin enough to spread, but thick enough to coat the back of a ladle. (You can let the batter stand for several hours, if desired, to allow it to ferment slightly, the way it would be done in a regular Tamilian kitchen. I skipped this step because Desi doesn't like the taste of fermented batter.)

Heat a non-stick or cast-iron griddle. Test to see if it is hot enough by sprinkling a few drops of water on the griddle. The water should sizzle and evaporate immediately.

Spread a thin film of oil on the griddle.

In a round ladle, take about 1/2 cup of the dosa batter. Pour the batter into the center of the griddle. Then, quickly, use the back of the ladle to spread the batter in a circular motion, moving rapidly outward. The dosa has to be very thin in order to be crisp. If you'd like a softer texture, you can make the dosa thicker.

Pour a few drops of oil around the dosa and on top of it. Spread the oil with a spatula.

When the underside turns golden-brown, flip and cook for a few more seconds.

Serve hot with chutney and sambar.


Mixed-Veggie Sambar


2-3 cups of vegetables, chopped into a 1/2-inch dice and cooked in a microwave oven until tender(I used daikon radish, white pumpkin and carrots. Potatoes, eggplant, or any other pumpkin squash would also be delicious in this).

1 cup tuvar dal, cooked until tender.

1 lime-size ball of tamarind, soaked in 1/2 cup of water, or 1 tbsp tamarind extract mixed with 1/2 cup water. If using regular tamarind, once the tamarind has softened, crush with fingers to extract all the juice, then discard the solids.

1 tbsp sambar powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

Fry lightly in 1/2 tsp of oil and grind together:

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1/2 tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds

2 red chillies

1 pinch asafetida or hing

1 tbsp chana dal


For tempering:

1 tsp canola or other vegetable oil

2 sprigs of curry leaves

1 tsp mustard seeds

In a large saucepan, boil the tamarind water and the ground spices along with the sambar powder and turmeric for about 2-3 minutes.

Add the vegetables and dal and salt to taste.

Let the sambar cook on medium-low heat about 10-15 minutes until the flavors merge together.

Heat the oil for tempering in a small saucepan. Add the mustard and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds sputter, add them to the sambar. You can add about 1/2 cup of diced tomatoes to the oil after the mustard seeds sputter, and cook until they start to break down, before adding it to the sambar.


Coconut-Cilantro Chutney:

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup cilantro leaves

1 green pepper, such as jalapeno, chopped

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp canola or other vegetable oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

5-6 curry leaves, cut into thin strips.

Put the coconut milk in a blender along with the green pepper, cilantro and lemon juice and salt to taste.

Process until smooth.

Heat the oil in a small saucepan. Add the mustard and curry leaves.

When the mustard seeds sputter, add to the chutney.

Black Bean Hummus with Olives

I've blogged before about my hummus recipe, made with the traditional chickpeas. But today I wanted to introduce you to a different version of hummus that's just as delicious and extremely healthy: Black Bean Hummus with Olives.

If you have visited this blog before, you know that I focus on foods that are healthy as well as delicious. While I don't obsess with fat and don't believe in cutting it out of meals altogether, I do try to ensure that the fats my family does consume, in limited quantities, are healthy, unsaturated ones. After all, our bodies do need some fat to function effectively and unsaturated fats are even believed to reduce cholesterol levels. Plus, who're we kidding, they add a zing to most foods.

One of the big advantages of a vegan lifestyle is, the fats you eat tend to be free of cholesterol and, usually, saturated fats, which are predominant in animal products.

This black bean hummus contains fats from both olive oil and olives, which as we know is a healthy fat and actually good for your heart. The black sesame seeds I use in the recipe also contribute heart-healthy fats known to reduce both cholesterol and blood pressure. Black sesame seeds can be found in most Indian and Asian grocery stores.

And black beans, of course, are super-nutritious with loads of cholesterol-reducing dietary fiber, and protein. What's more, they are packed with more antioxidants than any other bean.

This black bean hummus tastes great with some pita bread or even with crudites. Put it out at a party and I promise you, it will be gone before you know it!

Black Bean Hummus with Olives

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked black beans (use canned or dried. If using dried, soak for several hours or overnight and then cook until tender. If using canned, drain and rinse thoroughly)

1 14-oz can black olives

1/4 cup black sesame seeds, powdered in a spice grinder (can substitute with white sesame seeds or 1/4 cup tahini)

1 tbsp lemon juice

3 large cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp red pepper like cayenne or paprika

1/2 cup parsley, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt to taste


Put all ingredients except the salt and olive oil in a food processor. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until the ingredients form a smooth paste.

Add some water if the mixture is too thick. Add salt to taste.

Remove to a bowl.

Sprinkle with some red pepper and a few drops of olive oil as a garnish.

Serve with pita bread or crudites.

Creamy Tomato Coconut Curry

One of the dishes that I cook over and over again is this richly decadent Tomato Coconut Cream Curry.

It is an ideal recipe for someone who is new to cooking Indian food -- or just new to cooking -- because of its sheer simplicity. There's no grinding, complicated spice mixes and marinating required. Once you have all the ingredients on hand, it takes just minutes from start to finish.

All you need to accompany this curry is some boiled white rice, like basmati, and some papad or some oven-roasted potatoes, for a dinner that's out of this world.

One quick note: While I often use canned tomatoes while cooking, especially during winter when fresh tomatoes are not easy to come by or just too expensive, this is one of those dishes where fresh tomatoes are absolutely necessary. Because canned tomatoes taste too acidic, the resulting preparation would just not have the luscious sweetness that makes this dish so special.

Tomato Coconut Cream Curry

Ingredients:

2 medium tomatoes, well-ripened and diced

1 14-oz can coconut milk (you can substitute with light coconut milk but the end result will be more acidic, although still delicious)

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 pinch asafetida or hing (optional)

1 tsp canola oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

Salt to taste


Heat the oil in a saucepan.

Add the cumin seeds and asafetida.

When the cumin sputters, add the tomatoes, chili powder and turmeric.

Let the tomatoes cook on medium heat about 5-7 minutes until most of the tomatoes have broken down.

Add the coconut milk and salt.

Warm through but turn off the heat before it comes to a boil.

Serve hot with rice.

Sweet-Aloo Paratha with Dill-Flavored Cabbage Subzi

When I cook, nutrition is as important to me as taste: I am a big believer in food as medicine.

Ayurveda, the ancient Indian art of holistic healing, holds it that every meal you eat should have all the six tastes in it: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, and astringent. When that's the case, not only does the food taste better, it is good for you too.

I wanted to share with you today my recipes for Sweet-Aloo Paratha and Dill-Flavored Cabbage Subzi because together they comprise a meal that's not just nutritionally complete, with all six tastes, but also delicious and pleasing to the senses. The many layers of flavor in this meal come from the atypical use of some typical Indian ingredients.

The sweet potato and the wheat in the paratha contribute sweetness. The tomatoes in the subzi and the twist of lemon in the parathas add the sour taste. The kasoori methi leaves (or dry fenugreek leaves) in the paratha provide the bitterness, while the chili powder and the ginger, also in the paratha, provide the pungency. The salt provides the saltiness, of course, and finally, the astringent taste is provided by cabbage, a veggie that's as delicious as it is good for you.

The recipe for the subzi is based on one I found in a book to which I often turn when I want Indian food with a slight twist: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi. While the author uses ghee and dairy products liberally in her cooking, I usually don't find it difficult to get very tasty results by substituting with canola oil and coconut milk.

I hope you will enjoy this very special meal, and come back for seconds!

Sweet-Aloo Paratha:

Ingredients:

1 cup whole-wheat flour or durum wheat flour

1 tsp oil

1/2 tsp salt.

Using water, knead into a smooth dough. Set aside.

For the filling:

2 medium sweet potatoes, cooked soft. (I just stab it with a knife all over and put in the microwave for about 5-7 minutes until soft).

1 tbsp ginger

2 tbsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves available in Indian grocery stores)

1 tsp chili powder

2 tsp chaat masala (also available in Indian stores)

1 tsp lemon or lime juice

Salt to taste

Peel and mash the sweet potatoes. Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. The mixture should be fairly smooth and dry.

Take a ball of the dough, about the size of a small lemon.

Roll it into a disc about 4 cm in diameter.

Place about 2 tbsp of the filling in the center.

Roll out another disc of the dough to the same size.

Moisten the edges of this disc with water and place on top of the disc containing the filling.

Press down on the edges to ensure a tight seal.

Using some flour, roll out the paratha to about 7 cm in diameter.

Heat a griddle and coat with a very thin layer of oil

Place the paratha on the griddle and cook until golden-brown spots appear.

Flip and cook the other side, applying a little oil if necessary.

Serve hot with the cabbage subzi.


Dill-flavored Cabbage Subzi:


Ingredients:

1/2 large cabbage or 1 small one (about 5 cups), chopped thinly.

1 tbsp canola or vegetable oil

1 14-oz can of diced tomatoes (can substitute with 2 fresh tomatoes, diced)

1 cup peas

2 tbsp dill, chopped

Grind to a fine powder:

1 tsp cardamom seeds

1/2 tsp cloves

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp ajwain seeds (can substitute with cumin)

In a large skillet, heat the oil.

Add the tomatoes and half the ground spices. Let the sauce cook until it has thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.

Add the cabbage and stir until coated with the tomatoes and spices.

Cover and cook on a medium-low flame about 15-20 minutes until quite tender.

If you are using fresh peas, add them now. If using frozen, wait another five minutes until the cabbage is completely tender, then add.

Once all the vegetables are cooked, add the remaining spices and salt to taste.

Add the dill and mix thoroughly.

Serve piping hot with the Sweet-Aloo Paratha.

Vegan Venn Pongal with Eggplant-Green-Pepper Gotsu

This week, one half of my family (Desi's side) celebrated Pongal, the beginning of the new year for people from the state of Tamil Nadu. Like all Indian festivals, this is an occasion to guzzle down plate after plate of lovingly prepared luscious, delicious vegetarian food.

There are some very special dishes that are traditionally prepared for Pongal. Called Venn Pongal and Sarkarai (Sugary) Pongal, both are made with rice and mung lentils. But with the addition of just a few other ingredients, one takes on a dashing, spicy avatar not unlike risotto in texture, while the other becomes a gooey, voluptuous sweet. Amazing.

This year I made only Venn Pongal, or the spicy one, because I am trying to scale back on the sweets after the holidays. I had one major challenge: the flavor of Venn Pongal depends quite a great deal on ghee, or clarified Indian butter, which is something of a mainstay of any kind of celebration food in an Indian kitchen.

I just left it out, seasoning instead with a little canola oil and some coconut milk. The result was delicious. I served the Pongal with another traditional dish, Eggplant-Green-Pepper Gotsu, which, thankfully, did not need any special treatment in a vegan kitchen.

Happy New Year, everyone, and hope you enjoy this traditional fare with a twist.

Vegan Venn Pongal:

Ingredients:

1 cup rice
1 cup mung lentils (mung dal)
1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
1 tsp black pepper, crushed
1 tbsp ginger, grated
2 tbsp chopped cashewnuts or peanuts (cashewnuts are the traditional choice, but I substitute with peanuts sometimes)
1 tsp canola oil
1/2 cup coconut milk
Salt to taste

Cook the rice and mung lentils together, preferably in a pressure cooker or rice cooker, until soft.

Heat the oil in a skillet. On medium-low heat, add the cumin seeds, pepper and ginger and stir for a minute.

Add the nuts and stir until lightly golden.

Add the rice-lentil mixture. Stir and add some water if it is too dry.

Add the coconut milk and salt to taste.

Stir thoroughly until the rice is soft and creamy in texture, about a minute or two.

Serve hot with gotsu (recipe below)

Eggplant-Green-Pepper Gotsu:

Ingredients:
1 cup mung lentils, cooked until soft.
1 medium eggplant, cubed in a small dice (about 1 1/2 cm square)
1 large green pepper, also diced to the same size as eggplant pieces
1 large tomato or two medium ones, diced
1 onion, diced
1 tbsp ginger
1 tbsp rasam powder (recipe follows, but you could use store-bought)
1 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
Salt to taste
1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

Put the eggplants and pepper in a microwave-safe container and cook for five minutes on high for about 5 minutes or until the eggplant is tender.

Heat oil in a saucepan. Add the mustard seeds and when they crackle add the onion and saute for about 2 minutes.

Add the ginger and stir.

Add tomatoes and cook until they start to break up.

Add the cooked vegetables, moong dal, and rasam powder. Stir thoroughly.

Cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes until the flavors merge and the vegetables are very tender.

Add salt to taste. Serve hot with the Vegan Venn Pongal.

Rasam Powder

Ingredients:

1 tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds
1 tsp Yellow split peas or tuvar dal
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp Bengal gram or Chana dal
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 red chilies
1 tsp turmeric
8-10 curry leaves

On low heat, roast all ingredients except turmeric in a skillet until the spices are lightly browned and the curry leaves are dry. Add turmeric and grind to a fine powder in a spice grinder.
Store in an air-tight container.

Nutty Pumpkin Bread

Nut breads are among my favorites to both bake and eat. And why not? They have all the luscious richness of cake, but you can enjoy them without the guilt. Sure, they contain sugar, but there's also the wonderful goodness of fruit like banana or mango - or a veggie like Pumpkin, in this case. I make it even more healthful by baking with whole wheat pastry flour which is a perfect and better-for-you alternative to all-purpose flour. I have found that adding some molasses to the recipe always makes a great difference to the final taste. The bread, or cake, tastes richer and the sweetness is more rounded.
I also use a mix of spices- ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves- to give the bread a tantalizing complexity that takes it beyond just breakfast food.
I am dedicating this recipe to the lovely Bess-- a friend who makes my adopted country seem more like home. Happy eating, Bess!

Nutty Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

Dry:
1 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 tsp cinnamon, ground
1/2 tsp nutmeg, ground
1/2 tsp ginger, ground
1/2 tsp cloves, ground
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup walnuts or pecans or a mix, lightly toasted then chopped

Wet:
1/3 cup almond milk + 1 tsp vanilla
6 tbsp canola oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp powdered flax seeds + 5 tbsp water
1 cup pumpkin puree (I used canned)

Mix together thoroughly all the dry ingredients except the nuts and keep aside.
In a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat together on medium speed the oil, sugar and molasses until well-mixed, about 3-4 minutes.
Add the flax-powder-and-water mixture and applesauce and mix until blended
Add pumpkin puree and mix until blended
Add the flour mixture in 3 parts alternating with the almond milk-vanilla mixture in 2 parts. Mix on low speed until the batter is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary to ensure all ingredients are well-mixed.
Add the nuts to the batter and mix with a spatula.
Pour the batter into an oiled loaf pan. Bake about 50-60 minutes in a 350-degree oven or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool on a rack about 15 minutes before unmolding. Let the bread cool on a rack (although I can never resist a warm slice!)
Enjoy!

Fusilli with Mouthwatering Dill-and-Artichoke Pesto

With a unique flavor that dances on your tongue hours after a meal, Dill is perhaps one of the most potent herbs out there, and one of my favorites. In Bombay, where I grew up, we ate it as a vegetable. I remember my mom buying huge bunches of fresh dill from the vegetable market to make a mouthwatering side-dish flavored with simple spices.
Dill is great in a variety of dishes -- you can add it to plain rice to spike up the flavor, and it is a wonderful garnish for bean and lentil dishes, although be warned that it will tend to overshadow most other flavors. This lovely herb is also said to offer potent health benefits, including protection against free radicals and carcinogens.
My dill-artichoke pesto requires just about half a cup of dill, although you can use more if you want a stronger dill flavor. I used canned artichokes because I had a huge bottle gifted by a friend that was waiting to be used up. It was a marinated variety with a strong vinegar-sour flavor, but some silken tofu mellowed that down while adding a great creaminess as well as good protein.
As I always do, I used whole wheat pasta which has tons of fiber and protein and tastes really great. The fusilli spirals hold the sauce beautifully, making each bite an explosion of flavors.
I threw in some vegan"meatballs" that I had remaining from my Spaghetti with Sun-dried Tomato Pesto and Mushroom "Meatballs" although this dish would be just as tasty without them.

Fusilli with Mouthwatering Dill-Artichoke Pesto

Ingredients:
1 13-oz box of whole-wheat Fusilli pasta, cooked according to package instructions (if desired, add about 1 cup of green beans, chopped into 1-inch pieces, to the pasta water five minutes before the pasta is fully cooked)
4-5 artichoke hearts (I used canned but you can go with frozen if that's what you have on hand)1/2 cup chopped dill
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup walnuts
1 cup silken tofu
Salt to taste
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil2 green or red bell peppers + 1 tsp olive oil
10-12 vegan "meatballs" (optional)
1 tbsp parsley, chopped + 1 tbsp dill, chopped, for garnish

Put the dill, artichoke, garlic, red pepper flakes, walnuts, tofu and salt in a food processor and with the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
In a skillet, heat 1 tsp olive oil and add the bell peppers, chopped in a one-inch dice. Cook about 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until it begins to just get tender and brown spots appear on the skin.
If using "meatballs," add them to the skillet along with the bell peppers.
Finally, drain the pasta and place in a large bowl. Add 1 cup of the pasta water, the cooked peppers, meatballs and pesto to the bowl and mix thoroughly but carefully. Garnish with chopped parsley and dill. Serve.

Cutie Pie

I've been blogging occasionally about my five kids, and today I want to introduce you to Pie, my gorgeous shorthair cat who is pitch-black with eyes that change color every minute.
Those who live with multiple animals will tell you that one of the most amazing discoveries they make is that no two animals, even those of the same breed, are really alike. Each of my dogs and cats has a distinct character and temperament. Each has their own likes and dislikes (apart from the universal love of all dogs for walks and treats, of course), each has their favorite activity around the house or outside it, and each responds differently to each family member, human or otherwise.
Pie is as different from Pubm (who we adopted her with when they were both six) as night and day. Although we were told they are sisters when we adopted them, they are more like two grumpy old women who tolerate each other's presence. While I am sure there is some love lost there, most often their interaction is limited to a lot of hissing and angry meowing, usually over food.
While Pubm is well-integrated with our dogs, Pie chooses to stay away from them. But in her quiet, dignified way, Pie is the queen of them all, including Desi and me. She is temperamental: she will roll around on the floor seeking a tummy rub, but the minute she's had enough she will royally bat off your hand . She keeps the dogs in their place, hissing at them if they dare to cross over into her territory. Even Opie, my intrepid chow mix who doesn't think twice before butting his nose into everyone's business, is a little wary around Pie. It may have to do with the bloody nose she gave him long ago, when they were both new in our home.
Pie's absolute favorite thing in the world is catnip. Rub a little into her favorite toy and she becomes entranced by its fragrance-a regular catnip junkie. She even tries to get into the jar where we store catnip. This past Christmas we bought her a little "catnip" seat. The base of the seat has a little bag to which you can add catnip, and needless to say, it's become her favorite place to hang out.
Look for yourself- isn't she just beautiful?

Fingerlickin'-Good Bitter Gourd Pitlai

The bitter gourd (karela in Hindi or pagarkai in Tamil) is a veggie that usually inspires people to extreme love or extreme distaste. It is no star looks-wise, with a warty, bumpy green skin and big flat seeds. But it is the taste, evident in the name, that evokes the strongest passions.
In India, bitter gourd is prized for its medicinal properties: Ayurveda, the ancient Indian practice of healing the body holistically, has it that bitter gourd purifies the blood, enhances circulation and cleanses the liver.
When I was a child, my mom would find innovative ways to get my brother and me to eat it, like smothering it in a ton of jaggery (unrefined Indian sugar) or deep-frying it. But no matter how she disguised it, it was always hard to swallow.
When I began to cook, I shunned the bitter gourd for a long time. When I did cook it, on the insistence of my hubby Desi who seemed to have an unusual love for it, I would soak it in tamarind-and-salt water, peel off the skin, and try every possible way to de-bitterize it.
But sometime, in some way, this persistent veggie crawled under my skin and into my heart. I began to look forward to finding it when I visited the Indian grocery store here in my city, and I almost squealed with delight when I first found it in the aisles of an Asian grocery store in my neighborhood.
I cook this veggie now in many different ways, but my favorite is bitter gourd pitlai, a lentil-based dish that tones down the bitterness of the gourd to just the right level with spices and coconut milk. The result is simply delicious.

Fingerlickin'-Good Bitter Gourd Pitlai

Ingredients:

4-5 bitter gourds, deseeded, then chopped into a medium-small dice
1 lemon-size ball of tamarind, soaked in about a cup of water. After the tamarind softens, crush it in your fingers to extract all the juices from it. Discard the solids.
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
2/3 cup of tuvar dal (yellow lentils) and 1/3 cup of bengal gram (chana dal) cooked until tender
2 sprigs curry leaves

For the masala:

1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp bengal gram (chana dal)
1 tsp black gram (udad dal)
2-3 red chilies, broken into pieces
1/2 cup coconut milk

Roast the first four ingredients for the masala until reddish. Grind into a smooth paste with the coconut milk.

Boil the pieces of bitter gourd with half the tamarind water, adding more water if necessary, until the vegetables are tender. Drain and reserve.
Heat the remaining tamarind water in a saucepan.
Add the ground masala and let it simmer for a couple of minutes
Add the cooked mixture of bengal gram and tuvar dal and the drained bitter gourd.
Add salt to taste and simmer about 10 minutes
Heat oil in a separate saucepan. Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once the mustard seeds sputter, add to the cooked Pitlai.
Serve hot with rice.

Crispy Eggless "French Toast"

One of my favorite snacks from my childhood, this Crispy Eggless "French Toast" is wonderfully vegan.
Although I call it a "French Toast," it doesn't have anything in common with the original dish other than the method of preparation and the fact that the chief ingredient is bread. In this version, herbs and spices perfectly compliment the crunchy chickpea flour coating.
My parents would deep-fry the toast, but I am not a huge fan of deep-frying for assorted reasons. So instead I shallow-fried the toast in just about a tablespoon of canola oil. The results were just as good, and you get the yummy, golden crunch without the calories.
They also used white bread- the only kind of sliced bread you found in India in those days. I used whole-wheat for healthier results. I do concede, though, that using white, thin-slice bread might result in an even crispier toast.
This snack, served with some plain ketchup, is perfect with a hot cup of Indian masala chai. Mmmm...bliss.

Crispy Eggless "French Toast"

Ingredients

3 slices of whole-wheat bread, each slice cut into half
1 tbsp canola oil
1 cup chickpea flour (besan)
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds, powdered
1 tbsp coriander or parsley, chopped fine
Salt to taste

Mix all ingredients other than the bread and use some water to make a thick, pancakey batter.
In a non-stick or cast-iron skillet, heat 1 tbsp canola oil.
Dip each bread half into the batter and coat thoroughly on both sides. Place the slices in a single layer in the skillet (Based on the size of your skillet, you might have to do this in batches).
Cook until the underside is golden-brown, then flip over and cook the other side.
Serve hot.

Not-for-the-Faint-of-Heart Garlicky White Bean Soup

I love beans- there are more than a dozen different types of beans and lentils in my pantry at all times, and this was true even in my pre-vegan days. I love soaking them, sprouting them, cooking with them- and needless to say, I really love eating them.
Apart from the fact that beans are very, very healthy with tons of fiber and high-quality protein, what makes them so wonderful is how multifariously delicious they are. Black beans are robust and earthy and impart tons of flavor to any dish. Garbanzo beans are nutty and flavorful and easily assume centerstage when they are added to a recipe.
But white beans are extra-special: creamy and delicious in their own right, they are still happy to pass on the spotlight to any spices and flavorings you add to them.
In my Not-for-the-Faint-of-Heart Garlicky White Bean Soup, I used a whole bulb of garlic for a one-two flavor punch. You could reduce the amount if you prefer a milder taste, although I'd advise a minimum of at least six cloves.
You could also try roasting the garlic first to tamp down its pungency. To me, though, it is the garlic that makes this dish screaming hot.
This recipe requires a handful of ingredients, which makes it perfect for the busy cook. If you are using dry, not canned beans, though, remember to first soak the beans, at least for a couple of hours but preferably overnight. Soaking the beans breaks down the complex sugars that cause gas formation- a big reason some people shy away from these nutritious nuggets.
Accompanied by some rice or crusty bread, this soup spells comfort food. Believe me, there's nothing better on a winter evening.

Not-for-the-Faint-of-Heart Garlicky White Bean Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup of dry white beans soaked for a couple of hours or preferably overnight. Throw away the soaking liquid, cover the beans with fresh water, and cook until tender. You can substitute with two cups of canned beans, rinsed thoroughly.
1 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup white wine
12 cloves garlic, crushed into a paste or passed through a garlic press.
1 tsp ginger, grated
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup light coconut milk (can substitute with half regular coconut milk and half water)
Salt to taste
2 tbsp parsley, chopped

Heat oil in a saucepan. Add the onions and saute for a couple of minutes, then add the garlic, ginger and wine. Let it cook, stirring a few times, until the liquid evaporates and the onion starts to change color.
Add the pepper, salt and beans with either 1 cup of the water they were cooked in, or 1 cup of plain water or vegetable stock. Mash the beans lightly with the back of a ladle to crush some of the beans, but leave some whole. This will help thicken the soup.
If the soup is too thick, add more water or stock.
Let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes.
Add the coconut milk and let the soup just warm through before turning off the heat.
Garnish with parsley and serve piping hot!

This recipe is my entry to the event "My Legume Love Affair" at The Well Seasoned Cook.

Hot and Spicy Radish-stuffed Flatbread

Daikon radish, called mooli or mullangi depending on where you are in India, packs a mean health punch.
Extremely low in calories, this white root vegetable is said to aid digestion and contains tons of fiber. Its spicy pungent taste also makes it ideal for salads.
The root is usually sold along with the leafy green tops which have the same peppery taste, although milder. The greens make a great side dish by themselves if sauteed in a little oil with mustard seeds and green chilies and salt.
I sometimes add the root, chopped, to the greens when I saute them, or use it to make sambhar. But this time I decided to go with an old family favorite-- mooli parathas, which translate in English to radish-stuffed flatbreads.
Anyone slightly familiar with Indian food has likely had a paratha- and most likely it's been the popular aloo paratha, or a paratha stuffed with a potato filling. But other veggies can just as easily be used to make parathas, either as a stuffing, or incorporated into the dough itself while kneading.
Parathas are great because they offer a chance to eat more vegetables without seeming to make an effort (although neither Desi nor I need any convincing to eat our veggies!). The stuffings I make are also always oil free and since a minimum of oil is required to actually cook the parathas themselves, they are inevitably a healthy as well as delicious choice.
For the paratha dough, I use durum flour, which is a wheat flour with wheat bran added to it, but you could substitute with whole wheat flour without changing the taste results. Also, you could vary the amount of spices like the chili powder and chat masala based on your individual taste. Don't be afraid to experiment- there's not much that can go wrong here. The one important thing to remember, though, is to squeeze every last bit of water out of the grated radish (instructions below) because even the tiniest bit of water in the stuffing can make it difficult to roll out the parathas.
Mooli Parathas are a great way to try out a veggie that very rarely gets the spotlight, but which is quite a star in its own right.
I'd love to hear from you if you decide to try it out- also feel free to ask any questions.

Hot and Spicy Mooli Parathas
(Makes 4-5 parathas)

Ingredients:
1 cup durum flour or whole wheat flour
1 tsp canola or other vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
Water

Mix the dry ingredients and knead with enough water to form a stiff but smooth dough. Add just a little water at a time. If the dough gets too sticky, add some flour. You can either do this by hand, in a stand mixer, or in a food processor.

For the stuffing:
1 large daikon radish or 2 medium-sized ones, grated fine, mixed with a pinch of salt, and placed in a colander to let the water drain out.
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp chat masala (available in Indian grocery stores)
2 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste

Squeeze all the water out of the grated radish so it it very dry (be thorough with this step)
Mix the radish with the remaining ingredients (from the ginger to the salt)
Divide the dough into large lemon-sized balls (about 4-5) and then divide each ball into half.
Roll each half into a round about 5 inches in diameter. Place about a tablespoon of filling into half the rounds.
Moisten the edges of the remaining rounds with water and then place them on top of the rounds with the filling in them.
Press down the sides to seal them well.
Flour both sides of the paratha and roll it out into a slightly bigger round, about 6-7 inches in diameter. Be gentle and turn the paratha often while rolling to make sure it doesn't stick to the surface.
If there is a tear in the surface, just patch it with your fingers, put some flour on it, and keep rolling. It won't make any difference to the taste!
On a heated griddle, smear about 1 tsp of oil. Place the paratha on the griddle and cook each side until golden-brown spots appear all over the surface. You can brush the surface lightly with oil, if desired.
Serve hot with any chutney or even simply with a vegan butter-substitute spread. An Indian mango pickle (available in Indian groceries) would be great with this dish.

Palak "Paneer" with South Indian Lemon Rice

Palak Paneer is a popular North Indian dish that is on the vegetarian menu of just about every Indian restaurant. But for those of us who are vegans, this rich and spicy spinach-based dish comes with a catch - the cubes of deep-fried Paneer, or Indian cheese, puts it on our list of can't-haves.
Enter the tofu. It is amazing what you can do with this wonder food if you take a little bit of time to prep it. Marinated in the right ingredients, it makes a wonderful substitute for the paneer- a better one, in my opinion- and it comes minus the saturated fats and calories. Unlike the paneer which always seems to take on a tough texture when cooked, the firm tofu that I use in this recipe retains its silkiness and does a great job of absorbing the marinade and the flavors of the spinach. I also don't deep-fry the tofu as one would the paneer. Instead, I shallow fry it in just about a tablespoon of oil which gives the same golden-brown results.
My Creamy Vegan Palak "Paneer" is quite delectable and would stand up quite easily to its non-vegan counterpart on any restaurant menu. And what's more, this dish really is good for you.
To go with the Palak "Paneer" I made the subtle but absolutely delicious Lemon Rice which is a signature South Indian dish. It takes minutes to put together, and is a great way to use up leftover rice.

Creamy Vegan Palak "Paneer"

Ingredients:

For the tofu "paneer"

1 block of firm tofu.
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp chili powder or red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp turmeric (optional)
1 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste

Swaddle the tofu in a paper napkin and place in a colander. Put a heavy weight, like a cast-iron skillet, on top of the tofu and let all the water drain out, for about half an hour.
Cut the tofu into cubes of roughly one inch.
Make a marinade with the ginger, lemon juice, olive oil, chili powder, garam masala, salt, and turmeric, if using. Put the tofu cubes in it and let it stand about 30 minutes to an hour, turning it a couple of times to make sure all the surfaces absorb the marinade.
In a cast-iron or non-stick skillet, heat 1 tbsp of oil. Add the tofu cubes to the oil once its hot, and let cook until each side is lightly golden. Be gentle as the tofu is delicate! Reserve.

For the spinach

2 bunches of spinach, chopped roughly and boiled in about 1/4 cup of water until tender, then pureed.
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander seed powder
1/2 tsp turmeric (optional)
1/2 tsp chili powder or red chili flakes
1 14-oz can of diced tomatoes or 2 tomatoes, diced
1 tbsp ginger, grated
1 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil
1 tbsp cornflour whisked with 1/4 cup of almond milk
Salt to taste

Heat the oil. Add the cumin and coriander powders as well as the chili powder and turmeric, if using. Let it warm through for just a few seconds, then add the ginger and, after a few more seconds, add the tomatoes with any liquid.
Let this cook on a medium flame until the juice from the tomatoes is almost evaporated. Now add the spinach puree and salt and let the mixture simmer for about 8-10 minutes.
Now add the almond milk-cornflour paste and mix thoroughly. This will thicken the mixture slightly so you don't have a pool of water floating under the bed of spinach when you serve it.
Add the tofu cubes at the end and wait until it just warms through.
Garnish, if desired, with tomato wedges or caramelized onions and serve hot with puris or rice.

I served this Palak "Paneer" with lemon rice which is a pretty easy dish to put together if you have all the ingredients. It looks and tastes very special.

South Indian Lemon Rice

1 cup cooked rice (I used basmati but you could use any long-grain rice or even brown rice. Make sure the grains are separate and not sticking together)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds (optional)
1 tbsp cashew nut pieces
2 red chilies, broken into 1-inch pieces
1 tsp udad dal (also called black gram and found in Indian grocery stores)
1 tsp chana dal (also called Bengal gram and available in Indian groceries)
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander
Salt to taste

Heat the oil. With the stove on medium heat, add the cumin seeds and when they sputter, add the chilies, the two dals, the fenugreek seeds and, finally, the cashew nut pieces.
When everything turns golden, in about a minute or two, add the turmeric and salt and stir. Then add the rice and the lemon juice. Turn off the heat and mix gently, taking care not to mash the rice.
Garnish with coriander and serve hot.

Black Currant Scones Fit For A Queen

Terrifically healthy and delicious, it is possible to have these egg-free, dairy-free scones and eat them too.
I substituted the cream traditionally used in scones with soy milk, and that resulted in a great improvement in their nutritive value without really sacrificing any of the taste. I did use a small amount of zero-trans-fat vegetable shortening - 3 tbsp - in this recipe, mainly to create that flaky texture that makes scones so irresistible. But the shortening replaced butter in the original recipe, and since zero-trans-fat shortening has fewer saturated fats than butter, the substitution is still a healthier option.
A friend who is quite a foodie declared these the "best scones she had ever tasted." But judge them for yourself.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Whisk the ingredients together in a bowl. Add:

3 tbsp zero-trans-fat vegetable shortening
3 tbsp canola oil

Mix together gently until the pieces of shortening are no more than the size of peas and the mixture looks crumbly.
Add 1 cup currants or raisins

Whisk together and add:
2 tbsp flax seed powder mixed with 6 tbsp water
1/2 cup soy milk or almond milk

Mix together until the mixture just comes together in a ball. Do not overmix. Transfer to a floured surface and pat the ball into an 8-inch disc. Using a pizza cutter or a knife, cut the disc into 8 wedges, like a pizza.
Transfer the wedges to a cookie sheet and to a 425-degree preheated oven. Leave at least 1/2 inch of space between the scones.
Brush the tops of the scones with some soy milk.
Bake for about 14 minutes or until the tops are browned lightly. You can either let them cool on a rack or serve them warm either plain or with vegan spread and jelly.

Compassion Oatmeal Cookies

Today's recipe for my Compassion Oatmeal Cookies is dedicated to all those pioneer vegan bakers out there who, through experimentation and innovation, have eased the way for others like me to bake animal-free versions of traditional goodies without sacrificing an iota of taste or flavor.
Anyone who's learning to bake always hears how baking, unlike cooking, is more science than art. How all the ingredients serve an exact purpose. And how veering even slightly from the measurements and ingredients in a recipe could mean grim consequences- or tough ones or flat ones or just plain tasteless ones.
As a result, most of us have accepted the role of eggs and dairy products like butter and cream in baking without question.
But vegan bakers challenged this notion. The options they suggested appeared a little quaint and even esoteric to those of us not used to natural foods. They asked that we substitute eggs in a recipe with tofu or cornflour or flax seeds and water. Replace dairy with soy milk. And they told us that replacing butter with oil would not really result in a discernible change in taste.
They also pointed out some little-known truths: that chocolate, for instance, could be vegan.
When I first began to bake, as a vegan, I scoured the Internet for suggestions for substitutes to animal products used in baking. I then began experimenting with them, gingerly at first and even a little sceptically. To my surprise, the results were pretty good. What's more, they challenged me to think and to experiment until I was producing results I could be really proud of. What also appealed to the health nut in me was that most of the substitutes also ended up making my favorite baked goods healthier. I was hooked.
I often tell friends who enjoy eating my vegan Compassion Oatmeal Cookies that they come as close to guilt-free eating (in every way) as any cookie ever will. They are chock-full of nuts, oats and whole wheat goodness, but what's better, they are absolutely scrumptious.


Compassion Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

Mix together in a bowl:
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon or nutmeg, or both

Gather the remaining ingredients:

1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp flax seed powder + 5 tbsp water
1/4 cup applesauce
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup canola oil
3 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup pecans or walnuts, lightly toasted and chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Beat the sugar, molasses and oil on medium speed with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer until well-combined
Add the flax seed mixture, applesauce and vanilla extract and mix for another 2 minutes.
Add the flour mixture and mix until the batter is smooth.
Stir in the oats and the nuts and mix well.

Grease a cookie sheet. Drop heaping tablespoons of the cookie batter on the sheet (this recipe makes 36-40 cookies). Bake about 10 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through the baking.
Remove from the oven - the tops of the cookies should be very lightly browned. Let the sheet stand on a rack for 2 minutes, then remove the cookies from the sheet and transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

Healthy pancakes may sound oxymoronic, but actually they are very possible.
Pancakes are a favorite breakfast food for many of us, and if they can be made healthy, while retaining all of the fluffy, yummy goodness that we love, then why not?
My first step to making pancakes healthier while adding to the taste factor starts with substituting the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour. The improvement in taste is remarkable because the whole grain adds a rich nuttiness. Whole wheat pastry flour, which is made from a light whole grain, is low in gluten and a perfect substitute for all-purpose flour in most baked goods, other than delicate cakes and breads. At the same time it also adds to the nutritive value of any food it goes in because it contains large amounts of fiber and protein.
Flax seed powder mixed with water substitutes for eggs here, and I use soy milk instead of dairy - all healthier options than the ingredients one would normally use while making pancakes. I also use canola oil instead of butter, and the difference is...well, there is none.
My Whole Wheat Pancakes are decadence for breakfast- and they prove that delicious food can be good for you, and vice versa.

Whole Wheat Vegan Pancakes

Ingredients:
Dry:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
Mix the dry ingredients well and set aside.

Wet:
1 1/2 cups soy milk
2 tbsp flaxseed meal mixed with 6 tbsp water
3 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Mix together the wet ingredients and add to the dry. Mix gently until the dry ingredients are just moistened. There should be some lumps remaining in the batter.
Heat a nonstick or cast-iron griddle. Smear lightly with a few drops of canola oil. Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter on the griddle and let it cook until bubbles appear at the top of the pancake and the underside is golden-brown. Flip over with a spatula and cook the other side until it is lightly browned.
Serve hot with a pat of vegan spread and maple syrup.