Craving Vegan

New camera! January 14, 2010

We recently scrounged together some money to purchase a new camera. It is really fun, but I have a ton to learn. Above are tamarind lentils from Veganomicon, eggplant bharta and jasmine rice mixed with red bhutanese rice.

I really like the red bhutanese rice because it is a whole grain that cooks within 25 minutes. It also takes fantastic!

Below is a pizza we made with an experimental purchase of prebought crust. The sauce is alfredo #2 from Vegan Comfort Food mixed with pesto. Sooo good.

Thanksgiving ’09 November 28, 2009

Oh my, no photos from thanksgiving? What’s the point of this post, then?

Well, I am a bit shy to take photos at night with my current camera. Excuse #2 is that I was too busy cooking and eating and enjoying the 5 other people in my home!

We had thanksgiving yesterday and made:

• 2 tofurkeys
• mashed pototoes (red)
• green bean casserole (one half mushrooms, one half chickpeas)
• punk rock chickpea gravy
• crescent rolls (found vegan, trans-fat free ones!)
• agave glazed carrots and apples
• pumpkin pie (whick kind of sucked)
• bread stuffing with leeks, celery and RED BHUTANESE RICE!!
• onions confit

I am sorry for no pictures, but I am enjoying these leftovers a lot. Not to mention, I also get out of cooking for a few days. Although, I do need to make pesto and freeze it because I have a ton of basil in the fridge, yum!

Malai Kofta November 28, 2009

Malai Kofta, made by me

J, my brutally honest taste-tester, has a quirk about him that you might observe in your own friends: he only orders one thing from each kind of restaurant he patronizes. If it’s Thai food, he always gets phad thai; if it’s American, he gets an omelette; and if it’s Indian, he always gets malai kofta. In fact, J keeps a mental list of all of the malai kofta he has gotten from restaurants and ranks each establishment by it’s ability to make this dish.

I, personally, would rank the restaurants by their naan, but malai kofta is a worthy contender because the ingredients can vary so much but the spirit of flavor must remain constant. The word “malai” actually means cream, and kofta “dumpling.”

I’ve only tasted malai kofta from a restaurant once. Since then I have become vegan and it is never vegan anywhere I have visited. My attempts to recreate this dish are based on a vague memory. I like all of the recipes I have gotten off the net, so far, but none of them resemble what my husband orders at each indian food place we visit.

My go-to recipe for now is from Manjula’s kitchen, enjoy!