The Vegetarian Meals Thread

Thanks for a great thread Madhuri !

I do lots of cooking, and experiments. Lately I've been working out how to best use raw organic cacao beans, ways to use coconut oil, and how to make cheese from homemade yoghurt.

The yoghurt cheese (which I guess is a variant of panir) is excellent stuff, and very easy to make. Just use three folds of cheese cloth spread in a bowl, pour in the yoghurt, and collect up the edges of the cheese cloth so the yoghurt is nicely contained. Use string or elastic band to hold the top of the cheesecloth together, and hang the ball of yoghurt so the whey can leak out. Leave it for a day. Maybe in the fridge if it's a hot environment. Otherwise peg it to the clothesline.

You will have a ball of soft white cheese, something like Philly cream cheese. Very versatile...

I decided to bake some in a pan. Sprinkled with salt and cumin powder and baked at a moderate heat until the cheese was golden brown.

Delicious ! Throw chunks into a stir fry or salad.

Enjoy

I'm about to start making yoghurt with coconut milk - if it works, we can enjoy vegan cheese !

Papoon said:

I'm about to start making yoghurt with coconut milk - if it works, we can enjoy vegan cheese !

Click to expand...

Do tell how it turns out!

And post pics when you've made it!

Eggplant Lasagne:
Slice eggplant
cook dry for a few minutes on each side
make lasagne as you usually do but with the slices of eggplant as your pasta
cook until done
Eat and enjoy!

Stir fried green beans, peppers and Tofu

crossfire said:

Do tell how it turns out!

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My first experiment was kinda successful - enough to encourage a second attempt. I used canned coconut milk, which separates into watery and creamy components in the can. I used the whole can, and it was setting but didn't reach full set in the time yoghurt usually does. I started using it in cooking before it went off - I don't have a fridge. It made great lassi (yoghurt based drink). Today I heard of a store selling coconut yoghurt and soy yoghurt (also frozen as ice cream), so I know I can perfect it. Next time I will just use coconut cream.

Madhuri said:

And post pics when you've made it!

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Will do ...still on the case
I'm just loving coconut lately. I use coconut oil now exclusively instead of butter. On toast, frying potato chips...whatever. Butter was just about my favourite food for my whole life until a few months ago. Never thought that would change. But coconut oil is so much better ! And I don't have to worry about cow abuse. The milk is after all for their young - who become veal. Australia is not India...
I digress.
Pics soon

Gluten free banana bread ... I did a little variation on it today. (The Hindu temple I go too quite regularly has this abundance of overripe bananas and I hate to see things go to waste.)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1tsp baking soda
- sugar ... anywhere from 0 to 1 cup, I used about a third of a cup, not a fan
- 5 very ripe bananas, mashed
- half a cup of yoghurt
- some walnuts, half a cup
- grated coconut to taste, I used about a quarter of a cup. (We get 'free' coconuts too, from same place. I grate it and freeze it for storage.)
- 1 cup of gluten free flour
- 2 tablespoons of coconut oil or other shortening

Mix it all thoroughly, bake in a bread tin (grease it first) at 325 for an hour, or until the toothpick comes out dry, or almost dry.

Eat warm 10 minutes after.

I'm not a vegetarian but I found a really delicious straightforward recipe for a Vegetarian African Peanut Sweet Potato Stew/Soup that I like. A few things I'd change about this would be to double each ingredient because it doesn't make enough imo, the water really starts to evaporate. I'd also suggest adding beans to make it a bit heartier, a teaspoon of coriander, some cayenne pepper powder if you want it spicy and using tomato sauce instead of paste. I happen to use chicken broth instead of veggie in mine and also add ground beef but obviously you can skip those, they aren't in the original:

African Peanut Stew (vegan) - Budget Bytes



It just ended up being one of those recipes that looked extremely weird on paper but worked out well when you follow it through.

Just so you know, not everything I eat has bacon or anchovies.
I'm a big fan of Indian veggie food.

(Not a meal but a cake, but this seems like a good spot to post it...)

One of the yummiest cakes ever and it's so easy to bake. Of the "optional extras" in the recipe, I added 3 soft figs plus some crystallised ginger and a 1cm cube of fresh ginger. Drool....

Recipe:
Easy Ginger Cake - Egg and Dairy Free!

A little involved but worth it especially for @Revoltingest

Honey chilli potatoes
Cut 3 medium sized potatoes into fries shape.
Put them in salted water, and boil for about 5 mints.
Drain them, and dab them with 1/4 table spoon of maida and rice flour each.
Now make batter of 1/2 cup maida and rice flour each, salt. And water to make thick batter.
Add those dabbed fries too this batter, mix them in batter, coat them nicely and fry them in oil dropping individually like bhajji
Fry them till light brown.
Now for the sauce,in a wok
Take 2 tbsp of oil, add 2 split green chillies, garlic (6-7 cloves finely chopped), 1/2 tsp sesame, one small onion, capsicum diced, add salt, saute for a minute, add light soy sauce 1/2 tsp, red chilli sauce (1 table spn).mix well. Add water 1/2 glass or as you need it. Add dissolved corn flour to make thick sauce. Allow to thicken. Add fresh ground pepper, chopped spring onions. Off the gas. Add fries too the sauce. Add 2-3 tsp of honey once Luke warm. Never to add honey in hot dishes or never cook honey. If you like acidity, you can add tamarind water to the sauce. Garnish with roasted sesame.



Kande pohe (Maharashtrian dish - flattened rice with spices)

Ingredients:

• Peanuts,roasted 1/4 cup
• Raisins 1/2 tablespoon
• Pressed rice (poha) 2 cups - available in most Indian grocery stores
• Oil 2 tablespoons
• Mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon
• Cumin seeds 1 teaspoon
• Asafoetida a pinch
• Green chillies,slit 1 (may omit if you are squeamish about spicy food)
• Onion ,finely chopped 1 medium
• Potato,peeled, sliced thickly 1 medium
• Turmeric powder 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt to taste
• Sugar a pinch
• Fresh coriander leaves,chopped 2 tablespoons

Method:
Wash pressed rice under running water, drain excess water and allow to stand for ten to fifteen minutes. Heat oil in a non-stick pan, add mustard seeds and once they splutter, add cumin seeds and saute for half a minute.

Add asafoetida, green chillies, curry leaves, onion and saute till the onion is golden brown. Add potato and mix. Sprinkle little water, cover and cook till potatoes are cooked.

Add pressed rice, turmeric powder, peanuts, salt and sugar and toss well. Cover and cook for another five to seven minutes. Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.

Alright, just to let you know, Butternut Squash Lasagne totally rocks! (you can get the recipe online.)

crossfire said:

Alright, just to let you know, Butternut Squash Lasagne totally rocks! (you can get the recipe online.)

Click to expand...

And butternut squash soup is also delicious and is one of my favorites.

The internet is full of recipes and videos. if you can read and have a computer it's easy to find a ton of stuff. Boss and me are more experiential in our cooking, rather than following recipes. One we came up with recently was black glutinous (sticky) rice and black bean burgers. It's a bit hard to find sticky rice some places, but look for the word glutinous. There is glutinous red, white, and brown as well. Boss chanced upon glutinous black while browsing out local large supermarket (Superstore in Canada). It was the only rice left on the shelf during a period of hording, and there was lots of it, which in itself says something about people's fear of the unknown.

Long story short, you just cook it like regular rice, watching it some, as each new variety of rice varies. (Check the international foods aisle at Walmart) Then we stirred in a can of pre-cooked black beans (mashed some) (easier than cooking/soaking dry beans from scratch, but more expensive). The stickiness of the rice made it really easy to form into patties for grilling in the oven. We added the usual ... pepper, some chili, some finely chopped onion, some garlic salt, and maybe some garam masala, and then just let them grill for 20 minutes or so. Keeping you hands wet while forming the patties helps not getting the stickiness all over you. They look sort of weird ... really black, as if burnt.

The fact that it's glutinous keeps it all together. We made about 20, planning to refrigerate some for the next coupla days, but they were so good yours truly went into his gobbling session.

For those who think rice is boring ... well, I would disagree.

Vinayaka said:

The internet is full of recipes and videos. if you can read and have a computer it's easy to find a ton of stuff. Boss and me are more experiential in our cooking, rather than following recipes. One we came up with recently was black glutinous (sticky) rice and black bean burgers. It's a bit hard to find sticky rice some places, but look for the word glutinous. There is glutinous red, white, and brown as well. Boss chanced upon glutinous black while browsing out local large supermarket (Superstore in Canada). It was the only rice left on the shelf during a period of hording, and there was lots of it, which in itself says something about people's fear of the unknown.

Long story short, you just cook it like regular rice, watching it some, as each new variety of rice varies. (Check the international foods aisle at Walmart) Then we stirred in a can of pre-cooked black beans (mashed some) (easier than cooking/soaking dry beans from scratch, but more expensive). The stickiness of the rice made it really easy to form into patties for grilling in the oven. We added the usual ... pepper, some chili, some finely chopped onion, some garlic salt, and maybe some garam masala, and then just let them grill for 20 minutes or so. Keeping you hands wet while forming the patties helps not getting the stickiness all over you. They look sort of weird ... really black, as if burnt.

The fact that it's glutinous keeps it all together. We made about 20, planning to refrigerate some for the next coupla days, but they were so good yours truly went into his gobbling session.

For those who think rice is boring ... well, I would disagree.

Click to expand...

Glutinous rice also makes great risotto!

crossfire said:

Glutinous rice also makes great risotto!

Click to expand...

...and katsu curry!

Jackfruit Chili

(Especially for Dan the Masochist)


Ingredients


1 large red pepper (capsicum)

1 large green pepper (capsicum)

4-6 decent sized mushrooms

1 medium red onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 small jug of vegetable stock (hot)

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

1 large (400g) tin of pulses (I usually use black beans or cannellini)

1 large (400g) tin of chopped tomatoes

1 large (400g+) tin of jackfruit

2 generous teaspoons of ground cumin

2 generous teaspoons of ground hot chili

1 generous teaspoon of ground smoked paprika


Method


Heat some oil in a large casserole pan. Chop the peppers, onion and mushrooms and add to the pan, together with the pressed garlic. Saute on a low heat for a few minutes until softened. Sprinkle on the spices and cook for a few more minutes. Drain the jackfruit and chop to how you fancy (the pulled look or into chunks). Add to the pan and stir. Continue cooking and stirring for a few more minutes till everything seems coated with the spices. Keeping it simmering, slowly add the tinned toms, the drained tin of pulses and the tomato paste. Whilst stirring, add sufficient stock to give the desired consistency; obviously you can add more later if required. Keep on a low heat with an occasional stir for probably about 45 minutes.


Serve with rice or bread. Just as nice reheated the next day.

Black bean burgers.
Vegan.

400g sweet potato.
1 onion.
250g cooked brown rice ( from approx 125g dry weight)
20g breadcrumbs (made, not bought)
2 tablespoons plain flour
400g tin of black beans, drained.
1/2 - 1 teaspoon: Salt, pepper, ground cumin, coriander, smoked paprika.

Cook the rice. Cut the sweet potato into 2cm cubes and bake on a foil sheet for 30 mins (220 C). Chop the onion into small pieces, saute and put in a large bowl. Put potato cubes, beans, flour, rice and spices into a food processor and whizz till thick stodgy paste. Add to bowl with onion in and mix. Split the mixture into four and form into thick (2cm ish) patty shapes. Fry in a little oil till nicely browned (less than 10 mins probably. ( uncooked pattys freeze well ). Yum.