A few months ago, I read about the health benefits of sunflower seeds for the first time. They are chock-full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents and are a good source of fiber, essential fatty acids, and minerals like zinc and manganese. I felt it would be good to start including sunflower seeds in my diet. Since I often eat granola or muesli with milk, I thought of making sunflower seed milk for my breakfast. Besides being vegan and healthy, this milk is also suitable for those who are allergic to tree nuts.

Sunflower seed milk has got a mild nutty flavor and a barely-there floral undertone. It tastes good chilled, flavored with a pinch of elaichi powder; poured over cereal/granola; or blended with fruits into a smoothie. You can also sweeten it with date paste if desired.

Since going vegan, I’ve been relying heavily on cashews for making rich/cheesy/creamy dishes that traditionally call for dairy products with much satisfaction, my only qualm being that cashews are too expensive for regular use. However, a few months ago I met a young vegan who’s allergic to all kinds of tree nuts and I realized that there are so many dishes that are popular in the vegan circles that they won’t be able to eat. Imagine having to just sit there and watch people around you gobble up cheesy pizzas and creamy pasta dishes while you can’t have any of that! Even though I am yet to get a chance to cook for this person, they have definitely inspired me to try out recipes that are easy and tasty while also being nut-free!

This Vegan, Nut-free, Oil-free Cheese Sauce is made of just vegetables and coconut milk. You can add a few tablespoons of olive oil while blending the sauce for a richer taste, but I wanted to keep it oil-free as well.

I generally bake chocolate cakes with whole wheat flour, but when my friend, Preeti Kapasi, who runs the Vedic Kitchen—a plant-based food business, launched a gluten-free flour, I was intrigued to try it. After all, the product had been getting rave reviews from her clients who had used it to successfully prepare fluffy pooris! I ordered my batch quickly—she is based in Ahmedabad but delivers all over India—and baked this cake! Everyone I served it to loved it; one even said it didn’t taste like it was “gluten-free” lol.

I used jaggery in this cake as I’m no longer using refined sugar in my kitchen. I’m aware that jaggery isn’t a “health” food either, but at least it’s a bit “better” than refined sugar. You can use brown/white sugar if you want.

Continued from Volunteering at Peepal Farm part I…

Going by the rules, the large animals (bovines/equines) and the small animals (dogs/cats) are housed in different enclosures. However, it’s not uncommon to see some of the dogs and cats lazing around in the large animal section, interacting or playing with the baby calves or the sheep, basking in the sun, or “helping” out the vet and his staff in caring for the large animals.

“This looks and smells horrible!” Jim exclaims, with an exasperated look on his face. I look at the mound of gooey, stinky, greenish-yellow dog poop inside the enclosure we are supposed to clean and nod in affirmation. Jim, a soft-spoken gentleman in his mid-40s with fine brown hair and eyes of the same color, is from the UK. His eyes, usually sparkling with kindness, are now crinkled with disgust. Yes, we are both revolted, but we are also determined to not let this repulsion get in the way of our task. We think of the dogs who need clean kennels to stay in, and the task no longer feels “undoable.” It’s 9:45 am and we are engaged in one of the first jobs that need to be done at the animal recovery center: scooping up all the poop from the various enclosures that house dogs.

Update: This method works well with Sofit brand of soy milk as well. Use the plain unsweetened version for the best result. 

Note: This post is NOT sponsored by Soy Sipp/Soy Life! It’s just that I personally like this brand of soy milk and believe it has the potential to make the lives of vegans across India easier 🙂

Right now, I’m sipping on a cup of masala chai made with Soy Sipp milk and thinking how much the vegan scene in India has changed over the past few years! While I’m personally not much into using store-bought dairy alternatives, I do acknowledge these ready-to-use products have made the lives of vegans in India a lot more convenient. One such product I have recently discovered is this Soy Sipp milk! I was never a fan of store-bought soy milk, but this one is different. Compared to other easily available soy milk brands, this one has a more neutral flavor and is perfect for making tea, coffee, smoothies, milk-based gravies, soups, sweet dishes, etc. It’s reasonably priced as well. And the best thing? It yields such lovely curd 🙂

Hey folks, here’s yet another variety of vegan curd starter that is super-easy to make 🙂 !! It’s also neutral in flavor—a big advantage! The idea for this post came from a comment on a Facebook thread on plant-based curds by my friend Poonam Dhup Juneja ji (yeah, the Vegans in India group on FB is my favorite place for learning new tips and tricks related to vegan foods!!) She wondered if we could just soak moong dal in water for a few hours and use that water as a curd starter, would it work if we tried the same soaking method with cooked rice? I tried, and yes, it does work 🙂 Yayy!!

I’m visiting my hometown after a while. “We are having idli for dinner tonight,” announces dad.

“IDLI?! Really?? OMG thank you so much!” I shriek in delight, “where’s the batter? Show me the batter?!”

Dad looks at me with a surprised look, “I had NO idea you love idli so much!”

“The batter, dad, the batter! That’s what I’m so excited about! I need that to make curd!!”

My parents exchange knowing glances. Their “vegan” daughter is up to yet another weird food experiment.

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Yes. I said “Chai Tea.” Sorry if that offends you, but I’m not sorry! I find the term “chai tea” extremely cute and will use it. Learn to live with it lol 😀

My dad is a pro when it comes to making vegan masala chai. He uses homemade cashew milk to make me cups of strong and fragrant masala chai. Check out his method here. On the other hand, my mother gets a bit nervous while making “vegan” things for me. So, her approach to making tea is a bit different. She’s more cautious coz “vegan milk is so delicate!” I feel I should share her method as well as it’s a foolproof one! In this method, the risk of milk splitting is almost nil. Even if you have never tried making vegan chai before, this is something you can try confidently. It works so well 🙂 !!

Note: I was inspired to try this combination after coming across the image of a bowl of perfectly set peanut-cashew curd while browsing through Instagram a few months ago. Unfortunately, I have since deleted my account and don’t remember the name of the lady whose post inspired me in the first place 🙁 If *you* are reading this please let me know so I can credit you!

The world of plant-based curds is so, so vast! While I had already tried a few “combos” like peanut-rice, cashew-rice, soya-cashew, and coconut-cashew curds, it would have never occurred to me by myself to marry peanuts and cashews to make yet another version of vegan curd! It’s probably one of my favourite ones at the moment! It looks exactly like the dairy curd we all grew up eating and has a pretty neutral taste. The peanut flavour is well-masked by the addition of cashews, and since we are using just a few cashews per batch, the overall cost of preparing this curd remains nominal.