Vegan Carrot Halwa

Carrot Halwa is one of the most popular desserts from
India. Even though carrot halwa is very popular in
India, I was not aware of carrot halwa, until I was in
sixth or seventh grade. I first tasted carrot halwa,
when one of my friends had brought carrot halwa, in her
lunch box. I got hooked to carrot halwa.

I got the recipe from my friend, and that evening I
made carrot halwa. I started to make carrot halwa
almost every day for a couple of months! My mother always made sure
there was enough carrots and milk for me to make carrot halwa.

I have been making carrot halwa for years. Even though
carrot halwa is traditionally made with dairy milk and
butter, it's very easy to veganize. I now make carrot
halwa with soy milk and Earth Balance Margarine Natural Buttery Spread

1/2 cup soy butter or soy margarine
3 cups grated carrot
2 cups soy milk
1/4 - 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup ground almonds
1/4 raisins
1 Tbsp pistachios

Heat butter in a large saucepan, add grated carrot,
and fry for 8 minutes or until the raw smell goes away.
Now add soy milk and cook for about thirty minutes, or
until there is no milk left in the saucepan. Now add
sugar and almonds. Stir well, add raisins. Garnish
with pistachios.

Chana Dal Salad

Chana dal salad is a popular salad in southern parts
of India. While growing up in Bangalore, I vividly
remember this salad was the "Prasadam" in a nearby
temple.

Since I like to eat raw food sometimes, I recently
made chana dal salad. I loved the taste of this simple
salad. I'm sure I will be making this salad regularly
during summer.

Visit Indira's blog to get some delicious chana dal recipes

Chana Dal Salad

1/4 cup Chana dal
1 cucumber
1 carrot
1/4 tsp canola oil
1/8 tsp mustard seeds
1 red chili, broken into pieces
1 tsp lemon juice
salt

Soak chana dal for about 5 hours. Drain the water.
Finely chop the cucumber into small pieces. Grate the
carrot. Mix soaked chana dal, carrot and cucumber. Add
salt and lemon juice to the salad.

In a small pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds. Once the
mustard seeds pop, add broken red chili pieces. Add
this mixture to chana dal salad. Garnish with
cilantro or unsweetened coconut.

Pista Burfi, Pistachio Fudge

Pista burfi, made with pistachios is a popular fudge in India. I always felt that the pista burfi, which we get in Indian stores had loads of
artifical color, so I never purchased them even before I was a vegan.

I decided to make pista burfi, when I saw one of the
comments by Majula in youtube's badam burfi video. Manjula says that pista burfi can be made by following the same procedure as badam burfi.

I really loved the nutty taste of this burfi. I
veganized the recipe by using water instead of dairy
milk and Earth Balance instead of ghee(clarified
butter). With just a couple of ingredients you can
create this delicious sweet.

Badam Burfi, Almond Fudge

Badam barfi is a very popular Indian sweet, which
originated from northern region of India.

I have tried many times to make Badam Burfi, but my
Badam Burfi's always ended up looking like truffles.

Thanks to Youtube. I found a very talented lady,
Manjula's video on making Badam Burfi. If you are not able to visit through this link, then
go to Youtube, and type, Manjula Badam Burfi in the search box.

I veganized the recipe. I used soy milk and Earth
Balance, instead of dairy milk and ghee(clarified
butter). According to Manjula, the mixture should be
cooked for ten to twelve minutes, before pouring it to
the plate. For me, it took nearly twenty five minutes
to reach that stage.

However, I was very happy with the results, as I could
finally get square burfis!

Split Moong Dal Salad

Indian cuisine also has some crunchy nutritious salads.
Lentils such as split chana dal and moong dal are used
in salads.

I love crunchy moong dal salad. Moong dal salad
is one of the salads which I make frequently. This salad is called as Kosumbari, in Kannada, a local languge in one of the states of India.

Moong Dal Salad

1/2 cup split moong dal
1 cucumber
1 carrot
1/4 tsp canola oil
1/8 tsp mustard seeds
1 red chili, broken into pieces
1 tsp lemon juice
salt

Soak moong dal for about 3 hours, and drain the water. Finely chop the
cucumber into small pieces. Grate the carrot. Mix soaked moong dal, carrot and cucumber.Add salt and lemon juice to the salad.

In a small pan, heat oil, add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds pop, add broken red chili pieces. Add this mixture to the moong dal salad. Garnish with cilantro or unsweetened coconut.

Delicious Vegan Dishes

Last month, Suganya of Tasty Palettes, hosted an event - Vegan Ventures.

Thai rice and beans croquettes, Lemon poppy seeds cookies, Mixed vegetable curry, Chocolate truffles, Almond orange chocolate cake and Rice paper rolls are some of the mouthwatering vegan dishes and desserts you can view and get the recipes by visiting Tasty Palettes.

Thanks Suganya for inspiring people to try vegan fare, which is great for our planet.

Vegan Maamoul

I love grainy textured cookies . Ever since I saw
Maamoul cookies, Middle Eastern cookies, in Indira's
blog, I wanted to make those cookies.

I did not use the wooden maamoul mold, so the maamouls
are without the elegant design! I made maamouls by
following Indira's recipe. However, I veganized the
recipe, by using the melted Earth Balance Margarine
Natural Buttery Spread, instead of ghee(clarified
butter).

I just adored the wonderful taste and texture of this
cookie. I'm sure I will be making this often.