Fruit Salad

Fruit salad sold in busy streets across India is
spicy, and tangy. Spices such as chili powder, cumin
seeds, mango powder impart zesty flavor for the fruits
in Indian fruit salad. This fruit salad is also known
as "Fruit Chaat".

Fruit Salad

2 cups 1/2 inch papaya pieces
1 cup 1 inch mango pieces
1 cup 1 inch apple pieces
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/8 tsp cumin seeds or ground cumin
1/8 tsp salt

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Serve
immediately, as the salad tends to become soggy after
a couple of hours.

Use ripe tropical fruits such as guava, pineapple,
banana, and grapes to make fruit salad. Avoid over
ripe fruits to make this salad, as you don't want the
salad to be soggy.

Vegans in Bangalore

A couple of months ago I visited Bangalore, and everyone I met was either a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian. I wondered why there was no huge pool of vegans, in the land of ahimsa (non-violence)- India.

I'm so happy to know that they are some vegans in Bangalore after reading this article in Deccan Herald, a newspaper from Bangalore.

Vegan Mango Smoothie

For me, summer means mangoes. Growing up in Bangalore,
I always looked forward for the mango season. I
relished eating mangoes every day for a couple of
months.

I recently made mango smoothie and it was delicious!

Mango Smoothie

1 cup ripe Mango, peeled and chopped
1 cup soy milk or almond milk
1 Tbsp almond meal
2 Tbsp sugar

Put all the ingredients in the blender, and puree it.
This can be served at room temperature or cold.

You could also add flax seeds to make it more nutritious.

Visit Indira's website for delicious mango recipes.

Vitamin B12 In a Vegan Diet

Most of the health related vegan articles always discuss about Vitamin B12, which is present only in animal based foods, such as meat and dairy products.

I have recently started to take Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D supplement, as I don't consume fortified foods every day.

If you eat vegan food, do you take fortified foods or take Vitamin B12 supplement?

Here are some Vitamin B12 articles which every vegan should read : Vegan Health , Problems associated with deficiency of Vitamin B12 , Vitamin B12 and vegan diet

5 Tips for Vegan Travelers to India

It's possible to eat colorful vegan food in India every day.
There are thousands of restaurants from Kashmir to
Kanyakumari, offering variety of vegetarian dishes.
However, you should be concerned about milk products
such as yogurt and ghee(clarified butter) in some
dishes.

The word vegan, has become synonymous with vegetarian
in India. In an Indian newspaper, I was shocked to see
many recipes with milk and milk products, which was
titled as, "Vegan Recipes". If you tell you're a vegan
in India, some people may interpret that you are a
pure vegetarian, who will not eat meat and eggs, but
will consume milk and milk products.

If you are planning to visit India, then be sure to visit websites,
Incredible india and International vegetarian union

1.Restaurants: Most of the restaurants offer
vegetarian fare. "Pure vegetarian restaurants" don't
use eggs and meat in cooking, but milk and milk
products such as cream, paneer- cottage cheese, butter
and ghee- clarified butter is used in cooking.
However, you should be able to find numerous vegan
food items in both vegetarian and pure vegetarian
restaurants. Pure vegetarian restaurants don't serve
alcohol.

Make sure not to order any dish, which has the word
"Paneer" in it. Paneer, a cottage cheese is widely
used in north indian cuisine. Most popular dishes which has
paneer are palak paneer and mutter paneer.
Also make sure not to order any dish with word
"malai". Malai means milk based cream in Hindi.

2.Supermarkets : There are numerous supermarkets
in large cities which carry array of vegan food items.
Most of the supermarkets also carry soy milk and tofu.
During my recent visit to Bangalore, I saw variety of
biscuits and cookies suitable for vegans.

All the pre-packaged food items are provided with a
list of ingredients.

3.Bakeries: Numerous bakeries adorn the busy streets
of India. You can find breads, biscuits, and savoury
snacks. However, you should question the
shop owners to confirm if the items are vegan. In
cities, most of the bakery employees can speak in
English.

4.Sweets : Most of the sweets you get in sweet stores,
everything from halwas to burfis are milk based. I was
very happy to find that one of the decadent sweet,
Kaju katli - cashew fudge, was vegan, in two of the
upscale sweet stalls. You can find the recipe for
Kaju Katli at Mumbai masala.

I also found some delicious sweets made by Haldirams
in numerous supermarkets. Most of the sweets available
in upscale sweet stalls is laden with milk products
such as ghee(clarified butter). It's really hard to
get vegan sweets in India.

5.Cafe : Numerous cafes similar to starbucks are
present in cities and towns across India. In
Bangalore, I often went to cafe coffe day. The black
coffee and the vegan shake in this cafe is great!

Barista is also very popular cafe in India.

Bangalore Photos

Bangalore is a bustling city in India. For visitors, it's possible to thrive on a vegan fare where there are thousands of vegetarian restaurants.