Good Indian Food at Udupi Palace, Artesia

I love going to Artesia in Southern California. Artesia is brimming with Indian stores and
Indian restaurants.

Udupi Palace is a vegetarian restaurant in Artesia. Dosas (rice and lentil pancakes) are really good in Udupi Palace.
Usually vegetable oil is used to make dosas, but sometimes ghee or butter is used to make dosa.
I once had masala dosa, and the waiter confirmed the cook used vegetable oil to make dosa. If you are a vegan, make
sure you say that ghee and butter are not used for making dosas.

Last time, I ordered Channa masala(Garbanzo beans gravy) . Channa masala came with a bowl of rice, chapathi(pita like flat bread) . Channa masala was not spicy, even my toddler son ate some chapathi with Channa masala.

Coming to desserts, everything from kheer (pudding made from rice or semolina), to halwas is made from milk based
products such as ghee and butter. If you are a vegan,
you can't have these desserts. However, if you like Indian sweets, you can veganize most of Indian sweets.
The recipes for Indian sweets and other indian recipes can be found in blogs such as Vaishali's holy cow
In short, Udupi Palace is a great restaurant for Indian food.

If you visit,

Udupi Palace
18635 Pioneer Boulevard
Artesia, California 90701

Phone 562-860-1950

Tasty Brand Organic Fruit Snacks

My three year old son loves to eat Tasty brand organic fruit snacks. A couple of days ago my son gave me one fruit snack and I just adored the taste.

Fruit snacks or gummy snacks usually contain gelatin, high-fructose corn syrup, and corn syrup.

Tasty brand organic fruit snacks does not contain artificial colors or preservatives.They are vegan, so it does not contain
gelatin.

I found these yummy snacks at Costco and at Whole Foods Market. Even if you don't have kids, I highly reccomend that
you buy these tasty fruit snacks.

1-866-luv-tasty

www.tastybrand.com

A Vegan in India

I'm off to India, to visit family and friends. India is a paradise for vegetarians, and I hope India will be a "vegan paradise" in few years.

In India, the concept of vegan food is in initial stage. India is a land where milk and milk products are not only used for making sweets and some popular dishes such palak paneer(spinach with Indian cottage cheese) and Mutter paneer(peas with Indian cottage cheese), but it's also used for religious ceremonies like abhishekam(cleaning the idols).

If you are a vegan and planning to visit India, then it's really possible to explore the wide variety of beans, lentils , vegetables and spices in Indian cuisine. Just make sure not to order any of the dishes which contains the words, paneer(Indian cottage cheese) , dahi (yogurt), thayir (yogurt in tamil language) and malai(cream). Most of the Indian sweets which you get in restaurants is made up of milk or milk products, so the sweet which you get in the vegetarian thali(complete meal) is not suitable for vegans.

If you are visiting India and you are a vegan, then the blogs - Vegan India! and Mumbai vegans will be very useful. The webpage in the website, indiamike is also very useful for vegans visiting India. Peta India's website lists all the vegan snacks available in India.

5 Vegan Food Blogs Every Foodie Should Read

What do VEGANS eat?, is the most popular question vegans hear. Thanks to the internet and so many vegans, who post recipes and food pictures on their blogs. There are so many great vegan food blogs, but I feel everyone who is into good food, should read these vegan food blogs.

1. FatFree Vegan Kitchen : FatFree Vegan Kitchen written by Susan Voisin is brimming with delicious food recipes and breathtaking food pictures. You can find tasty and nutritious recipes for everything from muffins to scones and soups to stews. If you are not a vegan ,but toying with the idea to become a vegan, then this blog will help you to become VEGAN!

I always make sure to send Fatfree Vegan kitchen's blog link to my new friends.

2.Urban Vegan : Dynise Balcavage's blog - The Urban Vegan, is all about wonderful vegan stuff - Vegan recipes, vegan cosmetics, vegan bakeries, vegan-friendly restaurants, travel, vegan ethnic dishes, local harvest, fruits and vegetables. Dynise has also written a book, The Urban Vegan: 250 Simple, Sumptuous Recipes, From Street Cart Favorites to Haute Cuisine.

3. Holy Cow!Vegan Recipes: Vaishali's blog Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes is brimming with tasty vegan recipes. If you like Indian cuisine, then this is the blog for you. I just adore her writing style and superb food pictures in her blog. It's a piece of cake to thrive on a plant-based diet if you like Indian cuisine .

If you like Indian cuisine, then Indira's blog Mahanandi is also another great vegetarian blog, awash with many vegan recipes.

4.Vegan Dad : Vegan Dad, is written by vegan father in Ontario, Canada. Vegan Dad makes amazing dishes for his family. You can find recipes, everything from pancakes to pilafs and cupcakes to curries. People who wonder what vegans eat every day, should just take a look at this great blog.

5.Post Punk Kitchen :The blog Post Punk Kitchen is written by the famous cookbook authors - Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. You can find recipes for everything from burgers to soups, and curries to cupcakes in this amazing blog.