Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Happy Cow

Even though the number of vegetarians and vegans is increasing every day, it's hard to find a vegetarian or a vegan friendly restaurant, if you are visiting a new city.

Before visiting a new city, I always make it a point to visit the wonderful website Happy Cow.

Happy cow lists all the vegetarian and vegan restaurants when you enter the zip code of the place you are visiting. Happy Cow also lists all the health food stores, vegan-friendly and vegetarian-friendly restaurants.

So even if you're not a vegan or a vegetarian, visit Happy Cow - amazing website to find good food.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Happy Little Vegans

Today I read a wonderful vegan blog - Happy Little Vegans filled with vegan recipes and tips.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Saravana Bhavan in Vancouver

During summer my family and I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Vancouver and Victoria, in British Columbia.

British Columbia is a beautiful province with pristine lakes and mountains.

During our stay in Vancouver, we had lunch at Saravanaa Bhavan. If you like South Indian food, then you will surely like this restaurant. Some of the items in lunch buffet were Rasam(lentil soup), Idly(steamed rice and lentil cake), Medhu Vada,(lentil fritters), Sambhar(lentil and vegetable thick soup), Poriyal(vegetable fry), Kootu(vegetable with lentils), Kolumbhu(thick gravy, eaten with rice), Potato Masala(Potato with spices), Chana Masala, Paneer Butter Masala(cottage cheese dish), Palak Gobi(spinach with cauliflower), Rice, Special Rice, Bisibelebhat(lentils ,rice and vegetable in a spicy sauce), Curd Rice(yogurt rice), Raitha(curds with spices), Papad, Coconut Chutney, Tomato Chutney, Lemon Pickle, Payasam(pudding made with diary milk), Rava Kesari(contains butter), Masala/plain Dosa, Poori & Naan .

Indian cuisine is very vegan friendly. So, I was able to relish almost 90% of the tasty dishes in this restaurant. The only item I was not satisfied was the masala dosa. The masala dosa which should look crispy was soggy. It looked and tasted as if it was made from all purpose flour. Masala dosa is made with fermented rice and lentil batter. Sometimes, a dollop of butter or ghee(clarified butter) is drizzled on Masala dosas, so make sure you tell the waiter about it. And if you see the words -paneer (indian cottage cheese), dahi (yogurt) , or thayir (yogurt), then you should avoid it if you are a vegan! If you are a vegan, then you can't eat any type of sweet in Indian restaurants, as they are made with diary products such as milk, cream and ghee.

Near the counter, trays of delicious burfis and halwas and deep-fried snacks such as samosas, adorned the shelves. I asked the person behind the counter, if there were any sweets made without diary products. Unfortunately, only one sweet was vegan. That sweet was kaju katli(cashew fudge). I love Indian sweets, everything from halwas to burfis and kheers, and I make these tasty items using earth balance(replacing ghee or butter) , and almond or soy milk (replacing diary milk).
If you want to make Indian sweets, then you should visit Vaishali's blog Holy Cow

In short, Saravana Bhavan is a great restaurant if you like Indian food.

Saravanaa Bhavana
955 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1K3, Canada
(604) 732-7700

Monday, December 13, 2010

Oats and Rice Idli

Idli is a very popular breakfast item in southern parts of India. Traditionally idli is made from ground fermented rice and urad dal(lentil) batter. I recently made idli using rolled oats as one of the ingredients. Oats idlis tasted so YUM!

I followed the oats idli recipe from the blog - Priya's Easy and Tasty Recipes. You should visit this wonderful blog to find so many plant-based(vegan) dishes

I'm sure I will be making these idlis regularly, as they are not only filling, but also nutritious.

Thanks again Priya for the wonderful oats idli recipe.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Oats Crepe

Dosa, Indian crepes is a very popular breafast item in India. I love to eat dosa with spicy coconut chutney or tangy tomato chutney. Dosas(Indian crepes) are usually made with fermented white rice and lentils batter.

I recently made oats dosa which does not require the process of fermentation. Thanks to the wonderful blog by Sharadha, I found out the recipe for oats dosa.
In the recipe, ghee is one of the ingredients. You can use corn oil or Earth balance instead of ghee. Sharadha also asks to put sour curd to the dosa batter. Well, I did not add the sour curd to the dosa batter, but the dosas were tasty!

My toddler also liked it! I have made oats dosas a couple of times in a span of two months.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Healthy Vegan Diet

Whenever I tell people that I eat vegan food every day, they assume that I'm health concious and come to the conclusion that vegan diet is always nutritious.

I may be a vegan, but my food is not nutritious on some days. I eat chips and drink coke - vegan food. In short, a bag of chips and and a bottle of coke is vegan, but it's bad for your body.

If you want to eat nutritious food, which is good for you body and the planet, then you should read the book - The Kind Diet. I recently read the book - The Kind Diet written by Alicia Silverstone. The book - The Kind Diet was very interesting.

Alicia's writing is so good. It will inspire you to become vegan. Even if you are not keen on becoming a vegan, you will learn so much from this great book. You should read this amazing book if you want to be healthy and strong for a very long time.

It also has some great recipes. I made Moroccon couscous with Saffron , and Chocolate peanut butter cups from this book. They were so tasty.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Vegan Recipes

Vegetarian Times is a food magazine brimming with vegetarian recipes. If you are planning to make a couple of vegetarian or vegan dishes for the Thanksgiving dinner , then you should visit the website - Vegetarian Times

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Vegetarian Awareness Month

October is Vegetarian Awareness Month. These days everyone wants to consume more plant based food, as its good for the health of human beings and also for the welfare of our wonderful planet - Earth.

If you have decided to eat plant-based food regularly, then you should visit some amazing food blogs. Fat free vegan kitchen, Holy Cow ,The Voracious Vegan and Vegan Dad

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Increasing Vegans in India

Milk and milk products(ghee, paneer and yogurt) is the epicenter of lavish Indian cuisine. Milk is used to make coffee and tea . South Indians consume rice and yogurt every day. If you drink black coffee in Indian homes, people will think something is really wrong with you. In short, milk and milk products are omnipresent in Indian kitchens.

These days there is some change.

Thanks to Peta and other organizations, for exposing the heart wrenching condition of the milk producing cows across India. Farmers in India give the harmone Oxytocin to cows, to increase the production of milk .

Some Indians are becoming vegans. They are thriving on a vegan diet. It's really easy to thrive on a vegan diet in India, if you don't like dark chocolates, cakes, icecream and baked goodies.

Hats off to vegans in India. It's really hard to become a vegan in India, because the supermarkets are not flooded with yummy dark chocolates and varieties of non-diary milk.

Here is an article which says about the growing vegan interest in India.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Carrot - Cashew Payasam

Payasam is an Indian dessert and is popular across India. Payasam is also called as "Kheer". Milk plays an important ingredient in many Payasams. I recently made Carrot-Cashew Payasam from Nupur's amazing blog One Hot Stove.

I used rice milk, as the recipe called for dairy milk. The Carrot-Cashew payasam was superb! It was tasty but watery .The next time I made this Payasam with the combination of soy milk and rice milk. Nupur says to boil the milk until it reduces to half the original volume. I just boiled the soy milk and rice milk and then added the carrot-cashew paste along with the sugar.

This is a wonderful dessert if you like carrots. I like to enjoy this dessert when it's warm. My toddler also loved it.

Monday, August 23, 2010

Vegan Majjige Huli

Majjige huli(saucy yogurt with vegetables) is a classic recipe from South India.
I grew up eating Majjige huli with hot rice in Bangalore. Now, I'm a vegan and I make Majjige Huli with Soyogurt. The key to make delicious vegan Majjige huli is to use unsweetened soy yogurt. I use wildwood Soyogurt(high fibre unsweetened plain). This soyogurt is so much like Indian yogurt - a bit sour.

I made Majjige Huli by following Ramya's blog Mane Adige. The Majjige huli was so yummy.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Vegan Hayagreeva

Indian cuisine is flooded with sweet dishes. And it's so easy to veganize the recipes.

Hayagreeva is a common sweet dish in some Hindu temples. Yesterday I made Hayagreeva by following Meera's hayagreeva recipe in Kalpavriksha Kamadhenu blog.

Since Meera used ghee, I used Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread in the recipe. Hayagreeva was so delicious. And I'm sure I will be making this yummy sweet regulary.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Vegans in India

Milk and milk products such as buttermilk and ghee play an important role in Indian cuisine. Whenever I visit India, and when I say that I don't consume milk and milk products, everyone feels that something is seroiusly wrong with me...

While it's very common to be a vegetarain in India, the concept of vegan lifestyle is still in an initial stage. Thanks to Peta and other organizations, people are now starting to think about the cruel production of milk in India. Oxytocin harmone is induced to cows to produce more milk in India.

I read a wonderful article about the growing number of vegans in India in Outlook magazine. Read the article - Sylph O’ The Green here .

The American Dietetic Association states that "appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life-cycle including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence and for athletes."

So go ahead and try to become vegan! Vegan diet or plant-based diet is not only good for your health but also great for our beautiful planet - Earth.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Vegan Pantry

Vegan diet is not only good your health, but it's also great for our beautiful Earth.

You don't have to shop at Whole Foods Market to thrive on a vegan diet. You can get most of the vegan food staples such as - Brown rice, oats, quinoa, pasta, fruits, vegetables, soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, peanut butter, nuts and cooking oils in Costco or in your regular supermarket.

If you have decided to become vegan , then I think this blog post - Stocking a Vegan Pantry will be very useful.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Teapot Vegetarian House

I was in Seattle for a couple of weeks, and I frequently enjoyed eating in one of the best vegan restaurants in Seattle - Teapot Vegetarian House . Seattle has many great vegan restaurants, but the food at Teapot Vegetarian House was so good, that my husband and I did not feel like eating at other vegan restaurants.

My favourite dish was Thai green curry and my husband's favourite dish was Curried vegetables. The taste of these curries with brown rice was superb! I also liked spring rolls, Kung pao vegetables, Tempura , and Vegetable Chow Mein . Once I also ate Vegan Tofu Cheesecake, and I somehow did not like it.

If you crave good food, I highly recommend that you eat at Teapot Vegetarian House when you are in Seattle.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Ananda Mela in Seattle

"India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only." - Mark Twain

If you want to know everything from Indian culture to Indian cuisine, then you should visit Ananda Mela in Seattle. Ananda mela is on June 26 and June 27.

To know more about this wonderful cultural festival of India, visit Ananda Mela website

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Ecos Laundary Detergent

These days I love to smell my washed clothes as I use Ecos Laundary Detergent. Ecos Laundary detergent is plant-based and is free of all the nasty chemicals.

Ecos laundary detergent is not only great for the environment, it's also good for you as it's free from chemicals. Animals are also happy of this wonderful laundary detergent because the laundary detergent is not tested on animals. We buy this wonderful detergent in Costco.

Ecos makes many eco-friendly cleaning products . Ecos products are non-toxic and plant-based. Ecos products are free of phosphates, chlorine, petroleum chemicals and a variety of other harmful ingredients. They are 100% biodegradable and the containers are easily recycled.

Ecos is a wonderful company keen on making our environment free of chemicals. To know more about this company visit Ecos

Monday, May 17, 2010

Oats Upma

Upma is a traditional South Indian breafast item made with sooji(cream of wheat).

Oats is so nutritious. I often make Oatmeal for my toddler. After seeing Oats Upma in so many food blogs, I decided to make Oats Upma yesterday.

I made Oats Upma, following Oats Upma recipe in Indira's blog, Mahanandi.

Oats Upma was so delicious. Both me and my todder enjoyed eating it . I ate it with soy yogurt and ginger pickel.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Simple Indian Lentil Soup

Yesterday I cooked tuvar dal with fenugreek leaves(methi), chopped onions and tomato. Well, I followed Indira's recipe for Menthi Kura Pappu.

The dish was pretty simple to make, but tasted great. Until now, I rarely used fenugreek leaves for cooking. My toddler son also enjoyed this dish with rice.

If you're looking for simple Indian recipes, you should visit Indira's blog Mahanandi

Friday, May 7, 2010

Vegans in India

If you are a vegan, and visiting India or presently residing in India, then you have to visit the blog - Vegan India .

Vegan India! is a great blog with information about everything from vegan restaurants to vegan sweets and vegan cosmetics to vegan gifts.

India is a beautiful country. You have just seen the colors black and white if you have not visited India. Visit the website Incredible India to get more info about India.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Whacky Vegan Chocolate Cake

I love Madhuram's food blog - Eggless Cooking . It's filled with delicious cakes, cupcakes, and cookies recipes. I made Whacky Vegan Chocolate Cake and it was so YUM!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Krishna Catering & Restaurant

If you are in Detroit and love Indian food, you should go to Krishna Catering & Restaurant . I simply adore the food at this simple restaurant.

Dishes and chaats(Indian street food) from various cuisines across India are available in this restaurant .Chole bhathure (deep fried bread with saucy garbanzo beans) , idli-sambar(steamed rice cakes with thick lentil soup), dosa(thin rice and lentil crepes), and pav bhaji(bread with saucy vegetables) are some of my favorite dishes from this restaurant.

The food is rich in flavor. They use less oil . And for rotis(Indian bread), they ask if you want the bread to be drizzled with -oil or butter. I feel as if I'm eating homemade food while I'm enjoying food in this lovely restaurant.

They also sell variety of snacks such as shakarpara(deep fried cookies), samosas, and chaklis(deep-fried snack). Other than sweets and some dishes(palak paneer and matar paneer), everything in this restaurant is vegan.

Recently this restaurant was recently voted the best vegetarian restaurant in Metro Detroit by Channal 4, WDIV. Visit Krishna Catering & RestaurantIf you visit,

Krishna Catering & Restaurant
28636 Ford Road
Garden City, MI 48135
(Between Inkster and Middlebelt)

PHONE: 734.513.FOOD (3663)

Friday, March 19, 2010

Vegan Yogurt

I used to love yogurt during my pre-vegan days. I loved eating yogurt mixed with rice and pickles. In restaurants I always relished eating dahi vadas(deep-fried lentil dumplings).

Once I became vegan, I was not happy with the soy yogurt. All the soy yogurts which I tried were very sweet. I never cooked any Indian recipes which had yogurt in it because, of the sweet taste in yogurt.In short, I longed for soy yogurt which was a bit sour in taste, almost like the yogurt we get in India.

Recently I tried Wildwood Probiotic Soyogurt Unsweetned Plain. The yogurt was perfect! I love to eat it with rice and pickles. I have used this wonderful yogurt in making tasty mangalorean dishes -menthi tambli and spinach tambli. I'm so happy to find this great tasting soy yogurt.

Unfortunately this delicious yogurt is available only in selected stores across the country .I bought this soy yogurt in Whole Foods.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Vegans in Mumbai

In India it's very easy to be a vegatarian, but it's challenging to be a vegan.
For many peaople in India, the word vegetarian is synonymous with the word "vegan".

Milk and milk products such as ghee and yogurt are considered to be very nutritious. In short milk and milk products play an important role in Indian cuisine.

During my recent visit to India, I did not meet a single vegan. I recently came across a blog - Mumbai Vegans. It's so nice to see that the vegan lifestyle is spreading across India.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Vegan Himalaya Toothpaste

For years I used Colgate or Close-up toothpaste to brush my teeth. I have been using Himalaya Dental Cream ever since I became vegan.

I look forward to brush my teeth every day ,ever since I started using this flavorful toothpaste. Himalaya toothpaste is brimming with natural items such as pomegranate , and neem . On the package it says, "100% vegetarian" , even though Himalaya toothpaste is vegan .

I purchased Himalaya toothpaste in India. In United States you can buy online or in some stores. Visit Himalayan United States website.

Do you want to watch Himalaya toothpaste ad? See this ad on youtube

Monday, February 22, 2010

Haldiram's Vegan Sweets

I love Indian sweets. Growing up in India, I used to devour made with "pure ghee".
Once I realized that everything from butter to pure ghee and yogurt to cream, causes pain to the innocent cows, I decided to thrive on a plant-based diet - vegan diet.

I still enjoy delicious sweets. During my recent trip to India I found badam halwa and soan papdi from Haldiram's to be vegan. Haldiram also makes many spicy and tangy snacks, which are vegan. I purchased Haldiram sweets in Food World .

You don't have to visit India, to savour these sweets and snacks. Visit Indian grocery stores in your area to find Haldiram's sweets and snacks. Just check the expiration date on sweet boxes, because Indian stores keep snacks and sweets past the expiration date.