VEGAN RICHA'S INDIAN KITCHEN | Cookbook Review by Mary's Test Kitchen
Hi friends,
If you're not familiar with Vegan Richa, you'rein for
a treat. I've been following her beautifulblog for
ages now and was so excited that she cameout with a
book: Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen.
Getting right into the recipes, let's startwith
breakfast. This one's called Mom's ChickpeaFlour
Pancakes because it's one from Richa's mom.I just
think that so sweet.
It's like making a plain chickpea omelettebut leveled
up with a mix of whole cumin seeds, turmeric,cayenne
and some colorful cilantro, red onion andchopped
peppers.
Now if you're intimidated by all the differentspices
used in Indian cooking, this book will help.Richa has
descriptions of all the spices, pulses, grainsalong
with substitutions and how and where to shopfor them
and even a grocery list to help you get thebasics.
This thin batter gets cooked for about fiveminutes per
side and there's one done! Try not to eatall the
pancakes before you cook the rest.
Believe me, these savory pancakes, also calledChilla
or Pudla, are hard to resist. You won't haveto resist
for long because the full recipe is linkedin the
description below.
Next, I tried the Split Pea Soup with Spicesand
Coconut. I much prefer the anglicized Indianname:
Bengali Cholar Dal though I might be sayingthat wrong.
But I like saying it. It's fun.Good thing pronouciation has nothing to do
with
cooking.
First, we cook the split peas in water withsome
turmeric. You know I love to fit turmericin where I
can because it's anti-inflammatory and DrGregor says
it's good fer ya.
Meanwhile, I browned some fresh coconut meat.You could
use fresh or dried but I used fresh sinceI couldn't
find unsweetened dried coconut at my usualgrocery
store.
We set that aside and use the same pan withoil and do
the tempering.
Tempering is a technique that brings out theflavours
in spices with hot oil. You only need a weebit of oil
though. Now, it's not the same but you'reoil-free for
whatever reason, you can dry toast the spicesbut
you've got to be really careful with the heat.
And this smells so amazingly good. We addedred chiles,
ginger, cashews and raisins.
Once the tempering is done, it's added tothe pot of
split peas that are now tender and simmering.
Add half the golden coconut flakes and it'spretty much
done. The other half of the coconut flakesis for
garnish.
Now my kitchen smells so good but how doesit taste?
Mouth wateringly delicious. Spicy but nottoo hot
spicy. With some different textures from thecashews,
coconut, and raisins.
This would make an excellent everyday lunchor dinner
soup with roti and some salad maybe. Veryfilling, very
nourishing, and just plain good.
Next, my dinner favourite. You guys know Ilove having
my cheater butter chicken. But I had to trythe Vegan
Richa version: Seitan Makhani. And now I'maddicted to
this stuff.
First, we saute the seitan with garam masala.I didn't
add salt because this seitan is my scallionseitan
sausage recipe which is salty enough.
We put that aside and heat up some spices.Then add
onions.
Sometimes for this recipe, I skip the oiland just dry
toast the spices and then water sautee theonions. It
still turns out really good but there is adifference
in the final flavour.
When the onions are golden, I add more spices.
Then tomatoes, cashews, and salt.
To make the sauce smooth, it goes in a blender.
And back in the pot. Add the seitan and afew other
touches and simmer for a bit longer to marryall the
wonderful flavours together.
And this is my favourite vegan butter curryin the
world. It's milder than my cheater butterchicken and
you can adjust the heat more easily. Takesa bit longer
but I think it's worth the effort. For thisrecipe
though, you'll need to buy the book; linkin the
description.
And I do highly recommend it. Everything I'vetried so
far has been a hit. Except for the MasalaLentils that
I tried but didn't film. But that was a readingfail
not a recipe fail. I used fennel instead offenugreek
because I was too excited and apparently wasnot
reading properly.
Have you guys tried any recipes from VeganRicha? Let
me know your favourites in the comments below.I hope
this review was helpful. Let me know if youlike these
kinds of videos and I will do more becauseI am here
for you.
Thanks so much for watching. Please give thisvideo a
thumbs up if you liked it and subscribe formore easy,
tasty, vegan deliciousness each week.
Bye for now.
I have been meaning to review Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen ever since I bought the ebook several months ago. I have loved her blog for ages. Richa Hingle focuses on Indian cuisine, as is her background, but also shares her own versions of American comfort food and other inventive dishes. Check out her blog here: http://www.veganricha.com/ Buy Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1VUTxVA Mom's Chickpea Flour Pancakes (Pudla, Chilla): http://www.veganricha.com/recipe-pages/vegan-chickpea-flour-pancakes Split Pea Soup with Spices and Coconut (Bengali Cholar Dal): http://www.marystestkitchen.com/vegan-richas-indian-kitchen-cookbook-review/ Links mentioned: The Homemade Vegan Pantry Cookbook Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoqTIljx4Z8&list=PL6QDlGTnYxpH9Y2Inqr5lAiNx2syyBnph&index=12 Scallion Seitan Sausages (vegan hot dogs): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHm-L3gNoEo&index=6&list=PL6QDlGTnYxpGYJqWWWHXbqNYMHz6UIn4Q Mushroom Dumplings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4TwlMg3fhM&index=27&list=PL6QDlGTnYxpG6_BXIGKnpzQxRqWVbDYCE Cheater Butter "Chicken": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po8fGz3HTks&list=PL6QDlGTnYxpEz-uYv9x853ytFpp_IgcyP&index=8 *********************************************** Connect with me! ADD ME ON SNAPCHAT: marystestkitchn Instagram: http://instagram.com/marystestkitchen Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/marystestktchn Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marystestkitchen My blog: http://www.marystestkitchen.com Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/maryvlin?ty=h