Vegan burger with fries

I made vegan burger with fries. I used the recipe from this link. The bun was store bought!

It came out real yummy! 

Hare Krishna

Sandesh

Sandesh is a Bengali recipe made by using simple ingredients such as milk, sugar and cardamom powder. Below is how i did it.

Milk - 1/2 gallon

Lemon - 1/2 cup

Powdered sugar - 1/2 to 1 cup

Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Almond nuts - optional as topping

Place the milk in a heavy bottomed pan and bring it to a boil. As the milk comes to a boil, slowly pour the lemon juices. The acid in the juice will curdle the milk and in less than 30 seconds, the milk fat will separate from the liquid to form paneer cheese. Empty the milk whey (the liquid) with the paneer in a colander layered with cheesecloth. You can use the whey for other cooking purposes as well. 

Remove the cheesecloth holding the paneer and place something heavy on the paneer cheese so whatever remaining liquid is in the paneer will drain. After about 15 minutes, remove the weight and place the paneer on a dry surface and bray the paneer. Braying is a process where you press the paneer till all the granular nature of paneer becomes smooth and binding like a dough. For the braying process, I used the stand mixer with the flex-edge beater. After about 5 minutes of beating, the granular hard paneer became smooth and dough like. During this beating process, I added 3/4th cup of powdered sugar and the cardamom.

Remove the smooth paneer and place it on a pan in the lowest possible heat and gently warm the paneer to remove its raw nature. After about 5 minutes, when the paneer looks shiny, remove it from the pan and let it cool. Once cool, press it to form a ball and place ghee fried almond pieces as seen in the picture above.

Don't forget to offer it to Krishna!

Pictures courtesy my wife.

Hare Krishna. 

Irish Brown Soda Bread

Last few days I was hankering for some bread not made of yeast. So I did some research and decided to make Irish Brown Soda Bread. Baking soda is the leavening agent along with buttermilk or liquefied yogurt. Anyways, below are the pictures and a brief description about the recipe.

Recipe

Whole wheat flour - 3.5 cups

All purpose flour - 0.5 cups

Buttermilk or liquid yogurt - 2 cups or as much necessary to make a slightly wet dough

Sugar - 5 teaspoons (adjust to taste)

Salt - 1.5 teaspoon (adjust to taste)

Baking Soda - 1.5 teaspoon

Organic raisins - 1 cup (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 deg Fahrenheit. 
2. In a large mixing bowl, add in the dry ingredients. Blend nicely
3. Create a well in the middle and add the wet ingredient that is the buttermilk
4. Mix nicely but DO NOT knead long like a regular dough. It is important not to knead too much as the bread will become hard and stiff. Just incorporate the ingredients nicely together and add flour till the dough is  not sticking. Make the dough into an oval like ball.
5. Move the dough to a pan with parchment paper.
6. Make an "X" on top of the dough so when the dough rises it will expand nicely.
7. Leave the dough on the table top for around 30 minutes so the ingredients start to chemically react with each other. Some recipes skip this step. However, I allowed the dough to rest for 30 minutes.
8. After resting for 30 minutes, bake the bread in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes.
9. Remove from oven. It can tested by inserting a toothpick in the center and if it comes out clean then it is cooked. Another way is to tap the base for a hollow sound. I tested using both methods.
10. Very important: Leave the bread to cool completely for at least 2 hours. Then cut it into slices otherwise the bread will crumble and become powdery which will not be nice.
11. Finally I applied some butter on top and offered to Lord Krishna.

The bread came out nicely for me and I had a peanut butter and jelly slice. I also had a cheese and olive slice. 

Hare Krishna

Giri Govardhan Maharaj ki jay!

Today is the most auspicious day where Krishna lifts Giri Govardhan to protect His devotees from Lord Indra's wrath. The story goes something like this.

Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead who controls and maintains this universe. Lord Indra is the secondary ruler subservient to Krishna. However, Lord Indra became proud of his powers and Krishna to teach Him a good lesson dissuaded the residents of Vrindavan from paying their dues to Indra. Instead Krishna ordered the residents to pay their respects to the Hill Govardhan for Govardhan provided all fruits, herbs, and vegetables for the cows and people. So saying this, Krishna with all the residents prepared enormous amounts of food to offer to Govardhan. It is said that Krishna is non-different from Govardhan Hill. So all the offering that were made was partaken by Krishna in the form of the Hill. This is one of His mystical pastimes. The residents all were satisfied seeing Krishna happy and went back to their respective homes.

Because Krishna denied Indra his respect, intoxicated with power and forgetting Krishna's Supremacy, decided to kill the residents of Vrindavan by sending torrents of rain. Krishna, in order to protect the residents, decided to lift the Hill as an umbrella with His left pinky finger so all of the residents could come and stand beneath for protection. It was during this time that Srimati Radharani and Krishna exchanged loving glances for seven consecutive days - the duration Krishna lifted the Hill.

Finally Indra comes to his senses and seeks forgiveness from Krishna. To commemorate this wonderful pastime and to remember Krishna's love for His devotees, devotees of Krishna across the world offer numerous food items for Krishna in the form of Govardhan.

For my part I decided to do the same.

Initially I wanted to cook on saturday but then I got inspired to cook today as it is this day Krishna displayed His super human act of lifting the Hill. So I decided to cook today. Below are the pictures my wife took of the items I offered. 

A total of five offerings plus water. I offered sooji halava, blackforest cake, kichdi, samosa and cucumber raita

 I made halava the Hill with Radha and Krishna on top.

I offered mixed vegetable kichdi.

A black & white photo rendering by my wife of the kichdi, blackforest cake with Tulsi Maharani in the background.

Just the black forest cake with Tulsi Maharani in the background.

A slice of the cake.

Samosa

Hare Krishna

Chappan bhog

I and my wife cooked up fifty six items for Lord Jagannath, Baladev and Subhadra. Technically this sort of offering is called "chappan bhog" meaning fifty six offerings. This is my first attempt and I pray the Lord accepted the offering. It took approximately 12 hours to cook and offer. At the end it was worth the effort. We also distributed the Prasad to few devotees here.

I distributed some books on Janmashtami day door knocking (mostly Indian families) and invited few of them for the program. I am hoping people get interested to discuss more about Krishna.

Below are some pictures. 

Hare Krishna

Blueberry cobbler

My wife made blueberry cobbler for thanksgiving and in my opinion this is one of the best desserts she has made so far. The biscuit along with the blueberry fruit gives a fruity and crunchy texture not to mention the lemony sweetness added to it. Although the pictures do not do much justice, it was perfect!

Below is the recipe.

Cobbler biscuit dough ingredients

1.3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup milk

1 to 2 tablespoons milk or 1 to 2 tablespoons butter,melted, for brushing top of dough

Filling ingredients

4 to 5 cups blueberries

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour

1 teaspoon grated lemon or lime zest (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 deg F. Have ready an ungreased 8 or 9 inch square or rectangular baking pan and at least 2 inches deep.

To make the biscuit dough, combine the flour, 2 tablespoons of the granulated sugar, the baking powder, and salt. When completely combined, add the butter and milk. Stir just until it forms a sticky dough. Set aside

To make the filling, wash and pat dry the blueberries. In a large bowl, combine them with the sugar, flour, and lemon zest, if using. Spread evenly in the baking dish.

Using a tablespoon, scoop the dough over the fruit. There will be just enough to cover the fruit. Either leave the dough in shapeless blobs on the fruit or spread it out. Brush the top of the dough with the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons milk or butter and the remaining 1 tablespoons sugar. Bake until the top is golden brown and the juices have thickened slightly, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before offering to Krishna and then serving.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Serving suggestions & variations

If you want flakier dough, the butter should be cold and cut until the dough resembles coarse bread crumbs.

Hare Krishna

Blueberry carob fudge cake

My wife made this blueberry carob fudge cake for my birthday which was last weekend. It came out really well and one of the best I have tasted so far. From the picture, it is difficult to identify the blueberry but it was there!

Hare Krishna

Birthday recipes

Parotta kurma

Blueberry Orange Bundt Cake

I made blueberry orange bundt cake for my wife on her birthday. I took the recipe from here. In the recipe I substituted eggs with egg replacer and also milk with orange juice (1 cup). I made a blueberry glaze by simply adding few bluberries, sugar (half cup), half cup water and table spoon corn starch. Heat them all together in low to medium heat and you will get the glaze.

I also made Parotta and kurma. It is a south indian delicacy found on road side shops. I took the recipe from here for parotta and here for kurma.

Hare Krishna

Ricotto cheesecake with blueberry glaze topping

I made this blueberry glaze topped ricotto cheesecake for Lord Narasimhadev on His appearance day. I took the recipe from here.

Enjoy the cake!

Hare Krishna

Carob fudge cake

For Krishna, on His appearance day on wednesday, I made two-tiered carob cake with carob vienna icing. The recipe was taken from Great Vegetarian Dishes book written by Kurma Dasa (a disicple of Srila Prabhupada).

Below is the recipe

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Baking Time: 30 mins

Yield: 1 two-tiered 20 cm (8-inch) carob fudge cake

Ingredients

125 g(4 ounces) butter, room temperature

1 cup (250 ml) caster sugar (i used regular sugar)

1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla essence

1 cup (250 ml) carob powder

1/2 cup (125 ml) hot water

2 teaspoons (10ml) imitation chocolate essence (optional)

2 teaspoons (10ml) fresh lemon juice

1 cup (250 ml) milk

13/4 (435 ml) plain flour (all-purpose flour)

1 teaspoon (5ml) baking powder

1 teaspoon (5ml) bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt

Carob Vienna icing

1. Cream the butter , sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Blend the carob powder in the hot water, add the imitation chocolate essence, and mix to a smooth paste. Gradually add the carob powder to the butter and sugar mixture.

2. Add the lemon juice to the milk to sour it.

3. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt and add it to the creamed mixture alternately with sour milk. Mix thoroughly.

4.Spoon the cake mixture into two buttered 20 cm (8-inch) cake tins and bake in a moderate oven (180 deg C/355 deg F) for 30 mins or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed.

5. Allow the cakes to cool in their tins for 10 mins. Turn out and allow to cool completely. Fill and ice with Carob Vienna Icing

Carob Vienna Icing

125 g (4 ounces) butter

21/2 cups (625 ml) icing sugar (confectionery sugar)

4 tablespoons (80ml) carob powder

2 tablespoons (40ml) hot water

1 teaspoon (5ml) imitation chocolate essence (optional)

1. Beat the butter until creamy. Sift eh sugar. Blend the carob powder with the hot water and chocolate essence. Add the icing sugar to the butter alternately with the carob mixture until it reaches a spreading consistency. It should not be too thin or thick.

Alternative: Spread the center with jam and whipped cream. I used strawberry fruit spread instead of jam and came out well. Cover and ice as above.

Kachori

After about 2 years, I am uploading a recipe post. It is a well known fact that Srila Prabhupada relishes kachoris. Coming from southern part of India, I have never tasted kachoris in my life till I made it myself this thursday for Srila Prabhupada on his appearance day. I wanted to do this because I know he likes kachoris.

Below is the recipe.

Makes 12 Kachoris.

Ingredients for crust:

1 cup All Purpose flour (plain flour or maida)

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons oil

1/2 cup-1 tablespoon chilled water

Ingredients for filling:

1/4 cup yellow moong dal

1 teaspoon coarsely grinded fennel seeds (saunf)

1 teaspoon coarsely grinded coriander seeds (dhania)

1 teaspoon red chilly flakes

1/4 teaspoon ginger powder

1/2 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)

Pinch of asafetida (hing)

1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust to your taste)

1 tablespoon oil

2 tablespoons water

Oil to deep fry

Method:

To make crust:

Mix the flour, salt and oil. Add the chilled water slowly, mixing with your fingers as you pour.

Do not knead the dough. The dough should be soft. Cover the dough and let it sit for at least fifteen minutes.

To make filling:

Grind the moong dal dry until it almost becomes a powder. Mix 1 tablespoon of oil and dal powder in a frying pan and roast on medium heat for about two to three minutes or dal changes color lightly, stirring constantly. Turn off the heat. Add all the spices and mix it well and let the mixture cool off. Add two tablespoons of warm water and mix it well. Let it sit for ten minutes and cover with demp cloth.

To make the Kachoris:

Take the dough and knead it for a few minutes. Divide the dough in twelve equal parts. Take one part of the dough and with your fingers flatten the edges and make into 3-inch circle. Leaving center little thicker then edges around. Mold the dough into a cup and place 1 teaspoon of filling in the center. Pull the edges of the dough to wrap the dal filling. Repeat with the rest. Let the filled ball sit for 3 to 4 minutes before rolling. Set the kachoris on a surface with the seams facing up. Using the base of your palm, slowly flatten them into about 3 inch circle. Heat about 1 1/2 inche of oil in a frying pan on medium heat. To check if oil is ready put a little piece of dough in the oil, it should sizzle and come up slow. Fry them on medium-low heat. After they start to puff, slowly turn them over. Fry until golden-brown on both sides. If the kachoris are fried on high heat, they will be soft and will not be crispy.

Tips:

Don’t roll the kachoris with a rolling pin. Rolling pins will cause the kachoris to have small holes in the dough, allowing oil to fill the kachoris. Also, when using a rolling pin, the kachoris are uneven and when frying one side will be thicker than the other.

Variation:

Instead of using moong dal, you can use washed urad dal or chana dal. The rest of the recipe stays the same.

Serving suggestions:

Kachoris can be served plain, with a variety of chutneys, with chola, or with dam aloo. Serve them as a chat, pouring plain yogurt and chutney on top.

source: Manjula's Kitechen

soup and bread

My wife made kale (purple) & vegetable soup and eggplant side and I made naan. The naan came out a little flaky than I expected neverthless very tasty. The soup and the side came out perfect per our like.

The eggplant dish is a simple gravy dish. It has sauted eggplant, cauliflower, green pepper and tomotaes with cream added at the end. It was finally garnished with finely chopped cilantro leaves.

The soup is a simple mixture of kale, cooked white bean, carrot, cauliflower and green beans. In order to give the soup some chunkiness, we added cooked vegetable pasta at the end.

I googled searched the naan recipe...it is pretty straight forward.

We offered it to Lord Jagannath and relished the prasada.

Hare Krishna

Raspberry Blackout Cake

My wife made this deliciously wonderful cake. I think the cake came out super excellent moist and all that...i loved it! I think the frosting and the topping made all the difference in my opinion.

We used carob instead of cocoa and regular dairy products for soy products. Enjoy the recipe!

Hare Krishna

Raspberry Blackout Cake with Ganache-y Frosting
courtesy Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (2005), p 217-218

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups plain rice or soy milk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 (10 oz) jar raspberry preserves (reserve 1/2 cup for the batter)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sugar
Fresh raspberries for decorating and yumminess

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 8-inch round springform cake pans with cooking spray. If you don’t have springform then use parchment paper rounds on the bottom of two ordinary 8-inch round cake pans to prevent sticking.

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Combine the rice milk, oil, 1/2 cup of the preserves, the vanilla, and the sugar in a large bowl and mix with a hand mixer or strong fork. The jam should be mostly dissolved with the rest of the ingredients; some small clumps are okay. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in batches and mix until everything is incorporated . Divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in pans.

When the cakes have cooled fully, spread one layer of cake with a thin layer of the preserved raspberry preserves (give the preserves a quick mix with a strong fork to get a spreadable consistency); spread a layer of chocolate frosting on top of the preserves. Place the other layer of cake on top and spread its top with preserves. Carefully spread the chocolate frosting over the top, then ice the sides. I like to put a circle of fresh raspberries around the circumference of the top. If you happen to have a decorating bag and tips around, you can alternate a rosebud or star flourish with a raspberry, and a few raspberries in the center will finish it off. Makes 12 servings.

Chocolate Ganache-y Frosting
3/4 cup soy creamer (I use Silk Soy Creamer but if it’s not available plain soy milk will do)
6 tbsp nonhydrogenated margarine
10 oz semisweet chocolate chips

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the soy creamer to a low boil. Add the margarine and melt, turn off the heat, and stir in chocolate chips until smooth. Let sit for at least 1 hour. It should still have a pourable consistency at this point. If you want a spreadable consistency then refrigerate for an hour (If you refrigerate it for more than a few hours, it sets too much to spread easily, so you will need to reheat it, then let it sit at room temperature before using.)

[Note: the frosting recipe makes about double what you'd need if you plan to just ice and not decorate much]

ekadasi recipes

We made rosti pancakes and oven roasted cauliflower feta cheese salad for ekadasi. The recipes were inspired from Kurma prabhu's book "Quick Vegetarian Dishes". We did make some alterations to the salad dressing as it was ekadasi.

The rosti pancakes were simply made using baked potatoes, cheddar cheese and tomatoes. The salad was a medley of vegetables like potatoes, cauliflower, red pepper, olives, lettuce, feta cheese and lemon olive oil dressing.

Everything came out just perfect. It was quick and hearty for ekadasi. Although i wanted to fast on just fruits, i just could not resist this!

Hare Krishna