Indian cuisine has a special touch that seduces and makes it recognizable anywhere. Now you can also enjoy its essence in raw version.
COCONUT CHAI
Ingredients for 1 liter:
- 500 ml coconut milk
- 500 ml water
- 60 g coconut sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground green anise
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- a little vanilla powder or essence
Preparation (40 min + rest):
- Crush all the ingredients, put them in a pot over low heat and stir constantly for about 5 minutes without the water boiling.
- Turn off the heat. You can take it itself or let it cool and take it fresh.
If you want you can add green tea or black tea. You can also strain it or you can replace coconut milk with any other vegetable milk if you prefer.
If you add more water, it will be more liquid and smoother in flavor.
LIVE PAKORS WITH MINT SAUCE
Ingredients for 24 units:
- 100 g chickpeas (previously soaked in water)
- 3 garlic cloves
- Fresh chili to taste
- zest and lemon juice
- 1 cup coriander leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 tablespoons tahini
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 125 ml water
- 150 g red onion
- 100 g carrot
- 60 g green pepper
- 100 g zucchini
- 100 g broccoli
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the mint sauce:
- 3 tablespoons cashews (previously soaked in water for 3 to 8 hours)
- 1 cup fresh mint
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 100 ml water
- Half lime juice
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
Preparation (20 min + soaking and dehydration time):
- First of all, keep in mind that you should soak the chickpeas for two days, changing the water every day. Then leave them in a colander, minimum four hours and maximum one day. It is good that they sprout a little, but not too much, because they could bitter.
- Once the chickpeas are ready, make a cream by crushing them with mustard seeds, cumin, coriander and fennel, turmeric, tahini, yeast, oil and water, until it has a creamy consistency.
- On the other hand, cut the onion, carrot, pepper and zucchini into thin strips, and broccoli into little flowers. Put them in a bowl, room and stir. It is best to let them macerate with the salt until they soften a little and release water. This way they will have the ideal consistency.
- Mix the macerated vegetables with the chickpea cream, chopped cilantro and garlic, the spicy and the lemon, and take them to dehydrate by putting handfuls in the dehydration trays.
- Dehydrates for six hours. Turn them over and leave one more hour. Keep in the fridge.
- An hour before serving, put the pakoras in the dehydrator to serve them warm.
- We serve them with the mint sauce, which is very easy to make: strain and wash the cashews and crush them with the rest of the ingredients until you get a creamy consistency. And that’s it. Enjoy!
LASSI MANGO ICE CREAM MOUSSE
Ingredients for 2 people:
- 50 g cashews (with a pre-soak of 3 to 8 hours)
- 1 large handle
- 150 ml coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- juice of half a lemon
- 1 cup ice
- a pinch of salt
To decorate:
- dried coconut flakes
- a few fresh mints leaves
Preparation (15 min + soaking time):
- Strain and wash the cashews and then crush them with the rest of the ingredients until you achieve a creamy consistency.
- You serve it in bowls and on top you add the coconut and a few mint leaves.
- The ideal is to serve it at the moment; If not, it is best to store it in the freezer.
This same recipe can be made with any other fruit of your choice.
VEGETABLE CURRY WITH CAULIFLOWER RICE AND CHUTNEY
Ingredients for 4 people:
- 200 g zucchini
- 100 g bell pepper
- 100 g apple
- 50 g spinach
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
For chutney:
- 1 large handle
- a few drops of lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
- hot pepper to taste
For rice:
- 300 g cauliflower
- 1 handful of mint leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Preparation (20 minutes):
- For the curry, cut apple, zucchini and pepper into cubes, and the spinach into strips. Room and reservation.
- Make the chutney by crushing all the ingredients and set aside.
- For the rice, crush the cauliflower into pieces, finely cut the mint and mix with salt and oil.
- Serve everything separately or mix the vegetables with the chutney and serve them with the rice on a plate.
SAVOR 100% PLANT-BASED INDIAN CUISINE
Ommm! The divine mantra of India, a sacred land that feeds so many people every day. Without having stepped on its ground yet, I guess the smell it has. I inhale the mixture of its thousand and one spices, I am intoxicated by its elixirs, like navigators who sail the skies of the entire planet.
What a pleasure to find a rich piece of you in Indian restaurants in so many cities around the world! How nice to feel, to taste yourself, to appreciate your extensive wisdom, dear Hindu food culture! Thank you. I feel the energy of the cooperative work of your people who, with dedication and a constant smile drawn on their faces, prepare delicious dishes.
In India, vegetarianism is well rooted in the culture of the people. For many of its inhabitants, animals are not food, and they even treat cows as sacred. Something very different from what happens in many other cultures…
The chaos and apparent disorder of India radiate a very particular harmony. Full of wisdom and teachings everywhere, it transmits to us, to point out something exceptional, that living in the present is fundamental, and that in this way life is contemplated with different eyes.
It gives us a well-being and joy that stimulate existence on the planet and dissolve fears and problems, because at present there is no room for them.
From that same teaching is cooked in India, from the present and from prayer, influenced by Hinduism and also by cultural traditions of strong local roots that give it a great variety. The result becomes, apart from tasty, a food for the soul.
COOKING AS A RITE
In Espiritual Chef, the project that has accompanied me the last ten years of my life, we perform our services from that awareness, such as this text that I send you and the recipes that I present to you. The culture of India has a lot to do, it has been a fundamental ingredient.
In this article, we propose you to prepare some raw recipes inspired by some very characteristic dishes of that South Asian country.
But before you start cooking them, I invite you to get an essential ingredient to make them: peace. Close your eyes and be silent for a few minutes, while breathing deeply; When you open them, start cooking from that feeling. I hope you enjoy it. Namasté, India!
