INDIAN VEGAN: A Plant-Based Cookbook Through Spices, Aromas, and Culture

By Radha Raja

Transport your taste buds on a flavorful journey through India's vibrant and healthy cuisine with our exquisite plant-based cookbook that will elevate your cooking game and leave you craving for more!

 

• Do you want to learn how to create mouthwatering plant-based dishes that are healthy, delicious, and easy to prepare?
• Have you ever wondered how to add a touch of spice and flair to your meals while staying true to your plant-based lifestyle?
• Do you want to explore the vibrant and different world of Indian cuisine and discover new ingredients and cooking techniques?
• Are you ready to impress your family and friends with your newfound culinary skills and take them on a Journey to India's rich culinary heritage?
•  

If all your answers to these questions are "YES", this Cookbook is the right book for you!

 

As you open the pages of this cookbook filled with plant-based Indian recipes, the aroma of cumin, coriander, and turmeric fills your senses, transporting you to the bustling streets of India.

The vibrant colors of the spices and ingredients jump off the page, just like the lively energy of the bazaars where the recipes were first born. You can almost hear the clanging of pots and the sizzle of food being cooked on open flames.

Each recipe preserves the flavors and traditions of generations past. From hearty chana masala to fragrant biryanis, each dish is a reminder of home and the love that goes into preparing each meal.

 

As you read through the instructions, memories flood back of watching your mother of grandmother expertly blend spices, chop vegetables, and mix dough for roti. The cookbook's simple and easy-to-follow steps make it easy to recreate those same dishes in your own kitchen.

 

In this book you'll find:

• 120+ Plant-Based Indian Recipes: With a wide variety of recipes ranging from appetizers, main courses, desserts, and more. You will find classic Indian dishes like Chana Masala, Saag Paneer, and Vegetable Biryani, as well as unique and lesser-known recipes like Baingan Bharta (smoked eggplant), Aloo Gobi (potatoes and vegetables), and Gajar Halwa (carrot pudding).
• Tips and Techniques that are specific to Indian Cuisine: Information on Indian spices and herps, and how to use them to enhance the flavor of dishes.
• Detailed step-by-step directions: With easy information to help you reproduce the original Indian taste of each recipe.
• Nutritional Facts for each recipe.
• A 30-Day Meal Plan: Designed to provide you a delicious and nutritionally balances selection of meals, all while ensuring that you're getting the nutrients your body needs to thrive. Each day's meals are planned out for you, from breakfast to dinner.

And much more…

 

This cookbook celebrates culture and tradition in addition to providing a selection of recipes. It's a reminder of the warmth and comfort of home and the joy of sharing a meal with loved ones.

 

Don't miss out on the opportunity to take your taste buds on a journey through India's vibrant and healthy plant-based cuisine.

 

Grab your copy of our exquisite cookbook today and discover the world of exotic flavors, nourishing ingredients, and easy-to-follow recipes that will take your cooking games to the next level and impress your loved ones!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Giovanna Vitaliti
• Release date: Sep 23, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227544759

Book preview

Introduction

This is a guide dedicated to plant-based Indian cuisine. Traditional Indian cuisine, known for its wonderful flavors, spices and delicious dishes, can be very well reconciled with the plant-based philosophy. The literal meaning of Plant Based is plant-based, which simply means that it is a style of cooking and ingredients based on plants. Therefore, a plant-based diet is a predominantly vegetarian diet. And this guide was written precisely with the aim of bringing you to knowledge of this type of diet, based precisely on plants, with the pleasure of discovering and experiencing the famous and delicious Indian cuisine. Indeed, thanks to the recipes indicated in the guide, you will be able to cook with all the spices and flavors typical of this millenary cuisine.

Apart from this, we will also give you all the precise indications on all the ingredients, the tools you will need to be able to make all your plant-based dishes. But let's dwell on the point for a moment: the plant-based style.

For this purpose, here's, let’ s briefly see what it consists of, what the cardinal principles are and what the underlying inspiration is.

Those who follow a plant-based diet are not limited to the consumption of vegetables alone but impose a series of rules that mainly aim to respect the rhythms and times of the earth and its ecosystem. In other words, it is a food philosophy with the protection of biodiversity and the enhancement of local cultures and local traditions at its core; it is a conscious orientation that favors small-scale food production in order to preserve the integrity of ecosystems.

For this reason, plant-based nutrition prefers whole grains and vegetables, and does not disdain animal products (treated with a view to animal welfare) while minimizing their intake.

Eating only fresh food might seem like the perfect recipe for our daily well-being. In reality, however, it is not always easy to organize a balanced diet and the advice is always to get support from a Nutritionist. From a strictly food point of view, the plant-based diet is less stringent than the vegan one but still requires a lot of attention and dedication in choosing foods.

Plant based means following the natural rhythms of the earth, respecting animals but for this very reason it implies paying close attention to the purchases you make. The more local crops and local traditions are valued, the more a plant-based philosophy is followed.

And there is no better culinary tradition than the Indian one to be able to reconcile this food philosophy with delicious dishes. As we will see, Indian cuisine is already in itself a cuisine based on respect for the environment and on the consumption of vegetables.

In this guide, I will show you later how the Indian culinary tradition works, the shopping list and the best tools to be able to create your own plant-based Indian cuisine. Below you will find 120 recipes from the kitchen completely revisited in a plant-based key, without forgetting the meal plans.

A look into the Indian Traditional Kitchen

Let's take a very quick look at traditional Indian cuisine.

The traditional Indian cuisine could be the one that reconciles best with the plant-based philosophy.

This is because, in India, 30% of the population follows a vegetarian diet. The motivations are complex and find their roots in the local culture and religion. Let's find out.

Indian cuisine is indeed very rich in cereals and legumes, vegetables and fruit, spices and aromatic herbs that help enrich the vegetarian diet and experiment with new and increasingly tasty dishes.

Indian vegetarian cuisine is based on cereals and legumes. In India rice is one of the main components of the cuisine. Different varieties are produced and used, including Patna and basmati. As an accompaniment to food, in addition to rice, wheat or legume bread cooked in the oven, on a griddle or even fried is eaten.

More than 50 varieties of legumes are used in Indian cuisine: peas, lentils and beans of different types are consumed in abundance especially in vegetarian cuisine. Legumes are used whole or peeled and broken to reduce cooking times.

Indian cuisine is very rich in cereals and legumes, vegetables and fruit, spices and aromatic herbs that help enrich the vegetarian diet and experiment with new and increasingly tasty dishes.

Indian vegetarian cuisine is based on cereals and legumes. In India rice is one of the main components of the cuisine. Different varieties are produced and used, including Patna and basmati. As an accompaniment to food, in addition to rice, wheat or legume bread cooked in the oven, on a griddle or even fried is eaten.

More than 50 varieties of legumes are used in Indian cuisine: peas, lentils and beans of different types are consumed in abundance especially in vegetarian cuisine. Legumes are used whole or peeled and broken to reduce cooking times.

Of course, fruit and vegetables cannot be missing from Indian vegetarian cuisine. In India there are numerous varieties of vegetables of very different origins.

The Indian agricultural tradition is very ancient indeed: the development of agriculture in the Indus valley dates to 7000 years before Christ; such a deeply rooted tradition could only produce an immense wealth of vegetable products.

The use of mango in the kitchen is very common, which is consumed both ripe and unripe; with the addition of salt and sometimes chilli pepper, or even dried and reduced to powder, to then be used as an ingredient to flavor dishes together with spices. Another common ingredient, above all in the preparation of Indian desserts, is coconut.

In India, as is known, spices are used a great deal which, in the case of vegetarian Indian cuisine, serve to give more flavor to vegetables, legumes, cereals and even sweets. The most used are coriander, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, cumin, pepper, fenugreek, chilli, paprika, ginger, tamarind, turmeric, and mustard.

Among the condiments, the most common is certainly ghee, the characteristic Indian clarified butter. However, for those who have decided to exclude milk and dairy products from their diet, the selection of condiments of Indian cuisine is still quite vast; in fact, in the vegetarian recipes of Indian cuisine sunflower and soybean oil, coconut butter, vegetable margarine and mustard seed oil are often used; the latter contains a high amount of uric acid and therefore, in other countries, especially in the western world, it is not recommended as it is considered unhealthy.

Then there are vegetable-based condiments, the so-called chutneys, made up of fruit and vegetables without the addition of milk or milk derivatives, therefore perfect not only for vegetarian cuisine but also for those who follow a vegan diet; they are composed of vegetables or fruits including mangoes, tomatoes, onions, limes, peaches and dates, with the addition of spices, especially chili peppers, to make them hot.

Ingredient lists

Now let's see the list of ideal ingredients to be able to make your typical dishes of plant-based Indian cuisine.

So, you should always have in your kitchen:

Fresh fruit, especially mango

Spices of all types

Herbs of all types

Brown and basmati rice

Legumes of all types

Soy and tofu cheese

Seitan

Fresh veggies of any type

Vegetable milks of any type

Vegetable oils of any type.

Grocery list

After the list of main ingredients, let's see which is the ideal grocery list for those who want to cook Indian plant based.

Legumes: peas, lentils and beans of different types

Brown and basmati rice

Wheat meal and soy flour

Nuts and seeds (almonds, pecans, cashews, peanuts and so on)

fruit: mango, apple, banana, pear, strawberries, berries, avocado and so on

Asparagus

Bagged greens and salads

Leafy green veggies

Cauliflower and broccoli

Cucumber

Dried fruit (apples, apricots, banana slices, etc)

Mushrooms

Kale and cabbages

Spinach and beets

Tofu, soy cheese and seitan

Zucchinis

Carrots

Peppers

Eggplants

Turnips

Potatoes

Whole-Grain Products (Amaranth, Barley, Bulgur, Freekeh, Millet, Oats, Spelt Quinoa and so on)

Rice (black, basmati, brown, red, and wild)

Vegetable milks (almond, soy, oat, rice and so on)

Spices of all types (cumin, nutmeg, turmeric, cardamom, ginger, curry, asafoetida, amchoor, fenugreek seeds cloves, red chili powder, mustard seed, cinnamon, saffron and so on)

Herbs of all types (coriander, cilantro, mint, thyme, rosemary and so on)

Basic equipment to cook Indian Plant-Based Recipes

To finish this more explanatory part, here is what is the basic equipment for cooking in an Indian Plant based style.

Pillar of Indian cuisine are spices: they flavor, color and perfume the dishes, giving them character. To cook Indian at home, do not miss turmeric, cumin, coriander, chilli pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, garlic and saffron in the pantry. If you don't already own them, you can easily find them in any supermarket.

Curry is perhaps one of the spices, so erroneously defined, of India: it is in fact a mixture composed of five to ten spices made differently according to different traditional recipes. When the name of the dish is accompanied by masala it means that this is cooked using spices.

This is why a mortar becomes of fundamental importance.

Container made of metal, hard stone, marble,