Tag Archives: vegan

Vegan Chia Mango Lassi

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love Indian food.

Okay, strike that. Anyone who has only slightly met me knows it, because I shout “I LOVE INDIAN FOOD!” sometimes, totally spontaneously, to strangers who look like they’re curious about what drives me in life.

(Now you know)

And Mango Lassis–have you heard of them? Ever had one? Well. WELL. Imagine perfect, sweet, ripe Mango pureed with yogurt and cream. Now make it a little more liquidy and add some ingredients I haven’t researched but are probably in there too, and bam.

So basically it’s an ultra-good mango yogurt drink.

The thing is, yogurt doesn’t sit so well in my stomach. At least not in super large quantities, and it’s impossible to have a Mango Lassi and not drink super large quantities. I’ve become more dairy-sensitive as I’ve gotten older, and while I’m by no means striking dairy from my diet, I can no longer ingest an entire wheel of Brie in one sitting.*

*Yes, I did. And paid for it with pain. Lots of pain. Though part of that could also have been the ENTIRE BAGUETTE I spread it on. I can only say that I was twenty years old and . . . yes.

Recently, my co-worker brought her homemade Vegan Mango Lassi to the office. And brilliantly, she put Chia seeds in it, which made it almost like a pudding. She offered me a taste and I was blown away. It was so good. And it was healthy too???? I had to make it myself. And over the weekend, I did.

Twice.

The baby made me do it.

Do yourself a kindness and make it too. It is so creamy and wonderful that I feel no need to seek out any other Mango Lassi recipes. Ever.

Vegan Chia Mango Lassi

Serves 4

2 ripe mangoes

13.6 oz (1 can) coconut milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lime juice

2 TBS maple syrup

2 TBS Chia seeds (optional)

First, soak the Chia seeds in 6 oz of water for about 15 minutes (or follow the directions on the back of your package of seeds). Have you ever done stuff with these magical little thingies before? If not, today’s your lucky day.

Also, does anyone else feel the random need to capitalize the word Chia? It can’t be just me.

Next, grab yon mango.

Peeleth it. Chopeth it. Repeateth with the second mango.

Puree the first five ingredients in a blender.

Stir in the Chia seeds and soaking water. Then chill the whole beautiful mess in the fridge. When it’s nice and cold, drink it up or eat it with a spoon.

NOTE: If you’d like to go for the pudding experience, you can add the Chia seeds directly to the lassi instead of soaking them in water first. Let them lounge around in the lassi for a couple hours, then get your spoon out and dive in.

Does that picture gross you out? If you said ‘yes,’ you probably need therapy because of a scarring experience with baby food that you can’t remember but is secretly ruining your life.

I need therapy.

OTHER NOTE: The flavor of the lassi will be SO dependent on the flavor of your mangoes. Taste them! If they’re a little bland, you may need to amp up the lime juice and maple syrup. If they’re bursting with flavor, you may not need maple syrup or lime juice at all! Go with your taste buds on this one.

Here’s a picture of me showing how happy this lassi makes me.

And here’s a picture of me holding it in my claw.

Make it!

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Chana Dhal and Courgette Curry

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My brother-in-law John is staying with us again this summer and expressed an interest in trying Indian food.

You mean John lived with us all last summer and I DIDN’T COOK INDIAN FOOD? What kind of a sister-in-law am I????

Plagued by the knowledge that if I didn’t rectify this–and fast–my head would explode in flames, I decided to make a vegetarian and meat curry pronto. This is the vegetarian recipe I chose, and it’s so good, you guys. I came home the next day hoping to eat the small amount of leftovers for a late afternoon snack, but lo and behold John had eaten them already.

I was slightly pleased, I can’t lie.

There’s no better proof of love than the disappearance of leftovers before they’ve even been in the fridge for 24 hours.

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Anyway, there are no words adequate enough to express my love for this curry.

Though this facial expression comes close to illustrating it.

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With no hard-to-find ingredients (you can use yellow split peas as I did, and the lime juice and brown sugar take the place of tamarind juice), there’s no excuse not to make it.

Unless you don’t like Indian food.

In which case . . . well, I just have to believe that you haven’t actually tasted Indian food yet.

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Not tasted Indian food?

You poor soul.

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Ingredients

Serves 4

2/3 cup chana dhal or yellow split peas, washed
3 cups water
4 TBS vegetable oil
2 green chilies, de-seeded and minced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 inch piece of ginger, minced
8 curry leaves (optional)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp turmeric
3 medium winter squash or zucchini, chopped into quarter moons
2 TBS lime juice
2 TBS brown sugar
2 medium to large tomatoes, chopped
Salt, to taste
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
Cooked rice, to serve

1. In a deep pan, bring the dhal or split peas to a simmer with the 3 cups of water and a generous pinch of salt. Simmer for about 30 minutes, until tender (but not mushy), adding more water as needed and stirring every now and then.

2. In the meantime, heat the oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the onion (and a pinch of salt) and cook for about 15 minutes, until starting to caramelize.

3. Add the chilies, garlic, ginger and curry leaves to the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add the chili powder, turmeric, and another pinch of salt to the onions. Cook for 1 minute, stirring so that the spices don’t burn.

5. By now the chana dhal or split peas should be tender, so add them to the pot with the onions, including any water that wasn’t absorbed.

6. Add the squash or zucchini, lime juice, sugar, tomatoes and cilantro to the pot. Simmer over medium heat until the squash or zucchini is tender, 20-30 minutes.

7.  Taste and season with more salt if needed. Serve over rice!

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Click here for printer-friendly version: Chana Dhal and Courgette Curry