Vegan Yum Yum (42 page)
Sheera can be made into a sweet or savory meal, and both are loved because they're quick to throw together and very comforting. I was told that there is never an excuse not to have dessert when you can have sheera. Here is the recipe for the sweet version, spiced with cardamom and flecked with fried raisins and cashews. Saffron gives it a color and flavor boost, but it's an optional ingredient. When Nanni made this for us, she actually broke out food coloring to tint it a rich yellow! She originally used golden raisins, but I couldn't find any at the store, so I used regular. They are stronger tasting than the golden raisins, but they provide a nice burst of color.
Sheera
Makes 4 dessert servings
step 1
Heat water to boiling. A teakettle works great; just heat 2½ cups or so and keep it hot so you can measure out and add 2 cups of hot water to the sooji when you need it.
step 2
Prepare the cardamom by breaking open all of the pods and separating the seeds from the husk. Using a mortar and pestle or the bottom of a glass (or whatever you want), crush the seeds to a fine powder and set aside.
step 3
Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high heat in a medium-size pot. Add the cashews and fry, stirring constantly, until golden brown. Remove from the bowl with a slotted spoon, leaving the oil in the pan.
step 4
Add the raisins and fry until they lighten in color and puff up like weird little alien raisins, about 1 minute. Remove them with a slotted spoon, placing them in the bowl with the cashews.
step 5
Turn the heat down to medium, add the sooji, and stir well, until it absorbs the oil and looks like slightly wet sand. Add the cardamom, cashews, raisins, sugar, and saffron (if using) and mix well. Turn down the heat and add 2 cups of boiling water, stirring well. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil and stir until the mixture gets very thick, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately.
Ingredients
2 cups boiling water
10 green cardamom pods
3 tablespoons canola oil, divided into 2 and 1
¼ cup raw, unsalted cashews
¼ cup raisins
(golden or regular)
cup sooji
(or quick-cooking Cream of Wheat)
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon saffron
(optional)
Snickerdoodles
I
love snickerdoodles. Plain sugar cookies just don't do it for me, but roll them in a little cinnamon sugar and I'm sold. (Roll nearly anything in cinnamon sugar and I'm sold.) This is a cookie that performs beautifully when veganized. If you have a family recipe you use, I can almost guarantee you that all you need to do is substitute Earth Balance margarine for the butter and Ener-G Egg Replacer for the eggs and you'll be set. Here is a recipe I made after checking out several different snickerdoodle recipes. It's fast, easy, and pretty near fail-proof.
One thing you should know: The temperature of the cookie dough as it goes into the oven determines the shape and overall look of the cookies. If you want cookies that are pillowy and show a lot of cracks and texture, the dough needs to be fairly cold as it goes into the oven. If you like thinner, more even-looking cookies, let the dough warm up a little before baking. If the dough is cold, the cookies don't have much time to warm up and flatten out before the outside of the cookie bakes and prevents further expansion. If it's already a little warm, the cookies will expand and spread (and flatten) in the first few minutes of cooking. The pictures here are cookies baked when the dough was cold. These cookies are a snap if you make them in a stand mixer but only take slightly more elbow grease if you're doing them by hand. And they ship beautifully.
Snickerdoodles
Makes approximately 18 cookies
step 1
Cream the sugar, margarine, and vanilla extract together with a wooden spoon or a fork (or beat together in a stand mixer) in a medium-size bowl.
step 2
In a small bowl, whisk the egg replacer and water until foamy. Add it to the margarine and sugar mixture, then whip (or whisk) it all together until it's light and fluffy.
step 3
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cream of tartar, and baking soda. Add approximately
of the dry ingredients to the whipped mixture and then whip until combined. Add in the remaining flour and mix by hand. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
step 4
Preheat the oven to 375 ºF.
step 5
When the dough is chilled, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a small ice-cream scoop or 2 tablespoons, make balls of dough. Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar.
step 6
Using a fork (or whatever you want), lightly flatten the dough balls into discs that are approximately ¼-inch thick.
step 7
Bake for 10 minutes for chewy cookies or 12 minutes for crunchy ones. Remove from the oven and let them sit for 30 seconds. They'll be very soft when they come out of the oven, but that's just fine! Gently remove the cookies from the baking sheet and let them cool for a few minutes on a wire rack before serving.
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
½ cup Earth Balance margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with
2 tablespoons hot water
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¼ teaspoon baking soda
Cinnamon sugar, for rolling
chapter
nine
Cheers to
Delicious
Drinks
Boba Tea Two Ways
F
orget the prepackaged boba tea mixes that cost $10 a bag and aren't even vegan. Make your own. This may require a Vita-Mix, but you can try it in a regular blender or a food processor. This recipe depends on freeze-dried fruit. You can find this at Whole Foods (the Just Strawberries brand) or at Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's also offers ranbutan, pineapple, and some other interesting choices. One package of the Trader Joe's strawberries was used here; it equals about 2 cups. Experiment! Have fun! (The strawberry boba tea mix doesn't actually contain tea, like most of the fruit boba flavors. Stay tuned for actual tea variations.)
Strawberry Ranbutan Boba Tea (Variation)
I used the “ready in 5 minutes!!” tapioca pearls in this recipe. I tried to use the regular ones and it was a disaster and took forever, so I highly recommend the ones that are already partially hydrated. I found them at a local Asian market. Follow the directions on your package, but mine required 1 cup of pearls to be boiled in 10 cups of water for about 5 minutes. When pearls are done cooking, drain them and place them in a simple syrup.
Boba Tea Mix
Makes 12 drinks
Blend ingredients in a Vita-Mix, using the accelerator tool to push the ingredients into the blades. Once powdered, remove and store in an airtight container until use. Since this is a homemade mix without any added anticaking agents, you may need to break up chunks with a spoon.
Boba Tea (Variation)
Makes 1 serving (increase as necessary)
step 1
Blend water or soy milk with boba tea powder mix until smooth. It'll mix nicely in a blender.
step 2
Place tapioca pearls in the bottom of a glass. Add ice to pearls. Pour strawberry mixture over ice and pearls, add straw, and serve!
Ingredients
Boba Tea Mix
2½ cups freeze-dried strawberries
2 cups freeze-dried ranbutans
(1 bag from Trader Joe's, or you can use other fruitâpineapple would be nice!)