I've made Nikki's spinach and aubergine curry loads of times ... it's delish!
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I've made Nikki's spinach and aubergine curry loads of times ... it's delish!
I am having serious curry withdrawal symptoms lately since being vegan....and it doesn't help that OH keeps getting curry and chips/rice from the local takeaway and eating it in front of me!
does anyone know any kind of curry sauce that is vegan that i can have? I don't really want to make one myself. I looked all the tins in supermarket last night but every one of them either contained milk or yoghurt or some other no-no.
or does anyone know of any dish i can order in the indian that is ok.... is bombay aloo ok.... my research says it might be (hoping he'll be taking me there for a meal on valentine's day this weekend).
I guess you could try things like Pataks sauces/pastes that tend to be available in supermarkets. Or if you have a decent Asian or Chinese supermarket nearby go and take a look there, oddly enough you find a quite acceptable curry sauce in Chinese supermarkets :confused::D
I always go for Chana Masala ... it's pretty much chick peas in a spicy sauce. Check that they don't cook in ghee though.
As far as takeaway goes I have found Indian restaurants to be very understanding and will let you know what is suitable and what isn't. There is always the chance of cross contamination in the kitchen, but that's your call.
I have been eating jars of Asda ultra cheap curry sauce. 17p for 500g jar. Tastes like chip shop curry sauce. Has no veg in it, it's just sauce.
last time i ordered that from an omni place i ended up with chicken - seems they wrote down 'ch. masala' and someone misinterpreted it :(
in Indian restaurants, there are some curries which are often vegan but you do have to ask, because some chefs will add ghee or yogurt or something.
i think some Sharwood's curry sauces are ok, there's a Seeds of Change balti sauce which is ok, and if you can get Real Food Co. sauces a couple of those are vegan (i think rogan josh and masala - mostly available from health food shops).
I usually just use Patak's sauces. I don't have a full list but I know the madras, balti, vindaloo and rogan josh are all vegan. The lactic acid is from vegetable sources
I use 2 jars of Sharwood's Balti curry sauce and add cooked potatoes, cauliflower, peas, onion, a little coconut, and a couple of large spoonfuls of mango chutney. Then put it in a casserole dish and cook it in the oven for half an hour.........it's delicious with naan bread or rice.
Infact I'm making it for Sunday dinner! :)
I like the Patak pastes - much better than the sauces.
ok i'll check out the supermarket again thanks all
If you are ordering from a takeaway, ask them if they use butter ghee or vegetable ghee. Or alternatively just ask them if they will cook the dish with vegetable oil instead of ghee, the takeaways I have asked to do this have always been more than happy to help.
I usually have just bog standard vegetable curry or bombay aloo with boiled rice. (Some places add butter to their pilau rice)
Put some red lentils on to cook - enough to make about 8fl oz (1 US cup) when cooked.
Meanwhile...
Chop a medium onion and start frying.
Grate 2 medium potatoes and 1 medium carrot skin and all and add to frying onion.
Add the lentils when they are cooked and add curry powder, ground cumin, cayenne pepper to taste. Depending how salty the curry powder is, add some yeast extract or vecon paste.
Add in 2 "cubes" of frozen spinach and "melt" and mix in.
Drain a small tin of garden peas in water, and stir them gently in.
Allow to cool.
Roll out a block of puff pastry very thinly and cut into shapes for pasties. Squares are easy, or use a cappuccino cup like I did and make small pasties.
Stuff with filling, prick top, and bake at 200C until cooked.
Wow these sounds brilliant. I'll be making some at the weekend. Thanks!!
Interesting thought
I bought some frozen pastry at x-mas especially to make curry pasties but I had forgotten. I will be making them soon now. I wouldn't have thought to put in spinach though but it sounds quite nice actually.:)
sounds good, i have some frozen pastry in the freezer too waiting for me to stop being lazy and do something with it :p
That was just my attempt at making them healthier (to make up for the laziness of using tinned peas). Pretty much anything can go in.
I made cornish style pasties the other day with onion, potato, carrot, frozen mince, vecon, black pepper, sage and parsley. Can't decide which I prefer.
My next lot will be cornish type again, but using half potato, half swede, and using brown/green/puy lentils instead of mince. I am going to freeze them uncooked. For emergencies, as otherwise they get eaten far too quickly.
I want to try chilli pasties after that, and also try making them with oil pastry, which will be a) healthier, b) free from palm oil, and c) cheaper
This sounds amazingly delicious, thanks Pob:D
further to the thread I just read about someone needing help ordering in a chinese restaurant...how about an indian restaurant? what is good to eat there?
i ordered pilaw rice last week and it was yellow so i didn't eat it...convinced myself it was cooked in butter....ew.
help! :D
hmm i guess the silence means nothing eh? last night i had basmati rice with a green salad. that was ok. bit dry that's all.
Most places I've been to in the UK will be able to do veg biryani, dhal and chipatti, provided that you check of course (ghee, cochineal etc). Poppadoms are often vegan, dependant on whether they're cooked separately.
As with any restaurant you have to check with the chef and assess whether you think they're clued up on veganism. I've had some great vegan food at Indian restaurants. At the one I used to go in Cambridge, the biryani wasn't vegan due to ghee, but I definitely used to have channa dal, tarka dal, sag aloo, bombay potato, plain rice and poppadoms.
Indian restaurants add turmeric to most things, turmeric turns stuff yellow.
The main issue with indian restaurants is cooking in ghee which is butter, but you can ask them before you go whether they can cook with vegetable oil instead. Some will refuse on principle, or because it means they have to cook separate batches for you, but there are some which will accomodate. As a lot of Indins are Hindu they are usually familiar with vegetarianism, also religious Hindus don't eat eggs at all so eggs aren't usually a problem.
And if it's a South Indian restaurant (aside from the fact it should be vegetarian anyway:D) they will/should be clued up on veganism!
I usually have no problems finding vegan food at Indian restaurants, many of them use oil instead of gee. Naans contains dairy most of the time, though.
I've been treated with respect in all the places I've been and had the most delicious vegan dishes!:)
Last time I went to an Indian restaraunt was with my gf's family, they had phoned in advance and been told that they could cater for vegans. When we got there, after having to explain to 2 different waiters (one was even the manager I think) what vegan meant I was asked if chicken would be ok if it was cooked in vegetable oil.
It was at this point that I decided never again to eat in a restaraunt that didn't make it clear that they provided vegan options. Now when invited I'll eat before or after and just sit and have a drink while everyone else eats (saves you money anyway).
Sorry, totally unhelpful post I know.
Hi Daffodil
I rarely eat takeaways now as like you say you don't know who to trust. However our local Indian takeaway is great, he does me a special portion of curry sauce made with no animal ingredients. He is honest by saying the naan bread is not vegan but the chapattis are. They are very accommodating, so I guess its just down to that and how nice they are! I used to eat from there a lot when vegetarian so they do know us as customers which I suppose helps. :smile:
I get that way too, Risker, but how will they learn?
If the staff are nice then I keep trying til they get trained. They might even end up putting a symbol next to menu items that are vegan. (well, we can dream)
We have a wonderful take away near us called Spice Shuttle which actually labels some things on the menu as vegan. There is even a pudding we can have. Also other restaurants near us are usually very accomodating.
you're v lucky to have such accomodating indian restaurants. we live in a small valleys town and they're not so good here..... i'll stick with my boiled rice and salad for now.
thanks for answering me everyone :-)
Most of the vegetable side dishes (bombay aloo, aloo gobi, cauliflower bhajee) should be safe, at least in theory. When my boyfriend's mum orders for me in restaurants, she always tells them I'm allergic to dairy and egg to make sure they don't pull a fast one :)
I really can't imagine ghee being added to something like chana masala (chickpeas in tomato sauce), as that would probably make it taste odd.
Its not added to the dish it's what the vegetables are cooked in.
The first step in most indian recipes is.. fry your spices in ghee (or oil). Then add the gobi, channa, aloo, whatever it is.
The more traditional chefs believe cooking in ghee is the best way, their mother did it and they think it won't taste right without it.
You can get vegetable ghee now. Also, I have seen some public health leaflets aimed at Asian communities about healthy eating, and making the case for using oil as opposed to ghee... when will this be the norm in Indian restaurants and take aways? Even in vegetarian restaurants (not just Indian) I sometimes wonder... maybe I am just in a paranoid frame of mind?
ETA vegetable ghee is a trans fat, so not that healthy!
I've always been under the impression that oil was more traditional/common than ghee?
I'm just back from india for the 2nd time (and have a terrible stomach bug, but that's another story!). South indian is generally more vegan friendly than north, dosas and uttapams and such. North indian food pretty much depends on the chef in terms of ghee, although most places were more than willing to do the basics such as channa masala and dal and biryani in veg oil. it's paneer that's the problem over there, they put it in everything! I've never had any problems ordering in western indian restaurants, balti, jalfrezi, madras, rogan josh and many more hould be fine as long as you tell them to leave out the dairy. It's taken me about 45 minutes to write this post cause I've been up and down to the toilet so much! sorry if that's too much information on a thread about food! :(
Other half and I have had a couple of wonderful experiences at Indian restaurants. We phoned in advance and they have been nothing but understanding and knowledgeable. We ordered our food first, and the waiter and manager both double- and triple-checked what would be and wouldn't be OK. Had absolutely fantastic meals :thumbsup: Guess it depends where you go. These were in and around Milton Keynes.
The Indian take away near me does add dairy and ghee to certain vegetarian based meals after so I always say no Dairy or Ghee and it is always left out which is great.
Most Indian places can do this for you just make it known as they are happy to accommodate.
I was thinking of making a panerr type curry with tofu instead of paneer. I can't decide how though. Do I marinade the tofu first, then make my curry and add it at the end? Or should I fry the tofu and then just add it to the sauce? Or add the tofu part way through making the sauce? Not being an experienced tofu-using-vegan I'm undecided as the way to go forward, but I am a very experienced curry maker. Any ideas welcome!