Creating recipes for a plant-based diet seemed truly far-fetched at first! When I was first introduced to it, my heart sank as I had to forgo many of my favourite dairy dishes. But very soon I came across quite a few alternatives for dairy products that are plant-based and better tasting as well.
The puzzle to solve next was to ensure that all recipes are not just plant-based but also whole food plant-based. Imagine not using oil at all! Again this was set aside as a baseless fear once I realised that oil was present in most nuts and several plant-based elements! I just had to understand that I needed the oil for my body but not in isolation like was the norm but along with its beautiful fibres that would protect my cells from the excess influx of oil within them! They would allow just a little at a time ensuring that the oils did their job of absorbing nutrients in the form most needed by the cells!
So I started thinking of whole nut pastes instead of oils. Tadka was a dry affair and nut pastes would be mixed into dishes at the end to ensure that they stayed as nutritious as possible!
Here is a simple recipe
All of us love the urad dal vadas, don't we?
Well, folks like me, soak a handful of groundnuts along with the urad dal and grind it to become the vada batter. Then we add as many vegetables as possible to the vada, typically like grated onions, cabbage, greens, or sometimes some grated carrots. Then we bake these vadas in an oven. Presto! You will never make out the difference between a regular vada that has been squeezed out of its oils with tissue paper and our vadas! What's more, you will not have to do the squeeze-out act and can happily munch on these without guilt!
Be Blessed,
Radha Eswar.