My first real exploit into Indian cuisine, by way of the blessed vessle that is vegan cookery

Never really made my own Indian food before tonight. Sure, I like to pick up a packet of Indian Fare from Trader Joe's, heat it over the stove and put it on some basmati rice from time to time, but as far as making it myself from scratch is concerned, I never before considered I had it in me.

The cookbook I worked from was Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking, which was just reprinted last year with some dazzlingly gorgeous new photos of featured dishes. Now, as far as the eponymous claim that the recipes are "quick" and "easy," I don't have the personal experience to verify whether these dishes are either relatively fast or untroublesome to prepare. What I can say is that the two recipes that I used — "Whole Green Lentils with Cilantro and Mint" and "Rice with Peas and Dill" — took a combined total of about an hour and twenty minutes to complete. And they were quite involved, requiring a large number of different ingredients and, in the case of the lentil dish, such fancy kitchen appliances as a pressure cooker (I, personally, do not own a pressure cooker. Instead, I just used extra water and cooked the lentils over the stove in a covered skillet. The results were not bad). All this being said, I have often heard that Indian food is difficult and demanding to prepare, and my first experience with it proved no less. As far as the helpfulness of my cookbook in alleviating the general challenge of this particular cuisine is concerned: I will post a more educated review once I have had adequate time to better familiarize myself with the various recipes (or at the vegan [or vegan-ize-able] ones!).

The best part of the meal, however, in my own opinion, was a yogurt cucumber sauce that I constructed from my own personal recipe, which I am now at liberty to share:

Vegan Tzatziki (Serves 2 - 4)

This is a great sauce for pretty much any kind of Middle Eastern food, or it can be enjoyed on its own as a light, refreshing snack. To make it you will need:

6 oz. of plain soy yogurt
juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/2 large or one whole small cucumber, peeled and diced into tiny pieces
about 2 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Whisk soy yogurt in a bowl so that it has an even texture throughout. Add lemon juice and mix well. Mix in remaining ingredients. Serve cold.


My roommate wasn't super keen on it but I love this stuff! I could eat it every day.