All posts tagged: Food

Pinki’s Palate on BBC | Vegan Sheera

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Happy Diwali and Sal Mubarak to all who celebrated this week! I hope that this year brings you much love, joy, and happiness. For those who don’t know, I wanted to recap a little about Diwali, aka the Festival of Lights. It is celebrated by many Indian faiths including Jains, Hindus, and Sikhs. While each religion has their own perspective behind the occasion, they all share the common commemoration of the victory of light over darkness, spiritual prosperity, and the start of a new year. In Jainism, Diwali signifies the anniversary of Lord Mahavir’s attainment of moksh (liberation from the cycle of reincarnation). Apart from the colorful celebrations, Jains use this day to reflect on Lord Mahavir’s teachings of ahimsa (nonviolence), aparigrah (non-posessiveness), and anekantvaad (non-absolutism) through prayer, charity, meditation, and fasting. Growing up in the US, I still have so many special memories of celebrating this day—decorating our home with deevos (lamps), my mom teaching Diwali crafts in my elementary school class, creating rangoli designs, doing choreographed dances at the temple, dressing up in …

LIVE Webinar + Cooking Demo: TODAY!

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It’s a 3-day weekend and I’ve got something AWESOME in store for your afternoon today… Pinki’s Palate will be LIVE today for a free cooking webinar on Compassionate Cooking with Pinki’s Palate <<< RSVP here and head to the Young Jains of America site for the live stream at 3 pm EST on May 27th, 2017! This webinar is for anyone interested in pursuing a healthy, compassionate lifestyle through a plant-based diet. We’ll cover simple cooking tips, how to shop healthy and stock a Jain kitchen, demo some easy recipes, and answer your questions! We look forward to seeing you there. In the meantime, here is a little trailer to get you excited about cooking Thanks for all of the support and please subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Almond Crusted Tofu with Roasted Red Pepper Fusilli

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Almond Crusted Tofu with Roasted Red Pepper Fusilli Almond Crusted Tofu: Ingredients for Almond Crusted Tofu: 1 block extra-firm tofu 1 cup raw almonds ½ tsp salt ground black pepper, to taste ½ tsp paprika 1 tsp Italian seasoning 2 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp lemon juice ½ cup water olive oil oat flour, for dusting 2 tbsp flax meal + 4 tbsp water, mixed To make the Almond Crusted Tofu: Drain and press tofu. Slice extra firm tofu into 1/2 inch slices and then in half to form triangular pieces. Marinade tofu slices in a shallow dish with soy sauce, lemon juice, and water for 1 hour. Use a food processor to grind 1 cup of raw almonds into tiny crumbly, pieces. Fold in spices, seasonings, salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove marinated tofu and dab off any excess marinade with a paper towel. Quickly dust in flour, dip in a dish of flax-meal water mixture, and coat with almond+salt+pepper crumbs. The flax-meal water mixture will help adhere the almond crust. Add each …

Caramelized Butternut Arugula Pizza

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A wise chef once said… the dough is your canvas Okay not really, but you get the picture: Artisan pizza is an imaginative, creative experience pairing seemingly random ingredients to create an earthy concoction of tastes. Tart, spicy, creamy, and sweet make this pizza absolutely delicious. Caramelized Butternut Arugula Pizza ingredients you will need: caramelized butternut squash (see recipe below) herbed thin crust (see recipe below) Jain pesto fresh arugula leaves creamy goat cheese pomegranate arils olive oil, herbs (italian seasoning, oregano, rosemary, parseley), salt, pepper First, caramelize the butternut squash: 2 cups chopped butternut squash 1/4 cup brown sugar 2 tsp salt fresh ground black pepper Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Peel the butternut squash, remove seeds, and dice into bite sized cubes. Place squash on a baking dish/sheet and drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle over the brown sugar, salt, and pepper evenly. Toss the squash in the mixture and spread them out flat on the baking sheet. Roast the squash for about 50 minutes until tender and caramelized. Remember to occasionally …

Rose Watermelon-Lychee Jello Parfait

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    Rose Watermelon-Lychee Jello Parfait Parfaits are alwayssss delicious. Combining different flavors, and textures, they can please any palate. Jello is a fun ingredient, but often, vegetarians and vegans find it difficult to mimick the texture gelitan free. However, there is a secret ingredient for everything! I came up with this recipe for a healthy and refreshing dessert parfait.   Ingredients: Rose Watermelon-Lychee Jello Parfait: Scoops of Seedless Watermelon (use a melon baller) Rose Syrup (you can find this at Indian or Middle Eastern grocery stores) Sprigs of Fresh Mint Lychee Juice/Nectar Fresh Lychee (optional) Agar-Agar powder Lychee Jello: How to make jello using agar agar 10 minutes + setting time in fridge (~2 hours) ingredients: 1 1/2 tsp agar agar powder 2 Tbsp sugar or sweetener – I use agave 2 cups simmering fruit juice or nectar Directions: Finely chop fresh lychee if you would like to add it into the jello. You can use drained canned lychee too if you can’t find fresh ones. In a heavy-bottom pot, heat up juice until …

Chai-Spiced Cashew Custard Fruit Tarts

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You know when you walk into a cute little cafe and see those pastries and desserts arranged perfectly in the glass cases? Now you can make a healthier and animal product free version yourself! Fortunately, they don’t run $6 a piece either 😛 Yup, this recipe is entirely raw, vegan, and Jain. No oven necessary. It’s all natural. Best of all, you’ll look like a professional pastry chef 😛 Chai-Spiced Cashew Custard Fruit Tarts makes 8-10 four inch tarts Ingredients: Crust: 2 cups oats (rolled oats work great since they are extra chewy) 2 cups chopped prunes, dried figs, or dates (I used prunes here. Maybe try a mixture? Or even throw in some raisins, dried apricots, or dried mango!) Creamy Custard Filling: 200 grams unsalted cashews, soaked for 30 minutes (maybe try other types of nuts too, like marcona almonds or macadamia nuts) 2 whole ripe bananas 1/2 cup agave nectar 1 tsp vanilla + vanilla pod seeds if you like 1/2 cup brewed chai tea (I used 2 tea chai tea bags) 2 …

NOGO (No Onion-No Garlic) Pesto!

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There are some commonly non-Jain items that I absolutely love like pesto, salsa, and guacamole… All of the following almost always contain onion and/or garlic. So, here is the Jain way to make them without root vegetables, while keeping them just as tasty, if not more! For this post, lets start with Jain Pesto and the many uses of this absolutely delicious dip-spread-sauce creation. Jain Pesto: I love pesto on anything: spread on sandwiches, as a dip, with pasta or even in quesadillas! There are so many ways to customize pesto sauces to enhance different flavors. Some of my favorite greens to make pesto with are: Basil Kale Cilantro Parsley Arugula Kale+ Parsley Kale+Basil+Cilantro Arugula+Basil Create your own mix! Some of my favorite nuts to toss in are: Walnuts Almonds Pine Nuts Macadamia Nuts Marcona Almonds You can literally experiment around with these nuts and greens to make a pesto of your choice. The rest follows this traditional recipe: Jain Pesto: Ingredients: 3 cups of your favorite greens, either one type or a mix of a few- chopped …

Masala Cream Nachos

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Craving the ooey-gooey warmth of those movie theater nachos? Well, give it a savory twist with half the calories! This recipe makes a savory afternoon snack, or party appetizer. Jain Masala Cream Nachos To make the nachos, begin by collecting the ingredients: For the Jain Taco Masala: Combine the following ingredients to taste: Salt, Cumin, Paprika, Oregano, Chili pepper powder, black pepper, black salt I mostly eye-balled the masala measurements, but feel free to try what tastes best to you, you can’t go wrong! The masala is totally versatile and up to your creativity! You can even use this masala for toppings on pizza, tacos, in burritos, etc. For the Masala Creamy Cheese Sauce: 1-1.5 Tbsp Butter/Ghee 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil 2 Tablespoons Dried Oregano 1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream 1/4 cup Milk (I used 2%) 1 tsp Salt 1 tsp Cracked Black Pepper 1 tbsp Red Pepper Flakes 1/4 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese-Grated ( You can experiment with other types of cheeses–white, parmesan, goat cheese?) 1-2 tbsp Jain Taco Masala (depending on how you …