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Serves: 1 cup 
Prep time: 20 minutes (active); 30 minutes (inactive)

#### What you’ll need:

- 10 dates
- 1 ball fresh tamarind (small lime sized)/ 1 tbsp tamarind paste (I get my fresh tamarind slab from the local Indian store)
- 1 cup water + 3/4 cup water + 1/2 cup water
- 2 tbsp coconut palm sugar
- 1/4 tsp red chili powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
- 1 tsp salt

#### What you’ll want to do:

- Soak the dates in hot water for 30 minutes to soften them
- If you are using fresh tamarind, soak the tamarind ball in 1/2 cup hot water for a few minutes
- Once the tamarind has soaked, stir to mix fully
- Use a strainer to separate the raw tamarind from the water
- Start boiling the tamarind 1 cup water on the stove in a medium sized pot. If you are using tamarind paste, add 1 tbsp of the paste to 1 cup of water and start boiling
- Add the palm sugar and fennel seeds to the tamarind-water and let this boil for 10 minutes
- While that is boiling, peel and deseed the softened dates and user a mixer to blend it together, with 3/4 cup of water. Blend until you get a paste (it should be a little thick)
- Set this aside and focus back on the boiling tamarind water
- Add the red chili powder, cumin powder and salt. By now this should be steadily boiling and bubbling
- Switch off the flame and mix in the blended dates
- Set aside to cool and wait for the flavors to meld in with each other
- Serve with my Hara[ Bara Kebab](https://shruskitchen.com/hara-bhara-kebab/) or [Vegetable cutlets](https://shruskitchen.com/vegetable-cutlets/), along with some delicious [coriander and mint chutney](https://shruskitchen.com/coriander-and-mint-chutney/)!

Indian Food

Breakfast

Indian Spiced Flattened Rice (Poha)

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Serves: 2 people 
Prep time: 5 minutes (active), 12 hours (inactive)

##### What you’ll need:

- 3 tbsp chia seeds, soaked in a cup of water overnight in the fridge
- 2 cups cubed watermelon without the seeds
- 1/4 cup crushed ice (optional)

#### What you’ll want to do:

- Soak the chia seeds in water for 12 hours in the fridge. The seeds will absorb the water and become gel-like and easy to drink
- Blend the watermelon and ice in a Nutribullet to get a juice
- Pour in a cup and stir in the soaked chia seeds
- Enjoy!

Smoothies and Juices

Watermelon Juice with Chia Seeds

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Serves: 1 loaf 
Prep time: 10 mins (active), 55 mins (inactive)

Note: This recipe can be adapted to make muffins (around 12) and mini-muffins (around 36). I’ve added some tips if you’d like to do that.

#### What you’ll need:

- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup [coconut oil](https://www.amazon.com/Dr-Bronners-Virgin-Coconut-Oil/dp/B00CQ7TNDK/ref=sr_1_14?crid=S0QWRCBLX0AA&keywords=coconut%2Boil&qid=1564719183&s=gateway&sprefix=coconut%2Boil%2Caps%2C198&sr=8-14&th=1)
- 1/4 cup [oat milk](https://us.oatly.com/) (any other non-dairy milk works too)
- 2 flax eggs (recipe below)
- 1 cup overripe banana (while baking muffins or mini-muffins I like running the bananas through a food processor just for a few seconds)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla essence or almond essence (both work great!)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon powder
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup dark chocolate chunks
- 1 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (use regular whole wheat flour if you’re baking muffins or mini-muffins, but I recently started using whole wheat pastry flour for whole loaves and I love it!)

*For the flax eggs:*

- 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
- 5 tbsp water

#### What you’ll want to do:

- Pre-heat the oven to 325 F and grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan with coconut oil
- Mix the flax seed powder and water and let it sit for 3-4 minutes
- Beat together the maple syrup and melted coconut oil
- Add the flax seed powder and water mixture and beat well
- Mix in the oat milk and mashed bananas
- Add the baking soda, vanilla essence, cinnamon and salt and mix
- Mix in the whole wheat pastry flour until all the ingredients are fully combined
- Finally add in 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks and pour into the loaf pan
- Sprinkle more cinnamon and add the remaining dark chocolate chunks on top
- Bake for 55 minutes or until you can insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean (for muffins, bake for 22 minutes and for mini-muffins, 12 minutes)
- Once it cools, slice it up and enjoy!

**Recipe Musings:** I found[ Cookie and Kate’s](https://cookieandkate.com/) banana bread recipe four years ago and baked it a million times because it never went wrong. It quickly became my most favorite thing to bake – for birthdays, dinners, long flights and hikes. However, the original recipe is not vegan. This recipe is inspired by her genius, with some variations to make the vegan version just as delicious.

Desserts

Vegan Banana Bread

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Serves: 2 people 
Prep time: 15 minutes (active)

#### What you’ll need:

- 2 slices sourdough bread
- 1/2 cup frozen/fresh corn kernels
- 1 avocado
- 1/2 jalapeño, finely chopped (scale back if sensitive to spice)
- 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1/2 lemon, squeezed
- Salt to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Olive oil

#### What you’ll want to do:

- Heat up a pan with a few drops of olive oil before adding the corn and chopped jalapeño. Add a pinch of salt
- Sautée for a few minutes until the corn is tender
- Mash the avocado in a small bowl along with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Do this while toasting your bread
- On each slice of toasted bread, spread the mashed avocado as the base
- Top with the cooked jalapeño and corn kernels, chopped cilantro, red chili flakes and a drizzle of olive oil
- Enjoy for breakfast or as a hearty evening snack

Spicy Corn and Avocado Toast

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Serves: 2 people 
Prep time: 5 minutes (active)

#### What you’ll need:

- 1 cup plant milk of choice (my favorite is [Oatly](https://www.google.com/search?q=oatly&oq=oatly&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.1599j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) oat milk, but almond milk or soy milk would taste great here too!)
- 1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
- 1 banana
- 3 tbsp dark chocolate chunks

#### What you’ll want to do:

- Add all the ingredients to a blender. I use my trusty (and age old) [Nutribullet](https://www.nutribullet.com/)
- Enjoy immediately!

Purple Banana Smoothie

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Serves: 2-3 people 
Prep time: 10 minutes to the pan (active); 20 minutes to the plate (semi-active)

#### What you’ll need:

- 1 12 oz pack frozen/fresh cauliflower rice
- 1/2 cup moong dal (split mung beans) (I usually get this from my local Indian store)
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp whole peppercorn
- 1 tbsp raw cashews
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 pinch asafetida
- 2-3 pinches turmeric powder
- salt as needed

#### What you’ll want to do:

- Cook the moong dal in a pressure cooker (I use the instant pot!)
- About 10 minutes into cooking the moong dal, heat the ghee in a pan
- Add the cashews and fry them for a few minutes before taking them out
- Then add the peppercorn, curry leaves, cumin seeds and ginger to the oil
- Once the leaves are cooked, add the asafetida and turmeric powder
- Add the cauliflower rice soon after and add some salt at this point.
- Once the cauliflower rice is cooked, add the cooked moong dal
- Mix thoroughly before tasting and add more salt as required
- Once everything is well mixed and cooked, add the fried cashews
- Enjoy with some traditional South Indian coconut chutney!

**Recipe Musings:** I grew up in the south Indian city of Chennai, where [pongal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pongal_(dish)) was a staple dish. A popular rice based breakfast, there was something comforting about eating a large plate of pongal with coconut chutney and sambar (a lentil soup) on a lazy Sunday morning. As an adult, I realized that I just didn’t have the metabolism or lifestyle to eat large portions of rice. I tried making the traditional recipe with cauliflower rice and I couldn’t believe how delicious and close to the original it tasted.

Cauliflower Rice Pongal

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Serves: 2 people 
Prep time: 5 minutes (active)

#### What you’ll need:

- 1 avocado
- 1 cup packed spinach
- 3 tbsp walnuts
- 1 tbsp flax seed powder
- 1-2 dates (depending on how sweet you want it to be) OR 2 tbsp dark chocolate chunks (not necessary but highly recommended)
- 1 banana
- 1.5-2 cups coconut water

#### What you’ll want to do:

- Blend all the ingredients together in a Nutribullet or high-speed blender. Add more coconut water until you reach your desired consistency!

Avocado and Spinach Smoothie

Recipes