I love tamarind, but unlike my sister in laws who can drink it by the bucket loads, I satisfy my quench for it when my taste buds desires by making a zingy Tamarind drink, but it is Gol Guppay's that I now and again crave, and sadly it is one dish from my childhood that I don't make that often.
A good while back to mimic the flavours, I made a slow cooked tamarind vegetable pot with cumin dumpling,
but I have never made Gol Guppay at home. Its one of those social dishes, like tapas or a mezze that is best made when you are in good company, family, friends or just a social gathering. You pick it up and pop it in on go in your gob.
For those of you unfamiliar with Gol Guppay, it is a street snack from the Indian Sub-Continent - crispy puffed pastry shells known as puris that are filled with flavoured tamarind potatoes and chickpeas (aloo chaat and channa).
I have been wanting to make some Gol Guppay quite recently, namely for the Inheritance Recipes challenge set by Solange at Pebble Soup last month. The theme this month is Back to School hosted by Coffee and Vanilla.
Well with Vegan Mofo asking participants to recreate a meal from our childhood, well it gave me the perfect reason to actually make it. I have to confess though, my mother never prepped this for our lunch box, but we did have it often after school for tea before being shooed to after-school clubs.
Although my mother has her own way of making Gol Guppay, I will link you to a recipe close to the way she makes it, in case you care to make it at home. The part where my mothers recipe differs is that she also includes white sweet potato and minced red onion and she also uses tamarind pulp for the tangy sauce, rather that tamarind concentrate. Oh and we cheat, although we do know how to make the puffed pastry shells from scratch, most South Asian people very rarely make the the puffed pastry shell from scratch, most people pick them up from an ethnic grocers and I admit that is what I did this time round for convenience, more than anything else. I am also sharing this with Healthy Vegan Fridays #63
I have decided to participate in Vegan Mofo all over again.
Not because of the potential new readers or possible extra traffic, though that is nice. I do it more as a vegetarian who still considers herself on the path to veganism. If your already vegan, then yes - Vegan Mofo is a way of life, as every day is Vegan Day and every month is Vegan Month, but for a vegetarian like myself, its a little challenge and I hope you will enjoy my read this month.
Many of you will know that I am not a vegan, but a vegetarian, however a lot of what I do cook from scratch happens to be vegan friendly. Therefore, September 2015 this blog will be free of all animal products such as cheese, dairy, eggs and honey.
I do not have a theme for Vegan MoFo, but if there was going to be a theme it would be seasonal vegetables, of course and I might even throw in some recipes inspired by my Welsh roots too, such as the Welsh Lady's vegan laverbread caviar that I promised last year.
So let it begin, the first question asked by Vegan Mofo is Rise and Shine. Tell us about your favourite vegan breakfast/brunch. Depending on my mood, its a toss between this Cacao Nibs, Raw Chocolate and Cocoa Muesli with this dairy free alternative to milk and this vegan 'facon' bacon, lettuce and tomato (vBLT) sandwich.
I just love everything about it. And it is for this reason, I made some in readiness at the weekend for Vegan Mofo 2015.
Here is the Round Up of My Legume Love Affair #86 for August 2015. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed, I loved meeting new bloggers and discovering some new recipes from around the world.
