On November 15 and 16 we invited Chefs Aruna and Sri from Prana Kitchens to host our first ever vegan Chow!
Navarathri is an auspicious festival in the Hindu culture celebrating the divine feminine energy and is marked with social gatherings showcasing traditional art forms of music, dancing and rituals of fasting and feasting.
We bring you this thoughtfully curated 5-course vegan menu that showcases a traditional Navarathri feast prepared with the freshest of local vegetables and seasoned with a melange of spices - flavors that are sure to make your palate dance with joy!
Lemon Rasam
A warming, zesty soup infused with tamarind, cumin, pepper, coriander, & ginger, rasam is an essential course of every South Indian meal. This healing coulis is revered for kindling Agni, our inner digestive fire.
Ingredients: Tomato, ginger, turmeric, green chilies, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, red chilies, asafoetida, lemon, and seasoned with mustard seeds, hibiscus petals, curry leaves and ghee.
Vegetarian. Gluten-Free. Vegan: made with vegan ghee
Mango, Black Chickpea, and Mung Bean Sundal
Sundal is a protein-packed salad or snack, traditionally made with sprouted lentils or chickpeas and seasonal ingredients. As popcorn is to movies, sundals are to beaches!
Ingredients: Sprouted black gram lentils, chickpeas, sprouted green mung beans, raw mangoes, cucumbers, freshly grated coconut, lemon, mustard seeds, garnished with spices (pepper, black gram lentils, chickpea lentils, desiccated coconut, white sesame, red chilies, cilantro and curry leaves.
Vegan. Gluten-Free.
Swastha Golden Milk
Golden Milk, or turmeric milk, is an ancient healing Ayurvedic (a holistic system of medicine that began in India more than 3,000 years ago) remedy. This soothing harmony of turmeric, cardamom, ginger, and pepper is brewed in Indian homes to treat common respiratory and digestive ailments.
Ingredients: Oat milk infused with turmeric, cardamom, ginger, and pepper and sweetened with jaggery (unrefined cane sugar) Vegan. Gluten-Free.
Cabbage Vadai with Zucchini Chutney
Vadais are fried lentil fritters often garnished with local vegetables and seasoned with ginger, fennel, curry and cilantro leaves. They are paired with spiced vegetable or herb chutneys—in this case, a sesame-spiced zucchini-cilantro chutney.
Vadai Ingredients - Chickpeas, pigeon peas, fennel, carom seeds, coriander, sesame, beet sugar, desiccated coconut, red cabbage, ginger, green chilies, curry and cilantro leaves
Chutney Ingredients - zucchini, cilantro, ginger, tamarind, coconut, black & white sesame, chickpea and black gram lentils, asafoetida, red chilies
Vegan. Gluten-Free.
Coconut Red Rice with Pulingari and Amalaki Pacchadi
No South Indian feast would be complete without a simply seasoned fragrant rice paired with a yogurt based sauce and a crunchy Pappadam (a rice & lentil crisp). Coconut rice is a South Indian staple and makes for a complete meal when paired with the vitamin C, iron rich Amalaki (Indian Gooseberry) Pacchadi (yogurt sauce). Amalaki is revered in Ayurveda (Indian medicine) for its numerous medicinal benefits and is now globally recognized as a superfood.
Coconut Red Rice Ingredients: Red rice, fresh grated coconut, delicate seasoning of roasted cashews, chickpea lentils, mustard seeds, curry leaves and red chilies.
Pulingari Ingredients: squashes (acorn, yellow, white pumpkin) plantain, carrots, mango, tamarind, turmeric, split pea lentils, brown rice, fenugreek, red chilies, mustard seeds, sesame oil, curry leaves, and asafoetida (a common Indian spice extracted from ferula, an herb in the celery family)
Amalaki Pacchadi Ingredients: Amalaki, desiccated coconut, pepper, cumin, almond milk yogurt, salt & lemon juice
Pappadam Ingredients: Black gram lentils, rice, pepper and cumin
Vegan. Gluten-Free.
Thengapal Payasam
Payasams are wholesome dessert puddings traditionally made with rice, wheat, or millet that are slow-cooked for hours in cow’s milk and sweetened with raw sugar or jaggery. They are infused with aromatic spices like cardamom and nutmeg and garnished with roasted nuts and raisins. With Prana Kitchens' Chai Masala and saffron, this sweet and creamy coconut rice pudding is a grand finale to any feast menu.
Ingredients: Rice, coconut, jaggery, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and pepper. Garnished with saffron strands and nuts roasted in clarified vegan butter.
Vegan. Gluten-Free.
Meet the Chefs
Sri and Aruna founded Prana Kitchens, a spice business built on the belief that mindful eating, conscious living, and supporting our farming communities is vital for a thriving lifestyle. Our curated range of handcrafted goods not only tantalizes the taste buds but also promotes holistic well-being. Each of our products is rooted in an unwavering commitment to Ayurveda (a holistic system of medicine that began in India more than 3,000 years ago) principles and ethical sourcing of fair-trade ingredients in support of our farming communities. Our spice blends honor ancient traditions while catering to modern tastes, all with the goal of restoring Prana (the life-force energy that connects us) in our bodies and in our planet.
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