Healthy Vegan Street Food E-Book

Jackie Kearney

• Herausgeber: Ryland Peters & Small
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Beschreibung

Jackie Kearney, MasterChef UK finalist in 2011, explores the nutritional benefits of Asian street food with 85 healthy vegan recipes. Jackie Kearney has brought new life to healthy, plant-based cooking in this exciting follow-up to her award-winning Vegan Street Food. The book is inspired by the growing wellness culture in Asia as well as the glorious range of street food – from street hawkers, roadside cafés, food halls and more – which brings people from all walks of life together. Jackie takes us on a delicious journey from India to Indonesia, via Sri Lanka, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Malaysia, enjoying classic dishes and crowd-pleasers we might already be familiar with, such as 'Massaman Curry in a Hurry', 'Faster Laksa' and 'Paradise Bounty Bars', all made a little healthier. The book also features many less well known regional specialities, such as 'Banh Trang Nuong' (Vietnamese rice paper pizza), 'Pepes Tahu' (Javanese tofu in banana leaves) and 'Khao Sen' (Thai tomato-braised rice noodles with porcini mushrooms). Combined with stories and anecdotes from the road, family photos and fascinating local information that transport the reader to the places and foods they fell in love with, this exciting book celebrates the best of vegan street food, whilst harnessing the most nutritious produce and ingredients.

Leseprobe

Healthy

VEGAN STREET FOOD

Healthy

VEGAN STREET FOOD

SUSTAINABLE & HEALTHY PLANT-BASED RECIPES FROM INDIA TO INDONESIA

JACKIE KEARNEY

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CLARE WINFIELD

Senior Designer

Megan Smith

Editor

Kate Reeves-Brown

Art Director

Leslie Harrington

Editorial Director

Julia Charles

Head of Production Patricia Harrington

Food Stylist

Emily Kydd

Prop Stylist

Hannah Wilkinson

Indexer

Hilary Bird

First published in 2022 by Ryland Peters & Small

20–21 Jockey’s Fields,

London WC1R 4BW

and

341 E 116th Street,

New York, 10029

www.rylandpeters.com

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Text © Jackie Kearney 2022 Design and photographs © Ryland Peters & Small 2022

The author’s moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-178879-470-1

eISBN: 978-1-78879-492-3

US Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

Printed and bound in China

Notes

• Both British (Metric) and American (Imperial plus US cups) measurements are included in these recipes for your convenience, however it is important to work with one set of measurements and not alternate between the two within a recipe.

• All spoon measurements are level, unless otherwise specified.

• Ovens should be preheated to the specified temperature. Recipes in this book were tested using a regular oven. If using a fan-assisted/convection oven, follow the manufacturer’s instructions for adjusting temperatures.

• When a recipe calls for the grated zest of citrus fruit, buy unwaxed fruit and wash well before use. If you can only find treated fruit, scrub well in warm soapy water and rinse before using.

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I am forever grateful to my husband Lee and our children Tevo and Roisin, who are always supportive of my adventurous travel and writing endeavours, as well as being the best recipe guinea pigs. This book would not be what it is without the talented skills of Clare Winfield, Emily Kydd, Megan Smith and Hannah Wilkinson, who endeavoured to realize everything I imagined for this book and more. I’m also indebted to my publishing team who always give me incredible encouragement throughout the process, and especially Kate Reeves-Brown, my ever-patient and precise editor, Julia Charles for understanding my vision and always lifting me up, Leslie Harrington, Yvonne Dooley and Patricia Harrington.

I am thankful to Damien Lee, for being an inspirational friend, who I am grateful to have known, even for a short time. There are some wonderful people who have supported me and taught me things on this book journey, but special mention needs to go to Sarah Jones, a dear friend I never expected to meet in these remote mountains, fellow passionate cook, Mancunian and market lover. Also Seema Gupta, Natalie Coleman, Urvashi Roe, Natalie Rossiter, Mimi Aye and Charlotte O’Toole.

Picture credits

Travel photographs on the following pages by Lee James and Tevo Kearney-James: 39 below right; 52; 61 below left; 61 below right; 81 above left; 81 centre right; 100; 109 above right; 123 above right; 123 below left; 124; 129; 135; 142; 175 above right; 197; 202.

All other travel photographs by Adobe Stock: Endpapers Niyaska; 14–15 Katyau; 17 above left ZoltanJosef; 17 above right Oscar Espinosa; 17 below left Travel Wild; 17 below right vmedia84; 23 Mazur Travel; 30 Mubarak; 39 above left Em Campos; 39 above right Danny Ye; 39 below left Aliaksei; 39 centre right Marbenzu; 56 Zah108; 59 Lovina; 61 above left Olga Khoroshunova; 61 above right Ivan; 61 centre right efesenko; 70 subjob; 78–79 katyau; 81 above right Jesse; 81 below right Galyna Andrushko; 86 Photo Gallery; 105 visitr; 109 above left andrii_lutsyk; 109 below left Khamhoung; 109 below right bennnn; 113 PixHound; 123 above left sabino.parente; 123 centre right cristaltran; 123 below right montecellllo; 136 Steve Lovegrove; 137 Marion; 145 Juliane Franke; 152–153 Niyaska; 155 above left vanzyst; 155 above right Chee-Onn Leong; 155 below left Alexey Pelikh; 155 centre right Wirestock; 155 below right Elena Ermakova; 170 jahmaica; 172 Artorn; 175 above left Michael; 175 below left Belikova Oksana; 175 centre right Ekaterina Pokrovsky; 175 below right De Visu; 178 R.M.Runes; 203 Brent Hofacker.

Contents

Welcome to Healthy Vegan Street Food

Ingredients

INDIA & SRI LANKA

THAILAND, LAOS & VIETNAM

MALAYSIA & INDONESIA

Index

Welcome to Healthy Vegan Street Food

When I first wrote Vegan Street Food, I remember my publisher asking me where I saw the book’s position, in travel or in food? It’s still a challenging question for me, as so much of the food I love is inspired by and intrinsically connected to travel, and especially the street food and café culture across the subcontinent and South-East Asia. For me, it’s this connection to travel that gives food this kind of power to transport us back to these experiences and moments from journeys and destinations where we lost and found ourselves in some way.

For those readers familiar with Vegan Street Food, you will already know about my committed passion for family travel. Since I wrote that book, neither that, nor my love of street food, has dwindled. There are no repeat recipes in here, but there are certainly more travel stories. From our gap year and extended trips, when the twins were under 10, to more adventures when they were teens and young adults, we have spent more than two years travelling as a family in Asia, mostly overland. And when I realized I had spent more than one per cent of my life in Indonesia, it made me smile deeply and reminded me that one day I may still move to that Lombok hillside.

For now I’m happy to stay closer to my family in Europe, but my dining table is devoted to the variety of flavours and culinary inspiration from street food and café culture across Asia.

Why healthy vegan street food?

In my teens, I became a vegetarian because I didn’t want to eat animals. It was that simple for me at that time. Factory farming was rife and, with limited alternatives, it felt incongruous to consume meat alongside my deep love for all creatures great and small. By the time I reached my 30s and 40s, our environmental knowledge base had grown so rapidly and, like many others, I leaned more and more towards plant-based food. Today, it is a deeply politicized topic, but this is also a time where we recognize the importance of individual wellness and what we can do to take better care of ourselves, as well as the environment around us.

In early 2020 I started working with noodle company entrepreneur, and five-times cancer warrior, Damien Lee. Working with someone so passionately committed to eating well, I fell under Damien’s inspirational spell and we successfully published his noodle company cookbook. Tragically Damien passed away in early 2021, shortly before publication. His impact on my life will stay with me through his dedicated passion for making food that can help make us stronger, especially if our bodies are fighting other battles. Sadly as we age, this becomes a bigger feature in our lives.

There are some simple, unequivocal facts about aging. We become more prone to diseases that are considered characteristic, such as cardiovascular (heart and circulatory health), dysmetabolic (such as diabetes), autoimmune (such as thyroid problems), neurodegenerative (such as Alzheimer’s) and oncological (cancers). Researchers now recognize that we can develop more inflammatory responses as we age. Together with – often chemically driven – intensive farming, this might offer an explanation as to the growth of autoimmune conditions and cancers, both of which are considered to be inflammatory responses within the body.

There’s also a growing body of research on gut health, the importance of maintaining a healthy microbiome and the crucial connections to our overall well-being. Our gut is now considered to be one of the principal organs of the body, and yet more than one in 10 of the UK population, and up to 15 per cent of Americans, are diagnosed with gut-related disorders. The impact of this on population well-being is difficult to calculate, but as someone who has been managing an autoimmune disease for more than a decade, I know the fallout across our physical and mental health can lower life quality.

There’s also a plethora of data out there that explains the complexities of the glycaemic index (how our bodies respond to sugars), why not all carbohydrates are created equal and that how we eat them is vitally important. I grew up during the era of low-fat diets, and it took several years for me to understand that healthy fats are essential to our health. Eating healthy fats and protein helps us consume carbohydrates without spiking our blood sugar, as well as satiating our hunger for longer. As I experienced severe fluctuations in my health, I became focussed on understanding more about the foods I need to eat more of, and the potential inflammatory effects of certain foods (obviously this isn’t something that affects everyone). All this information can actually become quite overwhelming, and even more so when deciding what’s best to eat.

What should we be eating?

Wholefoods and mostly plants is a great mantra to aim for. If we eat like this for most of the time, we’re likely to have a positive impact on our overall health. The scientific data is unequivocal. A wholefood plant-based diet is the most healthful thing you can do for your well-being. This has been proven time and time again across numerous studies. However, vegan food is not always healthy. There is a huge global trend for highly processed and vegan junk food (which is often packed with salt, sugars and bad fats, whilst lacking in protein, healthy fats and essential nutrients) and this has led many down a path that could well lead to future health problems. When eating plant-based, or any kind of diet to be fair, it’s crucial to understand what we need to fuel ourselves in the best way possible for the lives we lead, and to meet our own individual needs. Eating a rainbow of food to fulfil our essential nutrient needs is an easy way to envision a healthful plate of food. Including regular intakes of raw foods that are naturally packed with prebiotics and probiotic fermented foods, such as kimchi, sauerkraut and cultured yogurt, can also support our gut health and overall well-being. There are nutrients that can be more challenging to include and absorb when you eat purely vegan, so it’s also essential to be aware of where those gaps can occur. Including additional amino-rich foods (such as using coconut aminos) or additional supplements is helpful.

Just to be clear here, food is not actual medicine. As a former health researcher and academic, and someone who has also tried to ‘cure’ my own autoimmune disease through diet, I’m solidly in the camp of science. When I’ve had a thyroid storm, it’s medication not food that has prevented me from dying. But having an autoimmune disease has also taught me that we can affect our overall well-being through what we consume. What we eat, along with exercise, stress management and sleep, is recognized as a powerful directive on our well-being. We can radically shift our health status and longevity through diet, yet functional/integrative medicine remains mostly isolated and under-utilized by mainstream health care.

Delicious travel

It is delicious food that is the focus of this book. I have spent some time here talking about the health research and impetus behind why I wanted to write this book, but let’s not get lost in that quagmire of often confusing and contradictory recommendations. My passion is still very much focussed on the street food of Asia. I love street food now as much as I always have. And I’m still as besotted with the complex and diverse flavours of the Indian subcontinent and South-East Asia. No matter how often I travel, the opportunity to enjoy new dishes is always there. As I started to adjust my diet to a healthier approach, I sought out and adapted recipes that aligned with how I wanted to eat, with a focus on the right kind of produce. So much of Asian street food and home cooking is naturally healthful and adaptable to plant-based eating.

Living in these rural Italian mountains has certainly made me rethink how I go about creating great flavours with less access to such diverse ingredients. Making things simpler just feels like the most likely route to sustaining healthy eating. Because I rely on cooking from scratch on a daily basis, it curbed my inclinations for lengthier recipes (although not entirely!). Living in Italy, there are also several months of the year where it’s just too damn hot to be hanging out in the kitchen all afternoon, so I needed some low-prep recipes and, of course, some flavourful raw dishes, too. Of course I still enjoy a fine vegan banquet from time to time. There’s a diverse range of recipes within this book, from the super simple to the more complex, and they reflect many of the authentic flavours of vibrant street-food and café classics, alongside my own healthy and accessible adaptations.

I have always felt healthier and stronger when I’ve been travelling in Asia. Eating fresh food made with produce that hasn’t travelled too far and is high in wholefood content obviously plays a large part in this. Like my first book, this too is a celebration of the often naturally vegan food that is readily accessible across Asia. From street-food stalls to roadside cafés, these recipes are inspired by my extensive travels with my family, as well as the solo trips I’ve taken to explore the growing wellness culture and tourism in the Indian subcontinent and South-East Asia.

There’s a natural alignment between this wellness industry and many of the cultural practices in these countries. From the ancient ayurvedic and yogic teachings in the subcontinent to the meditation and mindfulness practices across South-East Asia. Some might object to the diversion from the wholly traditional, but I don’t believe this is a valid critique. Like anywhere in the world, the growth, change and adaptation that builds upon the old and incorporates the new is an integral part of modern Asian food. For me, the street food of Asia is the perfect starting point for rapid adaptation to new knowledge, with adaptable ingredients that are intrinsically linked to seasonality and abundance. So much of this food is healthful, plant-based and naturally gluten-free, whereas so much Western food is centred around wheat, which is, sadly, used to bulk out our plates in place of fresh, healthful veggies and protein.

Through the lens of a traveller

As a former published sociologist, I’m not going to shy away from facing some important issues and questions that are raised here. I am a white woman writing about a small aspect of Asian food. The knowledge I’ve gained is through the lens of a traveller, the incredibly generous people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet on the way, my Manchester roots (so intertwined with subcontinent cultures), and my friends and peers. Our journeys through Asia have been those of white, privileged travellers, who’ve been afforded the circumstance, social capital, mobility and finances to pursue this. It’s something I have considered deeply over the years, in relation to the plethora of issues I’ve experienced, observed and played a part in. We have left places because we have known that simply by being there, we could be contributing to local harm.

That being said, I have made choices in my life about where I wanted to be and the kind of life I wanted for my family. I have always been a traveller, in my heart and mind and actions; in the choices I made about the kind of work I did. I chose less well paid jobs with no security that offered me gaps between contracts to pursue extended trips; because of that I’ve spent nearly three years of my life in India, Sri Lanka and South-East Asia.

We choose to stay in a lot so we can save up for our next big adventure; it took three years to save for our family gap year. And I do a lot of research. We try to be mindful about the journeys we take and where we stay. This doesn’t always go to plan, of course. Many places on the ‘travellers trail’ can lead you to white-dominated hell holes, where foreigners have imposed their own culture onto fragile local environments – for example a tiny Laos village that has started to resemble an Ibizan party town. We left, obviously. Or that time I accidentally stayed in the heart of a city red-light district on my own, so I immersed myself in reading essays about imperialism, the portrayal of Orientalism and how it relates to sex work. I read a Jodi Picoult novel, too. But my point is, we can choose to educate ourselves about our whiteness, about history, about white imperialism/colonialism and thus make more informed choices. Reading histories and local biographies is a great way to gain more insight and understanding of local cultures. In my opinion, no one should visit somewhere like Cambodia or Burma without reading a history book and at least one biography from someone who survived the Khmer Rouge or Myanmar Junta. And don’t even get me started on why we don’t learn about Indian partition in British schools.

If you’re a travel foodie like me, I highly recommend reading more comprehensive speciality cookbooks by authors of East and South-East Asian heritage, who can share their stories and experiences first-hand. This is why I buy all kinds of cookbooks, vegan or not. I buy cookbooks when I’m travelling, sometimes written in other languages. I want to learn about the home kitchens of their childhoods, and understand more about the important role that food plays in their cultures, as well as supporting East and South-East Asian writers and their small businesses. See page 208 for a small sample of some recommendations.

Travel and tourism are crucial to Asian economies. The economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic are severe, but we can choose to educate ourselves and make better choices about where and how we travel. It is definitely time for tourists to return. The devastation to the travel and tourism industry as a result of this pandemic is vast. Sadly one of the negative fallouts of this has been an increase in xenophobia and racism. Like the world over, it is small business owners and workers who have suffered the most. But as the world reopens, it is time for those of us who love to travel to stride out into the world again, explore, meet and eat. And in-between growing food and building our Italian retreat, you might just find me back on that Lombok hillside.

Ingredients

This section is about store-cupboard dietary advice for healthier choices, rather than a step-by-step catalogue for spices and herbs, as most of these are fairly well known and accessible these days. There is also a good guide to store-cupboard spices in Vegan Street Food. Here I will introduce some of the key ingredients I recommend across many recipes in this book, and explain some of the reasons why these substitutions may assist you in eating more healthily.

I have already mentioned that people who eat solely plant-based diets need to be mindful about certain nutrients, and the best combinations to eat them in. For example, plant-based proteins need to be eaten alongside essential amino acids (EAAs), such as leucine, which are the building blocks for protein. These are less available in plant-based foods. Some high-protein sources, such as pumpkin or squash seeds, are missing essential EAAs like lysine, and pea protein lacks methionine and cysteine. Soya beans/soybeans are the best source of all for EAA profile and protein, better than several meat sources in fact. White beans, peas, quinoa and cashew nuts are also all very good sources of EAAs.

Plant-based proteins

Most recipes in this book include a healthy portion of plant-based protein. An essential macro in our diets that helps build muscle, stabilizes insulin and can improve metabolic health whilst satiating hunger for longer.

There are a variety of plant-based proteins available to us, an especially good source being soya beans/soybeans and, of course, tempeh and tofu. The latter being the most processed of the three. Wheat gluten, also known as seitan, is one of the biggest sources of protein, however I have my doubts about whether this is the healthiest protein for people to be eating in very large quantities, as gluten can have an inflammatory effect for some people, and not only for coeliacs/celiacs. There are many other autoimmune diseases that respond well to removing or reducing gluten consumption, including rheumatic and thyroid diseases. Non-coeliac/celiac gluten sensitivity is a muddy area of research and clinical understanding. However, as someone with an autoimmune disease that has responded well to removing gluten from their diet, I believe the jury cannot return a conclusive verdict on this matter at this time. Therefore, the decision to eat gluten can only be decided at an individual level, and, even better, under the guidance of a qualified dietitian or functional medicine doctor.

Other good sources of plant-based protein include beans, nuts and seeds (especially hemp seeds, linseeds/flaxseeds and chia seeds). If using dried beans, I recommend using a pressure cooker to prepare them after soaking, so that you can ensure all traces of lectins have been destroyed. Soaking nuts and seeds before using activates the enzymes, breaking down phytic acid and enzyme inhibitors, and thus making their nutrients more available to our bodies. Another popular protein source is mycoprotein, which is used to make Quorn products. There are increasingly more mock meat products, such as vegan meatballs and sausages made with pea protein. Pea protein is a great alternative to gluten flour for making mock meats.

For recipes in this book, and much of my cooking, I always keep several accessible options in the fridge and freezer, including tofu/beancurd (fresh, dried, firm and silken), tempeh, pea protein mock meatballs, soya/soy or Quorn mock chicken, and plenty of protein-rich veggies like broccoli, leafy greens and mushrooms.

Liquid aminos

As mentioned already, along with healthy proteins, we need essential amino acids. One of my favourite sources of EAAs is coconut aminos, a natural wholefood alternative to soy sauce made from coconut sap, nectar, garlic, sugar and salt. This umami-rich sauce can be used instead of soy sauce or tamari. Liquid aminos is also made from soya beans/soybeans, in a different wheat-free process to soy sauce. Like tamari, liquid aminos is naturally gluten-free, and contains 16 of the essential and non-essential amino acids we need, as well as trace minerals and vitamins C and B complex. Anything that bumps up your B12 is always a good idea for plant-based eaters, too (hence the popularity of fortified nutritional yeast amongst vegans). Like MSG, liquid aminos contains glutamate, giving it that mouth-watering quality. Liquid aminos contains 75 per cent less salt than traditional soy sauce. So all in all, it’s a very easy, healthy win. Of course, you can still use soy sauce (there are lower salt versions available now) or use tamari for a naturally gluten-free option, as these are both more widely available. Kikkoman is the industry standard. Coconut aminos is more difficult to find in supermarkets but can be sourced online. My preferred brands are Coconut Secret and Bragg’s (made using soya/soy).

Wholegrains & complex carbs

There are lots of naturally gluten-free wholegrains featured in the recipes here. These include quinoa, millet, buckwheat and black, red and wholegrain rice, as well as alternatives to white rice noodles (which I still love and include here), such as mung bean, sweet potato and even riceberry noodles. These are a new favourite of mine along with other rice wholegrains. They are very popular in healthy Thai and Indonesian cafés. In recent years I’ve been enjoying all kinds of wholefood, higher protein and lower carb noodles, such as soya bean/soybean, konjac and even matcha and buckwheat. I also eat vegetable noodles (such as courgetti/zoodles). Ancient grains like teff, amaranth and farro can be used instead of rice, although farro is not gluten-free.

It’s important to eat a variety of wholegrains, especially if eating less or no gluten, because a large reduction in grains will reduce crucially important dietary fibre (something very few people eat enough of already). Low-carb diets can lower dietary fibre, which can contribute to increasing the risks of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Dietary fibre is high in antioxidants, anti-inflammatory and essential to gut health. If we eat fewer gluten-filled grains, it’s important to eat plenty of wholefood alternatives, as well as cooking with fresh fibre-rich vegetables like leafy greens and broccoli.

Healthy fats

There are lots of vegetable fats available these days, and they vary greatly in their health benefits. After the confusing dietary messages of the 70s and 80s, encouraging us to eat a low-fat diet, we now understand that healthy fats are essential for health.

But what is a healthy fat? Monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats contain plenty of omega-3 fatty acids, the key to every cell structure in our bodies and essential to cardiovascular, neurological and immune system health. However, whilst some polyunsaturated fats are really good for us, not all are stable at higher cooking temperatures. These less-stable oils, such as olive oil, oxidize quickly to form free radicals and harmful compounds. Unrefined olive oils are best used at lower cooking temperatures, in dressings or at the end of the cooking process. Soya bean/soybean, corn/maize, sunflower/safflower and even rapeseed/canola oils all start to oxidize at higher temperatures, despite the fact they are sold as frying oils. Whilst rapeseed oil, or the modified Canadian and US version canola oil, do have a much higher smoke point, they are less stable polyunsaturated fats, so they break down and produce higher levels of free radicals.

Monosaturated fats are the most stable for cooking. The most stable oil for frying is avocado oil, which is a healthy but expensive option. The next best option for high-temperature cooking is coconut oil, which is very stable. However, like any saturated fat, it should be used in moderation. Saying that, coconut oil is very different from saturated animal fats, as it is an MCT oil (contains a high level of medium-chain triglyceride fatty acids) and is said to support gut health and cognitive performance. I recommend using a culinary/unflavoured coconut oil for most higher temperature cooking, as it is affordable and can be used in smaller amounts. Most seed or nut oils will have a higher burning temperature too (less of those nasty free radicals), so it’s useful to keep a good-quality oil like this in the cupboard: try sesame (toasted bringing its own flavour to the party) or highly nutritious mustard seed (which I use to make tempering for dals and curries). Pomace or light olive oil, which is processed from the olive stone, is a good option, too.

Healthier sugars

Nutrition science is still in its infancy, but if there’s one fact that most agree on, it is simply that sugar is generally bad for our health. Some say it is more addictive than cocaine. As a former substance misuse researcher, I don’t know about that claim, but it’s clear that our glycaemic response is best kept at a stable rate, and spiking our insulin could lead us into a variety of health problems (and may potentially shorten our life span). The best natural plant-based sweeteners to use are date syrup or raw maple syrup, both of which contain some additional nutrients and have a lower glycaemic index than processed or refined sugars. Coconut sugar is also a good option, and I find that due to its sweetness, it’s quite possible to use less in a recipe than refined sugar. When eating something higher in sugar, it helps to eat this alongside protein, as this stabilizes the insulin response. You will find dessert recipes in this book that are protein-packed as well as being a sweet treat. I always have plenty of raw cashews, walnuts, blanched almonds and desiccated/dried unsweetened shredded coconut at the ready in my cupboard, as well as some high-quality vegan dark/bittersweet chocolate.

VEGAN FISH SAUCE

Useful vegan cooking condiments include good-quality soy sauce or gluten-free tamari, toasted sesame oil, Korean fermented soya bean/soybean paste or doenjang, brown or red miso paste, rice vinegar, dark soy sauce or vegan oyster sauce (sometimes called stir-fry or mushroom sauce), sambol olek or other chilli/chili sauce, tamarind pulp or paste and seaweed seasoning. You can also now buy vegan fish sauce online and in some Asian supermarkets. Or you can make your own. This recipe has been re-shaped a little since its first appearance in Vegan Street Food.

2 tablespoons seaweed, such as dulse

2 dried shiitake or porcini mushrooms

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 tablespoons coconut aminos, or use soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)

2 teaspoons brown or red miso paste

Add the seaweed and dried mushrooms to a small pan with 375 ml/1½ cups water, and place over high heat. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let stand for 20 minutes. Pour the liquid through a fine sieve/strainer, squeezing out all the juices from the mushrooms (reserve for another recipe). Add the salt, coconut aminos and miso paste. Mix well. Store in a sterilized bottle for up to 1 month in the fridge.

INDIA & SRI LANKA

Northern India

India is at the top of my list of places to return to as the world reopens for travel. Six months of overland travel has barely scratched the surface for me and I’m keen to spend some time in an ashram at some point in my life. Our journey as a young family took us from the northern most borders with Pakistan, zigzagging across the country for six months until we reached Sri Lanka. Whilst we spent several months in Sri Lanka (and Nepal) a few years later, we have yet to return to India. Fortunately my home town of Manchester is one of India’s many heart homes for food, especially Punjabi cuisine.

After the initial shock of landing in Delhi during the worst storms in 50 years, the children were distracted from the flooded streets by the vibrancy. Beautiful colours covered temples, decorative gateways and people’s clothing. Even religious pop-ups like the tent outside our guesthouse was adorned with garish and garlanded statues of gods, a gravity-defying chandelier and a giant mechanical peacock.

We started our overland trip from the northernmost region of Ladakh, nestled high in the Himalaya and sandwiched between northern Pakistan and a sliver of Afghanistan on one side, and Tibet and the remote north-west Chinese province of Xinjiang on the other. We spent a few weeks acclimatizing to our new life on the road. The children tackled treks that many adults would find challenging, growing out of two pairs of hiking boots during the trip and eating with locals without batting an eyelid. To be fair, it was me and Lee whose bodies took more time to adjust – to the altitude, the food and the battering that overland travel can give you.

Each leg of our Indian journey wowed us in some way or another. We got lost in ancient times, trekking in the ethereal and stark landscapes of Ladakh, learning about Buddhist culture and practices and talking to Tibetan refugees about their lives and hopes for the future. We then spent several weeks criss-crossing the often precarious and ever-shifting roads of Himachel Pradesh, with softer mountain-scapes of dense green forest, like pinched green scatter cushions on a backdrop of snowy rugged peaks. All the while reintroducing ourselves to more populous places again, and learning about the history of partition as we travelled. We all read vociferously. The children, aged seven at the time, returned to the UK with reading ages of 16 year olds.

The daily sunset closing ceremony at the Attari (Pakistan) and Wagah (India) border has become a major attraction over the years, and, consequently, large banks of concrete seating have been erected. We were crammed into the Indian side with thousands of spectators, mostly all pumped for a big party! We sat next to a group of day-trippers from Delhi. The young men had to catch the last train back to the capital, so I suspect it was rowdier carriage than usual that night. The Pakistan contingent numbered about eleven as far as we could see, so we can only assume they have better things to do than watch the Pakistan Rangers annihilate the Indian Border Security Force with their high-leg and wobble-shake-thrust moves. It’s certainly a spectacle for the newcomer, and there is plenty of snacking to be had in this almost-festival atmosphere.

Northern India introduced us to many extremes, from extreme altitude to depths of poverty that taught us all many lessons in gratitude. I had great intentions to visit several yoga retreats, from Manali to McCleod Ganj, but sadly illness got in the way. It wasn’t until Goa that I got to take part in some incredible yoga practice that sowed some seeds about what I’d like my future to look like.

Clockwise from top left: Buddhist prayer flags on the mountain pass, Leh, Ladakh; Flower garland adorning Ganesha, the elephant-headed son of Shiva and Parvati; Diwali celebrations along the banks of the River Ganges, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh; Chapati wallah at a Manali street market, Himachel Pradesh.

From the Punjab and western borders of Pakistan, we took trains further east via more favourable stops in Delhi, up to the north-east regions from Lucknow and holy Varanasi to the ancient city of Patna, where the region of Bahar pushes temptingly close to the foothills of Sikkim (another ancient Buddhist region we had hoped to visit, but winter had finally come). We joined in the celebrations of Dusshera in the north and Diwali in Varanasi. Only very occasional encounters on our journey had us concerned. We were more often embraced with much loving kindness and generosity in every village, town and city – from the second-most-northern city of Leh in Ladakh to the southernmost tip of Kerala, and crossing the width of the country on the longest train journey of our lives. And on rare occasions, if all else failed us, there was always impeccable food to be had. It would be impossible to name our most memorable meal in India. There were simply too many.

HIMALAYAN ENERGY BARS

I’m terrible at breakfast in a traditional sense. I’ve never been one to eat until I’m actually hungry, so I end up naturally intermittently fasting. When I was young, so many adults would scold me for this, even when I tried to explain that milk made me feel unwell. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, they would say. Well, it turns out they were wrong. I am actually lactose-intolerant, and intermittent fasting is good for insulin resistance. Having stable blood sugar is important for a healthy system. However, when we extend our intermittent fast beyond breakfast, it’s easy to fall into the trap of sudden hunger and grabbing something that’s less nutritionally dense. I learned on many retreats, and from my Indian fasting friends, that nutrient density is essential when ‘breaking fast’, whether fasting intermittently or for several days.

I make these bars for our retreat guests who like to hike up our local mountains and adventure into the wilderness. The perfect backpack snack! They are nutritionally balanced, full of energy, high in iron and vitamin C (a very important combination for vegans and vegetarians), high in good fats and boast a decent hit of protein.

120 g/1 cup cashew nuts

90 g/⅔ cup walnut halves

140 g/generous 1 cup whole skinless almonds

75 g/½ cup pumpkin seeds, soaked and roughly chopped, or use sunflower seeds

25 g/scant ¼ cup pitted dates, finely chopped, or use dried mulberries

100 g/1⅓ cups desiccated/dried unsweetened shredded coconut

60 g/⅔ cup goji berries, or use dried mulberries

2½ tablespoons date syrup, or use pure maple syrup or unrefined coconut sugar

1 tablespoon chia seeds, soaked in 2 tablespoons water

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, or use vanilla extract or seeds of ½ vanilla pod/bean

30 x 20-cm/12 x 8-in. baking tray/sheet pan, lined with parchment

MAKES 14

Preheat the oven to 165°C (325°F) Gas 3.

Place half the cashews, walnuts and almonds into a food processor or blender and lightly blitz. Place the remaining nuts onto a chopping board and roughly chop. Put the blitzed and chopped nuts into a large bowl and add all the remaining ingredients. Using your hands, mix everything really well.

Tip the mixture onto the lined baking tray/sheet pan. Using the back of a spoon, gently press the mixture into the pan and spread it evenly.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes until just golden brown.

Allow to cool completely before turning out onto a chopping board and peeling off the paper. Using a sharp knife, cut into 14 small bars. The bars will keep for up to 1 week in an airtight container.

HARA BHARA GREEN CUTLETS with cashew cachumba chaat

If I still had a street food menu, I’d definitely serve this dish. These little green beauties are naturally vegan and gluten-free, and packed with nutritious greens. You can reduce the spicing of the cutlets for younger palates. Chaat salads are a great way to wake up your raw food, and can be sprinkled on lots of other dishes. This little chaat salad is adaptable to most nuts and salad veg – try walnuts and ceviche courgette/zucchini (dice extra small and marinate in citrus for 20 minutes). Buy pomegranates in season, and pop the seeds in the freezer.

150 g/1 cup fresh or frozen peas

150 g/3 cups spinach, or use 175 g/1 cup frozen spinach, or substitute other dark leafy greens like chard or kale

½ teaspoon cumin seeds (optional)

2–3 heaped tablespoons gram flour (chickpea/garbanzo bean flour)

5-cm/2-in. thumb of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped, or use 2 heaped tablespoons ginger paste

1–2 green finger chillies/chiles, finely chopped, or use 1 scant teaspoon dried chilli flakes/hot red pepper flakes

1–2 tablespoons culinary/unflavoured coconut oil, or use good-quality vegetable oil (see page 13)

20 g/½ cup freshly chopped coriander/cilantro leaves and stalks

2 sweet potatoes (about 950 g/2 lb. 1 oz.), peeled, cubed, boiled and mashed (about 700 g/2 cups of mash)

1 teaspoon chaat masala powder, or use juice of 1 small lemon (about 2 tablespoons)

½ teaspoon salt

coriander/cilantro yogurt (see page 65) and lemon wedges, to serve

CASHEW CACHUMBA CHAAT

½ cucumber, roughly peeled, fully deseeded and cut into 5-mm/¼-in. dice

1 small red onion, cut into 5-mm/¼-in. dice

freshly squeezed juice of 1 lime

2–3 tablespoons pomegranate seeds, or use frozen and defrosted

60 g/½ cup cashew nuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons freshly chopped coriander/cilantro and/or mint

1 teaspoon chaat masala powder, or use dried mango powder

baking sheet, lined with parchment

MAKES 10–12

Place the peas in a small pan of boiling water and simmer until just cooked. Leave to drain and dry slightly in a colander or sieve/strainer. Using the same warm pan, dried of any water, wilt the spinach. (If using frozen spinach, defrost fully and squeeze out all the water; for chard or kale, cook for 5–10 minutes with a splash of water until completely softened.)

In a small dry pan, toast the cumin seeds over medium–high heat until their aroma is just released. Add the gram flour and toast for another minute. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

To the same pan, add the ginger, chillies/chiles and a teaspoon of the oil. Cook over low–medium heat for 2–3 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the peas, cooked greens and fresh coriander/cilantro to a blender or food processor and blitz to a rough paste. (If using kale, this may require extra blending to make it smooth.)

Add the green paste to the large bowl with the cumin and gram flour, then add the mashed sweet potatoes, ginger mixture, chaat masala powder and salt. Mix really well using your hands.

Shape the mixture into 10–12 small patties, approximately 2 cm/¾ in. thick and 6.5 cm/2½ in. diameter. Arrange on the lined baking sheet and place in the fridge for 30–60 minutes to set.

Prepare the chaat salad by mixing all the ingredients together, except the fresh herbs and chaat powder. Set aside.

Place a large non-stick frying pan/skillet over medium-high heat. Add ½ tablespoon coconut oil to the pan, then place the cutlets into the pan, cooking in two batches if needed. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 3–4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Add a little more oil to the pan if needed.

To serve, add the fresh herbs to the salad and mix well. Place a couple of cutlets on each plate (or use one big platter). Top each cutlet with a heaped tablespoon of the salad, and sprinkle the top of each portion with a generous pinch of chaat masala powder. Serve with coriander/cilantro yogurt and lemon wedges.