Vegan Writer: Wandering Solo, Writing with Heart, One Story at a Time
Whoever thought of making a dough, filling it with cooked chana dal and jaggery, rolling it out, cooking it on a tawa, and then eating it piping hot, was a genius.
Because I don’t know any other dish like puranpoli that’s as filling and fulfilling at the same time.
Yes, I know Italians will murder me for saying this. But it’s true.
A few years back I was on a work trip to Italy and Portugal. In Italy, I had all the usual popular Italian dishes – different types of pastas and pizzas – and I really indulged in all of them and must say I thoroughly enjoyed it too.
But that was until I reached Cabo da Roca in Sintra, Portugal.
When I finally saw my favourite winter fruit with the fruit vendor, I instantly picked it up, wiped it clean on my t-shirt, and impatiently took the first bite. Yeah, yeah, I know that I need to wash it at least ten times before eating it. But some things you just can’t resist.
It’s World Vegan Day, and I thought it’s a good time to reflect on my journey of being vegan in India for almost 6 years now and pen down the lessons that I’ve learnt along the way.
I’m planning to go back to Vietnam just to eat. Yes, you heard that right — I want to go to Vietnam just to eat.
Travelling to a new place for my birthday is a yearly ritual. As I sat down to research where to go this year, one country kept coming back to me — not for its beaches or bustling streets, but for its food and flavours: Vietnam.
The first time I tasted Indrayani rice, it felt like a childhood memory, warm and slightly sticky. It clung to my fingers and to my heart.
We had stopped at a dhaba on our way from Nasik to Mumbai, the kind mostly visited by travellers on route on the highway. I ordered a simple meal of rice, dal, and a sabzi. When it arrived, I frowned at the sticky-looking rice, unlike the semi-cooked basmati rice which is usually served. But my hungry hand ignored it and quickly mixed it with dal, took a bite, and then what I experienced, I can only call it rice nirvana.
What other dish sparks regional rivalry, family loyalty, and childhood nostalgia all at once? Poha does—and now it even has a global day to prove it.
When I first heard that June 7 was being celebrated as World Poha Day—or Vishwa Poha Diwas—I was surprised. Don’t get me wrong, I am the biggest fan of poha, but having a day around it was what surprised me.
A few months back, I visited the restaurant Burma Burma and loved their vegan menu with its fusion concepts. I had a hearty, soul-satisfying meal at a restaurant after a long time. It’s a vegetarian restaurant but offers vegan options. I enjoyed the steamed curried buns, Mekong curry made with exotic spices complimented with sticky jasmine rice. But the star of the dinner for me was the Burmese dessert of vegan panna cotta with sago pearls and palm jaggery. One bite, and I knew I was in heaven.
One cook and five knives. No, that’s not the title of a murder mystery. It is the state of my kitchen. I cook and I have five different knives. Well, it was not intended to be a collection but somehow it has become one.
The burst of red, orange and yellow autumn hues is the first thing that caught my eyes at the Tenryu-ji temple premises. I had come to taste the Shojin ryori vegan cuisine, which was served at the Shigetsu restaurant inside the temple premises. But I got caught in the beauty of the Zen Garden around it. The autumn trees accompanied by a peaceful pond in front of it and the Arashiyama mountains standing tall behind it were picture-perfect from all sides.