2023 Vegan Storecupboard Challenge

RHemmings

KajiKita said:

@RHemmings, yaaay for 🧅s! 😉

What do you think the recipe needs?

KK

A better spice mix, and the right amount of salt. And less chunky bits of potato. 

RHemmings

I'm perhaps storecupboard challenging more than I should be - given that anything I leave behind will not be wasted. But, here I am making more bhaji - this time banana blossom bhaji. Because we bought a banana blossom and then didn't know what to use it for. 



Also, I've made some chocolate milk, out of water, coconut milk (very thick), sugar, salt, vanilla, and cocoa powder.



More is coming up as we're going on an evening picnic to a local swimming spot. (Photo from the internet.) 

leftatthetrafficlights

Bhaji looks good! I used to make onion bhaji occasionally but I don't really like fried food so they've become pretty much obsolete in our house now unless dh buys ready made ones - he likes them as a side with a curry 😉 

Your swimming destination looks magical! 😍 I dislike swimming but even I could be tempted there! There are so many incredible places that are breathtakingly beautiful and none of them are man-made - many years ago I went to Malaysia and would love to go back but I know that many of the places I went are no longer the same due to human 'development' and I just couldn't bear the disappointment and sadness it would create for me so I'm staying away 😔 The memories of my trip are still vivid thankfully so I can transport myself there mentally even if I won't physically be there again! 😉 

Anyway, dinner last night consisted of steamed carrots and parsnips; roasted green peppers with onion, olives and garlic; roasted red peppers; mashed swede; harissa roasted cauliflower; mixed grains cooked in stock (rye, barley and oat groats); scarlett runner beans; a variety of home grown salad leaves; black grapes and balsamic vinegar. It was lovely and it's so nice to be able to eat proper food after all the rubbish that the festive period encourages!!

RHemmings

At the picnic my partner shared out our food and drink with people who were already there. One person looked very carefully at the falafel burger after biting into it. We did explain. The chocolate coconut milk was popular. We've just made up another litre of it, which is in the fridge. I had the last of the cooked pasta from yesterday for breakfast, as there was only one portion left. The burger mix and the falafel mix are both gone, as is all the tomato paste from the UK. Plenty of rice left, some lentils, couscous as yet untouched (to be eaten with curry?) 

I bought soya chunks with me intending to make soya chaap for the first time. Some (locally bought) soya beans are soaking ready for me to try that. 

My partner really wants to buy a jackfruit. They are cheap here, but huge. I'm not sure how it will get used up, but we can buy one, at least. 

Here's the only photo I have for the picnic, showing the falafel burger that was most overcooked on the outside, by some margin. We forgot to take our (UK sourced) sauce, but they were OK as they were. The bread is home-made, by me. 

RHemmings

Today is my last full day on Sumba Island, and with access to cooking facilities. I made some bao buns, which for future attempts need to be reshaped a bit. But, I think the flavour was good, if a bit too much soy-saucey for the filling. At least they weren't boring. I need to shape them so that the dough at the bottom under the filling isn't too thin. Otherwise, i think fine. They are a convenient food to be able to make, and I plan to start making many more, and freezing for later use. Also, these count as one new thing to make among my '24 for 24' post where I said that I want to learn to make 24 new things that could possibly become regulars for me to cook. Another such experiment will happen this evening. 


It looks terrible in the photo, but they look better in real life when torn open rather than being cut when they are still too hot. This is also the first use of the soya chunks I bought with me, and after being cooked in (local) mushroom stock and cooked with the vegetables in oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic and ginger, picked up an ample amount of taste. 

My partner made more pineapple jam filled biscuits. This time using the Stork Baking Block I bought from the UK. This photo is of them before cooking, but they look pretty much identical cooked. 

RHemmings

I'm back in the UK, but the food I have left behind is not going to waste. This is the lunch my partner made to take into work today. I thought that among the things I left behind, that the couscous was the thing most likely to not get used. But, there it is. 



I took soya chunks all the way there solely intending to experiment making soya chaap, which is an extremely useful ingredient. My attempt didn't really turn out - edible but not as good as the commercial stuff. However, I haven't used soya chunks for their more normal applications for what must be decades, when I tried, I was pleased with the result. A good chewy texture and after being cooked with soy-sauce, ginger, and garlic, a good (Chinese style) flavour for the inside of the bao buns. I'm going to be using soya chunks more. 

Here is my attempt to make soya chaap. 

Before steaming: (note that it normally is wrapped around ice-cream sticks, but I couldn't buy any). 



After steaming, and some of it fried in oil. 



The steamed skewer of chaap looks more promising than it was in reality. The texture was a bit off.  Chaap is a nutritious, and very versatile, food. The ingredients are all cheap and even small amounts of initial ingredients (1 cup dried soyabeans, 1 cup soya chunks, 1 cup plain flour, salt) seemed to end up making loads of it. (The steamer used is quite large.) If I master the recipe I have or find a better recipe it's going to be very useful thing for me.