Saturday, October 17, 2009

Vegan MoFo III: Indian Feast

From the first time aloo gobi ever touched my lips, I have had major love for Indian food.  It is tied with my beloved Tex Mex, which is saying a lot.  The thing I love most about it is that there is so much depth of flavor, and it is super inexpensive to make.  Many recipes make an insane amount of food for only a couple of dollars.
When I go to restaurants, I usually stick to the aloo gobi or aloo mattar.  Something about how tender the potatoes are makes me unable to stray from these dishes.  Oh, how I love them so!


When I'm cooking at home, however, there are three recipes that make it into every Indian meal.  I make Kittee's dakshini murgh (coriander roasted chikn) and spinach saag.  I also make some sort of dahl.  I really love the three bean dal in Vegan Planet.  Tonight I followed a recipe from a different cookbook and used a combo of red and green lentils.  All of this usually gets served with a simple jasmine rice that I throw cumin seeds in.
Most of the time I make seitan for the dakshini murgh, but went for tofu tonight.  It's pictured above.  It's not as creamy as usual because all I had was light coconut milk.  Still tasty, though.
You might have to add a little more to the prices listed below if you don't have the spices or rice on hand.  This meal easily serves 6, maybe more.
Price Breakdown*
Dakshini Murgh-$6.05
  • tofu-$2.96
  • onion-$0.71
  • tomatoes-$1.72
  • coconut milk-$0.50
  • ginger-$0.06
  • jalapeno-$0.04
  • cilantro-$0.06
Saag-$3.57
  • spinach-$2.94
  • jalapeno-$0.04
  • tomato-$0.25
  • onion-$0.34
Dahl-$0.75
  • tomato-$0.25
  • onion-$0.34
  • jalapeno-$0.07
  • ginger-$0.09
Total spent on dinner-$10.37 or $1.73 per person!  Sure, it's the most expensive meal of the week but definitely yields the most food.


So we've reached the end of Budget Week.  Tomorrow begins holiday and fall foods week.  I am so excited about what I have planned!  Good night all.
*All price breakdowns are assuming you have basic things like flour, oil, non dairy milk, common spices, etc. Everything else will be factored in. Also, the price listed is based on the amount used in the recipe.

9 comments:

Jen Treehugger said...

Oooh that looks super fine, what a fab feast.

house vegan said...

I wasn't hungry until I saw this. YUM.

Embee Breedlove said...

My #1 tip on cooking Indian food: never fry poori while barefoot. (Not me. My dad. Ouch.)

jessy said...

indian yummies are some of my absolute favorite, and yours look nothing short of fantastically stellar! i'm gonna have to give kittee's dakshini murgh a try, & i i'll follow your lead & use tofu, too. yum!

i can't wait for your fall & holiday foodz posts. superexcitedface!

Amey said...

my favorite dahl recipe is the Red Lentil Dhal on the PPK recipe section. It's crazy good and super authentic. Pretty low budget as long as you already have a good selection of spices. I like the theme weeks - I'm doing it too, and it turns out to be a good way to organize my thoughts around MoFo!

sgcorrie said...

Indian food is amazing. We've started cooking a lot more of it lately and I have so many freezer meals....

bazu said...

I would like some of your find Indian foods, please.

Kumudha said...

Indian cuisine is brimming with delicious vegan dishes.

Cooking Vegan With Soul said...

Ack! I'm starving and you serve up Indian food?!?!? I'm running to California.


right NOW.

Faith