Vegan Diwali Recipes

Burfi
1 cup chickpea flour (besan)
3 cups sugar
1 cup vegan ghee/butter
1 cup cashew nut powder + grated fresh coconut
1 cup plant milk
Put all of the ingredients in a sturdy kadai or deep bottom pan. First add the cashew nut powder, grated coconut, then the besan. Pour the milk and then add the ghee/butter. Place the kadai on high flame and also make sure that you check the time!
Stir constantly. With a slotted ladle, keep stirring to mix in the flour well with all the ingredients. Remember the flame is high, so you have to keep stirring constantly to prevent the mixture from burning at the bottom.
Lower the flame. After 10 minutes, reduce the flame to low and continue stirring. You will find bubbles coming up and the mixture starts pulling away from the sides.
After 10 minutes, the batter consistency is thick and you can see the bottom.
Take a square or circle plate and grease it with ghee. Immediately pour the batter on the greased plate. Holding on the sides of the plate so that you don't burn yourself, gently pat the plate on the floor, so your mix gets spread evenly. Allow it to sit for 10 minutes, then with a greased knife make marks either as diamond or square.
Allow it to cool, then cut on the perforated lines to break into pieces.

Coconut Barfi (Nariyal Ki Burfi)
1 cup Khoya (1 cup of plant milk + juice of 1/2 lemon)
1 cup coconut, dry & ground
1 tsp cardamom seeds, ground
1 tbsp vegan ghee/butter
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1/2 tsp almonds, grated
1/2 tsp pistachios, grated
Mix khoya and coconut and fry them lightly with ghee on a low heat.
Add cardamom and mix well.
Prepare one-string syrup by dissolving sugar in the water.
Now stir the coconut mixture into the syrup.
Grease the plate and spread the grated nuts on it.
Spread the prepared evenly over the plate and allow it to cool.
Now with the knife, cut it into desired shapes.
Turn them over so that nuts covered part appears on the top.
Serve!

Jalebi
Oil
1/2 cup vegan buttermilk
1/4 tsp saffron
Water (may not be needed)
1 tsp warm vegan ghee/butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 cups all purpose flour (maida)
Small mixing bowl
Mixing spoon

Add sugar to a flat based pan and put it on low heat. Add water slowly while mixing, until you get a one string syrup. Add saffron. Mix well.
Mix together 1 cup of refined flour and buttermilk in medium-sized mixing bowl. Stir until smooth. Add water only if necessary.
Cover and let stand overnight at room temperature.
Add remaining flour the next morning, along with the ghee.
Put this mixture into a plastic bag and punch a small hole at the other end. This should be so you can squeeze the dough out like one squeeze's toothpaste out of a tube.
Heat oil. Pour batter into pan in concentric circles, to make spiral shapes.
Fry till it is crisp and golden brown.
Remove from pan and put it into the syrup. Ensure that it is coated well on both sides for about 1 minute. Repeat with remaining jalebis.

Badam Phirni
1/4 cup Almonds
4 tablespoons Rice flour
2 1/2 cups Plant Milk
5 tablespoons Sugar
8 strands Saffron
1 teaspoon Cardamom powder

Blanch and grind the almonds to a fine paste with 1/2 cup milk. Mix together the ground almond paste and rice flour and keep aside.
Bring the milk to a boil. Add the sugar and stir till the sugar dissolves. Keep aside a tablespoon of hot milk and dissolve the saffron in it. Add the almond-rice mixture into the boiling milk along with the saffron.
Stir continuously for a few mintues till the milk thickens and attains a custard-like consistency. Sprinkle in the cardamom powder. Take off fire and cool to room temperature.
Pour into individual bowls, garnish with almonds and pistachios and refrigerate.

Gulab Jamun
1 cup Plant Milk Powder
1/2 cup Bisquick - Pancake mix (Instead of Bisquick Pancake mix, use 1/2 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 tsp baking soda)
2 tablespoons vegan butter, melted
Plant milk, enough to make the dough
2 cups Sugar
1 cup water
Oil for frying

Make the dough by combining the milk powder, Bisquick, butter. Add just enough whole milk to make a medium-hard dough.
Divide the dough into 18-20 portions.
Make balls by gently rolling each portion between your palms into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a plate. Cover with a damp yet dry kitchen towel.
Heat the oil on high and then lower the heat to medium.
Slip in the balls into the hot oil from the side of the pan, one by one. They will sink to the bottom of the pan, but do not try to move them. Instead, gently shake the pan to keep the balls from browning on just one side.
After about 5 mins, the balls will rise to the surface. The Gulab Jamuns should rise slowly to the top if the temperature is just right. Now they must be gently and constantly agitated to ensure even browning on all sides.
If the temperature of the oil is too high then the gulab jamuns will tend to break. So, adjust the temperature to ensure that the gulab jamuns do not break or cook too quickly.
The balls must be fried very slowly under medium temperatures. This will ensure complete cooking from inside and even browning.
The syrup should be made earlier and kept warm. To make the hot sugar syrup add mix the 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water. Add 4-5 cardamom pods, slightly crushed and a few strands of "Kesar". Mix with a spoon and then heat at medium heat for 5-10 minutes until sugar is all dissolved in water. Do not overheat, that will caramelize the sugar.
Transfer this hot syrup into a Corning serving dish. Keep warm on stove. Add the fried gulab jamuns directly into the warm syrup.
Leave gulab jamuns in syrup overnight for best results. They can be served warm or at room temperature.

Rasmalai
2 lbs Vegan Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sugar
32 oz soy creamer
A pinch of saffron
1/4 tsp crushed cardamom seeds
1/2 cup blanched almonds
2 tbsp crushed green pistachios

Mix the cheese with sugar and little cardamom powder and spread out on a baking tray.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or wait till it sets. It should not get brown.
Remove from oven, cool at room temperature and cut into 2" squares. Place them in a dessert bowl.
Mix the other ingredients, except the pistachios well in a separate dish and pour over the squares.
Decorate with pistachios, chill for 2-3 hours and then serve.

Karanji
For Stuffing:
1 cup grated dry coconut
1 cup powdered sugar
1 pinch nutmeg powder
1 pinch dry ginger powder
4 elaichi/cardamom
2 tsp maida flour
2 tsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp mixed dry fruit pieces

For Dough:
1 cup maida flour
1 tsp vegan ghee/butter
salt, pinch
warm plant milk (for doughing)

In order to prepare Karanji, you will have to first prepare dough and then prepare the stuffing. Once you are done with both of them, you simply need to fill the stuffing and deep fry the Karanji.

Dough Preparation:
Mix 1 cup maida, 1 tbsp ghee, a pinch of salt and warm milk to prepare the dough, try to keep the dough a little hard.

Stuffing Preparation:
1. Roast dry coconut.
2. Roast maida in ghee.
3. Roast poppy seeds.
4. Mix all the above ingredients and mill them finely.

Karanji Preparation:
1. Roll small oval shaped puris from the hard dough.
2. Now place the prepared stuffing in the middle of it.
3. Stick both the corners of the puri by applying some water or milk so that it will seal properly. Remember not to apply too much of water as it will not seal properly.
4. Deep fry it till it becomes brownish color.
5. Serve it hot or cold as you wish.

Gajar Ka Halwa
2 lbs Carrots
34 oz Milk
1 teaspoon Cardamom seeds
3/4 cup Water
3 tablespoons vegan Ghee/Butter
2 tablespoons Raisins
2 tablespoons Almonds
2 tablespoons Pistachios
450 grams Sugar

Wash and grate the carrots. Soak the raisins in water for 30 minutes. Blanch and shred the nuts.
Put the water to boil, when it starts boiling add the grated carrots. Cook for 5-7 minutes.
Add the milk. Cook on a low flame for 1 hour stirring occasionally.
Add sugar, mix well and cook till the sugar has dissolved and all the milk has been absorbed.
Add ghee and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add the slightly crushed cardamoms and the raisins.
Mix well. Remove from heat and arrange in a serving dish. Garnish with almonds and pistachios. Serve cold, hot or at room temperature.

Gulab Jamun
Dough
1 cup vegan milk powder
1/2 cup Bisquick (alternative: 1/2 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 tsp. baking soda)
2 Tbsp. melted vegan butter
1/4 cup plant milk
Vegetable oil for frying

Syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
4-5 pods of cardamom
5 Tbsp. rosewater

1
Syrup should be made before the dough. As soon as the Gulab Jamun are fried, they will be left in the syrup overnight.
2
Heat sugar, water, cardamom, and rose water in a pan for 5 minutes. Do not overheat, otherwise syrup will turn into caramel.
3
Turn off heat. After Gulab Jamun are fried, heat the syrup on low.
4
Transfer warm syrup to a serving dish and add Gulab Jamun.
5
Let Gulab Jamun stay in the syrup overnight. The longer you wait the better the results.

Dough
1
Combine the milk powder, Bisquick and butter.
2
Add whole milk to the dry ingredients until dough becomes firm.
3
Divide the dough into 20 portions.
4
Roll each portion into balls. Place the balls on a plate and cover with a damp towel while Gulab Jamun are being fried.

Frying
1
Heat the oil on high. When hot, reduce heat setting to low.
2
Slip the balls one at a time into the hot oil from the side of the pan. Take caution when working with hot oil!
3
Gulab Jamun will sink to the bottom of the pan, but do not try to move them.
4
After about 3 minutes, the balls will rise to the surface. Make sure all sides have browned evenly and remove from the oil.
5
Place Gulab Jamun on a paper towel, so that all excess oil will be absorbed.
6
Place Gulab Jamun in warm syrup as stated above in the syrup preparations.

Serving
1
Once Gulab Jamun have soaked up syrup overnight, they can be place in the refrigerator. Gulab Jamun can be served either cold or warm.

Coconut Laddu
3 cups shredded coconut
1 cup plant milk
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp vegan butter/ghee
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Boil the milk in a pan.
When it starts boiling, add 2 cups shredded coconut and butter/ghee, mix well.
When the milk gets absorbed in coconut, add the sugar.
Stir continuously on medium flame until the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan. Add cardamom powder.
Remove and make small balls.
Take the remaining coconut on a plate.
Roll the balls in shredded coconut to make laddus.
Coconut Laddoos are ready to serve.

Chanar Payesh
1/2 - 3 cups vegan cottage cheese
14-16oz vegan condensed milk
2 tbsp Sugar
1 1/2 cups Water
2 tbsp Nuts
2 tbsp Raisins
Nimbu Pani (lime juice) - A little

Pour just enough sugar in water to prepare a thin sugar syrup.
Add the hot syrup to the cottage cheese, blending it well.
Pour milk in a deep bottomed pan and bring it to a boil.
Next, add the condensed milk and simmer for about 2 mins. Cool till just warm.
Add the milk mixture into the channa, one spoonful at a time.
With a spoon, stir well and blend vigorously the whole mixture. Pour all of it into a bowl.
Sprinkle on top the nuts and raisins. Refrigerate for sometime and serve chilled.