Vegan Home Cooks
Come join the Vegan Home Cooks!
Participation is really easy, just take a picture of what you cooked today and post it, no recipes needed.
This is a public forum for a discord server of friends who are all vegans and cook at home for their families.
We are here to share some inspiration, to see what others are doing and to stay engaged in something that is both our hobby and a required task.
This forum is not a "food porn" community, a recipe book or a place to teach you how to cook. It is a place for people who already cook to meet other people like themselves and provide on topic support and conversation as much as long distance friends on the internet can do. We are doing show and tell about what we made and we don't care about its instagram worthiness.
Veganism isn’t a diet but I have to eat every day. This is for the vegan home cooks. Anything non vegan will be deleted.
Rules
1. Be Vegan.
If it is not vegan it doesn’t belong here… or anywhere.
2. Post home cooking.
No restaurant or fast food. This is what every other vegan space is about and we don’t want to promote any large or small business tyrants.
We’re an active community of vegan home cooks that like to talk about what we are cooking today.
4. Do not make any rude comments or digs at anyone’s food, cooking style, specific diet, restrictions or technique.
While we are all cooks, we all have different requirements and we’re not asking for help, we are doing show and tell.
5. Do not use trademarked brands
Use generic names. We’re cooking with tvp not whatever business brands it and we’re not trying to turn comrades into billboards. No plant-based vegan-pandering capitalist crap like Impossible, Beyond, Dairy-company owned “vegan” cheese.
6. Do not ask for a recipe without otherwise engaging the OP (No posts that are just “recipe?”)
We are not food bloggers. Sometimes we're excited to share and will tell you the recipes we used but this isn't required. Instead try doing your own research and tell us what you learned and we can talk about it.
7. Careful with making unasked for suggestions.
Sometimes we like to hear suggestions but you should be nice about it and know the person you are making suggestions to. We are in the discord and you can get to know us that way. If you are just a visitor from the fediverse, this isn’t the place for you to start telling other people what to do.
8. Adults Only.
While this isn't a community for adult material we expect everyone who participates to be an adult. If you have a gross and profane username you will be removed.
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I always have consistency issues with my curry. My ratios are off or something. It doesn't end up tasting authentic. My last batch of Dal Tadka tasted too fruity for some reason, and I can never get that savory umami type flavor that you get with real curry bases.
I replace half the salt with MSG for all of my curries, something to try.
I've found that pureeing the veggies (onion, tomato, chili) can help thicken the sauce. The slower solution is to cook down the dal more, though that may be undesirable if you don't want them pasty. For chickpeas, smash a dozen or two and stir them into the masala.
"Fruity" could mean you didn't cook the tomatoes enough; the sweetness is tempered with umami with time. Cooking the tomatoes longer also releases the pectin, thickening the sauce. Too much of some of the sweeter spices like fennel, anise, cloves, or cardamom could be interpreted as fruity, though I'd say they're more of a flowery sweetness.
Also, add hing.
Great answer. It's really easy to underestimate how long to cook down the onions and tomatoes to get the right flavour profile. I know it took me a while to get down.
Do you use amchoor powder or tamarind?
No, should I?
Yes! Amchoor powder (dried young and green mango) is used in northern indian dishes to give it the umami flavour. Tamarind is usually used in the south.
Usually used along with or in place of tomatoes, so you'll get a less fruity flavour. If you can get some to try out in your Indian recipes, I highly recommend!
Thanks! I'll definitely get some the next time I get to the store.
No problem, both these ingredients are really underrepresented in Euro-Indian recipes, but are pretty essential in India itself! I only learned about them from my best friend's grandmother.