Vegan Chicken 555 reimagines a beloved South Indian street-style appetizer. Crisp golden tofu is coated in a richly spiced sauce infused with fennel, ginger, garlic, coriander, and peppers,  and enough heat to make you reach for seconds (and maybe a cold drink).  gluten free, nut free. soy free option.

This is another one in my series creating vegan versions of these amazing, meat-heavy, regional Indian appetizers. There’s just so much variety in all of these super delicious snacks and appetizers, and sometimes you don’t find those flavors and that spice in the vegetarian appetizers.

You can use this recipe with tofu, soy curls, chickpea tofu, chickpeas, or vegetables, like cauliflower. Basically, you coat your protein or vegetables of choice with this amazing, flavorful batter, and either pan fry or bake it. 

Then, we make this easy, spicy, and delicious sauce mixture. It’s kind of a dry sauce, and you toss the crisped tofu “chicken” in it. Oh my god, it’s so incredibly delicious and also pretty spicy!

You can adjust the spice level to your preference. There are four kinds of chilies in this tofu 555: Kashmiri chili powder in the batter, and green chilies, cayenne, and red pepper flakes in the sauce. To get the flavor with less heat, reduce any or all of those. The combination of peppers adds a ton of flavor, so you definitely want to use some of each, even if you don’t use the full amounts. You can use a milder green chili to manage the heat, too,  if you prefer.

Basically, adjust the heat based on your preference, but definitely try this vegan chicken 555. It’s just so fabulously delicious!

Tofu 555 is great on its own or in crunchy salads with juicy fruits like apples, pears, or mangoes, or with roasted or fresh vegetables. A cucumber salad with a simple lime, salt, and pepper dressing also pairs wonderfully with this Indian appetizer. Or, you can make wraps with lettuce, creamy dressing, and fresh green chilis or pickled jalapeños. 

No matter how you serve it, you have got to try vegan chicken 555!

Why You’ll Love Chicken 555

• crispy tofu in thick, spicy sauce with flavors of fennel, ginger, garlic, coriander, and 4 kinds of peppers
• easily adjust the heat to your preference
• use your plant based protein or use veggies of choice.
• naturally gluten-free and nut-free with easy soy-free option

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This foolproof blender recipe creates perfectly fudgy blondies studded with chocolate chips. Allergy-friendly, protein-packed, and absolutely delicious.

I have used chickpeas and lentils in various ways to make healthier desserts already on the blog. There is my chickpea cookie pie, my chickpea brownies, my lentil brownies, and my lentil cookie dough brownie bars.

There are just so many ways to use all these legumes, so I decided to try using white beans. Chickpeas can sometimes be a little bit more grainy and gritty, even when you blend them That’s because chickpeas have thicker skin. The texture of the bean is also a bit more gritty compared to creamy white beans, so white beans actually are a great option to use in dessert recipes instead of chickpeas.

I made these blondies with white beans and tahini. Usually, I add some kind of nut butter to my brownies or cookie pies. I wanted to keep this recipe nut-free, so I’m using tahini here. But if you don’t want to use tahini, you can just add some smooth almond butter or peanut butter.

It’s a super simple recipe with just a few ingredients. Just add everything to a blender or a food processor, blend, then transfer to a baking pan. Add your chocolate chips and chunks if you want, and bake. That’s it!

These are amazing and super easy, and you’re going to want to make them again and again.

Why You’ll Love White Bean Blondies

• super easy – you make the batter in the blender!
• lots of protein and fiber from the beans and tahini
• versatile! Make it with chocolate chips or use the snickerdoodle variation
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free

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Tofu majestic is a vegan version of the popular South Indian starter, chicken majestic. Spicy, crispy tofu in a thick, spicy sauce is an absolutely delicious starter or side! You can easily control the heat, if you don’t like your food too spicy. (Options for gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free)

Chicken majestic is pretty popular in restaurants in the state of Andhra Pradesh, and especially in the city of Hyderabad. It is a spicy, crispy chicken dish that is usually fried or pan-fried and tossed in a thick, delicious, spicy sauce. It has elements from indo Chinese cuisine and the combination with South Indian flavors makes it a finger licking can’t stop good appetizer!

It is served as-is as a starter with a side of chutneys or a side salad. You can also add it to wraps or serve with rice. It is absolutely mindblowingly delectable and delicious. The tofu is crisped with some cornstarch and rice flour and some spices. Then tossed in a thick sauce to coat. If you want to keep these crisp, toss and serve immediately!

Tofu majestic is definitely hot with 4 heat elements in it, there’s green chilies, Kashmiri chili powder, black pepper and sambal oelek! It can get hotter depending on the green chilies that you use. To manage the heat, use milder green chilies and use less of the black pepper and Kashmiri chili powder.

I like to serve this with a side salad of onion and cucumber. It’s kind of like quick pickled onion with Indian spices called laccha pyaza. See the recipe notes for instructions for making the crispy, vibrant laccha onions. You can also serve with chutneys of choice or a creamy dip on the side to mellow the heat.

Why You’ll Love Tofu Majestic

• flavorful, crunchy, battered tofu in a thick, spicy sauce
• bake or pan fry the tofu
• versatile! Serve on its own, with chutney or creamy dipping sauce, with a fresh salad, or as wraps
• easy to make gluten-free, nut-free, and even soy-free.

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Saag Cornbread Casserole – a fragrant Indian mustard greens stew baked in the oven and topped with a cornbread topping. So flavorful and comforting. Baked Sarson da saag Makki roti casserole. Nutfree Soyfree recipe.  Oil-free and gluten-free versions are included.

I am back with another Indian-inspired casserole dish! To help you try Indian flavors and foods in a a simpler format. Saag Cornbread Casserole – flavorful, super nourishing and oh-so satisfying.

Saag is a dish from the northern part of India that uses greens. It can use different types of greens that are locally available. The most common version uses either all mustard greens or a mix of mustard greens and spinach or bathua (a type of amaranth) leaves. It is often slow cooked for a while then mashed and cooked again to make a spiced mashed greens stew that is served topped with vegan butter, Indian pickle and with flatbread.

Saag is usually served with a maize flour/fine cornmeal based flatbread (called Makki ki roti).

Makki/makai ki roti (corn flatbread) is somewhat similar to Mexican corn tortillas but uses maize flour that hadn’t been nixtamalized.  Hence it has a different flavor and texture from corn tortillas. The process for making both the roti and saag can take quite some time, so I converted this delicious Punjabi comfort food staple into a simple casserole dish that you can make in a baking dish!

The greens used in this casserole are chopped up and placed at the bottom of the casserole dish alongside the tempered spices and flavors of Saag. I add some quinoa to increase the protein content of this vegan casserole dish. You can use split red lentils instead or some potatoes.

While our saag casserole bakes, we make a cornbread-type topping using Indian spices and cornmeal instead of making corn flatbread on the side.

Then we layer that cornbread mixture over the pre-cooked greens,  cover it with parchment paper and bake the whole assembled casserole again until the cornbread sets.

I love to serve this as is or with some vegan butter on top. It’s hearty, delicious and checks all the Makki ki roti and sarson da saag flavor and the ease of a casserole.

More vegan casserole dishes:

Shahi Tofu Kofta Casserole

Jalapeno Chili Cornbread Casserole

Lentil Curry Casserole

Baked Kitchari Casserole (Spiced Lentil Rice Casserole)

South Indian Eggplant Curry Recipe (Baked Casserole)

Madras Curry Tofu Casserole

Baked tofu curry – makhani 

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