Why tempeh is the star of my kitchen
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Vegetarians spend a large part of the day trying to figure out ways to add more protein to their diet. Even for an Indian vegetarian, whose average meal is more or less balanced â carbohydrates from roti or rice, vitamins and minerals from sabzi, and protein from dal â it can be exciting to move beyond lentils and sprouts in search of more protein.
Beyond the everyday staples above, the most obvious vegetarian choice of protein across the country is paneer, followed by tofu and soy granules. I like to crumble ample amounts of tofu in my morning burji (a spiced scramble of sorts) and make keema out of soy granules, sometimes stuffing it into a samosa to make a quick snack. I turn chickpea mash into kebabs, saving paneer for rich vegetarian kormas and saags. But with so much noise around dairy (for reasons related to human health and animal welfare), the lack of av
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If I had a nickel for every time Iâve heard someone persuade a vegetarian to eat meat with the phrase âpaneer samajh ke kha leâ (just think of it as paneer), I would have a lot of nickels. Paneer like any basic meat varietyâchicken, basaâhas no distinct flavour of its own, is a good vehicle for whatever sauce you put on it, and has been a big source of vegetarian protein for decades in India.
From chef Saransh Goilaâs butter paneer that is a worthy competitor for those daring to attend a butter chicken night only to get eye rolls, to iconic kebab-focused restaurants like Delhiâs Peshawari doing a paneer kebab platter to keep the vegetarians on the table busyâif youâre eating vegetarian food in India, chances are you havenât felt deprived. Even McDonaldâs does a paneer burger slathered with cream sauce and shredded lettuce that looks exactly like the chicken one.