Cow is God: Tripura tribals don't drink milk!

Very interesting article on Cow's milk. Here is the link.

Two Kites Rescued

Rahul is a co founder of Green and also a Mumbai Vegan who is working very actively towards animal rescue. Recently he rescued two kites. Kites were injured. Now they are at Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Here are the pictures. Thank you Rahul . You are very inspiring.

Summary of Mumbai Talks of Dr.Nandita Shah

SHARAN had a series of its pathbreaking talks and workshops in Mumbai recently, by its Founder Director Dr.Nandita Shah. Starting from 20th of September till 3rd of October 2010, these talks were held in a wide-variety of places with a vast spectrum of audience. They were organised with the help of Sharan volunteers Mr. Ashit Sheth and his wife Rima, both of whom had benefitted immensely themselves through these workshops, turning them into lifelong loyalists. Organised in places like the BMC, Indian Merchants Chambers, Rotary Club, Bombay Chartered Accountants Society, Senior Citizens Clubs, corporates like Human Factors, colleges like Sophia Polytechnic, schools including BJPC, Gopal Sharma Intl, etc., the talks were very well received and highly appreciated! There were also highly specialized one-day workshops specifically for people suffering from Diabetes and Heart Disease, which resulted in many participants adopting lifestyle changes for disease-free living.

The facts presented in these workshops astounded laymen and doctors alike. And the mantra for all this was simply - a whole food, plant based diet! In addition, organic food was also recommended. Audience of all age-groups seemed clearly impacted as they eagerly asked a plethora of relevant questions and gave very positive feedback. All in all it was a successful fortnight of awareness creation by Sharan.
Summary written by Monika Mehta

Diwali Vegan Laddus

Nutritious Vegan Laddus-
Recipe by Dr (Mrs) Mrinal Joshi-Mumbai, mrinalvm@yahoo.co.in
Ingredients (for 8-10 small laddus)- • ½ katori (small bowl) roasted gram dal (dalia) • ½ katori ( small Bowl) roasted sesame seeds (til) • ½ katori ( Small Bowl) roasted ground nut seeds (singdana) • 30-35 deseeded dates , finely chopped • Some cardamom powder, • Some Jaifal ( Nutmeg) powder • Optional-dry figs finely chopped.

Preparation- 1) grind sesame seeds, gram dal and groundnut seeds in to powder. 2)Mix all the above ingredients in a big bowl or plate thoroughly and make a dough .If required add more dates ,prepare small laddus from the above mixture. 3) Decorate with Cashew nut pieces and or grated dry coconut. These laddus can last for 10-15 days. If you want to consume immediately, you can use grated tender coconut as well.

Dwiali Vegan Delights!

The first time,

Diwali VEGAN Delight’s –

A range of Healthy DIWALI sweets.

Dairy free & refined sugar free

Goan Vegan Apple & Peach Melba

Kashmiri Delicious Vegan Oat Nectar Porridge

Uttar Pradeshi Vegan Nankhatai

Rajasthani Vegan Dal Churma

Maharashtrian Vegan Chivada

Sindhi Vegan Toshe

Rajasthani Vegan Dal Bati

Chennai Vegan Chandrakala special

To know more about the sweets, contact: Srj.choudhary@gmail.com

Article on Mumbai Vegans in DNA newspapper

These days many news papers are writing about vegan living in India. A very nice article written here by Joanna Lobo. Here is the link to read. The title is Veganism is no sacrifice! Very true!

Potluck Lunch at Rithika's Place

The potluck held in Thane on 19th September, 2010 was planned to coincide with the arrival of Damian Eadie, CEO of Vegeco Ltd, U.K. Damian is in India doing research on the market for vegetarian/ vegan dog and cat food in India.

He brought along some goodies for everyone there. It included cheese in different flavours, sausages, soy creams, gravy, ready to make packets of typical English sausages and nut roasts, mayonnaise, whipped cream, oat cream and so much more! All vegan and yummy! He also showed us how to make 'Bangers and Mash' which is some sausage on some baked potato with gravy on top.

After all that, we still had some more yummy food which everyone brought along which included Tamarind Rice, Gluten Free Chocolate Brownies, Batata Vadas, Koftas in Gravy, Tofu Cutlets, Biryani, Pineapple Salsa, Soy Free Lemon Mousse, White Bean Salad, Orange and Passion Fruit Juice!

Everyone took home some fun memories from this potluck. Hope the people who missed it this time will be able to make it next time and make it bigger and better!

Contributed by Rithika Ramesh.

Meet Young Vegans

Meet Sneha Poojary, a young Mumbai Vegan, who became Vegan on her own....and then after many months, actually discovered more vegans in Mumbai...Here is how she introduces herself.
In a conversation a person said to me that, "We should concentrate on human’s right first". My answer: "Fighting for human's right is good... my question here is, How does being cruel to animals help us to fight for human's rights?""Superiority of humans is reflected by saving helpless animals not killing them."
Welcome Sneha!

Reversing Diabetes Group Potluck Lunch

Some of the Mumbai vegans met on Sunday, 26th June to follow up with the Reversing Diabetes group, of those who returned from Bangalore. The meeting was organised by Ashit Sheth and his wife Rima at a very unusually beautiful place called as Shantivan. This park is right next to the famous Hanging Garden in south Mumbai. So, this time instead of taking pictures of food, I have taken more pictures of the park. The food was good, particularly the large size cake made by Dr. Nita Dharamsey. Everyone shared their reversal of diabetes story so far. They were very happy and inspired to go on now. We also took a short walk in the park which has many trees and herbs. Also an acupressure walk, hydrotherapy area and amphitheatre. The place was full of fresh air, quiet and greenery in the middle of concrete jungle! Thank you Ashit and Rima for the wonderful meeting.

A short video of a soothing natural water fall at the park.....

Contributed by Rupa Shah

Healthy laddoos ( Balls)

This is a very easy recipe to make laddoos at home. They can be called as 'Adadiya' but all raw vegan. To make this you need 1 part Peanuts, grounded. 1 Part dry coconut powder, 1 Part sesame seeds grounded. Dry prunes, cashews quantity as desired. A pinch of Poppy seeds called as Khus Khus seeds, dry ginger powder called as Sunth, Cinnamon, Clove, Cardamom, jeggary powder, 2 part of date pieces. It is ook if you have one or few ingredients less or more. You can just adjust.
Mix all these ingredients in a mixture/ grinder. Now make laddoos out of this mix. It takes very little time to make these. They are very healthy. I save them in refrigerator. I usually eat one daily. I carry around in a small box with me. When I am hungry, I quickly eat one! Very filling, and satisfying.
Recipe contributed by Rupa Shah

Kalli ni Bhaji

Right now it is monsoon in India. So, it is also season for Kalli Ni Bhaji. I use this bhaji for salads or for green smoothie. You can cook it also just like methi ni Bhaji ( fresh fenugreek leaves). It is nice to eat seasonal and regional food. If you choose to go to the market regularly, you will spot the seasonal variation in all kinds of vegetables and fruits. When they are in season, they are cheaper also. I guess nutrients are also more available. Remember, green fresh leaves are full of 'living energy', which is good for body. They are easy to digest. You can add some lemon, may be tomato to make juice.
Contributed by Rupa Shah

Leather-free handbags

I recently visited a shop in Santacruz Area of Mumbai. This shop is selling 100% vegetarian hand bags.No animal leather is used in making these bags. They are very stylish! Visit their website at www.espelhofashions.com
I did buy a nice bag for myself.
Contributed by Rupa Shah

Organic Mangoes

This season, I am eating only organic mangoes. I got to taste Kesar, Alphanso, Ratna, Payri, Rajapuri..all these varieties. I believe in biodiversity. Organic mangoes taste very sweet. You feel very satisfied. In fact you will not like to eat any other mango which is fed with some chemical fertilisers or ripened with some chemical.
I ate mangoes as it is or as vegan milk shakes. Mango vegan milk shakes can be made either with cashews milk or almond milk or soy milk or of course coconut milk. You can even try combination of milks.
I also make smoothies with banana, papaya, mangoes and some greens like palak( spinach), tandaljo( amaranthus), mint, coriander leaves etc.
You can order some organic mangoes from Paresh Shah.His contact number is 9987035898.
I also got some dry mango chips from a healing center that is into raw food.
At home we also made many pickles from raw mangoes apart from making a raw mango drink every day!
If you got extra mangoes, just make juice, and freeze it with the seed( lets the colour remain original) to use later or freeze mango pieces to use in ice cream!

Being vegan, you enjoy much more eating all this healthy food.

Contributed by Rupa Shah

21 day Reversing Diabetes Program daily Update From Bangalore.

21 day Reversing Daibetes Program through Low Fat Vegan Diet already started in Bangalore. There are 22 participants. Dr. Nandita Shah and Dr. Nita Dharamsey are conducting the program. Dr. Nandita shah is writting daily report from there. Here is the link to read it on day to day basis.
http://sharan-india.org/news/daily-report-21-day-reversing-diabetes-retreat/
Congratulations to both the doctors for such impressive work!

Fortunately I was raised a vegetarian , but I converted to a vegan diet and lifestyle
once I realised the simple fact that cow's milk is for the calf and not for human consumption.
Also, the cows go through unimaginable horror and the calves are usually seperated from
their mothers at birth. The best part is that cow's milk can be completely substituted
with numerous cruelty-free plant based substitutes like soyamilk, rice milk, coconut milk, almond milk etc
and yeah...before hitting the sack everyday, I feel so much peaceful thinking
that I haven't harmed a cow today ! :)
I strongly believe in this :-
The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more
than black people were made for white, or women created for men. - Alice Walker

Go vegan and end the violence ! :)
========================================================================
Vegan regards
Shashank Dixit
www.kranti.org

KFC 25th April Protest

A team of vegans from Kranti protested against KFC by holding banners and distributing pamphlets that talk about veganism.
Many passerby vegetarians and families came and encouranged us and inquired about the alternatives to milk.
Congratulations!

Make soy milk at home!

Here is the video that I have uploaded on the Utube channel about how to make soy milk at home.It is so easy to make at home!

If you want to see more such recipes, click on this link
Contributed by Rupa Shah

Seminar on Veganism in Navi Mumbai

Shashank from Kranti and his brother Prasoon from DIYA(Divine India Youth Association)
conducted a seminar on veganism where they showed short documentaries about the cruelty
going on behind the industrialized farming of animals like cows and chickens.
The venus was D.Y Patil medical college and it had an attendance of about 120 students.
Many students were so shocked , they couldnt believe that so much cruelty goes on behind just a moment
of sensory gratification while having meat or dairy.
Lots of eeekks and oooh and 'covering the eye' reactions were seen among the students.

Potluck Lunch April 2010

Another very interactive session on 11th April for Mumbai Vegans! Good food and lots of sharing! Great way to connect to other vegans in the city and learn! Here is the video!

Mumbai Vegans at a Protest...

On March 28 , a group of activists from animal rights NGO Kranti , organised a protestagainst cruel meat-eating outside Inorbit Mall at Vashi , Navi Mumbai. A group of 13 volunteers came for the protest and we stood there for about 1 hour. We had a long verbal duel with the mall authorities who wanted us to move , but we stood ground and did not move because we were having a peaceful protest.

Contributed by Shashank Dixit!

Natural Sweets

Sugar free, dairy free sweets. No artificial flavour or colour.

Minimum oil used in these snacks items. They are all roasted.

These items are available at this nice shop in Vile Parle. They do home delivery. They can be contacted on 022 27195075. They do have a website. www.naturalsweet.com Ask them to not to use silver foil in the sweets as you do wan to make sure, you want all vegan sweets. I wrote earlier about them, but no pictures. They also sell nice mukhwas items like Amla, flax seeds coated with lemon juice, methi seeds coated with lemon juice, rose petals in natural thandai podwer etc. The best is all natural.

Mumbai Vegans at the Farmer's Market

Mumbai vegans spotted at the Farmer's Market at Bandra where all the organic fruits, veggies , grains and other food products were on sale. There are some nice eco-friendly products also for sale. Two Mumbai vegans had their different stalls for Vegan food. These stalls were most crowded with people eating very tasty vegan food! Here are the pictures.

Shonaalii Sabherwal has started Macrobiotic Food Tiffin Service. She is a Mumbai Vegan. She can be contacted at shonaalii@macrobioticsindia.com

Marisa Paolillo who is a Mumbai Vegan, has started catering service of vegan food. It is called as Angel Food. She can be contacted on angelfoodmumbai@gmail.com

Chocolate cake...dairy free, and wheat free!!! Enjoy good food....

Diabetes Workshop 22 March, 2010

Last Sunday, we had a fully booked workshop on ' Reversing Diabetes' by Dr. Nandita Shah & Dr. Rupa Shah. The participants enjoyed all the information, especially the oil free cooking videos. The testimonials from the participants were truly inspirational! Here are few pictures, and video clips.We received many emails and phone calls next day from participants confirming how enthusiastic they feel about starting a new way of eating and living!

Vegan Cakes, Cupcakes, Breads, Cookies & More!

All these goodies are available with Mumbai Vegan Ritika Ramesh. Her details are on face book. Click here for more info. She can be contacted on thegreenstove@gmail.com

Best wishes, Ritika.....

Potluck Lunch 14 Feb 2010

It was a valentine day lunch meeting for Mumbai Vegans. Surely, we should have some nice sweets! There was cake, fruit salad, Mung & Chana Daal kheer in coconut & almond milk,and rice kheer to satisfy our sweet tooth! Apart from that there were two new kinds of patties. One was Kand patties and other was Brinjal patties. Both were zero oil recipe...cannot believe it?? No oil and yet very crunchy, tasty! Poha salad was very nice as we were told by Lakshmi that poha were soaked in coconut milk! This time we let each person explain their recipe fully so that other can also learn. This was followed by lunch, screening of the film 'A delicate Balance'. This was followed by inspiring sharing and discussion about vegan diet, health, animal rights etc. Meetings are indeed best way to stay inspired....

Strawberries with cashew cream

I love strawberries.These days, we can buy them cheaper as it is the season. In Mumbai, we get from Mahabaleshwar. I love to eat it with cream. So, I made cream from cashews. Take about 12 cashews ( enough for 12 strawberries). No need to soak them. Just grind them fine, add very little water. You can add raw sugar or dates or any other natural sweetener. Now cut your strawberries and add them to this cashew cream. Guests at my home just love it! And they are so surprised to know that it is non-dairy cream, so tasty! Addictive!

Potluck Lunch Jan 2010

Another Potluck lunch with some new Mumbai Vegans who discovered us through this blog! A lot of variety of food...all vegan and very tasty. The film on Raw food for reversing diabetes was very inspiring to those who are taking steps to reverse their diabetes. No oil cooking demo was just perfect for those who are wishing to reduce oil in their diet.

Vegan shoes

I got this very comfortable pair of shoes as gift from a friend. They are leather-free. They are usually worn by Jain monks while they are walking on the roads. They usually walk bear foot but sometimes they may use this shoes which are free from any animal parts. I love these. You can buy them at Shubham, Ethnicity at R city-Mall, Ghatkopar. Paying attention to all the products that we use for our comfort...making sure that no animals are harmed in the process.

Contributed by Rupa Shah