Flavorful Vegan Buddha Bowl

This Buddha bowl is colourful with distinct flavours. I have used 5 dishes and a delicious peanut dressing to assemble this beautiful bowl. Preparation time is less (provided you have the cooked Chickpeas and the cooked Rice ready)and so is the cooking time.

Table of contents

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For the salad, I used Purple Cabbage and Apples. Lemon juice on top gives a pleasant and unique flavour to this salad.

Nuggets made with fenugreek leaves are baked. Traditionally, this is an Indian snack called Muthia which is usually steamed or fried. I made this with a slight variation and opted to bake as I like them slightly crisper for this particular bowl. Steamed ones are equally delicious.

For the grains, I once again used Red rice. It is considered to be the most nutritious among all the varieties of rice. It is packed with antioxidants and has a high fibre content. Adding some tomatoes and spices make it delicious and perfect for this bowl.

To give a little more colour and flavour, some sauteed Broccoli would be perfect.

For the protein, I thought fried Chickpeas would be ideal.

Having all these dishes ready, I definitely wanted a sauce that would go well with the bowl. My all-time favourite sauce that tastes good with anything is definitely the Balinese-style Peanut Sauce. During my stay in Bali, almost every restaurant served this peanut sauce with most of the dishes on their menu like Tofu, Tempeh, Fried Rice, Corn fritters etc. It tasted amazingly lovely with everything. I discussed with a local there about the ingredients that go into the sauce. I have changed some ingredients and adjusted them according to the availability in the stores here. The sauce turned out to be the best.  I would call it a spicy and tangy sauce.

Here is the recipe for this variation of Buddha Bowl:

PURPLE CABBAGE APPLE SALAD

Ingredients

Purple Cabbage- 2 cups chopped
Apple- 1
Oil-1 tsp
Salt to taste
Black Pepper- 1 tsp
Lemon juice- 1 tbsp.

Method

  1. Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped cabbage and apple pieces.
  2. Stirring continuously, add salt to taste and saute for 2 mins.
  3. Add Black pepper powder and turn off the heat.
  4. Mix well and add lemon juice.

TOMATO RICE

Ingredients

Tomatoes- 4
Cooked Red Rice- 2 cups
Coconut oil- 2 tbsp.
Ginger- 2 tsp
Green chilli- 1 medium
Salt to taste

Method

  1. Chop ginger and green chilli into fine pieces.
  2. Tomatoes are to be chopped into thin slices.
  3. Heat coconut oil( or any other vegetable oil) and add ginger, green chillies, tomatoes and salt to taste. Cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes.
  4. Mix in the cooked rice.

PEANUT SAUCE

Ingredients:

Raw Unsalted Peanuts- 1 cup
Green chilli- 1 tsp
Ginger- 1 tsp.
Coconut oil- 2 tbsp.
Lemon Zest- 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Coconut milk- 1 cup
Brown Sugar- 2 tbsp

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a pan on medium flame.
  2. Add the chopped ginger, green chillies, salt and the raw peanuts.
  3. Fry for 5 minutes on medium flame until the peanuts look roasted and slightly brown.
  4. Allow the mixture to cool.
  5. Using a blender, grind it to a paste without adding water.
  6. In a pan, add the peanut paste, brown sugar( or palm sugar) and 1/2 cup coconut milk.
  7. Add lemon zest and mix until well combined.
  8. Cook on low flame for 5 minutes stirring continuously to avoid any lumps getting formed.
  9. After 5 minutes, add the remaining coconut milk and cook for about 2 minutes until you get the desired consistency.

Note:

  • The sauce tends to get slightly thicker when you refrigerate. Add some water to get the required consistency.
  • Red chilli flakes can be used for extra spiciness.

SAUTEED BROCCOLI

Broccoli florets- 1 cup
Salt to taste
Oil-2 tsp

Method

  1. Wash and clean the Broccoli florets.
  2. In a pan, heat the oil and add the broccoli florets.
  3. Saute for about 3 minutes and sprinkle some salt.

BAKED FENUGREEK(METHI) NUGGETS

Ingredients:

Fenugreek(Methi) leaves- 2 cups washed and chopped
Chickpea flour( Besan)- 3/4 cup
Wheat flour- 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Cumin powder- 1 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Oil- 2 tsp
Lemon juice- 1 tbsp.

Method

  1. Wash the leaves well.
  2. Drain the water and chop the leaves finely.
  3. In a bowl, add the chopped fenugreek leaves and the remaining spices.
  4. Oil your hand and mix well to make a dough( you should be able to make smalls without getting too sticky)
  5. Make 8 nuggets out of the dough and bake it in the oven at 200 degrees Celcius for 10 minutes.

Note:

If the dough gets too sticky, add some more flour.

FRIED CHICKPEAS

Ingredients:

Cooked Chickpeas- 1 cup

Oil- 1 tsp
Red chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Coriander powder-1 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp.

Method

  1. Heat oil in a pan and add the cooked chickpeas and the remaining ingredients
  2. Fry for 5 minutes on medium heat.

Finally, in a large deep plate or a bowl, arrange all the dishes. Whichever way you arrange it, it would definitely look presentable and of course delicious too.

Number of Servings- 4