Thank you, Jack, for the reminder that coconut milk is neither healthy nor good for the environment. The cans one can buy are so easy to use, but I will avoid them and try your alternatives.
Oh Jack this is fantastic. I hadn't found a creamy alternative to coconut, and like you I don't like using it.
I do use gram flour a lot - but not cashew butter. This, then, is the answer! THANK YOU! It'll revolutionise my curries.
And what would you use in sweet cooking (baking) instead of coconut oil, for instance in biscuits or cakes/'cheese'cake where I've relied quite heavily on coconut oil to set?
Thank you for the coconut milk alternative recipes! I will definitely try this. I love coconut milk, but I always feel bad buying it (for different reasons)!
Oh, thank you so much for all of the good and useful information. I am saving this post as a guide for making vegan sauces as well as curries. I am rather ignorant of the foods of other cultures and had never heard of Japanese curries!? Much less some of the others that you mentioned. So much to try here. Thank you!
I adore curry. I cook from scratch and vegetable curries regularly feature in my diet. I’ve never used coconut products for the reasons you mention and because I’m watching my weight but sometimes I long for that creamy consistency. I’ll try your suggestion for using cashew butter, which sounds interesting as I’ve relied on basically using a roux. Thanks for your tips, your posts are always inspiring.
I have to admit that I love curry!! I AM Vegan but I can't say that I'm a strict Vegan. You have sooo many rules!! I don't know how I feel about the title Vegan although I use it because I feel like some Vegan's hate Non-Vegans and some Non-Vegans hate Vegans. I don't get that... Anyway, I simply can't get myself to eat fish and some who are Vegan can. I've tried and I just end up feeling bad. I'm not sure if I already told you but I became Vegan due to my allergies. Still, I began to feel strongly in some areas as well. I like the fact that being Vegan you help to end Climate Change and stand up for animal rights. At the same time, if I didn't have allergies, I'm not 100% sure if I'd be Vegan. I'd probably be Vegetarian though. That's certain! Why did YOU become Vegan? I have a rather odd question for you...what gives Curry it's Curry taste? Anyway, great post. :)
Great inspiration here, Jack. Thanks! It makes me feel like cooking a curry :) By the way, do you buy cashew butter at regular bio stores, or do you have a killer recipe for it? Any advice?
Thanks for this great article, as always, Jack, such lovely alternative ideas for cooking curries! Of course, this is also a minefield of a subject, as someone else wrote in the comments.
Unfortunately, every food we eat, unless we know exactly where it comes from and how it's grown etc, and if it's not local to where we live, will generally have a negative impact on the environment for a number of reasons. I, like you, started eating plant-based for health reasons, many years ago, so I've spent all that time researching the subject thoroughly. For example, soya is generally grown as a mono-culture by mainstream agricultural methods, which is why I personally choose to steer clear of it; it also causes me flare-ups due to the phyto-oestrogens it contains.
So, sadly, soya is no more eco-friendly than coconut products, or even cashew butter. I believe most cashews and other nuts, which are popular with people like us who eat only plants, are mainly grown in large mono-culture plantations, too. Mono-culture growing of crops, especially trees, is generally not going to support biodiversity at all.
We all really need to start supporting farmers who use only regenerative methods of growing food in poly-cultures, which support nature and ecosystems, and not support those employing mono-culture Big-Agro methods of growing food, which just destroy our natural world, and make us sick. Regenerative agriculture is becoming more popular in many places around the world now. So it should, after all - it was how food was grown til Big-Agro came along....
The key thing is to find out where our food comes from and how it is grown, in order to try to mitigate as much damage to biodiversity as possible. And of course, try to eat unadulterated, whole foods whenever we can, which also haven't been negatively altered in factories.
Thank you, Jack, for the reminder that coconut milk is neither healthy nor good for the environment. The cans one can buy are so easy to use, but I will avoid them and try your alternatives.
Oh Jack this is fantastic. I hadn't found a creamy alternative to coconut, and like you I don't like using it.
I do use gram flour a lot - but not cashew butter. This, then, is the answer! THANK YOU! It'll revolutionise my curries.
And what would you use in sweet cooking (baking) instead of coconut oil, for instance in biscuits or cakes/'cheese'cake where I've relied quite heavily on coconut oil to set?
I’m going to settle down and reread this. Thanks for your insights into a minefield of a subject.
Thank you for the coconut milk alternative recipes! I will definitely try this. I love coconut milk, but I always feel bad buying it (for different reasons)!
Oh, thank you so much for all of the good and useful information. I am saving this post as a guide for making vegan sauces as well as curries. I am rather ignorant of the foods of other cultures and had never heard of Japanese curries!? Much less some of the others that you mentioned. So much to try here. Thank you!
I adore curry. I cook from scratch and vegetable curries regularly feature in my diet. I’ve never used coconut products for the reasons you mention and because I’m watching my weight but sometimes I long for that creamy consistency. I’ll try your suggestion for using cashew butter, which sounds interesting as I’ve relied on basically using a roux. Thanks for your tips, your posts are always inspiring.
I have to admit that I love curry!! I AM Vegan but I can't say that I'm a strict Vegan. You have sooo many rules!! I don't know how I feel about the title Vegan although I use it because I feel like some Vegan's hate Non-Vegans and some Non-Vegans hate Vegans. I don't get that... Anyway, I simply can't get myself to eat fish and some who are Vegan can. I've tried and I just end up feeling bad. I'm not sure if I already told you but I became Vegan due to my allergies. Still, I began to feel strongly in some areas as well. I like the fact that being Vegan you help to end Climate Change and stand up for animal rights. At the same time, if I didn't have allergies, I'm not 100% sure if I'd be Vegan. I'd probably be Vegetarian though. That's certain! Why did YOU become Vegan? I have a rather odd question for you...what gives Curry it's Curry taste? Anyway, great post. :)
Great article!
So many great tips in this post, Jack. Thank you. The curry photos all look so tempting, especially that first with tofu.
Great inspiration here, Jack. Thanks! It makes me feel like cooking a curry :) By the way, do you buy cashew butter at regular bio stores, or do you have a killer recipe for it? Any advice?
Thanks for this great article, as always, Jack, such lovely alternative ideas for cooking curries! Of course, this is also a minefield of a subject, as someone else wrote in the comments.
Unfortunately, every food we eat, unless we know exactly where it comes from and how it's grown etc, and if it's not local to where we live, will generally have a negative impact on the environment for a number of reasons. I, like you, started eating plant-based for health reasons, many years ago, so I've spent all that time researching the subject thoroughly. For example, soya is generally grown as a mono-culture by mainstream agricultural methods, which is why I personally choose to steer clear of it; it also causes me flare-ups due to the phyto-oestrogens it contains.
So, sadly, soya is no more eco-friendly than coconut products, or even cashew butter. I believe most cashews and other nuts, which are popular with people like us who eat only plants, are mainly grown in large mono-culture plantations, too. Mono-culture growing of crops, especially trees, is generally not going to support biodiversity at all.
We all really need to start supporting farmers who use only regenerative methods of growing food in poly-cultures, which support nature and ecosystems, and not support those employing mono-culture Big-Agro methods of growing food, which just destroy our natural world, and make us sick. Regenerative agriculture is becoming more popular in many places around the world now. So it should, after all - it was how food was grown til Big-Agro came along....
The key thing is to find out where our food comes from and how it is grown, in order to try to mitigate as much damage to biodiversity as possible. And of course, try to eat unadulterated, whole foods whenever we can, which also haven't been negatively altered in factories.
Thanks for this! I make a lot of curries, and having the additional recipe variations is a big help.