World Vegan Day encourages cruelty-free products, a healthy lifestyle and a better tomorrow. Hence, a plant-based lifestyle is gaining popularity each year as people understand the value of our ecosystem and shift to this lifestyle.

"A vegan lifestyle is a philosophy and way of life that seeks to prohibit the use of animals for food or other products while accepting all other non-animal dietary options," says&nbspJasmine Bharucha, Founder of Katharos Foods. "A vegan diet is said to be beneficial in preventing diseases such as heart disease, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, and lung and kidney disease. It is high in fibre and low in cholesterol because it is primarily plant-based. What else could we want from a healthy diet This World Vegan Day, try something special while taking care of your health. We have curated a special Tea cake recipe with the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) Mumbai during a vegan cook-off competition".

We asked Bharucha to share some vegan recipes with us. Here are tea cakes that you can make at home.

Ingredients

Refined Four &ndash 220 gm

Powdered sugar &ndash 200 gm

Baking Soda &ndash 1 tsp

Salt &ndash 1 ½ tsp

Soy Milk &ndash 400 ml

Vanilla Essence &ndash 1 tsp

Oil &ndash 80 ml

White vinegar &ndash 1 tbsp

Black Pepper Cheese &ndash 100gm

Cornflour &ndash 20 gm

Grain Sugar &ndash 50 gm

Rich topping &ndash 50 gm

Strawberry Syrup &ndash 100 gm

Walnuts &ndash 40 gm

Saffron &ndash A pinch

Agar Agar &ndash 2gm

Chilled oil &ndash For caviar

Jagger &ndash 100 gm

Soy lecithin &ndash 2gm

Liquid Smoke &ndash 1 ¼ tsp

Lemon &ndash 2 Nos. 

Crushed Black Pepper &ndash 5 gm

Method-

For the Cake

• Sift flour in a bowl. Add sugar, baking soda, and salt, and mix. 

• Add soy milk, vanilla, oil, and vinegar and give it a quick whisk until just combined.

• Divide the batter into 2 parts.

• Take another bowl and add powdered sugar, crushed black pepper, and soy milk to the Katharos Black Pepper cheese spread.

• Add the prepared sweet cheese spread to one part of the batter. 

• Grease a loaf tin with oil, put greaseproof paper, and pour the batter part by part. 

• Use a skewer and swirl the batter to create a marble effect.

• Bake for 25 mins at 180 degrees Celsius.

Rich Topping

• Use an electric whisk to create stiff peaks.

• Fit it in the piping bag with a St. Honore nozzle.

Strawberry caviar

• Heat strawberry syrup in a pan, adjust the consistency and add agar.

• Use a syringe to pour droplets of the syrup into chilled oil.

• Set aside.

• Take the caviar out of the oil and rinse it once. Keep aside.

Candied walnuts

• Heat walnuts, granulated sugar, and oil in a pan.

• Heat till the sugar mixture starts melting and the nuts are coated.

• Transfer onto a sheet of parchment paper and separate the nuts.

Vegan Custard

• Prepare a slurry of cornflour and water.

• Heat soy milk in a pan and mix sugar till dissolved.

• Add in cornflour slurry while constantly stirring the milk mixture.

• Cook till the sauce thickens.

Smoked jaggery sauce

• In part, heat jaggery and soy milk till it creates a homogeneous mixture. Adjust the consistency.

• Add in diluted liquid nitrogen and stir. Keep aside.

Saffron foam

• Infuse saffron in soy milk and warm it in a pan.

• Add in soy lecithin and whisk it vigorously to create foam.

Plating

• Cut a circle in the middle of the cake.

• Fill in the process with vegan custard.

• Frost the cake with Rich topping from the sides and top.

• Pour the smoked jaggery sauce on top of the frosted cake, and let it drip from the sides.

• Place the strawberry caviar on top of the frosted cake.

• Decorate the sides of the cake with candied walnuts.

• Finish off with saffron foam on top of the caviar.

Aditi Mammen Gupta, Co-Founder, Origin Nutrition, said, "I personally feel that a vegan diet has become more easily accessible with better vegan ingredients available in the market now as more and more brands are making them available to conscious consumers. A study shows that 65% of the world&rsquos population has a reduced ability to digest lactose. Pea protein is totally non-allergenic. I have also studied that in addition to appropriate training, pea protein & whey protein had the same effect on muscle thickness and strength. Hence I ensure I add alternate plant proteins into my personal diet to ensure clean consumption. I love cooking at home and am a total foodie. Although I ensure I exercise regularly and maintain a clean consumption routine. Even when it comes to nutrition, for a healthy lifestyle for all or for working out lovers like me, I rely on 100% plant-based vegan protein."

&nbspThe&nbsprecipe of the Green Pea Savoury Pancake by Origin Nutrition

Green Pea Savoury Pancake

Serves 20 mini pancakes

(20 mins Prep Time)

Calories &ndash 32 kcal per serving

Ingredients

1/2 cup boiled peas
1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup besan
2 scoops Nutrition Vegan protein 
1/4-1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon finely chopped green chillies
1/4 cup grated carrot
1/4 cup chopped tomatoes
Salt to taste
Oil for greasing

Method
Blend the peas into a paste in a mixer. Put the paste into a bowl and add in the rice flour, besan and Origin Nutrition Vegan Protein. Whisk in the water also till you get a pancake batter consistency. Then stir in the chillies, carrots, tomatoes and salt.
Grease a pan and spread with 1/2 teaspoon oil. Spoon one small ladle full of the batter into the pan and spread slightly. Once cooked, flip onto the other side and cook through. Repeat with the remaining batter to make more mini pancakes. Serve hot with pudina chutney.