Hello! I'm Vaishali, the author and recipe creator at Holy Cow Vegan, where I share tasty Indian and global vegan recipes. My recipes are designed to be alluring enough for the discerning cook but easy enough for a beginner. There are more than 1,000 recipes on this blog and I hope everyone--vegan, vegetarian or omnivore--will find something here that they will love.
Many of these recipes have featured in publications around the world but more importantly, they have been tried, tasted and loved by thousands of home cooks looking to add more plant-based food to their diets.
Here are a few more fast facts about Holy Cow Vegan and me:
- I live in Silver Spring, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C.
- I was born in Bombay (or Mumbai), India's busiest megalopolis and a salad bowl of Indian culture. Growing up in Bombay meant I had access to the many diverse cuisines that make up "Indian cuisine."
- My family is my husband Desi (also the photographer for the blog), my son Jay, and my four divine fur babies, all rescues -- Lily and Leo (dogs) and Billy and Kala (cats).
- Holy Cow Vegan was born on November 28, 2007. At the time it was the first vegan recipe blog on the web. I've been posting global and Indian vegan recipes here for more than 17 years now.
- My favorite foods are savory. And they usually have potatoes in them. French fries and samosas are especially unsafe around me.
- The foods I cook are healthy, easy and delicious and always free of animal products. Most of the recipes on this blog are kid- and adult-friendly.
- In my former life I worked as a political journalist navigating political shenanigans in Congress and the Maryland statehouse, and I've worked as a reporter in three countries--India, the United Kingdom and the United States.
- My idea of bliss is spending time with my family or relaxing with a good book or the New York Times crossword. When I cook I listen to old Hindi songs (especially by Mohammad Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar). I also love bingeing on YouTube videos about simple living and minimalism -- while I am not there yet, I hope to be some day.
- My pet peeve is when people forget the first "r" in turmeric. It's not tumeric, guys, and the first four letters are pronounced just like "term" 😉 And oh, while we're at it, I have one more --it's not a chai tea, it's not a chai latte: a chai is simply a chai. Chai means "tea" in Hindi, and in India, a chai is always made with milk. Calling it a chai tea or a chai latte is like calling an apple pie "an apple pie pastry made with apples". See? Redundant. And I don't care if Starbucks thinks "chai tea" or "chai latte" are right--they aren't.
My Story
I started to write this food blog in 2007 shortly after becoming a vegan and about four years after going vegetarian. I've loved the alchemy of cooking for as long as I can remember, and I enjoyed eating meat as much as I enjoyed using it in the meals I made for myself and my family.
That changed when Desi and I adopted our great old dog Lucy (scroll down for her picture). Loving her -- and my second adoptee, Opie, who followed soon after -- as much as I did set me thinking about the complex intelligence of animals. The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to participate in the cruelty of meat production where billions of sentient animals just as sweet and wonderful as my dogs and cats are killed every year. In 2005 I became a vegetarian and two years later I had transitioned to a fully vegan life.
Because of how much I loved food, I challenged myself to create recipes that would taste as good as anything I'd ever cooked or eaten in my past life. Because I loved to write, I thought it would be a great idea to start a food blog to share these recipes with others who were looking for ways to either cut out or cut down on meat.
Today, Holy Cow Vegan reaches millions of readers with original, fresh and healthy recipes that I cook up in my kitchen.
What you'll find on Holy Cow Vegan
- Easy, quick, healthy and hassle-free plant-based recipes, many Indian. This is food we eat in our home every day, food you can cook whether you are a novice or an expert, and food you will love whether you are an omnivore or a vegan or somewhere in between. All recipes use clean, wholesome, natural ingredients, most of which are already in your pantry.
- Recipes for special diets. More than half the recipes on this blog are gluten-free and vegan (including lots of gluten-free vegan desserts!). You will also find many recipes suited to a low-carb and keto vegan diet.
- Kid-friendly recipes. As a mom, I focus on creating recipes that are kid-friendly as well as adult-friendly!
- Global recipes. We love to travel, so I often post recipes from around the world, including Mexican, Italian, Irish, African and Mediterranean. You can also browse tons of vegan Indian recipes, from traditional and restaurant favorites like chana masala and vegan butter chicken to more modern dishes with my own spin, like this tasty vegetable curry and chickpea curry.
- Vegan baked goods. I love to bake, so you'll find lots of recipes for homemade vegan cakes, vegan cookies, vegan pies and vegan breads. I've been baking with sourdough and nurturing a sourdough starter long before it became trendy to do so.
My fur family
Desi and I have rescued nearly a dozen dogs and cats since 2002. Each of our fur kids has filled our life with beautiful memories that we hold close to our hearts. Here is our current group of four troublemakers:
Leo was rescued from a dog meat farm in Korea by Humane Society International. He flew halfway around the world to find a home with us. Lily was a street dog rescued from Puerto Rico by the Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation. Billy, our adorable tuxedo cat, was found roaming the streets of Virginia and he came to us courtesy PETA. Kala Jamoon, our resident black cat, simply wandered off the streets to settle into our hearts and home.
Frequently asked questions
I add new recipes at least twice every week. You can sign up here to get notified about new recipes by email (it's free!). Or you can follow Holy Cow Vegan on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.
The blog's name calls out the dichotomy in the Indian diet and religious belief system. Cows are worshipped as holy but hundreds of thousands of cows are also tortured in factory farms to supply India's love for milk and milk products. I try to show, through this blog, that Indian food can be just as delicious without the dairy.
Yes! Indian food might appear difficult but there are many recipes that are quite easy and can easily be made by someone new to Indian cooking, like this basic but delicious dal or this easy vegetable curry. You will need a few spices that can easily be found at Indian grocery stores or through online retailers, including Amazon.
You can leave a comment on the recipe (it's the quickest way to get a response and I read and appreciate every comment). Or you can email me at MyVeganWorld@gmail.com. If you'd like to share a photo of the recipe please post it on Instagram and tag me @HolyCowVegan.
Useful links
Check out some of my top recipes
She passed away in 2012, but lives in my heart forever. Thank you, Lucy. I love you.
Holy Cow! has featured in:
Pallavi
Hi Vaishali,
I can’t tell you how happy I was to find a vegan gulab jamun recipe! 😊I googled thinking there will be someone who must have tried a vegan version of it. So here I am! I’m not a vegan yet but I’m gradually trying to cut down on dairy and heal my body. Totally agree with your views and wish I can someday become vegan.
I have a vegan friend who will love your recipes as well. She will be glad to find so many good recipes!
Will surely try the gulab jamun recipe and give an update.
Thank you!!
Vaishali
Hi Pallavi, good luck on your vegan journey. 🙂 And thanks for the kind words. Let me know if you try the gulab jamun--one of my favorites.
malyan
Lovely blog nice recipes. However, we cannot promote vegan diet in a country like India where half of its people live in poverty. We eat what we can, no substitutes but straight from the earth, whatever is available to us. However, its important that those who can afford vegan food ( and these lovely adjusted recipes which you have put together with so much passion), should continue to do so without being strident about it. Thank you, Malyan
Vaishali
Hi Malyan, thanks for the message. I grew up in India, and I take exception to the comment that a vegan diet is difficult for anyone to follow, at any income level. Meat, eggs and milk are not cheap--they are far more expensive than grain, legumes and vegetables are in India. Growing up, even in my middle class family, we ate meat just once a week and it was a special treat. Veganism is not an alien concept to India, although it may not have been called by that name. Most lower income or middle class Indians who can't afford lots of milk and butter and ghee and meat have been eating it for centuries, at least most of the time. Dal, rice, roti and sabzi are the foundation of the Indian diet and they are all essentially vegan.
Also, if animal products like meat, milk and eggs are easier to afford in India today it is because of factory farming, which has spread rapidly in India. Animals who are trapped in these large-scale facilities suffer terribly all their lives and are slaughtered when they are often just weeks old, especially chickens. They are never treated like sentient animals who feel pain and suffering, which they absolutely do.
While I can imagine that someone who begs for their food might not have a choice in what they eat, most people who cook their own food anywhere in the world can absolutely make the right choices, and it would cost them less to eat vegan.
Joost
Your site has THE BEST name.
Vaishali
Thanks Joost! 🙂
Brenda Finley
I'am not a full blooming Vegan but are seriously thinking of joining your world. Your recipes look mighty delicious & beautifully presented. I would love to venture into your Blog.
Thanks you for all your creative meals.
Vaishali
Thanks, Brenda! I hope you enjoy everything you try.
Lisa
Your recipes are wonderful! I would love to see a cookbook 🙂
Vaishali
Thanks, Lisa! ❤️
Alice F Humphrey
Hi again do you have a good recipe for a vegan carob brownie, that's not googy?
Judi
Many thanks for your recipes! Do you have a recommendation for a small spice grinder?
Vaishali
Hi Judi, I used to have a Braun coffee grinder that I loved for grinding spices. Now I just use my Vitamix which has a blending bowl attachment for smaller spice quantities.
Catherine
Hi,
A few years ago, you had a recipe for avocado and Swiss chard quesadillas with a tomato chutney that was out of this world. I can’t find the recipe anymore. Any chance you can repost?
Vaishali
Hi Catherine, I deleted it, as I sometimes do with very old recipes, as I thought no one was really using it anymore. I see now I was wrong. 🙂 Anyway, here's the recipe. Hope that helps.
Savory Avocado and Herb Tortillas
Ingredients:
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour (this is important if you want a flaky, crispy tortilla. An all-wheat tortilla will be tasty but will be soft and not quesadilla-like)
1 ripe avocado, peeled, pit removed, then passed through a potato ricer or mashed smooth.
10 mint leaves
1 jalapeno or other fairly hot green pepper
Water for kneading
Salt to taste
Place the flours and salt in a bowl.
In a blender, process the avocado, mint and jalapeno until you have a fairly fine paste. Use water if needed to keep the blender blades running.
Make a well in the flour and pour in the avocado puree. Knead it in with your fingers. Add more water if needed to get a smooth dough. Place in an airtight box and set aside at least half an hour. (Instructions on how to roll the quesadillas follow)
Tomato Chutney with Chipotle
Chipotle is a very Mexican flavor, and here I used it to give an Indian-style tomato chutney a uniquely Mexican avatar.
Ingredients:
6 medium tomatoes, perfectly ripe
1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, with 1 tsp of the liquid. Chop the chili really fine. (If you are sensitive to too much heat, cut this down by half or less)
1 small onion, minced
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp garlic powder or adobo seasoning
Coriander for garnish
Oil to spray
Salt to taste
Spray a skillet with oil. Add the onions and the sugar and saute until they start to soften and brown spots appear.
Add the tomatoes and the chipotle chili and sauce. Stir well and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the juice from the tomatoes has evaporated. You don’t want a soggy quesadilla, so it is important there is no visible liquid in your chutney.
Turn off the heat and add the chopped cilantro.
Rainbow Chard with Red Peppers
Ingredients:
1 bunch rainbow or green Swiss chard (about 6 large leaves), washed thoroughly and then chopped into thin strips.
1 large red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 tbsp sesame seeds
3 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
Oil to spray
Spray a skillet with oil. Add the sesame seeds and stir. When they turn a shade darker, add the garlic and toss together for a few seconds.
Add the swiss chard and stir until it begins to reduce.
Add the red bell peppers. Cook, stirring frequently, until the peppers are tender enough but are still bright red and have a bite to them.
Add salt to taste.
To assemble the quesadilla:
Heat a nonstick or cast-iron griddle and spray with some oil.
Divide the avocado tortilla dough into 10 equal pieces and shape each into a smooth ball.
Using a rolling pin, roll out each ball into a tortilla, about 7 inches in diameter.
Place the tortilla on the hot skillet. When bubbles appear, turn over and cook until golden-brown spots appear on the underside.
Flip over again. Place some chard and then some chutney just off the center. Top with some vegan cheese, like vegan mozzarella, if you like.
Flip one half of the quesadilla over the top of the filling and press down with your spatula. Take off the griddle after about 30 seconds.
Cut the quesadilla into halves, or serve as is rightaway.
Geno
Hello Vaishali,
I just found your website and have earmarked several recipes to try. I have been a vegan for several years, and had a lot of recipes I loved. However, I recently started to cut out onions, garlic, and mushrooms. I thought I was a decent cook, but am now struggling to make anything palatable. I was wondering if maybe if you are familiar with substitutes for onion and garlic (like asfoedeta) if you could show these kinds of substitutes in your recipes.
Thank you so much for all your recipes.
Vaishali
Hi Geno, that's an interesting challenge--let me see how far I can address it in my upcoming recipes. 🙂 Asafetida is a nice flavor for umami, and works especially well in meat dishes but I am not sure it would always work as a garlic and onion substitute. Putting my mind to it--stay tuned!
Mara
Hello Vaishali,
I recently started receiving your recipes and have tried a few. I am having success with them. Most recently I tried the Whole Masoor Dahl and found it dry. You recommended using 1 cup of Brown Lentils. Is that dry or cooked. I used dry and then cooked it and as you know, you get much more. Please provide me with some guidance. Thank you,
Vaishali
Hi Mara,so happy you've enjoyed the recipes. I answered your question on the whole masoor dal question on that very post yesterday, but happy to repeat what I said here: you need 1 cup dry lentils which you will cook first, per the instructions. When you add the cooked lentils to the pot with the other ingredients add a cup of water or vegetable stock. If it's still too dry for your liking you can just add more water or stock and thin it out to your taste (step 5). Hope that helps! 🙂
Pia
Hello Vaishali
Thank you so much for your blog & recipes. I come back to them often, because they are really foolproof.
Do you have a cookbook in the pipeline?
Just wondering
Pia
Vaishali
Hi Pia, thanks for the kind words! I don't have a cookbook because I've never had time for one, but I'm soon making a move to full-time blogging and maybe then? 🙂 Stay tuned.
Jennifer Weiberg
Hello Vaishali,
I am so grateful I found your website. My Husband and I started the plant based diet this year with our two young kids (but old enough to know something is missing). They have liked every recipe I have tried from this site. Today I made the Vegan Dirty Rice dish and they both ate it up. I was wondering if you have a cookbook out?
Thank you for your genius site!
Jennifer
Sumi
Hi Vaishali,
My husband is trying the banana cake. Let’s see how it comes. He used the plastic cup measure which comes in the basmati rice.
I wonder how the consistency will be. This recipe sounds very healthy not a lot of sugar.
Good luck with the blog. I am going to Send this to my college going daughter who is a gluten free fanatic.
Vaishali
Hi Sumi, hope you and your daughter loved the cake! ❤️
Susan Wachman
I"m new at glutten free baking and would like to knoe if I plan on the gellette for the next day can i make the dough a day hard of time and just refrigerate until I'm ready to use it
Marlene
Hello Vaishali, I followed a link, to another and accidentally found your article/recipe for gluten free sourdough starter. The recipe is now on my to-do list this week, but what prompted me was your disclosure that you are dealing with hypothyroidism. My endo has suggested that I go GF to see if my situation improves.
Can you share how long you have been GF, and if you believe that this dietary change has helped you. I am hoping to feel better over time (its only been 2 months without gluten now) and it would be encouraging to hear from someone on this journey. Thank you for being out there , be well!
Vaishali
Hi Marlene, I am not exclusively GF. I do eat gluten on and off simply because with a busy schedule I have been unable to go entirely gf, so unfortunately I can't offer very good advice on this. I would say however that when I am gf for a stretch it does seem to help improve my weight loss goals and my mood.
I am sorry I can't be of more help. I wish you well on your gluten-free journey.
Kathleen
I'm so happy to have discovered this blog! You and I seem to be mirror images of one another: I'm American, but moved to New Delhi in 1995 when my daughter was five weeks old and I was still recovering from a c-section (very long story). I ended up back in the US two years later, but Indian food was and remains my own comfort food. Also: thanks for posting your pics of the Rally to Restore Sanity -- I was there, like you, unable to get anywhere near the stage ... but the audience was actually the show!
Vaishali
Hi Kathleen, so lovely to "meet" you! And congratulations on surviving the madness of Delhi. 🙂 You brought back some great memories of the rally to restore sanity. How far we have come since then.
Sharon
HI Vaishali, I came across your recipes as I have been transitioning to a whole food plant based diet. I have gone back and forth over the years between vegetarian diets, and regular diet (meat eater), but sometimes found it hard to keep up because it seems harder to create "complete meals". (I grew up in P.R. so the fact that you have a dog from there warms my heart. I had 2 doggies myself, and I love animals. Perhaps I'll share more in an email more about my own journey). Following a vegan diet has been easier than I thought, but of course it's more time consuming as I make everything at home now. I am excited about that but I too work FT and sometimes feel overwhelmed. I have made both the Vegan Gingerbread cake. I loved it but mine came out a bit too soft, perhaps more flour next time. Today I made the Vegan pancakes and I LOVE THEM!!, yay. The are moist which is key. I have made other ones but they come out to dry. Thank you for sharing your talent. I love food, and nutrition; and currently I am trying to figure out how and where I can share this with other enthusiasts. I am in the healthcare field, and I believe good nutrition is super important for good health. Thank you
P.S. I love Indian food, since I am from P.R. I am used to spicy foods and I love it.
Vaishali
Hi Sharon, what a lovely message--thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on transitioning to a vegan diet and your doggies. My Puerto Rico rescue, Lily, is the love of my life. ❤️ I am happy to hear you've loved the recipes too, and happy we share our love for good nutrition. Keep rocking!
Rags
Love your recipes and philosophy on sentient beings.
Vaishali
Thanks, Rags. 🙂 ❤️