Hello! I'm Vaishali, author and recipe creator at Holy Cow Vegan. I'm passionate about great food with no compromise on flavor!
Growing up in India, I was fascinated by the the alchemy of cooking and the magic my mom and aunts spun in the kitchen with a few simple ingredients. I also loved listening in as they talked about food and shared valuable little nuggets about family recipes and traditions. Food always seemed to be the one thing that brought them together, even when they had their own - very strong - opinions about how it should be made.
When I started cooking in my own kitchen, I grounded myself in those long-cherished traditions even as I did what I love to do best: veer toward the adventurous and exploratory. And I never forgot the most important lesson that I had learned early on: food tastes best when it's made with love.
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 (who also shoots all the food photos on this blog), my beautiful son Jay ❤️(who passed away in 2023), and my fur babies, all rescues -- Leo (dog) and Billy and Kala (cats).
- Holy Cow Vegan was born on November 28, 2007 and was the first Indian vegan recipe blog on the web. I've been posting global and Indian vegan recipes here for nearly 19 years now.
- My favorite foods are savory. And they usually have potatoes in them. French fries and samosas are especially unsafe around me.
- My favorite cuisines are Indian and Mediterranean, but I could also live on Mexican or Ethiopian food like this vegan doro wat and tikil gomen for the rest of my life.
- 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 watching 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.
Why Vegan?
I started to write this food blog in 2007 shortly after going vegan and about four years after starting to eat vegetarian. I've always loved to cook 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 (pictured here with me). Loving her -- and my second adoptee, Opie (pictured in the background), 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.
Lucy passed away in 2012 and Opie in 2016, but they live in my heart forever. Love you, my babies. ❤️
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 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. 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.
My beloved Lily (pictured below), who was rescued from the streets of Puerto Rico, passed away in February this year after nine wonderful years with us. She was the most loving, loyal, adorable baby and I miss her every day. ❤️
My favorite Indian dishes
- My comfort meal right now is chana masala with a fluffy vegan naan dripping with vegan garlic butter.
- My favorite recipe of all-time to cook from the blog would be hard to choose but if I had to, it would be my south Indian chickpea curry. It's a lifesaver on weeknights and it always comes out tasting fabulous. Honorable mention to my easy vegetable curry, which is just as delicious and even easier to make.
- An Indian food I've loved for as long as I can remember is this simple bhindi or okra stir-fry. My mom always made it for me because it was the only vegetable I would eat as a child.