Dining with the Deities. Gokul's on Page. Vegan Indian Eats in St. Louis.

Ganesh overlooks the buffet.
Gokul's on Page is our favorite Indian joint in town.  And both locations have "Vegan Night" every single Monday Now!!!!  Guess the "every other Monday" was so popular that they expanded it! Vegans Rule!! Gokul's Website.

Delmar [KOSHER]

6101 Delmar Blvd

St. Louis, MO 63112

314-721-1888
My Post on Delmar Location "BlissFul Vegan BollyWood Eats"

Page Avenue (this post is about the PAGE location!)

10633/B Page Avenue

St. Louis, MO 63132

314-428-8888

They have buffet all the time.......which is a major turn-off to some, but heaven to others.  Since they generally have a lot of vegan choices any day of the week, we always choose buffet.  But there are lots that go & order off the menu because Gokul's offers up some mean "chaat" (savory Indian Snacks) items & other great Indian eats.  

Hanuman.

On Vegan night, everything is vegan.  Meaning all the "milk" dishes are made with either coconut or soymilk.  The Korma is wonderful & love it when there are huge pieces of sweet potato.  This is part of the "Snacky Snack" bar, which I don't frequent.  Lots of Papadums (my fave, but usually has some wheat & not free from a fair amount of oil), fruit salad (which can be hit or miss depending on if the fruit is ripe), onions (which I have learned to adore raw, on almost any Indian dish), Rice Puddings, and more.  Lots of "Crunchy Crunch" stuff.  Fried flour.  Delicious I am sure, but think, Indian Potato Chips or Indian Chex Mix, kind of.  I think it's addictive because it seems like a fair amount of people spend more time at the "Snacky Chaat" bar than the actual "Bean" bar.  

Chutneys (mint & tamarind) and more snacky snacks-fried flour!

Potato Palace.  My hubby loves all things potatoes and Indian Cuisine does it right.  And Cauliflower (Gobi).  

This night they had a "Veg Manchurian".  Sometimes they infuse a bit of Indo-China in their food.  And the dishes vary.  They usually have a Sambar, potato dish, Chana Masala,  two types of "dals", the naan, etc...but often the 2 dishes on the left (mains) will change.  Sometimes all zucchini based, or sweet potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, basically whatever was in season or on sale. Oh, and often Saturdays have Dosas.  The most delightful Rice & Lentil Crepe, nice and thin, with a spicy potato filling.  I fight for these.  If the Dosa spot is empty, we simply have to wait until a few more arrive, and then it's a mad rush between the true Dosa Lovers, and this Dosa Dame usually gets at least part of her fix.......Anupy's New "Vegan Indian" book had better include a few dosas, because I truly go through withdrawl.  They are "my chaat". Also Love the eggplant dishes, but eggplant kind of absorbs the oil bigtime and I personally am just not that big of a fan of oil.

I am a big fan of the deities however.

This is where my hubby and dad are just bad.  They get those pakoras (breaded & fried veggies that are amazingly spiced) and then they go and get more pakoras.  And Fried Rice instead no rice or just the plain rice.  Very bad.......

More fried yumminess.  I never know what is inside any of the fried stuff, plus that varies as well.  Hubby usually has some of all of it.  Since we never have fried or breaded anything, he just can't resist any crispy type of Indian spiced type of anything. I think the legume in the front is a pigeon pea, but not sure. It's another "staple". 

Love how they have "Farina".  And Naan.  Usually Naan at Indian joints is NOT vegan.  And same with this one.  Unless you go on "Vegan Night", their Naan is only vegetarian.  However, no matter when you go, they will offer you (if they know you are vegan) some Vegan Naan.  Just let them know!

Their Channa Masala tends to be pretty good.  Always different, but generally quite yummy.  Sometimes very rich in ginger, other times high in the chili department.  A big fan.  Channa Masala is kind the of the "steak & potatoes" of an Indian place to me.  It's the standard thing they have (in addition to dal) in pretty  much every Indian restaurant in the States.  Rajma on the other hand, not so much.  I adore Rajma.  Rajma is "kidney bean".  And the dish Rajma is an incredible, and for lack of a better way to describe it, "Indian Chili".  I guess "Chili" because American Chili uses Kidney beans and can be heavily spiced.  Anupy's book (The Indian Slow Cooker) has 2 great Rajma recipes and my fave of all time is "Dad's Rajma".  Gokul Rajma is plenty good too.  And also not always the typical buffet dish everywhere.  Gokul's also frequently has Dal Makhani-the black lentil dish, which is divine.

Unlike the Delmar location, this place doesn't get too insanely busy.  We went several times to their Loop location, but it just wasn't as low key as the Page location.  And the servers are just lovely!

Real Plates & Silverware.  A decade ago they were all about styrofoam, when they were more "chaat" and less "dinner".  I loathed the styrofoam!  But that era is over and Gokul's has real everything-simple, but it is real!  You can also usually get fresh coconut or vegan mano lassi (just tell them to make it with soy).

This location is also just "more Indian".  Decked out with deities, they have Indian music playing, Indian circulars & they celebrate Indian Holidays.  The Loop location is wonderful, but the last time we went it had CNN & no deities and no Indian music.  Maybe this has changed.  It was also packed (the Loop location), so packed that the buffet was running out of food.  The Page location is so much lower key, and even if it's packed, the vibe is just more relaxed.  They both have great food........the Page location is just much more relaxing, at least to us.  And it's next to SEEMA, an Indian Grocery, which you will need to go to as soon as you have Anupy Singla's book.

The outside doesn't do it justice!!  But the inside gives a different "vibe" than the outside suggests.  This place is so easy to "pass", even if you are looking for it!! It is next to one of those "check cashing" or something like this-places and there are no "big" signs right at the road.  So pay attention when driving!

And on the www.gatewaypets.com front:

Every rescue is different, but this is kind of standard.  They often involve Pj on her belly, crawling under something.  Often the homes are not actually occupied and standing and GPG was lucky enough that the owner of the house was so kind to allow GPG on the property and he even helped with Daiya's rescue.  All rescues are in East St. Louis (or Washington Park, Illinois).  Pj had just heard about Daiya cheeze because she was talking about foods her mum could eat.  Her mum is dealing with some heart issues so was letting her know that lots of peeps like Daiya and that it is cholesterol & dairy free.  She wanted me to spell it so she could look for it.  And a few days later, it was the first thing that popped into her head when Daiya had to have a name upon arrival to the vet!  So a dog named after vegan cheeze.  Daiya is a sweetheart and is still recovering, but will be available for adoption in a couple of months.

"The Indian Slow Cooker" book by Anupy Singla

Seriously, A Masterpiece!!

Vegans, don't overlook this book just because it's in the "Crockpot" or "Indian Section".  This is the Holy Grail of Vegan Indian............
The Indian Slow Cooker: 50 Healthy, Easy, Authentic Recipes

Yesterday we went to our favorite Indian place in town, Gokul's. We would probably go there more, but they are a little far from us.  Apparently a location in the loop is opening very soon.  Gokul's is all vegetarian and they have vegan night the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month. So the kormas are made with coconut milk, the rice pudding with soy milk, and the paneer with tofu. While we love vegan night, I have developed a certain affinity for dosas. And these are served in the daytime on weekends. The super-chat bar and dosas command a dollar or two extra for the buffet. I usually have to compete against some Indian man to ensure I get a few, but it's worth it! Its harder for them to keep the dosa tray full since they have to be individually made. They aren't the huge, main entree type of dosas but more of a small serving dosa. There is always one Indian man that is finished eating everything else on the buffet (not the same one each time), and me, who has already downed 2 pounds of beans ( I don't eat white rice so I binge on the dals and chana masala) who are anxiously awaiting a freshly made batch of dosas. Well, yesterday I didn't have to completely gorge myself because Indian food is no longer a scarcity in our home since I discovered "The Indian Slow Cooker",  a modern day miracle,  by Anupy Singla.  While I haven't been making dosas, I have been making just about everything else that I normally eat on the "Vegan Mondays".  After lunch we went to stock up on ingredients at the Indian grocery next door called "Seema" Enterprises".

"Seema" Indian Grocery next to Gokul's
Page Ave., St. Louis, MO.

Well this gal Anupy Singla has spent a LOT of time figuring out how to make traditional Indian dishes in the slow cooker. What is great about the slow cooker, in comparison to the pressure cooker, is that the beans will hold their form a lot better. Apparently the crock pot emulates how traditional Indian food would be cooked, by simmering on a flame for hours while needing consistent attention. We had received a slow cooker a few years back from my husband's mom and simply never opened the box. It wasn't really something I identified with since I was using the pressure cooker nearly every day to cook dried beans for the dogs and the husband. But then I needed to order a part for my the lid, and I decided to drag the slow cooker up from the basement. Problem was that everything on the Internet seemed to be focused on super American food, which really turned me off. I am imagining 1950's housewife cuisine and as a whole foods, raging vegan kind of gal who voted for Dennis Kucinich, I was just not identifying with pot roasts and carnivorous roasts at all. I don't even remember how it happened, but I just stumbled on this book and immediately ordered it, from Amazon. Apparently the wait time on Amazon was so great since they had run out of copies, that I went to the Anupy Singla's blog site and ordered one from her, signed! Indian food, slow cooker, that was something with which I could identify.  

So many to choose from!

Papads and MORE legumes at Seema.

At Seema, we loaded up on the spices we didn't already have such as black cardamom, amla (dried Indian gooseberries) and fresh curry leaves. They don't carry fresh curry leaves at Jay's International, which is a bummer because I don't think there is place right in the city that sells them. They were in little plastic bags and were unmarked. So unless you are familiar with what curry leaves look like, you might need to ask to ensure that you aren't picking up some other fresh leaves. At Seema they were in the small refrigerator across from the produce and cost 99 cents a small bag. It took me a bit to figure out "amla" because I didn't know where it would be located. She calls for unsalted, but I could only find 2 varieties dried (we bought some fresh frozen ones). One had amla and salt and the other had amla, sugar and other nasties. So I opted for the one with salt. The man working there seemed to think I wouldn't use this type to cook but that people eat them after meals. At this point I just went with my gut and trusted Anupy's "dried amla" instruction and thought maybe the man working at the counter didn't actually cook? The other questionable item was the "nigella" seeds. Well, he didn't know what those were either, but I actually took the book inside with me and found the other name "kolanji" and then it was apparent to him what I wanted. But those things were just minor learning curves.

Beans......

Some boxed spices, premixed, such as "Chana Masala".
CAREFUL! of which ingredient salt is listed as.  Many have salt as the second ingredient.

Things I didn't already have included the black cardamom, green cardamom pods, curry leaves, amla, black salt, black mustard seeds, yellow mustard seeds, parsley seeds,  white poppy seeds, tamarind paste and the whole dried red chilies (I chose an Indian variety).  Other "basics" are garam masala, cumin, red chili, and tumeric (haldi).  I buy whatever I can organic at Mountain Rose Herbs.  They do carry garam masala, cardamoms, mustard seeds, tumeric, cumin, etc.....I will try to make a list of all the Indian spices you can buy from them.  They are great because they are very inexpensive and nearly everything they carry is organic and fair trade.  A little company in Oregon that carries spices, soaps, green and black teas, powdered seaweeds, tea supplies and essential oils.  

The elusive "Kallonji", a.k.a. "Nigella" seeds.

  

                                                      

More Chanas!

I am also fortunate enough to have parents that are part of a food coop. So I had them order me some flax seeds in bulk and about 25 pounds of organic brown basmati rice, grown in the states. The price was just barely over $1.00 a pound. And that prompted me to finally replace our rice cooker since the lid had broken. I ended up getting the Miracle ( same brand as our manual wheat grass juicer) which has a stainless steel interior and also a stainless steaming basket. It is a simple cooker, but that's what I wanted. I didn't want non-stick anything. Just basic and no toxins.  It has been GREAT! And I figured out good rice ratios. So I am now putting 3 cups brown basmati to 4.5 cups of water and that seems perfect. I have been really happy with it so far!

My new "Miracle" Rice Cooker.
Stainless Steel interior and veggie basket.
No teflon or non-stick finish for me, Thank you.

Some new spices......

The beans, lentils, legumes, etc......are also a cinch to find. I bought all the ones I could from Whole Foods as I could get them organic. So the organic ones would be whole green mung, black eyed peas, whole white chickpeas, the small red lentils, and red kidney beans. I don't think any of them are more than 2.00 a pound. The other beans are available at international store or online. They are very inexpensive, especially if you buy in bulk. The beans there might include, black lentils (matpe beans, not the lentils that look black at Whole Foods), split black lentils (urad dal), kala chana ( black chickpeas which are smaller than white chickpeas and never get as soft but packed with protein), and chana dal.  The really cool thing is that she always uses dried beans, UNSOAKED.  Yep.  This is awesome because dried beans are so cheap AND they don't have the BPA's that canned beans do.  Eden brand is the only one I am aware of that carried BPA free cans, and those are about 1.99 a can.  I buy those if I must, but it actually states to use the dried types for the slow cooker.  That way they absorb the water and you can make food for your entire family for a couple of bucks, if that.  The beans at the international places cost far less than 2.00 a pound and if you buy them in bulk it is even less.  We are talking about eating some of the healthiest food available on the cheap.  Not only healthy, but delicious.  And if you eat like this on a regular basis, it is my opinion that you may be able to reduce the risk for America's greatest killers like diabetes and heart disease.  Low fat, lots of fiber, and if you do them vegan style, ZERO cholesterol.  Fiber fills you up so it is hard to get obese eating beans.  Trust me, I have tried.  I have a major bean addiction and that is the thing I crave whenever I am doing "raw foods".  Beans.  I crave beans and then I eat so many of them that I think I may burst!  My point is that it takes a lot of beans to create the same caloric load that say, donuts would, and they make it difficult to eat a whole lot more!

Aren't they pretty?
Beans from Jay's International and Seema Markets.
I couldn't find these types organic yet.

Thankfully she has a section in the book explaining different names for these things and also some photos. The only confusing part is that she calls a lot of beans "lentils" which is probably the "norm" for Indian cuisine. However, I grew up with lentils being specific types of beans so it is just kind of different that what I was used to. But I was happy to learn and understand that in India they probably don't classify the beans exactly the same as we do. It is useful information to be armed with when you go shopping. As I wasn't 100 percent sure that whole green moong dal were "mung" beans, the type that are often sprouted. Since they were also referred to as "lentils" I thought perhaps that it was one of the types of green lentils at Whole Foods.  I have made about 8 dishes from this book so far, some multiple times.  In the next posts I will let you know how they turned out!!  I can tell you this though; since we received this book I believe that the slow cooker has been used every single day.  And often overnight as well.  It's pretty cool that if you awaken for a moment or two at night, that the smell of curry is wafting through your house.  And nothing better than waking up early in the morning to a finished Indian dish.  Coffee and Black Chickpea Curry for my husband and Yerba Mate and the same for me.  It is a small miracle!

Do any of you have this book yet??  Curious as to what you guys think.  Do you make vegan dishes in your slow cookers?  What are your favorite vegan friendly Indian Cookbooks?