It’s a wrap: Go vegan with these beauties

If you think vegan food is brand and boring, these flavourful lighthearted wraps will change your mind

In a pandemic struck world, veganism is not a fad, it’s a way of life. With health becoming one of the prime concerns, a growing number of people are opting for a green diet. And there are studies that claim that being a vegan is a sensible choice. ‘Healthcare professionals consuming plant-based diets were 73% less likely to experience moderate to severe Covid-19,’ says a recent study.

The basic ingredients to make tortillas for a vegan wrap are wheat, salt, water and vegetable oil. Cauliflower can also be used by green lovers. (Photo: Shutterstock)

There are many benefits of choosing a vegan diet and if you think it’s a task to prepare, vegan wraps make for an easy, delicious choice. They are not only healthy and nutritious but also super easy to put together. “They are loaded with vegetables and healthy fats. They can be prepared with basic pantry ingredients yet provide full nutrition. No butter, no cheese… well your gym trainer will definitely be happy seeing you eat these,” says Chef Natasha Gandhi.

The wrap consists of two components, the base and the filling inside. “The basic ingredients to make tortillas for a vegan wrap are wheat, salt, water and vegetable oil. Various other flours like millets, almond flour, white chickpea flour can also be considered. One can substitute lettuce with cabbage or steamed collard green to ramp up the flavor,” says culinary expert Vindhya Karwa of Vinsplate. All kinds of seeds and plant roots can be used to create flour for the wraps. “One can also experiment with soya base, amaranth flour, ragi and jowar flour too,” says chef Juliano Rodrigues, general manager of Out of The Blue.

Vegan wraps can be wrapped with leftover food and veggies. (Photo: Shutterstock)

For filling one can also pick up from a variety of options. “From the point of using Asian elements, one can stuff with pickled radish and pock choy to using tofu and miso. Indian food such as mock cottage cheese, pickled mangoes, pickled lotus stems can also be used,” says chef Rajdeep Kapoor, executive chef ITC Maurya.

Making them with the right blend of ingredients is all one has to do. “One can go wild with the color of the tortilla sheet, maybe by making a purple cabbage or a beetroot cheela to make it purple, a spinach infused chapatti for a green outer layer or even a tomato infused tortilla for a red colored wrap. Using thinly sliced zucchini is also something that one can try to make fresh zucchini wraps. When it comes to fillings, one can flavor their wraps with anything from anywhere in the world, be it a Thai filling or a raw mango – coconut filling, there are absolutely no boundaries to limit imagination,” says chef Rajesh Singh, executive sous chef, Taj Mahal, New Delhi.

They’re the best place for your leftovers and help minimise food waste. “You need to create a good sauce or chutney as base, layer your left over veggies, add some pickled vegetables like onion beets and cabbage, some spices and I would recommend folding the edges and cooking it on the pan till it’s heated and crispy. I personally do this whenever there is a vegetable I don’t like, but you can totally do this with leftover gajar matar sabji or pav bhaji or even some bhindi,” says Gandhi.

A wrap is evidently incomplete without a sauce and the best sauces to go in a wrap are vegan. “A simple cilantro-jalapeno sauce with a cashew paste base or a spicy mexican style adobo dressing can help get the heat levels high. Something as simple as an arugula pesto or a raw mango-coconut sauce can still help get the perfectly balanced wrap. If you have a flair for Japanese food, a must try is the vegan-wasabi sauce,” says Singh.

Gluten-free Tortillas made up of ragi and Jowar.

Recipe

Gluten-free Tortillas

Ingredients

1/2 Cup millet flour (Ragi in one and Jowar in second )

1/2 cup boiling water

2 tbsp tapioca starch

Salt as per taste

Process

In a bowl add the flour and starch and knead with hot boiling water. Add the water gradually and knead into a medium soft dough. Let the dough rest for 5-7 mins

Shape into equal sized balls and roll into thin round sheets

Toss them onto a hot pan and cook on medium heat from both sides. Transfer to a plate once cooked on both sides

For the Fillings

Load your Wrap with hummus or labneh as base, boiled kidney beans or chickpeas in a tomato sauce, swap the rice with cooked quinoa and top with a refreshing mango salsa and greens.

by chef Natasha Gandhi

Author tweets @ruchikagarg271

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