Bethany's Vegan Kitchen

Let me preface this by first saying that I’ve always loved eggs. I was that vegetarian who said they’d not be able to be vegan because they’d miss eggs. Since I became vegan I’ve had some great successes with recreating scrambled eggs out of ackee, using egg replacers, and of course, tofu. But sadly I’ve not been able to say the same for omelettes, until I tried making them with peeled mung beans. Peeled mung beans, aka peeled split mung beans, aka mung dal are first thoroughly washed, then soaked and blended with dairy-free milk and other seasonings. Which creates a batter than can either be scrambled, or used to make thick, fluffy omelettes

Serves; Two to four Cook time; 10 minutes, plus soaking overnight

You’ll need;

1. 120g peeled mung beans
2. 120ml dairy-free milk, I used soy milk
3. One tablespoon of nutritional yeast
4. Half a teaspoon of ground turmeric
5. Half a teaspoon of baking powder
6. Half a teaspoon of onion powder
7. Half a teaspoon of garlic powder

Method;

• Start by putting the beans in a large bowl and filling it with cold water, stir the beans until the water discolours, then discard the water before filling to rinse again. Keep rinsing until the water stays mostly clear. Leave the beans to soak overnight
• Next, take the soaked beans and place them into a high speed blender with the milk, nutritional yeast, turmeric, baking powder, onion powder and garlic powder. Blend until completely smooth, give the mix five minutes to rest in the fridge before using

 To Make A Scramble

Serves; One Cook time; 10 minutes

You’ll need;

1. One teaspoon of oil
2. Half the egg mixture listed above
3. Kala namak, aka black salt, to taste
4. Optional extras; Cracked black pepper and smoked paprika

Method;

• Heat the oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Once it’s warmed up, add in the mung bean egg mixture
• Leave the mix to cook, untouched, for two minutes. This gives the “egg” on the bottom a chance to set
• After two minutes, scramble the mixture in the pan and keep breaking it up and moving it around, as you would scramble a hen egg for a further five minutes
• Once cooked, season with the kala namak and then serve. I like to top mine with black pepper and smoked paprika, but that’s just a personal preference

To Make an Omelette

Serves; One Cook time; 15 minutes

You’ll need;

1. Any additional ingredients you want, such as onion, mushrooms, bacon or sausage. To recreate this omelette fry off 75g diced mushroom, 50g of diced onion, 35g diced meat-free bacon, and one quarter of a teaspoon of freeze dried tarragon
2. One tablespoon of oil
3. Half of the mung bean egg mixture listed above
4. 25g vegan cheese
5. Kala namak aka black salt

Method;

• Heat a small frying pan over a medium heat, once it’s warmed up, add in any ingredients you want to be in the omelette. I like a mixture of typically mushroom, onion and bacon. Cook for five minutes, stirring every now and then
• Next, add the oil and mix it through the pan so it evenly coasts everything. Then slowly pour over the egg mix in a single even layer
• After the mixture has been cooking for five minutes, sprinkle the vegan cheese over the top. Give the omelette another five minutes to cook and for the cheese to melt
• After the omelette has been cooking for ten minutes it should be golden brown underneath and no longer wet on top. It should also easily release from the pan with a gentle shake. Now it’s ready to season with kala namak all over the top of the omelette, and then fold the omelette closed
• Serve immediately

Notes;

Kala namak; Kala namak, or black salt, or Himalayan black salt as it’s otherwise known, is a kiln-fired rock salt that contains sulphur. So once it’s added to food it gives it an eggy flavour. It’s especially useful in vegan egg dishes as it can recreate the flavour of eggs. I usually buy mine online, various different sites sell it. It’s also available from Asian supermarkets. Another important note about kala namak is that the sulphur is very sensitive to heat, so you will need to add it right at the end to preserve the sulphur flavour (the sulphur is what imparts an eggy flavour). Add it on top of the omelette once it’s cooked, then immediately fold it closed and then serve

Peeled mung beans; They’re simply hulled mung beans, so there’s no outer green skin on them. They’re also known as mung dal, yellow mung dal, or split mung beans. As they don’t have their outer skin, they’re easier to cook and digest. I bought some from an Asian supermarket but they may be available in the whole food section of supermarkets too. I found that giving them a really good rinse before soaking them results in no beany flavour to the resulting egg dish once cooked