Vegan make it tasty
Having a plant-based diet doesn’t mean ditching ‘butter chicken’, food writer and blogger Sasha Gill tells ELLA WALKER
THERE are many reasons why you might prefer to not throw yourself into a vegan lifestyle. Perhaps you can’t face a world without cheese, or bacon sandwiches, or roast chicken on Sundays.
However, thanks to Sasha Gill – author of new cookbook, Jackfruit And Blue Ginger – at least missing your favourite foods from the cuisines of China, Japan, India, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia wouldn’t be a problem.
Singapore-born Sasha, 22, a medicine student at Oxford University, has made it her mission to conjure up vegan alternatives to her Asian favourites – from Japanese yaki soba and nasi lemak (a traditional Malaysian breakfast), to Thai massaman curry and satay chicken.
As a teenager, Sasha had played with the idea of going vegetarian, but then made the wholesale switch to veganism when she moved to start boarding school in the UK.
“It was a good opportunity,” she says of making the change, as at home she hadn’t wanted to “inconvenience my family” by demanding separate meat-free dinner options. Now, almost six years into veganism, her parents don’t mind at all – and “in fact, I do most of the cooking when I go home,” notes Sasha.
That’s not to say that facing a plant-based diet wasn’t something of an adjustment for her to begin with.
Although, perhaps more extreme was going from the wildly colourful, cultural mingling and myriad cuisines represented and eaten in Singapore, to Britain’s somewhat duller offering.
“It was a bit of a shock,” Sasha concedes, but adds there were some unexpected benefits too. “I went mad buying fruit – it’s so expensive in Singapore, but it’s much more affordable here.”
As a student, affordability is undoubtedly an element of Sasha’s recipes, and she’s adamant that “you really can be vegan on a budget”.
Considering, also, that her food blogging (thesasha diaries.com) and photography career took off from the cramped basement room of a student house, one that didn’t really have any windows or natural light
(“I had to buy these huge photographer’s lights”), and this was on top of a tough, all-hours medical degree, she’s adept at stretching ingredients and making the most of what little time you’ve got.
She’s definitely noticed a change in peoples’ reactions towards veganism too. “People don’t panic so much when they ask me for dinner, and tend to just serve vegan food for everyone.”
And for those who do need a nudge towards appreciating the potential deliciousness of plant-based dinners, the dish she finds most satisfying to feed people doesn’t involve jackfruit at all – despite its top billing in the book title. It’s her vegan ‘butter chicken’...
“I love giving that to people, because it doesn’t have butter or chicken in it!”
The joy is in the surprise that it’s still delicious.