I love creating tricky recipes like this, it’s so much fun! I’ve been creating eggless baked goods and breaded bites for a long time now, but I always wished to make some real egg-dish the eggless way. I had lots of ideas to solve the questions of food consistency and coloring the only thing that held me back was that I couldn’t make anything taste like an egg.
The amino acids in egg protein contain lots of sulfur, that’s responsible for the egg taste and smell. I didn’t know how to get anything like that into my dishes… until the last week. It turned out the oh so very simple solution was almost right in front of me, but for some reason I just didn’t know about it… Kala namak, a.k.a. black salt. I’m sure some of you already know it, I kind of feel like I’ve just noticed a pink elephant in the living room. 😀
Kala namak is named black salt, but looking at it closely it’s rather dark brown or red: this coloring is due to the sulfur containing inorganic compounds that make this special salt the magic ingredient of eggless egg-dishes. I got so excited when I found out about this that I ordered a pack of black salt immediately and had it delivered the next day…
I also have something to confess here. I misread the calendar… by a week… No comment. So I actually wished to have all this ready by Easter. Didn’t happen. Still happy to share it.
I couldn’t miss avocados from this recipe as their consistency and flavor is so egg-like. Egg salad is supposed to be made of boiled eggs and mayonnaise, as the main ingredients. I thought of cashew to get a creamy consistency. And with avocados and cashew on board, there’s no more need for mayonnaise: there’s already enough healthy fat and creaminess in this recipe.
Now that I had a secret ingredient up my sleeve, I wanted to give you the whole egg experience here: including egg whites, yes, vegan egg white cubes! I was oh so satisfied with myself when I had a taste of this – you know I can eat eggs, I just create eggless recipes for friends and other folks, so this time I know, what this should taste like. I was so excited when my husband arrived home I had him taste this immediately and well, he wasn’t so ecstatic… He said it’s like eggs but not totally like eggs. However, he devoured a good portion of this salad that evening although originally he had other plans for dinner. 🙂
Ingredients:
for the “egg whites”:
200 ml or 1 scant cup of rice milk (or other unsweetened plant milk)
1 teaspoon of agar-agar powder
1/2 teaspoon of black salt (kala namak)
for the “egg salad”:
100g or 1/2 + 1/4 cup of cashews
1 avocado (mine was 160g whole)
1 teaspoon of mustard
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoon of black salt (kala namak)
1-2 tablespoons of water
pinch of turmeric (for color)
- Soak cashews overnight in cold water or in hot water for about an hour.
- Mix black salt and agar-agar powder with rice milk and bring to boil. Once boiling, I poured it into a plastic container I previously lined with foil. Set aside to set or – if unpatient, like me 😉 – put it in the fridge.
- Put rinsed cashews and avocado flesh along with other ingredients of the egg salad into a food processor and blend until smooth. If it’s too thick to work with, add 1-2 tablespoons of water.
- The egg whites take about an hour to solidify in the fridge. Once done, dice it into small cubes and fold into egg salad. Done!
I know my egg salad looks really green thanks to the avocado. I tried to give it some yellow coloring with some turmeric but didn’t want to use too much, so avocado-green it is. 🙂
Carb content also depends on the sort of milk you use. I used my home-made ricemilk for the calculation: there are 55g CH/whole salad.
I’m so excited for you to try this!
I’m curious… Have you used kala namak before? If so, what is your favorite dish with kala namak?
I shared this recipe at Allergy Free Wednesday. Take a look and find some new gems!
- for the "egg whites":
- 200 ml or 1 scant cup of
- rice milk
- (or other
- unsweetened
- plant milk)
- 1 teaspoon of agar-agar powder
- ½ teaspoon of black salt (kala namak)
- for the "egg salad":
- 100g or ½ + ¼ cup of cashews
- 1 avocado (mine was 160g whole)
- 1 teaspoon of mustard
- 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
- 1½ teaspoon of black salt (kala namak)
- 1-2 tablespoons of water
- pinch of turmeric (for color)
- Soak cashews overnight in cold water or in hot water for about an hour.
- Mix black salt and agar-agar powder with rice milk and bring to boil. Once boiling, I poured it into a plastic container I previously lined with foil. Set aside to set or - if unpatient, like me 😉 - put it in the fridge.
- Put rinsed cashews and avocado flesh along with other ingredients of the egg salad into a food processor and blend until smooth. If it's too thick to work with, add 1-2 tablespoons of water.
- The egg whites take about an hour to solidify in the fridge. Once done, dice it into small cubes and fold into egg salad. Done!
Wow, what an interesting recipe. I've never heard of black salt until today — and twice! So interesting — I'll have to look out for it. And love your "egg-whites" solution 🙂
Thanks, Audrey! Coming from you this comment made my day – I stumble across some brand new ideas on your blog on a daily basis, happy to return back some inspiration. 🙂
I love egg salad (and potato salad!) and your recipe sounds great (not to mention it looks STUNNING). I’ve pinned it, and I’ll be looking for an opportunity to try it out!
Thanks, I hope you’ll like it!