Vegan Pizza Thoughts: A.R. Rahman is Real?!

Apparently, A.R. Rahman is a real human being. But why has he looked the same age my entire life? I’ll never know.

A bonafide “Saraswati”

In any case, his bewitching music has enriched my life.

Me, for no reason sometimes.

This past Friday (the weekend before India’s 75th Independence Day), I heard some of his show-stopping numbers at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. (I bought these tickets in February, by the way).

He and his guest singers (e.g. Jonita Gandhi, Haricharan, and Rakshita Suresh) sang a combination of Rahman’s Tamil and Hindi songs (my knowledge was limited to the Hindi ones). Here are the songs I recognized and remembered (he didn’t sing them in this order):

1. “Urvashi Urvashi” and “Muqabala Muqabala” from Kadhalan (1994)
2. “Rangeela Re” (This song will make you dance) and “Hai Rama Yeh Kya Hua” from Rangeela (1995)
3. “Chaiyya Chaiyya” (again, you will dance to this) “Dil Se Re” (chills!!) from Dil Se (1998)
4. “Taal se Taal” from Taal (1999)
5. “Radha Kaise na Jale” from Lagaan (2001) (I took a little video) ❤
6. “Naina Neer” from Water (2005)
7. A combination of “Manmohini Morey” from Yuvvraaj (2008) and “Kaanode Kanbadalam” aka “Kehta hai Mera Yeh Dil” from Jeans (1998).
8. “Jab Tum Saath Ho” from Tamasha (2015)
9. “Humma Humma” and “Enna Sona” from OK Jaanu (2017)
10. “Param Sundari” from Mimi (2021)

Which are your favorites? I have many.

Rahman also taught the audience about different raags like Yaman and Puriya Dhanashree and some of his songs that incorporated each raag. It was really interesting!!

When you know, you know.

To top everything off, I made so much delicious food this weekend!

1. Vegan brownies from Rainbow Plant Life (fudgy as hell).
2. Vegan spinach ricotta pizza (amazing).
3. Smashed potatoes with garlic aioli (yes, queen).
4. Roasted, caramelized carrots (perfect).

Let’s start with the brownies. My sister visited us for a few days before moving into her new Brooklyn apartment and I wanted to make something with her in mind.

I had been keeping some aquafaba (liquid from canned chickpeas) in my freezer for quite a while in anticipation of this specific brownie recipe. (I trust my brown sister Nisha implicitly).

These brownies were so chocolatey that they reminded me of lava cake. They didn’t have a crunchy top as I wanted, but any number of things could have gone slightly awry— too much butter, not enough flour, or inadequate cooking time. Baking is still pretty hard for me, but I’m learning.

Vegan brownies ❤

Saturday night’s dinner was so amazing yet simple! I will definitely be replicating this spread in the future.

I’ve never had real ricotta pizza and I was unsure of how a vegan version would taste. The answer: a match made in heaven. The ricotta was super creamy and tasted amazing on top of the pizza. I had to stop myself from eating more after I was full.

Also, I’ve been struggling for a while to make crispy fries or potatoes. I finally did it! It was so easy. I boiled some red potatoes (and a sweet potato that I had leftover) with baking soda and salt and baked those bad boys with a lovely rosemary marinade (just olive oil, dried rosemary, onion powder, and garlic salt). If you make the “smashed potatoes,” make the garlic aioli to go on the side. Trust me. The aioli is just “smushed” roasted garlic, vegan mayo, vegan yogurt, and some garlic salt. I might have to make this dish again at Thanksgiving (this is the highest possible praise).

The carrots were also easy to prepare. I just lightly coated some carrots in olive oil, salt, and maple syrup and put them in the oven for 20–25 min at 375 degrees F. The carrots were sticky, tender, and slightly sweet — a perfect side dish.

This dinner rocked my socks!

So yeah, this weekend had a lot going on. The music was legendary, the food was awesome, and I got to see my sister after eight months.

Until next time, take it easy.

“Take it easy, Urvashi”