{"id":2260,"date":"2014-10-28T23:30:00","date_gmt":"2014-10-29T03:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/veganlovlie.com\/2014\/10\/through-the-ages-the-prophecy-told-us-that-the-spice-will-rise\/"},"modified":"2022-09-09T19:17:20","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T02:17:20","slug":"through-ages-prophecy-told-us-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/veganlovlie.com\/through-ages-prophecy-told-us-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Pumpkin, Squash & Carrot Halwa | Dairy-free Vegan recipe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A dairy-free vegan Pumpkin, Squash and Carrot halwa recipe with beautiful warm flavours and spices of autumn – tasty sweet vegan squash treat.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pumpkin Spice – two words that now quintessentially bring up the amber and golden warm hues of Autumn, if not another name for the season itself, with pumpkin-flavoured drinks, snacks and even home decor items – candles, potpourri, fragrance diffusers, you name it – sprouting at every street corner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I cannot help but wonder whether the love for this spice has grown to be just another trend. Even shop decors are made to evoke the alluring aroma. Is there such a thing as pumpkin spice overdose? This sweet mellow warm spice seem to be pushing season boundaries by emerging earlier every year. But would we reach a point where pumpkin spice would merely be just another plain old flavour like vanilla?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a kid, I have never known pumpkin spice. Being born and raised in a tropical island with only one and a half seasons – Summer and summery-Winter – this spice was uncommon and does not evoke any childhood memories related to pumpkin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a matter of fact, the orange-skinned pumpkin is an uncommon vegetable in Mauritius. We only have the thick dark-green-skinned variety that is mostly used in savoury dishes, the flesh being a lot less sweet. So, pumpkin-spiced-anything is a relatively new thing for me, and me being a foodie, I feel drawn by curiosity more than anything else. With a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice, I would tend to use this spice more in savoury dishes like biryanis<\/a> or kalias<\/a> although I do think it will work well in a halwa<\/a> recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With all that said, imagine my delightful intrigue when I had the chance to have a taste of the So Delicious Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk<\/a> that was delivered to my door, along with two other flavours – Mint Chocolate and Nog.<\/p>\n\n\n

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So Delicious produces a range of products that are mostly coconut-milk-based. Since my local store only carries a few of their icecreams that contain carrageenan, I do not tend to buy this brand as often. But because of people’s concerns over this red seaweed, the company is doing a lot of effort<\/a> to replace carrageenan from their products. They already have a range of coconut milks that are carrageenan-free and I can’t wait for all the rest to become carrageenan-free too; I’ll be able to stock up on great icecreams when I make the trip to the health store once a month!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to our flavoured milks, the Mint Chocolate and Nog are still awaiting the taste test, since all the drinks in this range can conveniently be stored unrefrigerated on the shelf. But as for the Pumpkin Spice Coconut Milk, I have taken my time and tried it in a few ways – as a drink on its own (hot, room temperature and cold), mixed with other ingredients (tea, coffee, hot chocolate and smoothies) and in recipes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing I noticed – when I had it at room temperature right after I opened the box – is that it is a tad bit too sweet for my taste. But, mind you, this is just me because Boyfriendlovlie did not find it too sweet (he takes two sugars in his tea and I take none in mine!). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In general, I don’t like sweet milk unless it is really cold. So, for that reason, I found that it tasted a lot better once very chilled. Indeed, I much preferred it cold. The second thing to note is the consistency which is quite thick. On its own, I can hardly manage to drink more than 1\/4 cup. This isn’t a bad thing though since you can dilute it with plain coconut milk\/water, another non-dairy milk or even ice cubes if you are having it cold.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In other beverages, I much preferred it in coffee and hot chocolate than in tea, one of the reasons being, like I said, I don’t take sugar in my tea but I do take a little in coffee and hot chocolate. In coffee and hot chocolate, this pumpkin spice drink does what it’s suppose to do – make you feel all mellow and fuzzy inside, just wanting to curl up on the sofa with a good book or some crochet project (in my case).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The smoothie test turned out great with ingredients like raw butternut squash, banana, apple\/ripe pear, a pinch of cocoa powder and a dash of cinnamon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pumpkin, Squash and Carrot Halwa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I tweaked my carrot halwa recipe<\/a>, which is my favourite kind of halwa, and made a Pumpkin or Butternut\/Spaghetti Squash & Carrot Halwa; I didn’t have enough carrots to make a 100% carrot one but I did have half a butternut squash and about a cup of cooked spaghetti squash leftover in the fridge for a good week now. If you don’t have the pumpkin or squashes, go ahead and just replace them with carrots in the same amount as in the recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After making this halwa, I must say that this So Delicious Pumpkin Spice Coconut Drink has won me over. I admit to having been conquered by the Spice! Just this once, this year: the Spice is with me!<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Butternut\/Spaghetti <\/picture><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n