Calling all vegans!!

[blackmonday]

I'm making a meal next week for a vegan guest and decided I would cook vegan for everyone. I've decided on a lovely vegan curry recipe with an apple and apricot crumble for dessert. Only thing is I don't want to put too much on myself and would like to buy naan bread, poppadums, onion bhajis and something to go with the crumble, cream or ice cream ready made. Would I be able to buy these from a supermarket and if so which products would be suitable for vegans? Are they clearly marked? I have never cooked a vegan meal before so excuse my ignorance

We use Morrisons a lot. MIL is a vegan and we often cook vegan meals although we are not vegan. You can buy soya cream and ice cream. things like naan bread youwill need to check the ingrediants as they often have milk in. I think poppadums are okay but do check.

Swedish Glace ice cream is vegan and delicious.

There is usually a 'meat free' section for frozen food and another shelf for special diet type things.

Sorry forgot - look at the dairy free foods as these are often vegan but again check the ingrediants.

Look out for whey powder, dried milk, butterfat etc (not vegan, but DH is milk allergic, so I'm used to scrutinising the ingredients!)

Of your ingredients Naan bread is likely to contain yoghurt/milk powder, also you need to be careful to get a dairy free margarine if you're using it for the crumble topping (most of them have whey powder/skim milk in them).

If ingredients aren't marked on things like bhajis the supermarket should have a list tucked away.

thanks for your help. I'm really scared i'll give my vegan guest something she can't eat by mistake!! I was planning on Morrisons so good to hear they cater quite well for special diets.

Swedish Glace is a delicious substitute for ice cream and Pure margarine is also vegan - both readily available in supermarkets.

Thank you, will keep a look out for those

Most onion bhajis and popadums from any supermarket are ok but I don't think naan bread is.

You can get a soya cream which is fine but the swedish glace is better. Again any big supermarket will have them.

u have all been very helpful. Just one more thing, does anyone know if I can buy mustard oil in a supermarket? Need it for my indian salad but have never come across it before and I don't live near any specialised indian grocery stores. thanks

Sorry I know nothing about mustard oil.

I've just seen mustard oil in Tesco - though it was in a very large container!

Too late for your dinner party, sorry, but this may help in future or someone else who's googling:
Swedish Glace ice cream is lovely and very convenient, I personally prefer it to just soya cream. It's great on hot puddings. You can also get ready made soya milk custard in a carton (Alpro I think) or just make custard using custard powder and soya milk instead of cow's milk. I do this all the time and my family (I'm the only vegan) LOVE my custard. I often put extra vanilla extract (good quality) or vanilla pod seeds in and replace some of the soya milk with soya cream.

If you can't get mustard oil, heat some ordinary sunflower oil and fry some black mustard seeds (which you can get in supermarkets, then use the oil and the seeds in the dressing