Mango Shrikhand - Creamy Sweet Mango Yogurt with crunchy nuts :-)

The Mango season is about to be over and now I rush to the Indian store to grab a few and make some Mango specialties :-)  I have been thinking of making Shrikhand at home ever since I shortlisted it as a fat-free recipe (basically if u make yogurt with fat-free milk, that is :P)  Finally, got around to make this delicacy for my hubby who said it's equivalent to Meiji/Marigold Mango yogurt :-) That's a compliment, I suppose! :-)

Mango Shrikhand

Yield - 4 ramekins (as in the picture)

What You Need-

Ripe Mango - 1 (medium size)
Fresh Yogurt/ Curd - 1 litre
Sugar - 3 to 4 tbsp (adjust according to the sweetness you prefer)
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Nuts of your choice - I used Almonds and Cashews

Mango Shrikhand

Procedure -

1. Make Greek Yogurt following the procedure here. This takes 6-8 hours in the fridge. But you don't have to do much actively!
2. Blend mango in a mixer and get the puree.
3. Powder sugar.
4. Mix in powdered sugar, cardamom powder and the mango puree into Greek Yogurt and whisk them all together until you get a smooth texture. This is reallly important.
5. Chop some nuts and mix them too. Almonds would need to be blanched. Pistachios would be awesome, but I didn't have any yesterday. Reserve some nuts to garnish on top later.
6. Pour into ramekins or ice-cream cups and decorate with nuts. Refrigerate for another 3 hours to let it set well.
7. Serve chilled.

Simply awesome! Don't go by my words, try for yourself :-)

Umm...Slurp!

Dal Makhani aka Maa ki Dal - Punjabi Cuisine

After a hat-trick of sweet recipes, I thought I should post something spicy for a change. I am at my mom's place right now and she won't let me cook anything elaborate, so I browsed through my Drafts and found this one waiting to be beautified and posted :-)

I had made this months ago when I had invited some friends home for lunch on a Sunday.  Dal Makhani is a sumptuous dish full of nutrition from dals/lentils and the cream on top to finish just makes this a super-hit with everyone! :-)  It goes very well with both rice and roti varieties alike. I generally make a simple Garlic Rice or Jeera Rice and they make a good pair.

Dal Makhani

Let me take you through a pictorial first :-)

Rajma and Black whole Urad dal soaked in water overnight

Tadka with butter, zeera and red chillies

Onions fried

Tomatoes mushed up

Add spices, cooked dal and finish with cream :-)

What I Used -

Rajma / Red Bean- 1/2 cup

Whole Black Urad Dal - 3/4 cup

Onions - 1 medium

Tomatoes - 2 medium (Using additional Tomato puree greatly enhances the taste)

Fresh Cream - 4 tbsp + 1 tbsp

Spices To Temper - Tadka - Thalikka -

Butter - 1 tbsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 4

Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Turmeric / Haldi - 1/4 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 1/2 tsp (I used Kashmiri variety for a rich color)  

Dhania powder / coriander powder - 3/4 tsp

Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom spice mix - 3/4 tsp (you can get them pre-made from your Indian store or powder them yourself using your dry spice grinder)

Kitchen King Masala - 3/4 tsp

Salt - taste

How To -

• Soak the lentils overnight with enough water. Drain the water and pressure-cook the dals with sufficient (fresh) water for 4-5 whistles (It's okay to over-cook than to under-cook the lentils) .You could add salt as well. Wait for the pressure to get released naturally.
• Take a kadai, melt butter and add jeera. When they crackle, add red chillies and then add ginger-garlic paste.
• Add finely sliced/chopped onions and let them turn brown.
• Add chopped tomatoes and let them turn mushy.
• Add the spice powders - turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, kitchne king and the cardamom-cinnamom-cloves spice mix.
• Add the water/ stock from the cooked dal and then slowly add the lentils and lower the flame. Let the dals absorb the flavors form the masalas. Close with a lid for about 5-7 minutes.
• Tip : I like to mash up about 4 tbsp of cooked dal and then add to the gravy. This gives thickness to the gravy and also a good flavor to Dal Makhani as such :-)

• Check for salt.
• Add cream and mix well and you can see the gravy coming together as a thick, creamy mixture :-)
• Serve hot. You could add another tablespoon of cream just before serving! :-)

Isn't it inviting ??

(Red) Banana Halwa - Chev vazhai pazha Halwa

Step out of Palakkad (Palghat) station and all you can see is shop after shop, tempting you with different varieties of Halwas (or Haluwa! as they call it) and Chips. Vibrant colors and the rich aroma of ghee - ummm :-)  They make a good combination too - halwa for sweet and chips for something savory.  We always bring back freshly-made Halwa and Chips (especially love the sweet banana chips ;-)) whenever we visit Palakkad.

Bananas and Halwa go hand-in-hand  - both are gooey substances and since bananas are so sweet themselves, we can cut down on the added sugar and still have a great-tasting sweet! In addition, this doesn't take more than 25 minutes (end-to-end) on stove-top and it just tasted awesome even with the minimum amount of ghee I used :-)  I'm very happy with the results and so were my guests!

I didn't plan to use Chev vazhais (Chivappu means Red in Tamil, Chev is derived from it) specifically but I was ecstatic when I spotted them in Bukit Gombak market one day! You can use any bananas to make this Halwa!

Ingredients -

Ripe bananas - 5
Sugar - 80 ml
Ghee - 3 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Cashews - about 12

Method -

• Peel and mash bananas with a potato masher.

• In a kadai, heat 1 tsp of ghee and roast cashewnuts. Keep aside. 

• Add another tsp of ghee and add the banana puree.

• Stir well for about 12-15 minutes. Take care to ensure that it doesn't stick to the bottom of your kadai/pan.
• Add 1 tsp of ghee and add all the sugar and mix well with the banana mixture in the kadai.
• Wait until the banana puree changes to a brown color (பழுப்பு நிறம்). By this time, the whole mixture comes together so well into a mass (see pic below). The glossy effect is due to the caramelization of sugar (we haven't added much ghee, remember?)

• Reduce the flame and sprinkle cardamom powder.
• Add ghee-roasted cashewnuts and mix for a minute.
• Spread on a greased plate and make squares on cooling. 

Yield - I got about six, rather big 2 inch-by-2 inch halwa pieces.

Beetroot Halwa Using Microwave - Only 15 minutes!

Beetroot Halwa is the tastier cousin of Carrot Halwa /Gajar ka halwa. It is obvious because beets are sweeter than carrots and that means, you add less sugar! Isn't that healthier?

I made a quick dessert in about 15 minutes and the best part is that I didn't really have to sit (or stand) and keep stirring it. That's the microwave magic! Most part of it gets done when you're busy doing something else!

Beetroot Halwa!

Take the following -

• Beetroot - 1 (medium size)
• Milk - 180 ml
• Condensed milk - a little more than 1/3 can (A regular can is about 400 ml, so use 150 ml) => Low-fat is good too!
• Ghee - 2 tsp
• Cashews - 8 nos.
• Sugar - 6 tsp (Reduce 1 or 2 tsp if you desire lesser sweetness)

 5 Quick steps -

1.  Peel and grate the beetroot into a big microwaveble bowl.

2.  Add milk and MW on High for 5 minutes. Let sit for a minute.

3.  Stir, then add sugar and microwave for 3 minutes. Let sit for a minute.

4.  Stir,  add condensed milk and MW on High again for 4 minutes.

     The mixture should now be cooked very well yet it will be a little runny. 

5. Take a kadai, heat ghee and roast cashews. Then add the cooked beet mixture and stir for 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Switch off heat and let sit for 2 minutes.  It's thickened and pasty now, just like halwa should be!

C'mon lick it off, straight away! :-) This pic explains how good the halwa tasted!

Beetroot Halwa - Quick n Easy!

These quantities serve 2 to 3 people. Store in the fridge for a day or two (if there is any!).

Low-fat, No-bake Chocolate Mousse! Within 10 minutes!

Wondering how chocolate mousse can be low in fat and yet delicious? Yes, there's no cream nor egg yolks but there's tofu....Silken Tofu...Extra smooth... :-) It's unbelievably quick to make for that lingering taste it leaves behind! And....there's no baking involved at all!

Creamy Chocolate Mousse - without any cream! ;)

Do not deprive yourself of this opportunity that could turn even tofu-detesters to fall in love with this Tofu-Chocolate marriage! Yes, Tofu is so bland that makes it so versatile, it absorbs whatever you add/ blend with it. I learnt about Tofu after coming to Singapore as it's widely used in Asian cuisine.  Tofu is made from soybeans/ soy milk just like how Paneer is made from Milk. Isn't it nice to get some extra protein even as we consume desserts? :-)

Chocolate Mousse - Low-fat!

Yield - 4 medium-sized ramekins

What I Used -

Simple Ingredients, right in your pantry!

• Extra smooth Silken Tofu - 300 g
• Pure Cocoa Powder (don't use drinking chocolate) - 3 tbsp
• Chocolate Chips (Semi-sweet works best) or Dark chocolate (I used 53%) bars* ~ 100 g
• Milk - 1/4 cup
• Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

* There's no need to add extra sugar as the sugar present in Chocolate bars/chips was found to be sufficient. However, if you think your family doesn't like Dark chocolate as such (if they call it bitter!) , then, may be you should try using Milk chocolate instead. Best to start with a combination of milk and dark - 50% each!

How To -

1. Drain the water from tofu and blend into a really smooooth paste in an electric mixer/blender.

Siken Tofu, blended smooth

2. Microwave milk for a minute and add cocoa powder to hot milk. Whisk them well together without lumps.

3. Microwave chocolate chips or chocolate bars until it's all melted.

4. Add 2 + 3 + vanilla to the smoothly blended tofu and run the electric mixer again.

5. Pour into serving cups (I used colorful ramekins!) and refrigerate (do NOT freeze)  for about 2 hours. The more time you let it sit in the fridge, the better it gets!

6. Optionally, grate some dark chocolate onto each cup and serve chilled.

Let me tell you that it may not taste good if you lick off a spoon BEFORE refrigerating it. But AFTER 90 minutes (yes, I secretly tasted a spoonful after 1 and half hours!), you're transported to heaven! Absolutely like the Before-After pictures that Slimming companies, Hairloss treatments and the like advertise with! :D

Nobody can tell there's tofu in the mousse! That's the beauty! :-)

Rich n decadent choc mousse

C'mon, make it NOW and surprise your family!!!

Smoooth...

Ven Pongal / Kaara Pongal - Pongalo Pongal!!!

Ven Pongal or Khara Pongal is the salted version (Ven denotes its white (actually off-white) color) and is often made along with Chakra Pongal (sweet) on the day of Makara Sankrati aka Pongal festival.

I'm posting the recipe, well in advance, for the benefit of my friends, especially those who are trying this for the first time.  A lot of my friends got married last year and this is their first Pongal festival celebrated together with their spouse after their wedding; here's wishing them a joyful Thala Pongal :-) Hope you get inspired by the pictures to try Pongal in your kitchen too.

According to the tradition, we boil milk in a wide-mouthed vessel (a big one, decorated with turmeric bunch / manja kothu ) and right when it boils and is about to over-flow, there is a chorus "Pongalo Pongal" from the entire family after which we do Namaskarams  (prayers) and pray for all good things to happen in the following year! Pongal in Tamil means "over-flowing" and symbolizes an over-flow of cash/prosperity as well as happiness in the family.

Over to the method of preparation of Pongal -

Ven Pongal/ Kaara Pongal

You Need -

Rice - 1 cup
Moong Dal - 1/2 cup
Black pepper - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Cumin / Jeera - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Cashewnuts - about 12 to 15
Ginger, finely chopped or grated - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few 
Ghee - 1/4 cup (or a little more)
Salt - to taste (~1 tsp)

How To -

• Rinse moong dal well by changing water about 3 or 4 times. Drain water completely and roast until its slightly reddish in color. (No oil required)

•  Rinse rice thrice till water runs clear (almost).

•  Boil 4 cups of water in a big pot (Ponga paanai) and then add the rinsed rice and roasted moong dal. When they are almost cooked, add salt and let it get slightly over-cooked (kozhaiya veganum). Finally, mash well using a potato-masher or any similar tool.

• You can also pressure-cook rice and moong dal to get it done quickly. Actually, pressure-cooking (3 or 4 whistles) is better as it's easier to get a nicely mashed mixture.
• I would like to add half-milk and half-water(just like for Chakra Pongal) to cook rice and moong dal to give it an enhanced taste.

•  Next, coarsely powder jeera and pepper in an electric mixer or coffee grinder. 
• Chop cashewnuts and ginger and keep them ready.
• Take a deep kadai/wok, heat 2-3 tbsp of ghee and roast cashews first. Then, heat 2tbsp of oil and add pepper+jeera powder, let splutter and then add ginger. Fry for another minute and then add curry leaves. 

Tempering for Pongal

 Add the mashed rice+ dal mixture to the kadai and mix well. Add the remaining ghee, gradually, to prevent rice from sticking to the kadai.

VenPongal with Sambar and Onion Chutney

Serve with Gotsu or Sambar and any Chutney. Here's Onion Chutney and here's a quick Vegetable Chutney.

Notes :

Usually, I double the quantities of rice and moong dal (roasted) and pressure-cook them without salt. I use half of this for Ven Pongal and the other half for Chakra Pongal.

Carrot & Pear Cake (Eggless and Vegan)

When I started baking, I had decided that I won't be using butter (and definitely not in cups and cups) in order to do good to myself, esp to feel good, when I stand in front of the mirror ;)  I also try to use whole wheat flour and avoid or atleast reduce the quantity of all-purpose flour/maida used. Wheat flour is bleached with a substance called Benzoyl peroxide (which is present in hair dyes and is banned in UK china and the European Union. OMG!!) to get white colored Maida. Source : Wikipedia

There are a lot of Carrot Cake recipes over the Web and sure, they all look delicious and tempting! This one caught my attention and I wanted to give it a try. The first time, I made these with an apple, as per the original recipe, just eggless. Simply delicious! Now, I had some pears in my fridge and I thought a pear can be substituted in place of an apple! Sure, they work great!  They are similarly textured and is almost of the same size. I also inserted some walnuts (but of course;) - you can add any nuts - pistachios, pecans or use 1/2 raisins and 1/2 nuts - entirely upto you!

Perfectly moist and full of carrots, this one is a healthy cake that also tastes super-yummy! :) Don't blame me if this cake becomes your tea-time obsession! :)

Carrot and Pear Cake

With the classic CreamCheese frosting!

 

I Used -

Carrots and Pear

1 cup  Whole-Wheat Pastry flour
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup White Sugar
2 tbsp Flax seeds, freshly ground
6 tbsp Warm Water
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Prune Extract (Or Use another 1/4 cup Oil or 1/4 cup Applesauce)
1/2 tsp Baking Soda.
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp All-spice powder (use cardamom powder if you don't have all-spice)
2 medium carrots , peeled and grated (amounting to 1 and 1/2 cups)
1 medium pear (peeled and cut into small cubes)
Walnuts - about 8 nos.

Whole Wheat flour

 

How To -

Preparatory Steps -

1. Grate Carrots
2. Cut Pear or Apple
3. Soak groound Flaxseeds in warm water for 5 minutes then whisk)
4. Start pre-heating the oven to 180 deg Celcius

 

Procedure -

• Combine flaxmeal,  oil, prune extract and the sugars until a bit creamy.

Ground flax seeds

It becomes a bit frothy after whisking with warm water

• In another bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, salt and all-spice powder.
• Gradually add to the wet mixture until just combined.
• Fold in carrots and pear.
• Mix in coarsely chopped walnuts.
• Grease a square baking pan with oil or butter (if you don't mind!) and spoon the batter and level it.

Ready to go into the oven

• Bake at 180 degree Celsius for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake, comes out clean.

Just out of the oven!

Cooled and turned upside down

Close-up!

• Let cool and then make pieces.
• Enjoy as such with a cuppa chai tea, like I did! :)

When you serve to guests, you could make a quick frosting with cheese cake, to make it decadent! You could place a walnut on top of each piece for decoration.

Carrot and Pear Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

(To make the frosting, I used equal quantities of cream cheese and sugar, 1/4th of that quantity of butter and a few drops of vanilla - whisk them all together until and creamy and well-incorporated...Ummmm....:)

Notes:

• Do not add more water than the prescribed ground flaxseed-to-water proportion (1 tbsp flax to 3 tbsp warm water). The end result will be sticky dough-like cake and longer hours of baking.The first time, I used flaxseeds, I added extra water and learnt this lesson the hard way! 

• While grating carrots and particularly, apple or pear, strain extra juice if there's too much and do not add all the juice to the cake. For this reason, I prefer chopping pear or apple into small pieces (in lieu of grating). Best to not grate carrots fine (Use the bigger grater). This is to prevent the cake from turning overly moist.

This is on the way to Bake Fest @ Zesty Palette

and to Khushi's Bake With Your Heart even.

I'm very happy to send this cake to Christmas Party @ Julie's space - Erivum Puliyum