Crushed Mango Chutney

Mangoes are in season...the raw ones, though. It is always nice to use fruits and vegetables that are in season. Traditionally, we use everything imaginable with mangoes, and this is so quick to whip up that you can do it even if you think there is no time to make something.

 

Difficulty level: Easy

Preparation time: 15 min

Cooking time: Nil

Ingredients

Raw mango : 1 medium, cut into small cubes

Shallots: 1/4 cup, skinned

Dried red chillies- 5-6

Red chilly powder- 1 tsp, optional

Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Salt- to taste

Organic virgin coconut oil- 1 tsp

In a mixer grinder bowl( or a big mortar & pestel), crush the shallot, red chillies, curry leaves & salt coarsely. Make sure it does not grind fully, because you are looking for a chunky texture. Add the cubed raw mango pieces and crush them a bit more. Transfer to the serving bowl, drizzle the organic virgin coconut oil. Mix well and  serve right away.

Immunity booster Series -3 Pepper Rasam

When you are down with a cold or flu, all you need is some magic portion to get you back on your feet. This used to be the go-to thing as it has all the secret ingredients you need to cure all the ailments relating to cold and/or flu. By the next morning, all the discomforts are all behind you and you feel as fresh as ever all over again.

Difficulty level: Medium
Preparation time- 10 min
Cooking time- about 45 min

Ingredients

Dry tamarind- 1/4 cup, packed
Ginger- 2 inch square chunk, skin on
Garlic- 5 small or 2 big cloves, skin on
Whole black peppercorns- 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds- 1 1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies- 3
Curry leaves- 2 sprigs
Salt-to taste

For spluttering:

Organic virgin coconut oil- 1 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp
Dry red chillies- 2
Curry leaves- 1 sprig


Soak the tamarind in 5 cups of warm water for about 15 minutes.

In the meantime, use a mortar and pestle to crush most of the other ingredients in 2 batches. First crush the ginger and garlic with their skins on. Transfer to another bowl and crush the peppercorns, curry leaves, cumin and red chillies in the same mortar and pestle. Crush them and add to the earlier batch.

Squeeze the tamarind well and dispose of the waste. To this water, add the crushed items and a pinch of salt. Let it come to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Let it simmer away for atleast 15 min allowing all the flavours to marry together and turn it into a magical concoction. The water should have reduced to three-fourths its original quantity. Keep aside.

In a small fry pan, add 1 tsp of organic virgin coconut oil and add the mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add the red chillies and curry leaves. Mix everything well and pour it right on top of the rasam prepared. Cover and set it sit for atleast 2 minutes. Make sure you drink just the top portion only. Serve warm with rice or drink it as it is to feel better. 

Spicy Artichoke Wraps

Artichokes have a very subtle taste and flavor. It is a seasonal vegetable, except may be not in California. 

Even though subtle, it really comes through when you combine it with a mild cheese and may be some bread crumbs. I always indulge in the fresh ones when it is available. During the rest of the months, I keep a couple of canned artichoke hearts handy in the hope of transforming them into something yummy.

Here I made the artichoke hearts which is originally from USA with Indian spices and combined it with Middle-eastern tahini sauce and kaboos(Arabic bread) pairing it with Peri-peri sauce for the spread. It also adds in a Mediterranean touch with Kalamata olives and onions, making it a truly International dish. You can substitute the peri-peri sauce with any spicy sauce and kaboos with tortilla or chapathi, depending on what is available to you. 

Difficulty level: Medium
Preparation time: 5 min
Cooking time: 20 min


Ingredients
Artichoke hearts- Canned, in water- 1(240 g ,drained)
Cooking oil- 1 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Red chilly powder- 3/4 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Salt-to taste
Tahini sauce - 2 tsp
Peri-peri sauce- 1 tsp
Red onion- half of an onion, cut into long strips
Kalamata olives- 10 nos., pitted & cut into long pieces





Chop up the well-drained artichoke hearts roughly. Heat oil in a pan and add the spices. Stir for a minute and add the chopped artichoke hearts. Add salt to taste . Mix well and cook for a few minutes on a low flame, until the water is all gone and it gets the artichoke gets a good coating of the spices all over it.

In the meantime, warm up a large kaboos. In a small bowl, mix the tahini with the peri-peri sauce well. Pour the mix on the kaboos and spread uniformly all over it. Spread a layer of the onions and olives in a single line . Add the cooked artichoke right on top. Tightly roll the kaboos into a tight log making sure everything can be tasted in every bite. Enjoy the wrap warm right away, as it gets soggy if left assembled for a long time.

Crab Roast

Crab meat is very hard to extract from the shell. But my son really likes it and so I decided to go through the trouble of extracting it after a long time. 

Difficulty level: Easy

Preparation time- 10 min

Cooking time- 10 min

Ingredients 

Crab - Cleaned & meat separated- 1/4 cup

Onion - cut into thin strips- 1/4 cup

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Chilly powder - 1 tsp

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Oil - 2 tsp

Salt -to taste

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Make sure you clean the crab and separate the meat. Heat oil in a skillet, add the ginger garlic paste and saute well. Add the sliced onions, sprinkle some salt and saute until the onions turn light brown. Add the spices and curry leaves and cook for a minute until the raw taste of the spices have disappeared. Add the crab meat, add salt to taste and mix well. Cover and cook for 7 -10 minutes on a low flame. Serve warm with roti or rice. 

Quick Kesar Malai Laddoo

Happy Diwali everyone...

During these odd times, nobody wants to spend hours in the kitchen preparing Diwali sweets. I am in the same boat and hence came up with a laddoo, so instant ( when you compare it to the rest of the sweets usually prepared for Diwali), you would never believe how easy this is with no compromise on the taste.

Difficulty level: Easy
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: 2-3 min


Ingredients

• Milk powder- 1 cup
• Ghee( clarified butter)- 1/ 4 cup plus 1 tbsp, and a couple of drops to grease your palm to make the laddoos
• Cashews- 12-15
• Raisins-25
• Granulated sugar- 1/4 cup
• Cardamom- 3 pods
• Saffron- a few strands

In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp ghee(clarified butter) on medium-low heat and roast the cashews until they turn golden brown and put aside. To the same ghee, add the raisins and fry them until they puff up. Keep aside. Add the rest of the ghee and allow to melt completely. Turn off the stove and after 3-4 minutes add the strands of saffron. This will allow the flavors to infuse into the ghee slowly.

While the ghee cools completely, powder the sugar and the seeds inside the pods of cardamom into a fine powder. Also crush the roasted cashews using a mortar and pestle or a food processor (just pulse it a couple of times). In a mixing bowl, add the milk powder, powdered sugar, crushed cashews, roasted raisins and mix well. Pour the saffron-infused ghee on top and mix well using a spatula. Once it is thoroughly mixed, grease your palms and roll the mixture into small lemon-sized balls. This yields 14 such laddoos. The number may vary depending on the size of your balls. It stays fresh at room temperature for 3-4 days.

Old-fashioned Apple Cobbler

I really miss the falls in the US. It used to be my favourite season. With the nature looking its prettiest in fall colors and the aroma of the seasonal harvest filling the air , we used to go apple-picking. I used to make everything imaginable with apples. This is one of my favorites. 

Difficulty level : Easy
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time:  40-45 minutes

Ingredients

• 6 medium apples (Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, or other good baking apple), peeled and cut into chunks ¼ inch thick
• 1 cup water or apple juice
• 1/3 cup brown sugar , packed
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

For the batter:

1 c

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 5 Tablespoons butter , melted
• ground cinnamon for topping

Directions: 

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 inch pan lightly with cooking spray.
• Stir together brown sugar, water, cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a saucepan. Stir in apples. Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring.
• Pour mixture into prepared pan.
• In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk and melted butter, just until combined.
• Pour the mixture over the apples in the pan. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon.
• Bake for about 38-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the topping comes out clean.
• Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, if desired.
• Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days
  
  
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Make Ahead:

You could prepare the apple filling and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze it for up to 3 months.

You can also freeze the baked cobbler for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm in the oven before serving.

Cheesy straws

With the kids studying from home due to the pandemic, there is an insatiable need for a variety of snacks at home. I decided to whip something up with things I had in hand. The more cheese you add, the yummier it gets. And who doesn't like cheese....

Difficulty level: Easy

Preparation time: 15 min

Baking time: 25 min

Ingredients

Puff pastry sqaure sheets- 10

Shredded cheese- atleast 1 1/4 cups(I used cheddar & parmesan combined)

Italian seasoning- 2 tbsp

Fresh ground black pepper- 2 tbsp

Salt- to taste

Thaw the puff pastry sheets for atleast 3 hrs. Preheat the oven to 400F. 

Combine the shredded cheese, Italian seasoning, fresh ground black pepper and salt well and keep aside. 

On a working surface, spread some the cheese mixture evenly. Put one of the puff pastry sheets and press down lightly so that the cheese mix sticks to the sheet. Spread more of the cheese mix evenly and pat down. Make 1 inch wide strips using a pizza cutter. Twist the strips to make them  curly. Transfer to a baking tray. Bake for 25 minutes until the cheese has melted and and the puff pastry has turned crisp. Enjoy them right away. 

                                         

                                                    

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Whenever we go to P.F.Chang's we always get their Sticky Toffee Pudding. My elder son absolutely loves this and what better way to surprise him than have a home-made version for his birthday. I decided to give it a shot for the first time ever also because I can sneak in some dates into them ( my kids just call dates "gross"...for their gooey texture)...shh...just don't tell them..

The recipe from Martha Stewart makes divinely rich and melt-in-the-mouth Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Difficulty level: Medium

Preparation time: 20 min

Baking time: about 30 min

Pudding
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for dish
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dish
8 ounces Medjool dates, pitted and coarsely chopped (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 cup scalding-hot strong brewed coffee( I just used 1 cup boiled water as I was not sure whether my kids would taste the coffee flavour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup lightly packed dark-brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature

Sauce

1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup lightly packed dark-brown sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a 2 1/2-quart baking dish. Place dates in a bowl, pour coffee over dates, and let soak 15 minutes. Stir in baking soda.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat together butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium and beat in eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly incorporated.

Reduce speed to low, and add half the flour mixture, beating until combined. Add date mixture and remaining flour mixture, and beat until just combined. (Do not overmix.) Transfer batter to dish, and bake until cake is puffed and springs back in center when gently pressed with a finger, about 25 minutes.

Sauce: Meanwhile, combine butter, sugar, and cream in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium (so sauce does not boil over) and boil, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens and darkens slightly, about 4 minutes.

Remove cake from oven and pierce holes at 1-inch intervals to bottom of cake with a wooden skewer. Pour half of hot sauce over cake and let soak 20 minutes. Serve warm with remaining sauce. Cake soaked in sauce and remaining toffee sauce can be stored at room temperature up to 1 day. Before serving, warm cake in a 300 degrees oven 10 minutes, and sauce in a small saucepan over medium heat.

Carrot date Cake

My mom was visiting, and I decided to make something that she would absolutely love. She loves both Carrots and Dates. I decided to do some research on how much varieties of Carrot Date cake I could find. I found it very interesting when I noticed that most people add caramel to enhance the flavor. I kept on searching as I wanted something with the least amount of sugar added, as the cake would rely on the natural sweetness of the dates ( some dried ones are extremely sweet, and it would depend on the variety of dates you pick) and of course the carrots. 

I finally saw a recipe from taste.com.au. The frosting is completely optional. I decided to keep it naked, as I wanted to enjoy the maximum flavor & taste of the dates and carrots, and nothing else. After all, they are the real stars here, and just let them shine through.

  

Difficulty level: Medium

Preparation time: 40 min

Baking time: 50-55 min

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup (140g) dried dates, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup (125ml) boiling water
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 large Eggs
• 1/2 cup (125ml) vegetable oil
• 2 cups (300g) self-raising flour( note on making self-raising flour at bottom, if you don't have it handy)
• 1 cup (220g) brown sugar packed
• 1 1/2 cups coarsely grated carrot (about 3 large carrots)
• 1/2 cup (50g) coarsely chopped walnuts
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 
  
• Frosting( optional)
• 250g cream cheese, softened
• 50g butter
• 1/2 cup (80g) icing sugar mixture
• Red, yellow & green liquid food colourinng

Directions

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease the base and sides of a 10x10 square baking pan.  You may also line it with baking /parchment paper, allowing the 2 long sides to overhang.

Combine the date, water and baking soda in a medium heatproof bowl. Set aside for 10 mins to soak. Use a stand up mixer, add the eggs and oil and whisk to combine. You could also use the hand-held mixer as there is not a long of mixing involved. 

In the meantime, for the dry ingredients, combine the flour, sugar, carrot, walnut, cinnamon and nutmeg well in a bowl and keep aside. Mix in the dry ingredients in batches and stir in the date mixture at the very last. They should just be uniformly distributed in the batter. Spoon into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake for 50 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Set aside in the pan for 10 mins to cool slightly before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting- Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese and butter in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Add icing sugar. Beat until well combined. Reserve 1/4 cup of the icing. Spread remaining icing over top of cake. 

Divide reserved icing between 2 bowls. Add red and yellow colouring to 1 portion to make orange icing. Tint remaining icing portion with green colouring. Place the orange icing in a piping bag fitted with a 2mm nozzle. Pipe 1cm-long carrot shapes on top of cake. Place the green icing in a clean piping bag fitted with a 2mm nozzle. Pipe onto cake to make the carrot tops.

Note:

Self-raising flour is really easy to whip up if you have corn starch in your pantry. Measure out  1 cup of all-purpose flour . Take out 2 tbsp and replace it with the same quantity of corn flour/corn starch.Mix well until everything is uniformly combined. There you have it..Self-raising flour..

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake with Homemade Dulce de Leche sauce

 I love the Dulce de Leche Cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. C'mon, who doesn't  love their Cheesecakes? The richness of the Cheesecake with the swirls of Dulce de Leche will be a big hit the next time you have company over.  The recipe from Tasteandtellblog.com is a nice place to start, though I made my own alterations. Please read till the end before you start making this beauty. 

Difficulty level: Medium

Preparation time: 30 min, if you have the Dulce de Leche sauce( which takes atleast 1 hr)

Baking time: 50-55 min

Ingredients

• 3 cups Graham crackers (original recipe used Vanilla wafers)
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 24 oz ( 680 gms) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup milk (I used low-fat)
• 1/2 cup Dulce de Leche, plus more for serving

For the Dulce de Leche

I can (400 gms) of sweetened condensed milk

First, prepare the Dulce de Leche sauce. Preheat the oven to 350F. Por the condensed milk into an oven-proof dish. Cover with aluminuim foil. Transfer the covered dish into a water bath ( for those of you who are not sure what a water bath is- it is a deep , say 2-3 inches , baking dish in which you pour boiling water all around the dish to be baked. This allows the item to bake more uniformly.) . Let it stay on the bottom rack of the oven for atleast 1 hour. The longer it takes in the oven, the darker it gets. Viola....the Dulce de Leche sauce is ready...

Once you have the sauce ready, let it cool to room temperature before you start with the Cheesecake. 

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. If using a water bath( I would strongly suggest you do) , wrap a 9-inch springform pan tightly with foil. ( Tips on properly securely the bottom, after the recipe)

Place the graham crackers in a food processor and process until completely crushed. Add the melted butter and pulse a few times until the crumbs are all moistened with the butter.

Press the crumbs into the prepared springform pan. Using a flat bottomed glass or measuring cup, press the crumbs firmly, but gently, to make sure they are packed and even. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 4 to 6 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.

Reset the oven temperature to 325ºF.

Place the cream cheese in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the stand mixer or an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until it is smooth. Add the sugar, flour and vanilla and beat until combined and smooth.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating only until combined. Be careful to not overmix. Add the milk and mix just until blended.

Measure 3/4 cup of the cheesecake batter and add it to a small bowl.  Add the 1/2 cup dulce de leche and mix to combine.

Place the springform pan with the cooled crust into a larger dish with sides that go up at least 1 inch.  Pour the plain cheesecake mixture into the springform pan. Top with the dulce de leche batter by placing rounded spoonfuls over the cheesecake batter and gently swirl it into the plain batter with the tip of a knife or a skewer.

Heat about 2 cups until very hot or boiling.

Place the cheesecake in the oven, then add the water carefully into the dish surrounding the cheesecake. Close the oven door and bake until the edges of the cheesecake are puffed and set, but the center should still be a bit jiggly, 45-55 minutes.  Turn off the oven and prop the door open. Leave the cheesecake in the oven to gradually cool for about an hour. Carefully remove the cheesecake from the oven, adding extra caution with the surrounding water. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the cheesecake, then cover the cheesecake and refrigerate until completely cold, at least 4 to 6 hours, but preferably overnight.

If desired, serve the cheesecake slices with additional dulce de leche over the top.

                                

Tips on wrapping the Springform pan

- A 9 inch round springform pan is the perfect size for cheesecakes, I think.

- Remove the bottom of the pan, and place a sheet of parchment paper over the round. Place the top of the springform pan over the round, and push it down where the edges line up and close the lever. This gives you the closed springform pan with parchment paper in the bottom, and the edges of the sheet of parchment paper sticking out.

- Put 2 pieces of foil on a counter, crossing each other. Place the springform pan in the center, and wrap the pan in the foil, making sure to not only bring the sides of the foil up, but the sides of the overhanging parchment paper as well. Make sure the foil is on very tight.  Place this in a pan that is just bigger – I use a 2-inch deep think baking sheet.

- once you have poured your batter into the pan, place it on the middle rack of your preheated oven. Fill the outside pan with very hot water, making sure you don’t splash the cheesecake.

Peanut Laddoo

I was looking for some easy sweets to make for Saraswathi Pooja (Navrathri). A friend of mine, Arathy, was telling me how her mom used to make this for her daughter every day as tea-time snack (right as she came back from school).

This is perhaps the easiest laddoo I've ever known. The moisture from the brown sugar is the binder here.

Difficulty level: Easy
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time: Nil
Makes: 13 small laddoos

Ingredients:


Peanuts: 1/2 cup
Brown sugar: 1/2 cup

Coarse-grind the peanuts and keep aside. Add the brown sugar and mix well. Shape into small laddoos. Dig in.

Granny Smith Apple Pickle

Usually when I make pickles at home, I use mangoes (see an earlier post of mine). I just wanted to see if I can experiment with something else. Granny Smith apples apparently are good too.

Difficulty level: Easy
Preparation time: 10 min
Cooking time:  2-3 min
Makes: 1 1/2 cup

Ingredients:


Granny smith apples, chopped in to small pieces: 1 1/2 cup (1 medium)
Oil: 1 tsp
Chilli powder: 2 tsp
Asafoetida powder: a pinch
Salt: to taste

Heat the oil in a skillet. Keep it aside once it gets very hot. To this, add the chilli powder and asafoetida powder. Mix well until the raw taste of the spices have gone (about 2 min). Add the chopped apple along with enough salt and mix well. Allow to cool completely before transferring to a bottle.