Eggless Fresh Mango Cake with Nuts & Raisins

Eggless Fresh Mango Cake with Nuts & Raisins

The mango season is just about getting over and I still can't get over the king of fruits! The number of recipes that this fruit can be a part of is amazing - pickles, dals, curries, desserts, juices, the list is endless and the taste, rich, sweet and sour, delightful! 

One such recipe is a quick and easy cake using fresh mango pulp/ puree! Don't believe me? Try it and let me know if your taste buds enjoyed it!

EGGLESS MANGO CAKE WITH NUTS & RAISINS

Prep Time: 15 mins | Cooking Time: 6-7 mins | Servings: about 15 slices

Ingredients:

1. Mango Puree/ Pulp - 1-1½ cup (I used 2 medium sized 'Badami' mango)
2. All purpose flour/ Maida - 2 cups
3. Milk - ½ cup
4. Sugar - ¾ cup
5. Condensed Milk - ½ cup
6. Vinegar or Lemon Juice - 1 tablespoon
7. Refined Oil - 2 tablespoons
8. Baking Powder - 1½  teaspoon
9. Baking Soda - ½  teaspoon
10. Vanilla Essence - ½  teaspoon
11. Nuts & Raisins - 1 cup (I used about ¾ cup walnuts and filled the rest with raisins)

Preparation: 

• Add mango pulp, sugar, condensed milk, milk, oil, vinegar, vanilla essence in a bowl and mix till the sugar dissolves.

• Sieve the maida, baking powder and baking soda and slowly add it to the mango pulp mixture and keep whisking lightly to ensure there are no lumps. Add nuts and raisins and mix evenly.

• Grease a microwave bowl and add the mixture to it. Microwave on high for about 6-7 minutes. Rest the cake for 5 minutes. Serve once cool.

Serve the cake with Vanilla Ice cream, Mango ice cream or just as is.. Enjoy the flavour of the season!

Gajar ka Halwa - The Quintessential Indian Dessert!

With the winter chills setting in, vegetable stores and streets are full of delicious, long, juicy, flavoursome

'Delhi Carrots'... And what better to start your winters than some steaming hot and delicious Gajar ka Halwa - a dessert pudding associated with northern India and served at most festivals and functions. This light and popular milk-based, nut-laced dessert is also finding its inroads in other parts of the country and has become quite a popular choice at various functions! I welcomed the winters this year with my first plate of Gajar Halwa and here's a hassle-free recipe to cook up this delicious dessert for your next party!

GAJAR KA HALWA

Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 30-40 mins | Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1. Delhi Carrots - 1 kg
2. Ghee - 3 tablespoons
3. Sugar - 3-4 tablespoons
4. Condensed Milk (Milkmaid) - 1 tin
5. Cashews and raisins - 1 cup for garnish

Preparation:

• Boil a vessel of water as you peel and cut the carrots into about 3-4 inches long pieces. Par boil the carrots (once the water boils, take it off the heat, add the chopped pieces of carrots and cover it with a lid for 5-7 minutes)

• Once the carrots begin to soften slightly, take them off the hot water and grate them

• Heat 3 tablespoons of ghee in a pan/ kadhai and begin to roast the grated carrots till its moisture evaporates and its raw smell wears off. Once the moisture has evaporated, you can add about 3 tablespoons of sugar. Mix and roast till the sugar melts and the carrots begin to change colour slightly (turning orang-ish). 

• Add one whole tin of condensed milk (about 400 ml) to the mixture and stir continuously. Keep mixing it till the condensed milk thickens and blends well with the carrots and the halwa begins to thicken and shine and leave the sides of the kadhai (this is an indication that the halwa is done). 

• Once done, add a generous helping of raisins and shredded cashews to garnish the halwa and serve hot! 

Traditionally, Gajar Halwa is cooked in a mixture of water, milk and sugar while stirring continuously. With this recipe, you can eliminate the process of using milk and sugar and use condensed milk instead. In case you like your halwa generously sweet, you can add sugar additionally.  Parboiling the carrots before roasting them in ghee will help cook them faster too. 

Quickie Fruit Cream

With a bunch of juicy fresh fruits sitting at home, I was suddenly craving for a sweet delight, without having to put too much effort though! Simply cutting the fruits and having a fruit plate was far from appealing. What's the fun in eating something sweet without a dash of indulgence! 

With a couple of quick go-to ingredients, a delicious bowl of Fruit Cream was ready in 5 minutes and at the end of licking it clean, I was only left asking for more. Here's the recipe for the dessert:

FRUIT CREAM

Prep Time: 10 mins | Cook Time: - | Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1. Pomegranate - 1 cup
2. Oranges - 1-2 nos (peeled)
3. Banana -1 (cut)
4. Apple - 1 (cut in cubes)
5. Condensed Milk - 1-2 tablespoon (Depending on  how sweet you like it)
6. Cream - 1 tablespoon

Procedure:

• Mix the fruits in a bowl

• Add condensed milk and cream and mix it evenly

• You can thrown in some nuts (like cashews, almonds) and may want to refrigerate it for sometime if you like it chilled.

Biscuit Brownies and a Twist in the Tale!

Quickfire, delicious no-bake, no-eggs Biscuit Brownies

It's Sunday, and I bet we all love to differ from the routine mundane weekday activities, one of the most important being cooking! We love to ditch the regular roti, sabzi, dal and chawal and add a little spice and twist to our leisure day... Like all of you, I too, was on a mission to surprise everyone at home and decided to take a wild shot, albeit with a twist. A fellow blogger had recently shared a really fun and easy way to prepare brownies - No Eggs, No Bake, No Cooking - and it was my turn to try the recipe out. But the Sunday Streak in me wanted to ditch the regular and do something out of the box.

Taking my chances, here's what I did - a step-by-step, rather, picture-by-picture, easy to follow account:

BISCUIT BROWNIES WITH A TWIST

Prep Time: 30 mins | Setting Time: 4-6 hours | Servings: 12-16 pieces

Ingredients:

1. Marie Biscuits - About 25 nos
2. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder - 3½ tablespoons
3. Sugar - 2 teaspoons
4. Roasted Nuts -  ¼ cup (Chopped) - I took Walnuts for the dash of bitter taste 
5. The Twist - 1½-2 teaspoons
6. Sweetened Condensed Milk: approx 300 gm (out of a 400 gm Milkmaid tin)
7. Baking Dish with butter paper or a regular dish (greased) for setting the brownies 

Procedure:

• Break the biscuits and coarsely grind them and add the unsweetened cocoa powder and mix well

• Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and mix well

• Dry-roast your choice of nuts (cashews, walnuts, hazelnuts - whatever you may like) and add to the mixture

• Now here comes the twist - add about 1½-2 teaspoons of chilli powder and ½ a teaspoon of cinnamon powder to this mixture - the chilli and cinnamon accentuate the taste of chocolate and leave an aftertaste and hint of spice and twist! You can skip this step and follow the rest if you like your chocolate to taste routine or be a little sporting and experiment with a dash of spice and chilli!

• Add the condensed milk to the mixture and mix it well. remember to use a strong spoon since the mixture is going to be sticky and hard - if you wanna get your hands dirty, go the old school way of kneading this mixture 

• Once you have mixed it, spread it in your baking dish
• Dip your fingers in water as you press and roll the mixture out on to the dish else it will keep sticking to your hands

• Set the dish to refrigerate for about 4-8 hours before you cut and serve it

When my husband first tasted it, this is what he had to say - "Hmm...this is like a usual..... now there's an aftertaste of spice! That's different and almost like a jolt! Definitely not what I had expected and certainly tastes good."

Well, it absolutely made my Sunday and hope you guys enjoy putting up a perfect twist to your day with this quickfire, spiced dessert! Else, what is life without some fun, spice and zing! 

Choc 'em up this festive season!

What comes across your mind when you hear the word Laddoo? Colourful balls of boondi (motichoor), rava (semolina), golden brown besan (gram flour), coconut and so many other varieties made for several festive and religious occasions in Indian families. I was trying to dig up a little history on this popular sweet and I learned that Laddoo comes from the Sanskrit word 'ladduka or lattika', which means 'small ball'.While it is still debatable, it is widely believed that the sweet originated from the Mithilanchal region of Bihar during the times of Chandragupta Maurya. Much has changed since then and the dish has evolved and people have experimented with flavours and ingredients.

One interesting take on this dish was a delight, especially among kids - the Chocolate version! Here's a quick step-by-step on preparing and shaping delicious chocolate laddoos... Turn your festivities chocolaty this year! 

CHOCOLATE LADDOOS

Prep Time: 10 min | Cooking Time: 10-15 mins before shaping them | Servings: 30-35 laddoos

Ingredients:

1. Marie Biscuits (plain) - 2 small packets
2. Condensed Milk - 1 tin (400 gm)
3. Drinking Chocolate - 7-8 tablespoons 
4. Coffee Powder - 1 tablespoon
5. Desiccated coconut - 2-2½ cups
6. Butter - 3 tablespoons
7. Walnuts - 50 gm (chopped)

Procedure: 

1. Grind the pack of biscuits and keep them aside
2. In a saucepan or vessel, melt butter and add the drinking chocolate powder and coffee powder. Use the double boiling method to melt and mix to avoid excessive heating or burning. 
3. Mix the ground biscuits to this and keep stirring
4. Add condensed milk and whisk the mixture evenly
5. Add half the quantity of desiccated coconut, followed by walnuts and any other dryfruits that you may want to add
6. Take this mixture off the heat and start shaping them into laddoos of desired size
7. Roll them in the remaining desiccated coconut and kick off festivities in choco-style with a platter of these tempting laddoos! 

Festive Favourite Laddoos

Round and golden brown, glistening and soft that they melt the moment you pop them into your mouth... Such is the magic of simple besan laddoos, a festive favourite at my home since time immemorial! I recall the fragrance of besan roasted in ghee emanating from the kitchen right up to the staircase and I only wanted to run up and get mom to hurry so that I could gorge on them! With minimum ingredients, the round laddoos, shiny as ever and with the right balance of sweetness, texture and flavour  is a perfect way to kick off festivities.

Besan Laddoos are served as one of the main 'prasadams' at home for Diwali and are traditionally packed off if the children are leaving their homes for studying or working. It is an all-time favourite and mom's extra special magic just does the trick.

Here's how you can make the perfect besan laddoos for your loved ones!

BESAN (GRAM FLOUR) LADDOOS 

Prep Time: 10 mins | Cooking Time: 25-30 min (roasting) | Servings: makes around 25 small laddoos

Ingredients:

1. Besan (Gram Flour) - 2 cups (approx 250 gm ) - Ensure it is not very finely ground
2. Ghee - 150 gm
3. Powdered Sugar - (Equivalent to quantity of besan) - Approx 250 gm
4. Cardamom Powder - 1-2 teaspoons

Procedure:

1. Heat the ghee in a pan and add besan. Keep roasting it on medium flame till the besan begins to turn slightly golden brown and shiny (with the ghee). This will take about 30 mins on a low-medium flame. 
2. Avoid the mixture sticking to the base of the pan. Also ensure that the raw smell of the besan wears off completely and it emanates the roasted flavour.
3. Let this mixture cool off completely till it is slightly higher than room temperature.
4. Add powdered sugar (clear off the lumps if any before you add it) and knead the mixture of besan and sugar to mix well with your hands.
5. Add cardamom powder and knead it again.
6. Form laddoos of desired size. You may want to garnish the laddoos with a raisin on each of the laddoo.

Notes & Tips:

• The only real flavour to the besan laddoos is derived from the ghee (preferably pure ghee) that it is roasted in. Do not decrease the quantity of the ghee.
• It is important to roast the besan on low-medium flame and keep mixing it to avoid burning. Also ensure that the raw smell and taste of the besan is eliminated completely, else it will render an unpleasant taste to the laddoos
• ALWAYS and A L W A Y S add sugar only when the besan is cooled down naturally to room temperature (or slightly higher). Else the laddoos may end up hard and brittle! The delight of besan laddoos melting in your mouth is magical! 
• Kneading the besan and powdered sugar with your hands rather than a spatula ensures it is evenly mixed and the heat produced by your palms give the mixture some moisture to roll them into perfect laddoos

Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye!

It has been an everlasting affair of sorts with all things sugary and sweet.. Blame it on the genes I say. How else can one explain the fact that I can go weak in the knees at the thought of tasting a dessert and the fact that I can settle for a little piece of jaggery for lunch if there is no other sweet available! If you're not worried about piling on those extra little grams, this is the perfect place for discussing your dessert delights. 

Let me begin with something traditional... It is rich, it is creamy and definitely worth running back for an extra spoon for me! My all time favourite Rice Kheer. Try it and gorge on it!

RICE KHEER (PHIRNI)

Prep Time: 15 mins | Cooking Time: 60-75 mins | Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1. Whole Milk - 1½ litres
2. Rice - ¾ cup
3. Ghee - 2 teaspoons
4. Sugar - ¾-1 cup
5. Saffron - 3-4 strands
6. Cardamom Powder - ½-1 teaspoon
7. Nutmeg Powder - ½ teaspoon
8. Almonds - ½ cup chopped to garnish (about 10-15 nos)

Procedure:

1. Wash the rice about 2-3 times and strain all the water. Leave it on a soft cloth for 5-10 mins
2. Heat a pan and add 2 teaspoons of ghee. Roast the rice in ghee (medium to low flame) for about 10 mins till the rice begins to change its colour (slightly pink). Once it changes colour, take it off the heat
3. Once the rice is slightly cool, grind it coarsely (just once in a mixer)
4. In a separate vessel or saucepan, heat milk and bring it to boil while stirring continuously. 
5. Add the ground rice to the milk and let it cook for about 30-45 mins. Ensure that it is stirred frequently to avoid rice sticking to the base of the vessel.
6. Once the rice is cooked, add sugar and keep stirring for another 10-15 mins till the sugar dissolves and milk is reduced and thickened slightly
7. Add cardamom and nutmeg powders, crushed saffron strands and chopped (boiled) almonds and let is boil for 5 more mins for it to soak in the flavours
8. You can serve it hot or refrigerate it and serve cold

Notes & Tips:

• This method of preparation takes longer than the one while making Payasam (traditional south Indian kheer)
• Roasting the rice in ghee and cooking it in milk rather than pressure cooking rice and adding to boiled milk, makes the kheer extremely flavoursome 
• Always add sugar once the rice is cooked properly, else the rice will not cook 

This is a slightly cumbersome process where you need to spend a good hour standing, stirring and cooking, but the result is a very rich, creamy and elegant and tasty dish with simple elements!