Vegan Creamy Pasta

          I love pasta with the alfredo sauce, but most of the time, avoid it because of the amount of calories and fat in the sauce. When thinking about an alternative, I came up with the idea of using mustard seeds and cashews in the place of butter and all purpose flour. I know many of you would make a face at the thought of using mustard seeds, even I had my doubts, but went ahead with the idea and believe me, it tasted really good, creamy and rich, finger lickin' good or should I say fork lickin'..

Need To Have

• Whole Grain Shells (Pasta) - 4 cups
• Red Pepper ( Capsicum) - 1 diced
• Mushrooms - 8 oz diced
• Zucchini - 1 diced
• Dry Basil - 3 teaspoons
• Red Chilli Flakes - 1 teaspoon
• Cashew Pieces - 2 tablespoons
• Yellow Mustard Seeds - 2 teaspoons
• Black Pepper - to taste

Method 
         Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box ( for about 10 mins). Make a paste with the cashews and the mustard seeds. Heat some olive oil, add the red pepper, mushroom and the zucchini, saute for a few minutes. The vegetables should be half cooked but not mushy. Now add the basil, red chilly flakes and the paste, saute for a few more mins till the raw smell of the mustard seeds goes ( for about 5 mins). Finally mix in the pasta and serve warm with a dash of black pepper.

Note
The vegetables and pasta should not be over cooked.
I don't know whether you can use the store bought mustard sauce, because it contains ingredients other than mustard, try it and let me know.

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Eggless Lemon Poppy Seeds Muffins

          Lemon is one my favorite flavors, be it in a sweet or a savory dish. The first time I tasted these lemon poppy seeds muffins, I fell in love with the taste and also was surprised to see black poppy seeds. In India we are familiar with the white poppy seeds that we use in our curries, but not heard of the black ones. Not only do these muffins taste great, they also look so pretty with those poppy seeds, and have a lovely flavor from the lemon, an awesome combination..

Need To Have

• All Purpose Flour - 1 cup
• Granulated Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Fat  Free Evaporated Milk - 3/4 cup
• Oil - 1/4 cup
• Black Poppy Seeds - 2 tablespoons
• Lemon Juice - 2 tablespoons
• Lemon Zest - from 2 lemons
• Baking Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Baking Soda - 1 teaspoon
• Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon
• Salt - a tiny pinch

Method
          Preheat the oven to 350F and sift the flour, baking soda and the baking powder. Beat the evaporated milk, oil and the sugar, add the salt and the vanilla extract. Now fold in the sifted dry ingredients, finally add the lemon zest, lemon juice and the poppy seeds and mix slightly. Pour into greased muffin pans and bake for 15 mins. Cool for 3 mins, remove from the pan and cool completely on a cookie rack.

Sending it to Tickling Palates for the I Love Baking event,
                to Priya's Now Serving for Vardhini's Bake Fest event,
                to Learning To Cook for the Dish Name Starts With 'L' event,
                to Simply.Food for Sara's Cooking With Love - Dad event and
                                         for Let's Bake Cupcakes And Muffins event.


Note
Do not over mix the batter.
I used the mini muffin pans, so it took me only 15 mins, if you are using the big muffin pan it'll take a little longer, keep an eye on the oven.
I had used only 1 + 1/2 tablespoons of poppy seeds but would recommend 2 tablespoons, then only they'll be more visible.
I was also wondering about the color of the muffins, I didn't get the light yellowish color, but a rich golden color, it's because I added the evaporated milk, but the taste was the same.

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Hi Every one!

Finally I baked in this heat and humidity but then again I did not make anything elaborate but it was interesting and inviting, as I baked the scones. Scone, pronounced Scon as in ‘ON’. is traditionally a British small, rich, biscuit like pastry or quick bread, made by using baking powder as a leavening agent, sometimes baked on a griddle.

Traditionally they were made the size of a medium plate but these days, in the modern kitchen small sized scones are baked. These are served warm, slit in horizontally and layered with butter. These make an ideal breakfast item along with milk or tea.

I have posted a Savory Scallion Mushroom Cilantro Scone recipe ages back but today's version is lightly sweet. Scones are normally made thick but I made a slightly thinner version this time. This scone needs very few ingredients. The kid loved them and finished the entire batch and asked me to bake more.

Sending it to my event ‘Only’ Cooking with Chocolate. Also, reposting Chocolate Muesli Bar and Oats Choco Fudge for the event.

Chocolate Scone

Preparation Time:10mins

Baking Time:10-12mins

Cooling Time:10mins

Ingredients

10oz Self raising Flour

2-1/2oz Butter at room temperature

2oz chocolate chips

about 75-100ml milk

1tbsp caster sugar

Method

Arrange all the properly measured ingredients together for use.

Take the self raising flour in a bowl and add the butter.

Mix using finger tips, rubbing the butter into the flour to get a crumbly texture.

Add caster sugar and chocolate chips and mix.

Add milk gradually and without over mixing and over kneading, make a dough.

Take dough on the platform and using APF roll a disc of 1/2” to 1” thickness.

Score the disc into 9 parts and cut.

Place on a greased plate. Apply milk wash.

Bake in a preheated oven at 220C for 10-12mins, till golden in color. Cool for 10mins.

Serve warm.

 Sending it to I love baking #4 hosted by Tickling Palates.

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Carrot Dal

          I make some kind of dal (lentils) at least two or three times a week, trying to cook a different tasting dal everytime is a real challenge. But then I try to do it either by changing the spices or the vegetables that are added to the dal, one such attempt is this carrot dal. To spice up the dal I added some ginger and pepper, because of the sweetness of the carrots, I feel this dal tastes better with pepper than the usual red chilli powder, this also gives a nice flavor to this carrot dal..

Need To Have

• Moong Or Green Gram Dal - 1/2 cup
• Masoor Dal Or Orange Lentils - 1/2 cup
• Grated Carrot - 1 cup
• Grated Ginger - 1 + 1/2 tablespoon
• Pepper Powder - 2 teaspoons
• Tomato - 1 medium chopped into big chunks
• Onion - 1 big chopped
• Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
• Curry Leaves - 5 or 6
• Sliced Onions And Chopped Coriander - to garnish

Method
          Pressure cook both the dals together ( takes 1/3 of the time taken to cook rice). Heat some oil, add the cumin seeds, when it starts spluttering, add the onions, saute till it turns transparent, then add the ginger, carrots salt and the pepper powder, saute well ( at least for 5 mins) till the carrots get cooked. Then add the curry leaves and tomatoes, keep sauteing till they start to break down, at this stage add the cooked dal and some water (about a cup or more), simmer for another 5 mins. Remove, serve it garnished with some onions and coriander, goes well both with rotis and rice.
Sending it to Prabha's Cooking for the Julie's EP Series - Ginger And Pepper Powder event
                to Erivum Puliyum for Sangee's Show Me Your "Hits" - Iron Rich Foods event,
                to Simply.Food for Sara's Cooking With Love - Dad event and
                to Zesty South Indian Kitchen for the Hearth & Soul Blog Hop event.

Note
Cook the dal well but not like a paste, there should be some texture to it, you can cook in a open pot too.
Can use any one of the dals alone instead of a mix.

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Badam/Almond Sherbet for III Blog Anniversary

Hi All!

I'm so ecstatic today as I type this post..Can't believe three years have passed by..

I've always managed to make some dessert for the anniversary posts, Litchi Kulfi for the first year and  Darsaan With Icecream the last year. Temperature is always an issue around this time of the year but this year, it's different, it's humid too. With temperature hitting 43C and humidity as high as 85%, I'm avoiding doing anything elaborate. I feel sapped out of energy and dehydrated at times inspite of drinking water constantly.. 

I wanted to make something cooling for the body which could be made quickly. I realized I have not posted any sherbets till date and decided to post it for this special occasion..

My Mom, recently had mentioned about this sherbet which she had at her friend's place, named Mrs.Gupte . Since she liked it very much, she asked for the recipe from her friend and called me immediately to tell me the recipe. It was an easy recipe to learn, I just memorized it and thought of making later. She also told me that this sherbet is very good for cooling the body, especially in summers many people suffer blood loss during egestion (aav)  due to excessive heat, this sherbet is extremely good to control that.

I've made this sherbet only using almonds as I love it's natural flavor. I also loved the milky texture the almonds gives to this drink, in fact it can be mistaken as milk, if not seen carefully. If you do not like the flavor of pure almonds, one can also add saffron or cardamom. The sherbet is made with water but the sherbet mix can also be mixed with cold milk and be used to make milk shake which I do intend to give to the kid. Since, the sherbet has almonds it is undoubtedly rich in proteins.

Badam Sherbet

Soaking Time:6hrs
Preparation Time:30mins
Cooking Time:10mins
Makes:12-15servings

Ingredients

Sugar

Almonds

Water

Method

Soak the almonds in water overnight or for 5-6hrs. The almonds double in volume.Peel the almonds.



Without using any water, grind the almonds to a fine paste.



See the quantity of paste formed in a measuring cup or any katori.



Take sugar three times the quantity of almond paste in a pan and add enough water to immerse it.



Bring sugar solution to a boil and make a sugar syrup of one string consistency. To check the consistency, take a drop of sugar syrup on a plate and then put the index finger on the syrup and press the index finger with the thumb. If a single string of sugar syrup is formed, the consistency is correct.



Reduce the flame and mix the almond paste thoroughly into the sugar syrup.



Boil for a minute. Do not over boil as the syrup thickens on cooling.



Cool and use the almond sherbet mix.
Normally for a glass about 5-6tbsp sherbet mix is required or add per your taste. Garnish with mint leaves or slivered almond. Serve chilled.

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Mustard Greens Rice

          Since I have to pack lunch everyday for the husband and the daughter, and they usually take rotis or rice I try out different versions of mixed rice, one such is this mustard greens rice. I had bought them actually to make the famous sarson ka saag, but then ended up making this rice with the mustard greens, the other dish has to wait for another day. I didn't have  a clue, how this was going to turn out but the final product didn't disappoint me, it was very delicious..

Need To Have

• Basmati Rice - 2 + 1/2 cup
• Chopped Mustard Greens - 2 cups packed
• Chana Dal - 1/2 cup
• Peanuts - 1/4 cup
• Onion - 1 big chopped
• Garlic - 5 cloves chopped
• Tomatoes - 3 medium chopped
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Red Chilli Powder - 1 + 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 2 teaspoons
• Panch Phoran - 1 + 1/4 teaspoon

Method
          Wash and soak the basmati rice for half an hour, also soak the chana dal for the same amount of time. Cook the rice with 5 cups of water, and cool it. Heat oil, add the panch phoran, once it starts spluttering, add the peanuts, roast for a 2 or 3 mins, then add the drained chana dal, saute for 2 mins. Then add the garlic and the onions, saute till the raw smell of garlic goes away, add the tomatoes, salt, turmeric, chilli and coriander powder, saute well till the tomatoes break down. Now add the chopped greens, saute for 2 more mins, then cover and cook for 5 mins. Remove lid, mix everything till dry. Mix it with the rice and serve with some raitha.

Sending it to Erivum Puliyum for Sangee's Show Me Your "Hits" - Iron Rich Foods event and
                to Simply.Food for Sara's Cooking With Love - Dad event.


Note
If you don't have panch phoran add an equal amount of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel seeds and onion seeds (nigella).
Check the greens, if it's not cooked, cook for some more time.

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Cucumber Cooler

           Though it is not yet summer here officially, the weather has become a little warmer. You feel like having something cold now, be it juices, salads or ice creams. In my family, all of us like buttermilk, and my daughter likes the cucumber raitha, so I put the two together and  added some cucumber to the regular buttermilk. It's very simple to make, very healthy cooler and tasted really good..

Need To Have
Curd Or Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Cucumber - 1/2 cup chopped
Chopped Coriander - 1 tablespoon
Asafoetida - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - to taste

Method
          Grind the cucumber pieces into a smooth paste. To this add the curd, coriander, salt and asfoetida, blend everything well. Serve it chilled.
Sending it to Pages for the Cool Summer Sips event,
                to Simply.Food for Sara's Cooking With Love - Dad event.
                to Recipe Junction for Spotlight - Summer Cooler event and
                to Tomato Blues for the Summer Spirits event.

Note
Remove the seeds from the cucumber before grinding it.
Homemade yogurt is always a little thin, if you are using store bought thick yogurt use some water.
If you buy buttermilk, do it the same way, there is no right consistency, it is individual preference.





 

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