EVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : AN INGREDIENT BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER Z RECIPE: ZUCCHINI HALWA – VEGAN Zucchini Halwa is dairy free, melt in the mouth, flavorful, aromatic halwa cooked in the Indian style. If you are a fan of doodhi ka halwa or bottle gourd halwa then you’ll surely love this one. My blog follower requested I make an Indian sweet but vegan. Lots of Indian sweets are made from dairy milk, or will have ghee (clarified butter). Recently, for my online shopping Iist I wrote 1 zucchini and I got 1 kg! That is a lot of zucchini. Used it to make zucchini paneer appe (recipe to follow soon), used some for handvo, added to my baked pasta. That is when…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY THEME: MANGOES KING OF FRUITS RECIPE: MANGO FALOODA Mango Falooda is a delicious dessert drink made with fresh mango and ice cream. An easy to make summer Indian dessert, mango falooda is simply irresistible. Along with chopped ripe mango, mango puree, jelly(jello), vermicelli and basil seeds (sabja seeds) are added to chilled milk. Top it with chopped nuts and you have an Indian version of a sundae. The Origin Of Falooda or Faluda Falooda or Faluda is originally a Persian drink dessert brought to the Indian Sub Continent during the Mughal Era. And some say it was brought to the Indian Sub Continent by King Nader Shah, a Persian Ruler. Whichever way it came, it clearly was a dessert drink meant for…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: ODIA PITHA RECIPE: CHANDRAKANTI PITHA Chandrakanti Pitha is a delicious dessert which is traditionally made in the Ganjam district of Odisha. Made from soaked moong dal and rice batter, the outer part is crispy and the inside soft and not too sweet.It tastes like moong halwa but with a crispy coating. One has the option to cut the cooked and set batter into any shape one desires. I stuck to the traditional square pieces. Alternately one can shape them into balls before deep frying. A bit about Pitha Pitha is not restricted to the state of Odisha only. One can find different kind of pitha in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Assam. Pitha is a type of food which can…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY THEME: FRUITY DESSERTS RECIPE: MANGO & VANILLA PANNA COTTA Mango & Vanilla Panna Cotta is molded chilled Italian dessert with layers of vanilla and mango. Smooth, velvety and so delectable. A melt in mouth kind of dessert, panna cotta is my favorite.What I love about making panna cotta is that is it so easy to make this luscious, mouthwatering dessert. It can be served with sauces, coulis, jam, jelly, etc. Panna Cotta is so easy to make. Some heat the milk and cream together. Some heat milk and add to the cream. A setting agent like gelatin, agar agar, or vegetarian gelatin is added to allow the panna cotta to set. It should not be firm but more like a jelly consistency.…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: FROZEN TREATS RECIPE: PASSION FRUIT & TREE TOMATO ICE CREAM This Passion Fruit & Tree Tomato Ice Cream has been inspired from the regular fresh juices that one generally finds on restaurant menus in Kenya. In fact, I love passion fruit and tree tomato juice as it is so refreshing, aromatic and delicious. So, as expected this ice cream turned out just that, refreshing, aromatic and super delicious. Brief History of Ice Cream According to history an ice cream like produce was invented in China around 200BC. In fact, Milk and rice mixture was frozen by packing it in snow. Some say it was invented in Persia. It is believed that the Roman Emperor Nero had slaves collect ice…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : AN INGREDIENT BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER V RECIPE: VANILLA PUDDING, EGG FREE What is Vanilla Pudding? So creamy, silky, delectable and easy to make. Dress Vanilla Pudding up with fruits, ginger snaps, chocolates or enjoy on its own. And so much better than ready made or prepackaged ones. Vanilla Pudding is a traditional dessert made from egg yolks, cornstarch, milk, sugar and vanilla. Some add a bit of butter, some don’t. For the egg free version, I’ve omitted eggs and instead added some cream. How is it different from Custard? Here, the reference is to the actual homemade custard and not the ones we make from flavored powder. Generally custard is made using egg yolks which is…
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Continue ReadingRECIPE: BRAZILIAN CARROT CAKE Brazilian Carrot Cake is not only beautifully bright but so soft, moist, fluffy and divine. Drizzled with melted dark chocolate, it makes a perfect dessert or enjoy some with coffee. I’d come across the recipe years ago and had jotted it down. Then, had forgotten all about it. Generally, if I’m not with family for my birthday, it does not occur to my hubby to order a cake! I’d actually been dropping hints that there are quite a few ladies in our apartment complex who bake and sell cakes, one is my neighbor. However, come 20th Feb there is no cake! So the hunt for an easy peasy cake began as I knew my other neighbor’s kid would be expecting a…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: A- Z RECIPE CHALLENGE THEME : AN INGREDIENT BEGINNING WITH THE LETTER U RECIPE: CHOCOLATE MANGO SMOOTHIE – USING UNSWEETENED COCOA Chocolate Mango Smoothie, using unsweetened cocoa is a delicious, exotic, filling and healthy smoothie to enjoy as breakfast, as a snack or as a light meal. I made this as our Valentine’s Day treat, chocolatey but without any sugar or any other sweetener at all. So yes totally a healthy smoothie and diabetic friendly. Actually, didn’t need to add any sort of sweetener as the mango was sweet. What is Unsweetened Cocoa Quite often when I feel like having a chocolatey smoothie for breakfast I reach out for unsweetened cocoa. Cocoa powder as its mostly available, tends to be unsweetened, that is, no…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY THEME: ROMANCE FOR VALENTINE’S DAY RECIPE: WATERMELON MOUSSE Watermelon Mousse Watermelon Mousse is a very light, refreshing, fruity, delicious dessert. Easy to make, its a perfect dessert to celebrate Valentine’s Day or to enjoy for a romantic evening. The first time I tried this recipe was sometime in Nov 2013. I prepared Watermelon Mousse for a family Sunday lunch. The best part of preparing this mousse, was that it was easy, had no eggs and different. Generally mousse is prepared with the more familiar fruits like mango, strawberry, raspberry, pineapple, etc. Hardly ever anyone thinks of using watermelon to prepare a dessert. My guests couldn’t believe that the mousse was made with watermelon. I posted the recipe on 12/11/2013 but the one…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: WARM DESSERTS RECIPE: BAKED APPLES Baked Apples As the name suggests, apples are baked with a stuffing. Easy to make, absolutely delicious with a light tangy caramel sauce that develops when butter and brown sugar melts into the fresh orange juice. Best enjoyed warm. Usually, the apples are either cut into halves, cored and stuffed or whole apples are used. Actually, it is so much easier to core apples with a corer. However, if you don’t have one, then patiently cut out the middle of the apple with a sharp paring knife. Incidentally, have you noticed how when you need a gadget the most, you cannot find it? I swear I had a corer and just can’t find it! Not…
