A Homemade Life and a banana bread

I realize I have been absent from my favorite book club for a long time. It does not, however, mean that I haven’t been reading the books that are voted in as the club’s book of the month. I read Caliph’s house and even managed to write a few lines about it on my iPhone while sipping coffee at a McDonald’s and keeping an eye on Jr running around in the play area. This is what I wrote, if anyone doubts it:

If you pick up this book, expecting it to be along the lines of Under the Tuscan Sun, you will be sorely disappointed. While the Tuscan Sun was a loving albeit a laborious exercise in restoring a Tuscan villa, Caliph’s house is anything but. Fraught with jinns, superstitious guardians, unpredictable secretaries and a mobster for a neighbor, the project to restore a Caliph’s house, at the edge of a Casablanca slum, is destined for disaster…

I could have written more but I quickly lost interest in writing the review. Since the book never got better, how much can one write in the negative?

In contrast to TCH, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Molly Wizenberg’s A Homemade Life. Author of the blog Orangette, Molly writes with an old fashioned, homemade charm about food, family and friends. The book reads like a collection of her blog posts with one to two recipes at the end of each post. There are recipes for soups, stews, salads, cakes and pies, some perfected by her cousins, her dad, her husband and herself.

If you have ever wondered how to word a recipe, from ingredients to method, I highly recommend A Homemade Life. Molly has mastered the art of writing down the most complex of recipes into a simplified, you-can-do-it-style. Reading her recipes, related to the “food stories” that accompany it make you want to step in your kitchen and start making a big pot of soup or bake one of her decadent cakes.

For me, the most poignant of the posts were the ones about her father, his love of all things French that he passed on to her, and her deep connection with him. But there are moments of joy and serendipity and fortuitous connections made over food that will remind you that the common thread that binds us all is also the one that sustains us. That is the reason why so many bloggers blog about food and why there is an entire TV channel dedicated to food.

You may wonder why I have not chosen to cook anything from her book, after praising it so much. For one, after reading through the whole book all I wanted to make more than anything else was Molly’s chocolate cake that she made for her own wedding. This cake uses equal amounts of butter and chocolate, some sugar and just a tablespoon of flour. The recipe is one of those that lures you to make it right away and then consume the finished goods till there is none left.

However, when one day, towards the end of the year, you measure your waist and weight and almost swoon, it is no time to indulge in cakes made almost exclusively of butter, chocolate and sugar. Instead, you start driving towards a very hot Bikram yoga studio and sweat and stretch for 90 minutes until your body feels it has been through the wash, tumble and rinse cycle of the washing machine. After that you indulge yourself in the semi-sweet embrace of a 64% Cocoa Scharffenberger and call it a day.

Homemade double chocolate ice cream and pantry check

                   
When Nupur of One Hot Stove asks you to check what is lurking in your pantry, you don’t dally. You head straight for the pantry, throw open the door and stare at the mess that greets you. The pantry along with the rest of the house had been neglected for the last three months due to someone’s studies. There were packets of lentils, flour, some sprouting onions, a funky smell from some potatoes that got left at the bottom of the basket.

Ladies and gentlemen, don’t judge me. I am not always like this and I usually clean my pantry every couple of months. I was running a month behind, no big deal. Besides, the first step to solving a problem is acknowledging it, no less on a public blog.

Keep in mind all my kitchen essentials, except my masala dabba, are stored in the twenty square foot space which my dad calls a small kirana store (corner grocery store). Ok, my plates and bowls and glasses and kitchen utensils are also not in there.

Coming back to the sprouting onions and rotting potatoes, which promptly went on a date with the waste basket, the pantry was not as much a mess as it looked at first glance. The big cereal box from Costco was put on the top shelf, dwindling grains and lentils were transferred to cleaned, washed and saved up jam and salsa jars. The larger packets got their due space in bigger containers and canned goods were arranged with smaller ones on top of the larger ones.

Before you think I try to arrange my pantry like Ms. Martha Stewart, let me clarify. I grew up in a house where my mom cooked in a tiny kitchen. The first apartment I lived in after marriage had a galley kitchen so small I could touch the sink and stove with my arms extended. Six years later, when we bought our house, I was excited to have a pantry big enough to keep everything within easy reach.

Mexican Wedding Cookies for Global Kadai

Does running around for an hour with your four year old count towards a workout? I hope so because it is fun and tiring and a great way to keep a toddler occupied when the 'No TV' policy is still on. It also gave me a chance to burn off the Mexican Wedding Cookies I have been eating since the day they came out fresh from the oven.
The cookies were made for Global Kadai, a wonderful monthly event, started by Cilantro to Indianize international cuisines, one recipe at a time. This month's recipe is by Karen Ginnes and below is my Indianized version of the same.

I added nutmeg and ground ginger for flavor. I wanted to add finely ground almonds but ended up with some chunks in it and they gave a nutty texture to the cookies which tasted like a slightly spicy, less buttery, chocolaty version of the Indian nankhatai. Making the dough was simplicity itself and the cookies took about 10 minutes to bake to perfection.

(Makes about 3 dozen cookies)
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup fine sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 + 3/4 cups APF
1 cup almonds, (1/2cup ground fine and the other half coarse)
1/2 cup chocolate chips, chopped coarse
1/2 cup sweetened flake coconut (optional)
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp dry ginger powder (optional)
1/2 tsp instant coffee powder (optional)
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Method:
Cream the butter and sugar together till light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat some more.
In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients thoroughly.
Gradually add to the whipped butter till well incorporated.
Wrap tightly in the shape of a log in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 325 degree F (180 degree C).
Cut one inch discs out of the log and roll into balls.
Place an inch apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 8 - 10 minutes till the cookies are firm to touch.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool and after a minute dust the confectioner's sugar on top with the help of a small strainer.

Note: The coarsely ground almonds and chocolate chips give a bite to the cookies. You can ground the almonds fine or substitute with walnuts or pecans.

I liked the flavor of nutmeg but ground cardamom or cinnamon powder can be substituted.

These cookies are being shipped to Mahima's Indian Vegetarian Kitchen and to Sara's Corner.

The year errr… nine months in review

In an ideal world my last post of the year would have also been my 100^th post. But my world is anything but ideal so even though I was reaching hard for a century, I fell short by four posts.

As I write this post, there has been a second helping of snow in Texas. Technically, this is the third time it has snowed but the first time it was just for a few hours. The second time we had snow flurries the whole day and when it stopped the snow stayed on the next day. We had enough to make a snowman and have a snowball fight. Of course, we didn’t do it cause it was cozy and warm inside.

But I digress. Coming back to my eight months in review that starts in the month of April. I remember it was the beginning of spring and I felt it was a good day to start a blog. Of course, like all things I do in my life, I did not give it much thought but jumped right in.

Sabudana Khichdi

I was on a high after having mastered the art of making sabudana khichdi from a friend just days ago. I was making it every weekend and felt like sharing the secret to a non-sticky sabudana khichdi with the world. The picture was taken as an afterthought on the dining table, with my son’s toys scattered around.
A few other random recipes followed, some with pictures, some without. I was yet unaware of all the other amazing food blogs out there.  I just went exploring through the ‘Next Blog’ button. That is how I chanced on Dips’ Centaur Cooks. Through her, I found Vaishali’s wonderful, passionately vegan blog, Holy Cow, Recipes from a Vegan Kitchen.

Following few comments led to Supriya’s tasteful Red Chillis and the Holy Grail of Indie blogs, Jai and Bee’s Jugalbandi. Jugalbandi's monthly photo event was one highlight of my monthly posts as I tried to take better pictures every month. I am most proud of this one:

My aaji's teapots

Of course, RC’s Food World blog aggregator introduced me to a whole new world of blogging. One blog led to another and soon I was chasing blogs like one tries to count the stars. In the end, I had to curb my enthusiasm and detox myself of the wonderful but addictive world of blogging.

Mint Chai and a book review

By then I had also found the world of food events and there came a time when everything I posted was with the intent of entering in an event. I become obsessed with it to the point of exhaustion. You just have to look at the months of June and July. I was in full swing, with every post geared towards an event.

Batata Ros

Thankfully, I got out of that phase quickly. Now, I do enter a few events but I don’t stress myself out.

August was the result of my putting on a few pounds and logging my eating habits for the whole world to see.
By the end of that month, I was spent and two pounds lighter. I was also learning to relax with my posts and not try to force myself to write.
September was the month to brew some old memories and long forgotten recipes, not to mention two cathartic rants.

Sevainya Kheer

October saw fewer posts but by then I was no longer worried about posting something every couple of days and was taking my time with each post.

I had discovered Sra’s witty blog When my soup came alive and Manisha’s Indian Food Rocks the previous month. It was Diwali time by then and a total of my seven posts had either Diwali recipes or an entry for Sra’s unique The Write Taste event. Rock on Sra!

I would have completed the 100 post mark in mid December if I had been more active in November (only 4 posts!). But I was busy with going back to school (College for non USA reader), my final papers and presentation.

Moong dal dosas

I even missed my monthly book club review, This Book Makes Me Cook, that I had been religiously doing every month since July. It is a wonderful group of bloggers, headed by Simran of Bombay Foodie, who choose and review a book at the end of each month. We also try to create a recipe based on the book. If you would like to join our book club, drop a line to Simran or any of the other members and we will welcome you with open arms.

Gingered tomato soup

December started with only 10 posts to go and a steely resolve to hit the century.  Of course, the gods of fate conspired with a fun filled family holiday spent visiting children’s science and history museum and planning for my son’s fourth birthday.

So here I am, at the end of December, with four more posts to go but no more days left in the month.

It was still worth it though, making friends over the blog and meeting them on FB. Finding out about networked blogs (Thank you Vaishali) and trying to take better pictures of the food.

I will be remiss if I don’t mention a very witty blogger and now a good friend, Ann of Split Pear Personality. I met her through the book club (correct me if I am wrong Ann) a few months ago. If any one can make a recipe read funny it is Ann. Check out her left over Shepherd's Pie or the Counterfeit Appams.
Last but not the least, a special mention goes to Sangeeta of Banaras ka khanna, who despite personal adversity cooks delicious, regional foods from her kitchen in Delhi and puts it on her blog for the world to benefit from. You are a hero Sangeeta. Keep on blogging and smiling.

This brings us to the end of my post which is being shipped off hurriedly to Srivalli’s Best of the Year, just before the deadline ends.
Hopefully, the next two weeks will see me hit the century post.
Here's wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous 2010.

Vermicelli Kheer (milk pudding)/ Sevainya/ Shevayachi kheer

As promised in my previous post here’s the recipe for Vermicelli Kheer with pistachios and golden raisins and delicately flavored with cardamom pods. In Marathi vermicelli or sevainya is pronounced with an ‘H’ in front of the ‘S’. The taste remains the same.
Let me correct myself. The taste of the vermicelli stays the same but depending on how much elbow grease you are willing to put in boiling the milk, the taste of the kheer changes from good to delicious to decadently rich. On the few occasions that I make it, I like to take the time and effort to cook it to a consistency where the milk starts turning yellowish from all the boiling and the spoon starts picking up the soft layers of cream with every swirl.

Ingredients:
1 gallon or about 3 liters of milk
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp of ghee or unsalted butter
1 ½ cup of vermicelli
6-8 pods of cardamom, powdered
1/2 cup of golden raisins, pistachios and cashews (or any other nuts of your choice)

Method:
In a small kadahi or wok heat a teaspoon of ghee. On low heat toast the vermicelli until it is golden brown. Be very careful not to burn it. Take off the heat and keep aside.

In a heavy bottom pan, bring the milk to a rolling boil. Turn the heat to medium and keep the milk on a gentle boil. It is very important that you stir and scrap the bottom of the pot every five minutes.

If the milk starts sticking the bottom and you ignore it, it will eventually start burning and you do not want to taste burnt milk in your kheer. So ladies, just for this one, do not multi task, concentrate on the milk at hand (in the pot).

In about 30 to 40 minutes, told you lots of elbow grease, the milk will have reduced to 1/4th of the original amount.

As you keep stirring and scraping the milk, you want thin layers of cream (malai) floating in the pan. The more layers of cream you have, the richer your kheer will be.

At this point add the toasted vermicelli to the boiling milk. Add the sugar and the raisins.

Keep the kheer on a gentle boil, still stirring so the vermicelli doesn’t stick together. The vermicelli is done when it plumps up, about 10 minutes.

Check the kheer for sweetness and add some more sugar if desired. Turn off the heat and add the powdered cardamom and toasted pistachios and cashews.

As the kheer cools, it will get thicker so decided how thick or runny you like it and boil the milk accordingly. In my house, we like it thick like a custard.

Garnish with additional cashews and pistachios before serving.

Instant coconut barfi (naralachi vadi)

Diwali is to Hindus what Christmas is to Christians. And though I have been a big fan of Diwali, it lost its charm when I came to US about eight years ago. It is just not the same without friendly neighbors who visit each other and exchange snacks and pleasantries. The neighborhood brightly lit with diyas (clay lamps) and electric lights on the rooftops; the ubiquitous rangoli adorning every threshold and front yard; cousins and friends bursting firecrackers and little children lighting sparklers.

Growing up, I never liked to get involved with making sweets of any kind, especially ladoos. I found the process of making ball after ball of sugary dough tiresome. I enjoyed eating them, nevertheless. But it was after the Diwali was over that I looked forward to my mom’s naralyachi vadi or coconut barfi (fudge). She would receive a lot of coconuts as she went for haldi kunku and after all the Diwali sweets were over, she would make the barfi.

I didn’t mind grating the coconut or watching over the milk as it boiled in the heavy copper vessel for hours. When the milk had reduced to almost one third, mom would toast the coconut and add it to the milk along with sugar. The whole mixture would then be boiled down to the consistency of mawa, and then set in plates greased with ghee. The delicious diamonds of goodness tasted like biting into a kalakand/ milk cake/ mava cake laced with coconut and lightly flavored with cardamom.

I am tempted to make it every year but chicken out thinking about all the stirring and cooking it involves. This year Google, an encyclopedia of brilliant ideas and shortcut recipes for lazy cooks like me, came to the rescue. I found this quick recipe for kalakand at Bong Mom’s Cookbook and a light bulb went off somewhere in the lazy front of my mind. Coconut plus kalakand equals coconut barfi. So here’s my instant version of my mom’s coconut barfi.

Ingredients:
14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
15 oz tub of ricotta cheese
1 cup sweetened flake coconut
4-5 cardamoms (elaichi), crushed into powder
1 tsp of ghee (optional)
1 microwave proof shallow baking pan or casserole dish

Notice how crumbly my vadi is. That is because I did not wait for it to cool down before taking the knife to it.

Method:
Combine the condensed milk and ricotta cheese in the casserole dish. Zap it in the microwave for five minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a heavy bottom kadhai or a non stick pan and add the coconut to it. Turn the heat to low and roast it till the coconut turns golden brown in color. Keep a close watch on it or the coconut will burn in two seconds.
Take the casserole dish out after five minutes, stir the c.milk and ricotta and zap again for five minutes. By now, the aromas in the house are that of boiling milk. The ricotta and c. milk should be changing color to a pale white and homogenizing. As this cycle ends, mix in the coconut and cardamom powder. Zap for another five minutes.
The vadi is almost there with ricotta turning a grainy texture and getting darker in color. Now, keep zapping every minute for another three to four minutes and checking in between for a not too dry and not too wet consistency. Add the ghee at this point if you so desire.
Once you are satisfied with the consistency (I prefer it on the dry side) spread the mixture evenly in the dish and smooth it down with the back of a spoon. Wait for it to cool down before cutting it into squares or diamonds. If not, you risk getting a crumbly vadi.
Garnish with almonds, pistachios or in my case with dried cranberries.

Notes:
While not exactly rich in taste like my mom’s vadi, these tasted pretty good for about 20 minutes of intermittent zapping in the microwave.

T’s comment, “This tastes like milk cake with coconut.” Mission accomplished.

Doughnut muffins with chocolate and strawberry jam

I would like to give a big thank you to all my readers for their birthday wishes and sympathizing with my lunch fiasco. This month’s Sweet and Simple Bake’s jammy doughnut muffins are for all of you.
Being a chocoholic I had to try adding some chocolate chips to half of them. The result, I was sorry to find out, was not as nice as the one with the jam filling.
The strawberry jam was made a while ago by chopping and cooking some on the verge of going bad strawberries with 1/2 cup of sugar and some lemon juice.

Quick Strawberry Jam
Ingredients:
2 cups chopped strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
Juice of half a lemon
Method:
In a heavy bottom pan cook the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice till thick. Cool and store in a clean glass jar.

Now for the jammy doughnut recipe all my Sweet and Simple bake friends will be posting all over the world.

Ingredients:
2 cup all purpose flour
1/2cup + 2 tbsp superfine sugar
3 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
7 oz milk
4 oz butter
1 tsp vanilla
Jam and semisweet chocolate chips

Method:
In a microwave safe mixing bowl melt the butter and let cool. Meanwhile crack the eggs, measure the milk and sift and combine the dry ingredients (flour, sugar and baking powder).
When the butter is cooled add the milk, eggs and vanilla to it. Whisk to combine before adding the dry ingredients. Combine to incorporate but do not over mix. It is ok to have a lumpy batter. Preheat oven to 375c and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Method:
Fill with the batter half way and add a tsp of jam or chocolate chips. Top with the rest of the batter and bake for 15 -20 minutes till a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Finishing touches:

To decorate, I just brushed the muffins with a cold stick of butter and rolled them in white sugar and red sprinkle sugar. The original recipe calls for melting 4 oz of butter and dipping the muffins in it before rolling on the sugar.

The muffins were delicious and were presented to the new neighbors across the street as a welcome to the neighborhood gesture.

Thank you Maria and Rosie for another Sweet and Simple bake recipe.

Carrot cake with raspberry cream cheese frosting

My maiden entry for Rosie and Maria's Sweet and Simple Bake blog was a delight to make not to mention it was literally sweet and simple. I used store bought raspberry cream cheese frosting instead of the one M & S had on their blog. Mainly because my 3 year old eats with his eyes and as I thought he did like the purple frosting. Not to mention the M&Ms I put on top. Tushar and Jr. finished off a slice each in no time and were ready for more!
If you want the recipe for traditional cream cheese frosting, visit Maria and Rosie's blog.


Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups self rising flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups shredded carrots
2 eggs
5 oz vegetable oil (I used corn oil)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
4 oz raisins
4 oz chopped pecans

Method:

Beat the eggs and combine the oil, sugar, carrots, raisins and pecans. Sift all the dry ingredients and mix with the wet ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 300 degree. Oil and line with parchment paper a 9 by 5 loaf tin. Pour the batter into it and smooth the top.
Bake for 40 – 50 minutes till a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Frost with store bought raspberry cream cheese and your choice of sprinkles or in my case with M&Ms.

I am getting ready to go for a vacation with a dear friend in Atlanta. I will be back in a week. Till then stay cool and have fun.

Exploring the British isles beyond Tandoori Nights

Vegan Spotted Dick

The closest I have come to the British culture is speaking Brit English and watching Black Adder, Fawlty Towers, Are You Being Served? and Tandoori Nights. A couple of years ago our local PBS channel started showing Coupling, which is a much funnier and very risqué version of the American series Friends.
As much as I enjoyed the Brit comedies, I did not know much about the British cuisine mainly because I never got an occasion to do so and I stay in the US. Although, I suspect the Indian vegetable sandwiches are inspired by the English petite tea sandwiches which are a thinner and much blander version of our loaded with green chutney and cucumber, onions and boiled potatoes sandwiches.
Last week, I had to sit up and take notice of British cuisine when Vaishali of Holy Cow announced her IVW:British event. Since, it is a vegan world at Vaishali’s blog; the challenge was to find a recipe which did not have eggs, meat or dairy in any form. A tough one since British food mostly consists of all these.
My first thought naturally was to take the easy way out and make the thinly sliced cucumber sandwiches I mentioned before. But then I like a challenge, a dessert and a good laugh, so when google turned up Spotted Dick as one of the popular English desserts, I had to make it. It had eggs, cream and something called suet flour and is typically eaten with custard which may or may not be cooked with it.
There were as many recipes as innuendos and tongue in cheek references to its origins. None of the recipes, however, were adaptable to be converted into a vegan version. One day, looking through my 1000 Vegetarian Recipes book, I found a simplified low-fat version called The New Age Spotted Dick.

I had all the ingredients in my pantry and I decided to omit the sauce since the cake/ pudding in the picture looked light and airy. My instincts were right. The recipe calls for 2 eggs which for the vegan version I substituted with flaxseed powder whisked in water.

Ingredients:
1 cup raisins
½ cup corn oil, plus a little extra for brushing
½ cup superfine sugar
1/3 cup ground almonds
½ tsp flax seed powder whisked with 1/2 cup of water (In place of 2 eggs)
1 ½ cups self—rising flour

Method:
In a pan, boil the raisins with ¼ cup of water. Remove from heat and let steep for 10 minutes before draining the excess liquid.
Whisk the oil, sugar and ground almonds until thick and syrupy. It should take about 8 minutes on medium speed with an electric whisk.
Add the flax seed water and mix for another minute. Combine the flour and raisins. Stir into the mixture.
Line an 8 inch cake pan or 4 cup heatproof bowl with parchment paper and oil it. Transfer the sponge mixture to the pan and bake in a preheated oven at 340 degree for about 30 to 40 minutes till a toothpick comes out clean.
Lay a piece of parchment paper across the top of the pudding if it starts to brown too quickly. Let cool for 5 minutes before turning* on to a serving plate.
*The cake is very delicate and may break if not taken out carefully, the way mine did.

The spotted dick turned out moist and delicious even without the sauce. But if you want to try it with the sauce, here’s the recipe. It calls for skim milk which for a vegan version could be substituted with soy milk. But I am not sure how it will turn out.

Ingredients:
½ cup chopped walnuts
2/3 cup ground almonds
1 ¼ cup skim milk
4 tbsp granulated sugar

Method:
Put all the sauce ingredients into a pan. Bring to a boil, stir and simmer for 10 minutes.
Transfer the sponge mixture to a 4 cup/ 1 liter heatproof bowl, greased with oil, and pour on the hot sauce.
Bake in a preheated oven at 340 degree for about an hour or until well risen. Lay a piece of parchment paper across the top of the pudding if it starts to brown too quickly.
Let cool before turning out on to a serving plate. The sauce is in the center of the pudding and will spill out when the pudding is cut.

The Spotted Dick also goes to DK's AWED-Britain event, hosted this month by Simran of Bombay Foodie .

Srikhand + Aamras = Amrakhand

According to my taste palette whoever invented amrakhand was a genius. It is one of the best combinations of yogurt and mango your taste buds get to experience in the hot months of summer.
Yogurt sets quickly in hot weather and mangoes are plentiful. Leftover milk is made into yogurt, transferred to a thin cotton cloth and tied and hung over a hook overnight. A bowl underneath catches the whey. Next day the thick yogurt is whipped with sugar, cardamom powder and nuts. Srikhand is ready to be eaten.
Of course, that was not enough for our culinary ancestors so they took some mango pulp and mixed it with the hung yogurt. And I am glad they did because they gave us Amrakhand.

If gods were sitting down for a meal, I am sure they were having Amrakhand as one of the side dessert. So offering a small prayer for the universe and feeling a little bit closer to the god's gastronomy, I send my happy mood to Nithya's FIC Express Your Mood , originally started by Sunshinemom .
This side dessert of the gods is also my second entry to Srivalli’s Mango Mela .

Dislike bananas; Love banana chips

Banana Walnut Bread

Very few people dislike bananas and I am one of them. So why would I make a bread out of ripe, old bananas? Well, I wanted to see if I would like them in bread the way I love snacking on banana chips. Also, it was another opportunity to entre Mena’s Banana bread recipe on Tried and Tested being hosted by Kitschow . I love Meena’s Hooked on Heat blog and though she has not written since Dec of 2008, being busy with writing a cookbook, it is an adventure to try her different recipes.

I have not modified the recipe in any way but have substituted pecans instead of almonds and also added ¼ cup of semi sweet chocolate chips*.

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup butter
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup dry shredded coconut
1/2 cup pecans or almonds
¼ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a loaf pan on all sides.
Melt the butter in the microwave and add flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Stir to mix.
Add the mashed bananas and mix to make a smooth batter.
Stir in vanilla extract, pecans, coconut and chocolate chips.
Pour in the pan and bake for 30 minutes or depending on your oven, till a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Serve with tea or as an after dinner dessert. The bread is not too sweet, loaded with banana flavor and tastes yummy. Yes, I liked the banana flavor in the bread.

This banana bread also goes to Madhuram's Low Fat Eggless Baking event.

*Note: If you add chocolate chips, the toothpick may come out coated with melted chocolate. In that case insert in another part of the cake.

Best Dessert in the World

Summer Fruit Bonanza

If there is anything I like better than eating a fruit dessert it is eating fresh fruit. It is also one the reason why summer is my favorite season of the year. Nature’s bounty is at its most generous during the three long, hot months and I love gorging on berries, cantaloupes, oranges and water melons. These three months my family and I eat a generous helping of fruit salads which is just a fancy word for lot of cut up fresh fruit tossed together. I don’t add anything to it except a fork. No fruit chaat masala, no lemon juice or sugar. Just plain, simple fruit as nature intended. After all, what dessert can replicate the taste and texture of fresh fruit bursting in your mouth?

Mad about Mangoes

As a kid if you have ever eaten a ripe, juicy mango in the heat of the Indian summer, you know what I am talking about. As kids we would get a mango every afternoon after lunch. We would squeeze them all around to get the juices flowing and then tear off one side to get to the juice and the fibrous, sweet flesh. By the time we finished it off our arms and faces would be sticky with mango juice but our tummies would be happy in a way no dessert could equal.

As I grew a little older I was allowed to scrape the flesh off the Hapoos mangoes for the aamras. My siblings and I would fight over the dibs for the mango skins and scrape them clean with our teeth. Those summers were magical and heavenly; when the scent of mangoes hung in the kitchen and after lunch we would darken the common room and start the cooler fan. In that dark, cool room satiated with a good lunch and bowls of aamras, everyone would fall asleep for the noon.
In the US, it is hard to get good mangoes at the local Indian grocery store so I sometimes buy the canned mango pulp. But the canned stuff is too sweet and has an aftertaste that is hard to explain and not easy to get used to. I usually use this pulp to make mango lassi (with yogurt) or mango shakes (with milk). The other day I found a recipe for mango sorbet and decided to give it a try.
The original recipe calls for fresh mangoes but since I had the canned pulp I decided to improvise. The result was a creamy sorbet with just a hint of coconut and the crunch of cashew nuts.
This is also my entry to SHF 2009 event hosted by Mansi. The event calls for the recipe to include at least a fruit and a nut. I wrongly assumed coconut to be a nut but a search on the net revealed it is in fact a seed! Who knew? This also goes to Srivalli’s Mango Mela and to  Ben's Homemade #5 Challenge .

Mango Coconut Sorbet

Ingredients:

1 can (1 lb 14 oz) of mango pulp
1 can (14 oz) can of coconut milk
1 tbsp roasted and coarsely crushed cashews
Cardamom powder to taste (optional)

Mix the mango pulp and coconut milk in a freezer safe container.
Pop it in the freezer for two hours or till is just about sets. Take it out and with an electric hand mixer beat the pulp to break up the ice crystals.
Whipping the pulp this way also infuses it with air and makes the sorbet light and fluffy.
Repeat three to four times, every couple of hours till the desired consistency is achieved.
Serve garnished with cashews (which is a nut) and coconut flakes. Sprinkle cardamom powder to enhance the taste of mangoes and serve chilled.

Decadent Kheer (Rice Pudding)

For me the mere mention of kheer conjures up delicious bowls of sweetened milk laced with raisins, cashews and pistachios. I remember the sweet smell of the cardamom pods being crushed in my mom’s small mortar and pestle. My siblings and I would hang around the kitchen, waiting for my mom to finish her pooja and “naivaidya” (The first offering for the gods), so we could eat the delicious kheer.
In every Indian household, kheer is a popular dessert that is made during religious occasions, for special guests and sometimes if there is too much left over milk. Out here in the good old USA, I don’t get a lot of occasions to make kheer but when I do, I make the much thicker and decadent version of my mom’s recipe.

Ingredients:

½ cup basmati rice
6 cups of whole milk
1 tbsp ghee
½ cup of sugar
¼ cup raisins (I use gold and dark)
1 tbsp cashew nuts
5 – 6 cardamom pods

Wash the rice thrice under cold water, drain the water and keep aside.
In a heavy bottom pan heat the ghee and toast the rice for a few minutes on medium heat.
Add the milk and bring it to a gentle boil. With the heat on med-low, let the milk simmer and bubble. Keep stirring the pot from time to time to prevent the milk from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.
In about 30 minutes the milk should reduce to about half. Add the sugar and raisins and stir. Continue to boil the milk till the kheer thickens, another 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, crush the cardamom pods to a powder.
Take the kheer off the heat once the desired thickness is achieved. I like it super thick.
Sprinkle the cardamom powder on the kheer and stir to combine.
Transfer to a serving dish and chill.
Just before serving, fry whole cashews in ghee till golden and garnish on the kheer.

This recipe goes to Meeta's Monthly Mingle hosted by Nags . This month's theme -- Ravishing Rice.

Everything but the kitchen sink cookies

Baking cookies and giving them to your neighbors or friends is a great way to personalize your thanks for their help. Yesterday, a neighbor helped us fix our fence gate and I decided to bake some of these easy but delicious cookies.
They do not require fancy stand mixers or a lot of fluffing and beating. Plus as far as baking recipes go, this one is very flexible. If you don’t have pecans you can substitute walnuts. If you like chocolate chips or raisins in every bite of the cookie, you can add a cup of them instead of half. Plus you can double the recipe if you want 4 dozen cookies instead of 2.

Some ingredients halved or doubled from the original recipe.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 large egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 cup rolled oats

The following ingredients can be further increased or decreased according to your personal preference:

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (or white/ dark/ milk)
½ cup sweetened flaked coconut (I use 1 cup)
½ cup raisins (or cranberries)
½ coarsely chopped walnuts (or pecans)

Beat butter and sugar till creamy. I usually let the butter sit on the counter the whole day to soften it up. If you forget to do that, just melt it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Beat in the egg and stir in the vanilla.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gradually stir it in the butter and egg mix.
Once the flour is incorporated in the butter, add oats, chocolate chips, raisins, walnuts and coconut flakes. The mixture will be a little bit dry and lumpy.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350 degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Drop 1 tbsp batter for small cookies and 2 tbsp for large cookies on to the parchment paper. Press the batter down with the flat bottom of a glass or measuring cup to flatten the cookies evenly.
Bake till golden brown – about 14 – 15 minutes.