Ambrosia

Janmashtami was celebrated with great élan in our part of the world. Janamashtami marks the birth of Lord Krishna. Krishna epitomizes unconditional love. Krishna is absolute. To understand Krishna is to understand the reality of life. His teachings tell us to accept all contradictions and act accordingly and not complain because; no one has a right to the end result. He tells us to live without ego. To be egoless is to be nothing- this is absolute reality, this is Krishna.

This Janamashtami, we made Coconut laddus to offer to Lord Krishna. I added a handful of all the dry fruits and nuts and seeds that I could find at home. These laddus turned out to be chewy and coconuty and were delicious. We enjoyed the prasad very much.

Here goes the recipe-

Coconut Laddu / Coconut balls with dry fruits, nuts and seeds (Vegan)

Ingredients

100 gms (about 1 ½ cup) desiccated coconut

¾ cup sugar

½ cup water

15 almonds chopped

15 cashew nuts chopped

10 pistachios chopped

5 figs chopped into small pieces

2 tablespoons golden raisins

2 tablespoons white sesame seeds

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

4 cardamoms

Method

In a deep bowl mix together desiccated coconut, chopped nuts, raisins, figs and seeds. Peel the cardamoms, powder the seeds and add to the mixture.

Take sugar and water in a heavy bottomed steel wok. Turn on the heat. Let the syrup simmer till it becomes thick and just reaches one string consistency. Turn off the heat.

Add coconut mixture and stir well so that the syrup and dry ingredients are mixed well.

Let it rest till it cool downs a bit and it is comfortable to make laddus.

Take about two tablespoons of this mixture and press between palms evenly to get a walnut sized laddu. Repeat till the mixture is over.

My notes- It is very important to get the right proportion of sugar and mixture. After mixing dry fruits, nuts and seeds to desiccated coconut, measure with a cup. Now the quantity of sugar will be exactly half of this measure (or a little less if you don’t want very sweet laddus)

It is very important to get the right consistency of syrup. Laddus will not bind well if the syrup is not of one string consistency. If the syrup is of two string consistency, the mixture will harden even before you begin to make laddus. However, you can add water and boil the syrup again to get the desired consistency.

Sending to Vegan Thursdays conceptualized by Priya

Crisp, Cheesy, nutty flavourful and very addictive, Cheesy Ragi crackers make a tasty snack and a great accompaniment to tea.

Crisp, cheesy, nutty, earthy and addictive……this is how I would describe the batch of Ragi cheese fingers that were made yesterday.

My daughter had been requesting me to bake cheese lings for quite some time. We went to the store and bought a pack of cheese cubes, especially for this purpose. But somehow cheese lings were never baked. Every day after coming back from school she would ask, “Have you baked my cheese lings?” On hearing a negative answer, she would feign anger show her resentment, and then forget after some time. This happened for many days and then she stopped asking about cheese lings.

Yesterday, I could no longer bear the pangs of guilt from breaking my promise and got down to making cheese lings. A surprise awaited. There were only three cubes of cheese left in the box. On being asked, both, the senior and the junior clearly denied eating any cheese. The junior has now learnt to team up with the senior for the goodies he gets in the process.

With only three cubes of cheese that were left, the crispies couldn't be made. A trip to a neighbourhood store was made to get the cheese and we baked the crackers.

The crackers are very crisp, very cheesy, bursting with the flavours of herbs. Add less salt because the butter is salty, the cheese is also salty and the herb mix also has salt. Start with 1/8 teaspoon of salt. taste the dry mix, add more if and only if you feel it needs more salt.

Cheesy Ragi Fingers / Ragi Cheeselings

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup ragi (finger millet) flour
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
25 Gms butter (divide a stick of butter into four, use one part)
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Italian spice mix
½ cup water

Instructions

In a bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, Raagi flour, salt and Italian spice mix.
Add butter and grated cheese. Mix well.
Add water slowly and knead a smooth dough. Do not knead it too much. Just get everything together into a soft smooth dough.
Cover the dough and let it rest for half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C.
Take a portion of the dough roughly about the size of a golf ball and roll out a thin chapatti.
With a sharp knife cut out crackers. You may use a cookie cutter to cut out crackers.
Arrange on the baking tray. Bake for exactly 15 minutes. Transfer the baked crackers to another plate to cool.
Repeat till the dough is over.
Store the baked crackers in an airtight container.

Note: Add a very little salt to the crackers. While baking the crackers, be very watchful after 10 minutes. Since the colour of the crackers is dark, the crackers overbake if not watched. Remove when you see the edges browning.

Corn season is in its peak here. Corn that grows in the hills is milky, sweet and soft. Perhaps it is the salubrious climate of the hills that infuses sweetness and tenderness in the corn which is not found in its counterpart that grows in the plains.

During monsoons, the villagers in the hills erect makeshift sheds on the roads. They get freshly plucked corns from their fields and roast it in smouldering logs. Roasted corn hisses as it is smeared with lemon and salt. There is a variety of chutneys to choose from. Garlic coriander, lemon masala or bhanga chutney made from bhanga seeds, which is a hill produce. People enjoy the milky corn amidst natural beauty of the hills which is at its best during monsoons.

This weekend, after a long time we went to the hills to have corn. We had not one or two but four to five each as we planned to have corn for lunch. It was filling and satiating.

Back home, made simple corn bread from the last bit of cornmeal left. Simple bread, ready in no time and no great prior preparations needed. And yes, as Flyod Mann says, it tastes heaven with butter and honey.

Simple Corn Bread

Ingredients

1 cup coarse yellow cornmeal

½ cup whole wheat flour

½ cup all purpose flour

1 cup milk

¼ cup olive oil

1 egg

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Method

Pre heat the oven to 200 degree C. Line and grease a loaf tin (8 x 3 ½ inches).

In a wide mouthed bowl, mix sugar, milk and oil.

Beat egg lightly and add to the mixture.

Whisk together cornmeal, whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder and salt.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix well.

Pour the batter in the loaf tin, bake for 35-40 minutes or when a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cool in the loaf tin for 10 minutes. Remove from the tin and cool in the rack.

Wrap this bread and keep in a container. Refrigerate. Slice next day.

Chocolaty, dense, earthy, and absolutely guilt-free Chocolate Yogurt Cake has a shiny crust and an incredibly moist and tender crumb. Ideal cake to take on picnics, get-togethers, bake sale or to snack on.

There are some recipes that become the family favourite recipes. The Chocolate Yogurt cake is ours. Whenever a cake has to be baked quickly, this recipe comes to the rescue. We have baked this on several occasions. On birthdays, on anniversaries, on New Years, for the get-togethers and for guests. This makes a great snack cake. Dress it up with ganache and some chocolate barks, it becomes a great dessert too. A very versatile foolproof recipe that comes in handy every time. (Edited on 6.1.2020)

Chocolaty, dense, earthy, and absolutely guilt-free is how the yogurt whole wheat chocolate cake turned out to be. This cake was baked at the behest of my daughter on Independence Day. Celebrations in our home are synonymous with cakes. To enjoy the cake with minimal guilt, I added healthy ingredients and omitted butter altogether. Chocolate sauce with dark chocolate shavings perked up the appearance and added greatly to the taste.
Last month, we baked the same cake again for a birthday at home. the batter was distributed equally between the two 6 inch cake pans.

Let the cakes rest overnight or for six hours (this helps the flavours to develop fully). Spread ganache (prepare thick ganache )on the flat surface of the first cake. Cover with the flat surface of the other cake.

Now apply a thick coat of ganache all around. Use an offset spatula to get even surface.

Decorate with chocolate barks or chocolate shavings.

India celebrated 67 years of freedom. There were articles on Independence in every magazine and newspaper. An article by Osho appealed to me the most. It said Freedom is the most important ingredient. All that is valuable becomes possible only in the climate of freedom. Love also grows only in the soil of freedom. All great values of life grow in the climate of freedom; hence freedom is the most fundamental value and also the highest pinnacle. This freedom…..is spiritual, a state of consciousness unhindered by any desire, unchained to any desire, unimprisoned by any greed!

Yes, freedom is life!

Chocolate Yogurt Cake has a fudgy texture.

It has a shiny and soft crust, very moist and tender crumb and incredible taste.

The cake batter is quite thin. Always bake it in an 8-inch pan Or, two 6 inch pans. If baked in a smaller pan, the center of the cake will not bake well.

CHOCOLATE YOGURT CAKE (Wholewheat, Eggless Butter free)

Ingredients (Cake)

1 cup whole wheat flour (loosely filled)
1 cup boora sugar/ unrefined sugar / khandsari sugar
½ cup thick yogurt
½ cup milk
¼ cup hot water
¼ cup oil
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
½ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Pre heat the oven to 175 degrees C.
Grease, dust and line an 8 inch round cake tin or, two 6 inch pans.
Whisk together whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a wide-mouthed bowl, mix together yogurt, sugar, oil, and milk. Add vanilla essence.
Mix dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Add boiling water slowly. Mix well so that the batter is smooth and homogenous.
The batter is quite thin.
Pour in the tin. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove and transfer to the rack.

Ingredients (Chocolate Sauce)

2 cups milk
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
One bar of dark chocolate

Instructions

Mix together milk, sugar and cocoa powder to a smooth lump-free mixture.
Transfer the mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat till it starts boiling.
Reduce the heat and cook till it thickens. Stir constantly.
When it reaches the sauce-like consistency, turn off the heat. Add butter.
Add vanilla essence. Leave to cool.

Pour cold chocolate sauce over the cake. Keep the bar of dark chocolate outside the refrigerator. With the help of a vegetable peeler, peel out chocolate curls. Keep in the refrigerator for 15 minutes till the shavings harden. Sprinkle on the cake.

Mango is the favourite of fruit of the family. Ever since the first lot arrives in the market in the early summers to almost the end of monsoons, or to say, as long as the fruit stays in the market, it is bought religiously and enjoyed fervently. However, of late, because of the scare of the carbide ripened mangoes, we have stopped buying the fruit from the market. We have discovered some farms in the outskirts. Now, our fruit is lifted from these farms while it is being plucked, thus ensuring that fresh produce presumably chemical free and definitely carbide free lands up on our plate, and, at the same time reducing carbon footprint.

Mangoes in the farm

Last month, there was a lovely recipe posted by a blogger friend from Kolkatta that swept me off my feet. Amrita posted the recipe of Mango Sandesh in her blog Sweet 'n' Savoury. She used mango pulp in the famous Bengali sweet Sandesh. It was a beautiful fusion of two of our favourite things. I made mango sandesh twice and we loved it immensely.