31 May 2014

Black Forest Cake / How to make a Black Forest Cake

Black Forest Cake is a very popular party cake. It originated in Germany and traditionally a black forest cake consists of several layers of chocolate sponge cake with whipped cream and cherries between each layer. Then the cake is decorated with additional whipped cream, maraschino cherries and chocolate shavings. In a typical black forest cake each layer of chocolate cake is soaked with Kirschwasser - liquor distilled from cherry. Or it is even soaked with alcohol like rum or brandy. I normally soak the cake layers with fresh grape juice but this time I used the cherry syrup. You can even soak it with sugar syrup. For the cherries you can use the canned cherries that are available.




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30 May 2014

29 May 2014

Triple Chocolate Fudge Brownies

I baked some brownies after a very long time. I only bake a large batch when we have guests a home, for my sudden cravings, I always make my favorite 2 minute eggless brownie! It felt good to bake after a long gap! I made these for a friend who came over.
These brownies were awesome, so fudgy, just the way I like them! 




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28 May 2014

Aval Upma / Poha Upma / Flattened Rice Upma

Aval is known as  flattened or beaten rice in English and this is de husked rice which is flattened into flat dry flakes. I first had this in my perima's house and I fell in love with the flavor. So many recipes can be made with aval and this is an easy breakfast recipe and can be made as a quick snack too. Although simple to make this is a flavorful dish. All the ingredients which goes into making this dish makes this a very flavorful and tasty dish.
Also check out the red aval upma recipe and the white vegetable aval upma recipe.




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27 May 2014

Mango Lemonade

Lemonade is my husband's favorite so I decided to spice it up a little to make a mango lemonade. During the strawberry season, I had made strawberry lemonade which tasted really good so I wanted to try a mango flavored lemonade too and this tasted just as good. This is such an awesome drink for this summer.



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26 May 2014

Spicy Onion Tomato Chutney | Easy Chutney Recipes

This is the most favorite chutney in my home, I have already posted 2 other onion tomato chutneys. One is onion and tomato chutney with coriander and curry leaves and the other is an easy onion tomato chutney. This is also an easy to make, no fuss chutney and tastes great with idli and dosa.
I love the color of this chutney, I was first introduced to this chutney by a cook we had a long time ago. She cooked for us only for a month but I learnt so much from her!




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Mango Juice

Here's another refrshing juice to beat this heat. How can a mango season pass by without makng some delicious mango juice! This tastes so good and is my favorite alternative to slice or maaza and of course without the added preservatives and other chemicals, this is any day my favorite compared to slice or maaza.




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23 May 2014

Masala Dosa Recipe

Whenever we go out for breakfast, my default order will be masala dosa! I'm sure it must be the same for many South Indians! Stuffed with potatoes, this is one of the yummiest breakfast dishes and it's very easy to make, if you have the dosa batter.



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22 May 2014

Curd Rice / Thayir Sadam / How to make curd rice

This is my comfort food, the ultimate comfort food! I'm sure it's the same for many South Indians. It's amazing how such a simple ingredient can make such a delicious food. It is so simple and easy to make. What I have posted below is the special curd rice made with seasonings. You don't have to add all the ingredients that I have added, what you add depends on the availability of each ingredient. You can add what you have and leave the rest out and the curd rice will still taste yummy!


Curd Rice


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21 May 2014

Mango Ice Cream / Homemade Mango Ice Cream

I make lots of ice cream at home and I always use whipped cream and fresh cream combination to get a creamy and rich ice cream. But I had many readers write to me saying they are not able to get whipping cream and is there any other way to make home made ice creams. So I went about searching for ice cream recipes and I landed here
This ice cream is made using only milk and fresh cream. Very easy and simple to make, I used my blender to blend all the ingredients together and it took about 5 minutes. 
Check out my other mango ice cream recipe too.


Mango Ice Cream


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20 May 2014

Dum Aloo Recipe

Dum Aloo is nothing but potatoes cooked under dum or pressure. This is a famous North Indian dish served in restaurants and is a good accompaniment for rotis and parathas. It can be made as a semi gravy or a dry dish. 
Mostly dum aloo is prepared by frying the potatoes in oil but I skipped this step. You can fry the potatoes in oil and then continue for a more authentic dish.




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Mango Lassi Recipe

Lassi is a yogurt based drink and is usually a blend of yogurt, water, sugar and some spices. Sometimes fruits are added to increase the flavor. The traditional lassi is made only of yogurt or it's buttermilk based but some add milk to it. I prefer a combination of milk and yogurt, you can adjust to your preference. I love fruit based drinks and I already made a strawberry lassi during strawberry season so now it's the turn of mango lassi!


Mango Lassi

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Mango Milkshake Recipe

I love milkshakes and this is one of my favorites! Mangoes in any form tastes good but this tastes really yum with a scoop of ice cream. Every summer this is very common in our home, sometimes I make it with ice cream and sometimes without ice cream, both tastes delish! I hate milk so addition of any fruits to milk makes it easier to drink it!


Mango Milkshake


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18 May 2014

Pudina Rice / Mint Rice / Pudina Pulao

This is one of the easiest rice recipes to make. You can either make it as a one pot meal or use left over rice to make this. You will need only 5-10 minutes to get this done. Very easy for early mornings and a very nice lunch box recipe.
The fresh mint leaves makes this dish extremely flavorful and it tastes really yum! 




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17 May 2014

Eggless Mango Mousse Cake

I have wanted to try mango mousse cake for a very long time and finally I got an opportunity to make it and it came out really well! This cake is 'gi-normous'!! In hindsight, it wouldn't have been so tall if I had layered it. Next time I make this, I will be layering it (check notes)

Also check out the Eggless Chocolate Mousse Cake and the Eggless Strawberry Mousse Cake!



Normally the base of a mango mousse cake is made of a mango cake or a vanilla cake soaked in mango juice, I felt it would be too much of mango so I made a chocolate base. You can go with this mango cake or vanilla cake(with eggs) or this eggless vanilla cake.

For the mousse, I went for an eggless one since I am not comfortable using raw eggs in mousse, you can use any of your favorite mousse recipe.



For the base cake I made this eggless dairy free chocolate cake. I chose this cake because it is extremely simple to put together and since it's egg free and dairy free, it stays good for a few days. There are plenty of chocolate cakes in this blog, you can choose your favorite. Or use any of your favorites! 
Whichever base cake you use, make sure it fits a 9 inch pan. The recipe is for a 9 inch mango mousse cake.

Bake the cake and set aside to cool completely.



Recipe adapted from - here

For the mango mousse

Ingredients

My 1 cup = 250ml
  • Mango puree - 2 cups
  • Whipping cream - 2 cups (I used Rich non dairy whipping cream)
  • Sugar - 2 tbsp (you can add more or less depending on the sweetness of the mango you use)
  • Gelatin - 4 tsp soaked in 4 tbsp of water (or) 3 tsp agar agar powder soaked in 1/4 cup of water.

Method
1. Thaw 2 cups of cream in the refrigerator 2 hours before whipping the cream. Place the steel bowl and beaters in the freezer for 15 minutes before you start to whip.
2.Blend mangoes and required sugar to get 2 cups of puree. Set aside.


3. Soak gelatin in water, let it bloom for 5 minutes. Then microwave it for 30 seconds. Allow it to cool completely. It will become almost a clear solution. 
4. Please check notes for agar agar *
5. Once the gelatin cools, add to the mango puree and mix well. Set aside.
6. Remove the base of a springform pan and set it on your serving platter or cake board. I built the sides of my pan with parchment paper since this is a tall cake and the sides of my pan is small.

7. Place the cooled cake inside the pan. Soak cake with sugar syrup (check notes). I used grape juice.
8. When you are ready to whip the cream, remove the cream from the refrigerator and the beaters and bowl from the freezer and whip the cream in medium to high speed until it forms stiff peaks. About 8 minutes.
9. Now fold the mango puree+gelatin mixture with the whipped cream. Mix well.

10. Add the mango mousse over the cake and spread well using a spatula or spoon.
11. Cling wrap and allow to set in the refrigerator for atleast 4 hours.


For the mango glaze
  • Mango puree - 1/2 cup
  • Gelatin - 2 tsp (or) 1.5 tsp agar agar
  • Water - 3 tbsp
1. Once the mousse is set, prepare the glaze. 
2. Soak 2 tsp of gelatin in 3 tbsp of water and allow to bloom for 5 minutes. Then heat it in a microwave or double boiler or gas for 30 seconds. Allow to cool completely. If using agar agar, add it to warm water and heat it up for a minute or until it becomes clear. Keep stirring to avoid it from clumping.


3. Blend mangoes to get 1/2 cup of mango puree. 
4. Once the gelatin or agar agar has cooled down, mix it with the 1/2 cup of mango puree. Mix well.
5. Pour over the set mousse and spread lightly.


6. Put the cake back in the refrigerator until the glaze sets completely. (Atleast 4 hours)
7. Once set, remove the springform pan slowly and remove the parchment paper slowly.
8. Slice and enjoy!


Notes
1. I made this in my 9 inch pan. If you do not want such a big cake, you can half this recipe easily and make it in a 6 or 7 inch pan. Remember to half the whipping cream measure too.
2. Next time I make this cake, I will layer it. For layering, slice the cake in two. Place the bottom layer of cake and spread half the mousse, then place the next layer of cake and spread the remaining mousse and then do the glaze on top. 
3. If you don't have a springform pan, use a cake ring or you can simply wrap a parchment paper around the cake tightly and continue.
4. I soaked the cake in some grape juice made from grape sqaush If you want to use sugar syrup to soak the cake layers - add 3 tbsp sugar to 1 cup of water, boil it and cool completely and use.
5. You can add some chopped mangoes over the cake layer before adding the mango mousse.
6. If you want to store the cake in the refrigerator, make sure you keep it covered otherwise the whipped cream will dry out.
7. If using agar agar, first whip the cream and leave it aside(or keep in refrigerator). Then work on the agar. Add the agar powder to the water and stir, heat it well (it needs a rapid boil to activate) until it becomes a clear solution. Then take it off flame and you have to keep whisking/stirring the agar solution until it cools down. If you leave it aside to cool it will set. When it's cooled down, add it to the mango and add that to the whipped cream. Use a beater and blend it all together quickly and then add it to the pan. You need to work quickly with agar agar.

Update
For agar agar, Rinku Bajaj has posted the following feedback. Hope this is useful!


Hi,
I tried this recipe with agar agar as per the directions provided by Beulah and it turned out perfect :)
The only additional step would be to heat the mango puree slightly so that when you add the hot agar agar solution it doesn't set instantly.


Until next time,
 photo New signn_zps3ubziitr.png
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16 May 2014

15 May 2014

Oats Pongal Recipe

My husband and me love oats and like to include it in our daily meal. We usually make it as a porridge, which is easy and simple to make but I decided to make it more flavorful and try out some breakfast recipes with it. I have tried oats idli and loved it and decided to make some oats pongal this time.



This turned out, extremely flavorful and yum! You can't tell that this was made with oats! It tasted just as good as the regular ven pongal except this has to be eaten hot and served immediately.
Check out the other pongal recipes.
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14 May 2014

Instant Microwave Mango Cake (eggless and butterless)

I had some left over mango pulp after making my mango mousse cake so as I was wondering if I should just eat it or if I can make something with it, I came across this recipe and tried it out. This cake is absolutely gorgeous! So soft and moist and delicious!
Have you seen Peppa Pig (the cartoon) where Mummy Pig eats Granny Pig's apple and blackberry crumble and relishes it so much?! I felt like that! (My daughter's obsession with peppa pig is rubbing off on me!)



Anyway, I have baked some mango cakes before, like the eggless mango cake and mango marble cake but this microwave cake was the softest of them all! I could not believe how moist and soft this was! 

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13 May 2014

Spicy Potato Masala Recipe

Potatoes are a hot favorite, when there are no other veggies in the house, then potatoes comes to the rescue. This is another one of my anni's fabulous recipes. This tasted absolutely fatastic! I have already posted two other potato dishes, a potato fry - which is a dry dish and a potato masala - which is a poori masala. This potato masala is different from the other two, this has onions and tomato and more spices and more flavor! Totally yum!




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12 May 2014

Eggless Mango and Chocolate Marble Cake (eggless and butterless)

I am on a roll baking with mangoes! Out of my last 6 posts, 3 are mango based! And there's more to come! I'm really happy since last year I could not bake with mangoes at all but this year, I have had many opportunities to bake for family and for others with mangoes. I like to use seasonal fruits and vegetables to the fullest!




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11 May 2014

Mango Kulfi Recipe | Easy 3 Ingredients Mango Kulfi Recipe | Creamy Mango Kulfi | Homemade Mango Kulfi

Kulfi is Indian ice cream, so thick and creamy and delicious! I made a strawberry kulfi when the strawberries were in season and I have been waiting for the mango season to try this dessert with mango flavor. 

And this kulfi was absolutely yummy and so simple to make. I was searching for an easy kulfi recipe and I landed at Tarla Dalal's recipe. This was an easy recipe to follow and I only made some minor changes to makes this kulfi. 
Do try this, you will not be disappointed!

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10 May 2014

Oreo Milkshake Recipe

Of all the milkshakes I have made, this is by far the best milkshake I have ever had! Ofcourse if you love chocolate as much as me, then you would also feel the same! It is the best! So creamy and delicious! I'm not such a big fan of oreos but I loved the chocolate flavor.




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9 May 2014

Mango Popsicle Recipe

I made some popsicles the other day to enjoy some fruity ice lollies! Isn't this the best way to enjoy fruits?! This popsicle is full of the goodness of mango and some milk. Tastes really good in this hot weather. You can make this with any fruit.



I make these popsicles in 2 different ways. I made these mango popsicles the easy way! The second method involves some steps, I will mention both methods here but intend to make another fruity popsicle using the second method. I will post that later.  Check out the other popsicle recipes, rosemilk popsicle, orange popsicle and watermelon popsicle.

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8 May 2014

Prawn 65 Recipe

I love prawns, we always make the prawn masala that I posted earlier but on this particular day we wanted to try some other recipe with prawns and decided to make some prawn 65. Prawns coated in many masalas and deep fried...tasted absolutely yum! This is a tasty appetizer and got over very quickly!




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7 May 2014

Eggless Mango Cake Recipe

My favorite fruit is in season and I want to try out all kinds of desserts and drinks using mangoes! My kids are not giving me time to make a lot of desserts this summer but I did not want to miss out on baking this yummy mango cake! I love to incorporate fruits in my bakes, it's so much more flavorful instead of eating plain vanilla cake! 
When strawberries were in season, I made a strawberry cake which was yummy and so I wanted to try out a mango cake as well.

Eggless Mango Cake


I have updated this recipe with new pictures, this time I baked this cake for my daughter's best friend's birthday. The little girl was so happy! I'm so amused to see their friendship, they are so little but still such close friends! But I like this girl a lot and so far made a custard powder ice cream and an egg free mini chocolate cake for her and I'm happy she likes what I bake for her! Happy Birthday to her!


Eggless Mango Cake


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6 May 2014

String Beans and Broad Beans Kootu

Any variety of beans is very good for health and we love this in our home and make quite often. This was made in my mother in laws house, another one of my dear anni's recipe (my sister in law). She is an awesome cook and I simply love eating what she cooks! Hope you enjoy this recipe!
We made this recipe in a pressure cooker to save time! You can make it in a pan.


Beans Kootu


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5 May 2014

Potato Masala Recipe / Poori Masala

This potato masala is one of the easiest masalas that can be made! Although it is very simple to make, it tastes absolutely yum! This is usually made as a side dish for poori but I like to make it for my daughter every now and then. Potaotes are one of the very few vegetables that she eats so I make this with very little spice. You can increase the spice level.





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4 May 2014

Crispy Baked Idli with Left over idli's (fried idli style)

I'm sure every family has left over idlis, most of the days. Instead of re heating those idlis, it is best to make some snack out of it and finish it off. I first had fried idlis in my in laws house. It tasted so crispy and yum, I had so much. But then I never made it at home since it required frying the idlis in so much of oil and I'm not a fan of eating too much fried stuff. 


Crispy Baked Idli


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3 May 2014

Chicken Salad

While I'm learning to make different salads, my sister in law is the best when it comes to salad making! She makes such wonderful salads and I always love it. This is one such salad that she made and we absolutely loved it! We had it with bread for breakfast.




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Grilled Bread Sandwich

I love this sandwich for breakfast or as a snack. It is very easy to make and it's so crispy and tasty. Everybody loves to have this in our home. This has no cheese in it, you can do any filling for this. I have made this sandwich with paneer bhurji, egg bhurji, potato masala, scrambled eggs. Use whatever you have at hand for filling.




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2 May 2014

Chocolate Truffle Cake

I made this cake when my nieces were visiting. They live in another city and love chocolate, they have been drooling over all my baked goodies since the time I started my blog. So I decided to indulge them by baking this super fudgy chocolate cake. And they were not disappointed!


This cake is so fudgy since it uses only melted chocolate and not cocoa powder. We loved the flavor of this cake, every bite was so rich and chocolaty! 
I again frosted this cake with ganache and whipped cream as in my other cake The Best Chocolate Cake Ever. This combination never fails.

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1 May 2014