Mango Pudding

Here I am, continuing with my mango madness. The JFI event at Indira's and the abundance of mangoes in our market egged me on a search for some mango delicasies. This recipe the result of one such search and adapted from the Food section of BBC UK.

This is truly a dessert in a jiffy. The mango pudding with the unbeatable taste of this tropical fruit combined with milk and sugar, crowned with mint leaves- is a beauty, both on the outside and the inside.

Mango pudding adorned by mint leaves

Ingredients:

2 cups mango puree (Peel the mangoes, cube and puree )
1 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp gelatin / china grass
200 ml water
Few drops mango essence (optional)
Mint leaves for garnish
Icing sugar for garnish

Method:

1. Add the mango puree, milk and sugar into a bowl. Mix well.
2.Dissolve the gelatin in 200 ml hot water thoroughly.
Add the gelatin mixture to the mango mixture and stir.
3. Stir in the mango essence (if using ). Divide the mixture between 5 ramekins and refrigerate for an hour. The pudding should look set and jiggle when shaken.
4.To unmould- dip the bases of ramekins in warm water, run a knife blade to free the pudding from the sides, shake gently and upturn onto a plate.
5. Garnish with mint leaves and sift icing sugar over the top. ( I used just the mint)

Note:
Just dig in immediately !

This entry goes for JFI-Mahanandi and Cate's ARF Tuesdays

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Weekend Breakfast Blogging #2 (Mmmm...Mango Pancakes)

Most of India has 3 seasons. The monsoons, the winters and the Mango season. Well, especially so, for mango lovers. I know of people who virtually skip dinners during this season, so that they can stuff themselves with 3-4 mangoes each night.

Some of those luscious ripe ones

They say "Necessity is the mother of invention". I would say- "Abundance is the mother of invention". I invariably come up with a new recipe when I have too much of a particular ingredient. One good thing about living in Bombay is the truck loads of Hapoos (Alphonso mangoes )that arrive into the markets at this time of the year. Alphonso mangoes are considered by many to be the best in terms of sweetness and flavour.

I bought a whole load of mangoes from the veggie market last evening. The wonderful aroma has been inviting me all evening to do something about the mangoes. Also, the Mango JFI at Indira's Mahanandi has been at the back of my mind.

I first thought of baking the mangoes into a cake, or making a mousse for dessert (which is going to be the next escape route for the luscious babies). But no ! I wanted something that would give me instant gratification. That's how the idea for Mango Pancakes was born.

It would tackle 3 issues at once-
1. Start to demolish the huge pile of mangoes
2. An entry for my weekend breakfast blogging
3. Entry for JFI at Mahanandi.

Juicy mangoes grated into flour and spiced with ginger, caressed by butter milk- the end result being a heavenly taste in your mouth...

Grated mango with ginger, Flour with 5 spice, Buttermilk

Mmmm...Mango Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 large mango-grated
1 cup wheat flour
1/4 cup rice flour
1 T grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup sugar ( I used 2 tbsp splenda- the amnt of sugar also depends on the sweetness of your mango)
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 cups butter milk
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp 5 spice powder (optional)
1/4 tsp mango essence (optional)

Vegetable Oil / Butter for cooking pancakes ( I used Saffola )

Method :

Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add to this the grated mango. Mix well. Add the buttermilk slowly and stir so as to avoid any lumps. The consistency of the batter should be such that it sticks to the back of the ladle. Add the mango essence to the batter (if using). Stir well. You can let this batter sit for 15 minutes or so at this stage.

Heat a non stick pan. Grease with butter / oil, pour a ladleful of batter onto the heated pan. Gently spread into a circle taking care not to thin out the pancake. Let it cook for 2-3 min on a slow flame. Turn the pancake and cook the other side for 2-3 min.

This recipe will make around 6-7 pancakes of 6" diameter.

Serve immediately with fresh fruits.

Mango pancakes with sliced cantaloupe for breakfast

Note:
You can use milk instead of the buttermilk I guess. Just that if the mango is too acidic, it will split the milk. You may also add jaggery instead of sugar in this recipe.

This is my entry to JFI -Mango at Indira's Mahanandi

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Peerkangai Tuvaiyal

The ridge gourd was never a part of my veggie-shopping list until I started making this traditional south Indian Chutney called Peerkangai Thuvaiyal. The spiciness from the red chillies, the tanginess from the tamarind and the authentic south Indian taste from the asafoetida make it a delight to eat with steaming hot rice dotted with ghee.

Peerkangai Thuvaiyal

Before I tell you how to go about making this flavorful chutney, I must tell you a little trivia about this gourd.

The botanical name of Ridge Gourd is Luffa Aegyptica. If this sounds similar to the loofah sponge that adorns our baths- it is no co-incidence. Loofahs are indeed made from the dried ridge gourds after removing the seeds and xylems from inside the gourd. Have a look at the picture beneath-

Peerkangai Thuvaiyal ( Ridge Gourd chutney )

Ingredients:

2 medium-large ridge gourds- peel the ridges and slice the gourd roughly

3 dry red chillies

1 tbsp chana dal

1 tbsp udad dal

small piece asafoetida soaked in warm water

marble sized tamarind ball soaked in water

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds

pinch of turmeric

sea salt to taste

1 tsp oil

Method:

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the fenugreek seeds and the dals. Once the dals turn golden, add the red chillies, turmeric, gourd slices, tamarind and saute for 2 min. Add the salt, saute and cook covered for 7-8 min on a low flame.

Once the vegetable has become tender, remove the skillet contents onto a plate and cool for around 10 min.

Put the cooled contents into a blender and grind to a fine paste.

Peerkangai thuvaiyal is ready !

Slices of gourd sizzling on a skillet

Note:

• Mix it into hot rice with ghee and eat it with an appalam (papad). You can also put it on toast

(Ammani's idea ) or as a spread for the chapati !

• Its rich in carotene and low on carbohydrates. So, low carb lovers rejoice !

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Weekend Breakfast Blogging - The List

WBB #1 - Announcement Round Up

WBB #2 - Announcement Round Up

WBB #3 - Announcement Round Up

WBB #4 - Announcement Round Up

WBB #5 - Announcement Round Up

WBB #6 Twist in the plate - Announcement Round Up

WBB #7 Baking - Announcement Round Up

WBB #8 Christmas- Announcement Round Up

WBB #9 Eggs - Announcement Round Up

WBB #10 Greens - Announcement Round Up

WBB #11 Summer Fruits - Announcement Round Up

WBB #12 Spice it up - Announcement Round Up [Blog no longer accessible]

WBB #13 Oats - Announcement Round Up

WBB #14 Ethnic twist - Announcement Round Up

WBB #15 Leftovers - Announcement Round Up

WBB # 16 Omelette - Announcement Pending

WBB #17 Cornflakes - Announcement Round Up

WBB #18 Soy - Announcement Round Up

WBB #19 Healthy eats - Announcement Round Up

WBB #20 Balanced breakfasts - Announcement Round Up

WBB #21 Microwave breakfasts- Announcement Round Up

WBB #22 May Mango Madness - Announcement Round Up

WBB #23 Express Breakfasts- Announcement Round Up

WBB #24 Summer Feast - Announcement Round up

WBB # 25 Combi Breakfast - Announcement

WBB # 26 September - Aparna, My Diverse Kitchen

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A serving of culture- Coconut chutney

Say coconut and my associations are temples, Kerala, Udipi restaurants, Kozhakattai, coconut shell curtains at West Elm (couldn't ever take them off my mind), weaving coconut leaf mats, sweet coconut water and many many more..

Coconut shell curtains

There are probably more recipes for coconut chutney than the number of Indian Gods. It took several years for me to arrive at the recipe that my taste buds liked best. Not too watery, not too spicy and not too bland. There's nothing more incomplete than a plate of steaming hot idlis or crisp dosas without that perfect coconut chutney.

Ingredients:


Half a fresh coconut- Sliced off from the shell
3 tbsp dalia (Pottu kadalai)
2 green chillies
2 cloves garlic
10 fresh curry leaves
few sprigs of cilantro / coriander
Salt as per taste (1/2 - 1 tsp)
1/2 tsp oil, 5-6 curry leaves and 1/2 tsp mustard seeds for garnish


Directions:

1. Put all ingredients except garnish in a blender with 1/4 cup of water. Grind to a fine paste. Add 1-2 tbsp of water, if consistency is too thick. Remove into a small bowl.
2. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the mustard seeds and curry leaves. Once the seeds start popping, take pan off the flame and spoon the garnish onto the chutney.
3.Serve fresh with steaming hot idlis, dosas, uthapams, upma, medu vadais etc.





Notes
This recipe makes about one cup of chutney
Keep refrigerated . This stays fresh for 24-36 hours in the refrigerator.
The key to making this chutney taste best is to use the freshest possible coconut. The slightest stale taste from the coconut will completely spoil the chutney.

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Melt-in-your-mouth Scones

I baked these gorgeous things last night- and Meeta was right about the heavenly aroma.
Great recipe- just that I think I should have used lesser butter.
Will do that experimentation next time over.

Recipe courtesy: What's for lunch honey?

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Vegetable paratha with carrot-garlic spread

My mornings are probably the most mismanaged hours. No matter what time I wake up-I have to go through the morning ritual of a cuppa chai with the papers. The chai stretches until I'm almost through with the newspapers (which come to some total of 40-50 pages of browsing).

Once I'm done with that, my rush hour starts, where in I have to prepare breakfast and a lunch box for the husband. This is always a very high speed activity to achieve the double end point, of taste combined with wholesome nutrition.

For today's lunch box I made a quick mixed grated vegetable paratha with carrot garlic spread. It is a pretty simple thing to make.

This is my first entry to ARF-5-a-day. This recipe is rich in colors from the carrots, fenugreek leaves, coriander leaves-low on oil and high on taste.

Over to the ARF Tuesdays round-up at Sweetnicks

Vegetable parathas:

Ingredients:

1- 1.5 cups- Radish, Bottle gourd -grated

Handful of fenugreek (methi) leavesfinely chopped

1 tsp ajwain / omam seeds (called Bishop's weed -click for the picture)

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1 cup whole wheat flour

Pinch of turmeric, salt to taste

Method:

Bind the dough with the water from the vegetables. Trust me, you don't need any water to bind, if you use the above veggies, infact I had to add some extra flour to make it less soggy.
Just roll out into small thick chapatis and cook them with / without some oil / ghee.

Now, something to go with the parathas. I made this carrot garlic spread in under 5 min.

Carrot Garlic Spread
Inspired by Tarla Dalal's Healthy Breakfasts

Ingredients:
2 medium sized carrots-washed, peeled and roughly sliced
4 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
sea salt to taste
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp chopped coriander


Method:
Grind the carrots, garlic, chilli powder, salt to a coarse paste. Mix in 1/2 tsp olive oil and 1 tsp of finely chopped coriander.

It can't get simpler than that. The sweetness from the carrots, the pungent kick from the garlic and the heat from the red chilli powder make a truly awesome blend of tastes.

This recipe makes upto 3/4 cup of chutney.


Can also serve this as:

Chutney for any parathas, chapatis
Low cal spread for sandwiches
Spicy chutney with Idlis/ Dosas instead of using 'molaga podi' with oil

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