Mango Cake with Mango White Choc frosting

Hello Sweeties!!!! Today is Mr. Ash's Birthday!! A grand celebration day was planned by kiddos and we set to work. Daddy's Birthday is special as it usually falls on Memorial day weekend or a day or so after. 

We are still very much in the holiday mood and now that Donut is older, he is eager to help me in planning or baking the cake.

For this year's cake, Donut deiced he wanted something desi yet in a cake. So we settled for Mango milkshake cake. I had stashed some concentrated Alphonso mango pulp from my trip back home in my fridge, so put that to work. The deep yellow color is from the home grown and homemade concentrated mango pulp.

The frosting was also new to me, this is a white chocolate, mango infused frosting. The taste is bit sweeter for our taste buds, but overall I am please with the cake and this recipe is a keeper for the coming summer birthdays.

Recipe source with tweaks from my side

You will need;
1/2 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 and 1/2 cup flour
1 tspn ENO -Fruit Salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup Milk
2 tbspn Concentrated mango pulp
1 tspn cardamom-elaichi

In a bowl take the milk and mix in the mango pulp. If you cannot find the pulp, use mango juice( tinned or freshly squeezed out of a mango) and mix into a smoothie, add the elaichi and keep aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.

In the stand mixer bowl, beat the butter and the sugar, add in the eggs and cream the mixture, then add the mango milk, and beat for 2 mins. Slowly add the flour, and stir well. Lastly add the ENO and stir once.

In a well greased bowl, pour the mixture shake the pan and bake at 40-45 mins, till the knife comes out clean.

Frosting
You will need;
2 cups heavy whipping cream
50 pieces of white chocolate wafers
( I use wilton chocolate wafers)
2 tbspn conf sugar
2 tbspn concentrated mango pulp 
1/2 tspn cardamom/elaichi powder

In a bowl, mix in the concentrated pulp with 1/2 cup cream, add the elaichi powder and set aside.

In anr glass bowl, take the chocolate wafers, add in 1/2 cup cream and  melt in a microwave for 30 seconds, stirring once in between at 15 seconds. The melting time will depend on how powerful your microwave is. Use  your judgement and  melt the chocolate wafers.

Whip the rest of the cream with the sugar, and store in the fridge till further use.

In the same mixing bowl, cream the chocolate mixture and the mango pulp mixture, frost the cake with this mixture. Use the stored whipped icing for the borders on the cake.

In the sampling, we realized that the frosting was a tad too sweet for us, so we added some mango cubes on the cake. The mangoes need some time to ripen and are a bit sour, making it perfect for the cake.


Donut prepared this parfait bowl for Mr. Ash for breakfast and Munchkin is making a card for him as well. So Here's wishing Mr. Ash a wonderful Birthday!!!!

For the parfait, Donut chopped some bananas, and added some granola for the crunch, used the leftover icing and topped with a cherry. Easy and filled with so much love for our daddy!!!

Avocado Poori- Avocade puffed bread-Kids Lunch box

Hello Dearies!!! Are you guys set with plans of summer outings for the warm months ahead!!!

With summer comes travel and the quest of kid friendly finger foods begins. Indian moms have been carrying various kinds of flat breads, pooris and theplas for such travels as travel in India is never friendly and without incidents. The train run late for  untold hours, the food available on streets is not at time of edible quality and the issues go on. 

Only thing you can vouch with confidence is the  never ending supply of tea and coffee, so taking such home made snacks that can be mini meals save the day when incidents delay the travels. 

In the US, we get a decent supply of Avocado. Back home, we never heard of such fruit, but after coming here and  settling in  anew home, we adapted some new foods.  

But trick with avocado is to get it at the right time, too raw and too ripe  is equal to wastage. I am still learning the trick to getting the perfect avocado. Sometimes I  fall prey to wholesale club prices and get more than I would need.

This recipe is perfect for those times. My kids enjoyed this lunch box and demanded an egg frankie with the same dough for the next day. I would give that a A+Grade.

You will need; 1 over ripe Avocado -Pitted and Mashed ** Mash and break the Avocado cubes as fine as possible 2 cups Wheat Flour 

1 tbspn fine sooji or semolina

1 tspn red chili powder

1 tspn turmeric powder

1 tspn cumin and coriander powder

1 tbspn Kasuri/dry methi

1/2 tspn Ajwain powder/Carrom seeds powder 

1 tsp salt or as per taste

2 cups Oil for deep frying--Approx

water to knead the dough

**this dough is slightly hard and not like chapati so use less water to knead the dough, only if needed as the avocado mash will also be wet enough.

In a bowl, take the flour and semolina and add the dry powders, salt and sugar, add the mashed avocado and knead into a hard dough . Keep aside for 10 mins.

In a wok, take oil for frying, take only as much as the pooris will immerse, I would say about 2-3 cups of oil, and heat it till it smokes once and then reduce the heat to medium.

Make small round balls of the dough and roll each one out (try rolling like thin cookies). 

 

Fry each one of them in the hot oil, one at a time. DO not rush and be extremely careful when frying. The ideal way to fry poori's is to slide the poori from one side of the wok. DO Not throw the poori's in the hot oil, the oil will splutter and splash and burn your hands.

Once you slide in the poori in the hot oil, let it puff up from one side, once it puffs up, turn it and let the other side puff up.. once both sides are puffed , drain them on some paper towels to remove excess oil and enjoyy them hot or cold, either ways they are delish.

 
Alternatively, if frying scares you, make them into theplas/parathas. 

Roll out the parathas like you would make roti's( make small balls  of the dough and roll out thin round tortillas dusting flour if the tortillas stick to the surface). Heat a griddle or tawa on medium heat and cook the partahas on one side. Flip the parathas and spray oil and cook the other side. Repeat on side one and cook both sides. Serve hot with some ketchup. or green chutney or any curry of your choice.

Optional: If making it for kids lunch, I usually scramble an egg with milk and make a small frankie of the egg with the paratha, in this way.

  

These make for a quick kids lunch box or picnic food item along the way.

Vegetable Paneer Tikka Biryani

Hello Sweeties!!!! What do you do when you are in no mood to cook anything elaborate yet there is some celebration needed. You make this vegetable paneer tikka biryani. Easy!!!!

Donut finished his exams and we thought like always, we might dine out and this Momma might get lucky on a week day. Surprises never cease us, Donut declared he liked home cooked food much better than outside spicy food.

Mr. Ash was in mood for some Biryani and kids love Paneer/Indian cottage cheese.  There is a debate as American cottage cheese is  different than paneer, But since I don't know another word for Paneer, I am sticking to Indian Cottage cheese.

I had got the spicy paneer tikka masala paste to try from the last grocery trip, I decided to satisfy everyone and use that. 

Birayni can be jazzed up in million ways and use of ingredients can be  added or minimized. This is my version of kid friendly biryani. 

You Will Need;
For Rice;
2 cups Basmati rice washed and drained 
2 cups boiling hot water
one tspn lemon juice

For Vegetable Paneer Tikka Masala;
2 medium onion
2 Tomatoes
2 Medium Potaoes diced
around 8-10 1 inch paneer cubes
1 cup mixture of corn, peas, and beans 
1 inch ginger
2-3 cloves Garlic
3 tbspn paneer Tikka Masala Paste  
* I get the ready to use masala paste in my Indian grocery store, alternatively use the dry spice powder mixed in yogurt 
1 tbspn chopped mint
1/2 cup Milk or cream
Salt to taste
1 tbspn chopped mint
2 tbspn Ghee for tempering
1 tspn jeera/cumin seeds 

To assemble The Biryani;
1 heavy pot/Handi
few Saffron Strands mixed in warm milk
1 onion cut in Strips and fried
Chopped mint
Cooked basmati rice
Prepared Vegetable Paneer tikka Masala Gravy

Take the washed and drained rice and add boiling water and lemon juice to it and cover and let cook for 10-12 minutes. Do not cook the rice fully, we need it al-dente. Fluff and Keep aside

In a small food chopper, take the onion, tomatoes,  ginger and garlic and pulse into a fine paste. 

In a handi/deep pot, take the ghee, add the jeera, add the onion tomato paste and fry till the oil separates. Then add in the paneer tikka masala paste and the chopped mint. The paste is very spicy and has all the ingredients of the whole garam masala. 

IF you are not using this paste, then add 2 heaped tbspns of garam masala/paneer tikka masala and 1 tbspn red chilli powder now and fry the onion tomato mixture,. then add the vegetable and let cook till the potatoes get cooked al-dente.  Do not cook everything through or else they will get mushed when you further cook the biryani.

After the poatoes get partially cooked add the milk/cream and paneer and  let cook and reduce. we need some gravy, but don't make it too liquid.

We are ready to assemble the biryani. 

Remove half of the gravy from the handi into another bowl, add in a layer of rice, Sprinkle half of the fried onion and mint and  the saffron milk over the layer, then another layer of paneer gravy, rice and garnish with remaining onions, mint and saffron milk. Spread some ghee over this mixture. Cover this tightly with a lid. 

On low-medium heat, take  a flat pan and  arrange the handi over it and let cook for another 30-45 minutes. The more you keep, the better the tastes develop. We ate after about 30 minutes, but the tastes was very much there.

The Biryani was modest in taste. The gravy can be made rich by using cashew nut paste/almond paste, heavy cream, full fat milk instead of regular milk. The biryani was good for a quick weekday dinner and was light on our tummies.

We enjoyed the biryaniw ith some lime and boondi raita.

Palak paneer Poori-Kids Lunchbox

Hello Dearies!!! Like me, You also must be having leftovers from either party or too many items in the menu, that few get ignored by the guests. Palak Paneer tastes amazing as is even after a day or so in the refrigerator, but when you have kids who die for porri's, you can also make it into one and finish the leftover food.

We live in a world where we must not be wasting any resources/food, kids are hungry even in the US of A. Need, I say more.

Indian food and recipes are  full of such leftover magic mingles, we use leftover rice and bread in number of ways, curries get transformed into poori's or parathas and rice into different types of tadkas opr pulav's.

Palak Paneer Recipe here.

You will need;
1 cup leftover palak paneer
** Mash and break the paneer cubes as fine as possible
2 cups Wheat Flour 

1 tbspn fine sooji or semolin)

1 tspn red chili powder

1 tspn turmeric powder

1 tspn cumin and coriander powder

1 tsp salt or as per taste

1/2 tspn sugar-optional

2 cups Oil for deep frying--Approx

water to knead the dough

**this dough is slightly hard and not like chapati so use less water to knead the dough, only if needed as the palak paneer will also be wet enough.

In a bowl, take the flour and semolina and add the dry powders, salt and sugar, add the palak paneer paste and knead into a hard dough . Keep aside for 10 mins.

In a wok, take oil for frying, take only as much as the pooris will immerse, I would say about 2-3 cups of oil, and heat it till it smokes once and then reduce the heat to medium.

Make small round balls of the dough and roll each one out (try rolling like thin cookies). 

Fry each one of them in the hot oil, one at a time. DO not rush and be extremely careful when frying. The ideal way to fry poori's is to slide the poori from one side of the wok. DO Not throw the poori's in the hot oil, the oil will splutter and splash and burn your hands.

Once you slide in the poori in the hot oil, let it puff up from one side, once it puffs up, turn it and let the other side puff up.. once both sides are puffed , drain them on some paper towels to remove excess oil and enjoyy them hot or cold, either ways they are delish.

These make for a quick kids lunch box or picnic food item along the way.

Bhoplyache Gharge- Pumpkin Sweet Poori

Hello Dearies!!!! Today I bring to you a very simple and healthy snack. We used to make these to take on long train journeys and picnics. Many camping trips had me carrying these gharge/Pumpkin poori as snack. Its an Indian take on the Pumpkin Cookie. 

This was my moms way of sneaking pumpkin into our tummies every now and then. I keep up with the tradition and follow her footsteps of sneaking such veggies in my kiddo's tummies. After all moms know best. This is her recipe with no tweaks from Ms. Ash.

You will need;

2 cup whole wheat flour--(will make about 15 small poori's as shown in pictures)

1 cup pumpkin halwa- See Recipe Below

1 tsp salt or as per taste

**water to knead the dough--this dough is slightly hard and not like chapati so use less water to knead the dough only if needed.

2 cups Oil for deep frying

For making pumpkin Halwa;

1.5 cups grated red Bhopla/Pumpkin

3/4 cup grated Jaggery

1 Tspn Ghee/Clarified butter-Optional

1 tspn Cardamom Powder/Elaichi
 

In a pot, add the ghee, the pumpkin and the jaggery and cook on low heat till the mixture is dry and halwa like. Add the elaichi powder and keep aside to cool.

  

In a bowl, take the flour, add salt and the pumpkin and jaggery halwa and knead into a hard dough . Keep aside for 10 mins.Use water only if needed.

In a wok, take oil for frying, take only as much as the pooris will immerse, I would say about 2 cups of oil, and heat it till it smokes once and then reduce the heat to medium.

Make small round balls of the dough and roll each one out (try rolling like thin cookies). Fry each one of them in the hot oil, one at a time. 

DO not rush and be extremely careful when frying. The ideal way to fry poori's is to slide the poori from one side of the wok. DO Not throw the poori's in the hot oil, the oil will splutter and splash and burn your hands.

Once you slide in the poori in the hot oil, let it puff up from one side, once it puffs up, turn it and let the other side puff up.. Once both sides are puffed , drain them on some paper towels to remove excess oil and enjoyy them hot or cold, either ways they are delish.

I am sending this to Pari's  "Cook Like Mom" event.

DIY -Trash to Treasure

Hello Dearies!!Happy Belated Earth day to you!!! Indulge has found a new space and shout out at Radhikas Imprints handmande blog. Yay!!! 

We exchanged  a few gifts when we met as all crafters and bloggers do. I gifted her these frames which I had purchased from IKEA, painted and drew some warli art forms.

Radhikas Imprints  gifted this amazing box to Ms. Ash.

The box was plain wood, which she hand painted and did the traditional rangoli designs. She has promised readers of indulge one such box when she is done with a few more. Since this is all hand work, this does take up a lot of time and effort. 

Thanks Radhika for the awesome gift. If you are interested in  ordering few for your self or as gifts head over to her blog and get in touch with her.


Also on earth day, Donut and Ms. Ash made this junk sculpture for school; Junk Robot.

For the robot we  wrapped a big box with some  leftover golden tissue packing paper, Donut drew the computer on a
scrap white paper. We used empty medicine boxes as legs and coffee cups as hands. The head was an empty yogurt can wrapped in remaining golden tissue paper. The eyes were old coins from some toy.

How did you celebrate Earth day?? did you resolve to re-cycle, re-use or did you plant a tree/shrub or plant? Do one of these or more on your part in keeping the earth for the future generations.