Minty Cauliflower

Hello Sweeties!! July is BBQ month. The basic quest for all vegetarian food lovers is what's there for us in the BBQ feast!!!!! There is Indian cottage cheese/paneer, roasted veggies corn on the cobs. So to add one more interesting item to your grand BBQ menu,. my sister has this Minty cauliflowers for you.

They can be made on the grill. in the oven or on the stove top. They will surely make you love your cauliflower and  push the good old greasy French fries to the side. 

You will need;
1 whole cauliflower tore into florets, wash and drain

Enough oil to lightly coat the florets

Sea Salt to taste

Mint paste

** Make a fine mint paste with mint,cilantro, cumin, garlic and green chilies

Coat the florets with some grape-seed oil, sprinkle salt and cook in a wok on high heat. The florets cook fast so it should take about 5-7 mins. stir continuously to avoid burning Alternatively you can also roast in a pre-heated oven at 400Degress, till the florets start browning.

 After the florets get cook reduce heat, add the mint paste till all florets get evenly coated. Minty Cauliflower is ready to be served.

Paan Ice-Cream!!! Absolute delight for pan and ice-cream lovers!!!!!

 Hello Sweeties!!! summer is here and its really heating up things. Life is busy now with small get-together's Impromptu Park picnics and Ice-cream cravings. After a huge success with mango ice cream, I tried  a paan ice-cream. We love Paan. Paan is a betel leaf preparation widely popular in India and usually chewed after a heavy meal or everyday.

Although its digestive, people get addicted to it adding tobacco and other things, but we like it safe, which is called Meetha Pan. It has no tobacco and betel nut. Meetha/Sweet paan is for kids so has no betel nuts/but has  loads of gulkand/rose petal jam and candy and sweetened coconut and some tutty-fruities.

You will need;

1.5 Cups heavy Whipping Cream

5 teaspoons Conf Sugar

1 tsp corn starch

2 ready made Paans cut into small pieces-- See Notes
5 Pan Bites-Candy in Indian Store--Optional
 

 ** The green paan/leaf in the below picture is store brought, usually you will find Paan makers in most Indian restaurants or vicinities. The right side shows a candy now seen in desi grocery stores called Pan bites

Take the cream, add corn starch and sugar and whip in the stand mixer till soft peaks form. The base is ready. Add the cut paan pieces and pan bite candy and run the whipping blade for another 2 minutes and mix well.
 

Remove the mixture in a frozen ice cream maker bowl. Cover the bowls with some cling film/plastic wrap and set in the freezer for 2-3 hours. 

The soft serve is ready after a couple of hours in freezer. If you want harder ice-cream, freeze overnight or minimum of 6-8 hours. 

Egg-less Mango Ice cream

Dear Sweeties!!! June is celebration time. Mangoes are found to be in season, so desserts and sweets with mangoes are  a staple around this time. Mango cream and mango cake is a favorite with Mr. Ash and kids. I overestimated the riping time and brought a overload of mangoes that happened to ripen at the same time. We love mangoes, but it were one too many for us to finish, so I put my ice cream maker bowls to good use and made some low sugar goodness.

You will need;

2 Cups heavy Whipping Cream

3/4th Cup Conf Sugar

1tsp corn starch

2 Mangoes cut into small pieces

 

Take the cream, add corn starch and sugar and whip in the stand mixer till soft peaks form. The base is ready. Add the mango pieces and run the whipping blade for another 2 minutes and mix well.

Remove the mixture in a frozen ice cream maker bowl. Cover the bowls with some cling film/plastic wrap and set in the freezer for 2-3 hours. 

The soft serve is ready after a couple of hours in freezer. If you want harder ice-cream, freeze overnight or minimum of 6-8 hours. Welcome the goodness of ice-cream with no eggs and no preservatives.

Minestrone Soup- Slow Cooker Recipe

Hello Sweeties!!! If you are an soup lover and especially love Olive Garden specialty minestrone soup, hang on, I have this recipe that was passed by a very special friend. But if you know me, you very well know I cannot simply stick to the recipe, I have to deviate and wander off to make it my own, some are big hits some are flops. This is a sure shot big hit, maybe because I did not let go of the basic recipe and simply added my own additions. Or maybe because it was cooked in a slow cooker and used stock to enhance flavors and make it more earthy. It is full of good nutrition and zero oil except if you used re-fried beans like me, you would not call it zero oil. Feel free to replace the re-fried beans with any beans of your choice to make it truly a zero oil soup recipe.

You will need;

2 carrots chopped in semi circles

1 stick celery chopped fine

2 sprigs Green onion

1/2 cup spinach

2-3 big florets of broccoli

2-3 cloves garlic-crushed

1 tbspn Italian Seasoning

1 Qt box of vegetable stock

1 cup Pasta-I used elbows

1 can re-fried beans--(Had to use them)-Use any beans you prefer

1 can diced tomatoes or use fresh

1 tsbpn fresh rosemary

6-8 leaves of fresh basil torn

Salt to taste

In a slow cooker insert, add all the above ingredients and let it to cook for 8 hrs on low or 6 hrs high. Enjoy the soup after the slow cooker has done its job well.

Panjiri-- Power House for new mothers

Hello Sweeties!!! Don't just abandon me for being missing. I am trying to post to the best of my ability, but since I am not learning any new recipes, posting has been awfully slow.

We are always in a rush that we tend to not have  a proper breakfast and grab a ton of sugar packed cereals or bars on our way out of the door. This recipe is for Panjri, which is commonly made in North Indian homes when someone has had  a major surgery or just had  a baby. Essentially packed with sugar, good fats and nutrition, this can be made where there are picky eaters or people with weak immunity or anyone who needs an extra boost of energy. I eat a couple of spoonful of Panjiri on days I have to skip breakfast.

The powder can be eaten mixed in warm milk to make porridge or kheer or as is.

You Will Need; 
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Cup plus 2 Tbspn ghee/clarified butter
1.5 cups Sugar-Confectioner or ground sugar
1/3rd cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 tspn Saffron/kesar
1 tbspn Pista Powder
1 tbspn Almonds- shivered
1/3 rd cup chopped Walnuts
2 Tbspn Edible Gum/Dink/Gond
2 Tbspn Crushed Fenugreek/Methi seeds
2 Tspn Cardamom Crushed or Elaichi powder
In a wok, heat the 2 tbspn ghee, fry the edible gum, till it blooms in the ghee. once fried, remove on a plate and let cool. Then crush the fried gum and keep aside.
 
In the same wok, take the remaining ghee, add the wheat flour and roast  on medium heat. Stir continuously taking care than the flour does not stick to the pan and burn. Stir for about 25-30 mins, till the mixture looks frothy and becomes really loose.
 
When the flour changes color add the crushed methi seeds and keep roasting for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously. Switch off the flame and let cool. 

When the mix is warm enough to dip your finger and add the elaichi, dink, coconut flakes, chopped walnut, saffron, shivered almond and pista powder.mix well and when completely cool, store in an air tight conatiner. The Panjiri can be stored at room tempatarure for about week.