My attempts at making homemade marshmallows without corn syrup were successful and much appreciated, however not vegan. I’ve made these marshmallows couple of times now and they turn out perfect each time. Simple, easy and just 2 ingredients for a recipe that will not fail. Armed with that confidence and of sheer curiosity, I’ve been trying to experiment with agar-agar as a replacement for gelatin.

Of several sites I’ve read, successful vegan marshmallows have been possible with Xanthum gum, protein isolates, both of which I can’t fetch locally, hence agar is closest ingredient I can rely on. My struggle with making vegan marshmallows has been for a while, but to no avail. Agar simply fails to act the way gelatin does. My guess is that agar and gelatin have a different composition and gelling properties at different degrees, so they behave differently.

It’s magical what gelatin does to sugar syrup when whipped at high speeds, converting the entire syrup into a snow-white mass of fluffy, creamy, melt-in-mouth marshmallows… amazing! Agar fails to whip up the sugar syrup or stabilize it. My experiments with various proportions of agar, also cooked agar with the syrup and attempted to heat agar separately, all yielded disastrous effect to the end result. Even cooked agar at times failed to dissolve well, leaving speckles in the suspension. It either ended up in a pale caramel colored gooey, slimy mass of colloid or a sticky toffee like brittle, nowhere close what marshmallows are meant to be. An utter flop. An assurance that vegan marshmallows cannot be made with sugar and agar alone, they definitely need something more to be whipped up and stabilized. Till I get some Xanthum gum and protein isolates in my reach, I shall leave vegan marshmallows to rest in peace.

That apart, making homemade marshmallows is a breeze and fun too. Many with whom I shared these, were actually stunned when I told these were homemade… a pause, a blink in the eye and prying, some astonished if it was seriously homemade or just tagged so… had to convince! For the chocolate lover that we have at home, these marshmallows may not have made much of an impact, but these S’mores definitely did! He said “Wow, these are yum. Can we have more of these please!!!” S'mores as they call it for some more please... these little sandwich bars are popular American traditional campfire treats consisting of a roasted marshmallow and chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker, sinfully yum and decadent.

S’mores

INGREDIENTS

2 Graham cracker squares (I used Nutrichoice cracker squares)
10 gm. chocolate bar, broken/melted if necessary (milk, dark, semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate)
1 large homemade marshmallow

DIRECTIONS

On a clean plate, place one cracker square. Top it with the piece of dark chocolate. Microwave on high for 15-20 seconds to melt the chocolate slightly. Stick a fork into the marshmallow or using a tong, swirl the marshmallow lightly over open flame till the edges are golden brown. Do not hold longer as they will melt and fall apart. A couple of swift turns should do the job. Immediately place the marshmallow on top of the partially melted chocolate. Alternatively, you may toast the marshmallows under a grill too. Top it with the second cracker and press down gently so that some of the chocolate and marshmallow goo slides out on the sides. When the S'more is fully assembled, let it sit for a few seconds. Gently press them together and eat them like a sandwich! They taste best when warm.

Graham cracker squares are not available in India. An alternative would be digestive biscuits. However, I chose to use Nutrichoice cracker squares. They are thin, salted cracker squares and balance the sweetness from chocolate-marshmallow filling, just right for our tastes. The warm bittersweet chocolate and gooey marshmallows render creaminess to the dessert with a luscious center while the Nutrichoice cracker squares poise the sweetness, perfectly balancing it out. These are perfect little desserts which can be made ahead and taken to parties and adventure trips, pretty enough to win accolades.

Over the years there have been couple of recipes I’ve wanted to try but could never attempt for reasons plenty. In a land where ‘certain’ ingredients used primarily in Western cooking were unheard of and almost impossible to fetch, I wouldn’t blame myself if I pushed those recipes aside. Fortunately though, today we live in a pretty diverse city which has access to many of these imported items, it is still a challenge to fetch a Filo sheet, Wonton wrappers or even Puff Pastry sheets. I have not been lucky yet. I have given up mt hands on a local whipping cream, then would you expect me to look out for corn syrup, xanthum gum, agave nectar, etc.? Thanking my stars, least I have access to some good dark chocolate, vanilla extract or butterscotch chips, not with ease though!

I don’t remember eating marshmallows as kids. It’s not something we get here in stores. Only a couple of years ago, on our vacation to Ooty, I must have tasted my first marshmallows. And because you are on a vacation to a new place, you often tend to try foods that are speciality of that place, homemade chocolates and marshmallows happen to be quite popular here. And as predictable it can be, it was not one of those favorites among my parents for the lack of flavors or taste. And hence forgotten too…

Then, two years ago when my husband and me went on a vacation trip to Munnar and last year to Ooty, these marshmallows rocked my memories of those soft, pillow-like, melt-in-mouth candies. I had the freedom to enjoy couple of them there and packed a few to be eaten back home. Again as predictable it can be, marshmallows were never among my husband’s favorites too! So all that pack was devoured by me alone. Of course, to satisfy my husband’s chocolate addiction, our dear Rocky Road Bars were their counterparts!

Being a vegetarian, I was ignorant then that the animal product, gelatin goes into making these marshmallows. Though it doesn’t bother me much, since I am not staunch about vegetarianism (it’s just our way of life… didn’t we consume cod liver oil as kids… or what about the capsules... were eggs ever vegetarian…?), bringing home gelatin did bother me. Over the past two weeks I have been craving for marshmallows and my frantic search for stores in Bangalore didn’t lead me anywhere. Even the candy shops in malls ran out of stock. Are they kidding me???

I badly wanted to make them in my kitchen. Google gave ample recipes, most of them had one thing in common, corn syrup and gelatin. Corn syrup is an ingredient that is impossible to get locally and I would have preferred the recipe without gelatin. I’ve never used gelatin in the past, since agar-agar has worked mostly for me. I was skeptical how the marshmallows would turn out if agar powder was used. Despite all the possible research online, I concluded that gelatin was the only way I could get these right, at least for my first attempt. Again, since this was the first time I was attempting marshmallows, I decided to stick by what the recipe demanded, of course minus the corn syrup.

It turned out that these marshmallows were the best ever I’ve tasted. Absolutely yum and totally melt-in-mouth feel. If you taste one of these you’ll realize why you may never want to go back to the store-bought ones. Making these were darn easy and hardly any effort. With no candy thermometer at hand, I was mentally prepared for disasters… what if the sugar syrup ended in a caramel… will I get the right consistency… what the heck is that soft-ball stage… will the syrup whip well to marshmallow cream… will I be able to lift these marshmallows off the tray… if these fail, then what next… ???

Quite a lot of study went into making these little sweet treats. Several sites, recipes, reviews, comments which helped me gear up making these in my kitchen. I was armed with puffed rice at hand to make rice krispies, should these fail on me. And if the marshmallow cream failed to set, my digestive biscuits and dark chocolate were at my custody for some S’mores. Bear with me, these photos were taken at night on my kitchen counter with flash on. What was meant to be a weekend activity, I ended up making these on a weekday night. Put my little tot early to sleep and nudged myself to make these, I could barely hold my excitement. Sugar syrup went on a rolling boil and I kept looking for that soft-ball stage. Every time I threw a drop of that syrup in cold water it would dissolve into thin water. I gave up on that technic and instead stuck by India method of single thread consistency. A safer bet. Dropped a tiny dollop of syrup on a steel plate, allowed it to cool a little and then checked their consistency between my thumb and forefinger for a single string. It worked well. My mixer bowl had the gelatin blooming, however the moment the sugar reached that right stage, in the final boil, I threw in the gelatin to the hot syrup and gave a quick stir. Off the flame, I put the hot vessel directly on my stand mixer and gave the hot sugar syrup the desired blitz till it fluffed up and doubled in volume. Unlike what most recipes suggest (pouring the sugar syrup down the side of the bowl into the gelatin mixture), I added gelatin to the boiling syrup to avoid any lumps or un-dissolved gelatin stuff. I guess it worked well for me.

Homemade Vanilla Marshmallows (without Corn Syrup)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup cold water
2 tbsp. gelatin
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
A pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

To dust:

1 tsp. vegetable oil
1/8 cup cornstarch
1/8 cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS

Prepare a pan: Mix corn starch and powdered sugar. Grease a square baking dish and dust with the cornstarch-sugar powder thoroughly. Grease a spatula with vegetable oil to transfer the prepared marshmallow cream.

Sprinkle the gelatin over cold water and allow it to bloom. Prepare your stand mixer by attaching a balloon whisk. A balloon whisk will help in pumping good amount of air, thus helping them double faster. In a heavy saucepan, combine water and sugar. Bring to rolling boil on medium heat, stirring occasionally. If you have a candy thermometer at hand, boil it till it registers 115 degrees C (235-240 F), soft ball stage. In case you don’t have one, drop a blob of syrup on a steel plate, allow it to cool a little and then check it’s consistency between the thumb and forefinger for a single string formation. As it cools down further you should be able to roll it into a soft ball. Many recipes suggest a soft ball stage by testing the syrup in a bowl of cold water, though I’m not sure why it didn’t work for me. Sugar tends to crystallize, hence keep a keen eye on your boiling syrup. Once it reaches the soft ball stage, quickly add in the salt and bloomed gelatin to the sugary syrup. Turn off the flame immediately and give a quick, proper stir to ensure that the gelatin has dissolved completely. It took me about 8-10 minutes to reach that stage.

Turn on mixer at low speed, slowly increasing it to high, beating it on the highest speed. Beat until very thick, fluffy and double in volume, about 12 minutes is what it took for me on a stand mixer. The entire mass will turn to a clean white fluff and when this cream no longer increases in volume it should be done. At this stage, add in the vanilla extract or flavoring of your choice and give a final whirl for a minute. Do not overbeat as it may stiffen and make it tougher to transfer. Do not feel tempted to touch or taste the marshmallow cream at this stage as it’s very sticky and stingy in nature and you’ll end up in mess everywhere!

Using the oiled spatula, transfer the cream to the greased tin. Scrape off all the batter from the bowl and spread evenly into the prepared pan. Gently level the tops using the greased spatula. Cool overnight or at least 4 hours before slicing. To slice, carefully transfer the entire sheet of marshmallows to a sugar-cornstarch dusted cutting board. Grease a very sharp knife or scissors and cut into desired squares. I suggest not to use a ridged knife as I had trouble cutting with them. Instead a sharp leveled knife should do that job better. Toss with remaining sugar-cornstarch mixture until all sides are evenly coated and no longer sticky.

To make mini-marshmallows, I used the rear end of greased piping nozzle, pressed them down on the marshmallow sheet and cut out rounds. To be used on marshmallow floats. They keep for over a week in air-tight containers. The longer you have them, the denser they get, making them perfect for cup of hot chocolate.

The entire process may sound lengthy and tedious, but honestly it isn’t much of an effort to make this fluff. Glad that these marshmallows turned out extremely yum and surpassed my expectations. My husband who’s not a fan of marshmallows too gave me a thumbs up. This recipe is a keeper for sure and I do intend to play with more flavors in future. Also, next on my card is an attempt to get them done the vegan way. Let’s see if the agar stuff works… will keep you posted.

You have to pardon me for my inconsistency in blogging these days. Please.

Being without my laptop since a couple of days makes me totally incompetent to maintain my blog at the desired pace I intend to and I feel totally at lag. I generally prefer posting at least one recipe each week, but haven’t been able to linger on to that. My camera flash card is flooded with pictures of food, food and more food, but seriously, haven’t got enough time to download them and edit. Couple of drafts have been sitting incomplete, soon to be posted. Worse, I received several wishes on my birthday last month from my friends and blogger pals, but I haven’t been able to respond to mails or thank any. My sincere apologies guys… !!!

I hate this procrastination. Ever since I have been without my system, I’ve been nudging my husband to lend his lappy on weekends, only to keep this space burning and alive, with a positive hope that I shall soon be united with my beloved lappy. To say that I am technologically dependent is an understatement, now that living without a system hasn’t given me any peace of mind, but driving me nuts. On the contrary I have some positive news for you all. :)

Coming to the point, after a lot of thought and wait, I finally decided to purchase my own domain. Yes, after 3 years of blogging I still feel passionate about it. I love doing this every bit, so I took a plunge to move from http://www.vegbowl.blogspot.com/ to http://www.vegbowl.in/. Now doesn't that call for some celebration??? Now here's some Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bark to raise the toast!

Fruit and Nut Chocolate Bark

INGREDIENTS

2 cups chopped Dark Chocolate
2/3 cup mixed roasted nuts (such as roasted walnuts, pistachios, almonds and melon seeds)
2/3 cup mixed dried fruit (such as raisins, quartered figs and apricots)

DIRECTIONS

Line a tray with foil or parchment paper. Microwave the chocolate in medium bowl for 2 minutes on high power. Give a stir, the chocolate should be melted and smooth. If not microwave for another minute. Alternatively melt the chocolate in a double boiler over saucepan of simmering water, stirring until melted and smooth.

Scatter nuts and dried fruit evenly over the paper/foil. Pour melted chocolate onto the fruit nut mix, spreading gently using a spatula. Chill until chocolate is firm, about 30 minutes. Peel off the paper. Cut chocolate into irregular pieces. Serve the bark.

This chocolate bark is packed with goodness from fruits and nuts. I am a huge fan of dark chocolates, I always have them to munch on. My love for dry fruits and nuts is profound, I can add them to anything sweet and savory too. And am a bigger fan of roasted nuts, given the immense flavor and crunch they give to anything added. The bittersweet incense from the chocolate stark out beautifully when paired with the roasted earthiness from nuts and mellowed sweetness from dry fruits.

I am totally pepped up with this thought of celebrating a day symbolizing love with your Valentine. Isn’t that so cute? Unfortunately, it falls on a Tuesday this year, that means we’ll be at work and the day will be spent like any other week day. Shades of red have always been my favorite color, so there is no reason why I shouldn’t be soaked in colors of Valentine. And be it a festival or an occasion, you know I just need an excuse to make a dessert!

Initial thoughts of making chocolate cake for my Valentine took a backseat when I saw the bright oranges brought in from the Sunday shopping peeping out from shopping bag. They screamed to be used, probably not for the cake, but to be eaten fresh. As I packed a few off to be refrigerated for later use, the whipped cream on the refrigerator counter sat gleaming at me. Fresh cream cake wasn’t on my mind honestly. Experiments with fresh cream haven't had many success with me, so I didn't dare to this time. Buttercream was a safer route. After a real long time (I can say almost close to a year and half), I got eggs for the fat-less sponge base. Can’t get a better cake than a cake with Orange buttercream icing, yeah? Absolutely!

Oranges are in season. Seeing them flood the market in shades of bright yellow orange hues makes me go crazy for them. I cannot simply resist oranges, so reminiscent of a fruit which we often depend on to quench our thirst, especially during train and bus journeys. I completely adore fresh fruits, but wonder why I’ve rarely played around with them in my dessert. We relish fruits on a daily basis with stocks of banana, watermelon and muskmelon being quite a regular at home. Guess while I’m chopping fruits for a dessert a lot of it goes directly to my mouth rather than the dessert itself!

I have been toying around this idea of using oranges again to make a Gateaux since my previous bake with Baked Orange Cheesecake. Oh yeah, people loved it! It was hit at home. I’ve discovered a new found love in the zesty refreshing flavors of orange, prior to which the peels were meant to be discarded. I love that citrus zester and have been using more often since. I went on a serious hunting spree for that one tool! Totally worth the effort!

Keeping in mind the Valentine day, I baked this Orange Fresh Cream Gateaux over the weekend. This did not come as a surprise to my hubby as he very well knew that a cake was on the way for him. The eggs fluffed well to make the fatless sponge base devoid of any fat using the recipe inspired by Tarla Dalal. Drizzled juice directly from fresh oranges on to the cake. Now how good is that for you? A quick round of whip given to the cream and a good amount of orange rind and juice went into it, speckled bright and yellow. Spread the stuff and assembled it in less than an hour. It was a breeze.

Orange Buttercream Cake

INGREDIENTS

Fatless Sponge:

2 large sized eggs
50 gms (2 oz.) plain flour (maida)
50 to 80 gms fine tea sugar or powdered sugar

Buttercream Icing:

200 gm. softened butter
2 tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. orange rind
A few slices of orange segments
2-3 tbsp. orange juice (for moistening the cake and icing)

DIRECTIONS

Sieve the flour. Grease and dust a baking tin. Beat the eggs and sugar very well until thick and double in quantity. Fold in the sieved flour carefully and mix gently with a metal spoon. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin. Bake in a hot oven at 200 degree C (400 degree F) for 15 minutes. The cake is ready when it leaves the sides of the tin and is springy to touch. Take out from the oven and leave to cool for a minute. Loosen the sides with a knife, invert the tin over a rack and tap sharply to remove. Cool the cake.

Slice the cake to two. Moist them well with fresh/canned orange juice. I used fresh juice here. Whip the butter and sugar to soft peaks. Add in fresh/canned orange juice along with fresh orange zest and whip further till stiff peaks form. Slather a dollop of cream and spread well on the center. Scatter a few orange segments and top it with the second slice. Slather and coat the cake with the remaining cream and top with candied zest and orange segments and chill for at least 3-4 hours. Serve.

I am not a huge fan of buttercream cakes, simply because they leave that buttery creaminess on the roof of mouth. Saying that this cake was not only loved by my Valentine, but also my mom and sis with whom it was shared. The cake got over even before I could carry it over for the 14th Feb! The orange rind is refreshing and makes the cake totally sinful. I was not totally satisfied the way I frosted this cake. I should have chopped off the cake hood flat before frosting. I could definitely have done a much better job. Frosting a cake is a real test of patience. You need to treat that cake like your baby, gentle and with care.

Are you geared up to celebrate this Valentine day with your special one? Do you plan to create a special dessert for your Valentine this year? What's your flavor? Would you go for Vanilla or Chocolate or is that a fruity one like mine? Share your thoughts with me.

It’s been long since I baked some cookies and this seemed the perfect occasion when I should be baking more of them. My little tot is in her teething phase and loves putting almost everything into her mouth. Door-mats seem to entice her more than anything else and we have a tough time hiding them from her. We’ve been playing a lot of peek-a-boo games with her and my little brat is full of untiring energy, life and zest. She’s been gaining strength and weight to crawl and pull herself well now, but should have some more time to go before she can be independent on her feet. While she loves pulling objects and putting them to her teeth, we have a terrible time objecting her from doing so! This seemed the perfect reason for me to bake some cookies so that she can hold them and bite into her itching teeth.

With 2 bunny teeth on lower and 1 on upper gums and the fourth breaking its way out, she hasn’t yet got over her itch to bite into almost anything close to solid. While she’s pretty fussy with her choices when it comes to food, digestive biscuits seem to be her favorites. And no, not the milk dipped softened ones done specifically for her, but a solid bite into the biscuit is what she demands. I played around with these Chocolate & Coffee Whole Wheat Cookies, adapted from the cookbook, Chocolate: The Food and the Music to make cookies which were healthy so she can bite into. I’ve made 2-3 batches of varying ingredients, all on similar lines of the base recipe. For my little one, I skipped chocolate and coffee. I omitted egg completely, instead used thin flax-meal paste. For the adults, I like to use same amount of coffee liquor as much the volume of an egg. They turn out good each time promising to be good companions for your cup of tea. And my little toddler surely seems to be enjoying them.

Chocolate & Coffee Whole Wheat Cookies

Adapted from Chocolate: The Food and the Music

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg (replace with 1 tbsp. gooey flax-meal paste or 1 tbsp. of coffee liquor if making for adults)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp. bran (I used whole wheat bran)
1 1/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 cup rolled oats
1 tbsp. strong coffee (Add more for stronger flavor)
2/3 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 2 large cookies sheets. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl. Add the egg (replace with 1 tbsp. gooey flax-meal paste or 1 tbsp. of coffee liquor, if making for adults) and beat well, using an electric mixer.

In a separate bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt, then add in the whole wheat flour and bran. Mix in the egg / flax mixture, then stir in the chocolate chips, oats, coffee and nuts. If it's for the baby, skip the chocolates and coffee. Mix well.

Drop tablespoonful of the mixture onto the prepared cookie sheets, dabbing each lightly using the back of a spoon (if you prefer thin, crisp cookies), leaving room for the cookies to spread during cooking. Transfer the cookie sheets to preheated oven and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown.

Remove from the oven, the transfer to a cooling rack and let cool before serving.

I like thin, crisp cookies which have a crunch with every bite. That my prefect bake. On the other hand, my husband prefers more chewy cookies over the crunch. If you want your cookies crisp, you bake 2 minutes longer. For chewy ones, remove the cookies as they begin to brown on edges.

We use flax quite a lot in Indian cooking, specially South. While my mom’s roasted flaxseed chutney powder is my favorite, I personally dislike the flavor of flax in my baked goods. So I was cautious with my use of flax-meal powder this time and made a pretty thin paste instead of a thick gooey one. I like to think these are good for you. They have bran, rolled oats, whole wheat flour, flax-meal, walnuts and chocolate chips in them. Now, isn’t that goodness of everything in one?

Almost at the end of January and I am surprised how fast the month of January passed by. Wasn't it hardly a few days ago that we spent a gala holiday time partying for the New year? And boy, we've already crossed a month! Personally for me, this month has been packed with lots of surprises and challenges. On professional front, I am excited as my career graph moves a step ahead and am looking forward to the new learning and challenges it poses. Fortunately, the strong support from my family ties keep me enthusiastic and passionate about my work.

A lending hand does come from my parents, especially my mom. And with their relentless support I have been able to manage home smoothly. At times, when I am back home exhausted from a long day at work, mom resues me with her ready to cook batters, instant powders and spice mixes. Even her freshly chopped vegetables or picked and cleaned greens give me a helping hand that make our life much simpler. Preparing the batter or chopping vegetables may look less of an effort, but honestly it's one of those kitchen jobs I always detest to do. Like this simple Ragi dosa that doesn't require much of an effort, but a good amount of time for soaking and grinding. Looks extremely simple and hardly an effort, yet not so! While I generally get Ragi dosa batter from my mom, this weekend I pursued to make them myself so that my litte one could relish them too. This also happens to be my husband's favorites and he prefers this over the plain urad dosa.

Ragi Dosa

INGREDIENTS

1 and 1/2 cup ragi flour
1 cup urad dal
1 cup raw rice
1-2 tsp methi seeds
Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Wash and soak urad dal, rice and methi seeds in ample amount of water for atleast 3-4 hours. Discard the soaked water. Grind them together to a smooth paste using less than half a cup of water. Finally add in the ragi flour and stir the batter very well. The batter should be thick, not runny. Transfer this batter to a large vessel which can accommodate double the volume. Place in a warm dry place, like that of a pre-heated oven. Allow the batter to ferment overnight or atleast 8 hours. By then the batter will rise due to fermentation. Beat the batter well before preparing the dosa.

Oil an iron griddle and heat it. If using a non stick pan, oiling is not required, but I suggest you use an iron griddle for best thin and crisp dosas. Take a laddle full of batter and spread them on the griddle gently using the back of the laddle. If you find the batter too thick and not spreadable, then add little extra water, beat well and make dosas. Serve hot with fresh chutney.

Ragi or finger millet is extremely healthy, gluten-free and rich in iron and vitamins. You can make thin or thick dosas depending on your taste. We prefer thin and crisp dosas, sometimes paper-thin too and they go very well with ghee and chutney. On occasions when I am short of time to make chutneys, I serve these with a dollop of ghee-honey mix. As kids we've loved that combination and I can eat almost anything that way... breads, rotis, dosas, idlis... I guess almost anything. It's one of those traditional tricks my grandma used to lure kids to enjoy our breakfast. Simply mix equal quantites of ghee and honey and serve a dollop of this with the dosa. They taste yum!

We celebrated Makar Sankranthi on the 15th Jan at home in a small way. Nothing much really, except when it comes to food I wouldn't want to miss any kind of celebration. Since it's my daughter's first Sankranthi, keeping in mind the festive mood, I made two versions of Pongal, the sweet and the spicy version. Gud Pongal or Sihi Pongal, (sihi meaning sweet) is made of jaggery and is one of the easy and healthiest desserts that I have ever learnt to make. Though I don't often make this, Sankranthi gives me the best occasion to make and share this simple and easy recipe.

It also happens to be one of my husband's favorites... he often tells me that during Pongal festival, their neighbors would often send them both sweet and spicy pongal and as kids they would go raring over it and relish it unendingly. I rarely find him asking me to make something specific, but when these reminiscences of childhood bring back fond memories and he insisted I make some of this for him I couldn't refuse. This happens to be a common dish in most Tamilian homes during this festival.

Sihi Pongal

INGREDIENTS

3/4th cup moong dal
1 cup rice
1 cup milk
2 1/2 cups jaggery
1 tsp freshly pound cardamom powder
Handful of raisins and cashewnuts
3 tbsp of clarified butter / ghee
1/2 cup freshly grated coconut

DIRECTIONS

Wash, clean and pressure cook the dal and rice with 4 cups of water for 3-5 whistles. Alternatively cook them in a vessel till they are well done and mushy. Once cooked, add a cup of milk and jaggery and bring it to a gentle boil. Gently mash them using a spatula.

In a separate pan, heat 3 tbsp of ghee. Fry the cashewnuts and raisins and add to the pongal. Add the powdered cardamoms finally in the end. Mix well and serve hot.

Be sure to serve this with a massive dollop of ghee. Every morsel of this sweet pongal is heavenly and that dollop of ghee only elevates this experience. Rice and dal have starch which make this sticky on tongue if no fat is added. Adding ghee will balance the starch and enhance the flavors. Our fussy daughter is too choosy about food and variety. While she shuns the regular dal-chaawal combo, she happily enjoyed this Pongal and that gave me immense satisfaction.

I have been meaning to do this post since long. Somehow I have been procrastinating and what was meant to be posted two months ago is coming up now. This is meant to be a baby food, but in due course I have taken keen liking to this and have made it my meal too.

For almost 5 months, we did not introduce any external food to my daughter and she was fed on milk alone. However, since her 5th month, we introduced light foods like juice and mashed bananas. I had to get back to work, which meant feeding her in my absence was a challenge. We put her on external semi solids in her 6th month, with our baby growing from an infant to a toddler, only milk would not suffice for her growth.

My mom often teases me that I had strong affinity toward food since my birth. While most babies easily fuss about food and expect variety in terms of colors and flavors, I would happily take what ever was fed to me.

One of the most common baby foods made with utmost care and regard is this Ragi Manni which simply translates to Finger Millet Pudding. Finger Millet, called as Ragi in Kannada is very nutritious as it's gluten-free and high in proteins, minerals, calcium and fibre. Ragi Manni is one of the best food you can begin to feed your baby with. It has a semi solid consistency and a texture similar to pudding.

It took me deal of an effort to make this brown slush look presentable. I mean how good can a porridge look otherwise? Left undisturbed for a few minutes, you know there's an ugly layer that forms on top making it totally unpresentable.

Ragi Manni

INGREDIENTS

Ragi - 1/2 kg
Handful of Almonds

DIRECTIONS

Wash and soak ragi millet for 8-10 hours or overnight. Drain the water out completely. Tie the soaked ragi in a thin cotton cloth like that of muslin and hang them in a cool, dry place to germinate. Within next day or two you should see the millet sprout. Once sprouted, spread them on a clean plate and allow to dry in shade.

Soak almonds for a couple of hours. Drain the water and skin them. Allow the almonds to dry along with the millet.

Heat up an iron pan to medium low flame and gently roast the sprouted millet and almonds till it pops. Since this is a baby food, be careful not to let them burn. It may take some time, but be patient. Once roasted, allow them to cool down completely. Using a heavy duty grinder, grind it into fine powder. Store this powder in a clean, dry, airtight container.

Prepare the baby food:

There are two ways we make this. Sweet and Salt version. My daughter has less of sweet tooth and enjoys the salt version better.

Dissolve 1 teaspoon of ragi powder in milk ensuring there are no lumps. Heat this on a low flame till ragi is cooked and it thickens. Heat through well stirring constantly. Once completely cooked, add in sugar or jaggery to taste. I use sugar since the jaggery often has dust and many impurities. Allow to cool and serve to your baby.

For salty version, dissolve 1 teaspoon of ragi powder in 1/2 cup of water. Bring this to a boil, stirring on a low flame. Once thickened and completely cooked add salt to taste. Allow to come to room temperature. Add in yogurt to this prepared ragi, whisk well and serve to your baby.

Celebrations generally continue at our place with birthdays falling in the first week of January. The Capri girl that I am, I am usually flooded with greetings not only for the New Year, but following my birthday too. I am extremely poor at remembering birth dates and I feel overwhelmed when people take effort to remember my birthday and wish me, including my close friends whose birthdays I've always missed to wish. It happens often that I end up remembering them a week or even a month later, then repenting not having wished them, once again.

The trip to Mangalore earlier during the Christmas was fun. Being at home town is always comforting and that too in a city where I grew up and spent most of my teen life. Yes, I do have a sense of belonging attached here. We relaxed and the trip took us away from all the hustle bustle of city life. We rested through our stay, while the calm, serene and peaceful city indeed did the best to our souls and we felt extremely rejuvenated post the trip.

And even as we were bouncing back to our routine life, we had another trip planned in advance to Mumbai. Hubby hadn't seen Mumbai for more than a decade and badly wanted to pay a visit. With all that travel and bag packing done, there wasn't much scope for baking for my birthday. Fortunately, we were home on the New year eve. With our baby around, her sleep and food patterns would hamper her schedule and put us to trouble, so we stuck to staying indoors and partying at home. Same evening when I had a little time at hand, I put a few ingredients together and worked briskly to bake this simple yet delicious cheesecake which we not just enjoyed over the New Year Eve, but was carried over to my birthday as well.

Baked Cheesecake with Orange Glaze

INGREDIENTS

For the Crust

75 gms digestive biscuit (I used McVities)
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp melted butter

For the Filling

1 cup grated homemade fresh paneer (cottage cheese)
1 cup medium fat cream
1/2 cup thick hung yogurt/Amul Srikhand
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp corn starch

For Orange Glaze

1/2 tsp agar-agar powder
1/4 cup orange juice, fresh or canned
1 tbsp sugar or more, depending on your taste
1 tsp orange rind
Flesh from 1 orange

DIRECTION

For the crust: Mix the finely crushed biscuits, sugar and butter and press the mixture evenly into a 6" diameter loose bottom tin or a spring-form pan. Chill in a freezer.

For the filling: Blend the paneer till it's liquid and pour-able. Add the hung yogurt and sugar to blend with paneer further. Ensure it's blended well uniformly. Whip in the medium fat cream and add it to the above mixture along with corn starch and vanilla. Whiz once more.

To assemble: Pour the filling over the set crust. Bake in a hot oven at 200 degree c (400 degree f) for 15-20 minutes or till the sides are set and the center is still a little jiggly. Remove and allow to cool in th refrigerator.

To prepare the glaze: Dissolve the agar in cold water and bring it to boil. Add in the orange juice, rind, sugar and orange flesh. Bring to a boil and pour on prepared cheesecake. Allow to set. Decorate with orange rind if desired.

The key to a good cheesecake is to allow it to set overnight or at least for 6 hours in refrigerator. That's when the flavors develop and mingle well, also letting the cake set firmly. The cheesecake was fabulous and made up for not just the New year, but my birthday too. On the flip side, I found the crust uneven and thicker on edges and I need to work on getting them right. I also felt the filling could have increased in quantity for the crust made, which would in turn give the cake the desired height, making it more presentable. But nevertheless the cheesecake had all the flavors right. The orange flavors burst out with every bite. The orange rind is extremely refreshing and adds that zing factor to this cheesecake, so I suggest you do not miss on that. They not only add flavor, but the glamuor element to the cake. Cottage cheese cannot be tasted and blends well with the cream, thus making this cake soft, moist, cheesy, citric and rich. A totally decadent treat.