Mango Milkshake - Its mango season

Last year, it was rain and this year it was Sun, who proved fatal to Mango crop(Alphonso). But just like any other year, I got my share of Mangoes and that to plenty. This is a bonus to be born in Konkan area. Personally, I prefer mangoes in its original taste rather using them up in shakes, icecreams etc. But husband can have mangoes in any form and insist on using them up in shakes, icecreams etc. Marriage is certainly about being opposite and thats the beauty of it.
So here i have used the king of fruit in thick mango milkshake. It was filling and healthy.
Igredients :-
Mango :- 3 (fully ripe)
Milk :- 1 half ltr(Cold)
Cream :- 2 TBS
Sugar :- As per taste
Procedure :-

• Remove the skin of mangoes and cut into cubes. Reserve few for garnishing
• Puree the same in blender.
• Add milk, cream and sugar. Blend it further. Add few pieces of Ice while blending.

Your refreshing Mango milkshake is ready.

Mango besides being tasty has several health benefits as follows:

• Mangoes contain phenols, this phenolic compound have powerful antioxidant and anticancer abilities.
• Mango is high in iron, pregnant women and people with anemia are advised to eat this fruit regularly.
• Mango is effective in relieving clogged pores of the skin.
• It is also valuable to combat acidity and poor digestion.
• Mango is high in antioxidant and low in carbohydrates.

Mango is a rich source of vitamin A(beta-carotene), E and Selenium which help to protect against heart disease and other ailments. (Information Source :- Hub Pages)
So eat Mangoes and be healthy !!!!!!!!!

Eggless Chocolate Almond Butter cookies : - I did it !!!!!!!!

Baking cookies was on my mind for quite some (very long!!!!) time. but when I visited Divya's Easycooking , i was mesmerised with her eggless cookies. Though I am non-vegetarian and loves eggs to the core , i do not prefer cookies with egg in it. I have to confess here that eventhough all along I have a good luck with baking cakes, but my cookies experiments were total disaster with burnt cookies, melted cookies etc etc....

Finally inspired by Divya, i chose her Eggless butter cookies recipe which was very simple. With all my enthusiasm, passion for baking and obviously with crossed fingers , i started doing preparations....... Recipe as it is from Diya is as follows:-

Eggless Butter Cookies

Ingredients:-

Maida - 1 cup

Cornflour - 1/2 cup

Icing Sugar - 3/4 cup

Butter - 3/4 cup(in room temperature)

Chopped nuts - 1/2 cup(optional)

Vanilla essence - 1 tsps

Method:-

Preheat oven to 150*C.

Sift together maida,cornflour and icing sugar.

Cream the butter with a fork and add the nuts and vanilla.

Mix the flour mix to the butter mix 1 tbsp at a time.

Mix well,add 1 tbsp milk if the mix is too dry.

Make small balls of the mix and flatten a bit with hands or using a fork.

Place on a greased baking tray and bake for 20 minutes or till golden brown.

My variation :-

1. Instead of sifting icing sugar with flours, I creamed it with butter.
2. Added a pinch of Baking powder in flour.
3. My cookie batter was sticky, so I adventurously added one tablespoon of Cocoa powder. The batter was still little bit sticky. So i further added a teaspoon of almond meal which was ready in my refrigerator. Put the batter in fridge for 10 mins and it was hardened a bit.
4. Shaped it in round and designed with fork as suggested by Divya.

Once I put the cookie tray in oven, my countdown began !!!!!!!! Impatiently waiting for cookies to get ready. Once they started spreading their wings on cookie sheet as per my expectations, my joy had no bounds. But 15th mins onward they were still soft to touch but there was a little smell of burning. So with little disappointment i removed them from oven and put it on the rack for cooling , thinking about their future( whether to airtight container ot to dustbin) , praying strongly for their future to be good.... With little hesitation, i tasted one and OMG, they were so good... all buttery, bittery, chocolatey, crunchy,... Finally I won...

Now I am confident that I can bake good cookies also without any eggs in it... Hurray !!!!!!Thanks Divya for wonderful recipe.

CHOCOLATE GENOISE CAKE WITH WHIPPED CREAM FROSTING - MY BEST TILL DATE

It was my FIL's birthday on July 9. But for some reason he was not in town and we decided to celebrate the same once he comes back. Since i had a good time in my hand to plan for the cake. Decided to try some other recipe other than normal sponge recipe. In such scenario,best place to hunt for good and different recipe is Joy of Baking . While browsing thorugh cake section , i stumbled upon the Chocolate Genoise and just thought to give it a try. I decided to frost it with cream. In Pune, we dont find heavy whipping cream. My only saviour is Amul's cream (25%) but the atmosphere was hot during the rainy season(as there was no rain) and i could not get the cream whipped properly so it was bit running. But it's okay. All along my FIL was observing me putting all the efforts to create a good cake for his Belated Birthday. Finally the layers were put together and frosted with bit runny cream and decorated with chocolate shavings on top. I tried creating some design on the sides by pressing fork on sides. I can achieve a little suceess. And the cake went into fridge to mature the flavours.

Needless to say , the cake was awesome !!!! Every one liked the cake very much and in no time it was out of sight. My father in law was very happy.

DOSA - SUNDAY MORNING FEAST

Sundays are basically meant for lazing around. After a hectic week , you definitely deserve a break to break away from all routines. For my family, it’s a heavy breakfast followed by a light lunch further followed by a good afternoon sleep or a running aimlessly through the TV channels and evening outing. I was trying to figure out for a good, tasty and healthy breakfast and finally zeroed in on apna DOSA, accompanied with masala (Potato subzi)and coconut chutney. My personal favorite is thinnest Dosa with garamagaram Chai.
Here goes the recipe :-

Ingredients :-

Rice :- 1 cup

Bolied Rice :- 1 Cup

Urad Dal :- 1/2 Cup

Fenugreek Seeds :- 1/2 tsp

Salt as per taste

Oil/Butter as per taste bud preferences

Recipe :-

• Soak both the rice, urad dal and fenugreek seeds in waterfor 5-6 hrs.
• Grind into the smooth batter and leave it overnite to ferment.
• Next day chcek the consistency of the batter. If it is too thick, add a little water.
• Heat the non-stick pan, and pour the batter over it and spread it over it.
• Drizzle with oil or butter. Turn and let it fry for few seconds.
• Serve hot with Masala and coconut chutney.

GHAVAN - NEER DOSA - WHATEVER U SAY

In Malvani , it is called GHAVAN. Made from only rice and no fermentation required for this Dosa. It is prepared on an Cast Iron Griddle , something which can be found in every Malvani house. We have grown up consuming these dosas with a cup of hot CHAI. On festival days , it is accompanied with RAS , which makes it prefect as sweet dish also. On my recent trip to Malvan, i found out how lucky we are !!! We were visiting Tarkarli beach and in one of the nearby Hotel , 2 ghavans were sold for Rs.25/-. OMG and people were paying for it!! I think i have always understimated these pretty white beauties. Same day morning , my mom had prepared these white beauties with green mango chutney for breakfast. My husband did not count how much he ate. After looking at the price , he was little embarassed. But it actually doesn't cost that much. Here is the recipe :-

GHAVAN:-

Ingredients :-

Rice :- 1 cup (Soaked in water for 4/5 hrs)

Salt :- As per taste

Oil for applying to griddle

Recipe :-

• Grind the rice to paste with water . Add more water till you get liquid consistency. Add salt to it.
• Oil the griddle uniformely and pour the batter. Cover it and let it cook for 1 mins.
• With the help of a spatula , lift the dosa from one side till centre and fold it on the other half.
• Finally remove from the griddle and place it in dish. It taste best when served warm with chutney.

One can also serve the same with SWEET COCONUT RAS as a sweet dish.

COCONUT RAS :-

Fresh Coconut :- 1 cup

Cardamoom :- 3-4 crushed

Jaggery :- 3/4th cup

Cummins :- 1/2 teaspoon

Recipe :-

• Grind the coconut and cummins seeds.
• Add water to it and squeez the coconut milk.
• Now add jaggery and cardamom powder and mix it till jaggery melts in coconut milk. Add a bit of turmeric powder.

The Coconut Ras is ready to be served with GHAVAN.

PURANPOLI

RAVA LADOO - Its quite nutty and healthy too

Entire credit for this Laddoo goes to my Mother and SIL. They just wanted to make this laddoo very healthy and fulfilling. We (females) work day and night to feed our family. Toys with different ideas to make fulfilling breakfast , lunches and dinners . But dont you think there has to be something which is handy enough for us to eat so that we can go on and on and on... This laddoo is perfect . One laddoo with a cup of milk/coffee or tea as per your preference is enough to kickstart the day . Here is the recipe :-
INGREDIENTS :-
Semolina :- 1/2 kg
Ghee :- As per requirement
Cashews & Almond :- 1 cup (Coarsley ground)
Raisins :- 1/2 -1/4 cup as per liking
Roasted fenugreek seeds :- 1/2 teaspoon (Depending upon taste u can reduce or increase)
Eddible gum :- 1 teaspoon
Powdered Sugar :- As per taste
Cardamom Powder :- 1 teaspoon
RECIPE :-

• Roast the semolina in ghee till it emits the flavour.
• Roast the eddible gum in ghee till it puff up. Then grind it properly .Grind the fenugreek seeds.
• Mix the semolina, powdered sugar , grounded fenugreek seeds, almond and cashew powder, cardamom powder and raisins thouroughly.
• Now slowly add the ghee (clarified butter) till all the material comes together for binding.
• Bind the laddo and shape them in round.

Here is your healthy , tasty and nutty laddoos are ready to be finished. This laddoos are also good for snacks for children.