Pumpkin Carrot Soup

I love the sweetness of pumpkin and carrot and with beautiful thyme growing in the garden I put them altogether to create this healthy soup.

Both Pumpkin and Carrots are an excellent source of Beta Carotene, which means they are loaded with antioxidants. Both Pumpkin and carrots have some common health benefits, they are good for the eyes, helps keep blood pressure in check, builds immunity. Both are loaded with fibre so another check for the digestive system.

Thyme is known for its anti-bacterial properties. It helps boost immunity and tastes excellent when added in food, drink or desserts.

So, I combined these beautiful ingredients to create a healthy soup enjoyed with some warm bread on the side. It is a sumptuous meal for a light dinner/supper.

Cook Time: 20 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

250 gms pumpkin cleaned and diced
1-2 carrots diced
2-3 spring onions
a piece of ginger
2-3 stalks of Thyme
1 Bay leaf
3/4 cup vegetable stock
Spices: Cinnamon powder, salt and pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil

In a non-stick pot add the olive oil. After the oil is warm, add the bay leaf and spring onion. Sauté till the onion turns light pink. Now add the pumpkin, carrot and ginger. Let it cook for 2-3 mins. Now add the spices and thyme leaf and let it cook for another 3-4 mins. Keep stirring so that it doesn’t burn. Now add the vegetable stock. Cover the pot and let it boil for another 7-8 mins. Cook till you are able to mash the pumpkin.

Once cooked, turn off the gas and let it cool. Discard the bay leaf and thyme, add the rest in a blender and puree it. At this stage you may add more vegetable stock in case you don’t like the soup too thick.

Garnish with some pumpkin and flax seeds, fresh thyme leaves and a drizzle of olive oil. The soup is ready to be served.

Happy Diwali

Diwali, festival of lights, mithai (Sweets), crackers, embellishment of homes with handcrafted diyas, lanterns, flowers, new clothes, jewellery and warmly welcoming family and friends home to celeberate the festivities.

The aroma of festivity begins almost a week earlier in every household with preparation of sweets and savory. We savor the aroma of roasted besan (Gramflour), preparation of savory’s like chakali, mathri, and the list can go..

A ritual in our family followed every year, my dadi (grandmom) prepares her famous besan ladoo and mathri. She roasts the besan to a level that the whole house will have its aroma and her love to add dry fruits in all sweets she prepares. She says that no mithai is complete without dryfruits.

Both of us discuss the receipe proportion every year and always come up with some variations.

Besan Ladoo involves 4 key ingredients, besan (Gramflour), Ghee (Clarified Butter), Sugar, dyrfruits.

Proportion used: 2 cups of besan, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup ghee, dryfruits to your liking

The success factor in making the right besan ladoo is to roast the gram flour and besan well till the entire house gets the aroma. Turn off the gas, let this mixture cool, add in the sugar and mix well.

Once cool shape it well in the form of ladoos and garnish it with dry fruits. Relish it with family and friends.

Another laddoo that I prepared this year was coconut ladoo with a twist. A very easy and simple recipe with 2 main ingredients, coconut and condensed milk. You can choose desiccated or fresh coconut. I used desiccated coconut this year and for the twist I used a little bit of orange zest.

Mix coconut, condensed milk and the orange zest together. The consistency should be sticky. You may adjust the sweatness as per your taste. Roll them into ladoos garnsih with some cardomom powder or dryfruit and relish it.

A special thanks to B’trayed for making this diwali special. The ladoos served in one of the bowls from their Tapas and Salad bowl collection made it a perfect Diwali Gift exchanged with family and friends…

Onam 2020

Onam the harvest festival, celebrated with great pompous in God’s own country “Kerala”.

Pookalam (Flowers Rangoli) in courtyards of houses, plantain leaves, and the aroma of sadhya being prepared in every household.

A day of festivities, a day of eating a feast, a day of harvesting positive energy and togetherness

Amidst covid-19 pandemic, Mahabali showered his blessings to celebrate this festival

Celebrating with some home made sadhya comprising of Sambhar, Ishtu, cucumber pachadi, avial, papadum, parippu pradhaman, rice and banana chips…

The new dish tried this onam was cucumber pachadi. A very simple recipe with just 2 key steps.

Boil one diced cucumber with little water and some salt, till the cucumber turns soft
Grind 1 tsp cumin seeds, mustard seeds, 1 green chilli, 2-3 tbsp ground cocount and 1 tbsp yoghurt
Mix the coconut masala with the boiled cucumber and cook for 3-4 mins. Switch off the gas and 3-4 tbsp of yoghurt mix well
Temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves

Ganpati Bappa Moryaa

The birth of Lord Ganesha celebrated with complete fanfare in many parts of India. I remember every year we would walk down the streets of Matunga visiting each pandal beautiful decorated and eating the delicious Prasad.. standing in Long queues to get the darshan.. visiting homes of friends who keep Ganpati and eating the delicious coconut modaks..

No Ganpati celebration is complete without making modaks at home.. each year I try to make modak at home but it’s a difficult task to get the rice flour cover right.. this year with the help of #Ranveer Brars video (https://youtu.be/u5Dj_Vc21xM) and the help of a mould I managed to reach at a decent level..

Wishing everyone a very happy Ganesh chaturthi…

Organic Gardening

It gives me immense pride to share a simple hobby cultivated and inspired during the COVID-19 times.

It started during the months when we are all staying indoors, embargo announced and supply of fresh vegetables were limited. Some of my favorite herbs like coriander, curry leaves, mint which I practically use in all my meals, would not last you long. They would turn black and it would hurt to throw them.

After some research on google I discovered a fantastic way of storing coriander, mint and curry leaves. Very simple, for coriander, cut the stem wrap it in a tissue paper and store it in an airtight box in the refrigerator. The magic was that it stayed fresh for at least 2 weeks. Similarly wrap the mint and curry leaves in a tissue paper and store in the fridge.

The tissue paper helps absorb the moisture and enables the leaves to stay fresh longer.

Fresh Coriander

Roots Cut

Leaves nicely Wrapped in Tissue paper

Coriander Leaves after 1 week

Mint Leaves after 1 week

However to ensure continuous supply of these essential herbs I grew some of them at home. Basil, Curry leaves and Mint. Low maintenance, just daily supply of water and sunlight. Hope to grow the organic garden with more herbs and vegetables..

Organic Garden

And the food tastes even better when you harvest your own little farm..

Plant yours and share your experience…

Vishu

Vishu is a festival celebrated in the Indian state of Kerala. Lord Vishnu and his incarnation Lord Krishna are worshiped on the day of Vishu. It is said that on this day Lord Krishna killed the demon Narakasura.

The night before Vishu, the family gets together and prepares VishuKani. In Malayalam Kani means first. Hence Vishnu Kani means the things seen first on Vishu day. Items representing wealth and prosperity such us golden yellow Konna flowers, rice, lentils, fruits like mango, apple, banana, gold, coins and notes along with an idol of Krishna and a mirror are placed in the Kani. The mirror is placed so that one sees themselves as part of the wealth and prosperity. Oil Lamps are placed next to to the kani.

The head of the family rises at dawn and lights the oil lamps. He/she would then wake the rest of the family, blindfolds and guides them to the place where the Vishu Kani is placed and then releases the blindfold. The first thing that one would see is yourself thru the mirror surrounded by prosperity.

Later the family prepares Vishu Sadhya and feasts together.

This time we prepared a Payasam made with lentils known as Paruppu Payasam in Kerala. One of my favorite desserts. It was prepared by my father in law and I couldnt stop eating it. So this year I decided to prepare it for Vishu with a few shortcuts to the original preparation but it turned out great.

The key ingredients: Moong Dal, Coconut Milk (Thick and Thin), jaggery, powdered cardamom, dry fruits like cashew and raisins

Here are the shortcuts which I did, you may choose to follow the traditional way:

coconut milk: I used the tetra pack thick coconut milk and added equal portion of water to make thin coconut milk. However you can chose to make fresh coconut milk from coconuts
Jaggery: Some grate jaggery boil it in water and then add it to the payasam. I used powdered jaggery and did not boil it in water

Steps:

Soak 1/2 cup moong dal for an hour, and then dry roast it in cooker in some ghee. Add 11/2 cup water and let it cook for 2-3 whistles.
Once the dal is cooked, open the cooker and give it a nice stir to ensure the dal is cooked well.
Now add 1/2 cup thin coconut milk to the dal and keep steering it on low flame
Now add the jaggery powder and cardamom powder and keep steering it. You may adjust the sweetness to your liking. I used little less than 1/2 cup of jaggery powder.
Let the payasam boil for a few minutes and then add the thick coconut milk. Do not boil the thick coconut. Just pour in 1/4th cup thick coconut milk, mix it well and turn off the gas.
Lightly roast the cashew and raisins in ghee, add it to the paysam, mix well and serve. Some also dry roast small pieces of coconut and add to the payasam

Payasam

Aloo Paratha..

In any Punjabi house hold this would be the easiest meal to make for breakfast/lunch.. I tried my hand at it several times and did not manage to get it right.. either the dough was not right or it was not knead well or after adding the filling it fell apart.. huh..

#stayhome helped me achieve the perfection and I finally had the perfect aloo paratha to relish with yoghurt..

Key to success the dough should be well knead..

Immunity Booster Salad

On a usual work week we always craved for the weekend to come by or always made comments like oh we are so busy there is no time to pursue hobbies, bake, cook, gardening etc…COVID-19 in disguise has given us this opportunity. You are at home, working from home, cooking at home and could take some enough time to pursue some of the indoor activities…Heard many complaining we are bored, kids trouble, etc etc…but there is always scope to make things fun..

So, during my free time I decided to complete a photo album which is pending for the past 3 years, work on my blog and be creative in cooking.

Rather than cooking the standard meals that we cook on a working weekday, I decided to explore new recipes with the limited provision options we have currently. So everyday we try to make something new..

Here’s my first simple salad recipe for 2 that may help boost immunity and its loaded with Vitamin C and Protein…

Ingredients: Orange, Apple, Cucumber, Tomato, Cottage Cheese (Paneer), lime, Walnuts, Mint leaves, Salt and Pepper, Olive Oil

Step 1: Dressing

Extract the juice from one orange, add 1Tbsp of olive oil to the juice and mix it well. Then add finely chop mint leaves, salt and pepper and mix well. You may keep it in the refrigerator and add it before serving.

Orange juice

Step 2: Chopping:

Cut the apple, cucumber, tomato mix them together with a squeeze of lime, salt and pepper

Step 3: Cottage Cheese (Paneer):

You may choose to add it as is in the salad or marinate and grill it. Here’s what I did. Cut the cottage cheese into small cubes, marinate it in tandoori masala with some olive oil, salt and pepper and then grill it on a non-stick pan.

Now mix Step 1 & 2, add some walnuts and serve the cottage cheese on the side.

Your salad is ready. If you want you could add quinoa or pasta on the side.

Stay safe and healthy…

Full Salad

Tiramisu

The name sounds exotic and when you have your first bite you may wonder how difficult it is to prepare it. But when I first started exploring for receipes and made it, it wasn’t difficult at all.

It’s a classic no-bake Italian dessert. Well there are 2 options eggless and with egg. I opted for the eggless version to avoid the risk of consuming raw egg.

Key Ingredients:

1) Ladyfinger Biscuits 200 grams

2) Coffee – 3 tablespoons Nescafe mixed with water.

3) Khalua Liqueur – 50ML

4) Mascarpone Cheese – 250grams

5) Whipping Cream – 200 ml

6) Sugar – 3 Tablespoons

7) Vanilla essence – 1 cap

8) Coco Powder – to sprinkle

Step 1: Mix the coffee in water and add the khalua liqueur.

Step 2: Whisk the Mascarpone cheese with sugar and vanilla essence

Step 3: Whip the cream till its nice and fluffy. This step takes the maximum time

Step 4: Fold the Mascarpone cheese into the whipped cream till its nicely mixed

Step 5: Assembling the tiramisu. I chose a rectangle glass dish for the assembly

The first layer is the ladyfinger biscuit. Dip the ladyfinger biscuit in the coffee khalua mixture. Then spread the cream

The name sounds exotic and when you have your first bite you may wonder how difficult it is to prepare it. But when I first started exploring for receipes and made it, it wasn’t difficult at all.

It’s a classic no-bake Italian dessert. Well there are 2 options eggless and with egg. I opted for the eggless version to avoid the risk of consuming raw egg.

Key Ingredients:

1) Ladyfinger Biscuits 200 grams

2) Coffee – 3 tablespoons Nescafe mixed with water.

3) Khalua Liqueur – 50ML

4) Mascarpone Cheese – 250grams

5) Whipping Cream – 200 ml

6) Sugar – 3 Tablespoons

7) Vanilla essence – 1 cap

8) Coco Powder – to sprinkle

Step 1: Mix the coffee in water and add the khalua liqueur.

Step 2: Whisk the Mascarpone cheese with sugar and vanilla essence

Step 3: Whip the cream till its nice and fluffy. This step takes the maximum time

Step 4: Fold the Mascarpone cheese into the whipped cream till its nicely mixed

Step 5: Assembling the tiramisu. I chose a rectangle glass dish for the assembly

The first layer is the ladyfinger biscuit. Dip the ladyfinger biscuit in the coffee khalua mixture. Then spread the cream and mascarpone mix on it. Sprinkle some coco powder and repeat the assembly to form one more layer and your lip smacking Tiramisu is ready…

Decorate it with some strawberries for a wonderful Valentine’s Day…

Happy Valentines Day!!
mix on it. Sprinkle some coco powder and repeat the assembly to form one more layer and your lip smacking Tiramisu is ready…

Decorate it with some strawberries for a wonderful Valentine’s Day…

Happy Valentines Day!!

Tiramisu

The name sounds exotic and when you dig into your first bite you may wonder how difficult it is to prepare it. But when I first started exploring recipes and made it, it wasn’t difficult at all.

It’s a classic no-bake Italian dessert. Well there are 2 options egg less and with egg. I opted for the egg less version to avoid the risk of consuming raw egg.

Key Ingredients:

1) Ladyfinger Biscuits 200 grams

2) Coffee – 3 tablespoons Nescafe mixed with water.

3) Khalua Liqueur – 50ML

4) Mascarpone Cheese – 250 grams

5) Whipping Cream – 200 ml

6) Sugar – 3 Tablespoons

7) Vanilla essence – 1 teaspoon

8) Coco Powder – to sprinkle

Step 1: Mix the coffee in water and add the khalua liqueur.

Step 2: Whisk the Mascarpone cheese with sugar and vanilla essence

Step 3: Whip the cream till its nice and fluffy. This step takes the maximum time

Step 4: Fold the Mascarpone cheese into the whipped cream till its nicely mixed

Step 5: Assembling the tiramisu. I chose a rectangle glass dish for the assembly

Refrigerate it for at least 6 hours before consuming.

Decorate it with some strawberries for a wonderful Valentine’s Day…

Happy Valentines Day!!