Carrot Halwa

I had a huge bag of carrots that had been sitting in the refrigerator for a good 2 weeks before I decided that something needed to be done with it. I decided to make one of my favorite Indian sweets- Gajar Ka Halwa.

This dessert is a bit time-consuming and takes a little over an hour to prepare, but it is a delicious treat that is well worth the time spent making it.

I followed the basic steps in Manjula's recipe video while making the halwa.

Ingredients:
4 cups grated carrots
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups milk (I used 2 %)
3 Tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp powdered cardamom
A handful of raisins
A pinch of saffron

Method:
Heat the ghee in a large saucepan. Toss in the raisins and fry them. They will absorb the ghee and plump up. Remove and set aside. Next, add the grated carrots. Cook for about 5 minutes till the carrots are coated well with the ghee.

Pour the heavy cream and milk into the saucepan, add the saffron strands and cook till the milk-cream mixture comes to a boil, about 3-5 minutes. Turn down the heat, add the raisins back and continue to cook, stirring constantly, till the carrots absorb all the liquid, about 45-50 minutes.

Add the powdered cardamom and sugar. Mix well, stir continuously and continue cooking till all the sugar melts and the carrot mixture is almost dry, 5-7 minutes.

Serve hot or cold. I like to have this warm with a good scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Summer Couscous Salad

I have been making a lot of salads lately. Here's a delightful and refreshing one I made recently to add to my collection of salad recipes. The lime juice adds a nice zing and a hint of freshness to the couscous.

Ingredients:
(for 2 large servings)
3 cups cooked couscous
1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped into cubes
1 cup of cooked black beans (I used half a can of beans after draining and rinsing)
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped into small pieces
2-3 scallions, chopped
4-5 chives, minced

For the dressing:
2 Tbsp olive oil
Juice of 3 limes
1 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp roasted cumin powder
Salt & Pepper

Method:
Cook the couscous according to the instructions on the packet. I used Near East's Toasted Pine Nut flavored couscous. Fluff it up with a fork after cooking and let it cool.

Throw the couscous along with the rest of the salad ingredients into a large bowl.
Add all the ingredients for the dressing into a small bowl and mix well. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well.

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Sprinkle with chives before serving.

Purple for Flower Fest

Manisha's reviving Flower Fest and is going for a color-based theme this time around. She has picked purple as the first color.

These are a couple of pictures that were taken at the Hershey Gardens in Hershey, PA earlier this year.


I understand that these are Moss Verbena (Verbena tenuisecta) flowers.



Moss Verbena for Flower Fest

Chickpea Salad

This salad, my twist on the desi chana chaat, is something that I make very often. The salad is easy to prepare and the whole thing comes together in a cinch- especially if all the ingredients are prepped in advance.

Here's what I used for approximately 2 servings.
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 celery sticks, chopped
½ cucumber, cut into cubes
2 scallions, finely chopped
6-7 baby carrots, cut into small pieces
½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
¾ cup grapes, halved
½ mango (ripe), cut into small cubes

For the dressing:
Juice of a lemon
1-2 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp chaat masala
Salt
Pepper

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix well, chill and serve.

Freedom...

Cottage Cheese Salad

Every now and then, H makes an excellent salad using cottage cheese. The salad is not only healthy and tasty, but also quite filling- unlike most salads I've eaten. Adding cottage cheese to what is otherwise an ordinary salad turns it into a tasty and substantial meal. There is no dressing used here except for a good squirt of a juicy lime. The cheese helps bring the salad together. This is a very versatile salad and lends itself to many variations, so feel free to use whatever vegetables you have available.

Here's what went into my salad-
Ingredients:
(Serves 2-3)
Green bell pepper, thinly sliced
Red bell pepper, thinly sliced
Onion, thinly sliced
Cucumber, diced
Cherry tomatoes, halved
3-4 green chillies, minced
3 cups salad mix
1 ½ cups Cottage cheese (I used low-fat)
½ cup cooked Rosematta rice (optional- I only used this because I had some leftover from the previous day)
Juice of 1-2 limes (about 4 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp honey
Salt
Pepper

Method:
Place the chopped vegetables and the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the cottage cheese only when ready to serve and fold into the rest of the salad. Serve cold.

Eggless Mango Cake

A few months back, I came across this cake on RedChillies' blog and promptly bookmarked it. It looked like one of those recipes that I just had to try out immediately and I did- the very next day, and with fantastic results. Since then I've made this cake many times.

I most recently baked a loaf of this bread/cake a few weeks back for my sister and brother-in-law when we visited them in Montreal. It was a big hit and was enjoyed by all.

My recipe is adapted from RedChillies' recipe, which in turn is inspired by this recipe on Sify Food.

I replaced the butter in the original recipe with oil and used almonds instead of walnuts in this recipe although I have used walnuts at other times. I like to use brown sugar instead of the granulated sugar that the original recipe calls for.

Ingredients:
1 cup canned mango pulp (you can find this at most Indian grocery stores)
1 cup + 1 Tbsp semolina/rava/sooji
½ cup + 2 Tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp powdered cardamom
1 tsp baking powder
¼ cup oil
A pinch of salt
¼ cup slivered almonds (reserve a few for sprinkling on top of the batter)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a bread pan with foil and grease with oil/butter.

Mix together the mango pulp, semolina, sugar, cardamom powder, oil, salt, almonds, and baking powder. Let the batter stand for 10 minutes and then pour it into the greased pan. Sprinkle some almonds on top of the batter and bake at 375 degrees F for 25- 27minutes (check after 25 minutes).

Cool, slice and serve.