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.

Mango Burfi

This was something that I'd bookmarked from Indira's Mahanandi almost 2 years back. I finally made it for for Vaishali's Sweet Vegan event earlier last week. However, I never got around to actually posting it before the deadline!

Ingredients:
(For 16 squares)
1 ½ cups mango pulp (I used this)
½ cup roasted semolina/rava
¼ cup sugar (adjust according to sweetness desired)
¼ tsp powdered cardamom
A handful of sliced almonds

Coconut flakes for garnishing

Method:
Roast the rava in a pan till it changes color slightly and turns fragrant.

Line the inside of a tray/pan (I used an 8 x 8 inch baking dish) with some foil and set aside.

Take a large saucepan, add the mango pulp and cook on medium heat.

Add the sugar and mix well.

Add the sliced almonds and cardamom powder and stir in the roasted rava. Cook the semolina/rava in the sweetened mango pulp. Mix well and keep stirring till the mixture thickens and comes together.

Turn off the heat. Transfer the mixture to a tray/pan and spread as evenly as possible. Top with coconut flakes.

Allow it to cool. Chill for 6-8 hours. (I refrigerated it overnight because it was very soft and sticky even after chilling for a while.) Cut into squares. Serve.

The burfis were a little too sweet and soft for me. I'll add a little less sugar and a little more semolina/rava the next time around.

This is my entry for Zlamushka’s Tried and Tasted which features Mahanandi this month.
I am also sending this across to Aparna for Sweet Celebrations.
This also goes to Susan who is hosting the November edition of Sugar High Fridays.

Parmesan Crisps with Mango Salsa

There are way too many good food blogs out there and I just can’t keep up anymore! I follow some of them pretty regularly as they appeal to me for various reasons. Cynthia’s lovely blog, Tastes Like Home, is one of the blogs I like to frequent. Her writing, her recipes and her photos always make me go back for more. Her blog truly is a visual delight and her warm personality comes through in every post that she writes. I had never actually cooked from her blog, so when Zlamushka announced the Tried and Tasted event earlier this month and decided to kick things off by showcasing Cynthia’s blog, I was only too happy to participate. I dug deep into her archives and found just the thing I was looking for- a dead simple recipe that called for only 2 ingredients- cheese and pepper.

Here is the original post.

This is how I did it.

Ingredients:
(For about 12 crisps)
10 Tbsp Parmesan cheese (obtained by grating about half a 5 oz. wedge of cheese)
¼ - ½ tsp pepper

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grate a small wedge of parmesan cheese using a box grater into a bowl. Add pepper. Mix.

Place about a tablespoon of the grated cheese onto a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet (I used a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil) and lightly pat down with the back of a spoon. Repeat with the remaining cheese, spacing the spoonfuls about a 1/2 inch apart.

Bake for 3-5 minutes or until golden and crisp. Carefully peel crisps from foil.

Cool. Serve with mango salsa.

The crisps can be used as an appetizer with a dip, on top of salads or even in a soup instead of croutons.

Notes:
I also tried making Parmesan cups. I had seen Giada make these on one of her shows a few months back.
I spooned the cheese onto the baking sheet and pressed down gently to flatten out the mound. I baked it for a minute or two till the cheese melted and started to bubble. This was quickly removed from the oven and transferred (this has to be done very fast or else the cheese starts to harden and molding it becomes impossible) to a mini muffin pan and molded into the shape of a cup by gently pressing down with fingertips, also using a small spoon for help. This was then cooled until it hardened. I made a few cups like this.

I had prepared a chickpea salad yesterday which we had in these cute little Parmesan cups.

For the mango salsa:
1 mango, peeled and finely diced
½ small onion, finely chopped
Cilantro, chopped
Scallions (I only used the green part)
1 tsp Sambal oelek
Lemon juice
Salt to taste

In a bowl, combine everything. Serve chilled with parmesan crisps or spoon into cups.


The above picture would be a good fit for Click: Cheese. Thank you for the idea, Purplesque!

I've also served the salsa in phyllo cups. Just as good! Here's a picture...

Mango Milkshake

Ingredients:

1cup mango pulp ( I used something I got from the Indian Store)

2 cups ice-cold milk

A pinch of cardamom powder

Sugar to taste

Method:

Pay attention here as this bit is very complicated.

Place all the ingredients in the blender & blend away to your heart's content !!!

Enjoy!