Strawberry doughnuts with Honey and Lemon sugar

Hello My dear wonderful readers,

How are you all doing today? So it was cheat day the other day and I had one of these and OMG I had to give them away cause these doughnuts are so so addictive. Strawberry season is here and I think I would use it in everything and anything. This is my second strawberry recipe for the season and let’s be honest, I can never have enough of these ruby red beauties. These doughnuts are baked and not deep fried so they are more cakey than fried but trust me when I say this, one bite and you wont be able to go back evaaaa!! These pink rings of heaven are the perfect mix of sweet, tart, fresh and  “munchy”. Those little red spots on the donuts are the finely chopped strawberries. The key is to dunk them in honey when nice and warm and therefore the lemon sugar melts into the doughnuts and OH MY GOD., the magic is insane!

In fact I baked 12 of these but only 11 got to the photos 🙂 cause these donuts, my friend, are just so awesome!! lol

So while I was baking these my little munchkin decided it was time for him to play in the kitchen as well. So when I was whisking and piping, my little boy was sitting on the kitchen mat, making “rice, mutta (eggs) and cheese ” which is when I was reminded about how I went to the toy store to see if I could get him a kitchen set or a toy oven but to my surprise all the kitchen toys were only in this hideous bright pink with photos of little girls making food. So what I couldn’t understand is – why is that only girls like these kind of games? I mean some of the best chefs in the world are men and they are respected all over the world, then why is it that boys cant be allowed to play with the same kind of toys. Also why is it pink?? I have never come across a pink kitchen my entire life! And no working real kitchen can ever function to its fullest if it where white or pink! Why not have a kitchen that is the same colour as the real thing! Anyway the bottom line is, I decided if he wants to play he can play with the stuff in my kitchen and when he is old enough I will help him learn and understand that there is no job that was either reserved for men or for women. Girl or boy we all deserve equal opportunity and equal respect for the choices we make.

Now back to the doughnuts, just like all my bakes, (unless otherwise specified) make sure the ingredients are at room temperature and the baking tray is well prepared. Try not rushing this step cause these doughnuts will just pop out easily if you do so. Now for the recipe

Ingredients :-

1. Butter – 1 tsp
2. Flour – 2 cups + more for dusting the pan
3. Baking Powder – 1 tsp
4. Oil – 1/2 cup
5. Sugar – 1/ 2 cup + more of dusting
6. Eggs – 2 large eggs
7. Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
8. Apple Cider Vinegar – 1 tsp
9. Salt – 1/2 of 1/4 tsp
10. Nutmeg – 1/4 tsp
11. Butter Milk – 3/4 cup
12. Strawberry – 1 cup ( chopped fine)
13. Red food colour – 1 small drop ( optional)
14. Lemon Zest – from 2 limes
15. Honey 2 tbsp

Instructions :-

1. Pre-Heat your oven to 180 C
2. Prepare your doughnut pan by brushing butter on the inside of your baking pan. Make sure to butter the hole in the centre too . This recipe makes 12 doughnuts
3. Now lightly dust the buttered pan with flour. Invert the pan and shake of the excess flour. Set aside
4. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and sieve twice
5. In another bowl, add the oil, eggs, apple cider vinegar , vanilla, sugar and butter milk. Whisk together till the sugar has mixed well with mixture
6. Then add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in 3 batches. Make sure to mix well at every addition of dry mixture to the wet
7. Once you have all the dry ingredients mixed, add the chopped strawberry and colour
8. Mix well to combine
9. Now pour the mixture into a piping bag. Snip the bottom and pipe the batter into the prepared doughnut pan
10. Fill till 80 % of the hole
11. Pop into the oven to bake for 20 mins or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean
12. While that is baking lets make the lemon sugar
13. In a plate, zest the lemons. Then add 1/2 cup of caster sugar. Now with dry hands, mix the sugar and lemon zest. You will see the sugar turn a light green colour
14. Once the doughnuts are done, let them cool for 5 mins
15. Then when the doughnuts are still warm, using a pastry brush, brush honey on the face of the doughnut
16. Then dunk the doughnuts into the lemon sugar
17. Place on a cooling rack to dust of the excess sugar
18. Your strawberry doughnuts with honey and lemon sugar are ready

 

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Milk Peda – easy version

 

Hello my Dear Wonderful readers!!

So I am back with my next recipe and that is my easy peasy Milk Powder Peda! These are super easy to make. Traditionally you will note that this sweet is make from Khoya and if that is easily available to you then you could make it that way too. But I am a mommy of a two year old and I run the kitchen and the house along with looking after him without any help. So any quick Indian sweet recipe is always welcome. These sweets are a favorite among people of all ages. My husband absolutely loves these and they are made every year around this time. So I am off to making more Diwali recipes and I leave you with this beauty!

Ingredients :-

1. Milk Powder – 2 cup
2. Condensed Milk – 400 gms ( 1 can)
3. Cardamom Powder – 1/4 tsp
4. Saffron – 15 strands
5. Milk – 1 tbsp (warm)
6. Ghee – 4 tbsp + to apply on hand while rolling the peda

Instructions :-

1. In a small glass, combine the warm milk and saffron strands and let it rest while we get on with the rest
2. In a heavy bottom non stick pan, add ghee. Once the ghee has melted add the condensed milk
3. Now using a spatula, mix the condensed milk and ghee well till you see bubbles begin to form on the side
4. Then add in the milk powder and move quickly
5. Mix well and continuously stir till there are no lumps left. Using the spatula, press down on all the lumps and give it a good mix
6. Next add the saffron soaked in milk and the cardamom powder
7. Give it a good mix
8. Cook the mixture till you see that it begins to form a single big lump
9. Then take it off the heat and set aside to cool
10. Meanwhile grease a plate with ghee and apply some on your hands too
11. Now slowly make small roundels with equal quantities of the mixture in the palm of your hand
12. Set aside on the greased plate. This works well when the mixture is still warm and not too hot to touch
13. Once you are done with all the pedas, make small indent with you finger or use a stamp to make an impression on the top of the peda and place pistachio slivers, saffron strands etc
14. Your home made milkpowder pedas are ready!

Pumpkin Oat Smoothie – Fall inspired goodness

 

 

My Dear Wonderful Readers

So we are finally settling in and most of my stuff are on the walls and inside the wardrobe and guess what? I am still out of space! LOL All the while I am thinking how did I store all this junk at the old place. Have you felt the same way too?

So I was online scrolling through my instagram account and I found that pumpkin is the thing every body wants to cook with. So i decided to join the fun and start off with a simple smoothie. This one is a no brainer and it really is a mixture of everything I would have on a daily basis just that instead of apples or other fruits I just added pumpkin puree. Now making the puree was actually really easy. It helps if you make a large batch and use whenever you need it. Not just in smoothies but in many more recipes. I will share those with you soon. But for now here is a fall inspired pumpkin smoothie.

 

Ingredients :-

1. Pumpkin puree – 2 cups (scroll down for recipe)
2.  Oats – 2 cups
3. Milk –  1/2 ltr ( or as much as you want)
4. Coconut / Palm Sugar – 1 tbsp
5. Cinnamon Powder – 1 tsp
6. Nutmeg – 1/2 tsp
7. Banana – 2 (ripe)
8. Almond flakes and chia seeds – just for the topping

Instructions :-

1. In the bowl of your blender, add the pumpkin puree, oats, palm sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg powder and bananas
2. Turn you blender on and add as much milk as required
3. Add in accordance to the consistency that you like
4. Finally pour the smoothie into your glass and top with chia seeds and almond flakes

 

To make the pumpkin puree :-

1. First wash and  cut a medium sized pumpkin into 4 equal halves
2. Then scoop out the seeds and innards of the pumpkin
3. Bring a pot of water up to boil and slowly immerse the cut pumpkin into the water
4. Boil for 10 – 15 ( depends on the size and ripeness) mins till the pumpkin is soft and tender ( use a spoon to pierce through the pumpkin to see if its done)
5. Turn the heat off and drain the water from the pumpkin
6. Let the it cool and then scoop out the flesh leaving only the skin
7. Drain excess water by keeping all the flesh in a strainer and letting the water drain out completely
8. Store in a clean container in the fridge till ready to use. I usually use it in a day or two.

Rose water Chia & Mango Banana Smoothie

Hello my Dear Wonderful Readers!!

How have you all been??? I have missed cooking, photography and mostly posting and talking to you all! I feel like its been months since I blogged! 🙂

So last week was a full of ups and downs. The flight to Kerala was pleasant apart from the time my son started crying (coz his ears hurt) when the plane was descending. Then there was the ride home from Airport that was uneventful. But once we got there, we had to run a few tests in the hospital and when all was well, I was admitted the same day!

One the bright side, the surgery was a grand success and we were out the next day. But when I got back home, I was told that my son was down with high fever and till today, he is nursing a horrible cold and chest congestion. Anyway, now that I am back home, it gives us more time with each other and hopefully all will get back to normal soon. Now this recipe is something I put together last night and hoped it would turn out well and trust me it did!!!

Mangoes are in season now and I plan to make the most of this delicious fruit. So please bear with me if your see mango posts back to back 🙂

Ingredients :-

For the Chia layer –

1. Chia Seeds – 4 tbsp
2. Milk – 1 cup
3. Rose Essence – 2 drops

For the Golden Layer –

1. Mango – 1 ( ripe and cubed)
2. Banana – 1 ( ripe)
3. Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
4. Oats – 4 tbsp
5. Milk – just a splash

Instructions :- 

1. In a glass jar with a high lid, add chia seeds, milk and rose essence
2. Close the jar tightly and give it a good shake
3. Put it in the fridge to set over night
4. For the next layer, you should make it just before you assemble the smoothie
5. In the bowl of your blender, add the mango, banana, turmeric and oats
6. The turn on the blender and add just enough milk to get the mixture to combine ( You want the smoothie to be nice and thick in order to get these distinct layers
7. Finally equally divide the mango smoothie into two glasses
8. Then with a spoon, top-up the mango layer with the over night chia layer
9. Finally garnish with some dry rose petals and any fruit of your choice ( I used kiwi)
10. Serve right away when cold!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dry Fig, Dates and Saffron – Oats Smoothie – Super healthy kick start to the day!

 

Hello my Dear Wonderful Readers!

So guess what!! This morning when I opened up WordPress I had this small little message pop up, wishing me ‘A Happy Anniversary’!! Yay!!

I cannot believe that its been one year since I started this baby! It still feels like yesterday when I asked my husband if he thought it was a good idea that I write down the recipes and photograph the food I make at home. From that day, to date, my dear husband has always been my inner voice and has always helped me with every post! Yes we are still in the “honeymoon” phase of the marriage. LOL.

Ok so this smoothie is such an easy drink to make and its actually just the addition of oats that makes it super filling. The figs and dates give it a very sweet yet fruity flavour and I absolutely love it.

Ingredients :-

1. Oats – 1/2 cup
2. Milk – 2 + 1/2 cup ( Cold milk)
3. Dried Figs – 9
4. Dates – 13 ( you can add or decrease according to taste) – deseeded
5. Saffron strands – 1 good pinch ( more of garnish)
6. Ice Cubes – 5 – 10

 

Instructions :-

1. In a small mug, add two table spoons of milk and heat to warm
2. Then add the saffron strands to the warm milk and set aside (this is to infuse the saffron in the milk)
3. Now in the bowl of your blender, add oats, rest of the milk, figs, and dates
4. Blend well to combine
5. Finally add the saffron infused milk and strands
6. Blend for another 2 mins
7. Serve right away

Lemon and Cottage Cheese Pancakes with Grilled Pineapples, Kiwi and Honey

Hello my wonderful readers!!

Its Monday already!! Every Sunday I catch myself saying “If only the weekend had one more day”!!! Ohh..

Unlike most people, weekends is when so much gets done at home. Cause that’s when I have help. Yes these are the words of a typical stay at home mum. And I love it

So this is how breakfast looked on Sunday morning. Soft, fluffy. lemony pancakes, with lightly grilled pineapple, fresh kiwi and a honey drizzle. Usually I make a typical south Indian breakfast on the weekends. But this time I wanted a change. Apart from breakfast smoothies, we usually have Dosas for breakfast. So these pancakes where a welcome change from the usual food. They are super simple to make and ideal for a family of 4. You could add what ever kind of fruit you prefer, I love fresh pineapples and I had a few kiwis in the fridge so I added them and they were awesome!!!

Ingredients :-

1. Flour – 2 cups
2. Sugar – 5 tbsp (brown sugar)
3. Baking Powder – 1 tsp
4. Milk – 1 + 2/3 cup
5. Eggs – 4
6. Butter – 3 tbsp (melted and cooled)
7. Salt – 1 tsp ( or to taste)
8. Vanilla Essence – 2 tbsp
9. Cottage Cheese – 1+ 1/2 cup
10. Lemon – zest of one lemon

Instructions :-

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Whisk well with a dry whisk and set aside
2. In another bowl mix lemon zest, milk, butter, vanilla essence and cottage cheese. Then separate the egg yolks and white.
3. Add the egg yolks to the milk and butter mixture and whisk
4. Whisk the egg white to soft peaks in a separate bowl – set aside
5. Now add the egg yolk + butter + milk + vanilla + cottage cheese + lemon zest  mixture to the dry ingredients
6. Combine with a wooden spoon (do not over work the batter, its ok if there are a few lumps)
7. Now divide the egg white mixture into 3 and slowly fold into the flour mixture
8. Once all the egg white have been mixed your batter is ready
9. Heat a non stick pan
10. I use a large ice cream scoop so that I have equal quantities of batter for every pancake
11. Pour the batter onto the hot pan. once you see bubbles form on the ends of the pancake flip and cook for 3- 4 mins on low
12. Stack and serve with grilled pineapples, kiwi and honey!

 

Strawberry, Pistachio and Rose Lassi

Hello my dear wonderful readers!

Did I tell you how awful last week was? And I am still hopeful that this week will be better. I haven’t started using my new camera. These photos are from the old one but I will write about the new camera soon. For now I am leaving you with this simple recipe for the perfect summer afternoon/ evening drink.

Ingredients :-

1. Fresh Strawberries – 3 cups
2. Thick Yogurt – 2 cups ( cold)
3. Water – 1 cup ( cold)
4. Rose Essence – 2 drops
5. Pistachio – 10 – 11  (half chopped fine)
6. Sugar – 2 – 3 tbsp ( according to taste)

Instructions :-

1. In the bowl of your blender add all ingredients  apart from the chopped pistachio
2. Blend for 5 – 6 mins or till the mixture is smooth and red
3. Pour into individual glasses and garnish with chopped pistachio
4. Serve cold

 

Cranberry and Apple Oats Smoothie – A sour but healthy smoothie

 

Hello my Dear Wonderful Readers!!

How are you all doing today? So I am back with another smoothie recipe. This time its a sour smoothie but as most other smoothies I post, this one is packed with healthy goodness.  By the way, have you guys watched the new Kung Fu Panda? I haven’t yet, but I plan to this week 🙂 Do suggest any new movies that you think are worth watching. We try watching movies that are “kid” friendly when my son is awake. We reserve the ‘Game of Thrones’ episodes and other action packed movies for when he is fast asleep. But half of the episodes/action movies are seen on mute (read subtitles), cause there is this constant fear of waking him up. Like they say, everything is a balance. Like when we go out, we take turns to eat, the same way at home also we take turns with who gets to change the diapers and who feeds him! Its all a balance.

Ok so back to the smoothie.

Cranberries are a huge source of Vitamin C and Manganese. It help fight cancer and urinary infections. Apples help fight Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. So on the whole this recipe is one that helps keep you fit and healthy. You can add more sugar / honey as you like. I used greek yogurt and milk. But you could use almond milk or any kind of milk as desired.

Ingredients :-

1. Cranberries – 200 gms
2. Apples – 2 ( cored and cut )
3. Cinnamon – 1/2 tsp
4. Greek Yogurt – 1 cup
5. Milk – 1 cup
6. Oats – 1/2 cup
7. Honey – 3 tbsp ( add more if required)

Instructions :-

1. In the bowl of your blender, add the cranberries, apples, cinnamon powder, yogurt and oats
2. Turn the blender on medium speed and add milk. Adjust the consistency as you like
3. Finally add honey into the blender bowl and taste
4. Serve right away
5. The smoothie might be a little sour so add as much honey as you like

 

 

Fig, Pistachio, Rose and Almond Milk Smoothie

Hello my wonderful readers!!

How are you all doing ? So its Monday morning and while my little monster and the love of my life are fast asleep, I am sipping hot green tea and typing out this post. Its super simple and I just made it so I am telling you, if you want an awesome start to the week ahead, you have to give this smoothie a try. This time I used store bought almond milk simply cause I did not have the time to make it at home, but making almond milk at home is really really easy. I will write up a post about that too.

How was your weekend The husband had to work over the weekend so we made the most of our time at home cooking and cleaning. We did manage to have a lunch outside. The food was decent and the service was alright but the ambience was the best part of the place. After having made so many kinds of medetraninan sides, I found that the place did not live up to its name. Oh well. I will give it another try some other day and even then if it doesn’t score well I might write about it. Yeah I believe in giving every one a second chance! Even a restaurant.

A long time ago, on one of my numerous drives around the country with my mum and dad, we stumbled upon a botanical garden. I can’t remember where and when, but I remember seeing these huge figs, growing in clusters over a branch of its tree. That was the first time I saw a fresh fig. Till then we would have the dried kind. My mum made sure that we always had a balance diet of fresh fruits, dry fruits, vegetables and meat. It was all a balance. Even today, when we go home, there is always a secretly balance diet on the table, not compromising on the taste or the variety of the food. Mums have an inherent powder to do that, wouldn’t you say?

Ingredients :-

1. Almond Milk – 2 cups
2. Oats – 1 cup (instant)
3. Pistachio – 1/2 cup
4. Figs – 8- 9 + 2 for garnish
5. Rose Syrup – 2 tbsp
6. Pistachio Slivers – just for garnish

Instructions :-

1. In the bowl of your blender combines alomond milk, figs and pistachio
2. Blend till you know that the fig and milk have combined
3. Then add the oats a little at a time and adjust according to the consistency you like
4. Now in 2 glass pour one table spoon of rose syrup around the side of the glass to get that crazy effect
5. The fill with the smoothie but ensure you pour it directly into the middle of the glass so that the red syrup stays towards the side
6. Finally garnish with fresh figs and pistachio slivers

Sweet and Sour Smoothie – Chikku, Banana, Raisin Smoothie with Pomegranate and Grape

Hello My Dear Wonderful Readers!

How are you all doing today? So, I am back with another breakfast smoothie, completely inspired by left over fresh and dry fruits from the kitchen counter. But you never know how good they taste till you combine then and taste them. So I was so sceptical to mix these two flavours. Cause the brownish layer below is really sweet ( no added sugar, just the sugar from the fruits) and the bright pink layer on top is slightly sour. But they taste really nice together!

Ingredients :-

1. Banana – 2
2. Chikku – 4
3. Raisin – 3 tbsp
4. Oats – 1/2 cup
5. Milk – 1/2 cup
6. Grapes – 1/2 cup
7. Pomegranate – 1/2 cup

Instructions :-

1. In a clean blender bowl, add banana, raisins, chikku pulp, oats and milk
2. Blend together for a nice thick smoothie
3. Pour into your serving glass
4. Now clean the blender bowl and wipe with a dry cloth
5. Add grapes and pomegranate seeds and blend to form a juice
6. Add water if necessary to help the grapes and pomegranate blend
7. Pour the juice over the banana smoothie layer already in the glass
8. The consistency would be like that of an ice cream so if you like you may either add more milk or use a spoon to enjoy the smoothie