Instant Pot Red Pumpkin Raita/ Lal Bhoplyache bharit/ खमंग लाल भोपळ्याचे भरीत/ Bhoplyachi Koshimbir

We all love any pumpkin in any form .... Yes it's true. Not only adults but kids in the family too love it. I cooked the pumpkin in my Instant pot which was so easy and quick. If you are cooking it in pressure cooker, then just put it along with your dal-rice.

Click on YouTube video link

https://youtu.be/mdx0pGF7K4M

Ingredients: 1. Red Pumpkin: 1 Pound 2. Cumin Seeds: 2-3 Tspn 3. Curry Leaves: 10-12 4. Hing/ Asafoetida: One pinch 5. Turmeric powder: 1 Tsp 6. Green chilies: 2 7. Oil: 1 Tbsp 8. Ghee: 2 Tspn 9. Yogurt: 3 Tbsp/ Half cup 10. Water: 1/4 Cup 11. Salt: To taste Optional: 1. Rice: 2 Cups 2. Water: 4 cups Method: 1. Take off the skin of the pumpkin and cut it in small cubes. 2. In Instant pot inner container, add 2 cups of water and put trivet in the inner pot. 3. Transfer the pumpkin in an instant pot safe container and add 1 Tsp cumin seeds, turmeric powder, hing, 4 curry leaves, salt and oil. 4. Take 2 cups of pre-washed rice in another container with 4 cups of water in it. Put this container on the container with pumpkin. 5. Put the lid. Put the instant pot on sealing mode. Put instant pot on 'Rice' mode with 'high pressure' 6. After the rice mode is done, let the pressure release naturally. 7. Take out the rice and keep it aside. 8. Take out the pumpkin container and mash it. Just be careful since its going to be very hot. Take out extra water if any, but don't throw it yet. 9. Now put a small kadhai for tempering. 10. Add 2 Tbsp of ghee and add remaining cumin seeds, curry leaves and cut green chilies to the hot tempering. 11. Put yogurt in the mashed pumpkin mixture (cooled for 5-7 minutes). Stir it well. 12. Add tempering to the above mixture and our raita or bharit is ready. You can enjoy it as a side with roti, puri, naan etc. Follow on instagram:

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Mango Mousse Layer Cake (Eggless)

This year we celebrated my mother-in-law’s 65^th birthday on August 21^st and apparently it is 1^st birthday of our new home too, so double celebration.

She is a very pure, strong soul and has minimum expectations from life and obviously from us. So to surprise her I wanted to bake a cake. However with a 5 months old baby and a very inquisitive 4 year toddler around me, I had very little time on hand. So quick cake was on mind. A new idea popped up and that was icing and filling the two layers with my very popular Mango Mousse. I have made layer cake with one flavor before so decided to try with two different flavors this time. And that “quick cake” idea took a back seat. LOL.

Let’s see how I compiled this very beautiful and tasty layer cake.

The cake consists of two layers. One is chocolate and the other is sponge cake. You may find the Microwave chocolate cake recipe here. And you will find the recipe for a quick Mango Mousse here.

Once you make the Mango Mousse and the Chocolate cake, please put them in the refrigerator. We want all the ingredients really cold when we start to layer the cake. This mousse has tendency to melt really quickly so we have to be extra careful while layering it.

The sponge cake recipe is given below.  

Ingredients:

1. All-purpose Flour/ Maida: 2 Cups
2. Sugar: 1 ½ Cup
3. Vegetable Oil: ½ Cup
4. Warm Milk: ½ Cup
5. Hot Water: 1-1 ¼ Cup
6. Vanilla Essence: 1 Tsp. 
7. Baking Powder: 1 Tsp. 
8. Baking Soda: ½ Tsp. 
9. Lemon Juice: ½ Tsp

For Mango Icing: 

1. Mango Pulp: ¼ Cup
2. Agar-agar: 2 Tbsp. dissolved in ¼ Cup of hot water. (Optional)

Tools:

1. Microwave safe container: 9 inch (round)
2. 13 inch. Angled Icing spatula: 1
3. Disposable Decorating bag: 1
4. Pastry tube/ Nozzle (star): 1
5. Butter paper or parchment paper: 4 (cut in 5-6 inch wide)
6. Sieve: 1 Big
7. Toothpicks
8. Cooling rack: 1
9. Whisk: 1 

Method:

1. Take a big bowl. 
2. Sieve all the dry ingredients in it. 
3. Now add warm milk and stir well. 
4. Add one cup of boiling hot water to the mixture and stir well breaking the lumps. You may require ¼ cup of boiling hot water to make thick paste. 
5. Now add vanilla essence. Stir well. 
6. Finally add lemon juice and stir well one last time. 
7. Take a 9inch greased, round baking pan and pour the batter in it. 
8. Tap the baking pan to air vacuum the bubbles. This step will make the cake very light. 
9. Pre-heat the oven on 350F. 
10. Bake the cake on 350 F for 35 minutes. 
11. Take out the cake with the help of oven mitten. Check it with tooth pick insert and if it’s clean, consider your cake is done. If it is not clean then bake it for couple of more minutes. 
12. Put the cake on a cooling rack for about 15-20 minutes.
13. Now dissolve ¼ Cup sugar in 1 Cup hot water in a bowl. 
14. Let this syrup cool a little. 
15. Put the cake in a plate and put the sugar syrup on both the cakes (on chocolate and on sponge cake) with the help of a small spoon. Do not pour all the syrup at once. Once you think the cakes are moist stop pouring the syrup. 
16. Put the cakes in the refrigerator for ½ an hour.

How to layer the cake?

1. Before you start the icing process, slide down 4 pieces of parchment papers under the cake forming a square. We will take these papers out once we are done with the icing. It will keep the cake surface clean.
2. Carefully take out the sponge cake from the refrigerator and put it on the turn table.
3. Take out ½ the amount of mango mousse from the refrigerator and with the help of a spatula (preferably with an icing spatula) spread it on the cake. 
4. Put the cake back in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. 
5. Now carefully take it out along with the chocolate cake which we made in the microwave (and kept in the refrigerator). 
6. Put the chocolate cake on the base layer and top it with remaining mango mousse. (Keep about ½ a cup of mango mousse aside for the final decoration)
7. Layer it nicely with the help of spatula. 
8. Now pour the mango pulp and agar-agar mixture on the cake. Putting agar-agar in the pulp is optional. If you don't have agar-agar then pour super chilled mango pulp on the cake. 
9. Put it back in the refrigerator for another 15-20 minutes. 
10. Take it out. Take a decorating icing bag and put a star nozzle in it. Fill the decorating bag with the remaining mango mousse and start piping it down as per your liking and imagination. However, you have to be extra quick. 
11. Now pull the parchment paper out carefully. 
12. I decorated it with few blue berries and wrote the birthday message on a sugar-free crème wafer. 
13. Put it back in the refrigerator and take it out just before you want to cut it. 

I won’t call it a quick recipe however I’m sure everyone will like it and appreciate all your efforts.

If you like it give a thumps up and please share it with others. Don’t forget to enjoy this yummy and innovative “layer cake”. Happy Cooking!!!!

Please leave your comments and suggestions about this recipe. We welcome your feedback.

These are the few pictures of the things which I used while making this cake.

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Quinoa Dosa

Today I soaked Quinoa and moong dal to make dhokalas for the evening snack. When it was time to make dhokalas, I realized that the recipe had called for ½ a cup of sour yogurt. I had completely forgotten to make a new batch of homemade yogurt, so obviously I didn’t have the yogurt. Now what? So when you don’t want to waste your ingredients or don’t want to keep it in the fridge thinking that we can make it tomorrow, your brain throws new ideas to you. So instead of my evening snack I decided to make dosas for dinner. Again the ingredients were enough for dhokala but not for dosas. Then I soaked ½ cup Udid dal in super-hot water for couple of hours to make this yummy dinner. By the way my 4yrs old son and my 64 yrs old mother-in-law both loved it so now I can say that this recipe is good for the entire family and highly nutritious.

Here you go with the detailed recipe of the same.

Ingredients:

1. Quinoa: ¾ cup
2. Moong Dal: ½ cup
3. Udad/ Udid Dal: ½ cup
4. Ginger: ¾ to 1 inch (diced) 
5. Green chilies: 2-3 (paste: according to your family’s taste buds) 
6. Water: To make dosa batter
7. Salt: To taste 
8. Sour Yogurt: 1 Tbsp. (optional) 

Method:

1. Clean quinoa and all the dals till you see clear water.
2. Soak quinoa and moong dal together in around 12-13 small cups of water, at least for 2 hours. I usually soak it in the morning if I have to make it in the evening.  
3. Soak udid dal in a separate bowl in warm water. (If soaking it just for couple of hours then soak it in very hot water.)
4. Now drain all the ingredients (do not throw the drained water) and grind it with 2-3 green chilies, ginger and salt. Use the same drained water to make it in dosa batter consistency. 
5. You may add any spices or vegetables according to your family’s taste buds to this batter.
6. Keep it aside for half an hour. 
7. If making just after grinding, then add a tablespoon of Fruit Salt (plain Eno fruit salt)
8. Now take a non-stick tava and put a ladle full of this batter and start making the dosas. Do not lift the ladle while making the dosa. Also just put the batter in one direction. 
9. Put oil around the dosa of needed. 
10. Serve the dosas hot with coconut chutney and sambhar. 

Please try this super easy recipe of Quinoa Dosa for your next meal and surprise your family with it. If you like this recipe, give a thumps up and please share it with others. Happy Cooking!!!! 

Please leave your comments and suggestions about this recipe. We welcome your feedback.

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Mango Mousse- Eggless

Who says boys can’t cook or can’t innovate the new recipes? Our friend suggested a very nice and simple recipe of Mango Mousse and trust me I have never had something as yummy as this particular mousse recipe before. So let’s not spend more time on the introduction of this recipe and go to the recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Cool Whip: 16 Oz (2 containers of 8Oz each) 
2. Sweetened Condensed Milk: 14 Oz 
3. Sour Cream (Heavy or Light): 14 Oz (sometimes comes in 15 Oz can & that’s perfectly fine) 
4. Mango Pulp: 1 tin (30 Oz)

Method:

1. Take a glass bowl. 
2. Mix cool whip and sour cream together with the help of a spatula. Please do not use hand blender as it may make cool whip little runny. 
   
3. Now start pouring sweetened condensed milk and keep folding it in the above mixture. 
   
4. Once it’s whipped altogether nicely, start pouring the mango pulp. Here I have used Kesar Mango pulp but you can use any other pulp available to you. 
   
5. Mix everything together well with the help of a whisk. I usually use plastic wire whisk. 
6. Now storing it is all upto you. Either you can pour it in individual transparent cups and top it with one or two drops of mango pulp for decoration. Or you may keep it in one big glass container and serve it as you go. 
7. Serve it chilled. i always make it ahead of time and keep it in the refrigerator either for over night or an hour or two before serving. however that doesn't mean you can't make it on the spot. This mousse tastes yummilicious even served immediately after making it. 
   
8. I prefer individual cups which are easy to serve and it looks really awesome. If I am making it ahead of time then I usually individually wrap it with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. 
9. Decorate the mango pulp dots with the help of a tooth pick and serve chilled. 
   

Please try this super easy recipe of Mango Mousse for your next party and surprise your guests with it. If you like this recipe, give a thumps up and please share it with others. Happy Cooking!!!!

Please leave your comments and suggestions about this recipe. We welcome your feedback.

Try Mango Mousse Layer cake recipe.
http://www.kirtiskitchenkatta.com/2015/09/mango-mousse-layer-cake-eggless.html

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Tutti-Frutti Cake

Tutti-Frutti Cake

“Frosty the snow man….” my kid came singing this beautiful Christmas song from school. And the nostalgia began. What do we used to do when we were kids at the Christmas time??? Used to eat cakes, cookies and go to the “camp” area in Pune to see the beautiful decorations and meet dear Santa clause. So now what do I want to bake this year which is different to my son’s American culture but still near to my childhood? Here comes the “Britania Tutti-Frutti cake”. I found a vegan recipe online and saved the recipe for later, made some little changes and baked this yummilicious cake. Thanks to Jaintadaka for this vegan recipe.

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour: 1 ½ cup plus 1 Tbsp for tutti-frutti

Greek yogurt or Plain white yogurt: 1 Cup

Baking powder: 1 Tsp

Baking Soda: ½ Tsp

Olive oil or vegetable oil: 4 Tbsp

Vanilla extract: 1 Tsp

Powdered Sugar: ¾ Cup

Tutti Frutti: ½ Cup plus 3-4 Tbsp for the top of the cake

Cashewnuts: 8-10 cut in small pieces (Optional)

Salt: A pinch

Procedure:

Take a large bowl and sieve flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and baking Soda in it. Now add a 1 tbsp. of all purpose flour to tutti frutti and mix it so that it doesn't sink or stick to the bottom of the pan. Take another bowl and start whisking the Greek yogurt in it. Do not apply pressure while whisking otherwise the cake will not be fluffy. I didn't use any hand mixie to beat the yogurt, mixed it with normal kitchen whisk. The original recipe asked for the plain yogurt but I always prefer Greek yogurt over the plain yogurt for the obvious health reasons also the recipes become much creamier and moist when you use Greek yogurt. At this time add vanilla extract and olive oil to the flour. Add the yogurt slowly to the dry ingredients and keep whisking lightly (you may need to add a Tbsp. of water to the yogurt while whisking it since Greek yogurt is very thick in consistency). Grease the loaf pan with oil or butter flavored oil spray which gives a nice golden-brown color to this cake. I also line it with parchment paper to avoid the mess later. Pour the batter into it. If the batter isn't of the pouring consistency, do not panic, just put all the batter in the pan and tap the pan a little on your counter top this will even out the cake and also the air will be out of the batter to leave a lovely spongy cake once it’s baked. Preheat the oven at 350 F and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes. Mine took 40min however it depends on oven to oven so just check the cake after 37^th minute and keep it more or less accordingly. Check with wooden skewer or with a toothpick in the middle of cake, if it comes out clean, your cake is ready.  

when you cut it without cooling, it breaks

If you have lined the pan with parchment paper just take it out pulling it out from the sides along with the parchment paper. However if you haven’t lined it with the paper just wait for 5-7min and then take it out on a cooling rack. Don’t cut it immediately otherwise it will break. Cool it for about 7-8min and then with a sharp knife start cutting the cake in ½ an inch thick rectangles. If you wish you may drizzle some strawberry/ chocolate syrup on the cake as decoration.

It’s one of the best tea time snacks. Enjoy and relive your childhood. Happy Cooking!!!! 

Please leave your comments and suggestions about this recipe on my blog page. We welcome your feedback :)

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