Category: Dessert

by Veggie Sutra

Mango Kulfi/Ice Cream

Happy Summer Solstice all! Hope all of you are staying safe and healthy.

The craving for treats continues during the ongoing shelter-in-place and I am convinced that shelter-in-place weight gain is a reality!! We are trying to keep fairly active, and are thankful for the fairly mild weather which allows us to go on different beautiful Northern California hikes every weekend in the Open Space Preserves. (This has been a good year for wildflowers as a bonus.) And during the week, I spread my mats at least 3-4 times for a good sweaty yoga or HIIT session, and V goes on his runs.

Despite that, I am telling you that quarantine pounds are real and the cravings are real! We both have been craving desserts more than usual. And what is summer without ice cream or kulfi. I have never made kulfi before and decided to give it a shot.

A sweet friend had brought over a can of pureed sweet Indian Alphonso variety mangoes (aamras) a while back. I decided to get a carton of heavy cream on our biweekly trips to the store. I was sure it would come together beautifully…. and it did!

If you don’t have the fragrant and sweet Indian mangoes then you can use frozen mangoes and puree it. You may have to add sweetened condensed milk or sugar to it though.

So here’s a super simple recipe for mango kulfi.

Recipe for Mango Kulfi

[Printable Recipe]

Makes around 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

  • 1 small carton heavy cream
  • 1-2 Tbsp tapioca flour or corn starch (optional)
  • 2 cups canned pureed  mango pulp “aamras” 
    • If you are not using the sweet Indian variety, and instead making a pulp with frozen mangoes then add 1 small tin of condensed milk or 1/2 cup sugar 
  •  4 cardamon pods – seeds removed and powdered

Method:

  • Pour the whipping cream into a large bowl, add the tapioca flour and whip the cream with a hand mixer until soft peaks form
  • Pour in the mango puree (and condensed milk/sugar if using) and add the cardamom powder and mix
  • Scrape into a glass container with a lid and freeze for at least 8 hours
  • Let stand outside for around 5 mins, cut into cubes and serve.

Keep working out, keep eating healthy and treat yourself occasionally! Stay safe, all!

by Veggie Sutra

Holiday Baking: Walnut Date Bars and Lavender Tea Cookies

Every holiday season, my dear friend K, would invite a bunch of friends over to her beautiful kitchen overlooking rolling hills.  There, we would gossip, drink wine (or cider), stuff our bellies with munchies and scatter a lot of flour, sugar and other stuff on her clean wooden floors.  At the end of the day, we would have trays of caramel, cookies, bars, toffee, brittle, cakes, breads, biscotti and other goodies to share.  My nose still tingles with the sweet, warm memories of those fun baking days.  Even though I don’t live in Sacramento any longer, I always reminisce about those days when I do my holiday baking.  And since 2018 was a tough year for K, I dedicate the recipes below to her!

 

 

Recipe for Walnut Date Oat Bars

[Printable Recipe]

Makes around 24 bars

 

 

Ingredients:

For the filling:

  • 3 cups pitted and chopped dates
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • Around 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1 tsp powdered cinnamon

For the bar:

  • 3/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 cups rolled oats

Method:

  • Pre-heat oven to 400F
  • Grease and flour a 9×13″ pan
  • Cook over low heat the ingredients for the filling stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick.  It could take around 15 mins.  Let cool.
  • Mix together the butter and flour.   Then sift together the flour, baking soda and salt and add it to the butter-sugar mixture.  Add in the rolled oats and use a hand mixer at low speed to combine everything gently
  • Put half the dough mixture in to the pan and gently press and smooth it out
  • Pour the date mixture over it
  • Crumble the remaining dough mixture on top and press gently to even it out
  • Bake at 400F for 25-30 mins until lightly browned on top
  • Let cool and cut in to bars

 

 

Recipe for Lavender Tea Cookies

[Printable Recipe]

Makes around 16

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar + 1/2 cup for rolling
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans
  • 2 Tbsp dried lavender

Method:

  • Pre-heat oven to 375C
  • In a bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla essence
  • Mix together the flour, salt and baking powder and add to the butter-sugar mix and blend
  • Add the chopped nuts and lavender and combine
  • Roll the dough out in to two balls, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour
  • Remove from refrigerator after chilled and roll the dough out and make around 16 equal sized balls
  • Place on an un-greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes (Keep an eye on it so that the bottom does not burn.  If it does then move the sheet a little further from the heating coils.)
  • After removing the sheet from the over, wait just 15 mins or so.  While still slightly warm, roll the cookies in powdered sugar and then let cool completely.   Roll in powdered sugar again.

K has made a strong comeback after her trying year and sent me pictures of her baking day this year!   Here’s to surviving and thriving in 2019!  Wishing all readers of Veggie Sutra a resilient, healthy 2019.

by Veggie Sutra

Poached Pears in Red Wine with Spices

Every year during the holiday season I get in to the baking-and-giving mood. I bake cookies, cakes, fruit breads and desserts and I share it with neighbors and friends.  V also relaxes his sugar rules and digs in to the desserts and sweets with gusto.   The whole house smells of vanilla and spices and everything is perfectly festive.

 

 

V and I also cooked a bunch of stews and curries this weekend to store for later in the week.  When amma is visiting, we get freshly cooked food every single day, but when we are alone, we simply do not have the energy.  So we cook big batches and freeze/refrigerate in airtight containers to consume later.  I recently had an argument with my cousin about this.  She simply could not understand how I could consume something that is not fresh off the stove.  To which my answer is, I would rather do this than eat processed foods or take out from restaurants.  She does have a point though.  Freezing and refrigerating foods is considered taboo in many cultures even today.  Pickling is perhaps the only accepted way of preserving foods.

I expect some research student badly wanting a PhD will soon do a study on the effects of eating precooked and refrigerated food pretty soon!   In the meantime, we will continue following our known health rules like being mindful of the Dirty Dozen.  Today’s featured produce on our Dirty Dozen series is pears.  Apples and pears are #4 and #6 respectively on EWG’s Dirty Dozen list.  Terribly unfortunate as both of them are such great fruits to snack on.

When I turned on the oven today for baking my holiday goodies, I also wanted to make a simple dessert for dinner.  What is simpler than a dessert that incorporates the natural sweetness of fruit.   Like the chia seed pudding with blueberry compote dessert, this dessert with pears is also easy to make and can be made a day ahead.

 

 

Recipe for Poached Pears in Red Wine with Spices

[Printable Recipe]

Serves 5 – one each

Ingredients:

  • 5 short squat organic pears like comice pears (you could use any pear you want but pick ones with stem attached)
  • 1 cup of full-bodied red wine
  • 1/2 cup orange juice from 2 large oranges
  • 2 Tbsp sugar + 1 Tbsp
  • 2 sticks cinnamon, broken
  • Around 5 whole cloves
  • 1-2 cardamom pods (optional)
  • 2-3 thick slices of lemon
  • Optional: Ice cream for serving

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 350F
  • Peel the pears with stems intact. Then slice the bottom off a bit so it can stand up
  • In a shallow casserole just large enough to hold 5 pears, place the red wine, orange juice, and 2 Tbsps of sugar and stir a bit to dissolve
  • Place the pears in the dish.  Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom (if using) and lemon slices and cover with aluminum foil
  • Bake for around 45 mins.  If the liquid does not completely cover the pears, open the oven once or twice to turn the pears on their sides to that the liquid evenly seeps through.  I had to do this twice
  • Once the pears are tender, but not falling apart, switch off the oven and remove the pears on to a serving dish and refrigerate
  • Now strain the liquid in to a sauce pan and throw away the spices and lemon slices.  Place it on low heat on the stove, add a tablespoon of sugar and simmer until the liquid has reduced to less than half its volume and takes on a syrupy consistency
  • Refrigerate the syrup separately from the pears
  • While serving, place one pear on each plate.  Spoon some of the red wine syrup on top.  Serve with a side of ice cream optionally.

 

 

This dessert is perfect for the holidays.  First, it is very festive looking and perfect for a small holiday dinner get-together.  Secondly, the process of making it makes the whole house smell of spiced cider and mulled wine which puts everyone in a holiday mood.  And finally, it is a very light, and not overly sugary dessert.  Don’t we get enough sugar during the holiday season anyway?  Of course, if you want more sweetness, like we did today, you could serve it with vanilla ice cream.

 

by Veggie Sutra

Chocolate Coconut Barfi – A Sweet Holiday Treat with Raw Cacao Powder

It is finally raining here in Northern California! On our hike last weekend, we were happy to see that trails that were parched hard and dry until last week were suddenly moist, and the heavenly smell of wet earth wafted all around us.  Finally it feels like fall, and once again hope rises within each Californian’s heart for a cold and wet winter!

The onset of cool weather is also a cue for me to stock up on flour and sugar.  V and I typically go through one bag of sugar from January through September and then in last part of the year, we go through five times as much!    This is because I love to bake cookies and cakes for the holidays. V does not have as much of a sweet tooth as me, but even he succumbs to the sweet treats I make during this season.The festive season starts in fall with Deepavali, the Indian festival of lights.  Deepavali is celebrated all over India and the myths associated with the festival differ widely throughout the country. However what is common is that it is all about banishing evil and consuming copious amounts of sugary treats!

I am excited because I got a new toy to kick off this holiday season – a candy thermometer that takes all the guesswork out of making candy!   I am very bad at making toffee, brittle, caramel, barfi, and such, because I am not good at knowing what the right time is to switch off the heat.  Usually for barfi, I panic and switch off the heat way before it reaches the right stage (i.e. soft-ball stage) and the barfi simply does not set. I know seasoned cooks will pooh-pooh the use of fancy crutches like candy thermometers, but it helped me a lot!

Recipe for Chocolate Coconut Barfi
[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup ghee plus 3 tablespoons
  • 1/2 cup organic chickpea flour / gram flour (known as besan in Hindi, can be found in ethnic Indian grocery stores)
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated coconut (you can find frozen grated coconut in ethnic Indian grocery stores)
  • 2 Tbsp raw cacao powder (I used Healthworks Raw Certified Organic Cacao Powder that I ordered on Amazon.com)
  • 1/2 cup organic whole milk
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1 tsp powdered cardamom (optional)
Method:
  • Grease a 9×9 inch pan with ghee and set aside
  • In a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat 2 Tbsp of ghee on low heat
  • Add the chickpea flour and roast on low heat for around 5 to 7 minutes stirring constantly so that it does not turn brown
  • Add the grated coconut and stir for another 5 to 7 minutes till the nutty smell of coconut fills the room
  • Mix in the raw cacao powder
  • Bring the milk to room temperature and add to the saucepan
  • Add the sugar and mix to dissolve
  • Add the ghee.  Also, add the powdered cardamom if using
  • Set the candy thermometer in the saucepan
  • Keep stirring on medium to low heat until the mixture reaches soft-ball stage or around 235-240F on the candy thermometer.   This could take anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes.
  • When it reaches soft-ball stage immediately switch off the heat and scoop the mixture in to the greased pan and smooth the surface with a spatula
  • After around 30 minutes, use a sharp knife to make incisions to cut the barfi in to squares
  • Let it cool completely, then break off the barfi bars and store in an air-tight container
Notes:
  • You can make barfis with ground cashews or ground almonds instead of grated coconut using the same proportions
  • Once you have made barfi a few times, you may not need to use the candy thermometer.  You can tell just by looking if the mixture has reached the correct stage.

Barfis are great for sharing with friends in holiday gift-boxes.  They are also great for enjoying with a hot cup of strong black coffee (or tea) and a meaty book on a rainy day!

by Veggie Sutra

Easy Make-Ahead Dessert: Chia Seed Pudding with Fresh Blueberry Compote

Hosting a lunch for foodie friends both of whom are also great cooks is a bit daunting.   Dessert is what V and I debated over the most.  Since the lunch menu was a traditional South Indian one, V wanted me to go with a traditional South Indian dessert!   But oof, all that sugar in the kheers and halvas?!   I was sure our health-conscious friends wouldn’t approve.   Being the main chef, I vetoed V and went with a completely sugar-free pudding topped with a sweet blueberry compote. It went over pretty well, I think.

Chia seed pudding with Blueberry Compote

Oh by the way, V brought back a vegetarian cookbook from his recent trip to London.  It is from Mildreds, a vegetarian restaurant that V and I really enjoyed almost 3 years back on a trip to London.  And now I have a copy of “Mildreds The Cookbook” signed by the chef, Daniel!    Can’t wait to try the recipes from there. (Puddings are big in their restaurant menu, but the book does not have any.  Volume II?)

Mildreds: The Vegetarian Cookbook

This chia seed dessert pudding does not have any added sugar and is just sweetened with ripe bananas and dates.  Yet, it can be served as a respectable dessert when topped with just a little bit of fresh blueberry compote.  Feel free to use any of the wonderful fruits that summer brings for the compote. You can make this dessert a day or two ahead as well.

Recipe for a Chia Seed Pudding with Blueberry Compote
Inspired by Coconut Chia Pudding at The Wellbar Journal
Makes around 5 servings
[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:
Sugar-free Pudding:

  • 2 small or 1 large ripe banana, sliced
  • 4 dates, pitted and chopped
  • Around 10 raw cashew nuts, soaked in warm water for 30 mins and drained
  • 2 cups almond milk or any other milk you like (dairy if you are not vegan, coconut, soy, etc.)
  • 2-3 cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed
  • 8 Tbsp black or white chia seeds
Compote:
  • Around 10 oz fresh organic blueberries
  • 4 Tbsp brown sugar (or use white sugar if you like)
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • Drop of vanilla

Chia Seed Pudding with Blueberry Compote

Method:

  • Make the pudding:
    • In a blender, blend together all pudding ingredients except the chia seeds
    • Place in a bowl, add chia seeds and mix briskly until the seeds are fully mixed in
    • Wait 30 mins and mix again to make sure the chia seeds have not clumped
    • Cover and place overnight in the refrigerator
  • Make the compote:
    • Place the blueberries in a saucepan and add the sugar and water
    • Keep stirring on medium heat till sugar dissolves, careful not to let the bottom burn
    • Then simmer for around 15 mins on low heat until it becomes a little thick and syrupy
    • Stir in the vanilla and let it cool
    • Cover and store in the refrigerator.  The compote will thicken more in the refrigerator
  • Assemble the dessert
    • Top the pudding with 1-2 tablespoons of blueberry compote and serve
Chia Seed Pudding with Blueberry Compote
It really can’t get any easier than this!  Do you have any easy, healthy dessert ideas?  Do comment and let us know!
by Veggie Sutra

Pretty in Pink – A Cool Summer Lunch Menu

It has been a scorching, smoky weekend in Northern California leaving me with no desire to cook over a fire.  A simple, cooling lunch that can be put together without turning on the stove or oven is what I was looking for.

My inspiration came from a book I am currently reading called Lunch at the Shop by Peter Miller.  It is about the simple, elegant mid day meals that he and his coworkers prepared in the backroom of his book shop without access to an oven or stove.  The trick (I gathered) is to have some precooked foods like rice, lentils and beans available in the fridge, and basic ingredients like olive oil, lemons and dried herbs in the pantry.  Add fresh seasonal produce to this, and a gourmet meal will come together in no time!

Sugar-free “ice cream” with pluot jam topping

And so it came together – a pretty-in-pink healthy, cooling summer lunch complete with dessert!   Here is the menu:

  1. Lunch-sized chopped salad with cooling vegetables
  2. Strawberry-mint shrub sparkler
  3. Sugar-free “ice cream” with pluot jam topping
Strawberry Mint Shrub Sparkler

Before I get to the super-simple recipes, a confession!  The sauerkraut I started 2 weeks back did not turn out well.   There is a guy in our wonderful year-round farmer’s market who sells this amazingly tasty sauerkraut.  Mine was a 2-year old’s doodle compared to his Monet!  I think I know where I went wrong, so I will try again, undaunted!

A summer salad

(1) Recipe for A Chopped Summer Salad with a simple lemon dressing

[Printable Recipe]

Inspired by ideas from Lunch at the Shop by Peter Miller.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 long Persian cucumber or 3-4 small ones, seeded and chopped 
  • 1 cup of grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in to 2
  • 1 small red onion, chopped
  • 1 cup of chopped red cabbage
  • 1 avocado sliced in to wedges or cubed
  • Dressing:
    • 3 Tbsp lemon juice
    • 4 Tbsp olive oil
    • pinch sea salt
    • pinch black pepper
    • 1 Tbsp finely chopped basil leaves or cilantro leaves
  • Some toasted nuts (almonds, walnuts) or seeds (sunflower, pumpkin) to garnish (optional)
Method:
  • Whisk together all the dressing ingredients except herbs.  Mix in the herbs and set aside
  • Combine in a bowl all the chopped vegetables 
  • Pour the dressing over it and toss to coat evenly, garnish with nuts if desired and serve
Notes:
1) Use any summer vegetables you have at hand and don’t be limited to the ones I used.  Bell pepper (red or green), greens of any kind, cooked (or canned) beans, lentils or chickpeas, grated carrots or beets, cooked wild rice or quinoa, and radishes are some choices.
2) You can use balsamic vinegar instead of lemon juice in the dressing if you wish and also make the dressing more interesting by adding grated ginger or dried oregano.
3) Did you know that both cucumber and red onion are cooling vegetables?  So is lemon juice.

Strawberry Mint Shrub

Back in May, with the advent of an early summer here in California, I made a Ginger-Mint Shrub as part of the Veggie Sutra’s Fermentation Series.  V and I loved it so much that it has become our go-to summer drink.  That was my first attempt at making shrubs and therefore I followed the original recipe by Mary Karlin in Mastering Fermentation by the book, so to speak.   This time I substituted the ginger with strawberries.   After all, what’s more summery than strawberries?  

(2) Recipe for A Strawberry-Mint Shrub Sparkler
Adapted from Mastering Fermentation by Mary Karlin
Makes enough for around 6 people
Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup chopped very ripe strawberries, smashed slightly
  • 1/2 cup packed fresh mint leaves + a couple of sprigs of fresh mint
  • 3/4 cup raw organic apple cider vinegar (use one with live mother cultures like Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar)
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime/lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup raw unrefined cane sugar
  • 1 bottle of sparkling water
  • A few ice cubes if you like
  • Plus about 2 weeks of patience!
Method:
I am going to be lazy here and ask you to refer to my post on Ginger-Mint Shrub.  It turned out very well, and the original recipe has step-by-step photos as well.  Just substitute strawberries for ginger. Other interesting combinations to try: Apricot-Mint or Apricot-Basil, Peach-Mint, and Mango-Mint (use fresh mango).
Banana-Date Ice Cream with Pluot Jam Topping
This year, the California-grown stone fruits that we get at our farmer’s market have been extra-sweet, apparently a consolation prize for the persisting four-year drought.  I could not resist making a batch of summer fruit jam, even though V and I are abstaining from eating any added sugar these days.  Well, I usually give away most of the jam I make, so I don’t feel so bad!  I used some of the jam to top a sugar-free dessert giving it a pretty pink look as well a sweet and tart finish. 
(3) Recipe for a Sugar-free “ice cream” topped with home-made pluot jam
Makes generous portions for 2
Ingredients:
  • For “Ice Cream” 
    • 2 overripe bananas which have been frozen ahead of time, thawed slightly to peel and chop
    • 1/2 cup pitted and chopped dates
    • Up to 1/4 cup creamy coconut milk as needed
  • For topping
    • Some toasted pine nuts and raisins
    • Home-made pluot (or any summer fruit) jam (I used this recipe, with a slight variation of spices)
Method:
  • In a powerful blender or food processor, add the banana and dates.  Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides every now and then, and adding a little bit of the coconut milk at a time if needed
  • Scrape into a container with a lid, and freeze for around 6 hours
  • Scoop the “ice cream” into serving cups, top with pine nuts, raisins and a spoonful of jam and serve
Here is that pretty Pluot Jam
Summer is my least favorite time of the year, except for the abundant variety of produce that is available.  Which reminds me, I need to get more canning and freezing done before it is too late to save any produce for winter!   What are your favorite summer produce to save for winter and how do you do it?
by Veggie Sutra

Cashew Mysore Pak – Variation on a classic South Indian dessert

“Every love story is beautiful, but ours is my favorite”

(Source: http://ennvee.thoughts.com/posts/marriage-quotes)

Cashew Mysore Pak

In addition to our regular post for the fermentation series, this week we bring you a bonus recipe!  As V and I will be soon celebrating another year of being together, amma made this special cashew-besan Mysore Pak for us.

Mysore Pak is a classic South Indian dessert which was prepared first in the palace of the Rajah of Mysore (hence the name) and spread throughout India.  Of course, the other famous thing to come out of the Mysore palace is Mysore-style Yoga, gifted to the entire world by the great Sri Pattabhi Jois.

The classic recipe contains just 3 ingredients – chickpea flour, sugar and ghee.  Even though the recipe looks deceptively simple, chefs and home cooks take pride in the way they make it so that it crumbles and melts in your mouth.    The key ingredient that makes it so is ghee, the divine fat from ancient India, now catching on like wild fire in the West.

The variation made by amma contains cashews and white poppy seeds.  According to wikipedia, poppy seed is a nutritionally dense spice with high levels of essential minerals.

Cashew Mysore Pak

Recipe for a modified version of Mysore Pak with cashews
Ingredients:
1/2 cup organic chickpea flour / gram flour (besan in Hindi, kadalai maavu in Tamil)
1/4 cup raw cashews soaked in water for 2 hours
1 tsp poppy seeds soaked in water for 2 hours (optional)
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup water 
1/2 cup ghee + a bit more for greasing a pan, melted
Method:
  1. Grease a 9×9 pan with ghee and set aside
  2. Roast the gram flour over low heat in a heavy-bottomed vessel until it is somewhat fragrant and loses its raw smell.
  3. Mix the besan with half the ghee to make a paste and set aside
  4. Grind the cashews and poppy seeds together with very little water and set aside
  5. In the same heavy-bottomed vessel, dissolve the sugar in the water over medium heat, reduce to low heat and keep stirring.  The sugar syrup needs to reach the one-string consistency or soft ball stage, at approximately 240F.   (Click here for Sanjeev Kapoor’s notes on this.)
  6. Immediately add the besan paste and ground cashew mixture in to the sugar syrup
  7. Keep stirring over low heat adding the remaining ghee a little at a time until it starts leaving the side of the vessel, around 10-15 mins
  8. Pour into the greased pan and flatten the surface 
  9. When it cools just a little, use a sharp knife and slice through
  10. Let it cool all the way, remove from pan and store it in an airtight container to enjoy!

Cashew Mysore Pak

“Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate.” 

—Alan D. Wolfelt
Thank you amma, for this yummy dessert.
by Veggie Sutra

Pistachio Cardamom Cookies (A variation with Pecans too)

Holidays and baking always go together for me!  It just feels so warm and cozy to turn on the oven when it’s cold outside and let the sweet smells of baking waft through the house!

Usually I end up baking 3 or 4 desserts, including a fruit bread, cookies, cookie bars etc. to share with friends and neighbors for the holidays. However, this year I wasn’t in a mood to celebrate so ended up making just these Pistachio Cardamom cookies that we shared with our sweet neighbor and a few close friends.

Pistachio Cardamom Cookies with a Cup of Green Tea
I had originally tried this recipe out for a Middle-Eastern dinner party, as the ingredients seemed so perfect for the theme.  Since they were such a big hit, I decided to make the same for my holiday gift bags.
The original recipe came from Baked by Joanna and the first time around I followed the recipe by the book and it turned out great!   (As always I am amazed that there are so many talented food bloggers that I run in to every day online.)   This time around, for the holidays, I decided to try a batch with pecans instead of pistachios.  I have to say, the pistachios do work better with the cardamom giving it an exotic flavor, taste and look.
Pecan Cardamom cookies
So here’s the recipe and the pictures for some of the steps.
Recipe for Pistachio Cardamom Cookies
Adapted from BakedbyJoanna.com
Ingredients:
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cardamom powder (4-5 pods)
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1 cup (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter (room temperature)
  • 3 oz cream cheese (room temperature)
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp orange zest (use a grater on a whole orange)
  • 1 1/2 cup pistachios (or pecans)
Method:
  • Remember to leave the butter and cream cheese out overnight to come to room temperature
  • Roast the pistachios for 10 mins at 300F until fragrant.  Let cool.  Then roughly chop and set aside
  • Combine the flour, salt and cardamom powder in a bowl and set aside
  • Using a hand mixer, mix the butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract until creamy, about 2 mins
  • Add the sugar in to the same bowl and mix with the hand mixer at slow speed, about 2 mins
  • Then add the flour mix at continue to mix at slow speed until combined
  • Remove the hand mixer and fold in the nuts
  • Using your hands, form the mixture in to 2 balls of equal size and then make those balls in to a log shape, about 8 inches long each
  • Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, better overnight
Pistachio Cardamom Cookies
  • To bake the cookies, preheat oven to 325F.  (I had to play with the temperature a bit so as to not brown the cookies)
  • Slice the refrigerated logs in to approximately 1/4″ thick rounds
  • Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet
Pistachio Cardamom Cookies on a sheet ready to be baked
  • Bake for 9-10 minutes on one side, then flip over and bake for 9-10 minutes on the other side.  Total bake time of 18-20 minutes.
  • Let cool completely before enjoying with your tea!
Pistachio Cardamom Cookies with Tea
And before I forget, here’s wishing everyone a very Happy New Year 2015!   We hope to focus more on cooking healthy, eating healthy and enjoying the beautiful California outdoors more!
by Veggie Sutra

Fall Colors (Butternut Squash Halva Recipe)

It’s that season again!   No, I am not talking about the frantic holiday season, but the colorful arrival of fall with its orange halloween pumpkins and colorful winter squashes and gorgeous red sunsets.  Things get a little gloomy this season with the shorter days and longer chillier nights, and to me, the brightly-hued winter squashes spread a bit of cheer to dispel the gloom.

Butternut Squash Halvah

We seem to be hurtling towards yet another dry winter in California!  (Another reason we need these colorful little guys to cheer us up.)   I don’t think I can take these dry winters any longer.  Who’s up for a rain dance?  On the bright side, I guess everyone in California now is a firm believer in climate change.

Coming back to the winter squashes, the markets are starting to burst with them of late!

Winter Squashes, Sweet Potatoes, and Apples in the market

If I had to pick a favorite among these little guys, it would definitely be kabocha squash, as I love it’s hearty flavor and texture.

Winter squashes will store for at least a couple of months (or more) in a cool dark area in the pantry, so stock up on them when they are cheap!    This time I opted for a nice plump butternut squash as I was planning to make halvah a la carrot halwa.

Butternut Squash, peeled and cut

The skin on the butternut squash (and even kabocha) can be left on if you are going to make a baked dish or curry, but since I was planning on making halvah, I peeled it.  Then I cut the squash with my trusted Global chef knife and grated it using a box grater.

Peel, cut and grate the butternut squash

The rest of the procedure is similar to making carrot (gaajar) halwa, although there are several variations of that as well.   Amma prefers to pressure cook the grated carrot in milk to shorten the process. Purists would insist on cooking it on a low flame with milk and sugar until the milk evaporates.   Yet others use “mava” or “khoya” (milk solids) to make the halvah creamy.

I created my own method using ideas gleaned from my favorite cooking blogs (such as Veggie Belly’s Pumpkin Halwa and The Kitchn’s Carrot Halwa Recipe).  My favorite inspiration came from Saveur which has a recipe for a middle eastern pumpkin halvah that I have to definitely try sometime soon!

Butternut Squash Halvah

Even though I was apprehensive, the halvah turned out pretty well.  V, who does not care for any type of halva loved it, although with each spoonful he intently fished for every single cashew I had put in!

Cashew nut halves in ghee

Here’s the recipe.
[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:

1 medium sized butternut squash 
2 cups whole milk
2 cups sugar
6 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup cashew nuts, split
2-3 cardamom pods, crushed 
A few strands of saffron
  1. Peel the butternut squash.  Then cut the bottom bulb and take out the seeds.  Then cut it in to 4 large pieces.  Cut the top part also in to 2 large pieces.  
  2. Using a box grater, grate the butternut squash.   If loosely packed it yields around 8-10 cups.
  3. Boil the milk, then lower the heat and allow it to reduce to half the quantity or less
  4. Meanwhile, heat 4 Tbsps of butter in a heavy-bottomed vessel on low heat until it is browned and fragrant (i.e., the butter becomes ghee)
  5. Add the butternut squash to the ghee and allow to cook over low flame for about 20 mins
  6. Add the sugar and reduced milk to the squash
  7. Cook until it reaches jam-like consistency
  8. Add the crushed cardamom and mix
  9. Heat the remaining 2 Tbsps of butter in a small pan until it becomes ghee.   Throw the cashews in and fry until golden brown
  10. Garnish the halva with cashews and saffron.  Serve warm or chilled.
    Butternut Squash Halvah