Vintage Cupcakes

I call these so because they're a vintage recipe that I used to help celebrate a vintage relationship.

I've been intrigued with Omnomicon's Ice Cream Cake ever since I saw it. Adding ice cream to cake batter is not something that I would have thought of, but its all there in her century old recipe book. More on that later.



Today is my cousin Arun's birthday. He's the son of my tough cookie Aunt S and he's almost her opposite- a soft spoken fellow who can only be perfectly described as 'nice'. He, his sister and I grew up together and we had loads of fun. Jumping into water tanks, stealing stuff from the kitchen, spying, playing, pulling grandpa's hair...we did it all. We grew apart over the years and are as different as can be now but we do love visiting each other, talking about stuff, old and new. Today is his Birthday.

So, I used Omnomicon's idea and made lemon cupcakes with vanilla icecream in the batter. Honestly, I didn't really notice anything that different- it came out much as my lemon cupcakes usually do. Maybe I need to add more? Or maybe I'll try it with chocolate cake next time.

This was my very first attempt at frosting and I was appalled- my hands shake like a drunk chain smoker's! It's a wonder I managed to do some semblance of a pattern on them. Sheesh. Well, Arun will forgive me, I know. He's the first person who ate my very first cake- a slab that if I ever created now, I would quietly bury in the backyard in the middle of the night. He even said it was good and ate lots of it- that's how nice he is :)

Happy Birthday Arun.

Vintage Ice Cream Cake

1 egg
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp lemon juice approximately (juice of three very small lemons)
2 tbsp water
100 ml vanilla icecream
1 tsp lemon extract

Eggless Icing-
1 tbsp cold milk
1/2 to 3/4 cup icing sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chilled butter

Thaw the icecream so that it is still creamy but not runny. In a bowl, beat the egg well and add the sugar bit by bit. Beat till the sugar dissolves. Mix in the lemon juice, oil, lemon extract and water. Sift in flour, baking soda and baking powder and mix till just incorporated. Do not overmix. Add the icecream and make sure there are no lumps. Pour the batter into a greased muffin tin almost to the brim of the moulds. Bake at 175 C for 25 to 30 mins.

Cool for atleast 30 mins before removing. For the icing, combine all the ingredients till you get a just sweet spreadable paste. Add color if desired and pipe onto cupcakes.

Cooking in the Great Outdoors, i.e, my balcony

Is it really safe to eat something coated in ash, wood chips and God knows what? I'm still alive, so apparently it is.

Unnatural circumstances led to this one. A meddling father, lost oven skewers and such. But I'd already marinated the cheese and veggies. So I set up this outdoor fire to cook. By now, I was quite excited with the little adventure. I managed to chop little bits of firewood without chopping off my hands. I managed to light a fire in a shallow clay pot I bought long ago cause it was cute. Everything went merrily along, until the winds kicked in. There was smoke, there was ash swirling around, my eyes were watering, I was cursing away.....in all this mayhem, I seriously doubted if what I was making would be edible.

But when things settled down, I was surprised to see clean cooked food still on the skewers. I liked the taste too- smoky and juicy. Maybe a tad bit too smoky but nothing a little lemon juice won't mask. I used my usual marinade- Olive oil+yogurt+chilli powder+salt+pepper+vinegar.

Interesting :) This kind of thing should be done around a campfire, with friends. Some interesting conversation, fresh hot food (don't forget dessert!), some gazing at the stars and camping out with the sound of the wind and the trees and the water....I remember that we once camped out next to a river in a Himalayan trek. There's nothing quite like settling down next to flowing water... :) ....

The Tropical Jackfruit

Its jackfruit time here in India! Juicy luscious jackfruit. There's nothing quite like it. And when mom walked in yesterday lugging a big fruit and two babies, I was thrilled. Especially with the small ones. The fleshy bits were so cute and tiny, they looked like perfect little bites. All of yesterday, I was chewing on how to stuff it and today, I whipped up a batch of these. Crunchy and sweet! And very little cooking!

Tropical Jackfruit bites

(I haven't added any measurements because its all up to individual tastes)

Jackfruit flesh- whole
Broken wheat
Sugar
Freshly grated coconut
Cashewnuts
Ghee or Butter
Mint leaves

Lightly fry or roast the cashewnuts in the ghee and set aside. Cook the broken wheat like you would rice. Spread it out on a plate and allow to cool. Sprinkle sugar onto the wheat and mix well. Stuff the jackfruit flesh with a bit of the cooked wheat. Place a generous amount of grated coconut on it. Top with a cashewnut and a mint leaf.

I found that this little bite is even better with a little more crunch- so next time around, I'd probably break up the cashews or maybe roasted peanuts into little bits and add it to the cooked wheat stuffing.















Not many people know that jackfruit seeds are edible- in fact, they're very very tasty. While I was busy with dessert, mom cooked up the big batch of seeds we've saved up over the last few days. Yum yum!


Jackfruit Seed Roast

20 Jackfruit seeds
Water
Salt
Chilli powder
Turmeric powder
Mustard seeds
Cooking oil

If your jackfruit seeds have been drying outside for a couple of days, they should peel easily. If they're fresh, don't try peeling them at this point.

Allow the water to boil in a vessel and add the jackfruit seeds. Cook for 15 mins or so. Let cool and slice the seeds into two. If you haven't peeled them, do so now. It should be relatively easy.
Pour a dash of oil into a pan, add the mustard seeds and allow to splutter. Throw in the split jackfruit seeds and pour enough water to cover the seeds completely. Add a pinch of turmeric powder. Season with salt and chilli powder.

Once all the water is gone, simmer and allow the seeds to cook till they're completely dry. They'll stick to the pan, so scrape them around frequently. Sprinkle chopped curry leaves or coriander leaves and serve hot!

Ash-e-anar or Pomegranate Stew

My parents have green thumbs, so much so that after a lifetime of work, they took up farming at an age when others would have peacefully retired with books and rocking chairs. The farm is about an hour away, but even back home, no patch of earth around the house remains bare.

We have a lemon tree, plantains, bitter gourd, ivy gourd, tomatoes, various herbs....a not so short list. I'm glad I've inherited their love for the land. Before, it was an admiration for nature- the beauty, the complexity, but with farming, its all about the way you literally reap what you sow. With just a little coaxing, the earth is so ready to present us with beautiful bounties and that's something one can appreciate with every flower, fruit or vegetable.

In my day dreams (which is how I spend most of the day), I imagine my future home, or rather the land around my future home. Green and lush, I see myself clearing out a generous bit for my very own vegetable garden- the fresh tomatoes and cucumbers ready to be plucked, the fruit trees standing watch as I thank each plant for its gift to me- which is something I do even now, I should add. Everytime I pluck something from a plant,vine or tree, I thank it.

I had a whole lot of thanks to give to our two pomegranate trees this year- they outdid themselves and are literally laden with fruits.

















It brought to mind a recipe which has been in my file for quite a while now. A Iranian/Persian soup or stew called Ash-e-anar. I was quite curious to see how this would taste and I'm delighted to find out that this is a very hearty dish- quite delicious and satisfying. There was something familiar about the taste- I think the addition of the lentils brought it very close to our Indian Sambar.

Our pomegranates have pale pink flesh, which unfortunately did nothing for the color of the soup. Also, the original recipe calls for meatballs. Being vegetarian, I just threw in some soy chunks.

Ash-e-anar

1 tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves, garlic
1 handful, fresh mint leaves
1/3 cup yellow split peas
3 cups pomegranate juice
3 cups water
1/2 cup rice
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1.5 tsp salt
1.2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
Meat balls/soy chunks

Cook the yellow split peas in a pressure cooker or pan till soft and keep aside. Soak the rice in water for 10 mins. Heat the oil and add the chopped onion. Cook till translucent and add the garlic and mint leaves. After a minute, add the rest of the ingredients including the lentils and rice. Simmer, close and cook for 35 to 40 minutes. Serve hot!

Pineapple Crumble

Whew, a month long break- a welcome respite from the heat. I did cook of course, but nothing noteworthy or new. But I've been reading all the blogs in my list, Deeba's Passionate about Baking being right on top. She's part of the Daring Bakers, this amazing group who cook 8 to 12 challenging and creative dishes every year. Its a group I aspire to join, once I begin living in a place that has at least half the ingredients I'd need.

Anyways, her blog is unbelievable- always gorgeous, the pictures, her food. And recently, she's been making a lot of fruit crumbles. I didn't really look at the recipe- I was too busy drooling over the pictures, but when I did, I was hooked. It's so easy and sounds really delicious, I just had to try it.

I didnt have rolled oats, as she specifies in her recipe, so I went with biscuits. I've often made tart crusts out of biscuits and I really enjoy the texture. I also had to scale it down for a 5 inch pan. But God, it was so good. I had it hot and it was just heaven. This is one of those recipes that are going to stay with me forever.

Pineapple Crumble

1 small pineapple or 350gms
1 small mango,cubed
2 tbsp flour
1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
3 biscuits
2 tbsp chilled butter
1 pinch salt

Mix the first four ingredients well and pour into the pan. Combine the next five ingredient with your fingertips till it comes together in lumps and sprinkle onto the filling in the pan. Press the filling down gently and place in a preheated oven at 190 C for 40 mins. Serve hot!

Mango Payasam

It's a simple dessert, but one that I love a great deal. The humble south Indian Payasam. Throw some tapioca pearls in milk and water, add sugar, boil and slurp greedily. I do the last bit very well, I do.

Moving on, the mango season had begun in India!!! Ooooh, its delightful! Dozens of varieties of mangoes flood the market every year. And every year, I memorize all their difficult names and promptly forget it all at the end of the season. This happens unfailingly. This year I am going to document it- name with description of taste, smell and physical characteristics. I'll post it here too, just for reference.

Isn't it amazing how one fruit can taste so different in different forms? And if I went to say, Africa, I would find these mangoes with African names and even more varieties, wouldn't I? It boggles the mind...

Anyways, combining mangoes with payasam was just the next step for me. Word of caution- make sure that the mango is nice and sweet. A sour one would really spoil the dish (don't ask me how I know).

Mango Payasam

3 cups water
1/2 cup tapioca pearls
2 cups milk
1 cardamom pod OR 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
5 to 6 cashewnuts
1 spoon ghee or butter
4 small mangoes, pulp extracted or 2 cups mango pulp

Lightly fry the cashewnuts in the ghee till light brown and place aside. Boil the water and when its happily bubbling, add the tapioca pearls. Cook till the pearls expand nicely and do not have a white core- this will take a while. Then add the sugar, cashewnuts and cardamom /cinnamon and simmer for 5 mins. Add the milk and cook for another 5 minutes or till the payasam starts becoming thick. Cool to room temperature and add the mango pulp and mix in well. Serve as such or refrigerated.



Note: Payasam is also made with vermicelli instead of tapioca pearls, or with a combination of the two. However, slightly dry roast the vermicelli ahead of time to ensure it doesn't become very sticky.

Mung Bean Sprout Patties

When I think 'bean sprouts', I think 'encapsulated health'. Seriously, I'm so in awe of them that when I eat them I imagine all sorts of vital nutrients bursting from them as they travel busily through my bloodstream. I almost expect my body to rise in mid-air and bulge muscles, bursting with health, just like Popeye with his spinach.

They're absolutely lovely raw. Sometimes I just run my hands through them and let them fall and they make this lovely crispy noise. I sound like Scrooge McDuck with a wad of bank notes and there's no doubt about it; sprouts make me feel rich.

I wish I did eat some everyday, but I tend to make a big batch and use them up in two or three days. Sometimes, I use them all up at once- in my sprouts patties.


The beautiful thing about using sprouts for this is that you don't need any binding agent like egg or flour for the patties to hold shape. The sprouts, when processed, end up with a natural stickiness that holds them together perfectly. But not for deep frying, no no (don't ask). That said, I sometimes do coat them with bread crumbs too.

Bean Sprout Patties
1.5 cups Bean sprouts
1 onion, chopped into bits
2 bread slices
1 handful any fresh herb (coriander/ parsley/ basil etc)
chilli powder
salt
pepper powder

1 egg beaten
bread crumbs

Cook the bean sprouts in a little salted water till they are done and the water is all gone. Cool and add to the food processor. Pulse for a few seconds. Toast the bread slices and chop them into small squares. Add to the sprouts, along with the salt, chilli,pepper powders and the chopped herbs. Grind till you get a smooth paste. Shape the mixture into balls, press flat and give them an egg wash. Coat with breadcrumbs and fry them in a pan with a sprinkle of oil.

This is just a very simple version and I usually add something different each time. Like any patty, you can go crazy with what you add into it, in terms of spice powders or veggies or meat.