Fruit Custard

Fruit custard is one of my favourite summer desserts for the simple reason because it one of the desserts which is served chilled in the scorching summer and also because it is loaded with fresh fruit chunks.

I love vanilla essence, the flavour and fragrance of vanilla makes me go weak in the knees. Vanilla flavoured ice cream is my preference over chocolate ice cream any day. My love for vanilla is not limited to food. Though my kitchen is always stocked with either vanilla powder or essence, our home's living room shelf is always lined with vanilla scented candles. Let me also confess here that I am forever scouting supermarket aisles for Vanilla-scented body scrubs and lotions. Now you know why this girl can never ever say no to custard!

I am sharing here a simple recipe for making fruit custard which is served chilled in many homes in India during summers.

My mother has been making custard ever since I was small and I promised myself every time I ate my mom's fruit custard that this is one recipe I need to perfect.

It is one super simple, fuss-free dessert that will surely please guests and family alike after an afternoon brunch or lunch. Little M loves it even more when I throw in truck loads of chopped summer fruits such as sweet melon, mangoes and grapes.

Most of the times, the custard powder packaging mentions how to prepare custard and it is a good idea to take a look before proceeding. This is a basic custard recipe by my mom and now I too like to put it into use whenever I am making custard.

In this recipe I have used two fruits - mango and pomegranate, albeit I highly recommend as many adding fruits, that you or your children enjoy eating, to it.

The fruits that taste best in a custard apart from mango and pomegranate are - apples, pears (with the peels to lend it that crunch), and sweet melon, grapes. I prefer to not use orange or pineapple.

You may add chopped nuts and dry fruit, just like my mom. She never forgets to garnish her custard with loads of dry fruit and nuts, which I have not used in this recipe. She soaks the almonds overnight and peels them before chopping and adding to the custard. She also puts in chopped cashews and a handful of raisins.

Here is the recipe for making the fruit custard:

Prepping Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 10 min

Serves: 3

Ingredients:

2.5 cups milk
4-5 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp custard powder
1-2 cups chopped mango
1 pomegranate, seeded

Method:

1) In a heavy-bottomed pan. heat milk.
2) While milk becomes heated, take 3 tbsp warm milk and add 2 tbsp custard powder to it. Mix well and ensure there are no lumps. Keep aside.
3) Add sugar to pan of milk and stir until sugar dissolves. Turn off the gas. After 2-3 min when the milk has slightly cooled (but not cold) add in the custard and milk paste that you prepared in parts. Keep on stirring to ensure there are no lumps and turn on the gas and keep on stirring the milk on low flame.
4) After a few minutes of stirring you'll notice the milk has thickened a little. Now turn of the gas and transfer to a glass/steel bowl and let it cool. After it has come to room temperature, put the bowl of custard in the fridge and chill for at least an hour.
5) Meanwhile, chop 3-4 mangoes (not too close too the seed) into cubes and remove the seeds of pomegranate. Cover chopped fruits with a cling film or a lid and put into the fridge.
6) Remember to add the fruits to the custard just before you serve. Serve chilled.

How did you find this recipe?

How do you like to eat or make your custard? Which fruits do you most commonly use?

Tell me all, I'd love to read what you think!

Thanks for reading! :-)

Five Recipes To Cook With Kids

We are on the brink of being in the hot month of June. In the UAE this month spells heat and humid outdoors. It is the time when our neighbourhood park gets just a handful of visitors, even in the evening. It is when most of us like to stay indoors in the comfort of our air-conditioned heavens at home or in the big malls. Why not spend some quality time indoors with our kids by involving them in some simple cooking in the kitchen? I have got for you a list of Five Recipes To Cook With Kids. These are really basic recipes that I love making with my son - Little M who is four years old and has just begun his kindergarten. Read on and see how Little M helps me whip up yummy food and then enjoys eating what he made with me without any fuss. If you want to know why I ask to involve kids in the kitchen, check out the benefits of cooking with kids that I have mentioned in this post! Have you seen our mini Bread Pizzas that Little M and I made together without an oven and in less than 15 minutes?

Get kids in the kitchen and start rolling these simple recipes that I listed out for you!

1) Pancakes

Not just Little M but I too get all excited at the mention of pancakes and we love whipping these super easy delights that ca be made in under 15 minutes.

Easy to pack for school this is my go to recipe when I am in a rush or not in a mood to cook an elaborate meal with chopping and other strenuous tasks. See how Little M helps in mixing in the flour to prepare the batter, of course we have many spills! I also like to hand him the food cutters to give the pancakes his choice of shape. Pancakes are the easiest of the recipes that you can cook with your kids and make memories in the kitchen.

2) Bombay Sandwich

These sandwiches or toasts are a perfect way to feed vegetables to our little ones. I use boiled beetroots, potatoes and freshly sliced cucumber, tomatoes and onions in this one.

I keep the veggies ready and then Little M puts together his own sandwich by buttering the bread and then smearing some pudina chutney/mint dip (See here a simple recipe to make pudina chutney at home) on it and finally lining the veggies onto the bread before I put it into a toaster to make it a little crunchy! Again a perfect dabba snack we carry these on our picnics and I also pack it into the lunch boxes for Little M and his dad.

3) Guacomole

Super healthy to bits, Guacamole is Mexican dip which is made by either mashing or chopping avocado and then mixing in finely chopped onions, tomatoes. 

This snack/starter is easy to prepare and kids love it when its topped upon crispy nachos. I hand Little M a plastic knife to roughly chop the avocados and then mix it with chopped veggies which I keep ready beforehand. See how we devoured this dip by topping it on slightly warmed kuboos bread and some monaco biscuits.

4) Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Summers call for loads of smoothies, juices and milkshakes made healthy at home with fresh ingredients. These are super hydrating, nutritious and a quick snack option too when our kids comes home hungry after hours of play at the park.

Little M loves smoothies and milkshakes specially the ones that have his favourite fruits like mango, strawberry, pomegranate. He absolutely loved sticking thinly sliced strawberries on the glass walls and I also hand him the hand blender (under my close supervision) to blend together the banana and strawberries.

5) Banana Milkshake

Isn't a must for our growing toddlers and kindergartners who need loads of goodness hiding in this mug full? Packed with calcium and good for helping those tiny bones to grow strong, banana milkshake has been an old favourite with Little M and I.

Whenever I ask him if he would like a glass of banana milkshake, he knows that he will not only get to drink it but also lend his hand in making it. I like to hand him the hand blender under my watchful eye and also let him sprinkle some cinnamon powder or cocoa onto it!

Hope you have fun making these super simple recipes with your kids! I'd back with lots more simple yet healthy recipes to make with kids! Let's keep rolling in the kitchen with our little ones! :-)

What recipes do you like to involve your kids into? Please share with me I'd love to read what you think!

Thanks for reading! :-)

Daal Palak

There are some dishes we all used to run away from as kids. We would hold fights, make faces, put up arguments and when none of it works we would literally beg mom in order to escape eating those "healthy" dishes. Do you have some such dishes coming to your mind? The recipe for the dish that I am sharing here today is one such recipe I used to shrug seeing in front of me most of my childhood and teenage life. Daal Palak!!

Strange enough, but it is the same dish I can't wait to lick off my plate once I am done cooking it. Yes it is funny that the same dish my mother used to make and as a child/teen I would be hell bent on not eating, that I now yearn for and find perfect to eat with hot and fluffy phulkas or chapatti for lunch. Do you also find yourself in the same spot as I do? :-)

Another gem of a dish from North Indian cuisine, Daal Palak is a powerhouse of nutrients such as iron, fibre, protein and vitamins. The green colour of this curry/gravy is proof enough to show how healthy and nutritious this dish is! Many people do not like spinach especially children but if you cook spinach with moong daal or yellow lentils and masoor daal or pink lentils, it will be a creamy green sauce/curry that everyone will want to lick their fingers off! You can adjust the chili if making for children!

I have learnt this recipe from my mother and over the years have developed a knack of putting it together without much effort on the table in under 30 minutes. This recipe is healthy and easy to make and requires very little ingredients. It has the subtle rich aroma of ghee or clarified butter, tiny bits of soft onions and a pungent flavour of garlic and creamy texture of the lentils and spinach.

Prepping Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 20 min
Difficulty Level: Easy

Ingredients:

Spinach leaves, 1 bunch, washed
Moong Daal, 2 tbsp, washed
Masoor Daal, 2 tbsp, washed
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Onion, 1, finely chopped
Tomato, 1, grind to paste
4-5 green chilies
4 tbsp ghee
1 cup water
turmeric powder 1 tsp
red chili powder 1 tsp
salt, to taste

Method:

1) Start by washing spinach leaves in a colander. And wash the daal too.

2) In a pressure cooker put the washed spinach leaves, daal, 1-2 green chilies (whole), 1-2 cloves of garlic, 1 cup water along with some salt and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder. Put the lid on and pressure cook until it whistles. Turn off the gas and let the steam escape.

3) Meanwhile, in a wok put ghee and add chopped garlic and let it sizzle until the raw smell disappears.

4) Now put in the chopped onions.

5) Until the onions brown, grind 1-2 tomatoes and 2 green chilies with a blender.

6) Once the onions seem brown add in the tomato-green chili paste. Saute until you see oil releasing from the sides of this mixture.

7) Open the lid of the pressure cooker and using a blender grind the spinach, daal, garlic and green chili. You will get a dark green paste.

 

8) When you see oil has separated from the tadka add in the turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt. Mix.

9) Now add in the dark green paste to the tadka. Mix well. Add in half a cup water of you find the daal palak too thick. Boil it.

Serve with a dollop of butter along with fresh chapatti or parathas!

How do you incorporate spinach in your diet?

Tell me all the tips and tricks you use to hide it in the kids meals to make sure they are eating this healthy green leafy vegetable! I'd love to read and be enlightened.

Thanks for reading! :-)

Guacamole

Guacamole is a Mexican dip that is made from finely chopping or mashing avocados.

Avocados are not commonly consumed in India but slowly this wonder fruit is finding its way into our smoothies and milk shakes. Why call it a wonder fruit? Going by the nutritional value and the unique taste of this fruit, neither sweet nor sour, that makes it versatile to be consumed as a filling breakfast or a snack made yummy in a jiffy.

Top its slices on your bread, whip it into a smoothie or toss it in the salads, there are many interesting ways to include avocados into your daily meals.

Avocados have a variety of nutrients such as fiber, vitamin B, C and are packed with a lot of "good fats" essential for our body.

It is exceptionally good for children and often goes into Little M's milk shakes during the summer.

Coming back to guacamole, I had my first taste of this wonderful dip made by my talented blogger friend Tasneem who blogs at Thoughts Over Chai. The green paste that I didn't know anything about was devoured atop crispy nachos. The creamy taste of avocado lingered in my mouth while the nachos added the crunch into every bite. I quickly asked for the recipe.

This dish was alien to me. So I expected the ingredients also to be fancy. To my surprise they weren't!

Give me healthy food and it is surely going to be included in my family's meals one way or another.

When trying a new recipe, what could be better than finding all the ingredients on the list in your pantry? Another thing to love about this amazing dip is that it helps you prep up "no-cook"  meals and is ready in minutes.

The only change I made to the dip was that I didn't mash the avocado, but kept it chunky by chopping into tiny pieces, but you can always go ahead and mash the avocado pieces using a fork.

It is a good starter to please your guests before dinner and makes a yummy snack for children as well.

Little M is at home these days and before kindergarten starts next month I take every opportunity to spend quality time with him whether at the park and at home doing painting, playing with homemade play dough or in the kitchen as together we "cook" some simple meals that don't take long to finish.

I am on a constant look out for creative ways to keep Liitle M busy and thus away from the lure of TV or the ipad. If I am cooking in the kitchen I try to involve Little M by handing him simple tasks such as washing the veggies or buttering the bread. Most of times he obliges happily.

It is a good snack to prepare with your little ones as it doesn't require too much of an effort and the kids can help with chopping the avocado (with a plastic knife) and stirring up the veggies together or even in decorating their own chips!

Handing him the plastic knife after I scooped out the avocado, I asked him to roughly chop it into pieces.

If you do not know how to peel an avocado I would recommend that you check the internet for a video because it is super simple and uncomplicated.

I like to learn simple hacks to simplify and quicken daily tasks in the kitchen. Watching a video on how to simply peeling a pomegranate on Facebook really changed my life and now it is often consumed at my house as compared to before when I found getting pomegranate seeds out a big deal.

An avocado requires no peeling of the outer skin at all and is simple to get the pulpy flesh out in under a minute.

Avocados tend to blacken when peeled, so it helps to be quick with the chopping and sprinkling lemon juice asap to keep avocado from turning dark.

For the same reason, do not prepare this dip in advance. It can be made in under 10 min, so make it when you want to eat and serve it fresh.

Ingredients:

2 avocados, finely chopped (or mashed with fork)
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
coriander leaves, chopped
2 green chilies, finely chopped
salt, to taste

Method:

1) Chop or mash the avocados in a bowl. Sprinkle lemon juice fast to keep avocados from darkening.

2) Mix in all ingredients in a large bowl.

I separated a few spoons of guacamole for Little M and then added the finely chopped green chilies.

Guacamole dip is ready! :-)

 3) Serve as dip with nachos, chips, monaco biscuits or the Indian papad. :-)

Found a single kuboos or pita bread lying in my bread basket. Warmed it on a tawa or griddle alongwith some butter, making it slightly crunchy and layered the guacamole on top of it!

Not only was this recipe a time-saver but it really saved the dinner last night as I had not cooked anything. Do try this super quick and innovative dip that is ready in minutes and without breaking your back for hours in the kitchen.


Do share your thoughts on this recipe with me. I would love to read them.

Have you tasted guacamole? Or tried making it? How do you make yours? What are ways you include avocados in your family's meals? Please share your ideas with me.


Thanks for reading! :-)

Veg Chilli Tofu

Something amazing happened last week when I was browsing down the aisles of our local supermarket I stumbled upon Tofu. I immediately put it in into my trolley and it was one of the best food decisions I made as someone who is always on the scout for healthy cooking options.

Now what is tofu, some of you may ask. It resembles the highly valued (specially by vegetarian North Indians) paneer but is a way more healthier swap for paneer aka cottage cheese. the white soft and spongy blocks of Tofu are made from soy milk and it is a nutritionally packed food, high in iron, calcium and other micro nutrients but low in fat. :-)

A lot has been said about the health benefits of tofu, so without much ado let me share with you my first time cooking experience with tofu.

I got 500gm of fresh tofu for only AED 5 (price way less than paneer) and cooked two recipes with it and one of it was chilli tofu.

The basic rule is to treat tofu as you treat paneer and cook in the same as it tastes and looks just the same.

This chilli tofu is a vegetarian's delight cooked with vegetables like green capsicum and onion. It is a dry recipe and a spicy Indo-chinese version so we will use soy sauce and hot red chilli sauce.

It is not a quick recipe and it took me 40 min to get done with it but once the husband - M and Little M tasted it I knew it was all worth the effort and time.

I have already been getting requests from M to make the chilli tofu once again. :-)

You can serve it with fried rice which is what I did or eat it as a dry starter or even roll it up into chapattis to make a chilli tofu wrap which can be an easy lunch box snack.

Here is a step by step recipe with lots of pictures :-)


For marinating tofu:

• 250gm tofu, cubed
• 2 tbsp corn flour
• 1/4 tsp red chili and black pepper powder each
• 2 tbsp oil
• salt

For gravy:

• 1 onion, cut in squares
• 1 capsicum, cut in squares
• 1-2 spring onion greens chopped
• 1 tbsp each of ginger and garlic, finely chopped
• 5 green chilies, sliced vertically
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp hot red chili sauce or hot sauce
• 1/4 tsp each of red chili powder, black pepper
• 2 tbsp water to add in corn flour
• salt

Method

Marinating tofu

1. Start by patting dry tofu and then cut it into cubes.
2. In a mixing bowl, put the tofu cubes and add 2 tbsp corn flour, 1/4 tsp of red chili and black pepper powder each, 2 tbsp oil and a pinch of salt
3. Mix it all very gently and carefully without breaking tofu cubes.

Frying tofu

1. In a non-stick tawa or frying pan, put 2 tbsp of oil and fry marinated tofu cubes on a medium heat without breaking the cubes until golden and crisp. Make sure to not fry for more than 5 min as it will harden the tofu cubes.
2. While the tofu is being fried in the bowl in which we marinated there will be some leftover corn flour and spices add 3-4 tbsp of water to it and mix. We will use it later to thicken our gravy.

3. In another small bowl, take 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp hot red chili sauce or hot sauce, 1/4 tsp each of red chili powder, black pepper and mix with a spoon and keep aside.

Preparing the gravy

1. In a non-stick pan add 1-2 tbsp oil and add the finely chopped ginger and garlic. Stir.

2. Add the onion and capsicum.

3. On medium heat stir fry the veggies until capsicum is cooked.

4. Add the mixed sauces and salt but not too much of salt as the sauces already contain salt. Stir.

5. Add corn starch paste. Stir and check the taste and add salt or red chilli powder if required. Add the pan-fried tofu cubes. Stir.

Garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot.

I would highly recomend this recipe if you like a hot and spicy stir fry. Go ahead and try this easy recipe that will surely make you and your family happy.

Please do share your thoughts with me on this recipe and drop me a line or two about how your recipe turned out. I would love to read what you think! :-)