No Bake Mango Cheesecake

With the mango season set in and summer at its highest, I thought it would be fun to beat the heat with this wonderful, easy, and quick recipe overloaded with mangoes.  My daughter was at home with her holidays set in, getting bored and wanted something interesting to have.  So, both of us set in on this recipe.  On our way from Coimbatore, we could get some really good mangoes and so we could do this immediately.

Then came the hunt for a good recipe to work on.  I explored so many sites and suddenly I remembered of a recipe from the bake along group I am a member of and checked on it.  To my surprise, it was the simplest one and easy of all and could be done with the ingredients that I had at home in stock. y Luckily, I had them all with me.  With all things ready, we set off to work in a jiffy.  But lo, we didn't think of the electricity factor and just when the mango cheese layer was put in the freezer to be set, there was power failure and we had to patiently wait for it to be back.  Thank god, it just turned back in an hour's time and we could get back to work without much hassles.

Cheesecakes can be of either the baked variety or the no bake type.  We chose to do the "no bake" type for this time.  No bake cheesecakes are done in different ways in most recipes on the web using gelatin or agar agar as the setting agent ideally.  In most cheesecake recipes, cream cheese is used - either homemade or store bought.  It is also equally acceptable to use cottage cheese or paneer as well along with hung curd.  In this recipe, a combination of paneer and condensed milk is used and it gave a really good yummy taste.

As I was in the process of doing the no bake mango cheese cake, I suddenly got a call from a client turned friend from Bangalore for a delicious treat for her mom (who is in Palakkad) on her birthday who is very fond of mangoes in any form.  Immediately, I told her about me doing this recipe and she was wonderstruck about this idea and approved of it though cheesecakes are not very popular in our place.  I went ahead and doubled the recipe and made one for the order and one for us.  I also made a white chocolate collar for the birthday cheesecake and left ours plain.  My friend's mom just couldn't believe of mangoes in this form and just loved it to the core.

This cheesecake contains of 3 layers, viz., the base biscuit layer, the center cheesecake layer, the top mango jelly layer apart from the mango pieces over the top layer and the chocolate collar.  The decor is of your choice.

Any seasonal fruits like blueberries, strawberries, etc. can also be used instead of the mango for this recipe.  Chocolate cheesecake is also an option.

Ingredients:

Base:

Digestive biscuits – 200 gms

Butter – 60 gms, melted

Cheesecake Layer:

Cottage cheese/paneer – 200 gms

Condensed milk – 400 ml

Fresh cream – 200 ml

Mangoes – 400 gms, chopped

Gelatin/Agar Agar – 2 tablespoons

Water – 1/4 cup

Topping:

Mango – Puree of 1 Mango

Gelatin/Agar Agar – 1 tablespoon

Water – 2 tablespoons

Method:

1. Grease the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan with butter. 

If you do not have a springform pan, a tart pan from which you can get the base of the pan away from the sides can also be used.

If you do not have both of these, line the inside of a normal 8-inch cake pan with aluminium foil and have excess foil hanging from the sides so you can pull it out once the cheesecake has been set.  To the sides here on the foil-lined pan, cut strips of acetate /OHP sheet and butter the sides and position the sheet inside of the foil in your round pan.  This is literally to pull out the cheesecake easily from the normal pan and yet have neat, smooth sides.

2.  Process digestive biscuits in a food processor and add melted butter to it.

3. Mix butter and crushed biscuits well and cover the bottom of the prepared pan and press it tightly and evenly.  Keep in freezer to set until you continue doing the rest of the recipe.

4.  Grate or crumble paneer.  Add it to a food processor along with condensed milk and grind on high speed for a couple of minutes until it has pureed really well and smooth.  Add the mixture to a bowl and mix together with fresh cream.  Keep aside.

5.  Puree mangoes into a smooth fine paste and heat it up in a heavy bottomed saucepan until it is just hot.  Do not let it boil.

6.  Add gelatin/agar agar in a microwave safe bowl and mix it with water.  Let it bloom for 2 to 3 minutes.  Microwave on high power for 40 seconds and mix well until gelatin/agar agar granules have melted.  Add this mixture into the mango puree and mix well until combined.  Allow to cool to room temperature.

7.  Now, add the mango mixture into the paneer mixture and mix well.  Take the pan which is lined with biscuits and is freezing.  Pour the cheesecake mixture on top of the biscuit lining and tap few times to get rid of any air bubbles.  Again, put it back in freezer until you prepare the topping.

8.  Topping:  Puree mango and heat it up in a heavy bottomed saucepan until just hot.  Add gelatin/agar agar in a bowl along with water and let it bloom for a 2 to 3 minutes.  Microwave gelatin/agar agar for 40 seconds on high power and add it to the mango puree and mix well.  If desired, add 2 drops of yellow food color to the gelatin/agar agar mixture for a bright colored topping.

9.  Check if the cheesecake has set, and once set, pour the mango jelly on top and tap it once to release air bubbles, if any; and again, put it back in freezer to set firm.

It might take an hour or more to set completely, and once done, it is ready to be relished.  You can also let it set overnight.  Before serving, make sure you release the sides of the pan.  Also if using acetate strips to the sides, peel it off before slicing.  Always keep it refrigerated and serve chilled.

Finally, I melted some white chocolate and did chocolate lace to decorate the sides of the cheesecake to add glamour to the yummy dessert.  Also, I placed loads of chopped mango pieces on the center of the cheesecake for the mango lover.  Here goes the fully loaded mango cheesecake for you to relish..yummilicious...slurp...

This one went for the order with the white chocolate wordings as given by the client turned friend for her lovely mom "Celebrating You - Kuttikal"... Just Amazing to love your mom so much!!

My Notes:

1.  I used Marie digestive biscuits.  Graham crackers if available can also be used.

2.  Condensed milk can be homemade or store bought.  I used 1 standard tin of Amul mithaimate.


3.  Amul fresh cream was used in this recipe.

4.  If you do not have a microwave to dissolve the gelatin/agar agar after it has bloomed, place the bowl in a bigger vessel of hot water and heat up in medium flame until the gelatin/agar agar dissolves (double boiling method).

5.  You can use a cake layer also as the base layer instead of the biscuit layer.  Ideally, a vanilla or mango plain cake would be the best as the base layer.

6.  Individual servings can also be done by setting them in layers of the same pattern in ready-to-serve bowls or shot glasses.

Rava Kara Pidi Kozhukkattai (Rava Dumplings)

Pidi kozhukkattai is a simple, easy, and traditional recipe of South India.  Generally, raw or par boiled rice or rice flour is used to make these kozhukkattais.  Nowadays, ragi flour is also used to make these Indian dumplings to enrich the nutritional value.

I have used rava along with the dhals to make these kozhukkattais.  In this recipe here, white rava is used.  The wheat rava can also be used to enhance the fiber content of the dish.  Also, vegetables have also been incorporated into this so that they are also included in our food intake.  A steamed dish is never an hazard to your stomach and is easily digestible.  Such is the advantage of indian cooking.

I almost regularly watch Mrs. Revathi Shanmugam's cookery shows on TV channels and this recipe is one amongst those I got to watch.  Most times, my mother-in-law, who is very fond of cooking and an expert too, notes the recipes down in her book and suggests me to try them when I become blank on what to do for breakfast or dinner.  So, that's how we tried doing this recipe, and needless to say, all of us in our family liked this simple and easily digestible kozhukkattai.  Even my daughter, who is not very fond of the old traditional recipes, accepted it to be good.  Yay, I have another addition in my breakfast menu list that can be done anytime and with great ease that is healthier too.

And, here goes the recipe...

Ingredients:

White (Bombay) Rava - 1 cup

Bengal Gram Dhal (Kadala paruppu) - 1/2 cup

Toor Dhal - 1/2 cup

Oil - 4 to 5 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Carrot - 1 (chopped) 

Onion - 1 (chopped)

Cabbage (shredded) - 1/2 cup

Rock Salt - 1 to 1-1/2 tsp (or as needed)

Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp

Red Chillies - 6

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp


Method:

1.  Wash and soak the dhals separately for a minimum of 1 hour in just enough water.

2.  Drain the excess water from the soaked dhals.  Grind each of the soaked dhals separately to a coarse paste sprinkling little water for easy grinding.

3.  Just before grinding the dhals, soak rava in just enough water.  After the dhals are ground, drain excess water from rava and give a quick run in the mixie.

4.  Grind together red chillies, turmeric powder and salt.

5.  Mix together well the coarsely ground dhals, rava, and the ground red chilly paste to a batter.  The batter should be of an adai batter consistency.  Add water if necessary to achieve the desired consistency.

6.  Heat oil in a kadai.  Splutter mustard seeds and then add the chopped onions, carrots, and cabbage and fry for 2 minutes.

7.  Add the rava-dhal batter and keep mixing until all the moisture is absorbed.  Make sure no lumps are formed.  When it starts to leave the sides and comes together to form mass, switch off the flame.  Allow to cool.

8.  Grease your hand with little oil.

9.  When the mixture is warm, take small portions and press between the palm and fingers into cylindrical shapes to form pidi kozhukkattais.  Repeat the same for the entire mixture.

10.  Arrange the kozhukkattais in a plate and steam in a cooker or a vessel (with water in the base of the vessel) for 10 to 15 minutes in medium flame.

11.  Serve hot with a desired chutney or pickle of your choice.

This makes a healthy breakfast dish that is steamed and is a well-balanced diet containing carbohydrates, proteins from the dhals, fiber content and vitamins and minerals from the vegetables.  It makes a great evening snack too for the kids back from school.  The rava dumplings can be made for dinner also when you want a simple, steamed, easily digestible menu just before going to bed. 


My Notes:

1.  Drumstick leaves can be used instead of the vegetables.

2.  A pinch of cooking soda can be added in the batter to get more softer kozhukkatais.  I did not use soda.

3.  Any vegetables of your choice can be added, viz., green peas, capsicum, beans, etc.

4.  I served this dish with a garlic chutney.  Onion or tomato onion chutney is also a good accompaniment.

Pineapple Gateau (Pineapple Fresh Cream Pastry Cake)

Come April and it is a month of celebration.  With the onset of April, I start getting busy with celebrations of Telugu New Year (Ugadi), Vishu, and my daughter's birthday which keeps me on my toes with her wishes to be fulfilled.  This year, I decided to make a fresh cream cake which is an all-time favorite for all of us at home unlike the buttercream/fondant ones which are a bit too sweet.  The fluffiness of the cream and the just-right sweetness of the cake with the softness of the sponge cake inside always makes it our favorite one.  I suddenly remembered that I had canned pineapple tin in my kitchen which I had picked up with all other baking stuff and had not opened it for quite some time.  In spite of my husband hesitating on the pineapple flavor of the cake, I went ahead to make this cake, and at the end, he was fancied by its look and taste and competed with our daughter to finish it up.

While I was googling for a good recipe of a pineapple gateau, I found so many good recipes.  This cake recipe is adapted from "Cook like Priya" as that was the one which had a fatless sponge cake incorporated in it and the recipe has been adjusted according to my choice of taste and looks.  Totally, this cake, though it looks creamy, is a low-fat dessert as I have used a fatless sponge and non-dairy whipping cream.

I used a fatless (i.e. no butter/no oil) sponge cake base to make this cake.  Any sponge cake (viz., normal or eggless) base of your choice can be used.

Fatless Sponge Cake

Yield:  An 8 inch cake cut into 3 layers

Servings: 10 to 12 generously

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (maida) - 1-1/4 cups (150 gm)

Sugar (granulated/powdered) - 3/4 cup (150 gm)

Eggs (large) - 5

Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp (2.5 gm)

Baking Soda - 1 pinch

Salt - 1 pinch

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Pineapple Essence - 1 tsp


Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees C or 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.

2.  Grease an 8" baking tin with oil and line the sides with parchment or butter paper about an inch higher than the cake tin and also line the base with the same.  Set aside.

3.  Sieve flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together until well incorporated.  Set aside.

4.  In a bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla and pineapple essences.  Beat for about 5 minutes until soft peaks form.

5.  Gently add the sifted flour mixture little by little into the beaten egg mixture until well incorporated.  Take care not to over mix.

6.  Pour the cake batter into the greased cake tin and bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees C.

7.  Remove from oven and allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes.  Later, invert the cake onto a cooling rack and let the butter paper remain intact.

8.  Once the cake is completely cooled down, remove the butter/parchment paper.

9.  Cling wrap the cake and refrigerate until use.

10.  When about to use, remove the cling wrap and cut into layers.  I sliced into 3 perfect layers and placed them separately on plates.


Pineapple Soaking Syrup


Ingredients:

Pineapple Syrup - 1 cup (the syrup in the the tinned pineapple can)

Powdered Sugar - 4 to 5 tbsp

Pineapple Essence - 2 tsp

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside until assembling process.


Whipped Cream Frosting

Ingredients:

Cold Non-dairy Whipping Cream - 2 cups

Icing Sugar - 1/2 cup

Pineapple Essence - 1 tsp


Method:

1.  Freeze the bowl with whisk attachment for at least half an hour before making the whipping cream.

2.  Beat the cream at high speed for 2 minutes and then slowly add the essence and the icing sugar.  Beat until stiff peaks are formed.  Keep refrigerated until use.


Assembling the Cake

1.  Take the cake out of the fridge and unwrap the cling film.

2.  Place on a cake stand and mark a line with a colored toothpick tip (dipped in a bright food color) from top to bottom or vice versa at any of the points of your choice.  This helps in placing back the layers after filling in the same style as the original baked cake so that a uniform level is achieved.

3.  Slice 2 or 3 layers of the cake horizontally and place them on different plates aside.

4.  On a cake board, apply about 1 tsp of the cream in the center and then place the topmost layer of the cake on it.

5.  Drizzle one-third of the prepared pineapple soaking syrup liberally all over this cake layer and let sit for a few minutes until the syrup is fully absorbed.

6.  Now, add a big dollop of whipped cream on the soaked cake layer and spread with a spatula all over uniformly.  Place chopped pineapple (tinned) chunks all over the spread whipped cream.

7.  Place the middle layer of the sliced cake over this and repeat the process of soaking, spreading the whipped cream, and placing the pineapple chunks.

8.  Finally, place the bottom most layer of the sliced cake with the bottom side facing upwards.  This technique of placing the layers is called upside down technique.  Drizzle the soaking syrup all through and allow it to absorb.

9.  Then, spread the whipped cream all over the top of the cake and also on the sides and decorate with pineapple (tinned) pieces.  I used some store-bought marshmallows also to frost and decorate the fresh cream pineapple pastry (gateau).

10.  Refrigerate the pineapple gateau for at least 30 minutes to set.

Once ready, cut, serve, relish, and enjoy!!!

This is a classic cake and just can't be stopped with one bite, so yummilicious it is.  The softness of the sponge cake, the lighter cream, and  makes it a lip smacking dessert.

My Notes:

1.  I used non-dairy whipping cream for this gateau.  You can opt to use dairy cream (viz., Amul Whipping Cream).  Getting stiff peaks is difficult in indian climatic conditions.  So, the cream can be stabilized with gelatin or agar agar powder to get stiff peaks.  Dissolve 1 tsp of gelatin/agar agar powder in 2 tsp of water and leave it for 5-10 minutes.  Once bloomed, add while whisking the whipping cream to stabilize it.

2.  I used the whipped cream itself to frost the cake.  Buttercream can also be used to frost the cake.

3.  If using fondant toppers, place them on the cake just before use.  They tend to run out of colors or become soggy and out of shape because of the cream.

For your reference, I used this non-dairy whipping cream as I felt comfortable working with this whipping cream.  Any other brand of non-dairy cream or the dairy version of the whipping cream can be used.

Happy Baking!!!

Masala Tomato Pickle

I always prefer to make pickles or thokkus at home mainly for health and hygienic reasons.  Though consumption of pickles is very less by me and my daughter, we cannot forego them totally.  When we don't find anything better to go with curd rice, dosas, chappathis or even bread, we turn back to the pickles at home.

This time, we got tomatoes in abundance from my aunt's vegetable farm and I immediately got the thought of doing a pickle.  When I turned the pages of Mallika Badhrinath's Naa Oorum Oorugaaigal book, this recipe caught my eye and I quickly set to make this.  It did not take much time to do this as all things were readily available at home and was an easy process to do this recipe.  The original recipe calls for mustard oil to be used.  I used gingelly oil to make this pickle as the pungent smell of the mustard oil is not preferred by us.  You can all for sure try with the mustard oil if available in your proximity.

You can use either the local variety of tomatoes or the hybrid ones.  The local ones are more juicy and tangy.  It may take more cooking time comparatively.  A mix of both the varieties of tomatoes can also be used.

Ingredients:

Ripe red tomatoes - 1 kg

Oil (Sunflower/Mustard/Gingelly) - 1/2 kg

Aniseeds (Sombu/Saunf) - 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds (Vendhayam/Menthulu/Methi seeds) - 1 tsp

Carom Seeds (Omum/Ajwain) - 1 tsp

Cumin Seeds (Jeeragam/Jeera Seeds) - 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds (Kadugu/Rai) - 1 tsp

Green Chillies - 8

Ginger - 4 inch piece (peel skin and chop)

Coriander Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Asafoetida (Perungayam/Hing) - 1/4 tsp

Salt - 2 tbsp

Grated Jaggery - 1 tbsp


Method:

1.  Wash and pat dry the tomatoes and chop them finely.

2.  Heat 1 tsp oil in a kadai.  Add aniseeds, fenugreek, carom seeds, cumin seeds, and mustard seeds and fry.  Add chopped ginger and green chillies and fry.  Cool and grind.

3.  In a kadai bigger enough to hold the entire contents of the pickle, add half of the measured oil.  When hot, add chopped tomatoes and fry well.  

4.  Add ground mixture to this and fry well until moisture is absorbed completely.

5.  To this, add turmeric powder, coriander powder, asafoetida, and salt.

6.  Keep mixing until oil separates.  Remove from fire, cool, and transfer the pickle to a clean, dry glass container.

7.  Heat the remaining oil and allow it to cool.  Pour over the pickle in the bottle and use after a day or two.  

This masala tomato pickle can be stored up to 6 months.  Transfer in small quantities to a smaller container for use.  Directly using from the stored container can spoil the pickle sooner.  This pickle is a great accompaniment for curd rice, dosas, rotis, etc.  This is a travel friendly dish too, goes well with chappathis while you are on the go.  This can be used to make instant tomato rice, just add seasonings, fry onions, and add this pickle and cooked rice and your tomato rice is ready.


The spiciness of this pickle is moderate.  If you want it more spicy, add more chillies as desired.

The quantity of oil can be reduced if you are using the thokku within a few days.  For longer shelf life, use the said quantity of oil though it would be seem more oily when the pickle is done and transferred to containers.

Lavender Almond Cake

Have you ever heard of a cake that is fragrant as a flower?  Yes, this cake has the sweet smell of lavender and has a fragrance indeed so different from the regular cakes or special ones of berries or fresh fruits or chocolate and so does the flavor too.

As a member of a bake along group, I received some lavender seeds just enough to bake this cake as a gift from our tutor who shares her recipes with a promise to bake this recipe within the week of receiving the goodie bag of lavender seeds.  To keep up the promise, though the courier guy delayed (as usual), I rushed to bake this wonderful lavender cake with the richness of almond meal (flour/powder).  It was a real lo(i)vely time doing this whole process and my house was heavenly with the sweet fragrance of lavender plus the aroma of a good cake baking in the oven.  It is a saying that baking is therapeutic and this is double therapeutic.  I am sure anyone would be eager to try this cake if they had their hands on lavender seeds.  No issues if seeds are not available, the lavender oil/extract (edible) would also help.

My daughter and I generously shared the cake with our friends and had our collars up when good compliments poured in.

Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Butter (unsalted) - 115 gms

Granulated White Sugar - 1 cup (divided)

Eggs - 2

Almond Meal (Almond powder) - 1/4 cup

Dry Lavender Seeds - 1 tsp

Dairy Fresh Cream - 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp

Vinegar - 2 tbsp

Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

All purpose Flour (Maida) - 1-1/4 cup

Baking Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp


Glaze:

Dry Lavender Seeds - 1 pinch

Icing Sugar - 1/2 cup

Water - 3 tbsp


Method:

1.  Grease cake pan with butter and dust with powdered sugar on all sides.  Preheat oven for 10 minutes to 170 degrees C.

2.  Add 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp lavender seeds, and almond meal in the small jar of the mixie or food processor.

3.  On medium speed, process for a minute until all the three have combined well.  Do not process for long.

4.   Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Keep aside.

5.  Add vinegar to fresh cream in a bowl.  Keep aside.

6.  Add butter into a bowl and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes until soft and fluffy.

7.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar to the butter and beat on high speed for about 5 to 7 minutes until they are well combined, creamy, light, and fluffy.

8.  Add in the lavender almond mixture and beat for about a minute on medium speed until combined.

9.  Add the eggs one at a time beating on low speed for a minute after adding each egg.

10.  Add 1 tsp of vanilla extract and beat for a minute until everything is combined together.

11.  Add half of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.  Do not over beat.

12.  Add the cream-vinegar mixture and again beat on low speed until just combined.  Make sure you do not over beat.

13.  Mix in the remaining flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.  Do not over beat.  Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix well.

14.  Pour the cake batter in the prepared pan and tap to release any air bubbles.

15.  Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees C for 40 to 50 minutes until the cake has risen, looks soft, and a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.

16.  For the glaze, boil lavender seeds and water for about 5 minutes on low flame.  Switch off and close the lid to let the flavor seep into the water.  Filter the lavender seeds and add the flavored water to icing sugar and make glaze.  Adjust icing sugar or hot water to get the proper pouring consistency.

17.  Pour the glaze over the cake and let it set for 1/2 an hour.

18.  Your cake is ready to served, gobbled up, grabbed, and lo you can see it vanish in no time.  It has such a good aroma of the lavender seeds and the cake with all the richness of almond meal and the whole house smells divine while baking it that you start gasping to catch the sweet smell of it.

Not getting the dry lavender seeds should not stop you from baking this cake.  There is always an alternative.  You can use edible lavender oil or lavender extracts or essence to make this cake.  It is a sure try.  Do not miss it.

Happy Baking!!!

Tapioca (Kappa/Maravallikilangu) Tart with Spinach Filling

Tapioca is a starch extracted from the cassava root.  Called as maravallikilangu in tamil and kappa in malayalam, it is a staple food in most places and is rich in carbohydrates and is fat free and protein free.  Thus, it is an instant energizer.   Since it does not contain much nutrients, it is accompanied or cooked with protein rich foods.  Here, I have used spinach filling to enhance the nutritional value of the carbohydrate rich tapioca.

Tapioca tart is a savory snack unlike the regular sweet tarts of all kinds we see around.  Serve it hot and it is a real lip smacker.  Being gluten free, it is a boon to gluten allergic people (gluten is mostly found in maida, wheat flour, etc.)

My daughter is fond of this dish and keeps asking for kappa tart fondly.  The original recipe as I had seen on TV had mixed veg and paneer filling but I opted the spinach filling to make it more nutritious and add up spinach in some form in my daughter's menu.  I made mini tarts or tartlets for convenience of gobbling up but this recipe can be made as a big tart too and also garnished with cheese as per your choice.

Here goes my recipe and hope you all would like it too.

Ingredients:

For the Tarts:

Tapioca - 1 kg (boiled and mashed)

Onion - 1 (finely chopped)

Finely Grated Coconut - 1 tbsp

Green Chillies - 3 (finely chopped)

Curry Leaves - Few (finely chopped)

Coriander Leaves - 1 tbsp (finely chopped)

Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - 1 tsp or as per taste

Oil - 4 tbsp


For the Filling:

Spinach (Palak) - 1 small bunch

Onion - 1 (chopped)

Capsicum - 1 (chopped)

Green Peas - 1/2 cup

Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - To taste

Sugar/Jaggery - 1 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

For the Filling:

1.  Clean and wash spinach and chop finely.

2.  In a kadai, heat oil and saute chopped onions and chopped spinach leaves.

3.  When half cooked, add capsicum and green peas and saute well until cooked. 

4.  Add chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt, sugar/jaggery, garam masala powder and mix well until everything blends together.  Keep aside until use as filling in tapioca (kappa) tarts.

For the Tart/Tartlets:

1.  Wash and cut tapioca into roughly large pieces and pressure cook them (for about 5 to 7 minutes).  Allow to cool.  Peel the skin and mash them smoothly.

2.  In a kadai, heat oil and fry finely chopped onions until it turns pink.

3.  Add in all other ingredients except tapioca and mix well.

4.  Next, add in the mashed tapioca little by little and mix well.  This is the tart base.  Adding mashed tapioca altogether at one time will make it difficult to mix.

5.  When slightly cool, make even sized balls of the tapioca mixture.  Take a ball and flatten in your hands and make a cup to line your mould.  I used an aluminium cupcake mold to make small, bite-size tartlets.  Place the cup shaped tapioca dough into the greased cupcake molds (aluminium molds are ideal) and bake them at 200 degrees C for 20 minutes.

6.  When baked, remove from the oven and cool for a minute and carefully remove from molds.  Your kappa tarts (tartlets) are ready.  Fill with the ready spinach filling topped with tomato sauce and serve immediately.

Notes:

To avoid puffing up of the dough while baking, prick in the center of the tapioca cups with a knife or a fork.  I also placed a small, greased aluminium tartlet cup in the center to avoid puffing up and to get a cup shape after baking too.

Any filling of your choice can be used viz., soya, paneer, egg, or mixed vegetable dry curries.

Strawberry White Chocolate Mousse

Fresh strawberries are always a treat to your eyes as well as your taste buds.  They are so colorful and juicy that one would really wish to have them whenever available.

Mousse is a flavored whipped cream set with a stabilizing agent like gelatin or agar agar.  Nowadays, we do get veg gelatin also.

Ingredients:

Fresh Strawberries - 200 gms (10 to 12 medium sized)

White Chocolate - 100 gm

Gelatin/Agar Agar - 3/4 tsp (plus 1/4 tsp for topping)

Water - 1/4 cup (plus 1 tbsp for topping)

Fresh Whipping Cream - 200 gm (with 30% or more fat content - dairy or nondairy)

Icing Sugar - 1/4 cup (plus 1 tbsp for topping)

Granulated White Sugar - 1 tsp

Vanilla Extract/Essence - 1 tsp


Method:

1.  Hull the strawberries (i.e. remove the green calyx).  Cut them into pieces and grind to a smooth paste in the small jar of your mixie or food processor.  Strain it and collect the smooth strawberry pulp.  Measure 1/2 cup of the pulp and keep the rest of the pulp aside for the topping.

2.  Chop the white chocolate and melt it in a double boiler until completely melted.  Set aside.  (If melting in a microwave, do it in bursts of 30 seconds until fully melted).

3.  Add the 3/4 tsp of gelatin/agar agar in a cup and pour 1/4 cup water to it and let it to bloom (keep undisturbed for 5 to 10 minutes).

4.  Take 1/4 cup of the cream in a heavy bottomed pan and add 1/4 cup icing sugar to it.  Heat up the pan.  Once the sugar dissolves fully, remove from heat.  Add the gelatin/agar agar mixture into it and mix well until the gelatin/agar agar dissolves completely in the heat.  If gelatin/agar agar does not dissolve fully, take back the mixture to heat and keep stirring on medium heat until the gelatin/agar agar completely dissolves.

5.  Add this mixture to the melted white chocolate and mix well.  Now, add 1/2 cup of the strawberry pulp and mix them all together well.

6.  Add fresh whipping cream in a bowl and beat using electric mixer on medium speed until soft.  Add 1 teaspoon of granulated white sugar and beat on medium high speed until stiff peaks form.

7.  Now, add the strawberry mixture and the pure vanilla extract/essence into the stiffly whipped cream and beat on medium speed until everything blends well together.

8.  Scoop the mousse into the dessert cups leaving space for the topping.

9.  For the topping, add 1 tablespoon of icing sugar to the reserved remaining strawberry pulp.  Bloom the 1/4 teaspoon gelatin/agar agar powder in 1 tablespoon of water.  Melt the bloomed gelatin/agar agar in microwave or double boiler and add it to the strawberry pulp.  Mix them all well.  Spoon this topping over the mousse on dessert cups.

10.  To garnish, pipe a little of the mousse with a star nozzle over the set mousse and strawberry topping layers and stick a fresh strawberry piece in the middle (cut a strawberry vertically into 4 pieces).  

11.  Refrigerate the mousse for 1 to 2 hours and serve chilled.

Notes:

I used agar agar powder and amul whipping cream to make this recipe.

Before beating the whipping cream, chill the bowl and the beaters for some time to get stiff peaks in the cream. 

I did not set a separate layer of topping since I had run short of strawberries as many of them had been gobbled up by me (hehe) while doing this recipe.  So, no garnish and no topping layer.  Hope you don't do this and wait patiently to relish the mousse with all its layers and garnishes.