Time is running and years are flying. Sister was in town and her one month visit is already over.  Both my siblings will be based in Uncle Sam’s land for the next few years, another reason to take holiday now With winters settling in Delhi it’s time for hearty soups and salads. The quality of the vegetables becomes better and one doesn’t need to drive to INA to get some. This season also brings in lots of Cold, cough and flu. It’s my second time in past 3 weeks to be loved by flu, so that is another reason why so many experiments are being made with “liquid foods”. As you enjoy a steaming bowl of homemade soup, you may not ponder over the “profits” (as mom says) it brings to you. Soup has collective demand in our family because of its convenience, simplicity and variety and also coz we are a vegetarian family.

So here is the recipe of the soup that I just made up and she turned into one of the nicest meals!
About half a litre of water   
3-4 tomatoes (chopped)
5-6 cloves of garlic (crushed)
2-3 black pepper (crushed)
1 onion (chopped)

Put all these items in a big pot and let it simmer for about an hour or so. Puree and strain.

Add Chopped vegetables (whatever is in your fridge really!!)

My mother added “ghiya”-gourd, beans, carrots, broccoli, green peas, mushrooms, baby corn and even cauliflower. Lastly she added chopped spinach. It boosts your soup’s vitamin, mineral and antioxidant content which helps fend off-season colds. . I swear if she had a chance she would have added ladyfingers(bhindi) too!! Season it with salt and lots and lots of pepper (clear’s your sinuses). Give it a simmer and then garnish with more burnt garlic and fresh coriander. Sip and enjoy!

So trick to make this soup real yummy – add a spoon full of pesto (we had some leftover you can even use the canned one).Not only is it my faith but factually also Soups can prevent diseases and add much needed nutrition to your general diet. And most of all its mmmyyyuuuumm good!
Foodaholics got covered in few publications sharing the same with you!

Hope everyone had a good Diwali

A rangoli made by sister and mother.

FOODAHOLICS IN THE NEWS….

In HT Career

In Sunday Guardian (only bummer they wrote the wrong address- its actually www.foodaholics.in)

Delhi Times- What’s Hot

Our Third week winner for the fudge contest is Nachiketa Chandra

Mango Buttermilk Cake for Princess Daksayani

This is a very special post as it’s a mango cake for Daksayani. She is my chachi’s daughter [could also be termed as mine as I love her that much ]…… and the Apple no…no…. APPLE of my eye……. I totally adore her….. She loves pottering around in the kitchen with me. We have a blast together. She’s the cutest Sous Chef anyone can have. We did Mushroom Quiche, Chocolate Fudge Brownies, Starry Brownies and many other goodies together. She’s also assisted me in making a daring baker challenge. These cupcakes sent her into peals of delighted laughter.

Daksayani and I both share the love of Mangoes….. She even has a special steel plate shaped like a mango to eat her mangoes in and I still get my nani to feed me mangoes just like she use to when I was a kid….. We both have very special memories attached with mangoes…. I hereby officially share my title of Mango Queen with Daksayani Chandra from this day onwards. Sealed, Signed n Delivered.

Her obsession with mangoes, different shapes, pink, her own birthday and barbies prompted the pictures below. So we had a birthday celebration much before her birthday. Actually every bake with her is a celebration of sorts J

Have made this ‘Mango Buttermilk Cake’ out of real mango pulp and not any synthetic essence. This picture may look like I’ve done some photoshop work on it…. But believe me…. The mangoes were so luscious n pulpy that I didn’t have to do any processing on the pictures… They are just-as-they-were-clicked.

Mango Buttermilk Cake
Adapted from Bright Morning Star

Mango Custard
[I halved the quantity of these to get 1 tin of 9”]

Ingredients:
5 yolks + 2 whole eggs
2 cups sugar [ d mangoes i used were pretty sweet, so if using tart mangoes you may need to decrease or increase as per taste]
75 grams salted + 50 unsalted, at room temperature [ you could use all unsalted butter and add a pinch of salt ]
3 cups mango puree with juice of 1 little lime.

1. Simmer a large pan of water
2. Place a glass/ steel bowl [that fits into the pan just right to make it a double boiler] with 1 cup of sugar and 100 gms of butter [mix of both if using both]. Simmer whisking well till butter and sugar dissolves.
3. Whisk till sugar dissolves and cool a bit.
4. Add 5 well whisked egg yolks and 2 whole eggs to the puree and whisk away.
5. Add to the butter and sugar and whisk again and Keep the bowl back on the flame on the pan of simmering water.
6. Keep stirring till it’s real thick and sticks well to the spoon and it took me almost 2 hours for this quantity.
But you could keep it directly in the pan, instead of double boiler, but never let it boil, and let the flame be really low. Watch it carefully.
7. The consistency will be thicker than that of Lemon curd, clings very thickly to the spoon.
Almost Custardy than liquidy and very wobbly, as if it’s kind of set.

How to check its Done?
What i did ,and it quite worked ,is that, pop in a few little bowls in the freezer when u begin , and as and when u think its getting done, heap a nice Teaspoon full into the bowls and pop back in the freezer for a few seconds
Well check the consistency and flavour, and u can add a bit more sugar if u want too )

Mango Buttermilk Cake
[I halved the quantity of these to get 1 tin]
Ingredients:
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 1/2 cups sugar, plus 1/2 cup for sprinkling
4 large eggs [or 6 if u skip the mango curd]
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract [I used 3 whole vanilla beans]
Finely grated zest of 4 lemons (for lemon cake, but i do love what it did to the mango cake]
Juice of 1 lemon (for lemon cake-optional]
1.5 cups Buttermilk
1.5 cups Mango chunky mango bits with juice
[as i chopped a few mangoes, i had pieces from the cups and thick puree from the seeds]
3/4 cup mango curd

Notes
~~~this quantity makes quite a bit of cake, i halved it and still had lodes of cake
~~~if making a few cuppys too, tip the tops with some mango Curd …delicious!
~~~love the crust that forms atop with the sprinkled sugar:-)
~~~the original called for 6eggs but since i had mango curd ,i cut it down to 4:-))

Method:
1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In another bowl, cream the butter and 4 1/2 cups of sugar until fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in the vanilla or scrape the vanilla seeds into the batter.
Add the lemon zest and juice and the cubed mango pieces and puree mash.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, alternating with the buttermilk and mango curd.
Scrape batter into prepared cake pans.
A few cakes were half filled a mango slice/puree in between and then covered with batter again!
4. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of the sugar on top of the batter or a mango slice if u want too or both! [I didn't do this as the mangoes were already very sweet]
Bake until set, when a cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean (about 1 hour).
5. Let the cakes cool in their pans, and then invert them onto a rack.
Delicious and buttery so…..flavour sure develops the next day as well. A buttery mango batter with a layer in between and topped with mango batter and some mango curd has me totally sold. By now you’d know that she’s a total poser and absolutely loved the cake. There no bigger HIGH for me than to see her savour the goodies I make for her.

This wonderfully crumbly and textured cake is sure to make any Mango loving person go into raptures of delight just like we did….

It amazes that many people around me don’t know about blueberry. Don’t blame them,We in India only know two types of berries in particular- strawberry and raspberry (The Indian gooseberry).

I just finished making some Blueberry Bavarian cakes.Sharing the same with you.I have used frozen blueberries in my cake and its close to impossible to find the fresh one in Delhi.One in a while if you get lucky you can find the same but at triple the cost.

Here is a little trivia on blueberry I had with me from my product knowledge class at CIA.

Blueberries are small fruits of a shrub tree. These berries grow in clusters and vary in size from that of the size of a pea, to the size of a marble. The colour often ranges from maroon to purple black. The flesh of the blueberries is semi-transparent and encases tiny seeds. The berries, which are cultivated, are mildly sweet, whereas those which grow in the wild are more tart and tangy in flavour.

They are round and flattened in shape. They have a crown like structure at the bottom, and a depressed ring at the top of the fruit. Blueberries are usually around 1/2 inch in diameter. These berries are native to North America, where they grow in abundance in the mountains, forests of US and Canada.

· Blueberries are best had in their raw form

· Frozen berries may be added to your breakfast shake to make it more zingy and lip smacking

· Dried berries can be added to the dull breakfast cereal to pep it up

· Blueberries added in yogurt and then frozen make an excellent low fat dessert. It can be topped with crystallized ginger for best results

· Blueberry jams, muffins, pies are the favourite among people of all ages alike. They can be enjoyed throughout the year.

Health Benefits
Blueberries are a rich source of vitamins and minerals, and have various health benefits associated with them. Some of them include the following:

· Blueberries are one of the richest sources of antioxidants. The antioxidants play a pivotal role in keeping our body healthy and young. They help fight free radicals of the body, which damage the cells of the body as we grow older. They may also result in the degeneration of the DNA. Blueberries provide protection against the same

· These berries are rich in an anti-cancer agent, several, which helps combat the fatal disease

· They contain chemicals that are believed to decrease the growth of cervical and breast cancer cells by a considerable percentage

· Research has confirmed that blueberries not only slow the aging process but also reverse it

· Various experiments conducted have also indicated that eating blueberries improves short term memory loss and improves balance and coordination

· A compound found in blueberries called the pterostilbene, has been found to develop into a nutraceutical for lowering cholesterol

· If consumed regularly, these berries have shown to improve night time vision and promote quicker adjustment to darkness and faster restoration of visual acuity after exposure to glare

· They are also beneficial in reducing effects of age related conditions such as Alzheimer’s or Dementia

· These wonder berries provide respite against both diarrhea and constipation

· They are rich sources of soluble and insoluble fiber and contain tannins, which act as astringents in the digestive system to reduce inflammation

· Regularly consuming blueberries helps in fighting urinary tract infections.

Varieties of Blueberries

• Blueberry-Brigitta: This variety is a late season variety producing large, firm, and light blue berries. The shrub of this cultivar is upright and usually grows to a height of about 6 feet. The berry borne by the variety is large, crisp and rich in flavour and texture. Thus they make an excellent option for freezing as well as eating fresh. The fruits ripen towards the end of August
• Blueberry-Chandler: This variety of berries is large, firm and has a wonderful flavour. Each berry weighs about 2g. The bush is extremely attractive and grows low to a height of about 150 cms

• Blueberry-Earliblue: As the name of the berry suggests, it matures early as compared to the other varieties. The berries borne by the tree are large, juicy and have a mild and sweet flavour. The berries grow in medium sized clusters and ripen in the beginning of July
• Blueberry Top Hat: It is an extremely nutritious variety, which also makes for an extremely ornamental plant. The berries produced are extremely plump and make an ideal ingredient in pies, muffins and jams