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Continue readingTasha & girl Strawberries and Lavender Jam review | Tasha & girl Fruit spread review
I got to know about this brand from a local Facebook group named Pune Eat Outs. Loved their story and immediately wanted to taste their products and ordered. (Read the very interesting story here)
We tasted the Jams or should I say “Fruit spreads” from Tasha & girl first in 2017 and it was love at first taste😜😜
The fact that it is a local brand from Pune is one more reason to like it more.
Their claim:
- No artificial colours, flavours, or preservatives.
- No synthetic gelling agents or acids.
- No stabilizers, thickeners, anti-oxidants, or emulsifiers.
- Unsulfated cane sugar only.
- Nothing our 4-year-old cannot eat in the raw form.
Ice cream with leftover non dairy whipped cream |Quick Easy ice-cream with aquafaba (whipping cream)| | No machine ice cream
I always made Dairy ice creams but never tried with aquafaba ( Now what is Aquafaba you ask!! The viscous water in which legume seeds such as chickpeas have been cooked, basically the non dairy whipping cream available everywhere 😜)
This is a very versatile recipe, just take cream, milk and condensed milk and add your favourite topping or syrup or crush like Strawberry, blueberry, chocolate, raspberry and enjoy.
I have been baking cakes for a long time now but never really bothered a lot about icing cakes.
Sometimes i use ganache because i feel it is way more easy to make and work with it. Tried making buttercream as well but didn’t enjoy. So finally, got some whipping cream which is actually a non dairy cream easily available here in Pune, India. Very easy to work with and taste wise also not bad. Made a beautiful father’s Day cake and was left with a lot of unused cream. I used the leftover cream for making ice cream 😁😋
Ingredients:
Whipped cream: 2 cups ( used cream bell non-dairy whipping cream)
Condensed milk: 200ml ( used mithai mate)
Milk: 2 cups
For flavoring:
Strawberry topping: 2 tbsp ( used mapro strawberry topping)
Blueberry topping : 2 tbsp ( used manama blueberry topping)
Directions:
Whip the cream well. It took me more than 10 minutes to get good peaks after whisking with an electric whisk.
Add milk, condensed milk to the cream and mix or whisk again.
Divide in 2 or as many parts as you like according to flavours.
In one part add 2-3 tbsp of strawberry topping ( depends on your likes and taste, add more or less)
In second part add blueberry topping. Whisk well.
Set it in a container with a lid
Put cling wrap touching the ice-cream surface.
Put in the freezer for 6 hours.
This ice-cream does not need extra sugar to be added as the non dairy whipping cream, condensed milk and toppings are already very sweet.
Unlike dairy ice creams, this is already quite smooth and creamy and does not form an icy sorbet like texture and does not get very hard even. It’s actually very creamy and smooth.
Scoop and serve with tutti-frutti or sprinkles. Enjoy.
Beginner Crochet Projects
The Crocheting journey continued….
Project 3–
Jelly fish keychain
This project required me to learn the magic circle. Very beautifully explained by this YouTuber.
I followed this YouTube video for making this jelly fish keychain.
Time required: 1 hour.
Level: Beginner
I filled it with dried and cut wet wipes because i didn’t have the polly fill.
Very easy amigurumi project.
Project 4–
I really loved making this project because it is for my favorite niece A.
She loves reading books and writes her book reviews here.
So, i made 2 bookmarks for her.
First is a sheep amigurumi bookmark (Hope it looks like a sheep ;P)
Tutorial taken from here
Time required: This project was completed in a span of 3 days because I was not getting much time.
Level: Easy | Beginner
Hook used: 3mm, cotton yarn in red and cream yellow colour.
Project 5–
One more bookmark for my love A.
Tutorial taken from here and here.
Time required: 2 hours
Hook used : 3mm
Cotton and polyester mix yarn in green and purple.
My next project is a Scarf and it is taking quiet a lot of time but a very easy one.
Meetha Paan | Betel leaf in my garden
Betel leaf, a mouth freshener and a digestive aid. I love meetha paan, or sweet betel leaf after a hearty meal.
We got this plant 2 months back and now it is producing these beautiful, fragrant leaves.
The plant is supported by a moss stick.
click here to read Full articleMy first few projects in Crochet
I learnt crochet in school but reluctantly, because it was required as a part of my curriculum. This time, i am learning it because i really want to 😀
I will be chronicling my crochet journey here with time stamps so that anyone having an iota of interest in crocheting can see the difference from 0 to hopefully-an-expert-chrocheter-someday.
Project 1-
It was a flower. I made and remade and remade.
It took me an hour for just this one blue flower and then i made 2 more after i got an idea. Made on 8/5/2020
Tutorial taken from here and here.
Hook used was a 3mm and cotton yarn.
Project 2
It was simple headband for my 2 year old ZO.
Sadly, she didn’t like it so i opened the stitches and rolled it back
Tutorial taken from here.
This was a very simple and good project to make for a beginner.
The results are visible very fast.
Hook used 3 mm, cotton yarn and time taken was 2-3 hours in 2 days. Made on 11/5/2020
Lesson learnt: Always keep counting the stitches else the headband will be narrow at some places and wide at some 😛
Easy Homemade Mango Ice-cream | Custard ice cream
My family loves ice cream so much that they can have it for every meal. We generally have our freezer stocked with different ice-creams in summers. This lockdown period was different but we had the raw materials, especially the juicy and beautiful ripe hapus mangoes (Alphonso) and i experimented with this recipe. It came out really good.
I have taken the recipes from here and here and this YouTube video, so in a way, this is a review of these recipes as well.
If you are on a sugar free or low sugar diet then sadly this is not for you. I tried with less sugar first but it tasted bad so i had to reluctantly add more and more sugar. No wonder ice-creams are so high in calories, but at least this recipe is homemade and contains real, healthy and safe ingredients.
I can’t comment about the shelf life ( i mean freezer life😜) because it didn’t get a chance to stay for more than a few days😁😁😁
So we will need, INGREDIENTS:
Mangos : 3 (i took Devanagari Hapus each weighing almost 250gms)
Milk Cream : 200ml ( i took amul cream)
Sugar: 1 cup (too much, i know)
Whole Milk: for making custard, 1.5 cups
Mango Custard powder: 2tbsp (Can be substituted with cornflour or vanilla custard powder)
Tutti frooti: optional
DIRECTIONS:
1) Start by making custard first, combine 1/2 cup milk and custard powder to form a smooth paste.
2) Now boil the remaining milk. Add half a cup of sugar and let the sugar dissolve. Add the custard paste slowly and keep whisking making sure there are no lumps.
3) Keep stirring until the custard is thick enough to set, switch off the gas and let it cool. Better to cool it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
4) Next peel and chop the mangoes and blend, strain it well so that the fibers are retained in the strainer. Now blend again with some sugar according to your taste. I used half a cup of sugar here.
5) In a bowl, take the cold cream and whisk it till soft peaks are formed, Now whisk the custard and add it to the cream Mix in the pureed mango mixture well. Mix it and whisk it. Make it fluffy. Get some air into it.
6) Set it in a bowl or container with a lid and if possible put a cling wrap touching the top of the ice cream, this will avoid the icy or sorbet like feel and will result in a creamier texture.
7) After 2 hours until half set, take it out, remove the cling wrap, and whisk it again, add tutti-frutti and put on the cling wrap and lid back. Let it set. Enjoy after 8 hours.
Tips: #Make sure the custard is cold before whisking. This will avoid the icy or sorbet like texture.
#Same goes for cream as well. Use it cold.
#More the fat percentage of the cream, better will be the result. Malai will work too.
#Opt for whole milk for custard and boil for at least 10-15 minutes.
#Crushed dry fruits like almonds, pistachios or raisins can also be added.
#Add some strands of saffron while boiling milk for added color, flavor and health benefits.
#Always store the ice-cream with a lid or cling wrap On to avoid it from getting hard.
Tomato Puree |How to make Tomato puree
I bought 2 kgs of beautiful red tomatoes but could not use it all, what did i do then?? Made a delicious puree and stored in my fridge for quick cooking.
What do we need??
Tomatoes: Used around 9-10 medium sized ones.
Sugar: 2 tbsp
Salt: 2 tsp
Apple cider vinegar: 2 tsp
Directions:
Chop off the eye part because it is bitter.
Make a cross cut on the opposite side and put some water and tomatoes in a pressure cooker.
Cook for one whistle and let it cool down
Remove the skin and blend in a mixie.
Sieve it and again blend with some water used in the pressure cooker.
Sieve it again.
Now take this pureed tomatoes in a big pan and put on low flame. A big pan is important as puree splatters out a lot. Add the sugar and salt and cook for 15-20 minutes. Add apple cider vinegar and cook for 15 minutes more. Cook till the puree gets thick so that it coats the back of the spoon. Switch off the flame. Fill it up in a sterilized glass bottle when lukewarm.
Keeps for a month in fridge.
Can be used for making curries, pasta sauce, pizza sauce pizza etc.
Enjoy.
Make jaaman from scratch |Setting curd/Dahi without “jaaman”(starter culture) |What to do when you don’t have curd and want to set some.
Many times i want to set curd but don’t have the available jaaman or starter culture. If i use packaged curd for starter, the resulting curd is slimy. After I googled what might be the reason, i got to know that the sliminess may be due to the packaged curd, so now in the current lockdown situation when you do not have access to dairy shop curd, this method will help in the desired setting of delicious curd.
Boil a cup of milk, simmer for a minute or two and cool down till it becomes just warm. Test by inserting a clean finger for 10 seconds, it should be warm, not hot not room temp. Pour it into a bowl preferably glass. Put 2 green or red chilies with stem. Cover with a cloth or lid and leave for 10 hours. Do not touch it for at least 10 hours. You will see the milk has set.
This is the jaaman we will use for setting curd. This tastes bad so don’t even think of using it in anything other than to set curd.
For setting curd, follow the same above method, Boil the milk, simmer for a minute or two and cool down till it becomes just warm. Test by inserting a clean finger for 10 seconds, it should be warm, not hot not room temp. Add a tablespoon of the above set jaman in a glass bowl. Pour the lukewarm milk and mix. Cover with a cloth and leave undisturbed for 8-10 hours according to weather (8 hours if it is too hot and upto 10 if weather is pleasant)
You will find some bubble like spaces towards the sides and bottom of the glass bowl indicating the cure is set. Enjoy.
Ingredients:-
For jaaman: Milk 1 cup
Green or red chilies with stem: 2
Direction: Take warm milk in a bowl, add chilies and leave undisturbed for 10 hours.
For curd: Milk: 2-3 cups or as desired
Jaaman: 2-3 tbsp
Directions: Add the jaaman to a bowl, pour lukewarm milk, mix and leave it undisturbed and covered for at least 8 hours.
Lockdown Special – one pot pasta pulao
We are all under lockdown nowadays and What do you do when you should not go out and you are low on resources. Can’t make an elaborate meal right!! I had some tricolour fussilli lying around and some limited veggies, so i made a one pot fussilli pulao🤓🤓
Interested?? Here it goes:
Ingredients:
Fussilli/penne/any pasta: 1 cup
Veggies: corn, capsicums, bottlegourd, any available vegetable.
Onion: 1 big chopped
Garlic ginger paste: 1 tsp
Water: 1-2 cups depending on the type of pasta
Oil: 1 tbsp
Jeera: 1 tsp
Spices: Salt, red chili powder, dhaniya powder according to taste
Directions:
1. Chop up the available veggies, here i took bottle gourd, corn, tomatoes, green chilies, onion(not in pic).
2. In a pressure cooker, heat some oil, put jeera seeds, let it splutter, put the chopped green chilies, onion and saute well. Put ginger garlic paste and cook till the raw smell goes away.
3. Put the chopped veggies, the spices: Salt, chili powder, dhaniya powder and mix well. Put the unboiled pasta and give it a stir. Add the required water so that the pasta is immersed in it.
4. Pressure cook for atleast 10 minutes. Let the steam settle down and give the pasta a stir.
5. Serve and enjoy, Indian pulao tasting masala pasta 😛
