Coffee ice cream.

My daughter had got this Nestle coffee mate ,Hazel Nut flavour.She had stopped having it just as suddenly as she started liking or rather gulping it with coffee. I get very cross with such wasteful attitudes. I started using the Coffeemate powder in cakes.And yet, I could hardly use one to two tablespoons per cake. The hazelnut flavored coffee mate powder continued to occupy space in my kitchen.I started googling for coffee mate recipes & came across many at the Nestle Coffee mate site .I tried searching for an ice cream recipe as that would help in using up almost all of the remaining coffee mate powder.I thought, coffee mate could be used as it was like milk powder .Moreover, it was sweet as it had added sugar.I had come across custard powder ice cream recipe.

Hence, I wanted to try ice cream with this coffee mate powder. I had one packet of 200 ml Amul Fresh Cream packet. And I had almost a tiny bit of malai removed that day itself from fresh milk.I decided to use all this to make ice cream.

Ingredients : 2.1/4 cups Nestle Hazel Nut coffee powder containing sugar, 200ml Amul Fresh Cream, 2 tbsp instant Coffee powder ( I used Nestle instant coffee powder ), 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1tsp cream ( mali removed from milk -optional ).

Method : Mix all the ingredients. If needed, add water drop by drop.There will a batter type consistency.Mine was quite wet. Blend all in a mixer .Pour it into a freezer safe air tight container. Freeze for an hour or more.

Take it out after more than an hour & blend it again in the mixer grinder. Again piur it into the same container from which it was removed & refreeze for more than an hour.

Repeat this freezing , de freezing & blending 3-4 times. This will make the ice cream get a creamy consistency.

Then  after it has frozen for the last time, remove it & scoop it out into bowls & serve.Eat it immediately as it melts quite fast .

Scopped ice cream can be garnished with nuts of choice. We had our scoops just like that.The quantity made was enough for five to six persons ( 2 small  scoops per person ) .

Notes : I found ,that I had added too much of coffee powder. Maybe, one tbsp of coffee powder would have sufficed. Initially,I had skipped adding brown sugar.After I tasted the ice cream ,I realised that sugar was needed. If just one tbsp of coffee had been used, there would be no need to add sugar. Coffee mate has added sugar & that is sufficient unless one likes ice cream to be more sweet & yet ,that would dilute the coffee flavour.

I used coffee powder to make coffee ice cream as the recipe used Nestle coffee mate powder .I felt that the coffee mate would blend nicely with coffee.

The ice cream was creamy in consistency.Yet, I feel, ice creams are best eaten outside, as home freezing can never compete with commercial refrigeration.

Microwave doodhi halwa

Lauki is saatvik veggie.My doctor always used to suggest that patients suffering from fever eat lauki ki sabzi.It is cooling as well.

I have made doodhi halwa on gas stove earlier.This time around,I wanted to make it in microwave. I googled for it & got this Tarla Dalal recipe.My recipe is little different.

Ingredients : 2 cups peeled & grated dudhi, 1+ 1/2  cups malai , 1/3  cup sugar, few kesar strands, 1/2 tsp elaichi powder,2 tbsp ghee,assorted nuts for garnishing.

Method : I used grated dudhi as it is  that is I let the lauki be as it is.I did not squeeze out water as I felt all nutrients of lauki would be lost.

I took a shallow microwaveable vessel & added ghee.Add the grated lauki & mix.Microwave on high for 5 minutes.Add malai mixed with kesar strands Again microwave for 2.5 minutes.Mix nicely.Add sugar.Mix.Microwave for 2.5 minutes.Again mix & microwave on high for 2.5 minutes.Add elaichi powder.Mix & microwave on high for two minutes.

Put off microwave.Let it cool in microwave for 10 minutes.Take out the vessel & let it cool outside for 20-25 minutes.Serve in bowls garnished with almonds or any nuts of choice.

My dad & all my extended family who ate the halwa relished it.I ate it later & agreed with them that it had indeed turned out delicious !

Tips : The halwa was sweet & yet, just so.If you would like it to be more sweet, please add more sugar as per taste.

Vegan Marble cake

I had three small over ripe bananas ( the usual ones not elaichi ) &  an  apple .Of course,I have date paste ( an import from Saudi Arabia  ) in the refrigerator.I thought of making a cake & then hit upon this chocolate free marble cake.My marble cake does not have patterns.It has drak & light bands.Next time around,I need to make it artistic !

Ingredients : 

For the light bands in the marble cake : 1/2 cup  + 1 tbsp maida, 1 tbsp Nestle Coffee mate hazelnut creamer (this is optional.I had it...so used it ) ,1 more tbsp of maida can be used in its place ), 1 cup of banana puree ( I pureed 3 small bananas ) , 1 tsp baking powder.

For the dark band in the marble cake : 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp atta ( whole wheat flour ) , 1/4 cup date paste, 1/2 cup apple sauce, 1 tsp instant coffee powder, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1tsp baking soda.

Method : Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade.

Dark batter : Blend date paste , apple sauce, brown sugar   & 1/4 cup water into a mixer .This is because the date paste is very thick & very dry.More water can be added drop by drop if needed .Generally, 1/4 -1/3 cup water should be enough.Keep aside.

Mix all dry ingredients that is atta, coffee powder & baking soda nicely. Make a well into the dry mix & pour the wet mix into this.Blend to make a batter .This batter will be thick as well.


Light batter : Mix all dry ingredients that is maida, baking powder & Nestle hazelnut creamer nicely with a whisk or fork many times over.Make a well into this dry mix.Pour banana puree into this.Mix nicely to make a batter. Batter will be thick.

Line a baking vessel with butter paper. Put the dark batter.Spread it at the bottom as it is thick.Next, spread the light batter on top of the dark batter.Line layer by layer till both batters get over. Bake in oven at 180 degrees centigrade for 45 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out dry.

My toothpik came out wet.So ,I baked in microwave mode for 5 minutes.Put off oven. Let the cake cool in oven for 10-15 minutes.Then take it out of the oven.Let it cool for half an hour .Then put it upside down on a plate.Remove the butter paper sticking at bottom.Cut into desired pieces & serve.

Notes : Added baking soda to dark batter as baking soda darkens colours. Added coffee as date paste was light brown .So there was fear that the resulting marble cake may have  light brown bands. Apple sauce is quite bland.Hence added 2 tbsp brown sugar.If adding white sugar, one tbsp should be enough unless more sweetness is desired.

Nestle hazelnut creamer has added sugar & is creamy in colour. Hence, no sugar was added to light batter.Moreover, the bananas were quite sweet.

Since I had to finish remaining atta as also maida, all the measurements are like 1/2 cup plus tbsps.And last but not the least one tbsp of oil in each batter ( a total of two tbsps ) would have made the cake even better & fluffier ! My dad liked the cake .My maternal UNcle was able to taste date as also bananas .Coffee & applesauce got eclipsed.

Wikipedia states that Nestle manufactures non dairy creamer called coffee mate in many flavours.

Puttani chutni pudi

Some years back, we were visiting Dharwar.We were invited by my dad's friend for cup of tea. We were served upma with chutni pudi.It was a different chtuni pudi.I asked & was told that this was daaliya chutni pudi.I  have been wanting to make that chutni pudi since long.So , googled & got the recipe here .There are other versions too.

Ingredients : 1 cup roasted chana dal or daalia or buna chana dal, 1/4 cup roasted peanuts ( either roast the peanuts till they turn slightly brown & deskin the browned peels ) or buy roasted peanuts which have been stripped of their brown skins,1/4 tsp hing, 1/4 tsp haldi, 2-3 sprigs of curry leaves, 8-10 byadgi mirchi or red chilli powder, salt to taste.

Method : Dry roast all ingredients except salt, haldi & hing separately one by one. Keep aside. After the dry roasted items have reached room temperature , add them all to the grinder.Grind once to get a coarsely ground powder. Add haldi , hing & salt to taste.Grind once again.The powder obtained will be coarse & yet not fine. Powder is ready. This can be mixed with thick dahi to make instant chutni for idlis & dosas.It is also eaten by adding dollops of ghee or til oil for doasa, idlis & even rice.

A small amount of dry tamarind, some garlic ( 5-6 pods or less or more as per taste) , jaggery can all be added after some slight roasting .Roast all ingredients & add them to the other ingredients.Grind them all together & the powder is ready .

Roasted poha chivda in microwave.

I have been trying to use my microwave for cooking. Towards this end, I had made this roasted poha chivda in the microwave. This roasted poha chivda is a boon for my community as we are Vaishnavas .We can eat this poha chivda for breakfast, lunch , snack & dinner. It is allowed in our sect. Sudama had given poha to Krishna as gift. And so we relish this gift of poha.

Whenever, there is a function  such as a puja or even during fast, we can consume this poha without any reservations. It is allowed to eat this poha during fasting & before any religious function &  socio religious functions.

Even plain poha ( both thick & thin varieties) & dahi can be mixed. Add a little vagar of kadipattas, byadgi mirchi, hari mirch, urad dal & hing.And  maybe, some grated fresh veggies like cucumbers, carrots, a few anardana, grated raw mango & it makes a cool nashta ! Remember to add salt to taste  as well.It is sumptuous.


I have followed Tarla Dalal's recipe while making this. There are other versions as well.


Ingredients : 1/4 kg thin poha, 2-3 tbsp oil, 2 tbsp peanuts, 2 tbsp daalia, 1/4 tsp hing, 1/4 tsp haldi, 1 tsp mustard seeds, , 1 tsp til ( optional ) , 1-2 green chillies finely chopped,1/2 -1 tsp sugar, salt to taste.

Method : Roast til on slow flame of gas in a kadhai or tawa .Very soon ,they will crackle. Put off gas. Keep aside.

In a shallow microwave able vessel , take the poha & microwave on high for 1 minutes.Take out the bowl with poha aside.

In a shallow microwave able vessel , take 2-3 tbsp oil & put mustard seeds .Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Put off microwave. To the mustard seeds ,add peanuts, daalia, chopped green chillies, dry byadgi mirchis ( optional - roughly broken into bits ) ,kadipattas, haldi & hing. Microwave on high for 1.minute.After a gap of 3/4 minutes, mix all ingredients inside bowl & microwave again for another minute.

Mix the poha & the oil mix together nicely. Add roasted til.Add salt & sugar to poha mix.Mix nicely. Microwave on high for 1 more minute. Poha chivda is ready !

Notes : 
I roasted til on gas as I was not sure about how much time is need to dry roast the til in microwave. A

Byadgi lal mirchi broken into 2-3 pieces can added to vagar if needed. Byadgi mirchi is hardly pungent & yet adds on to the taste.

I did not have sookha khopra ( dry coconut ) .So, did not add it. Flakes of dry khopra are a common item in roasted chivda.Likewise, even kismis & cashews can be added to make this chivda rich !

Please add salt very carefully as poha has an inherent salt content.

The day,I made this poha,I mixed it with chopped capsicum & grated carrots & had my evening snack.Even finely chopped onions, grated cucumber, raw mango ( kairi ) or few drops of lemon juice  can be added. Garnish with fresh dessicated coconut & hara dhania & it makes for chatpata snack.

Eggless banana oats bread.

I have been following this food blog called Lite Bite for quite some time. The food blogger at Lite Bite is Sanjeeta & she is superb at food photography as well.I have made her recipes earlier. And they have turned out quite well.

Since I had some oats left over, I thought of using them in a baking recipe.I had over ripe bananas as well.And this eggless banana & oats quick bread at Lite Bite seemed to fit my need of the day. I made some changes & got a slightly burnt cake.And to my surprise, my daughter ate it as well !

Ingredients : 1 cup whole wheat flour ( I used Aashirwad ...even chakki ka atta would do ) , 1/3 cup oats ( Quaker brand ...I should have soaked it & I didn't ) , 1 cup bananas mashed & pureed in mixer ( I got 1 cup puree from 3 over ripe bananas ) , 1/4 cup  jaggery sugar, 2 tbsp   yoghurt or dahi , 7-8 chopped walnuts , 1/4-1/2 tsp elaichi powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, a pinch of salt, water as needed.


Method : Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celsius.

Mix all dry ingredients like atta, oats, baking powder, baking soda ,salt & elaichi powder. Mix all nicely with fork or whisk many times over. This is because ,I do not ever use a sieve to mix dry ingredients. Keep aside.

I have noticed that once sugar added to wet ingredients, there is more moisture for the batter.So preferable to mix sugar with wet ingredients.

Mix banana puree, dahi & jaggery sugar nicely. Make a well in the dry ingredient mix & pour the wet ingredient mix into it. Mix dry & wet ingredients to get a batter.Make a smooth batter so that no lumps remain in it.If , batter is too dry, add water drop by drop till a smooth batter is obtained.In no case, will more than 1/4 to 1/3 cup water will be required.Add chopped walnuts to the batter & mix once again .

Line a baking vessel with butter paper.Pour the batter into the vessel.Bake the batter at 190 degrees celsius for 3-35 minutes or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

My cake got a little burnt on top by appearance as my daughter confirmed that there was no burnt taste. The walnuts had turned black & yet the taste was perfect. Yes, the sugar was just perfect for the cake as a majority of the sweetness for the cake is due to the overripe bananas.

Instead of water 1-2 tbsp oil would be agood idea as that would make for an even better cake !

Well, isn't this cake very healthy ? Over ripe bananas can be used.Instead of maida, use atta as that is healthy.Add walnuts for the nutty flavour & dahi  & banana puree replace eggs ! What more ,could one possibly ask for ? !

Basale Soppu sambar

This vegetable ,basale soppu is Malabar spinach. It is supposed to be a cooling vegetable .Hence, must be eaten during summers.Mangaloreans eat this leafy vegetable a lot. My neighbour, a Mangalorean had introduced this vegetable to us. She would make a delicious sambar with fresh coconut, spices & tur dal with this Ceylon spinach. Wikipedia has a whole lot of information about this leafy green vegetable .It is called maayalu in Marathi by locals in the veggie market.

Maayalu is available as a bundle of greens for RS 20 /- ( brought it last week in market ) for Rs 20 ?-.The bundle can be split into two parts & used. Because that one bundle will be too big to be used all at once in case, family has just 4 people.It is somewhat  sticky when cut, so be careful.To neutralise its stickiness, it is  cooked with tamarind .

Ingredients : 1/2 bundle of maayalu, cleaned & chopped ( even stems are fleshy & chopped & used in sambar ) , 1 tbsp tamarind, 1/3 cup tur dal soaked for 1/2 an hour after washing,  1-2 onions roughly chopped,1-2 green chillies, roughly chopped, 1/2 tsp haldi, 1/2 tsp powdered hing, 1tbsp  oil ,1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1 red byadgi mirchi ( optional ) ,1 tsp sambar powder, 1 tsp jaggery ( optional ) ,salt  to taste.

Method : Pressure cook tur dal  in one container. In another container,in the same cooker, arrange chopped basale soppu along with tamarind & chopped onions , green chillies.Pressure cook the way , in which you cook tur dal.1-2 whistles & then on slow flame for 10 minutes or so. or any other pressure cooking manner that you follow. Put off gas. Let the cooker cool.

In a kadhai take 1 tbsp oil for making vagar.Heat it up. Add mustard seeds .After they splutter add, byadgi mirchi which has been split into 2-3 pieces.Put off gas. Keep aside.

After cooker has cooled, in one vessel transfer cooked tur dal & the veggie mix. Add sambar powder, salt & jaggery. Keep the vessel on gas & bring the mixture to a boil.If , sambar consistency is too thick ,some water can be added. After it has come to boil,add the vagar.

Serve basale soppu sambar as accompaniment to rotis and or rice ! It is so delicious that you will make it again & again.