Matcha / Green tea Ice cream (No cream No eggs)

My notion about Ice creams was that its best to get from store. I have tried my luck at making homemade ice creams with the perfect creamy texture..didn’t have much luck there. Few years back I even  lugged an ice cream maker from US, to tell the truth that is happily  sitting in the top cupboards, hardly ever used it. Luckily I recently moved my Kitchen Aid up as well. Now ice cream maker have a companyJ. Both of them are blissfully hibernating. I see some eye rolling .. heard that right, I rarely use my kitchen aid. Mainly because I usually bake for just 2 of us and for that I always rely on my 10 dollar hand held mixer which come handy . I have been using it for 3+ years and still going strong. Love it!

Rose Pudding with Soy milk-A simple vegan dessert

Tuesdays..Pilates class .. rigorous hour long exercise(or should I call tortureJ?)..and I am almost dying..

So nothing to write..no stories to share..my brain has shutdown and soon my hands will stop working too.Lemme quickly share the recipe before my body shutdown completely

Wait wait I told you here that I am keeping the best for later..remember?

So ladies and gentle man..let me present to you my pilates teacher, May. And yeah thatz her in the picture.

Take your time , go to her site..open your mouth wide open..let your eye pop out..Its all absolutely normal and expected and I have seen that many many times.

And yes she is an excellent trainer..the best I have had so farJ

No pressure..take your time,relax, take some deep breaths and come back to the recipe at your own pace!

13 Bean Soup

Every time I talk to my mom  she keeps reminding me that I was such a super picky eater when I was a kid, there was no way she could make me eat vegetable unless it is all mashed or juiced

I am soo tempted to say that the grown up me is not at all like that but sadly I am still  a picky eater. But of course the pickiness has changed to a different direction. I love my veggies and fruits but started to develop a dislike for hot spicy food somewhere in my late teens and that still continues. I can see some eye rolling, yes coming from India, land of curry and spices I cannot take spicy food. Correction, I can still take..but I will have to spend a pretty long time in toilet the following day.So thinking about a 30 min toilet break, I try to maintain a  safe distance from Super hot food.

Fruit and Seed Balls

After the hit of the Fig and Date balls I am on a steady hunt for no bake, no cook easy yet healthy snack.

Why waste time on whipping, mixing and baking when I can make a super easy dessert in less than 30 min which is healthy ,hearty and guilt free too!

I have been trying different combinations of dried fruit, nuts, seeds and flavorings and there is always a box of this super power balls in my refrigerator.

So here is the latest recipe I have tried with one of my fav ingredient, desiccated coconut.

Apricot Banana Soy Shake

Its Friday and the life has suddenly become all brightJ

I took a day off work, just to get some amble  rest [read it as sleep , sleep and more sleep]

As it is an off day and a day for myself, I made this simple and effortless breakfast for today.

This is a great energy booster for breakfast or a pre workout drink, with all benefits of Soy and fruits

The banana and apricots provide plenty of complex carbo hydrates, the soy milk provides a combo of calcium and protein.

I bet Apricot Banana Soy Shake  is definitely the kind of smoothie your family would love to have !

 Apricot Banana Soy Shake

Ingredients 

1 Cup Soy Milk

6-8 Dried Apricots

1 Ripe Banana

1 tspn Brown or Raw Sugar

Directions

Pour about ¼ Cup boiling water to apricots to soften it. Let it cool down for 15 minutes

In a blender combine the Soy milk, apricots, Banana and Sugar and process until it is smooth.

Top it with some ice cubes and enjoy the breakfast smoothie

Tofu Veggie Scramble

This is the best  vegan alternative to egg scramble..

The best thing about tofu is that it is mostly like a sponge, it absorbs the flavors soo well.

You can throw in the spices and veggies of your choice and prepare this easy recipe in few minutes

Here I added some Chili powder and Garam Masala to give the scramble a hint of spiciness

I served the Spicy Tofu scramble with some warm Naan and we loved the combo!

 

Tofu Veggie Scramble

Ingredients

100 gms Firm tofu

1 Carrot grated

1 Onion finely chopped

2 tomatoes-pureed

¼ Cup Green peas

Few mint leaves

1/2  tspn Turmeric power

½ tspn Chili powder

½  tspn Garam Masala

½ tspn Ginger Garlic paste

½ tspn Cumin seeds

1 tspn Oil

Salt to taste

Directions

Pat dry the tofu using some kitchen towel and crumble it using a fork

Heat the oil in a wok. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds.

Add the ginger garlic paste and sauté for few seconds

Now add the onions and sauté until the onions turn translucent.

Add the purred tomatoes and the spice powder-salt,turmeric power, chilly power and Garam masala.

Add the grated carrots , peas and Tofu.

Add two tablespoons of water and cover and cook for about 10 minutes.

Add the mint leaves and mix well.

Nonya Acar/Spicy Vegetable Pickle

Are you guys having a good weekend?

We are having a long weekend yeyyyy! I had a great start, pampered myself at a local spa and later had a blast at Russell Peter show here!Man, I have seen his youtube videos but the live show is no match! I actually got a tummy ache after laughing non-stop for 2 hrs!

 It’s been some time since I have posted something here! Let me put the blame on my day job and not on my lazinessJ

So let me share a lovely Nonya recipe which I made few weeks back.Nonya cuisine or Pernakan cuisine is a unique blend of Malay and Chinese flavors.Although I live in Singapore, which has a wide array of Nonya Cuisine options, being a vegetarian makes my choices limited!But I can make up on the Nonya desert sectionJ

This is a very unique combination of Spicy, sweet ,sour and crunchy Pickle.You can go ahead and add vegetables of your choice like cabbage,long beans etc. Here I am sticking to basic one

Nonya Acar/Spicy Vegetable Pickle

 Ingredients

1 Cucumber

1 Carrot

1 Small  Pineapple cut into 1/2 inch cubes                                                           

2 tbspn Sesame seeds

1/4 Cup roasted peanuts,pounded

1 tspn Tamarind soaked in 3 tbspn water

1 tspn Brown Sugar

Salt to taste

2 tbspn Sesame Oil

To ground to paste

2 Red Chilies

1 Dried Red Chili

4 shallots

1 Clove Garlic

Ginger a small Piece

Directions

Slice cucumber and carrot to 3 mm long slices.

Rub some salt to the cucumbers and set aside for 30 min and pat dry with kitchen towel to drain the excess water.

Heat 2 tbspn sesame oil in a wok and add the ground paste and sauté until the raw small is gone

Now squeeze the tamarind and add the juice to the wok along with salt and sugar.

Let it come to a boil. Switch off the flame and add the vegetables and mix well

Add the sesame seeds and peanuts and let it cool.

The pickle is best eaten the following day.

Fig and Date Balls

Eureka! I have found the perfect guilt free snack! And what more ,its eggless, no bake and not even any cooking involved.

And with the added goodness of dates, figs , almonds and Oats!

Me being a sneak, I didn’t tell about the hidden Oats and nuts and gave the Sweet balls to DH who absolutely hates anything with a healthy tag on it!

He thought its some laddu and gorged on it and finished it in no time!

Later in the evening, he was searching the refrigerator for the sweet ballsJ

And he was like, it was soo good and you made such a small batch! And that’s when I reveled the secret ingredientsJ

I told him that in fact it had all his “enemy” stuff in it!

Still he was telling me that Oats and nuts are well hidden and next time I should make a larger batch!

So waste no time in whipping, mixing and baking instead try this Super power Fig and Date balls .

I bet these will satisfy your sweet tooth!

Fig and Date Balls

Ingredients

4 Dried Figs

8-10 Dates

10 almonds

3 tbspn Instant Oats

Directions

In a food processor or Mixer ,powder the oats first and keep aside.No need to make it a fine powder. Just a single pulse will do.

Next pulse the almonds for few seconds.

Now add the chopped dates and figs and pulse for few seconds.

Take the mix out to a plate, the mix will be quite sticky now.

Add the oats and mix well . The oats will absorb any left moisture and the mix will be no longer sticky.

Next , roll one tbpsn each to balls and enjoy the healthy snack

This is my entry to the favourite healthy snack recipe event hosted by Nags and Megha 

Corn and Tomato Rice

                                

I just love the idea of one pot meals!

Isn’t it such a cool idea!  Chop,mix and cook .There you have a healthy and comforting meal!

Today’s recipe is one such  easy breezy recipe. A perfect lazy weekend mealJ

Corn and Tomato Rice  

Ingredients           

1 Cup Cooked Rice

2 Tomatoes Pureed

1/3 Cup Corn Kernels

1 Onion chopped finely

1 Green Chilly chopped finely

½ inch piece of Ginger/2 Cloves Garlic Chopped finely

Curry leaves 10 nos                                                                                                           

1 tspn Oil

Flavorings:

1 tsp Chili powder

1 ½ tspn Coriander powder

½ tspn Turmeric

Salt to taste

Directions

Heat Oil in a wok and add the Garlic , ginger and chilies and sauté until fragrant.

Add the onions, curry leaves  and the flavorings and continue to sauté until the onions turn transparent.

Add the pureed tomatoes, corn and 2 tbspn water, salt cover and cook for 8-10 minutes.

Continue to cook until the gravy has thickened.

Once the gravy has thickened ,add the  cooked rice and mix well.

Cover and cook for 5 minutes to let the flavors infuse well.

Red Bean Bao/Chinese Steamed Bun [With step by step photos]

Finally I made the Red bean bao..This has been in my todo list for a long long time!

I am a big fan of the light and sweet steamed buns, every time I have it for breakfast I always wonder why I haven’t ever tried making this!

As always I chose the easy method and got the readymade red bean paste .

You can opt for a different sweet filling like sesame paste ,kaya ,custard or savory filling like mushrooms.

Once you have made-up your mind for the filling, the process is pretty simple proof, knead and steam!

Red Bean Bao/Chinese Steamed Bun

Ingredients

For the buns: Makes about 4 buns

½ Cup Hongkong flour/Bao Flour [You can substitute with  All purpose Flour]

½ tspn Instant yeast

¼ Cup warm milk or coconut milk

2 tbspn Sugar

1 tspn Oil

Pinch of baking powder

For the filling

¼ Cup red bean paste

Directions

In a small bowl, mix the yeast ,1 tspn Sugar, 1 tspn flour and 1-2 tbspn warm water and mix well until you clear all lumps

Cover and let it proof for 15 minutes.

Once it is proofed well, the mix will be foamy like this

Now sift together the flour and baking powder

Add the sugar ,yeast mix, and oil to the flour and mix well.

Add milk a tbspn at a time and form a soft dough [you don’t have to use the whole milk. I got the soft dough with 3tbspn milk ]

Knead well , add little flour if the dough is too sticky.

Continue to knead for another 8-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic

Cover with a damp cloth and let it proof for 1 hour.

Once the dough is proofed well and doubled in volume, lightly knead it and form a log

Cut the log into 4 equal portions

Lightly roll each portion to a ball, flatten it and add 1tbspn red bean paste.

Bring together the edges, seal the side and roll it to a ball and place it on a small piece of parchment paper.

Repeat the same for rest of the dough

Proof for another 5 minutes and steam for 15 minutes

The buns will fluff up and double in size so leave enough space between the baos before steaming

Cover the lid of the steamer with a cloth so that the water don’t drip on the baos during steaming