“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
Michael Pollan
Tropical Fresh Turmeric Chia Energiser… when a ray of sunshine hits you in the morning, you know you are energised. How much better can a morning be to wake up to? These glasses have all the colour, loads of flavour and summer literally within. You do know how good fresh turmeric is for you, right? Combine it with milk, chia seeds and a 100% pure maple syrup from Canada and the goodness comes together!So when you combine powerful ingredients that compliment each other, all the benefits come under one roof, or in one glass as the case might be.Here we have a superfood like turmeric well known for it’s antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties. It is also good for the control of diabetes and arthritis among other things. The turmeric latte has caught the world by storm over the past year. Just a peep at the vibrant sunshine colour will convince you of it’s goodness.To this, add liquid gold of a 100% pure maple syrup from Canada and you’ve got magic. Just a few tablespoons of maple syrup are enough to add a soothing natural sweetness. Maple syrup is a healthier alternative to regular sweeteners and sugar. It shares similar properties with turmeric. Is known to be an antioxidant, has anti inflammatory properties, and is a rich source of nutrients.Do try making things as simple and good as this. They are fun to create. Use seasonal fruit, use fresh herbs from the garden, maybe edible flowers too. See how pretty a whole bouquet looks! And of course if you are short on time, you can always just do a very very simple and basic Fresh Turmeric Iced Latte for summer. Combine milk with fresh or dry turmeric powder {haldi} if you please, add a glug of earthy robust 100% pure maple syrup, chill and get energised for summer!
Tropical Fresh Turmeric Chia Energiser... when a ray of sunshine hits you in the morning, you know you are energised. Wake up to a good morning. These glasses have all the colour, loads of flavour and summer literally within. You do know how good fresh turmeric is for you, right? Combine it with milk, chia seeds and a 100% pure maple syrup from Canada and all the goodness comes together!
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 5 minutesminutes
Total Time 10 minutesminutes
Servings 2people
Ingredients
Tropical Fresh Turmeric Chia Energiser
200mlmilk
1inch piecefresh turmeric, grated fine
2-3tbsp100% pure maple syrup
3tbspchia seeds
To top
Cape gooseberries/physallis
Pomegranate
Fresh mint
Organic fresh rose petals
Instructions
Bring the milk to a boil, take off heat and add the fresh grated turmeric to it. Let it steep for 30 minutes, then strain and sweeten with 100% pure maple syrup.
Stir in the chia seeds, allow to cool, stirring a few times to distribute the chia seeds.
Add halved cape gooseberries to serving glasses and pour over the fresh turmeric chia milk once it cools.
Allow to stand in glasses in the fridge overnight.
Top with more cape gooseberries, pomegranate pearls, fresh mint and organic rose petals.
Serve chilled
Note: This can be served as only Fresh Turmeric Chia Latte too. Increase the milk for this version, and or decrease the amount of chia seeds. Alternatively, skip the chia seeds, and pour the steeped strained fresh turmeric milk with maple syrup over ice cubes. This will offer a very refreshing delicious iced latte!
“If it’s not 100 per cent pure maple syrup, it can’t be called ‘pure maple syrup.”
Nancy Greene
Dark Chocolate Wholegrain Cupcakes with Maple Syrup Cream Cheese Frosting. It’s been forever since I baked cupcakes or muffins. I bake cakes and cookies more often I guess, possibly, lazy me. Yet when Spring comes and summer is round the corner, the first thing I reach out for are these gorgeous cupcake liners a sweet friend sent me. This time I also had on hand a 100% pure maple syrup from Canada.Both the liners and the syrup inspired me to ‘cupcake’ so here we go. These cupcakes are a 100% wholegrain which is what I mostly bake with now. I also almost always use natural sweeteners and this time I decided to use a pure maple syrup from Canada in the cupcakes. The flavours are subtle but the health benefits quite significant.Maple Syrup an excellent source of manganese and riboflavin {B2}, and a good source of magnesium and a source of calcium, potassium, sodium, copper and zinc. It offers a healthier alternative to regular sweeteners and sugar. You can easily replace white or brown sugar with an equivalent volume of maple syrup. Just reduce the quantity of liquid in the recipe accordingly {for each cup of maple syrup substituted, reduce liquid by a ¼ cup}. An alternative like maple syrup is a great addition to adding flavour and nutrition to food.It has an addictive earthy robust flavour. One sip, then another … and soon the little bottle is empty. That delicious!! Also it’s ideal for vegans. I did a version of granola with the 100% pure maple syrup and virgin coconut oil. Mmmmm! Do tell me if you’d like the recipe.
While using maple syrup is extremely easy in your morning pre-workout or post workout smoothie, I thought I’d try it in baking as well. I used it very easily in this granola I made but before that tried it in cupcakes. The cupcakes are a great on the go healthy snack, a tiffin box filler, and a great addition to the kids birthday party. That they are a 100% wholegrain and use natural sweeteners cannot be emphasized enough.I am currently working around a #makehalfyourgrainswhole theme. You can too. Before you cook,bake or make something, look at the list of ingredients and see how you can make it better. Make each ingredient count for itself. If it says empty calories, try and work out a better alternative.For instance, for the frosting for these cupcakes I reached out for the bottle of maple syrup to see if it would work. Yes it did! Just simple cream cheese with maple syrup offered a creamy delicious earthy cupcake frosting. It’s simple changes like this that will lead you to a healthier lifestyle. Take a step at a time…
Dark Chocolate Wholegrain Cupcakes with Maple Syrup Cream Cheese Frosting
These Dark Chocolate Wholegrain Cupcakes with Maple Syrup Cream Cheese Frosting are moist, chocolaty, and oh-so-satisfying. The frosting uses 100% Pure Maple Syrup from Canada.
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 20 minutesminutes
Total Time 25 minutesminutes
Servings 6muffins
Ingredients
Dry Mix
100gwholewheat flour {aata}
30gcocoa powder
1/2tspbaking powder
1/4tspbaking soda
Pinch salt
50gwalnuts, chopped
50gdark chocolate chips
Wet Mix
75gbutter
Zest of orange
50gbrown sugar
25mlGrade B maple syrup
1egg
1/4tspvanilla bean paste
100mlbuttermilk
Maple cream cheese frosting
150gcream cheese
3tbspGrade B maple syrup
Maple flakes to garnish {optional}
Instructions
Wholewheat dark chocolate muffins
Preheat oven to 180C
Place all ingredients for dry mix in a large bowl and stir well to mix. Reserve.
Place all the wet mix ingredients EXCEPT buttermilk in bowl of stand mixer. Whisk for 2-3 minutes on medium high speed.
Add the dry ingredients alternatively with the buttermilk in 3 lots. Stir until mixed. Don't overmix.
Turn into 6-8 cupcake liners. Bake for 18-20 minutes until done.
Eat as is, warm or at room temperature. Cool completely if you wish to frost them.
Maple cream cheese frosting
Place cream cheese and maple syrup in a large bowl
Whisk with an electric hand beater until smooth. Transfer to piping bag fitted with a star nozzle. Pipe over cupcakes.
“I’m a man of simple tastes. I’m always satisfied with the best.”
Oscar Wilde
When the Tropical Collection from Chumbak comes knocking at your door, how can you not fall in love with it? It’s fresh, it’s tropical, it’s everything you can celebrate spring with, a line you can usher summer in with as well! It’s an inspiring line, and immediately nudged me to do something fun. Take a look….
I played with the collection endlessly. It brings alive the child in you. You can’t take us Indians out of the our beloved tropics {for long at least}and you can’t take tropical out of India, so the collection is a sure win. I love the crisp, colourful feel, the energy it shares, the vibrancy it spills. The collection is inspired by tropical elements like palm leaves, pineapples, flamingos and the like.Here’s what I was inspired to do – Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies & Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl. When we were young, my dad scooped or rather balled out watermelons and musk melons on our birthdays, then served the fruit chilled in fruit bowls. For some reason, just looking at the collection took me right back there, and before I knew it I was carving a fruit bowl. It’s the funnest thing to do for a pool party, kids birthdays, an evening pick me up in summer, or an anytime fresh healthy snack.I used kiwi stars, halved gooseberries and watermelon balls. I thought I’d throw in strawberry hearts too but forgot the in the fridge. Gah! Summer will see stone fruit galore, so the fun will double. You could do a stone fruit and berry inspired bowl. Or maybe set a watermelon granita in the melon bowl, freeze, slice and serve! No dearth of ideas when your life is flooded with inspiration.
Chumbak had a #spotthepineapple fun campaign to launch the collection. How can you be tropical and not have pineapple? So I figured I’d do a pineapple strawberry smoothie too. I freeze both strawberries and pineapple chunks, so this smoothie is the easiest thing ever. Throw in a cup of each, a cup or two of water, some sweetener, a dash of lime juice into the blender. Whirrrrrrrr it up and you’re good to go.That’s what the coming summer is going to ask for. Quick fresh foods that will keep the spirit light and happy. See how beautifully they paired with the Chumbak Tropical in the light of the afternoon setting sun? Such pretty hues that go so beautifully with the bougainvillea too. Same colours, tropical feel, and I am all set! There’s plenty of choice…
With a range of cushion covers that explode in bright colours, I think this is the best time for a summer makeover! Vibrant, vibrant, vibrant is all I think! Pineapples, flamingoes, elephants, flowers, geometric patterns {♥♥♥}, I want to redo my place! Oh and the sweet little owl too stepped out from a smitten golden ex Diwali into a rustic rainbow coloured creature. Can you imagine that the ullu {owl in hindi} went tropical too? I fell in love with this little fellow, toes and all!The other thing I really liked are the cookie jars. Spacious, clean lines, good quality airtight jars, and beautifully patterned, the counter tops will never be the same again. Even though I am not a gold person, I really like the golden cookie jar too. It fits in so well with the rest. And of course there is PLENTY MORE to the collection. I just picked a few.My all time favourite is of course the palm leaf pattern line. That has my name written all over it. It is fresh, understated, almost like each piece has been hand painted. The teacups are a generous size and stand tall. The pitcher is a winner and I would LOVE for it to sit on my counter. It pours well, it’s easy to clean and is an ideal size for milk or juice. Heck, it even doubles up as a stunning flower vase! It’s lovely to begin the day with for breakfast. Quick granola and fruit parfaits, omelette, toast, a glug of milk from the jug, coffeeeeeee … the leaf pattern is my kind of pattern. For salads too. The interesting bit is that the leaf pattern fits in to every time of the day, every meal too. From a crisp beginning in the morning for breakfast, to a soothing, lilting sun-downer feel, with calming, soothing hues.
Even the coordinated leaf platters are darling. I just find the leaf pattern very very refreshing, something anyone would love to own, serve on, put out for guests, hang on their wall as part of a plate collection. I shot with it a lot as you might notice.You can see I shot it the most. With flowers {poppies} for breakfast, with milk for breakfast too, with onion flowers just like that, then with the Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies & Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl . That’s how versatile and handy it is. The great thing is that it pairs with almost every colour and meal. I’m thinking chilled lemonade through summer!
Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies & Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl
Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies, and a Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl are quick, inspired, no cook, tropical fruit based recipes for summer! Inspired by the Tropical Collection from Chumbak.
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Total Time 15 minutesminutes
Servings 3people
Ingredients
Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies
1 1/2cupfrozen strawberries
1 1/2cupfrozen pineapple chunks
2cupschilled water
Raw sugar as required
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl
1small watermelon
1kiwi
1cupcape gooseberries
Fresh mint to garnish
Instructions
Strawberry Pineapple Smoothies
Place all ingredients in jar of blender and process until smooth. taste and adjust seasoning adding more sugar if required.
Garnish with slices of fresh strawberries.
Watermelon Kiwi Gooseberry Fruit Bowl
With a melon baller, scoop out balls of watermelon. gently remove any remaining flesh to take a bowl out of the skin. Carve the edges with a sharp fruit knife if you like.
Peel and slice the kiwi. Stamp out stars with a small cookie cutter.
Halve the cape gooseberries.
Toss them all and put into the watermelon bowl. Chill. Scatter fresh mint over it. Serve chilled.
Note
Run the left over watermelon and kiwi in a blender to make watermelon juice. Add a dash of honey, fresh lime and rock salt. Serve chilled.
Thandai Indian Rice Kheer, my version of serving up Thandai in an Indian rice pudding, or kheer as locally called. Flavoured delicately, this indulgent rice pudding hits all the right notes. Sweetened gently with jaggery, the flavours of almond, cardamom and saffron just shine. The texture of broken simmered rice is what adds body to this delectable kheer or pudding.The underlying inspiration comes from Dolphia who inspired, coerced and pushed me to shoot saffron. That’s one of the reasons this kheer came to be. The other reason of course was that the better half has bitterly complained over the last few days that I haven’t made a kheer in years! As much as I love stirring a good kheer, for some reason it hadn’t happened yet…
Then yet another trip into Old Delhi, some Kashmir saffron bought to please Dolphia and the hub {in no particular order of course} meant that the kheer was simmering away gently quite soon. The recipe of course inspired by the season, all the Thandai kind of stuff I make at this time of the year. Thandai is a spice and nut blend, with ingredients that include almonds, melon seeds, fennel seeds, poppy seeds, green cardamom, saffron, rose petals, sometimes whole pepper too. It is popularly served up as a milk cooler, often with a local bhaang or intoxicant, on Holi. There are a million versions, every household laying claim to their recipe. Mine changes all the time!
Sometimes, a theme helps me find direction, and this time around the prettiness of the colours got to me. Spring is like that, and so is every visit into the heart of Old Delhi!
First I did a Saffron Almond Chia Thandai for Olive Tree Trading and that really set the mood. So much colourful prettiness and so much inspiration. That’s just how this time of the year is. I’ve dried loads of organic rose petals, so you’ll see me using those a lot.And so to cut a loooong story short, I finally made the Thandai Indian Rice Kheer. And it came out finger licking good. It’s a quick one, one I figured out as I went along. It’s the first time I’ve ground almonds with rice {an earlier version had the Thandai nut mix}. For some reason, I loved this simpler version. Here it is, the Thandai Indian Rice Kheer.
Flavoured gently, this indulgent Thandai Indian Rice Kheer hits all the right notes. Sweetened gently with jaggery, the flavours of almond, cardamom and saffron just shine. The texture of broken simmered rice is what adds body to this delectable kheer or pudding.
Saffron strands, almond slivers, pistachio bits, rose petals etc.
Instructions
Dry grind rice and almonds to a coarse breadcrumb like texture in a coffee grinder. You can add the cardamom seeds here if you like.Stir the above into cold milk with the jaggery, cardamom seeds and cream if using.
Put over low heat and cook for about 25-30 minutes, STIRRING OFTEN, until the rice is cooked and the kheer thick.
Taste and adjust sweetness if required. Take off heat and add a generous pinch of saffron. Stir well.
The kheer will continue to thicken as it cools. You might need to add a little milk as the absorption quality of rice differs. Once it gets to room temperature, ladle into earthenware bowls, individual serving bowls etc to set. Garnish with saffron strands, almond slivers, pistachio bits, rose petals etc.
Serve chilled.
Note: Rinse, drain and dry the rice overnight, else dry in microwave for 1 minute.
Wholegrain Buckwheat Orange Chocolate Chippers … the cookies get better and better with each experiment, and these were really really good {if I may say so myself}. I know because they were over before I knew it, and I could see ‘those eyes’ searching for more. And yes of course, I got photobombed yet again.
Impossible to keep this little pup away. Impossible to keep her away. She wants to be part of just about everything, no matter how mundane it might be. Bambi is the cutest little one at 5 months, just slightly less cute than our Coco. Coco is our first love of course.Anyway, back to the food talk. Most of my baking finds roots in the ingredients I have on hand, much like this bread I made not so long ago. It’s a ‘Swirled Everything But the Kitchen Sink Bread’, an interesting concept that encourages you to use anything and everything left over in the fridge. I have yet to share this recipe, but it’s an easy swirled bread, the making of which I shared on Instastories on the PAB Insta handle a short while ago. Most of my recipes are really simple and on the go. Leaves me time to play around with the camera! I took a few different shots of the cookies on different backgrounds, different settings, angles, light etc.
I went on too do a dark moody shot series too. Call me addicted to the camera!!
These cookies also used anything I had on hand. Jaggery, oats, buckwheat flour etc. I shared these Wholegrain Buckwheat Orange Chocolate Chippers there too. Do follow Passionate About Baking on Instagram as I share quick and easy recipes there on and off. Instagram’s a great place to be, so much inspiration and so much creativity.The cookies of course are the simplest two bowl cookies. Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl. The wet go into the bowl of the stand mixer. Whisk both, mix both, and we’re good to go. Actually that’s just the good thing about comfort food like this. Minimum fuss, minimum clean up, maximum satisfaction.Do bake a batch when you have a little time to unwind. These Wholegrain Buckwheat Orange Chocolate Chippers will be baking before you know it. It probably takes more time just to line out the ingredients. That is one thing I always always do. Makes life simple, and you don’t miss an ingredient. I’ve learnt the hard way of course so I might as well share that tip!
Wholegrain Buckwheat Orange Chocolate Chippers come together in a matter of minutes, fuss free and absolutely delicious. That they are 100% wholegrain makes them a winner. Swap the chocolate chips for raisins, maybe add some walnuts, or make them coffee chocolate chip cookies. Either way, these will disappear before you know it! This is pure comfort food.
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 20 minutesminutes
Total Time 25 minutesminutes
Servings 24cookies
Ingredients
Dry Mix
75gwholewheat flour {aata}
75gquick cooking oats
50gbuckwheat flour {kuttu ka aata}
3/4tspbaking soda
1/4tspsalt
75gdark chocolate chips
50gwalnutschopped
Wet Mix
100gunsalted butterroom temperature
115gjaggery granules
1egg
1tbspyogurt
1/2tspvanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
Instructions
Place all the dry mix ingredients in a large bowl and stir to mix.
Place all the wet mix ingredients in bowl of stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, and process for 2 minutes on speed 3.
Add the dry mix and stir with paddle attachment on slowest speed for 30 seconds.
Let the mixture stand/rest while you preheat the oven to 180C {15-20 minutes}
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
Place scoops of cookie dough on the parchment, 2 inches apart, 12 on each sheet. Flatten gently with the tines of a fork. {Sprinkle over a few more chocolate chips if you are feeling particularly indulgent}
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are done, light golden brown, and the centre is still a little soft. {Bake further 5 minutes if you like crisp cookies}.
Remove tray from oven, allow to stand for 5 minutes, then cool the cookies completely on the rack.
“The oat is the Horatio Alger of cereals, which progressed, if not from rags to riches, at least from weed to health food.”
Waverley Root
Date Walnut Orange Flapjacks … squares of goodness that come together in minutes. Not sure why, but ever since I began making granola again {read every Sunday}, I’ve had flapjacks on my mind. It’s a very strange thought as it crept in without prior notice, and yesterday for some reason that’s all I wanted to bake. Every time I got up to bake cookies, I pulled out the bag of oats. Guess these were meant to be. And so was this naughtiness that crept into my frames…Little Bambi, our newest little family member who we adopted recently, had an absolute field day. She loves photobombing whenever I try and shoot. You might see here here on PAB now and then!What are flapjacks you might ask.Well ‘a flapjack, muesli bar, cereal bar, or granola bar is a sweet tray-baked oat bar made from rolled oats, butter, brown sugar and golden syrup‘ and looks like this fits in quite well with my whole grain breakfast granola sort of a theme. I guess I could have just added some granola I made this morning into a bowl, tossed it in with some other stuff, pushed it together, let it set and made granola bars.But my granola is very precious these days. It’s much in demand in parfaits so I figured it would be a shame to use it so easily cheaply. Then again the net is overflowing with recipes of flapjack and this recipe fromFood52 won me over. The ease of the recipe, the beauty of ingredients, the pantry staples all made it seem so simple.Too simple I might add. You might have caught how easy these were to make on my instastories on my Instagram handle. In any case, this is the easiest ‘stir the wet mix into dry’ procedure. And it tasted drop dead delicious with ‘toffee’ good flavours, a sweetness which soothes the soul, and a load of oats, walnuts, sunflower seeds! Oh and a burst of orange flavour!Too much of a good thing and a new way to use quick cooking oats.Ever since I began using jumbo oats in my granola, the regular bag of quick cooking oats just sits and stares at me. No longer I guess. This is another fantastic way to use quick cooking oats . I adapted the recipe to use things that I had on hand so my flapjacks had walnuts and dates. Also the zest of an orange as it was just sitting on the counter and added freshness to the otherwise monochrome palette.
Buttery & nutty with a burst of orange, sweetly comforting and quite indulgent, these Date Walnut Orange Flapjacks are going to be showing up quite often. A recipe minimally adapted from one @food52 , it comes together in a matter of minutes.
Prep Time 5 minutesminutes
Cook Time 25 minutesminutes
Total Time 30 minutesminutes
Servings 16squares
Ingredients
Wet mix
125gunsalted butter
100gbrown sugar
90ghoney
Dry Mix
200gquick cooking oats
50gdateschopped
50gwalnutschopped
35gsunflower seeds
Zest of 1 orange
Instructions
Line a 8 X 8" square tin with parchment. Preheat the oven to 180C.
Place the butter, brown sugar and honey in a heatproof bowl and microwave for a minute until the butter has melted. Whisk well until you get a toffee like mixture.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, add all the remaining ingredients and stir to mix.
Pour over the toffee mixture and stir well to mix.Transfer to prepared tin, pat down into place with an offset spatula or butter knife.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes until light golden brown on the edges but still soft in the centre.
