Sour Mango Chutney; no garlic recipe. Meatless Monday

At our home, we love mango chutneys. We make raw mango chutney, ripe mango chutney. You name it, we make it. This particular one came along by accident. When I went to the grocery store the other day, I saw some yellow mangoes at an inexpensive price. I decided to get  some to eat. When I sliced it and sat down to eat, I was very disappointed! They were horribly sour! Not even salt could help! I decided to salvage them by making chutney out of it. Usually raw mango chutney is made with garlic. However, this one was ripe but sour. Therefore I decided to make it a no garlic recipe. I used asofoetida ( hing) instead, which made it perfect for the Navratri fasting. Here is the quick and easy recipe for a delicious chutney that can be devoured with dosa, idli, chapati or as a side dish with rice!

Servings: makes 2 cups of chutney

Ingredients:

Sour mango: 1 medium sized
Freshly grated coconut: 1 cup
Green chillies: 2-3 medium-sized
Asofoetida: a pinch if using powder, 1/2 tsp if using solution.
Salt: to taste
Water: 1/4 cup

Method:

Peel and slice the mango. Add the sliced mango pieces with all the above ingredients to the blender/ food processor. Blend until it is a smooth, fine paste.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

Serve with dosa, idli, chapati, rice and even in sandwiches.

You can store it in the refrigerator for upto 7 days and for longer in the freezer.

Cooking made easy:

If you think you will not be using all of the chutney in the next few days, freeze half of the chutney in a freezer-safe container as soon as it is made.  To use frozen chutney, just remove it from the freezer and leave it on the counter-top for a few hours to bring it to room-temperature. Alternatively, you can take it from the freezer and keep it in the refrigerator section of your fridge, overnight.

You can alter the mango-coconut ratio to your liking. If you don't wish to use too much coconut, use half the amount of the mango slices that you have.

You can use dried red chillies or red chilli powder if you don't have green chillies.

Tip for healthy living:

Raw mangoes are rich in vitamin C and dietary fiber.

Food for thought:

A charming woman doesn't follow the crowd. She is herself. Loretta Young.

Funfetti Cupcakes, eggless: Meatless Monday

My daughter's birthday was earlier last month.Her school has a policy where all the birthdays of that particular month are celebrated on the last Friday of the month. In March, the last Friday was Good Friday, which was a holiday and the last week didn't  have a Friday in it. They then decided to celebrate it on the last Thursday! (Well, it took me this long to complete my post!) I had requested that it be celebrated the first Friday of the week of her birthday for the same above reason and specifically because her father would have been in town and would have attended the celebration. The Principal refused. My daughter however is very lucky as I was able to take a day off ( for other urgent reasons) and be there for her birthday.

I always bake for her class parties. I think that it is healthier when you make something at home as opposed to something that is purchased from a store!

I decided to  make a mix of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes as not all kids like chocolate cupcakes! As I was making the vanilla ones, I decided to make it more interesting and transformed them into funfetti cupcakes. They also happen to be eggless. The recipe for this is from an expert fellow blogger, Khushboo Kothari! You can find the original recipe here! For the chocolate cupcake recipe, click here. You will be able to make 2 dozen cupcakes with that recipe. Just use the muffin-pan, line them with liners and bake for 14-16 minutes.I baked and frosted a total of 3  dozen cupcakes.

Oh, the frosting. I was busy with a few other things and so didn't have time to make it from scratch. I always keep 1-2 containers of ready-to-use frosting handy for such occasions. These boxed frosting however cannot be used for piping as it is too thin and won't set. I whipped one cup of powdered sugar with one box of frosting and it was great for piping. Of course, there is no substitute to the taste and quality of buttercream made from scratch! You can find the recipe for that here.

Now, let me share with you the recipe for the most amazing, fluffy, eggless, funfetti cupcakes! Both adults and kids will love it alike!

Servings: makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:

All purpose flour: 1 & 1/4 cups
Corn flour: 3 tbsp
Baking powder:1 tsp & a pinch
Baking soda: 1/2 tsp
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Granulated sugar: 3/4 cup
Olive oil: 1/2 cup ( any cooking oil can be used)
Greek Yogurt: 1 cup ( regular yogurt can also be used).
Vanilla essence: 1 tsp
Rainbow Sprinkles: 1/4 cup

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
Place the cupcake liners in the muffin pan and keep ready. If you are not using liners, grease the muffin pan and keep ready.

Beat together yogurt and sugar until it is creamy. To this mixture add the oil, vanilla essence and mix well.

Sift together the flour, cornflour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Mix thoroughly using the beater on the lowest setting or using a hand-held whisk. Do not over mix.

Fold the sprinkles in. Since the batter is so thick, the sprinkles will not settle down.

Pour a tablespoon of batter into each of the cupcake liners.

Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake at 350deg F for 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted.

Take the pan out and let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting.

Quick Frosting:

To make a quick pipeable frosting ,whip together a can of store bought buttercream frosting with 1 cup sifted powdered sugar.

I used Wilton 2D tip to pipe the pink rosettes and IM for the cream-colored peaked frosting.

Enjoy!

I am bringing this to Throwback Thursday # 34, Fiesta Friday #115 and Saucy Saturdays # 40. Angies's co-hosts at the Fiesta this week are Julie @ Hostess At Heart and Ashley @ Too Zesty.

Cooking made easy:

You can make double-colored frosting by tinting the vanilla buttercream frosting with gel color streaks in the frosting bag.

Tip for healthy living:

Save the sugary treats for a really special occasion and not for daily existence!

Food for thought:

Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great. John D. Rockefeller