Recipe can be found here.

Being different when I was a kid growing up in the South was not, it felt, a thing to be celebrated. And showcasing your differences felt like an even worse idea. It was bound to be met with teasing and exclusion.

So when one of Surya’s 2nd grade classmate’s moms asked if I wanted to read a Diwali book to Surya’s class, I hesitatingly said yes. When she asked if I wanted to make Diwali treats for Surya’s class, I started to get a little nervous. When she asked if I wanted to wear Indian clothes to the school, I started to have flashbacks to elementary school.

Like cold sweat, sour stomach flashbacks.

Then I realized whatever I made was going to need to be vegan. gluten-free. and nut free. And like that my fears were distracted by the challenge.

The morning of Diwali, I was going to carry my Indian salwar to work to change before heading to school. But the idea of schlepping an extra set of clothes along with Diwali snacks on the PATH train was making me drag my feet. I decided to just wear my salwar on the train and straight to work.

Not a single head turned. No one. really. noticed.

A few colleagues complimented my salwar. Turns out jutis are comfortable to commute in on mass transit.

I was in for even more pleasant welcome at Surya’s school. The kids were excited to learn about Diwali and its meaning. They wanted to see the photos of divas. They wanted an up close look at my bindi. They wanted to touch my dress.

And they inhaled these Coconut Ladoos. And asked for seconds. Thanks to Vegan Richa for the gluten free, nut free, vegan dessert.

The inclusiveness of our culture and celebration of our differences gave me much hope for the future.

Note: I used Bob’s Red Mill Chickpea Flour instead of an Indian brand Chickpea Flour known as Besan because most Besan did to state it was gluten-safe.

Mothers will go to great lengths for their children. Ten months ago, I wouldn’t get within five feet of a banana. Their sweet taste makes me gag. The smells gives me a freshly pinesoled elevator style headache. I ate one once and had the worst stomachache of my life.

And now? Well, now I can peel and chop a banana like a pro. I feed them to Surya straight from the skin. She stares at me deadpan, pointing at the counter saying “Na-na. Na-na. Na-na” over and over over. Bananas still make me queasy. But now I freeze them, whir them through the food processor and even pack them into a heart shaped muffin pan.

On the upside, when I saw this recipe on The Kitchn for Single Ingredient Ice Cream and then realized that one ingredient was bananas, I was happy to know that Surya could enjoy it even if I wouldn’t.

Single Ingredient Ice Cream

There are tons of great add-ins to this ice cream. Add a splash of maple syrup, a tablespoon of peanut butter or a drop of vanilla into the food processor. If the bananas need some help in the food processor, add a tablespoon of milk to get things going.

Peel bananas and chop into 1 to 1 and 1/2 inch thick coins.  Freeze for at least an hour or so.  Remove from freezer and run through a food process or blend until the bananas turn into smooth and creamy ice cream. I refroze the extra ice cream. Just let it melt a little and soften up when serving.

Is there anyone who doesn’t like Nutella? Is that possible?

I’ve convinced myself that Nutella is good for me.  Healthy even.  Isn’t it?  I am guilty of hearing tidbits of “facts” from unreliable sources and repeating them as sound, test and tried and true facts.  When I want to.  When it’s to my advantage.  As in, “Nutella is good for you.” Or “It’s going to snow 32 inches today.” (That one has been true recently in New York!). The innate ability to do this convincingly is probably why I am a lawyer.

Anyways, so nutella is good for you. And since it’s so healthy, I decided I needed to make a cookie out of it. A cake-y, moist cookie. And this recipe doesn’t disappoint.  If you are a non-baker like me, take comfort. It’s easy to make. Quick to bake. A low fuss, highly rewarding baking project.

Nutella Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes ~ 2 dozen

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons peanut butter (I’ve also used almond butter)
4 tablespoons nutella
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat over to 350 degrees. In a small mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda.  In a bigger mixing bowl, mix the butter, peanut butter, nutella and syrup. Mix well. Add the egg and mix well until smooth. Slowly stir in the flour mixture. Grease the cookie tray using butter or non-stick spray. Pinch off a little less than a tablespoon and roll in the palm of your hand to form a ball. Place about a half inch apart from each other. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Adapted from Recipe4Living

These Nutella Ricotta Pancakes are another great way to enjoy nutella!  Ms. Adventures in Italy and Bleeding Espresso have declared today World Nutella Day.  Did you celebrate World Nutella Day?

One of the baby food books I read suggested that “mangos and other exotic fruits” should be saved until your baby is a little older.  That made me giggle a little and wonder “exotic to whom, exactly?”  Have you ever read those little stickers on pears that you buy in the grocery store?  They are actually pretty exotic.  Pears come from all around the world (unless you shop at the local farmers market in which case you don’t have to deal with those pesky country of origin stickers). And yet pears are a common first fruit!

After weeks of Surya devouring plain, pureed mango, I wanted to change it up.  Her savory food has been fun food experiments (for me) but fruit hasn’t gotten more exciting than just boiled, pureed fruits.  Though, I tasted her peaches puree and plain fruit puree isn’t such a bad thing.

And so last Friday, I ended up cooking cubes of peeled mango with crushed cardomom seeds and strands of saffron.  Cooked mango has a heavenly scent.  As in, should be bottled and sold heavenly scent.  Even with nothing else added, it smells creamy and sweet and rich.  So rich.  And creamy.  And sweet.  And that’s how it tastes too.  The cardamom and saffron are icing on the cake that will make you want to throw any women and children first chivalry overboard and lap this up for yourself.

And you can.  Mix some of this puree into a glass of whipped heavy yogurt (like Greek yogurt) diluted with enough water to make it a drinkable consistency for a Mango Lassi for you.  And serve to baby as is or mixed with a little yogurt or oatmeal.

Mango Sauce with Cardamom and Saffron
Inspired by Closet Cooking: Mango Shrikhand
Makes about 2 1/2 trays of cubes

3 mangos
3 green cardamom pods
Pinch of saffron

Peel the mangos and chop into large chunks.  Put in a saucepan with about 1/4 cup of water and cook on medium heat until the mangoes becomes soft and glassy looking (like canned peaches).  Pop the seeds out of the cardamom pod and discard the pods.  Using a mortar and pestle, crush the cardamom and saffron then add to the mangoes.  If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, just put the cardamom and saffron in a sandwich bag and crush with the back of a spoon.  Cook for another 5 minutes or so.  Allow to cool then puree with the water to a smooth consistency using your device of choice.

If mangoes are indeed exotic to you, here are a few links you might find useful:

• How to Cut a Mango – Simply Recipes
• How to Choose a Mango
• Mango Baby Food Recipes – Wholesome Baby Food

Most indian sweets are so so sweet that they make your teeth hurt.  Like immediate-cavity-formation-throb hurt.  And Indian aunties always seem to want to force feed you a huge piece of some sweet that’s prasad, blessed by the temple, so of course you can’t throw it away and have to eat it.  I try to swiftly pinch off a small bite, waggle my head back and forth to indicate I can’t possibly eat more and move away quickly.  Or I pinch off a piece and drop the rest into Rajat’s hand and then move away quickly.

There are few things in life that my husband wants.  His list is short.  I know that it includes a flat screen tv.  In fact, that may be THE list (having of course <of course> already crossed off beautiful wife and adorable child. teheehe.).*  Sure, it’s nice to know he’s not materialistic.  But it makes shopping for anniversaries and birthdays painful.  So I often end up giving him something I know he’s guaranteed to appreciate – good food.  And, in keeping with the Indian tradition of marking special occasions with a sweet, for his birthday this year, I made one of the few sweets that appeals to his usually savoury tooth.  Carrot Halwa.

Carrot Halwa is shredded carrots cooked first in ghee then in a sugary syrup along with khoa, concentrated milk solid, studded with roasted cashews.  The carrot halwa recipe I used is based on a traditional recipe, but I served the halwa in individually sized store bought graham cracker crusts which I lined with melted milk chocolate.

The graham cracker crust provided an almost salty, savoury base for the sweet halwa (i.e. reduces the tooth-hurt factor), and the milk chocolate mellowed out the sweetness as well with – well – a chocolate-y mouthfeel.  A combination of bittersweet chocolate and milk chocolate would make for a nice balance as well.

I hadn’t had ghee in years. As a kid, one of my favorite foods was basmati rice mixed well with ghee and a pinch of salt. I was pretty excited to make it (especially since we rarely even use butter). You can follow these instructions for making ghee. There are nit-pickers who will argue that ghee is essential for Indian sweets. I personally think you can get away with using regular butter. Maybe I’ve gotten too used to cooking with olive oil but the smell of the ghee almost made me ill.

*Rajat thinks this makes him sound deprived.  He asked me to clarify that he could get  a flat screen tv.  But he just hasn’t.  Because we already have an enormous tv with apparently good picture quality.  He tells me it’s rear projection.  So when we move and have space for a second tv, he’ll get his flat screen.  I bet no one even paid attention to this part of the post.  But now Rajat will feel better about my mention of his tv desire.  I noticed that he didn’t ask me to correct the part about a beautiful wife and adorable child.  So I can only assume that part was correct.

What is it about the smell of roses that’s so relaxing?  Stick your nose into the center of a rose flower and inhale.   You’re greeted with a heavenly scent followed by a calm that comes over you.  For me, there’s also a regatta of sneezes that follows thanks to my allergies.  

Shaved Rose Water Ice is both sweet and refreshing as well as, well, really relaxing.  I’m resisting the urge to “cleverly” weave in a pun here using the old adage about stopping to smell the roses.  Really though, whoever came up with that was spot on, right?

This Rose Water Ice is made using Roohafza, a juice concentrate made from rose petals and infused with different flowers and fruits into a thick, red, sugary syrup.  It’s commonly used to trick kids into drinking their milk – just mix a little bit with a glass of cold milk and suddenly milk seems like dessert.  It’s also used as an escape from hot Indian summers, stirred into ice water for a cooling drink or blended with yogurt into a smoothie, or lassi.  You can find Roohafza at Indian and Middle Eastern grocery stores.

My idea for Shaved Rose Water Ice came from a snippet in Martha Stewart Living about Easy Frozen Granita.  The beauty is that you don’t actually have to do any shaving.  Here’s what you do:

Make ice cubes in a silicon tray using any fruit juice.  I mixed about 2 tablespoons of Roohafza with about 2 cups of water.  Before pouring the Roohafza water into the ice cube trays, taste it to see if it needs to be sweeter (add more syrup) or a little less sweet (add more water).  Pulse three to four ice cubes at a time in a food processor or blender until the cubes are broken down into shards.  I found it works best to pulse then store the shaved ice in an airtight container and re-freeze for at least thirty minutes before serving.   

You can serve the shaved ice alone or sprinkle a generous serving of it over a flavorful, fruity ice cream like mango ice cream.  Either way, it makes for a refreshing sweet treat that leaves you relaxed and content.  

June happens to be National Rose Month – below are some photos of roses that I took this weekend at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden’s Cranford Rose Garden.  

These tendencies make Karwachauth, a day of the year where married women fast for the health of their husbands from sun rise until they see the moon, particularly challenging for me.  You can read the folklore behind Karwachauth here.  R’s family celebrates Karwachauth and so, dutifully albeit happily, I follow along.  R, realizing that fasting is no easy feat for me, kindly fasts with me.

We’ll break our fast tonight when we see the moon and after I hear the “Karwachauth story” from R’s mom.  Ideally, we would have broken our fast with a nice, home cooked desi meal – creamy, spicy sabji, something with paneer, raita, hot rotis (mmmmm) but cooking dinner for a Friday dinner is made impossible by the billable requirements embraced by law firms. 

Instead, I made almond payasam, similar to North Indian kheer, last night so we’ll break our fast together with that and then go out for Mexican…how’s that for modern?!

This was the first Indian sweet I’ve ever made, and it was shockingly simple.  The recipe, as relayed to me by my mom and dad with both of them correcting one another’s technique, is provided below.

Dry roast the tapioca for about five minutes – it should not brown but should just get very hot to the touch.  Separately dry roast the almonds.  Boil the tapioca in 1 1/2 cups water in a nonstick pan until the tapioca pearls become translucent.  Add 2-3 cups of milk, a few strands of saffron and almonds.  Stir in the sugar.  Cook on medium-low heat and bring to a boil.  Continue to cook on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes.  Depending on how much of a sweet tooth you have, you may want to add more sugar.

For those who are vegan or lactose intolerant, you could try this with almond milk which would be a tasty substitute.