Mango Cupcakes

Cupcakes: (vegan)

I wanted to make dessert the other day for my family so I made Mango Mousse (the recipe is coming soon). Since i had a LOT of extra Mango puree left, I decided to make these mango cupcakes. I got the recipe from here and I only modified it slightly. I am not allowed to buy eggs while I'm at my parents house so they had to be eggless but they were still delicious. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 1/2 cups mango puree
1/3 cup cooking oil (vegetable/sunflower/canola)
2/3 cup granulated sugar1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. Sift flour, baking soda, salt and cardamom powder together.
2. In another bowl, beat together mango puree, oil, sugar and vanilla
3. Combine the two mixtures

Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 25 minutes ( I found that 25 made them a bit too brown... maybe even a little less time is okay)

Frosting: (almost vegan)

I found that the frosting was a little runny, so maybe someone has a suggestion to make it more firm.

Ingredients:
12 tbsp (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter (this is what made it not vegan)
2.5 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup mango puree
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Cream the butter
2. Add the mango puree and vanilla and sugar and beat until mixed
3. Frost the cupcakes after they've cooled
4. Add colored sprinkles on top for fun :)

Onion-Sambar

Since I finished making my apron, I felt that it was appropriate to kick it off by making something. I decided to make onion sambar, a lentil stew that comes from the depths of southern India.

I felt that this was quite appropriate since I am both Indian and South Indian. My father snapped a photo of me working...


If you have ever been to an Indian restaurant you may know about Dosa and or Idly. Often times both these items come with this liquidy stew/soup. I personally think it is quite watered down. So if you are looking for that kind of sambar, this is not it! This is a thick sambar, that we generally serve with rice or idly. As for the ingredients, I believe you can get them all at an local Indian grocery store.

The lentils make it thick, the tamarind makes it tangy and the brown sugar gives a sweet after taste. YUM.

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, so I had to take a picture AFTER we ate it. =(
You can tell I made a ton.


Name: Onion Sambar
Origin: South Indian
Source: Family Recipe - my mother / grandmother

Ingredients:
Toor dal (Khandi Papu)
tamarind (chintapandu)
onions
oil
mustard seeds (avalu)
fenu greek (methi - menthulu)
cumin seeds - jeera (jelakara)
hing (ingua)
green chilli (pachi marapakayi)
curry leaves (karepaku)
turmeric (pasupu)
sambar powder
brown sugar (belam)

Procedure:
1. take 1.5 cup toor dal and add twice the water and cook till a liquidy pasty consistency
2. take a hand full of tamarind and soak in water, microwave for 1 min
3. cut up 2 onions
4. in 2 table spoons of oil add avalu, menthulu, jeera and ingua
5. saute onion (add 3 green chilli, karepaku)
6. add water to level of onions
7. add a spoon of salt (to taste)
8. add a pinch of turmeric
9. once the onions have cooked, squeeze tamrind into water (3 times and pour water into mixture)
10. take two ladles of sambar powder and add water (add mixture to sambar)
11. add paprika power (1/3 spoon)
11. add 3 spoon fulls of belam (brown sugar)
12. get cooked toor dal into a watery consistency (add to sambar)
13. add water as needed and stir

Enjoy!! (with rice of course)

New Apron!!

Everyone! (and Anyone),

My name is Teja. I am soon going to be a 4th year Undergraduate student at UCSD (University of California San Diego). Last year (my third year), was my first year living off campus. I was left with no meal plan and I finally had to start making food for myself. This proved to be very difficult since there was literally no time to cook. I spend a majority of my junior year eating out. Eating horrible, oily, unhealthy food!

Towards the end of the year I started making food. I didn't do it very often, but when I did I loved it! Now I found so many delicious recipes I want to try. And when I do, I'd like to share them with you.

This summer I'm back home living with my parents in the Bay Area. I decided that I better attempt a bunch of culinary experiments, so I have a good idea of what is feasible to make in college, with such limited time.

BUT before I begin cooking, I thought it was absolutely essential that I make myself an apron. So from my mom (who is amazing at sewing), I learned a few things and put together this cute little apron. (Hence the name of the blog).




k guys lets kick it off!! COOK PINK.