Vegan Pumpkin Bread and muffins

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There will always be people who will try to divert you from your dream. They will try to make your talents or your abilities feel inadequate. These people might be absolute strangers or they might be really close relatives/friends, who in their own respect, have your best interests in mind. Instead of getting angry at them or getting discouraged by them feel lucky because it is the negativity of these people that will help fuel the passion you have in your dream. Its their pessimism that will help build your belief in yourself. Its their attitude towards your dreams that will strengthen your resolve to prove them wrong.

If you give up when they say its not your cup of tea, you basically let them win and stay as someone who could never cross the finish line. Instead smile at them when they lecture you on how ludicrous your dream seems, and wish them the best in their life’s endeavours. And when they aren’t looking, work on your dream and cross that finish line. When you have accomplished what you had set out for and when your ideas start taking shape, send the people who discouraged you a thank you card. Because if it wasn’t for your will to prove these people wrong you would have probably given up eons ago.

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November SRC Assignment: Sopas!

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Its getting cold here. Like really cold (well, at least for Arizona standards). Friday it rained the whole day and the rain brought with it a cold wave. Temperatures dropped to below zero Celsius (still not used to reading temperature in Farenheit) and its just beginning November.

Cold also means that its time to take the soup bowls out. Besides the heater, blankets, jackets, scarves and boots!

So while deciding on what recipe to make for this month’s SRC from Gay’s blog- A Scientist in the Kitchen– her Filipino Sopas recipe caught my attention.

Sopas traditionally consists of boiling chicken or pork bones with salt and pepper. Once you get good tasting broth flavor, elbow macaroni is added which you cook till al dente. When the pasta is almost done, vegetables are added usually chopped carrots and cabbage. Once done, season with salt and pepper to taste and add a cup of milk to make it really creamy, and it is ready to serve.

I did tweak the recipe to what I had on hand and since it is the Indian festival season and V’s family doesn’t eat meat on certain days during the festival of Diwali, I made it completely vegetarian. I used vegetarian broth instead of chicken broth and since I had some mushrooms that and some frozen mixed vegetables is what I added to the sopas. And since I was out of elbow macroni, I added broken pieces of lasagna sheets (as that was the only pasta I had in my kitchen).

Traditional or not, both V and I really liked the sopas and I loved how easy it was to put together. Do give it a try.

5.0 from 2 reviews
Filipino Sopas
 
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This recipe is adapted from Gay's blog: A Scientist in the Kitchen. I have written the changes I made in brackets.
Cuisine: Filipino
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • meat broth-chicken, beef, pork (I used a can of vegetable broth)
  • elbow macaroni (I used 4 sheets of lasagna broken into small pieces)
  • chopped vegetables- carrots, cabbage, mushroom, asparagus… anything goes ( I used mushrooms and few mixed frozen vegetables)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • a cup of milk ( I used ¼ cup of milk)
  • Herbs- oregano, basil and celery salt
Instructions
  1. In a saucepan, heat a little oil. Add the mushrooms and stir fry on high. When soft, add the broth and bring to a boil. Add the elbow macaroni (other pasta shapes will do like farfalle, rigatoni and penne – but this would not really be a Filipino dish). Add dried herbs such as oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary).
  2. The elbow macaroni is cooked till al dente. Just taste the macaroni a few minutes after boiling. When macaroni is almost done, added the chopped vegetables. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Turn off fire and add the milk.
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Gajar Ka Halwa

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Gajar ka halwa / gajrela or Carrot halwa is an indian dessert made from cooking carrots in milk, ghee, and sugar.

Gajar ka halwa / gajrela /carrot halwa

Edited December 2020, to add:

Come winters and the Delhi vegetable markets are full with the red carrots that are perfect to make gajar ka halwa or gajrela. Since the first time I made this gajar ka halwa, I have made a few recipe changes. I no longer use sugar, though that is the traditional way to go. Instead I use condensed milk. By using condensed milk, cooking the bhunoed carrots in the condensed milk helps me achieve that khoya like taste in the halwa. Slow cooking is the key for gajar ka halwa, and so is cooking the halwa well. Making gajar ka halwa is time consuming but thats when you get the nice caramelization in the carrots and maximum flavor.

Original Post from November 2012:

When Christianna had taken me into the Recipe Swap group (read more about the group here), one of the things she said in our initial correspondence was that she was excited to get an Indian perspective for the swap recipes. While all my swaps have not been with an Indian twist, I thought with the Indian festival season here, I would give this time’s recipe swap an Indian twist.

When I saw the swap recipe (for a carrot pie), my initial plan was to make this carrot souffle I saw in a magazine I had just bought. But then I am not much of a fan of pureed carrots. It reminds me of baby food, and even though the recipe sounded interesting, I wasn’t sure I would truly enjoy it.

So I thought of making something Indian. Now, I am not a big fan of Indian sweets. I like them but most of them I find too sweet. If I want something sweet I generally prefer a baked good over the traditional sweets. Though I don’t mind a piece of gulab jamun, or hot atte ka halwa now and then. And sometimes gajar ka halwa too makes the privileged list.

Gajar ka halwa (or Indian carrot pudding) is a dessert of creamy, thickened milk with softened carrots contrasting with the added crunch of nuts. Milk and grated carrots are cooked until they become a dryish homogeneous mass, and then cooked with a little clarified butter (or ghee) and sugar and subtly flavored with cardamom powder and sometimes saffron strands to make absolute deliciousness.

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