Mango Jalapeno Margarita

by

Fresh mango pulp and a spicy kick from the jalapeños makes this refreshing and quick to make Mango Jalapeno Margarita. A perfect drink for mango lovers this summer.

So… its been a while.

More than a year. 

I have been irregular for a while on the blog, but I still would wake up after a few months to post. But to not post an entire year (the last post was January 2021), that’s a first.

I have no excuse except I did not feel like writing. The convenience of posting a picture and sharing a recipe if someone wants it on my instagram page was more tempting. Not that I was doing that often either. My postings on instagram have not been very consistent- the addition of reels to the platform hasn’t helped, even though I do like making videos. I started making videos in 2013 and making food videos is what started my career in photography when I moved back to India in 2016. But that was when there was no one making it. And while I am thoroughly entertained by reels (pet reels are my stress buster), I hate that most of the feed is the same song played repeatedly with people dancing on the same steps. Not to say there is not good quality content on that platform. Instagram was always aspirational, but it did come to become a little overwhelming for me. Content creators churning new content every day. And that too video content- which to my old school brain takes time to conceptualize, shoot, edit, find music (!). For someone who has always been used to working alone, it became overwhelming to manage everything and delivering so much.

While the first wave of covid saw me productive as never before, I soon could not keep up. So the recipes stopped. The personal projects stopped. And the silence took over. Photography, styling and video work for clients went on. But creatively I felt lost. I felt lost in general. I still feel do. 

I am trying to revive this space. While I had not been posting, I did discover some new recipes along the way. Some were shared on instagram, but I feel they all deserve a more permanent space too. Today I am sharing the recipe for these quick and easy to make mango jalapeño margaritas.

Mango Jalapeno Margarita

This spicy margarita drink was something I first tried at a restaurant in Dallas, and soon became a favorite. During the first lockdown, A and I worked on this recipe and while I posted the recipe for these mango jalapeno margaritas on instagram, it deserves a permanent blog space. 

Ingredients required for this spicy margarita cocktail:

  • Tequila
  • Cointreau (or any other orange liqueur)
  • Lime juice
  • Mango – you need the pulp and a few fresh pieces for the garnish
  • Jalapeños (if fresh are not available, I have used the jar ones also successfully)
  • Chilli salt- to rim your glasses (if you have tajin that works too, but make your own chilli salt with red chili powder/paprika and salt. I use pink salt, but regular will also do.

The steps are fairly easy and quick. Given that mangoes are in season, I do hope you get to try this summer perfect drink mango jalapeño margarita recipe.

P.S: We have some mangoes in the refrigerator, so guess we might make it for the weekend too. 

Read More →

One Pot Pasta

by

A fuss free one pot pasta recipe that is flavorful and comes together in less than 30 minutes with the added bonus of very few dishes to clean up.

One pot pasta recipe

Convenient meals. Thats what we are looking for. Or at least I am, especially in this humid and hot as anything climate.

There are certain dishes I like sweating it out for. Sometimes the pleasure of spending time on a recipe brings the most flavor out of the dish. The chocolate ghiya ice cream is one such dish I don’t mind spending a significant amount in the kitchen. Probably because the entire process reminds me of my grandmom, and its my way of feeling some connection to her since I can no longer see her in person. There are other such recipes, but then there are meals you want to spend the least amount of time in the kitchen- either cooking or doing dishes. Today’s one pot pasta recipe lets you do just that.

What’s one pot pasta?

For a long time, I have seen one pot pasta recipes. It was all the rage when Martha Stewart/Nora Singley posted a recipe for it in 2013. You can read more about the discovery of the recipe here. Its only recently that I gave it a try and its been a game changer.

What is one pot pasta? Basically, you cook everything including the pasta in a single pot. No step of boiling the pasta separately, making the sauce separately and then mixing the two. Here everything goes in one pot and gets cooked for the same duration as you would your pasta when boiling separately. And voila, you have your meal ready, with only one pot to clean.

Why make one pot pasta?

Umm… because you only need to clean one pot. Do you need any other reason?

Full disclosure, you would also have the chopping board and the knife to clean, and the mug/measuring glass you use to add the stock/water. But yes, you can remove the second pot you need for boiling the pasta, and the colander for draining cooked pasta from your post cooking washing list. Even two dishes less to wash is a win.

But besides the slightly quicker method, and lesser dishes, do you get good results? With this recipe, you do. Anubhav and I were pleasantly surprised as to how good the pasta tasted. And how easy it was. You get a nice creamy pasta without any addition of cream thanks to the all the starchy water that the pasta releases. And the pasta is so flavorful since its cooked in the tomato-ey liquid.

Read More →

Mango Panna Cotta

by

This layered mango panna cotta is an absolutely delicious yet easy to put together dessert. A perfect way to use mangoes during summer and wow your guests.

Mango panna cotta with recipe video

I love panna cotta as a dessert. It is an easy to put together dessert, and always loved by everyone. What’s not to love- a luscious creamy pudding that you can prep in advance. Plus, it tastes great with fresh ripe fruits like strawberries, cherries, peaches and in this case mango.

Panna cotta is also easily adaptable to fit many dietary restrictions. It is gluten free in its most simple form, and with a few easy dairy replacements can be made vegan too.

So, what is Panna Cotta?

Panna cotta is an italian dessert, made from warming cream just enough to dissolve sugar and gelatin. It is served chilled, and is super easy to make. Panna cotta can be a very light, soft pudding using milk and fruit puree, or a rich, thick pudding using mostly cream. The basic core ingredients are inexpensive, and yet it tastes luxurious and looks beautiful.

Wikipedia cites the origins of panna cotta to a Hungarian woman in the early 1900s, though there is also a mention of a dish in an 1879 dictionary made of cream cooked with gelatin and molded. Whatever the origins, panna cotta is one dessert you should have in your recipe cards.

How do you make Panna Cotta?

Many are under the wrong impression that panna cotta is a complicated dessert. It isn’t. There are very few steps in the preparation of panna cotta, and the only way you can screw up is if you don’t dissolve the gelatin properly.

The steps to make panna cotta are pretty simple.

  • Warm the cream in a saucepan.
  • Add sugar, and heat the cream till the sugar dissolves. (Here is when you can get creative by infusing the cream with vanilla beans, or different spices or adding coffee or any other flavor)
  • While you are warming up the cream, soften the gelatin in a cold liquid.
  • Once the gelatin blooms, you add that to the warm cream mixture, making sure there are no lumps.
  • This mixture is then poured into molds, and allowed to set.
  • You can serve the panna cotta in the molds itself, or unmold and top it with your favorite toppings. Fresh fruit makes a lovely pairing with the creamy panna cotta.

The hardest part about making panna cotta is achieving the proper consistency and texture—it should be silky smooth and just firm, with a gentle wobble. Getting the cream to gelatin ratio helps in that. For every cup of cream, 3/4 tsp-1 tsp gelatin is the ideal ratio to get a good texture.

Mango panna cotta with recipe video

Read More →