Category: Sweet bits

On the sweet side.

Sweet Potato Mochi

My Okinawa trip taught me to appreciate beni imo mochi (purple sweet potato)– both making and learning the technique of eating it directly from its casing. This new year I followed the Japanese tradition of ringing in the new year with some sweet potato mochi. Easy to pull off. Enjoy!!

Special tools:

Steamer, Saran Plastic wrap.

Ingredients

  • 200 gm short grain rice flour (mochi flour)
  • 20 gm sugar
  • 1 sweet potato peeled, steamed and mashed

Make a soft dough with all the ingredients. Make about 16 small lemon sized balls. Wrap each ball in plastic wrap. Flatten. Arrange in two single layers in a steaming basket. Steam for 30 minutes. Cool. Peel off the wrap to consume.

Notes, hints, tips:
  1. You can microwave the sweet potato in its skin till soft. Cool and then peel. Mash.
  2. There is no need to knead for long since this is rice flour (with no gluten!).
  3. You could use banana leaf or corn husk to wrap. But I found the plastic wrap to be very accessible, convenient and easy to handle. Also I did check on the wrap package that it was heat proof.

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Thanksgiving Leftover Pumpkin Arepa

Transform your leftover roasted pumpkin into delectable arepas, with more personality than pancakes. Enjoy with maple syrup!

Special tools:

Stove-top grill; food processor

Ingredients

Makes 8 arepas

  • I cup pumpkin pulp from leftover roasted pumpkin (with skin)
  • 1 cup corn meal (Venezuelan harina PAN)
  • 2 tbsp EVOO
  • salt to taste
  • Maple syrup for accompaniment

Method

In a food processor, process the leftover roasted pumpkin till it turn into a pulp. Then add the rest of the ingredients and continue to process till it gathers into a ball. Make 8 equal sized balls and flatten into patties.

Heat the stove-top grill. Spray lightly with ELOO. Then place the patties on the hot grill. Loosely cover with aluminum foil. Cook for 6 mins on one side; flip and 4 minutes on the other.

Serve hot with maple syrup.

Notes, hints, tips:
  1. The roasted pumpkin did not have any additional flavorings that made it simpler to turn into this sweet-leaning arepa.
  2. The Venezuelan arepa cornmeal is pre-cooked. If using other cornmeal, you may have to cook the cornmeal first. This arepa cornmeal is a great pantry ingredient that you can stock up on. I always have some handy in my freezer (if the packet is opened); else in the dry pantry.
  3. To warm the arepa, wrap in kitchen towel and microwave for 15-20 seconds.

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Minimalist Poda Pitha

Rice and lentil Brûlée Pitha. Is even more delicious than it sounds. Inspired by a local food expert in Bhubaneswar who served biri poda pitha. So much was I smitten (and so was my mother) that we quickly cooked up up a version. With great success. Enjoy!

Special tools:

Medium-powered food processor (or grain grinder); Non-stick, thick bottomed kerai/wok (small size)

Ingredients

  • Batter
    • Soak for 6-8 hrs: 1 cup rice + 1 cup white urad dal in plenty of water
    • 1 cup shredded (fresh) coconut
    • Sweetener: 3/4 cup guda/jaggery/brown sugar (or adjusted to taste)
  • Flavorings: 1 inch ginger diced + 1 tsp peppercorn coarsely crushed + 5-6 crushed cardamoms + 2 bay leaves
  • Toppings: raisins and cashews

Method

Drain the rice/lentil mix. Grind with little water to a fine paste. Pour into a large container and whip the batter. Test the doneness of the whipping by dropping a spoonful into water to check if it floats. If it sinks, then some more whipping is required.

Fold in the grated coconut and the sweetener. Mix well and add all the flavorings. Pour onto the well-oiled thick-bottomed non-stick pan.

Place the pan on low heat. Cover and let cook for 25-30 mins.

Cool, unmould, slice and serve.

Notes, hints, tips:
  1. See Alka Jena’s recipe: https://culinaryxpress.com/biri-poda-pitha/
  2. Coconut does wonders to otherwise mundane ingredients. See also a Sri Lankan one https://purba.blog/2021/01/03/coconut-berry-rum-cake/
  3. For the bite-test (whether the grains are soaked enough), see https://purba.blog/2019/07/10/make-pitha-mainstream-chunchi-patra/
  4. The shredded coconut can be found in the freezer section of most Indian grocery stores. Alternative is to freshly grate a coconut. I don’t recommend using desiccated coconut found in most supermarkets.
  5. One would think that the rice and lentil combination may not whip easily– but it does. So you need not soak the lentil and rice separately.
  6. Again there is not need to rest the batter before cooking.
  7. The stove-top gives a nice crust. If baking in an oven, I would recommend 300F in a dark baking pan. My hostess had lined the pan with banana leaves– if that is available it is an excellent choice of lining.
  8. I called it minimalist since my Mom was particularly pleased with this one that does not require the pre-cooking of the batter (‘janta’) which usually requires some non-trivial effort. See https://www.instagram.com/p/C78NZ_rPkU-/ for the only-rice version of the poda pitha.
Whipping lentil batter

Laxmi Parida3 Comments

Koginut Mochi Waffle

Winter farmers market (TASH) ingredients in action! Koginut and mochi pancake mix. Koginut is a cross between a kabocha and butternut squash. It’s natural sweetness and butteriness is amazing and makes a fantastic mochi waffle. Enjoy!

SPECIAL TOOLS:

Food processor; Waffle maker.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 koginut squash yielding 2 cups pulp
  • 2 cups mochi waffle/pancake flour
  • 2 tbsp EVOO
  • about 1 cup milk

METHOD

Halve and scoop out the seeds. Brush a little EVOO and bake the koginut at 350 F for about an hour. Do not peel and run in food processor, with a little milk, if required. Let cool.

Mix 2 cups of mochi pancake flour with the squash pulp and add enough milk to make thick batter. Mix in the EVOO.

Use 1/2 cup batter per waffle. Follow instructions on your waffle maker. Makes 7-8.

NOTES, HINTS, TIPS:

  1. I did not use the ube extract in the mochi ube pancake/waffle packet (https://sitsirya.square.site/) since I was using koginut squash.
  2. The koginut squash is sweet enough, that you may not even need maple syrup to go with your waffle.

Sweet potato ube mochi waffle: Steam a large sweet potato (approx 1 lb) in microwave until done (approx 5+3 mins). Peel and mash and proceed as for the squash waffle.

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Gingerbread Mooncake

No added-sugar. But better than gingerbread and even mooncake! These delectables stole the show this Christmas. Enjoy!

Special tools:

Mooncake mould, silicone brush to grease the mould; food processor; dehydrator or a proofer.

Ingredients

  • Flour base: 3/4 cup rolled oats + 1/4 cup buckwheat groats + 1/4 cup almond flour
  • Sweetening: 1 cup packed dates OR 1 cup dehydrated apricots OR 1 cup processed apricot-fig mix
  • Sweet aromatics: 1 tbsp cinnamon + 1 tsp ginger powder + 1/2 tsp nutmeg + 1/4 tsp clove powder + 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • dash of salt
  • little EVOO to grease the mould

Pulse and mix all the ingredients in a food processor till it comes together. Divide into 15-18. Generously grease the 50-gm-mould with EVOO and stamp out each cake (press to compact and then release).

Optional: Dehydrate at 115 F for 2 hours.

Notes, hints, tips:
  1. Adapted from Amanda Le’s https://rawamanda.com
  2. Processed apricot-fig mix. Dice the fruits and place in a pyrex cup. Add just enough water to moisten. Microwave for 3-4 minutes till the water is absorbed, softening the dried fruits.
    The processed dry fruits makes it a little more moist than no-process.

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Apple Custard Cake

At my last tango session, Jane brought a homemade apple pie/cake for the class. It was as delicious as it was beautiful!! I don’t have her recipe, but here is a French-inspired apple custard cake that I had experimented with over some time. Very delectable, almost as that of Jane’s. Enjoy!

SPECIAL TOOLS:

Springform pan.

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 granny-smith apples; 1 tbsp Calvados + 1 tsp lemon juice
  • Dry ingredients: 1 cup whole wheat cake flour + 2 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp salt + 1 cup sugar
  • Wet ingredients: 1 1/2 tbsp chia seeds soaked in 1/2 cup almond milk + 1/2 cup EVOO + 1 egg + 1 cup almond milk
  • Custard : 1 egg yolk
  • Upper crust: 1 tbsp almond flour; 1 tbsp granulated sugar

METHOD

Peel and core apples. Cut each apple into eight slices and cut each slice into about 3 pieces. Cover and microwave for about 3 minutes. Mix in the calvados and lime juice.

Cake-mix: Mix all dry ingredients with wire whisk. Mix all wet ingredients with wire whisk. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together.

Upper crust: Take a cup of the cake-mix and mix in the almond flour.

Mix the custard ingredients with the rest of the cake-mix. Mix in the chopped apples. Pour into the greased springform pan. Top with the upper crust and sprinkle with granulated sugar.

Bake at 325 F for 1 hour or until done.

NOTES, HINTS, TIPS:

  1. Grease the springform pan. Or, if possible, line the base with greased parchment paper.
  2. You can reduce the sugar to 2/3 cup+1tbsp.
  3. The microwaved apples will be rubbery, but not mushy. But it bakes perfectly.
  4. The almond milk in this recipe was homemade. So the almond flour can be fortified with the milk residue as well.

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