Roasted Caramelized Butternut Squash with Cinnamon

And..... here I am posting after almost a year and a half! A ton of things happened during this time which kept me away from blogging. Not that I didn't have time, but my priorities changed over time and the blogging took the back seat. The love for food and sharing amazing recipes however were somewhere deeply buried in my heart and so here I am bouncing back....:)

Fall/ Winter = Butternut Squash!

It is stormy, windy kinda day here in bay area and nothing feels better than a bowl of soup made up of local, seasonal produce. Soups are a nice and warm way to end the day but  sometimes I feel more satisfied if I get to chew instead of gulp down something. Tonight, felt like one of those days. So respecting my bodies needs, I went ahead and roasted an amazing butternut squash that I got from my farm-fresh delivery box.

• Super simple, sweet and super delicious!
• For those who have sweet tooth.
• For those who like to chew instead of gulp on a stormy night.
• For those who eat with eyes first...seriously I mean look at that gorgeous color! Who wouldn't want to eat that..??

Here is all you need-:

1. Butternut squash- peeled and cubed into 1-2 inches.
2. Brown sugar- 4 tbsp. More if you need it to be sweeter.
3. Cinnamon powder- 3 tsp. I like a lot you can adjust according to your taste. 
4. Ghee/ clarified butter- 2-3 tbsp. 

Some of my readers have asked if I have an easy way to cut the butternut squash without getting my fingers cut or breaking the knife...:) Unfortunately I haven't come across any easy way of cutting raw butternut squash. There is a way to microwave the whole squash before you cut it.  Now since I don't use microwave in my house (I don't have one anymore and here is why) I wouldn't go for this option. Alternatively you can roast the whole butternut squash in the oven and then peel and chop the cubes and sprinkle with cinnamon, sugar and ghee.

I am guessing that since microwave softens the squash and makes it easier to cut, the oven should do the same thing. I will be trying it out next time and will update.

Procedure-:

1. Place the cubed butternut squash on to the baking dish in a single layer.
2. Melt the ghee, remove from heat,  add sugar and cinnamon powder.
3. Mix well and pour on to the cubes. Toss well with your hands. Sugar helps to give it a nice caramelized color and flavor when finished. 
4. Place into a 400 degrees F preheated oven for about 20 minutes tossing once or twice in between.  They should caramelize nicely and should turn soft.

Grab a fork and enjoy while they are warm!

Spooky Pumpkin Chocolate Bundt Cake

My first successful vegan cake ever! Yey...!!

I am sure you all have had lots of fun trick or treating last evening just like I did..:) To make your post Halloween day a little special here goes Pumpkin Chocolate Bundt Cake for all of you!!

Okay let me first admit that I am very very bad at baking. I mean really bad..:( The reason I love to cook is because most of the times you don't have to measure the ingredients and you can just eyeball stuff and adjust according to taste. I have always been cooking this way. After I started writing this blog, I got a little serious about measuring only because I realized that someone else (reader) other than me is probably going to try the same recipe. And so I had to be careful and responsible about what I put here.
Most of my friends or relatives who are good at baking have opposite point of view. They think baking is easiest, and there is no way you can go wrong with it. I attempted some serious baking but...no luck until this one...:)

Without further delay here are the ingredients-:
All Purpose Flour- 3 cups
Sugar- 2 cups
Cocoa- 1 tbsp
Cinnamon- 2 tbsp
Nutmeg Powder- 1 tsp
Cloves- 1/2 tsp
Salt -1 tsp
Baking soda- 2 tsp
Pumpkin puree- 1 can
water- 1and 1/2 cup
Vegetable oil- 1/2 cup
White Vinegar- 2 tbsp
Vanilla extract- 2 tsp

Glaze-:
Powdered sugar- 1/2 cup
Pure Maple syrup- 1/4th cup
Almond milk/ soy milk- 1 tsp
Cinnamon- 1/2 tsp

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients. Flour, sugar, cocoa, cinnamon,nutmeg, cloves, salt and baking soda.
• In another bowl whisk together pumpkin puree, water, oil, vinegar and vanilla.
• Mix the wet mixture into dry until thoroughly combined.
• Grease the bundt pan and pour the mixture into it and bake for about an hour. It took me an hour and 10 minutes. So check in an hour and let it sit in oven for few more minutes if needed.
• Place on a cooling rack after letting it hang in the pan itself for a few minutes.
• Mix the glaze ingredients together and pour over the cake.

Recipe Source- Veronica's Cornucopia.

Have A Nice Day Everyone!!

Pumpkin Puris (Bhoplyache gharge)

Chillier days and darker evenings, nice red, golden leaves, pumpkins everywhere, the ghosts and witches and spiders and bats peeking from every house! Oh..I love it. The fall is here..:)

Pumpkin has to be in your grocery list around this time of the year. It's that time of the year!!
These puris go very well with my Green Tomato Chutney, Matar Kurma or Scrambled tofu cauliflower. If you are looking for some rice to go with it, you can try Masalebhat- spiced rice. These sweet puris and Masalebhat really go very well together in one meal.

These puris are headed to Cuisine Delights Monthly Event- Festive Food and Kid's Delight potluck party

Here is what you will need for these gorgeous puris-:

• 1 cup pumpkin puree either canned or fresh, I made my first batch with fresh and the next one with canned puree. The pictured puris are made from canned puree.
• 1/2 cup jaggery/Gul grated
• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp Semolina/ rawa/sooji
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg powder
• 1/2 tbsp Fennel Seeds/ Badishop
• Oil to deep fry the puris- Canola oil/ peanut oil is an excellent choice.

_In a pan mix pumpkin puree and grated Jaggery and turn on the flame.Keep it low and keep stirring the    

  mixture.

_Keeps the mixture stirring until jaggery melts down properly and add nutmeg powder.

_Allow the mixture to cool down.

_After the mixture cools down, add 1/2 a cup of wheat flour and start kneading the dough.

_Add Semolina, fennel seeds and mix everything well.

_Keep adding the rest of the dough until it becomes not to soft and not to stiff. About moderately soft 

  consistency.

_Cover the dough and let it sit for about 15 minutes.

_Divide the dough after 15 minutes into tennis ball size rounds.

_Roll each ball into flat round and deep fry them in hot oil.

_After they cool down, store into air-tight container.

_These puris have a very good shelf life, can be easily stored for about8-10 days. Which means they are 

  great if you are travelling.

Enjoy the colorful fall you all!

SIMPLE PLEASURES -Bhopalyache bharit/ Pumpkin Raita

Ingredients-:

• Pumpkin- cooked
• Ghee (Clarified Butter)
• Cumin Seeds
• Turmeric
• Asafoetida/ hing
• Green Chili
• Roasted Peanut powder
• Salt to taste

Procedure-:

• Cook the pumpkin and then peel it. I used steamer to cook the pumpkin, but you can certainly use the pressure cooker . It becomes easier to peel after it gets cooked. If you want you can peel it and then cook it. That is fine too.

• Mash the pumpkin so that no big lumps are left.
• Tadka preparation- Heat a pan with some ghee in it. Add cumin seeds, green chilies, saute for a minute and add asafoetida, turmeric.
• Add roasted peanut powder.
• Add salt to taste. Pour the tadka over the mashed pumpkin and mix well.