COCONUT FLOUR HALWA

I AM UNABLE TO WRITE MY BLOGPOSTS IN THE MORNINGS!

I am trying to recollect how I could write a blogpost when the school going son was around & now I cannot manage time! It is ridiculous & unbelievable to others that on this day, a sit at home whose son lives elsewhere, who has a full time help as good as Cristine cannot manage time! The entire morning what I do I cannot explain you! Hailing from a disciplined family, I forgot all about the word! Also my brother was never fond of the word, that home too ceased to become time bound! But trust me, I am happily engaged! Today, after arranging two sets of pictures & doing the morning prayer session, I looked at the watch & it was 2:30 pm! I strongly wished to go for a swim, but Thursdays, I usually go for either a massage or a massage+cupping session! Fridays are meant for shopping for the raw produce! Also, I had to go to Kovan for a flower pot, they are cheaper there! The empty ones we have at home are not fitting the purpose! It was pricking heat, also I was off because both the places I go for a neck-shoulder-back massage were fully occupied today! You have a massage parlour at every nook & corner here, but the charges matter to me! My mentality is middle class & I am a miser!

This was the swimming pool which was under construction when I went for my driving classes there in 2016, there beside had a Comfort Delgro Centre! When we shifted from Hougang, I wanted their centre near home but they told me to continue there in Kovan as my start point! I think I have forgotten driving! The construction site you see, there used to be 6-7 nurseries! I have to visit the Katong Flower Market sooner! On my way back, I stopped once at a bus stop, then started walking again & to the massage parlour, did cupping & massage!

WHAT DID I COOK THIS MORNING?

Starting today & for one month; T would eat his breakfast & set out for his office! He would not carry lunch box because he feels awkward to eat in front of his thirsty colleagues! He ate his favourite "dim sheddo-aloo sheddo gola bhaat", later I cooked chirer polao for myself, updated the blogpost! I followed our mother's recipe, only that she does not use turmeric powder! Back home, around 6:30 pm, I ate it with the sugar & milk free Kashmiri Tea! 

I would later share the link of the blogpost, because the son does not eat it, mumma does not wish to make much of noise about it! We love semolina halwa, rajma curry, ghugni too much, I do not get why the son dislikes certain variety of beans! How I resisted myself from treating at least with little something from outside, bypassing the Kovan Mall, one of the biggest in this island was difficult! I bought instead those fruits they are calling tiny Thai Mango!

It is tasting somewhere between Apricot & Mango; the skin tastes that of a mango, the seed too is hairy! Yesterday for dinner, we had fried rice & egg drop curry combo! In the evening, I had to go to meet someone; actually cooked those in the day time!

WHAT IS THIS COCONUT FLOUR HALWA?

This was again the result of a mistake, I was actually trying to cook a gluten-free, vegan malpua / deep fried pancake from the mixture! The mixture I made with coconut flour, rice flour, finger millet / ragi flour! The fennel seed stands testimony of what I say! I simply failed to manage the batter in a pool of hot oil! May be the Almighty did not want me to use that amount of oil on that very day! I am not the kind who would waste such a delicious batter, it was tasting like Satyanarayan er Shinni! I was a primary school goer & the brother a toddler, when our mother had to plead to the landlord to allow their terrace for the purpose, later she could do in her own home! We live in a rented space with no interference from the landlord but this special prayer needs to be done in an open area! I fear to offer Shinni to my God Family, if they get angry? They say, yearly once it is good to have a Satyanarayan Puja at home! The thing is I did not keep the batter to have as Shinni but turned it onto an easy made, vegan, gluten-free warm dessert; COCONUT FLOUR HALWA! It is gooey & low on sweet! One of my favourite childhood breakfast had been to have "chatu-muri-kola-chini_dudh", the Neogy Family gave me big packets sattu / chatu before leaving for Abu Dhabi! I am soon to have my first meals with the above mentioned, may skip the sugar or add a little!

INGREDIENTS :

COCONUT FLOUR : 1 COFFEE MUG

FINGER MILLET FLOUR : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

RICE FLOUR : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

FENNEL SEED : 1 TSP

SUGAR : 4-5 TBSP [I USED BROWN SUGAR]

GREEN CARDAMOM : 3-4

CINNAMON STICK : 2-3 SMALL SIZED

CLOVE : 3-4

BAYLEAF : 1

OIL : 3-4 TBSP [GHEE WOULD IMPART A LOVELY FLAVOUR]

I USED RAISIN, ROASTED PISTACHIO & CASHEW NUT TO GARNISH

PROCEDURE :

Take all the three flours, sugar, fennel seeds in a bowl & whisk well! Add enough to prepare a smooth batter!

Heat the oil in a wok; add the bayleaf, cloves, cinnamon sticks, green cardamoms & give a stir!

Add the mixture to the wok, fold in well & continuously stir at minimal heat! This is the step we need patience in this otherwise easy recipe!

When the dessert is done, the mixture would tend to leave the sides, we would add the roasted dry fruits & mix well, leaving some to garnish!

We would transfer it to a bowl, garnish with the rest of the roasted dry fruits! Having fresh gives us the best taste of it!

 

A RUSTIC COOK'S CINNAMON BUN

 WHAT A LAZY MONDAY IT SEEMS!

I actually have decided not to go out for a walk today, swim instead! If I go out I feel like having my first meal outside! I have my first meal post 4-4:30pm & I am not in the mood to hurriedly write & finish my blogpost in the day time, let me stretch it all day long! Also, the baked cinnamon buns & the paneer tikki are to be done away with today! The situation is such, T would have whatever fancy I cook but he wants it one time! That is right in the sense you cannot serve a homemade fresh bake after three or four days or keep reheating & having a kebab! The thing is how much of less amount I cook, it stays; both T & Cristine are small eaters; I am the one who eats the maximum not wanting to waste! It is 1:05 pm right now, would write until 2 pm & go down for a swim, the weather is sunny! Thereafter, I would have a good shower, do the afternoon prayer & again sit to write with chai or coffee, bun, paneer tikki! I wish to visit those Irani Cafes for the milk tea & bun maska! I may get acidity from the milk tea; but have noticed if it is a masala tea or a ginger tea, I do not get ill in all cases! Does Kolkata have a Parsi Cafe? I would be visiting our city end of April, T has just sent my ticket! What I get is Kolkata has Irani food serving places, not exactly the Irani Cafe chain! I see an Irani Chai place at Howrah! I limit myself to few destinations in Kolkata, the Southern fringe is yet unknown to me; Howrah is a far at sight thing! I do not go too far in the city as I am comfortable taking only public transport there when alone! Yes, Singapore is such a secured place that it robs you of your confidence!

WE LOVE OUR HOME & NEVER GET BORED!

May be because we are happy with our gadgets, T with his television; I with my cell phone! The son too has gone after us; he does party with the friends but not frequently! Mumma was smiling watching him washing his clothes in the evening or the utensils in the dishwasher! I do not believe a dishwasher can clean a "kadai", "korai", "wok" as good as the housemaids in Bengal! Our mother kinds of would not use non-stick woks regular! Rujuta Diwekar has her own line of followers! Rujuta is good! Longtime, I did not visit her stream! But I did make a atta-maida-makki flour mix paratha last night for us; in between all the series & movies we had been watching! 

Roti-Prata is a regular thing in our family; we prefer them with less oil & thin! The multigrain litti I cooked last month caused me stomach ailment! T enjoyed it, I am not that fond of Bati or litti; I have a thing for Middle Eastern Breads; love them all! What I had sometime back are these!

I and Cristine finished off the leftovers, I wished for a sunny side up today! I had all those with the Kashmiri Pink tea! I do not have the specific tea the way they have it; gradually I developed the taste for having it milk & sugar free! After having the huge platter above, I saw the sunny weather turning cloudy, it started to rain with thunders! I made some "muri makha"; had with black, sugar-free coffee! I felt like & ate, thereafter I suffer from guilt, more when I see great bodied men & women around!

You cannot just ask me to sacrifice everything I love? Can you? I would have if my looks & body got me lakhs & crores of rupees! It's okay to share with you my sweaty, odd self else!

I do not exercise enough; had I have, then combined with an intermittent fasting, I would have gotten a well sculpted body! I simply dislike my hanging belly & thunderous thighs; but the love for food is stronger than that hate! I make good "murimakha" but once you add cucumber & tomato to it, the puffed rice loses it's crunch! I prefer roasted peanuts over chanachur in muri!

WHAT IS THIS A RUSTIC COOK'S CINNAMON BUN?

Besides loving to cook rustic, homely Bengali recipes; I enjoy doing simple bakes! If you are expecting an expert baker's expression in these cinnamon buns, you won't be happy! I break the steps of bake into simpler forms as much as possible & use ordinary mediums getting them! But I do them with as much love & sincerity! Look at the number of utensils I washed being used to bake those vegetarian cinnamon buns! 

It was a Sunday & Cristine was not at home! Sunday is usually my free day & I just cannot sit idle! I feel better doing something whilst watching a series or movie! For a couple of years now, I had been watching various videos on the making of cinnamon buns, focaccia, soda breads! I cannot even follow the steps, do's & don'ts mentioned in an ace baker's video or written recipe! I get to be the coolest one whilst taking up a baking project; some days I fail! On days I do a pretty good job, I get it to the blog & name the vegetarian bake A RUSTIC COOK'S CINNAMON BUN! If you fear baking, do along with me a cinnamon bun low on sugar & serve your family the freshest of bread & cake, it need not have the perfection of a renowned bakery, it has to cook well!

INGREDIENTS :

REFINED FLOUR : 1 1/2 COFFEE MUG

ACTIVE DRY BAKER'S YEAST : 11 GM SACHET

LUKEWARM MILK : 1/2 COFFEE MUG

SUGAR : 1 TSP + 2TSP [YOU CAN USE MORE]

SALT : 1/2-1/3 TSP

CINNAMON POWDER : 1TBSP + 1TSP

MELTED BUTTER : 2-3 TBSP [I USED A BIT OF OLIVE OIL TOO]

PROCEDURE :

Take the refined flour+salt in a bowl & mix well! To the lukewarm milk, add the sugar & mix! Stir in the dry yeast & let it rise to double! 

Add 2 tbsp of melted butter, 1 tbsp of olive oil, the liquid to the flour mix & prepare a sticky dough! I required a little of extra lukewarm water!

Cover the dough & keep in a warm place for an hour or little more!

Remove the cover once the dough has doubled! Take it on a floor dusted kitchen top and knead smooth just enough! 

Roll it & dust with cinnamon & sugar, spread well! Roll it tight!

Cut the roll, keeping each piece moderately thick, tap a bit! Grease a container with some butter or oil! Place the uncooked buns in the container!

Mix together the rest of the melted butter & oil, cinnamon powder, sugar & mix well! Brush with it atop the uncooked buns!

Preheat the oven, I used a mini oven toaster! I baked them for 40 minutes at 180*C!

I was more pleased with the outcome of the second batch! Brush the tops with the cinnamon powder+sugar+butter mixture before serving! They taste the best hot & fresh!

ECHOR ER BHARTA

IT IS 6:45PM LOCAL TIME; I HAVE NOT YET WRITTEN A LINE!

I was truly busy all day! In the morning, I went out to shop for the raw materials, but locally! Tomorrow, in the day time I would be cooking, evening I would go out for a chitchat! What I see is, the need for raw produce have lessened! Not that the son ate like a monster; my men in fact are not the kinds who want elaborate meals, they are meat or fish  with pilaf or bread kinds of! It is I who requires "kochur bharta to shojne datar chocchori" besides her meat & fish! I can have a vegetarian meal on this day given I get to cook with my choice of vegetables; I am not fond of beetroot, carrot, bell peppers, zucchini made veggies! I am a rustic Bengali in this matter! I am not really the one who wants to go to an eatery or restaurant for a Bengali meal! I have mental blocks if I am not having boneless fish outside, did they wash the blood well or cleaned the scales properly? How I rebelled when the parents requested me not to eat non-vegetarian meals whilst on travel! T too prefers dry, simple meals while on travel! We are seriously considering Airbnb stays given I cannot have burgers, this & that on each meal! I did enjoy cooking on our last visit, the son staying nearby was a motivation enough! But safety & security can be an issue with Airbnb, it would not be as good as the standard hotels! I wish to travel every three months but T is not that keen at this time, he has responsibilities & he is not fond of short tours! I just look forward to gateways even if for few days!

BACK HOME I DID SOME FRUITFUL JOB!

I updated some older blogposts, may not be always with new clicks but editing the old ones! That takes a lot of time! I ate my first meal post 5:30 pm, okay, I had a low sugar cookie around 4pm, was feeling hungry! Stale kunefe does not taste good, it is to be eaten fresh! Cristine made those sabudana fritters in an appe pan! The drink is "bel-doi er shorbot"!

Yes, it is wrong to have this amount of carb & starch but how can I rob myself of all the happiness? I try to bind myself within the limit of two meals! I could have got better results if I could finish off with the dinner by 7pm but I do not wish to eat before T! I have no idea about the son's schedule, what I saw is he follows no schedule! Mumma is yearning to go this summer; given he is refusing to come over! We would have if we could stay with him; else there is no point! We will pay a huge rent is one thing; we cannot spend as much time with the son even after the expenses is our main concern! The son is at far, I do not have the liberty to keep eating all day; it becomes a challenge at times; that too in a nation that is synonymous with food! A big food fair is going on in our neighbourhood mall!

I think it's of Japanese & Korean food; because I would not eat, I did not see minutely! Not that I always feel like eating these days; T prefers home cooked food! The son who would smile whenever mumma got him food & drinks might have limited his food intake, this thought hurts me! I wish to treat whoever known kids stay here without their parents! It feels a bit good to be able to update few older blogposts, editing the text, pictures; I should have done some homework before starting to blog! 2024 would mark ten years of my blogging; I may not have reached heights of fame nor my blog has got to be an exclusive one but it fills my heart with joy! Through my blog, I get to communicate with many people; virtual connections work good for introverts! The good part is that my family recipes are getting  stored at one place; also the various recipes I have learnt!

WHAT IS THIS ECHOR ER BHARTA?

Echor is raw jackfruit in Bengali; a family favourite vegetable we eat all through the summer & then comes it's ripe form! Many Bengalis may not prefer it's ripe avatar but a spicy treat with raw jackfruit is favourite with even a vegetable hater! It is a good alternative to meat & is called "gach patha", vegetarian meat among us! I cook spicy  to even light curries with tomato using young jackfruits! These days, they are sold skin off in the markets! In our childhood, how tough it was for our mothers to cut the hard cover of it, then dressing it! I believe its totally worth the effort! This vegan, gluten-free recipe I cooked using raw jackfruit & potato with a good dosage of onion & spice powders; can be a delightful side dish; I named it ECHOR ER BHARTA! It is just a little aberration from the regular curry, using normal Bengali kitchen ingredients!

INGREDIENTS :

RAW JACKFRUIT : 300-400 GM

POTATO : 1 LARGE

SLICED ONION : A SMALL BOWLFUL

SLITTED GREEN CHILLI : 3-4

CUMIN POWDER : 1 TSP

CORIANDER POWDER : 1/2 TSP

RED CHILLI POWDER : 1 TSP

DRY MANGO POWDER : 1/2 TSP

TURMERIC POWDER : 1 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

BAY LEAF : 1

CUMIN SEED : 1/4 TSP

DRY RED CHILLI : 1 OR 2 HALVED

PROCEDURE :

We get cut raw jackfruit these days is true; yet there is much of dressing to do! We would cube them, throw off the yellow coverage of the seeds, the hard mid section! We would do it rubbing oil in both of our palms! The raw fruit releases a sticky gum like thing!

We would wash it well; also peel & cut half the potatoes! We would take both the washed vegetables in a pressure cooker; add half of the turmeric, some salt & enough water! We would close tight the lid & pressure cook at minimal heat unto 2-3 whistles & switch off the gas stove!

Once cool, we would open the lid, strain the water! We would use a masher or use our right hand palm to mash the boiled vegetables but not totally!

We would heat the oil in a wok & temper with the cumin seeds, dry red chillies, slitted green chillies, bay leaf! We would give a stir & add the washed sliced onion!

We would stir fry the onions until brown & add the mashed vegetables! We would add the cumin powder, coriander powder, chilli powder, the rest of the turmeric powder! We would fold in well & keep stirring!

After 5-6 minutes of stir cooking at low heat, we would add the dry mango powder, adjust the salt! We would fold in well & stir for another 2-3 minutes!

We should be done! It goes well with both piping hot steamed rice & hot chapatis or paratha!

 

BROCCOLI KAJU KISHMISH DIYE CHITOI PITHA

 IT IS 12:45 PM AT THIS TIME, I FELT LET ME WRITE MY BLOGPOST!

I had been thinking since last night, if I have my first meal post 4:30pm; mostly outside of home, why cannot I go out of home at that time, have my food, sit in the eatery for sometime or in any bench underneath a tree or at a bus stop for sometime & then do the walking ; head back home by 7:30pm-8pm? Even if I come at 10pm, no one would say anything! T & T's television make a good pair, Cristine is there to provide cheese & whisky or beer, cigarettes! If the world leaders could think above the earnings for their respective nations & ban tobacco altogether, I would have been the happiest person! I remain in constant fear about the son picking up such bad habits from his father; because my brother has taken up! Two to three years back I used to write my blogposts in the daytime right? What made me shift it to the evenings I do not remember! Since childhood, I had been an unmindful person at home, in the roads, everywhere! With age, the condition aggravated! I cannot remember most of the things or I may have a selective memory, I remember what I want to! T thinks the last one holds true! I have never known the son's assessment of his mother, his secretive self gets on my nerves! I never push him away, though I feel frustrated at times. This I have learnt from my mother, to remain loyal to one's children, this got her a good life! Also, the father lived his life in his own terms & made a happy exit! His daughter-in-law loved him more than a daughter can! What else could my parents ask for; given they were too middle-class without any aspirations! 

WHAT ARE MY PLANS TODAY?

Nothing as such! It may not be just another Monday for me, cannot be but I tremendously dislike going gaga about specific dates in social media! It causes too much of an irritation in me these days! Aging might be a reason & we continuously keep evolving! In my case; I have seen, the more I age, more I feel keep aloof from what does not suit me! I try to keep my cool in most of the cases, though I think I need to work more in this area! Today morning, I made some humble chapati to go with the reheated pointed gourd & potato curry; people got mango too! I would have one small chapati with the curry, then go out & have coffee or tea with little something sitting in a food court! That's for a happier self! Next, I wish to do brisk walk, come back home & share this Bengali recipe in different forums! Thereafter, we would have a choice of dinner with "pabda mach, shutki mach er torkari, dal"; the day demands us to have homely Bengali Food! In fact, I have at least ten to twelve authentic Bengali rustic recipes one of which could have been shared today! But something is stopping me from sharing those! What I share has to be Bengali in essence, a bit modified so I can say; okay world, you can go & cook, have it!

WHAT IS THIS BROCCOLI KAJU KISHMISH DIYE CHITOI PITHA?

Pitha is a Bengali term which can be pancakes to fritters; steamed or fried! Not I but the wiki translates it as this! As a Bengali, I am not even bothered about analysing what it means, winter is just synonymous with "pithe-puli" among us, the forefathers brought with them the skill of making a wide variety of them! I see the present day Bangladesh making even more variety of pitha / savoury & sweet pancakes, dumpling, fritters! I appreciate that they are versatile with regards to having those; like with vegetarian & non-vegetarian sides! But in our family, pitha making is strictly a vegetarian affair! I am unwilling to break that rule as of now! This particular recipe of Pitha is almost oil-free, how beautiful it sounds; minimal oil pancakes? To have those  pancakes for your breakfast, you would not mind a bit of rice intake, may I say that? To it's original self, I have made some inputs adding broccoli, chopped raisins & cashew nuts to the batter, call it fusion food! Also, I have used store bought rice flour for the purpose whilst traditionally soaking, half drying & grinding the rice is  demanded! But I was trying a simplified recipe, also wished to be more & more inclusive today! There are a couple of YouTube videos I consulted who insisted store bought rice flour would get the same fluffy mid section without using cooked rice paste! But I could not get the desired fluffier middle in all of them but they were soft on the top with a crisp bottom as chitoi pitha / savoury Bengali rice cakes should be! Then, who can stop me from sharing this vegan, gluten-free, savoury snack on stovetop; BROCCOLI KAJU KISHMISH DIYE CHITOI PITHA? The following were my first meals today & wow, I baked a cake too!

The middle picture is of Kueh Pie Tee, I loved the taste filled with turnip, eggs & a chilli sauce!

INGREDIENTS :

RICE FLOUR : 1 1/2 COFFEE MUG

FINELY CHOPPED BROCCOLI : 1 MEDIUM TEA CUP [I USED SHREDDER]

FINELY CHOPPED GREEN CHILLI : 1 TBSP

CHOPPED RAISIN : 2 TSP

CHOPPED CASHEW NUT : 2 TSP

CRUSHED BLACKPEPPER : 1/2 TSP

BAKING POWDER : 1/3 TSP

SALT : AS REQUIRED

OIL : 1 TBSP + A LITTLE TO BRUSH

PROCEDURE :

We would wash the broccoli well & mince or shred the heads using whatever suits us! We would also mince the washed green chillies, chop the cashew nuts & raisins!

In a bowl we would take the rice flour & salt, mix well! We would gradually add lukewarm water to get a consistency of batter which would not be paste like, neither runny! We would keep it covered for sometime!

We would remove the cover & add the broccoli bits, chopped green chillies, chopped raisins & cashew nuts & mix well! Thereafter, we would add the baking powder, crushed black pepper & oil, fold in well!

Now, the batter is ready to cook!

We would heat the wok, a deep, round one & brush with a little of oil! The wok needs to be really hot to cook them! 

We would pour a standard sized round spoonful & cover immediately! Each one may take 2-3-4 minutes to cook! The  cooking should be done at medium to low heat, given the wok is really hot!

For every 2-3 rice pancakes, brush the wok centre with oil! Serve & have them fresh & hot!

These rice cakes are meant to rise more at the centre, but mine were really soft at the top & crisp at the bottom! Also, the authentic recipe do not ask for adding any extra ingredients in the batter! 

You can go ahead with mine & enjoy with any curry, sauce, chutney, pickle! I served T with mayo & sour-spicy mango pickle, I had them with a sweet mango pickle!

LEFTOVER BREAD DUMP CAKE

 

I WAS OUT ALL DAY TODAY!

..... And it had been a fulfilling venture! Cristine & I went out for an urgent piece of work there to the East Coast! We took the yellow line to Paya Lebar MRT & from there to Bedok through the green line; the train would run overhead in this area! This way I did take to the son's school, it seems it was just yesterday! From the Bedok MRT we took bus number 196 & look where we reached! Who is the guy in red t-shirt? Joseph Schooling, the gold winning Olympian swimmer! The black car is his! Our friend was just taking me to him for a selfie but he hurried towards the lift! They told us he is too down to the earth & greets whenever they see him in the lift or elsewhere! These are the oldest condominium style with spacious flats & common portico here! A lot of chair holders at the ministry level stay there!

Cristine's ma'am does not really like taking close ups, her greying eyelashes & eyebrows get visible & also the aging skin! She feels a bit sad about the greying part, her hair she is dyeing for two decades now, ever since her prince was born! I had a brief chat with our friends sipping the tea, whilst Cristine was enjoying her coffee! We could go yesterday, us couple in a car ride but T wanted Cristine to locate their home! On our way back, we took a bus again to the Bedok MRT & I took another bus to the Hougang Central & Cristine took train back home! For me, it would mean two change overs & I wished to be done with the work there today, to visit Kushi's Parlour for my facial hair trimming & and hair trimming! Due to chemical treatment for perming & then straightening, regular colouring, my hairs got totally dry & spoilt! The friends' home seemed too quiet today, the kids were in school! I and T have less of romantic liaison but I simply love the weekend evening trips with him whether to any friend's place or for a dine out! I would always want to go for outing with the man & the son; until the son's partner expresses displeasure, we can, na? 

I RARELY TAKE BUS RIDES HERE!

.... It was fun but! Except for the busy hours, they remain empty almost! Once I reached the known area, got a glimpse of Vincent's chamber, I was at peace! The Hougang Bus Interchange was an everyday affair between 2012-2016! We left but I keep going there regular! I am soon to walk through the Punggol river side & sing along my favourite Bollywood numbers or listen to Beethoven, his Fur Elise; piano is such class! I felt hungry & had that almond flaky pastry at the Hougang Interchange! Thereafter, had the haircut at a salon, again run by two women I have had a cut from quite number of times! Then, I bought some fruits for the girls at Kushi's; had my eyebrows, upper lips & chin cleaned! Then I had that ghee paper masala dosa & teh-o-kosong at an Indian stall! This is a Malaysian-Indian stall, yet the dosa was really paper thin & tasty but the sambar & chutney were not praiseworthy! I had the best chutneys & sambar at the Arya Bhawan, an Andhra Pradesh themed AC eatery!

But dosa causes me acidity, though I liked it! When I wish to have something, I would not care about the calorie intake! Just outside our back gate, every afternoon these kids would play! I enjoy watching, even in India this is the scenario! But our son would not want to go ever! As a child he did for sometime, he was different & others would troll him; he would run back home crying! Perhaps he loved his mother's warm & over protective lap! I know, in those days, he felt secured in his mother's lap, I do not mind if I did wrong parenting; my child grew up loving home so much so that not a single day during the pandemic he complained of boredom; he just enjoyed ordering food from outside!

It is 8:20 pm now & I have just taken another round of shower! In our families, we must take a shower after a hair cut! I sat on the couch for an hour as I did an oil massage, that too we are not supposed to but head on to the toilet! I am feeling too fresh!

I have taught all these to the son, do not know if he follows or not! At night, we would have dinner with "pepe diye magur mach er jhol, tomato-dhonepata musher dal, aloo-bellpepper bhaji"! In the past few months, I was having a lot of carbs, my blood sugar level increased! I thought doing an 18 hours of intermittent fasting gets me that liberty, but no, it does not work that way! I have limited the rice & roti, sugar intake but cannot denounce them!

WHAT IS THIS LEFTOVER BREAD DUMP CAKE?

Although I would ask you to use leftover bread slices, I have used the soda bread I cooked few days back! I felt it was just not right! I would not throw it off either! In the process of experimentation, I ended up cooking this vegetarian baked dessert LEFTOVER BREAD DUMP CAKE! I did it in few easy steps, I am not a pro-baker! I have used my newly bought mini-toaster oven! I did one for us & another for a friends' family, for their kids actually! 

In the process, the entire Sunday morning was gone; I forgot to click our fish & rice lunch! I did not get outside food unwilling to change & go out! T has to agree to move this body from the couch over the weekend, that he hates! Our dinner yesterday was that! I prefer making such thin chapatis! About this easy cook dump cake, not exactly a dump cake either; except for the few ingredients, I used a sugar-free orange marmalade, that I felt multiplied the taste!

INGREDIENTS :

LEFTOVER BREAD SLICE : 10-12

EVAPORATED CREAMER : 250 ML

ORANGE MARMALADE : A FEW SCOOP

SUGAR : 1/4 SMALL TEA CUP [I USED BROWN SUGAR]

FRUIT SALT : 1 TBSP [I USED THE ORIGINAL ENO]

VANILLA ESSENCE : 1 TSP

OIL : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

I GARNISHED WITH TOASTED & GROUND PISTACHIO

PROCEDURE :

I prepared a batter with pieces of leftover bread, oil, sugar! I poured it in a bowl & added the fruit salt & vanilla essence! I folded in well! 

I like hassle free cooking, placed a brown paper bowl in the cake tin! Then, I poured half of the batter! Thereafter, I added few scoops of sugar-free orange marmalade on it! I then tapped the tin a bit on the kitchen counter!

Thereafter, I added the rest of the batter, added few more scoops of sugar-free orange marmalade & tapped on the counter again!

I preheated the mini toaster oven at 180*C for 10 minutes; placed the cake tin on the tray & baked at 180*C for 40 minutes or little more! Every machine differ, you have to set the time through test & trial!

We liked the supremely yum dessert, be it warm or chilled!