Berry quick muffins!

Sarah’s school opens in sixteen days, that is about seven days to be precise, but sixteen because that is her favorite number for the past couple of days or so we are told. She is so looking forward to seeing her bosom pals again and to saying Hello to her teacher Ms. Charcie whom she plans to adopt someday.

Before we fall back into the school year routine (she is going to pre-school, I know we are not even half way there as far as routines go), we thought of catching up on necessary life sustaining skills and made some berry quick muffins together.

This is a recipe any three year old kid can make, with a little bit of help from adults. These muffins are only mildly sweet, superfast to put together, and splendid to eat warm out of the oven, with a dab of butter on top. We had so much fun making them, and my child says that she will be making it again.

Blueberry quick muffins

Recipe 

Whole wheat flour – 2 cups
Blueberries – 1 cup
Sugar – ½ cup
Salt – ½ tsp
Baking powder – 3 tbsp
Butter – ¼ cup- melted
Egg –slightly beaten – 1
Milk – 1 cup

Heat oven to 350C. Lightly butter a muffin pan (regular size/12 muffin cups per pan) Mix 1 ¾ cup of flour with baking powder, sugar and salt. Add milk, melted butter, and egg to the flour mixture. Combine everything together with a wooden spoon until just combined, do not over mix. Now sprinkle 1/4 cup flour over berries, gently toss to coat. Add the berries to the batter, gently fold in. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups till about 3/4th full. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or till a toothpick inserted at the center of the muffins comes out clean. Keep the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Unmold, serve warm with a dollop of butter or enjoy after the muffins cool down. 

Substitute blueberries with peaches, mangoes, other berries etc. 

This recipe is adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook

8 comments Cakes and Cookies, Desserts

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Sweet potatoes (or is it yam?) and green peas curry

Can’t tell a sweet potato from a yam? I can’t either, you have company! Every year around Thanksgiving someone will brief me about how to and why, which I dutifully forget by the time spring arrives. One of the life lessons about vegetable curries that I have learned after moving here is that you are never actually limited by the options around you. You can make anything out of anything, that’s it, thank you!!! 

Here is a curry that we often make with sweet potatoes/yams assuming that these are pumpkins (where we live, pumpkins are not hard to find, I must add). This is made based on a simple “Mallu” logic that a curry concocted with ground coconut mixed in and topped with more toasted coconut cannot go wrong. Adding caramelized onions at the end makes it very special and sets it apart from the formidable Erissery.

Recipe

Sweet potatoes cut into chunks – 4 cups

Cooked green peas – 2 cups

Onions chopped – ½ cup

Grated coconut – 3/4 cup + 1/2 cup

Green chilies – 2 nos (to your taste)

Cumin – ¼ tsp.

Curry leaves – ¼ cup

Turmeric – ¼ tsp.

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp.

Salt – to taste

Add sweet potatoes to a stew pot, sprinkle with half the amount of turmeric and ¼ tsp. salt. Add 1 ½ cups of water, mix well and cook till the pieces are tender. Then add the cooked green peas, adjust salt if needed, turn the heat to low. Grind 3/4 cup of coconut, green chilies, half of cumin and the remaining turmeric to a coarse paste. Add it to the cooked potatoes, and cook for 2 more minutes at low heat. Turn off the heat. Heat 1 tbsp. of Oil in a pan. When the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. When the seeds stop spluttering, add chopped onion and sauté till golden brown. Now add the remaining 1/2 cup of grated coconut, curry leaves, cumin and toast till the coconut turns golden brown. Turn off the heat and add the seasoning to the curry. Mix well and serve with rice or enjoy it as such.

8 comments Curries, Indian, Kerala

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