Mango and Coconut Scone

Now that we are well into spring, the grocery stories are overflowing with fresh fruit and vegetables. I picked up some assorted fruits and my mind was on baking.

Cakes, muffins or scones?

Scones are undoubtedly one of my favorite snack.  While I frequently bake cherry or cranberry scones, I have never baked mango scones. This seemed to be the perfect time to experiment with baking a mango scone.

I have a standard healthy recipe for scones I use. and here is the version adapted for a mango scone.

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 stick  butter (or add more for a flaky scone)
1 cup buttermilk
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamon powder
1 mango, peeled and diced
1/2 cup + a little more coconut flakes
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder,cardamon powder,  and salt. Use a pastry blender to cut in the cold butter or use your hands to mix in. Add buttermilk and mix in. Fold in diced mango and coconut flakes and pecans and mix gently into a ball.

Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a  circle and 1/2 in thick slab and cut into triangles or scoop 1-2 tbsp onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper.  Brush with some melted butter and sugar crystals (optional). Bake for 10-12 minutes. Makes about 12 scones.

Enjoy a warm scone with some butter or jam or as is with a nice cuppa tea or coffee. Or Glaze with some mango flavored icing for a sweeter scone.

If not ready to eat, you can  freeze the scones in a freezer bag. When ready to eat remove from freezer and let it return to room temperature or pop it in a microwave for 10-15 seconds and it is ready to eat!

Note: I tend to use less sugar and less butter. For a sweeter and more flaky scone adjust sugar and butter to suit your personal preference.

A Very Berry Dessert

Summer is  just around the corner. And this is the perfect, easy dessert if you have a sweet tooth and a craving for a chilled dessert!

I saw this  a few days ago, and it seemed the perfect answer to my cravings….

Ingredients:

Dates,  pitted
1/2 carton coconut milk
Berries (I had fresh organic strawberries)
Maple Syrup
Coconut Oil
Vanilla Paste, if you have some

I used mini ramekin, but you can make it into a Vegan Cheesecake. Go here for the full recipe. This reminded me of the Mini Cherry Crumbles

Enjoy!

Mango and Cranberry Cake

It’s fall and cranberries are available in abundance in grocery stories. I picked up a box of them this week and the first thought in my mind was to make cake with mango!

So…. here goes…

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup almond meal
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 mango diced
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup milk

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix flour, almond meal, salt and baking powder. In a separate bowl whisk sugar and eggs until thick. Add essence. Fold in melted butter and milk and whisk together. Add to dry ingredients and mix well.

Set aside a handful of cranberries and add the rest to the batter along with the diced mango. Optionally can add some walnuts. Mix well. Pour into a well greased baking pan. Arrange the remaining cranberries on top of the cake batter.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm with a dollop of ice cream or whipped cream or stand alone with some warm spicy chai.

See Also:

Apricot and Cranberry Cake
Cranberry Pumpkin Loaf
Whole Wheat Cranberry Orange Loaf
Cranberry Orange Bread
Cherry Cake

Green Mango and Coconut Chutney

It has been a dreary Saturday with rain on and off and grey skies. Times such as those, it is comforting to stay indoors, tucked away with good books to read, a warm cup of tea or coffee and endearing comfort food.

South Indian chutneys are made following a very similar recipe. The same recipe works great with mango only, coconut only or a combination of the two. Any coconut chutney is best with fresh coconut kernel. But breaking a coconut shell and extracting the kernel can be a cumbersome process. The next best, is to use frozen coconut.

Ingredients:
1 green mango
1 cup grated or chopped coconut
1 cube jaggary or 1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
8-10 dry red chillies
a few curry leaves
1 jalapeno (optional)
some cilantro
touch of turmeric
touch of asafoetida
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a pan. Add turmeric and asafoetida. Add cumin and mustard seeds, toor dal and red chillies and fry till lightly brown. Add curry leaves and fry for a few more seconds. Set aside.

Peel the mango and chop into pieces. If using fresh coconut, cut and extract the coconut and chop into pieces. Add mango, coconut, jalapeno, cilantro, jaggary (or sugar) and red chillies and process in a food processor with a little water until blended into a smooth mixture.

Remove from food processor. Add salt and mix well. Add the fried cumin, mustard and urad dal and mix well. Garnish with some chopped cilantro and serve with some warm rice or roti or dosa.

A. Soup. A. Week. Spicy Lentil and Chard Greens in Coconut Milk

Like mango, coconut is another of my favorite fruit/vegetables. It is found in abundance in India. While shredded coconut is used in curries, kichidi and dal, one of my favorites is chutney. In southern India, most houses in addition to mango trees have coconut trees. Drinking coconut juices in summertime is cooling and refreshing.

February’s theme it seems was coconut. Maybe it was my trip to the tropical paradise, The Bahamas or the simple fact that I crave mango and coconut and devour anything that has mango, and coconut. And guess what this past weekend what do I see at my favorite store Trader Joes, but these assorted mango and coconut goodies!

This week’s soup has lentils, greens and coconut. Can’t go wrong with that. I almost felt tempted to add some mango! This is adapted from The Sprouted Garden. I came across this a few months ago. Remember the  coconut oil that I bought? It was for this soup recipe 🙂

Cardamon is another very typical Indian spice that is extensively used in sweets and spice mixes in curries and other recipes. And gives this soup a very refreshing aroma!

Ingredients:
1 cup lentils
A handful of swiss chard greens (or any other greens spinach or kale)
1  cup coconut milk whole preferably
1 yellow onion chopped
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cardamon
1 tsp turmeric or curry powder
a few pepper flakes
salt and fresh ground black pepper
roasted or plain coconut flakes to garnish
juice of one lemon or orange
cilantro to garnish

Soak lentils for 6-8 hours. I usually soak mine over night. Soaking longer doesn’t do any harm.

Bring lentils, 3 cups of broth or water and curry powder (or tumeric) to a boil.Reduce to medium low and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil in a pan. Add chopped onion and fry till lightly brown. Add spices – cinnamon, cardamon, nutmeg, and fresh pepper flakes.

Transfer the onion and spice mix to the lentils. Add coconut milk, lemon (or orange) juice and shard greens. For a creamier look use whole coconut milk. I did end up using a mix of whole and some light coconut milk. Add salt and fresh ground black pepper. Mix well and keep for 5-10 minutes until the greens wilt. Serve warm with some chopped cilantro and roasted or plain coconut flakes. Makes 4 servings.

A. Soup. A. Week. Tropical Red Lentil and Raw Green Mango

Mangoes! Coconuts! Pineapples! Bananas! Tropics! Yes!

The last few weeks, I have been busy. But also pre-occupied with my up coming trip to the tropics. The Bahamas!

You can read all about my Bahamas adventures on my flying blog. In celebration of that, I have been concocting this tropical theme soup recipe. Okay I didn’t use pineapples or bananas. But come to think of it, using pineapples is not a bad idea.

In my mind it is a sacrilege to use a raw green mango in anything else other than Mango dal or Mango chutney or pickle. So I had my doubts on how this would turn out and whether I would regret it. But let me put your mind to rest. It was delicious!

Ingredients
1.5 cups red lentils
1 raw green mango chopped
1 cup coconut milk
1 large carrot chopped
2 celery sticks chopped
1/2 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
a small piece of ginger minced
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp red cayenne pepper
touch of turmeric
salt to taste
some chopped cilantro to garnish
some coconut flakes to garnish
1-2 tbsp oil
4-5 cups of broth or water

Heat a large pot or dutch oven. Add oil and onions, garlic and ginger and fry lightly for 5 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add chopped mangoes, carrots and celery and fry lightly for another minute or two. Add coconut milk, 4-5 cups of  broth or water, turmeric, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce flame, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.

If you like your soup in puree form, you can puree it after cooling.I like mine chunky and left it so. If you like coconut milk you can certainly add another cup while cooking.

Garnish with some chopped cilantro, coconut flakes and a dash of cayenne pepper. Serve warm and enjoy a touch of the tropics on a cold winter’s day!

Coconut Chutney

There are many variations to the coconut chutney and each variation is designed to suit a particular dish it is eaten with. Traditionally the coconut chutney is a must have side dish with idli, vada, and dosa. But  it can also be eaten with rice.

Ingredients
1/2 Fresh coconut (grated or cut into small pieces)
some fresh cilantro
a few fresh curry leaves
3-4 dry red chillies
1 fresh green jalapeno
1/4 cup peanuts (or Roasted dal)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
a little fenugreek seeds
1 tsp oil

Wash and cut half a fresh coconut and set aside. In a pan roast the peanuts until lightly brown and set aside. Add a little oil to the pan and add a touch of asafoetida, turmeric powder, red chillies, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and fenugreek. Once the mustard seeds start cracking, add fresh curry leaves and remove from stove after a few seconds.  Remove only the fried red chilies and together with the coconut, roasted peanuts, cilantro, jalapeno (optional) and some tamarind (juice, paste or fresh soaked in a little water to soften it) blend in a wet grinder until all are smoothly blended into almost a paste. A tsp sugar can be added as well. Remove from blender and mix in the remaining fried seasoning.  

The same recipe can be used without peanuts to make just coconut chutney and eaten with rice.