Soulful Creations

the creativity of this month's Daring Bakers challenge. By virtue of its simplicity it provides us bakers with a wide-range of opportunity to explore our creative side. Go on over to the daring kitchen site listed below to check out and vote for some amazing concoctions! The April 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Evelyne of the blog Cheap Ethnic Eatz . Evelyne chose to challenge everyone to make a maple mousse in an edible container. Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 27th to May 27th at http://thedaringkitchen.com ! As for me, I decided to keep it simple- my edible container was a vegan mocha cupcake which I filled with this extremely light and mildly sweet maple mousse. Vegan maple mousse Ingredients 1 package (12 oz.) soft silken tofu ¾ cup (14 fluid oz.) pure maple syrup 2 tsp agar-agar 2 tbsp dark brown sugar Method Let tofu come to room temperature. Using a food pro...

Methi/ Fenugreek, a relatively under-utilized herb that belongs to the Fabaceae family, a family with more famous members such as chick peas, peanuts and alfalfa (the poor methi does not stand a chance now, does it?). Despite having its roots in the Mediterranean region, this herb is widely used in Indian cuisine and I guess this is not really surprising given that India is the largest producer of fenugreek.  Sources: wiki , spice pages The recipe for this lovely sambar comes from Shyamala's blog- I did not change much here.   Ingredients 1/2 cup toor/tuvar dal Fresh methi (fenugreek greens), leaves and tender stems chopped finely 1 onion, sliced thin 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 medium tomato, chopped 1.5 tsp tamarind paste dissolved in 4 cups water 2 tsp oil 1/3 tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp mustard seeds 1 tsp cumin 1/4 tsp asafoetida powder 2 tsp (heapful of homemade powder) sambar powder 1 tbsp rice flour 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish Method: Pressur...