Moong Dal Halwa / Ashoka Halwa

Halwa is a gelatinous-looking Indian sweet that's chewy and rich with ghee (clarified butter). It takes a bit of elbow grease to continuously stir a few simple ingredients until they come together into a blob that is really tasty despite its initial appearance in the pan. Halwa usually takes a lot of ghee to make sure it doesn't stick to the pan while cooking. Consequently, it commonly oozes with ghee and contributes to the overall taste. 

In this version, the moong beans takes significantly lesser amount of ghee and labor. This is a quick and tasty sweet that's sure to please! And it’s also a festive dessert on occasions like Diwali. 

No-Bake Chocolate-Orange Cheesecake

No-bake cheesecakes are the easier version of ice-cream cake, in my opinion. I tried this version as a birthday cake for my husband last year. Despite the lackluster "finish", it was appreciated and relished. I tried to skimp on the "fat", and the consistency of the filling suffered as a result. If you're going for a cheesecake, just go with the full fat versions of cheese/cream, or compromise on how the cake appears :).

Eggless Dried Fruits & Nuts Loaf

It's often difficult to make the case that a baked treat is reasonably healthy to consume without guilt. When the treat comes studded with an array of nuts and dried fruits, has no butter/oil (we will ignore the fat from the nuts for now ;)), has a relatively low quantity of refined sugar, and just enough flour to bind the nuts and fruits together, it's slightly easier to convince even the hardened skeptic.

This loaf/bread fits the bill nicely, in my opinion. It has a far greater ratio of nuts and fruits compared to sugar and flour. It is mildly sweet, and is dense with a good dose of fruits and nuts. One slice of it would make a satisfying breakfast, a mid-afternoon snack, and would even come in handy during long hikes.

Eggless Orange Cookies

Citrus based desserts have a special place in my family. I'd been wanting to try orange cookies for a really long time, and I finally made time to bake some early this year.

They burst with the aromatic flavor of orange, and are chewy and soft inside. Also, incredibly easy to make a quick batch in no time at all!

Eggless Mango Saffron Muffins with Pistachios

These cupcakes are a slight twist to a tried, tested, and much appreciated recipe for eggless mango cake.

Saffron and cardamom are added to most Indian desserts. Although they are added together, they complement each other beautifully without overshadowing or competing for their individual flavors. However, I feel the underlying dish loses its inherent flavor in the midst of these two strong spices. Since the flavor of mango deserves to stand-out, I suggest adding a hint of either cardamom or saffron to amplify the flavor quotient of the overall dish while still preserving the inherent taste of the fruit and spice. Since I have tried the cake version of this recipe with cardamom, I added saffron and pistachios this time.