EgglessCooking.com | Eggless Recipes | Eggless Baking » pumpkin http://www.egglesscooking.com Great collection of Eggless Recipes under one roof. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:21:55 +0000 en hourly 1 AFAM – Pumpkin Roundup http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/11/03/afam-pumpkin-roundup/ http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/11/03/afam-pumpkin-roundup/#comments Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:57:08 +0000 Madhuram http://www.egglesscooking.com/?p=1092 Find here a collection of pumpkin recipes categorized by courses such as soups, side-dish, sauces/condiments, light meals and desserts. All these recipes were tried, tested and recommended.]]> Good Morning friends! Hope to start this new week with more energy and vigor after the past two weeks’ crazy schedule. First, I want to apologize to some of the bloggers for not having acknowledged their entries for the AFAM event immediately. As I mentioned in my previous post I was so busy with baking and other stuff and fell sick because of that. Anyway back to normal now and I’m thrilled to do the round up of AFAM-Pumpkin. Of course, again my husband came to my rescue and did the round up for me. This is the first time I have received so many entries for an event hosted by me. So thank you very much buddies for all your enthusiastic participation.

Here is the list of pumpkin recipes that I have received for this event and categorized as follows:

Share/Bookmark]]> http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/11/03/afam-pumpkin-roundup/feed/ 23 Vegan Pumpkin Cookies http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/10/29/vegan-pumpkin-cookies/ http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/10/29/vegan-pumpkin-cookies/#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:54:20 +0000 Madhuram http://www.egglesscooking.com/?p=1063 Hi, everybody! Hope you all had a wonderful and safe Deepavali! I’ve been very busy for the past couple of days. Last week it was my son’s turn to provide snacks for his classmates at pre-school. It was for 2 days actually. So I baked Eggless Brownie Cupcakes using flax [...]]]>
Vegan Pumpkin Cookies

Hi, everybody! Hope you all had a wonderful and safe Deepavali! I’ve been very busy for the past couple of days. Last week it was my son’s turn to provide snacks for his classmates at pre-school. It was for 2 days actually. So I baked Eggless Brownie Cupcakes using flax seed meal (I’ll post it shortly) and vegan pumpkin cookies. The next day was my husband’s birthday and I baked a cake for him. All this baking really made me very tired and nauseous. I realised that too much of anything is not good. I really wonder how people work in bakeries!

If this was not enough, I had a presentation in my son’s school about Diwali on the 27th. My mother suggested sharing some traditional sweets and snacks with the kids. So she prepared Coconut Burfi and I helped her in preparing the Maida biscuits. I don’t know the actual name for the maida biscuits, it’s mixing all purpose flour, salt, crushed cumin and black pepper and making it into a dough, just like making chapathi dough. Then divide the dough into small balls, roll each ball as thin as possible and cut them into small diamonds using a knife and deep fry them.

As for the coconut burfi, I asked my mother to follow Anjali’s recipe. We usually prepare burfis from fresh coconut, which is a big process. You have to grate the coconut without the skin etc. But her method looked so simple using store bought dessicated coconut. So my mother first tried a little and we were definitely skeptical about the taste, but to our surprise it came out very good and tasted like the traditional coconut burfi. The only change my mother made was she powdered half the measurement of coconut and kept the other half as it is, which gave a good texture to the burfis. Also she used cardamom powder because we did not have the kesar masala milk extract. So she went ahead and prepared a big batch of burfis for the school. Thank you very much Anjali for this simple yet tasty recipe, everybody in the school liked it.

Now let’s see the recipe for the pumpkin cookies I was talking about. I got this recipe from The Taste of Home Baking Book. The original recipe by itself was vegan, so I didn’t have to worry about egg substitution. The cookies came out very well. If you like chewy pumpkin cookies, you should try this recipe. The recipe also had instructions for frosting, since I was baking them for kids I omitted it. I didn’t want them to become hyper-active in the class later.

Ingredients
Shortening – 1/2 cup (I used Crisco, All-Vegetable Shortening)
Sugar – 1 cup
Pumpkin puree – 1 cup (Not pumpkin pie filling, simply canned pumpkin puree, or you may also choose to buy fresh pumpkin and cook it)
Vanilla Extract – 1 teaspoon (I use Trader Joes, Pure Vanilla flavor, Alcohol Free)
All Purpose Flour – 2 cups
Baking Powder – 1 teaspoon
Baking Soda – 1 teaspoon
Ground Cinnamon – 1 teaspoon (I made it 1/2 teaspoon)
Salt – a dash
Raisins – 1 cup

Frosting (Optional)

Butter – 2 tablespoons (Vegans can use Earth Balance or any other Soy products)
Confectioner’s Sugar – 1 and 1/2 cups
Milk – 2 tablespoons (For vegan version use soy milk instead)
Vanilla Extract – 1 teaspoon

Step-by-Step Procedure 1. In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add pumpkin and vanilla.

3. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix well.

5. Fold in raisins.

6. Drop by teaspoonfuls (I used 1/2 tablespoon measurement to scoop the dough) 2 in. apart onto greased baking sheets.

7. Preheat the oven at 350F for 15 minutes. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Mine took exactly 14 minutes for the batch which I baked in an aluminum baking sheet. The dark non stick baking sheet batch began to brown at 12 minutes itself. So watch closely.

8. Remove to wire racks to cool.

For Frosting:
1. Melt butter in a small saucepan.

2. Stir in the sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth.

3. Frost cooled cookies.

My Notes 1. Since this was my first experience with shortening, when I began to cream it with sugar I was sure that the cookies would not bake properly, because it does not cream like softened butter and sugar. Shortening is more solid than butter, even at room temperature, so even after creaming it with a hand held electric mixer for more than 7-8 minutes, it was sort of in a semi solid state. Or maybe that’s what is light and fluffy, I do not know. But anyway I proceeded with the recipe, but the cookies did bake good enough.

2. I think either using freshly prepared pumpkin puree or adding some more liquid (like milk/soymilk) if using canned pumpkin would make the cookies even more light and crispy. I used the canned puree and it’s solid packed, so it does not have enough moisture. Already the creamed mixture did not release any moisture and the pumpkin puree also was solid, so the cookie dough was stiff. I was literally praying that the cookies should come out properly or I would have to run out to the store at 9 in the night to get something for the kids next day. Fortunately it came out well. Since I have not tasted pumpkin cookies before, I don’t have anything to compare with. But we liked it very much. As I have mentioned earlier, the cookies were chewy and not crispy.

This is my entry for the following events:
1. AFAM – Pumpkin hosted by me.
2. AWED – American hosted by DK.

Share/Bookmark]]> http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/10/29/vegan-pumpkin-cookies/feed/ 29 Pumpkin Kheer http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/10/21/pumpkin-kheer/ http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/10/21/pumpkin-kheer/#comments Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:57:16 +0000 Madhuram http://www.egglesscooking.com/?p=883 A very simple recipe to prepare kheer using pumpkin and milk.]]> Pumpkin Kheer
(Click on the image to see a bigger view)

Pumpkin payasam (Kheer) is our favorite kheer next to carrot kheer. The speciality of this kheer is, you will not be able to taste the pumpkins at all. It’s also very easy to prepare.

Ingredients
Pumpkin, skinned, cooked and mashed – 1 cup
Milk – 4 to 5 cups (depends on the consistency you want)
Sugar – 1/2 to 3/4 cup (more or less according to your taste)

Optionals:

Saffron strands – 5 to 6
Almonds – 10
MTR Badam Feast – 2 tablespoons
Cardamom powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Ghee – 2 teaspoons
Cashews, broken into pieces – 1 tablespoon

Basic Payasam & Kheer Recipe 1. Cut the pumpkin into small cubes. If using a pressure cooker, drop the pumpkin cubes and add water just to cover it and leave it for 1 whistle and switch off the stove. Once the pressure releases, take out the pumpkin, remove the skin (it will peel off easily) and blend it smooth in a blender. Alternatively, you can also peel the skin and then pressure cook it. The pumpkins can also be cooked in a microwave oven. Remove the skin and grate the pumpkin, place it in a microwave safe bowl with little water, cook it for 5-6 minutes and then blend it.

2. Meanwhile in a saucepan bring the milk to a boil.

3. Add the pumpkin puree to the milk and let it simmer for another 10 minutes.

4. Switch of the stove and add the sugar. The sugar will melt in the heat itself.

Kheer Recipe:

You can also do the following. This gives a badam kheer taste, which we all love and I always prepare the kheer like this.

1. Soak the almonds overnight, so that removing the skin will be easy the next morning. If your are using blanched almonds, soaking is not necessary. Cook the almonds with the pumpkin and blend it together.

2. In the 3rd step above, also add the MTR Badam Feast to the milk along with the pumpkin puree.

3. In a small frying pan add the ghee and once it heats fry the cashews and add it at the end after adding the sugar. If you wish to add saffron strands, in a small cup add 2-3 tablespoons of the boiling milk and put the saffron in it and leave it for a while. At the end the saffron strands, cardamom powder can also be added.

My Notes 1. Sometime back I tried this recipe with the canned pumpkin puree. I don’t know for what reason, but the milk curdled once I added the puree. But recently I tried a pumpkin milkshake with the canned puree and it tasted awesome. Simply blend a couple of tablespoons of the pumpkin puree, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated and/or regular milk (preferably whole or 2%), sugar (according to your taste) and optional flavorings like saffron strands and cardamom powder. Note one thing though, canned pumpkin puree has a strong smell, which I’m not a fan in particular. So I used only little puree. The pumpkin puree which we prepare right from scratch does not have that smell at all.

This is my entry for AFAM – Pumpkin hosted by me this month.

Share/Bookmark]]> http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/10/21/pumpkin-kheer/feed/ 18 Event Announcement: AFAM – October 2008 http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/09/29/afam-oct08-announcement/ http://www.egglesscooking.com/2008/09/29/afam-oct08-announcement/#comments Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:38:56 +0000 Madhuram http://www.egglesscooking.com/?p=836 A Fruit A Month (AFAM) was started by dear Maheswari to appreciate the goodness of fruits. Every month a different fruit is chosen by the blogger who is hosting the event. This month I have got the golden opportunity of showcasing a vibrant colored fruit. Inspired by my friend DK (for those [...]]]> A Fruit A Month (AFAM) was started by dear Maheswari to appreciate the goodness of fruits. Every month a different fruit is chosen by the blogger who is hosting the event. This month I have got the golden opportunity of showcasing a vibrant colored fruit. Inspired by my friend DK (for those who don’t know her, she is the “Riddle Queen”), I have come up with a riddle for others to identify the fruit. This is my first ever riddle and I have to agree it’s not as good as her’s.

I’m orange in color
Relative to zucchini and cucumber.
I also come in red, blue and green
I’m full of lutein and alpha-beta carotene.
Rich in Vitamin A, I have no cholesterol
So good for you and I’ll come in the Fall.
I’m famous for soups and a mathematical calculation
I’m not stating the obvious just for a reason.

Yes, Pumpkin is a fruit, botanically speaking. It is the fruit of the species Cucurbita pepo or Cucurbita mixta.

Pumpkin is loaded with Vitamin A and antioxidant carotenoids. Carotenes are the source of the brilliant red, yellow and orange colors found in many fruits and vegetables. 1 cup of canned pumpkin has 11.7mg alpha carotene and 17.0mg beta carotene. These carotenes are converted by the body to Vitamin A, which is necessary for normal growth and development, a robust immune system and good vision. Also studies suggest that eating foods with high amounts of carotenes helps ward off the development of certain cancers, macular degeneration, and cataracts, among other diseases. Pumpkin is also a good source of vitamins, C, K and E and lots of minerals, including magnesium, potassium and iron.

Pumpkin Seeds (called Pepitas) are also worth latching on. It is a great source of omega-3 essential fatty acids and protein. It’s also loaded with minerals and also seem to have anti-inflammatory effect. A quarter cup of seeds has 5gms of effective carbohydrates and 1.5gm fiber.

Now that we know how healthy pumpkins are, shall we welcome this beautiful Fall cooking with this wonderful fruit?

Rules of the event:

1. Prepare a vegetarian dish (of course it must be eggless!) using pumpkin (fresh or canned) or pumpkin seeds or any edible part of pumpkin. Post the recipe with a picture in your blog, in the month of October. You may also add any other facts/tips about pumpkin, which you would like to share with the rest of us.

2. Link it to this post as well as Maheswari’s blog.

3. You are welcome to submit more than one entry.

4. Send in your entries by Oct 31st with the following details to afam(at)egglesscooking(dot)com:

  • Your Name
  • Your Blog
  • Name of the Recipe
  • Recipe URL
  • Picture of the dish URL(150w x 100h pixel)

    • 5. Non-bloggers welcome as well. Send your recipe and a picture if possible to the above email ID.

    Let’s begin the Pumpkinfest!

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