Something Sweet And Something Spicy: Treats From Other Blogs

As satisfying as it is to come up with a recipe and then blog about it, it can sometimes be almost as delicious to let someone else do all the hard work for you.

So this week, I tried out two recipes from other blogs that I had been eying for a while. Suganya's Carrot Halwa-Flavored Muffins and Pavithra's Turnip Greens Curry.

Suganya's Carrot Halwa Muffins

The minute I saw this recipe, I wanted to make it. Carrot Halwa is one of my favorite dishes, and cardamom is just about my favorite spice in the world. I often flavor sweets, including muffins, with cardamom, such as in my Applesauce Mini Muffins, but the combination of cardamom and carrots was hard to resist.

I followed Suganya's instructions faithfully, except that I subbed half the all-purpose flour with whole-wheat to make them even healthier. I also did not add raisins because I didn't want them to be any sweeter, but the muffins turned out just delicious even without them. These muffins do not rise much, but maybe the fact that I used some whole-wheat flour had something to do with that.

These were a real treat-- in fact they were almost cupcakey with the distinct flavor of gajar halwa, thanks to the cardamom. And the fact that they had carrots and pineapple in them made them fairly guilt-free. Despite all of Desi and my resolutions to cut down on sweets, these didn't last too long in our kitchen.
Pavithra's Turnip Greens Curry:

I picked up a huge bunch of turnip greens at the grocery store this week because they were on sale. I have never tried turnip greens before, so I was also a little curious about them.

I wanted an Indian recipe, preferably a curry, to serve these up on a weeknight. And when I came across Pavithra's post, it hit the spot.

I used small lima beans in the curry rather than the rajma, only because I didn't have any rajma on hand. Otherwise I was faithful to Pavithra's recipe, and I'm glad I was, because it was an absolute winner.

The turnip greens cooked up light and flavorful and delicious, and the spicy-sour flavor of the curry paired beautifully with just some boiled rice.

I have not posted the recipes because I barely deviated from them, but you can find them here and here.

Thanks, Suganya and Pavithra, for your delicious and inspiring cooking. Toques off!