May's Choco-Walnut Cake.

This posting is for my good friend in Bangalore, pretty Preety!! Her name is Preety and she is very pretty!! Love to call her that! When I began this blog, Preety wanted a recipe for Walnut cake and am sure she must have got fed up waiting for one. Now here's the best part...
                 I have reached a stage where I have begun experimenting with baking, with no help from recipe books. I am proud to say that the end result turns out delicious as ever.  I thought it fitting to name this cake after me...:-) Here goes the ingredients which I have measured carefully and noted down.
Ingredients :-

• 250 gm self raising flour(maida)
• 100 gm cocoa powder
• 250 gm sugar
• 1 and a half tsp baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 200 gms walnuts
• 200 gms butter
• powdered sugar for dusting

Method :-

1. Sieve flour, cocoa and baking powder together and keep aside.
2. Grind walnuts to a coarse powder.
3. Beat eggs and sugar together till fluffy.
4. Add butter and continue beating.
5. Now slowly add the sieved flour little at a time and continue beating and mix well.
6. Finally add the ground walnuts to the batter and mix well.
7. Grease a baking tray and pre heat oven to 160 deg.
8. Pour batter into the tray and bake for an hour or until the cake is done(to test, poke a knife into the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is done).
9. Once the cake is cool, dust it with powdered sugar and serve with tea or coffee.

P.S :- Didn't go for a fancy photograph of the cake, since my daughter declared that all the cakes look the same. So, that's my presentation for the day!!

Egg Korma.

This post is in continuation with my last week's posting. I had served my hubby a scrumptious lunch to give him a break from the cafeteria food. Since then, his company has been kind enough to send him to work an hours distance away, hence he hasn't come home for lunch :D (I do love him coming home though).

Ingredients :

• 5 eggs(boiled)
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp cumin seeds.
• 2 tomatoes(chopped)
• 1 cup coconut milk

Method :

1. In a bowl mix the powders along with some water and the paste. Keep aside.
2. In a vessel heat oil. When hot add the cumin seeds.
3. As they splutter, add the paste from the bowl and fry on a low flame.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry well.
5. Now add the coconut milk and a little water only if required.
6. Add slit eggs(or whole) and let it boil till done.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves.
9. Serve hot with roti or rice.

      

Scrambled Cottage Cheese.

Didn't mean to do this post, but the plate looks colourful, so I thought let me proceed. Hubby declared yesterday that henceforth he would like to come home for lunch( I think the german potatoes in the cafeteria got to him). I was very glad cause it meant the kids and I would have an hour to chit chat with him and spend time during lunch. He assumed that it would be burdensome for me if he came home. I would not say that, but i do have to alter my schedule now. More so because the kids and I would manage lunch with a quick made meal than an elaborate one. So the more time i spent in the kitchen would be for dinner.

             Today being day 1, I got to working. I made a simple Indian meal for him which the entire family relished. Chapati's with egg korma, spicy chick peas(kabuli channa) and scrambled cottage cheese(paneer burji).

The first time I got cottage cheese from the market in Lohr was in February. I proceeded to cook it and upon tasting it had this horrible sour taste. The kids refused to eat it and so it was goodbye to cottage cheese. I later came to know that it is made from goats milk but have no clue as to why it is sour. Now the dumbo in me had forgotten that in India i used to make paneer at home. I came to realise it only yesterday when the milk had spoilt(thank goodness, it means the weather has gotten warm) and voila it was flashback for me to my  paneer making days.

         Here's how it goes. Add fresh milk(however much you like) to the spoilt milk and keep it for 24 hours. Then bring it to a very good boil. Strain onto a muslin cloth and tie it up tight so as to drain the whey completely. When done, it is reduced to a lump of cottage cheese. Cut it into cubes or scramble it if you like. Since I did not intend to do a posting, I have no pictures.

Finally here's how the scrambled cottage cheese goes....Chop an onion, capsicum, and tomato. Heat oil in a shallow pan. Drop the chopped veggies along with the cottage cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low flame till done. Serve hot with chapatis.


  

Vegetables in Spicy Garlic Butter.

Ingredients :

• 200 gm mushroom
• 200 gm broccoli
• 200 gm baby corn
• 2 red or yellow capsicum
• 1/2 cup minced garlic
• 1 tbsp pepper freshly ground
• 3 tbsp butter
• salt to taste

Method :-

1. Combine garlic, pepper, salt and butter. Beat well and set aside to infuse.
2. Wash vegetables and cut into bite sized pieces.
3. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Stir in 1 tbsp salt. Add baby corn, cook for 1 minute, strain and set aside. Blanch broccoli in the same water, strain.
4. Toss vegetables in the butter mixture and bake, steam or microwave for 5-7 minutests till crunchy but cooked.
5. Serve with grilled chicken and Mini Jacket potatoes(to be posted later)

Rich Dark Chocolate Cake.

I am back to browsing through my Good Housekeeping magazines. This particular recipe caught my eye, because the ingredients didn't look like the usual ones we use. This recipe does not use any flour at all. I was curious to try it out and see the outcome. I followed the ingredients in the recipe to the T with an alteration in the baking time .....

Ingredients :

• 8 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp coffee powder
• 12 tbsp water
• 1 and a half tsp vanilla or rum essence ( I used rum)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 4 slices slightly stale bread
• 1 cup almonds
• 200 gm butter preferably white
• 300 gms sugar
• 8 eggs seperated

Method :

1. Mix together the cocoa, coffee, water, essence and cinnamon powder. Stir to a smooth mixture. Set aside.
2. Process the bread to fine crumbs in a grinder or mixer. Pour some boiling water over the almonds and slip off their skins. Process to fine crumbs as well but seperately.
3. In a bowl beat the butter and sugar till fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Add the powdered almonds and chocolate mixture. Stir in the breadcrumbs.
4. Beat the egg whites till they form soft peaks. Fold into the cake mixture.
5. Grease and line a large 14 inch cake or two smaller ones.(I used a large round tin)
6. Bake in an oven preheated to 160 degrees. Bake at 40 minutes or till done. The smaller cakes take less time.( This is where I made the change. I baked a good hour and a half since the centre of the cake was still undone after an hour too).
7. Before serving, pile on ice cream attractively at the top.
8. You may also add some chopped fresh or tinned fruit.
9. If you prefer, substitute the ice cream with fresh, whipped cream.
10. For an exotic touch, drizzle over some of your favourite liqueur - coffee flavour goes wonderfully          ( Thats what I did, I used cherry liqueur, though the kids preferred to have it as it is.)

 Note : The batter turns out to  be quite liquidish, so I was wondering if it would finally turn out to be a cake. I was relieved it did and it turned out to be one of the moistest cakes I had ever made.