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September 29, 2008
2:16
Simply Delicous Eggless Semolina Cake
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I have for a long time now been on the lookout for a good recipe for eggless cake and there are a quite a few on the net. Some advise the use of extra baking soda and some instruct you to use sparkling soda water. I even went looking for those egg replacement substitutes in my food store but could not get my hands on any. So I tried my hand at one recipe which had a substantial amount of soda-bi-carb in it. What happened was initially the cake rose beautifully but a few minutes after I had removed iy from the oven it fell flat. So flat that it got a stodgy texture and was simply impossible to eat. Even my 6 year old son who normally eats anything sweet quite happily refused to accept this one. So I gave up on it for some time.

Some days back though when I was planning the menu for a tea time get together for my friends I recollected this awesome eggless semolina cake that my aaji (granny) used to make in a non-stick pan when I was a child. At that time the concept that my aaji could make any kind of cake was itself very amusing to me . I mean I come from a middle class marathi family where cake baking was done only by a few moms in those days so something like that done being done by a grand mom was simply unheard of.

Now to come back to the cake , I remember I loved it and always ended up eating quite a lot of it. So I called my mom in Pune and asked her about it. She said that the recipe was in some old marathi cookbook and she would look it up for me. And so she did .

It's my habit now to try out a certain dish in a small quantity first before cooking it in a larger quantity for entertaining. That's what I did with this one as well and the end result was so good that this recipe has gone into my lists of personal favourites forever. Thanks to you Aaji!!
The only hitch here is that the cake is made with semolina and not flour so it has a grainier texture than an ordinary cake. But believe me it tastes awesome. So do try it out.

Recipe:
1.5 cups semolina,
1 cup milk,
1 cup plain natural yogurt,
1/2 cup butter,
1.5 cups sugar,
1 tspn baking soda,
1 tspn vanilla essence or almond essence (almond essence is lovely),
3 to 4 tblspns of sliced almonds for sprinkling on top (optional),
a pinch of salt

Method:
1. Mix the sugar and yogurt thoroughly so that the sugar completely dissolves,
2. Then add all the other ingredients to the yogurt. Now let this batter stand for an hour. Keep it covered . This enables the semolina to soften completely before baking.
3. Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 200deg C and grease and line a baking tray with baking paper.
4. After one hour pour the batter into the prepared tray and sprinkle the sliced almonds all over the top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until it is golden in colour and a cocktail stick inserted comes out clean . Wait for it to cool before slicing it. If it does not easily come off the tray do not force it out but slice it in the tray itself and remove the slices carefully with a broad knife or a fish slice.

It's a great after school snack or even a lunch box treat for kids. Store it in the fridge after a day and warm it in the microwave for a few seconds every time you serve it. Tastes even better after a day or two.

By the way I did not make this for my last tea party as I was not feeling too well ,but it's a must make next time I have my friends over.
September 23, 2008
4:20
Hot Crispy Spicy Samosas (Just the thing for a rainy day)
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Just the thing to eat on a rainy day. That's what came to my mind when I made these. Crispy and spicy they are the kind of food that everyone fantasizes about on a wet rainy day, don't we? . So for a perfect ,almost Utopian afternoon indulge yourself with these samosas , make yourself a hot cup of alyacha chahaa (ginger tea) to go with them , settle down near a window where you can see the rain pouring outside with a book by your favourite author and sink into complete bliss. Wow!! Wouldn't we all just love that!
Well to bring this into reality you have to first start making the samosas at least. Right? Well here goes then.

I made these with Filo Pastry and that made my task oh so easy. I used Filo for the first time and was not sure how exactly to go about it but the instructions on the pack were so clear with such good illustrations that it was a breeze.

For the Filling I used:
3 cups frozen green peas (I thawed them in the microwave before cooking them)
1 onion chopped finely
1 cup dessicated coconut
Paste of 5 to 6 green chillies,
1 tblspn minced garlic
1/2 tblspn minced ginger
1 tblspn garam masala
1 tspn red chiily powder
1 tspn coriander powder
1 tspn cumin powder
1 tblspn whole cumin
1/2 tspn hing (asafoetida)
1 tblspn sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
Oil for cooking
salt to taste

Method:
Before starting the actual cooking I put half the peas in a dry grinder and coarsely ground them while leaving the other half of the peas whole. This lends a nice texture to the filling.

1. In a heavy bottom pan heat 2 tblspns of oil and add the whole cumin first. After a few seconds add the hing followed by the chopped onion. Fry the onion lightly . Doesn't have to be browned.
2. Next add all the spice powders and the green chilly paste and fry further for about half a minute.
3. Now add the green peas (crushed and whole), coconut ,salt ,sugar and lemon juice. Give it all a good stir. Add a little water to the mixture and cover and cook until the peas are completely cooked. Keep adding small amounts of water intermittently if the mixture becomes too dry.
4. Give it a taste and adjust all the seasoning as necessary. Let the filing cool completely before assembling the samosas.

Assembling the samosas:
Now the Filo pastry that I bought was the frozen kind and came in a pack of 6 sheets placed one on top of the other. I left the pastry in the fridge overnight to defrost and then at room temp for 1/2 an hour before using it. I cut all 6 sheets at once into 4 long strips each measuring about 2 inches in width. So I made 24 samosas from one pack.

Place a tablespoonful of the filling at one end of a strip and pull the left corner of the sheet diagonally to the right so that it forms the first triangle . Keep rolling the samosa further in the same way maintaining the triangle shape.
Apply a few drops of water to the last bit of the sheet to seal the samosa tightly. Assemble all the samosas in the same way while keeping the ones already done covered so that the pastry does not dry out.

Fry the samosas in hot oil at moderate to high heat and serve with a combo of mint chutney and hot and sweet tomato sauce. These go very well together.
September 16, 2008
13:03
Mini Egg Rolls (Perfect for the school lunch box)
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It's been quite a few months since I shared any lunch box ideas so when I made these mini egg rolls for my son I knew they would make an appearance on my blog. But what put me into action sooner was my 6 year old . He had the egg rolls at school and liked them so much that when I asked him if he had enjoyed his lunch ,he said" Aai they were so good , you must put them on your blog".

So here they are. Basically a sandwich but put together in a more interesting way. I occasionally buy these cute little wholewheat rolls in a pack of 6 from M&S. They are healthy no doubt as they are not only wholewheat but also seeded and secondly just the correct size for little hands to hold. Plus they appeal tremendously to children as avery welcome change from the normal sandwich.

Though my son is very comfortable with most foods it is my constant endevour to get more and more veggies into him. So to make the rolls healthier I had a handful of chopped frozen veggies to the egg mixture. I also made mini omelets the same size as the rolls so they sanwiched perfectly in between .One large egg makes 3 mini omelets.
Let me tell you these rolls went down a treat.

Here's in short what I did:
For the omelets:
1 large egg,
a handful of chopped mixed veggies (carrots, sweetcorn, peas and beans)
1 tblspn grated cheese
salt to taste,
and I used a pinch of chilly powder rather than pepper because I feel that makes an omelet tastier.

Method:
Beat all the ingredients together and cook small omelets rather than one large one.
Butter the rolls and warm them a little
Sandwich one omelet in each roll, top with a dollop of ketchup and they are ready to be packed. Pack each individual roll in grease proof paper so they don't come apart.

Try it out and tell me if your child liked the idea.
September 03, 2008
5:43
Ganapati Bappa Moraya
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A very big Hello !!! to all my dear readers and blog friends. I am back after a very very long break and believe me I am now really really ready to blog again. My trip to India was super. It was one big social event. I was visiting friends and family left ,right and centre. Visited some nice restaurants too and ate lots of delicious stuff and inspite of all the hogging I did there I lost some weight. Isn't that amazing? I am very happy.

And here I am with my latest dish that I have just prepared minutes ago and is fresh off the stove. I couldn't have chosen a better day than today to start blogging again . Yesss! It's Ganesh Chaurthi today . That special festival of Maharashtra which is celebrated for 10 days with great pomp all over the state. Before starting any new venture we believe in praying to Lord Ganesh or Ganapati Bappa as he lovingly called in Marathi. It is believed that Ganapati can remove any obstacles that may be a hindrance in your way to success and that is the reason why any new venture is first started by praying to Lord Ganapati.

So I am definitely starting on a very good day. What I have for you today is also a very special dish made particularly on Ganesh Chaturthi as it is Ganapati Bappa's favourite. It is Modak. The one I have for you today is the fried version

Ingredients:
For the outer cover
1 cup Plain Flour,
2 tspn Fine Semolina,
3 tblspn very hot oil
A pinch of salt
Ingredients for the filling:
210 gms fresh shredded coconut
1 cup jaggery (palm sugar)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tspn cardammom powder
1/2 tspn nutmeg powder

Procedure:
Filling: (Filling can be prepared one day in advance and kept ready)
1. In a heavy bottom pan mix the coconut, jaggery and sugar on a moderate to low heat . Keep stirring until the the mixture loses moisture and becomes slightly dry. This takes about 10 t0 15 minutes
2. Switch off the gas and then sprinkle the two spice powders and mix well. The mixture is ready. Optionally you can make it richer by adding raisins, broken cashewnuts etc. Keep the mixture covered until you need it.

For the outer cover:
1. Mix all the ingredients and knead into a firm dough. Keep covered for at 30 minutes.
2. Before using soften the dough by drizzling a bit of Ghee (clarified butter) on it and pound it in a pestle and mortar. This is very tedious but very neccessary. It makes the dough pliable.
3. Now make small balls of dough. Roll out one ball at a time into a thin puri.
4. Place it on your palm and put a tspn full of filling in the centre. Pinch the sides of the puri at regular intervals and close the modak firmly from the top. Place the modak on a plate and cover the dish with a clean wet cloth so that the modaks do not dry out
5. Make all the modaks in the same way.
6. Deep fry 3 to 4 modaks at a time on a moderate to low heat. Let cool and then store a container.
This will make appoximately 21 modaks. The other version of Modak is the steamed version which is even more delicious. For the recipe click on the picture on the right side bar.
- Have also updated Chintu cartoon strip after a very long time. Sorry for not having updated for so long. Do scroll down and take a look.
July 07, 2008
5:57
Much needed trip to India.
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A big Hello to all my dear readers after a long time. But with the big Hello also comes a tiny Goodbye. Nooo !! I am not giving up blogging, I am only taking a small break from it as I am off to India for my annual trip. This trip was due in Jan but had to be postponed till July due to one reason after the other. But yesss !! Finally we are going. I can't wait to meet my parents and my sister and also very eager to see my in-laws again. I have spent these last few weeks shopping for myself and for gifts to take back home and have really enjoyed myself. It's that one occassion when hubby dear does not mind loosening the purse strings a bit. And you can bet I take full advantage of it.
So I'll see all of you sometime in August. I am going to click loads of snaps of everything that my mom cooks and then when I am back again I'll share every delicious recipe with all of you. So it's bye from me for a few weeks. Try not to miss me too much!
June 23, 2008
3:40
Fresh Mango Yellow (Click: Yellow for Bri)
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My entry to Click:June 2008 {Yellow for Bri} is this delicious fresh and very tantalising Alphonso Mango. I clicked it with my Sony DSC-P73.
This is an appeal on behalf of a group of food bloggers who are friends of Briana Brownlow @ Figs With Bri.

Bri was diagnosed with breast cancer two and half years ago. A mastectomy, chemotherapy and two years of relatively good health later, the cancer is back. It has metastasized to other parts of her body. At the age of 15, Bri lost her 41-year old mother to the disease. Now, she’s waging her own war against breast cancer. More about it here.
She is going through intensive chemo and other treatments and needs to focus single-mindedly on healing and finding what treatment works best for her. Her health insurance, unfortunately, does not cover holistic alternatives which she would like to try. Bri and her husband Marc have enough on their plates right now in addition to worrying about her medical bills.
The team organising the JUNE edition of CLICK at Jugalbandi has organised a fundraiser to help Bri and her family meet her out-of-pocket medical costs for ONE YEAR.
CLICK is a monthly theme-based photography contest hosted by Jugalbandi. This month’s theme is: YELLOW for Bri
Yellow is the colour of hope. Through the work of the LiveStrong Foundation, it has also come to signify the fight against cancer.
The entries can be viewed HERE. The deadline for entries is June 30, 2008. The fundraiser will extend until July 15, 2008.
The target amount is 12,000 U.S. dollars. We appeal to our fellow bloggers and readers to help us achieve this. Bri deserves a chance to explore all options, even if her insurance company thinks otherwise.
There’s a raffle with exciting prizes on offer. After viewing the list, you may make your donation HERE or at the Chip-In button on any participating site.
Your donation can be made securely through credit card or Pay Pal and goes directly to Bri’s account. This month’s photo contest also has some prizes. Details HERE.

You can support this campaign by donating to the fundraiser, by participating in CLICK: the photo event, and by publicising this campaign.
June 10, 2008
18:00
Delicious Summer Mango-Strawberry Trifle
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The Mango Mania in Maharashtra is something that words simply cannot describe . Alphonso or Haapus: The King of Mangoes is the one that grabs all the limelight and quite rightly so.

There is a palpable excitement in the air at the arrival of the Alphonso which makes an appearance in the markets in small numbers at the start of the season (which is from end March to May) . On it's arrival it is quite expensive. But by the time the harvest peaks it is all over the place and can be bought in large quantities though I would say the price is never really as low as that of other other ordinary fruit like apples and bananas.

It’s sweetness and flavour go way beyond the word “delicious” and is truly a “Slice of Heaven on Earth”.

The Alphonso takes it’s name from Afonso De Albuquerque : a Portuguese sailor who brought this exquisite and expensive variety of mango to Goa. The locals took to calling it Aphoos in Konkani and in Maharashtra the pronunciation further changed to Hapoos.

At my mom's this trifle is a must-make every summer. Not just once every summer but as many times as possible. It really is the ultimate trifle and all because of one magic ingredient. Yes, you guessed it.... the Alphonso Mango. If you have good Alphonso mangoes , you don't need any other fancy ingredients. The mangoes do all the work. They are the heart and soul of this pudding.

I was very lucky to get my hands on a box of excellent Alphonso mangoes a couple of days back. Now here in UK although Alphonso is available you can't eat it on the scale that you do in India. So when you have just 12 mangoes at a time to do with you have to think really hard how you can enjoy them to the fullest. The best way of course is the simplest way i.e. to slice them and enjoy the heavenly taste, but I thought I would spare just one of the mangoes for this pudding. After all once the mango season in India comes to an end you have to wait for next year to make this as it's not the same with tinned mangoes. So I urge all my readers particularly those in India and who have access to good Alphonso to make this pud at least once before the mangoes disappear .

I happened to have most of the other ingredients in my fridge. So I used:

1 large Alphonso cubed,

5 /6 strawberries cut into small pieces,

2 cups vanilla custard (I used ready to eat Ambrosia Custard)

1 cup strawberry jelly (I had set some the previous day for my son and had some leftover, but go ahead and use the ready to eat variety available in all stores),

4 plain cup cakes cut into thin round slices ( these too I had , but use any plain cake of your choice)

1/2 cup orange juice to soak the cake (use fresh or boxed)

Method:

You can decide from the number of people you are making it for whether you want to make the trifle in individual glasses or a large bowl .

1.Placed the cake slices at the bottom of each glass,

2.Drizzle the orange juice over the cake to soak it a a little,

3.Next top with mango and strawberry pieces,

4. Spoon jelly over the fruit

5. Pour custard till the fruit bits and jelly are completely covered,

6. Place next layer of cake and continue till you fill the glass completely leaving space for the top most layer of custard and top with more mango bits for decoration,

7. You can also use whipped cream as an option to top up the glasses.

Chill the trifle thoroughly (5 to 6 hrs) and then serve. Sit back and wait to be showered with compliments and a lot of OOHS and AAHS. Don't forget to save some for yourself though.

Cool and Classy Meeta of "What's For Lunch Honey ?" has announced "Mango Mania" as the theme for her Monthly Mingle and of course my trifle is making a grand entry there.
June 03, 2008
10:00
Do you have one of these?
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OK , guessing game over! When I posted this pic I knew with all the expert cooks that we have on the blogosphere that this one was too easy, but still I could not resist. So Srivalli ,the first one to comment was absolutely right. For those who would like to know what this is ,it's a Paneer Mold, or a Paneer Maker. I have one in India and now thanks to a friend who gave me her's when she permenantly moved to India from UK , I have one here too.
I used to very often make my own paneer at home in India. Whenever I made it people always exclaimed over how soft , creamy and fresh it tasted than the store-bought variety. But here in the UK this gadget (if you can call it that) has been lying at the back of the cupboard for ages. I love paneer but somehow I could not be bothered to make it at home here in the UK till date. But then last week with a surplus of milk at home and no space in my tiny fridge to store it all was when this Paneer Maker came out and was finally used.
After using it I was glad I did because the final product was so delicious that my son and I managed to greedily gobble quite a few paneer cubes as soon as I cut them out.

I used 1 lt of whole milk. Brought it to the boil and then added 1/2 a cup of vinegar to split it with the heat very low. Switched off the gas and covered the pan for a few minutes. Afterwards I strained it through a muslin placed in a sieve and gently squeezed out as much water as possible from it. I then placed the muslin pouch in the paneer mold , put the lid on and weighed it down with a large can of chopped tomatoes. After just one hour (ideally I should have waited longer... but no I was impatience personified) I removed the slab of paneer from the muslin and gently cut it into pieces. 1 litre of milk makes 200 gms of paneer approx.

Homemade paneer is much more delicate than the store one so it needs delicate handling. In curries it should be added at the last minute and stirred in very carefully. But don't worry it does not dissolve in the curry and holds very well. You can even fry it lightly before adding it to a curry. If you leave it in the mold overnight you will get the best result.
This mold is easily available in all stores selling steel utensils in India. I now think having one around in your kitchen is definitely worth it.
1:23
Do you have one of these?
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Do you have one of these? And if not, can you guess what this might be? I am sure most of you know the answer, but still indulge me. I am in the mood for a guessing game. This is one of my favourite gadgets in the kitchen but despite that it's also one that I use very rarely.
June 02, 2008
3:04
My First Awards Ever !!
» ‎ Food-n-More

Last two weeks have seen some fantastic things happening on my blog. It started with the terrific response I got for my Sandwich Festival . When I decided to host it I had not anticipated the huge number of entries that would flood my mailbox. So something that was initiated by me very casually turned into a real grand festival and was I thrilled to bits about it. Thanks again to all those who participated. While I was still basking in all the limelight and the attention that was being showered on my blog I got two more lovely surprises.
The first one was THE YUMMY BLOG AWARD given to me by Suma of Suma's Cuisine.
Thank-you Suma for the Award and for thinking of me. As I told Suma this is the first award my blog has recieved till date and will always be cherished. As per the rules I have to mention 4 of my favourite sweets and they are:1. Rasmalai, 2. Jilebi, 3. Sutar Pheni, 4. Puran Poli
The rules also state that I have to pass on the award to 4 other bloggers who I think put up the yummiest looking treats on their blogs. It was a tough job but after some thought I have zeroed in on these 4:

Ketki of My Two Cents
Nupur of One Hot Stove

Priya of Akshayapaatram

Sandeepa of Bong Mom's Cookbook

Congrats ladies !!
Now as if that was not jubilation enough for me that I recieved my second award in a matter of 4 days. This is the "You Make My Day" award. Hetal of Isha's Kitchen thought of me as a a suitable recipient for this award and my heartfelt thanks to her. Getting this award definitely made my day. I would now like to present it to Nandita , hostess of the very health-conscious blog "Saffrontrail" . Nandita's attitude towards cooking has always inspired me to make traditional recipes a bit more healthy without compromising on taste and flavour. So this one is for you Nandita and for Saffrontrail.!! Keep inspiring us to eat healthy!!

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