Eggless Date Cake

Eggless Date Cake

Pitted Dates ~ 18. She said I could use more, so I used 25.
Milk ~ 1 Cup

Soak dates in milk overnight. I did not have so much time so I soaked the dates in warm milk for 3 hours and then nuked it for a minute.

Preheat oven to 350F

In a blender add
dates + milk
3/4 cup Sugar
Since I had more dates, I reduced the sugar a wee bit.
Make a smooth mix.

Sift
1 Cup of AP Flour
1 tsp of baking Soda
*AP = All Purpose. Can be substituted with Maida

Measure out
1/2 cup of Oil

In a wide mouthed bowl add the
date+milk+sugar mix from the blender
Add
1/2 Cup of oil
Add the flour mix gradually, mixing as you go.
Add 1 tbsp of chopped cashews or walnuts.

Mix gently to make a smooth batter. My friend suggested the hand mixer but I just mixed with a spatula.

Now grease a bundt pan. Pour the batter in this pan and bake till a toothpick comes out clean. Mine was done in 32-35 minutes, but I had a silicone pan. You can also use a regular 8" cake pan instead of a bundt pan. Baking time may vary.

Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream as my friend does.

Similar Recipes:

Eggless Date Cake from Aayis Recipes

Vegan Date Cake from Madhuram

Courtesy: http://www.bongcookbook.com/2011/01/eggless-date-cake-goodness-does-not.html#recipe-start-datecake 

Potato Smileys

Courtesy: http://www.cookingwithsiri.com/2013/05/a-copy-cat-recipe-potato-smiles-potato.html

Potato Smiles

...the potato dough ready to be rolled out into smiles..

[A Copy-Cat Recipe] Potato Smiles | Potato Smileys

Makes about 2 dozen

Ingredients:

3 large potatoes
1/4 cup coriander leaves (or use any other finely chopped herbs/greens)
4 tbsp cornflour (or use all purpose flour)
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp (or more) red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt - to taste
2 tsp lemon juice
oil, for frying

Preparation:

1. Wash potatoes, cube them with skin and boil for 2 whistles in pressure cooker (or) boil in water until fork tender. Once cool, peel.

2. Mash potatoes in a bowl and add coriander leaves, cornflour, ginger garlic paste, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala, salt and lemon juice. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. Refrigerate the dough for atleast 30 mins.

3. Make small lemon sized balls, flatten and shape into a circle. Using the backside of a (clean) pencil, make two eyes and a smile with a blunt knife. Continue to do the same with rest of the dough.

Note: These can be frozen for few weeks and ready for frying. Don't thaw.

...to make the eyes, I used the back of a pencil and a blunt knife to make the smile..

4. Heat oil. Once hot, reduce it to low and fry these potato smiles few at a time, until golden brown.

.....potato smileys ready to get fried..

5. Serve immediately with ketchup or any spicy condiment.

..these are the original potato smiles from the McCain packet..mine look pretty close to them. You agree?

Thotakura pulusu

Thotakura Ava Pulusu ~ Mustard flavored Amaranth leaves stew

1Thotakura Ava Pulusu Recipe
Prep & Cooking: 30 mts
Serves 4-5 persons
Cuisine: Andhra
.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups finely chopped thotakura leaves and stalks (tightly packed)
1 big onion finely chopped
4 green chillis slit length wise
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
small lemon sized tamarind (soak in a cup of warm water and extract)
1-2 tsps jaggery or sugar
1 tsp rice flour
3/4 tsp mustard seeds + 1 red chili, ground to a coarse pwd
salt to taste
For tempering/poppu/tadka:
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp methi seeds
1 tsp split black gram dal (optional)
1-2 dry red chillis (tear into pieces)
5 garlic flakes crushed or large pinch asafoetida
10-12 curry leaves
1 Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel, add mustard seeds, let them pop, add the cumin seeds, methi seeds and let them turn slightly red. Add split gram dal and let it turn red. Add garlic, red chillis, curry leaves, chopped onions and green chillis and sauté till onions turn slightly pink (approx 3-4 mts).
2 Add the thotakura leaves and stir fry for 4 mts. Add the turmeric pwd and salt and mix. Cover with lid and cook till the greens cook (approx 7-8 mts).
3 Add the tamarind extract and jaggery and mix well. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and cook for another 9-10 mts or till the rawness of tamarind disappears. Sprinkle the rice flour and mix and you will find that the gravy thickens. Cook for a minute, add mustard pwd and mix. Turn off heat.
4 Serve with white rice.
Blanching of amaranth leaves Boil 2 cups water in a deep vessel. Add salt, pinch of turmeric pwd and chopped amaranth leaves and cook over medium flame for 5 mts. Strain and use left over water to prepare chapati dough and use the blanched leaves and stalks as called for in the recipe. For the above recipe the leaves were not blanched. If using blanched thotakura, reduce the cooking time before adding water.

Bellam Avakaya

Courtesy: Maa Inti Vanta - My Home Cooking (Visit website)

Mix avva (mustard powder),red chili powder, salt, fenugreek seeds and oil with mango pieces and keep aside for 4 - 5 days.Separate the mango pieces from the mixture and sun dry them separately till the mango pieces dry well.

Make jaggery syrup and bring to room temperature.

Mix the syrup with mixture.

Cut the mango pieces into small pieces.

Add the mango pieces with the base and mix well.

Mix thoroughly and let cool. Save in an air tight container.

Read more at http://en.petitchef.com/recipes/bellam-avakaye-photo-tutorial-fid-618903#o8R2IfBlVcH5quHZ.99 

Yummy... Mango Chutney

Mangai Thokku / Grated Mango Pickle

12/03/2012  UMA RAMANUJAM  19 COMMENTS

It is not a mango season. But when I saw fresh mangoes in market a week before, I felt like tasting it. So I bought a few mangoes. Then I decided to make mango thokku out of one. The one which I posted here is the recipe from my grandma. My mother-in-law used to prepare same kind of thokku for mixing it with rice and her version is different. I will be posting her recipe in summer during the mango season.

My grandma makes this recipe often during mango season and most of the time it lasts only for a week or two. When it is prepared at home, we use it not only with curd rice, but also with paratha, roti, hot steamed rice, idly, dosa, sandwich and sometimes we use it as a condiment for papad too. This thokku is very addictive than pickle. You can also prepare it instantly.

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: <10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 1 cup

Ingredients:

Raw mango - 1 no, Large size
Gingerly Oil - 3 tablespoons
Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoons
Asafoetida - a big pinch
Red chilli powder - 2 teaspoons (see notes)
Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Jaggery - 1 teaspoon (Optional)
Roasted fenugreek powder - 1/4 teaspoon (Optional)

Method:

1) Peel the skin of the raw mango and grate it nicely.
2) Heat a non-stick pan/ kadai. Heat oil in it.
3) Add mustard seeds when the oil is hot and not smoking. Let it splutter.
4) Immediately add Asafoetida. Make sure not to burn it.

5) Add grated mango and give a quick stir.
6) Cover and cook for 5 minutes in low flame.
7) After 5 minutes, the grated mango reduces to half. Now add salt as per the mango quantity, turmeric powder and red chilli powder.

8) Saute it till the raw smell of red chilli powder goes off.
9) Add jaggery and roasted fenugreek powder if you are using(I didn't add both). Cover again and cook till the oil separates from the mango. It will again take 4-5 minutes. Make sure to keep it in low flame.
10) Switch it off and cool to room temperature. Store in dry, air tight container. It stays good for a month if stored in refrigerator.
11) Goes well with hot steamed rice, Curd rice, Idly, Dosa and any type of parathas.

Note:
1) I used home made red chilli powder and hence I used more to get correct spicy level. If you use store bought red chilli powder, use less or more according to its spicy level.
2) Taste a pinch of grated mango before preparing the thokku and check whether it is sour or not. If it is sour, add jaggery or you can skip it.
3) If you like, use roasted fenugreek powder to it.

Courtesy: Uma's Kitchen Experiments

Indian Curry Paste

Indian Curry Paste

Saturday was fun and interesting. It was Abhishek's birthday but he had to go to school so he left early leaving me and the little monster with enough time to plan something nice for him. I took this as a good opportunity to go meet a few blogger friends of mine. Spent a lovely afternoon with them talking about food, food blogging and the rest of the world while watching the kids play. All of that was so much fun that I almost forgot that there is a party at my house in the evening and a birthday cake needs to be made. There needs to be a whole post to tell you the story about that birthday and the birthday cake which probably I will do later! But while deciding his birthday menu I realized one thing. One of the most common masala mixture (spice mix) that is used in Indian curries is a curry paste and I never shared a post on it. So I thought before sharing what I cooked for his birthday I should share this basic recipe for curry paste whose variation is present in almost all Indian curries. That might make the next post and many other curry posts easier.



Like I have said before every Indian household has its own recipe for any Indian dish and same goes with the curry paste. I come from the northern part of India where curry paste is mostly tomato based. In South Indian kitchens use of curry leaves, coconut, some kind of lentil or tamarind will be prominent. Mughlai cuisine is comprised of whole or ground spices and an addition of cream or a dairy product to make the sauce rich and creamy. Then what you are going to use the curry paste for also makes a difference. If you are going to add meat to your curry, making a rice dish like biryani or tahiri or using it to make a vegetable curry. There are several variations and several ingredients that you can add or remove but I do not want to confuse you with all that. Lets take it a little slow and today talk about the basic Indian Curry Paste recipe which can be used to make almost all kinds of Indian curries. This is a tomato based curry paste recipe which you can also use to make Mughlai curries by adding some extra ingredients. You can add curry leaves too and a few more ingredients and make a South Indian curry with this too.



To make an Indian curry paste you need two kinds of masala or mix. One is a wet mix and the other is dry mix. Wet mix is made of fresh ingredients from your pantry which you blend together to make a paste and then later cook with the dry ingredients. The four main ingredients for the wet mix are onions, garlic, ginger and chilis. You can use thai green chili, jalapeno peppers, any other kind of hot peppers or even dried red chili peppers all you want is some heat. If you don't want it hot you can completely omit this ingredient.



Now the dry spices used here are basically the spices used to make a garam masala powder. Again many cooks use a few extra spices and some might use a few lesser spices for their garam masala, this is how my family does it. The spices I use to make a garam masala powder are black cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, coriander seeds, cloves, black pepper and bay leaves. Grind all the spices mentioned into a powder and mix it with the wet mix and then cook together. Then finally tomato puree or diced tomatoes are added and cooked until it looses all its water.

Now before getting to the recipe I have to tell you about my friend Joy of Joylicious and this exciting project that has been working on. She is one of the most talented food photographers/bloggers I have come across and is one heck of a girl! Joy and her friends have been working hard at developing a new cooking show geared towards singles and couples. Main goal of this show would be to encourage people to get back in the kitchen and equip them with the confidence and skills to become an efficient home chef. You can learn more about the show by clicking on this link and watching the kickstarter. Joy is trying to raise some money that would help her and her friends get the episodes to gear. So I'd love for you to click on the link, checkout what Joy wants to say and maybe help her spread the word or raise some money.
Alright and now lets come back to the Curry Paste recipe. Here's my recipe for Indian Curry Paste, do you care to share yours?

Ingredients:- (Makes approx. 1.5 cups of curry paste)
(wet paste)
1 cup chopped onion
1 inch ginger
3-4 cloves of garlic
2-3 green chilis (or any chili pepper of your choice)

(dry spice powder)- Only half of it will be used in this recipe for curry paste. You can store the rest in an air tight container for later.
2-3 bay leaves
2 tsp cloves
2 tsp peppercorn
3-4 black cardamom
1/2 Cinnamon stick
1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
3 tbsp coriander seeds (you can use 2/2.5 tbsp coriander powder if you don't have seeds) 

other ingredients:
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp ghee (optional)
Salt to taste
1 cup diced tomato

Method:
Grind together ingredients for the wet mix in a food processor or blender/grinder. Use about 3-4 tbsp of water if necessary for the blades to rotate. Set aside.
Grind together all the dry ingredients in a spice or coffee grinder. Set aside.
Heat oil in a thick bottom pan, add wet mix.
Cook it on medium high heat until all the water has evaporated. Once the paste starts getting thicker reduce the heat to medium low, add salt and turmeric.
Cook until the paste starts changing color and gets golden brown in color.
Add ghee. Very soon oil will start to separate. 
Add diced tomato. First the tomatoes begin to melt then slowly all the liquid will evaporate. Cook until the mixture has no liquid left.
Now add dry ingredients. Mix everything well together.
Your curry paste is ready.
Now you can add vegetables if you are making a vegetable curry. Add browned, baked, stir fried or deep fried meat to make a meat curry. You can also add it to rice with a few vegetables and make a tahiri (spicy rice pilaf)
This curry paste can be stored in a refrigerator for weeks. All you have to do is let the paste cool down completely and then transfer it to an air tight container and freeze.

Coutesy: Indian Simmer

Kaju Katli

Kaju Katli Revisited (Vegan and Glutenfree Cashew thins and truffles) for Diwali

This post was supposed to come on Monday before Diwali and for the Food Day. I support Meatless Monday so this was going to be my contribution to the website for the Food Day celebration. But then I pulled a back muscle real nice and landed on the bed. Well, this recipe was kind of the culprit in that too but hey I cannot complain! That's what festivals are all about, isn't it? Unless you have a few pulled muscles, a couple cuts and burns here and there, a few broken dishes and a lot of chaos, how can you make memories? Isn't that the best part about celebrations? In spite of all such small mishaps and those family dramas which I am sure every family has (at least mine did and still does), all we remember later is that everyone got together, had a few laughs, enjoyed a meal and celebrated each other. Yes, that is what a festival is all about. Its about telling them that you care and you cherish them!



While I am sitting here on my couch next to a big pile of unfolded laundry and two empty coffee mugs writing this, miles away my mummy, papa, my kid brother and a lot of people I care about must be busy celebrating one of the biggest festivals of India. Its Diwali in India today and the whole country will be dressed up like a new bride. There must be colored luminescent lights hanging on every balcony and yard. Mithaiwalas (sweet shop owners) would be up before sunrise prepping for the big day - as soon as they open the shop, they will not have a second to catch a breath. Mummy and all my aunties will get together to cook some Diwali treats. But mainly they would want to know who is wearing what and mentally plan how to outdo each other. The male members couldn't care less and must be sitting together sipping on some hot chai that ladies will be sending out every hour with those treats, perfuming the entire house.



In the evening everyone dresses up in a traditional attire, meet at someone's place (usually the eldest one) and do Diwali pooja (prayers). As soon as they will be done with pooja and step out of the house, there will bediwali lights everywhere. Every nook and corner of the city will be illuminated and so will every face. There will be fireworks, old stories, some tears and a lot of laughter. That is Diwali, the festival of lights as they say.



When Lord Rama, after freeing his wife Sita from the hands of evil Ravana, came back home along with his beloved brother Lakshmana after 14 years of banishment, he was welcomed home with diyas (ghee lamps). The entire city lit ghee lamps to show how much they loved him and were happy to have him back. Ever since, the day is celebrated as Deepavali which literally means "row of lamps". The main essence of this festival is to celebrate your inner light and take pleasure in simple things in life that have the most meaning after all.



Now if you would excuse me, I should go get the house ready so that when the little one wakes up in the morning, we are all ready to make our own memories of Diwali. Leaving you with a traditional Indian sweet recipe which happens to be my all time favorite. This one again counts as one of my recipes with the smallest ingredient list. I tried to give an old favorite Kaju Katli (sweet cashew thins) a new modern face but the essence and taste is still the same. Check out the recipe!

Ingredients: (Makes approx. 35 kaju katli and 10 truffles)

1/2 pounds dried cashews (soaked in water overnight)
1 cup sugar (I like it mildly sweet, you can increase the amount of sugar if you like it sweeter)
1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) (add a vegan substitute for ghee like margarine for a vegan version)
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Method:
Soak cashews in water overnight (or atleast 6-8 hours). They will look puffed up and should have lost oil which should float in water.
Drain out the water and wash the cashews thoroughly.
Now grind them in a blender using very little oil. Just enough to let the blades move, making a smooth paste. Paste should be very thick.
Mix sugar to the cashew paste and transfer it to a wide pan and my friends brace yourself for some hard work. And when I say hard work then I REALLY mean hard work because I have to admit I underestimated the fact when I took up this task, I ended up pulling a muscle. But again laying on the bed when I was munching on those Kaju Katli truffles, I couldn't feel any pain!
So transfer the contents to a wide pan and turn on the heat and keep it to medium low.
Two things stay constant in the cooking of Kaju Katli paste- medium low heat and constant stirring. If you increase heat a little it will start burning and if you stop stirring  for long then also it starts sticking to the pan.
When starting the process of cooking the mixture of cashew paste and sugar the mixture will be very loose and easy to stir. Using a rubber spatula or a whisk (if you are not using a non stick pan) should make the process easier.
After cooking for a few minutes the mixture starts getting thicker and darkens in color. Continue the process for 15-20 minutes and a point will come when the paste starts to become very thick and sticky almost like a dough. Add ghee/butter at this point. You will be losing energy by this time but keep going because you are now very close to the end.
By adding ghee, the paste will again start getting lighter and will be sticking to the spatula (add a vegan substitute for ghee like margarine for a vegan version or can omit completely if you want) Keep stirring until it starts to turn into a ball. When you press it with a finger or back of a spoon it should not stick to your finger. The paste is now ready.
Take it out and place it over a greased surface (baking sheet or kitchen counter). Let it cool for 10-15 minutes until its easy to handle.
Using your hands, make a big ball off of the dough.
You can either place it between two sheets of a plastic wrap or lay it on a greased work station and roll it out using a greased rolling pin or you can make small balls off of it.
Roll it out to the thickness of a thin pizza crust. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut the rolled out sheet into squares or diamond shapes. Dust them with powdered sugar if you want. Enjoy them right away or store them in refrigerator.

Courtesy: indian Simmer