CHOCOLATE CAKE

There is not much difference between a plain sponge cake and a chocolate cake both in terms of ingredients and the procedure.

To make a chocolate cake, I add one heaped tablespoon of chocolate powder along with maida/wheat flour and baking powder while sieving. Secondly, instead of pineapple essence, I add vanilla essence while beating the eggs. I use both chocolate essence and vanilla essence.  But if you do not have chocolate essence,  just  vanilla essence will do. In bakeries they add chocolate colouring agent also and so those cakes look dark. Since I do not use that my chocolate  cakes are not that dark.

Ingredients:

Maida/wheat flour                                               1 cup

Egg                                                                      1 powdered

Sugar                                                                    2/3 cup (to be)

Butter                                                                   100 gms/2/3 cup

Vanilla essence                                                     Few drops

Chocolate powder                                                1 heaped tablespoon

Slivered almond/pista                                          1 tablespoon

Grated chocolate /choco chips                             1 tablespoon

Procedure:

Sieve flour with baking powder and chocolate powder.

Grind sugar to fine powder

Grease baking tray and dust it with flour (the aluminum/hindalium container used to make rice in a pressure cooker will do)

Preheat the oven for about five minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

Now break the eggs into a bowl, add essence and beat immediately till very light.

Continue to run the mixer while adding butter, sugar powder and the flour slowly and one after another. Continue whisking for 2 more minutes. The batter should have a dropping consistency, may be a bit thinner than the idli batter. If you feel it is hard, you can add one or two tablespoons of milk and beat.

Transfer this ready batter to the baking tray and sprinkle almond/pista pieces and grated chocolate and/or chocochips

Bake for about 45 minutes at 180 degree Celcius.  The top of the cake becomes dark towards the end. To confirm whether the cake is baked fully, insert a knitting needle or a sharp knife in the center of the cake. It this comes out clean, it means that the cake is done. If some batter sticks to it, bake for 5 or 10 minutes more. Leave the cake in the oven for four or five minutes. Remove from the oven,  cool it to room temperature and the, invert the tray and transfer the cake on to a plate and then reverse it again.

Your cake is ready!

HEEREKAI CHUTNEY

Dear S and P,

The other day I brought vegetables from the market and was cleaning them. Papa asked me, "shall I peel heerekai"? I was thrilled by the offer and gladly handed him a peeler. I expected him to just remove the ridges of the gourd. But with in no time, I was aghast to see that the peels were off and almost the seeds were being seen! Half the weight of the heerekai was gone! Don't make your usual comment, `amma, M.A. in exaggeration'! But it was really so. There was no other choice for me but to make chutney out of this nutritious peel. I just could not throw it into my compost bin.

Believe it or not, that day the chutney tasted so good that I decided to ask papa to peel every time I make chutney :). I guess the reason for the good taste. Since the quantity of the peel was much I added very little of grated coconut and so the main stuff must have retained its flavour! That is all. So, do you want to try this? Keep in mind that you have to buy tender gourd so that you get soft peel.

Ingredients:

1 cup heerekai peel(cut into about 1 cm pieces)
1 tablespoon grated coconut
1 table spoon blackgram dal (dehusked)
1/2 teaspoon methi seeds
1 or 2 green chillies
1/4 teaspoon of ingu
6-8 curry leaves
1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon tamerind paste
2 teaspoons oil
salt to taste.

Procedure:

Heat one teaspoon oil in a small kadai. Add methi seeds, and immediately after it turns brown, add cut green chilllies. Then add blackgram dal and roast till it is golden brown. Add a pinch of hing and then the peel. Roast on a small flame till the peel looks a bit dry. Add grated coconut and roast for about half a minute and turn off the stove.

Add salt and tamarind paste to the above and run the mixer. Grind to a coarse paste, adding very little water if needed. Finally season with mustard seeds, a little more ingu and curry leaves.

Tastes great with hot rice. Enough for four.

SPONGE CAKE

Here comes the masterpiece of my culinary menu, the Cake! As you know, this is one thing that I prepare, that has won compliments from practically everyone who has tasted it. My cakes have received two universal/unanimous comments: `they never smell of eggs' and `the bakery cakes are very soft, but the softness of your cake is different and more likable'! And This has made me bake thousands of cakes so far. And you very well know, K1 and K2 greet me with `cake' instead of a hug or `Hi mausi' and this has made the aroma of cake coming out from my kitchen whenever there is an indication of them visiting us :) Whenever I visited home, tata never failed to ask, 'I am sure you have brought cake, right?'

This is the very first dish I learnt in the kitchen- even before I learnt to cook the basic  saru or uppittu that are typical in a South Indian family!  When I first attempted baking, in around 1968, the electric ovens were never to be seen in our family/friend circles, since baking was not popular in those days and the ovens were very expensive too. Seeing my interest ajji bought me an aluminum baking utensil that is kept on a sand bath on a gas flame to get light, uniform heat suitable for baking. After watching my successful attempts, she got me an electric oven. Now I use the convection mode of the microwave or an OTG to bake.

And I have been baking since 50 years!!

Many people who have taken the recipe from me or have seen me demonstrate it,  have tried to bake, but have come back saying, `it didnt turn out to be as good as yours'. But actually there is nothing very great about baking. There are a few very simple steps you should follow,that is all.

Firstly, to avoid the  smell of eggs in cakes, it is important to add the essence to the eggs immediately after breaking them, and then beat them. Beat very well so that you get a frothy consistency. At this stage the volume of the beaten eggs is more than four times the original volume.



Secondly it is important that all other ingredients are mixed very well. If you are very keen on baking quality cakes, having an electric hand mixer is a good idea. You can get one for less than Rs.2000, if I am correct.  I give all credit to this mixer, but people give ME the credit which I happily accept ! :) I have let out the secret now. Okay. Now about the ingredients. If the butter and the eggs are refrigerated, thaw them and bring to the room temperature. Hard butter or eggs will not get mixed well.

Of late I have started using fine wheat flour instead of  maida/refined flour.

Now here are the ingredients:

2 eggs
1 cup maida ( or fine wheat flour)
3/4 cup butter
few drops essence (I use pineapple flavour)
2/3 cup sugar (to be powdered)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
a few slices of badam or pista for decoration (optional)

Procedure:
Sieve flour with baking powder
Grind sugar to fine powder
Grease baking tray and dust it with flour (the aluminum/hindalium container used to make rice in a pressure cooker will do)

Preheat the oven for about five minutes at 180 degree Celsius.

Now break the eggs into a bowl, add essence and beat immediately till very light.
Continue to run the mixer while adding butter, sugar powder and maida slowly and one after another. Continue beating for 2 more minutes. The batter should have a dropping consistency, may be a bit thinner than the idli batter, I can say. If you feel it is hard, you can add one or two tablespoons of milk and beat.Put this in the baking tray and sprinkle badam, pista or cashew slices/pieces if you want. Bake for about 45 minutes at 180 degree Celcius.  The top of the cake becomes light brown at the end. To confirm whether it is baked fully, insert a knitting needle or a sharp knife in the centre of the cake. It this comes out clean, it means that the cake is done. If some batter sticks to it, bake for 5 or 10 minutes more. Leave the cake in the tray till cool and the invert in a plate and then reverse again.



If you follow all correctly, you are sure to get a wonderful cake. But remember one thing, for anything to become perfect, experience counts. You yourself will know how to improve your cakes.

So, HAPPY BAKING!

BAINGAN KA BHARTA

Till I got married and went to Bhopal, (35 years ago), I had not heard of this badnekai bharta. This is a North Indian specialty and liked by all. If I am right, it is a special item of the menu when guest come home. I was keen to learn north Indian dishes, {not that I could prepare all south Indian dishes :)} and this is one of the first few things I learnt to make.

The selection of tender badnekai while buying is also very important here. It should be dark purple in colour, should be firm and soft to touch. If it is hard it means that it is ripe, and you find lots of seeds inside and the taste of bharta is spoilt. Moreover take care that there are no holes. Holes are an indication that there are worms inside. May be because unfortunately they spray pesticides nowadays or may be because my ophthalmologist has said I am developing cataract in my eyes, I don't remember to have found worms recently :-).

Badnekai should actually be roasted in kenDa, but nowadays since nobody uses charcoal, you can roast it on a gas flame. The burnt smell gives the bharta the beautiful flavour. You may feel that it is quite a bit of processing. But it is not really so. Once the pulp is ready, the rest is quickly done !

Ingredients:

1 big badnekai (about half a kg)
2 midium onions-finely cut
1 big ripe tomato
1" cube ginger-finely cut or grated
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
2 teaspoons oil.
salt to taste
procedure:
Smear a little oil on the surface of the badnekai and keep it on the flame. Holding the stalk, rotate it frequently so that it gets roasted all around uniformly. Roast till the badnekai becomes soft. The skin becomes dry and brittle and that is an indication that it is done. Take it off the flame and allow it to cool.

You can see in the picture on the left, how a fully roasted badnekai looks.

Peel off the the skin fully and mash the pulp well.

Now keep a kadai on the stove. Add oil and heat. Add ginger and the cut onions and fry for a minute. Add cut tomatoes and fry till tomato becomes soft.

Add the pulp, salt and mix well. Keep stirring for about two to three minutes and turn of the stove.
Yes, bharta is ready!




This is a side dish with chapathis and serves four, if you have other sabji and/or dal also in the menu.

ALU BHAJI

I learnt this dish from the cook who cooked for us and our guests for about a week, just before Shruthi's wedding. It tasted very good and everyone liked it. It is very easy too. Another good thing about this is, the ingredients needed to make this, is almost always there in everyone's kitchen. Want to try? Here is the recipe. Make the bhaji and give me the feedback.

Ingredients:

4 medium sized potatoes- cooked and mashed
2 medium sized onions- finely cut
1 big tomato- finely cut
1" piece ginger- grated
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1 pinch turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon red chilly powder
about 1 cup of water
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder.
1 tablespoon cut coriander leaves
1 teaspoon oil
salt to taste
juice of half lemon


Procedure:

Keep kadai on the stove and put oil. Add mustard seeds. When it sputters, add ginger and cut onions. Fry for a minute and add turmeric and chilly powder. Mix well and add cut tomatoes. Fry till tomato is soft. Add mashed potatoes and add about a cup of water, salt and mix well. Let it boil for two minutes. Add garam masala and mix well. Turn off the stove. Add lemon juice and coriander leaves and mix well.

This is actually a gravy like sabji and so if it becomes hard on keeping, add some more water to get the proper consistency and boil for a minute. (There is a notion that after adding lemon juice you should not boil the dishes since the taste turns bitter. Actually it is not so)

Serves three or four.

MIXED VEGETABLE TOVVE (DAL)

A very easy, tasty and nutritious dish that goes well both with rice and chapathis. With just a little bit of effort you can make it very interesting . You can use vegetables like seeme badnekai (chow chow), heerekai (ridge gourd), paduvalkai (snake gourd), sorekai (bottle gourd), carrot etc. Of course you can make it with a single vegetable also.


Ingredients:

1 cup cooked dal (togari or hesaru beLe)
2 cups vegetables, cut into about the size of a peanut
1 medium onion
1" piece ginge
2 green chillies
1 big tomato
8-10 curry leaves
salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon each of mustard and cumin
1 pinch ingu
1 pinch turmeric powder
1/2 lemon
2 teaspoons oil
grated coconut (optional)
1 tablespoon coriander leaves

Procedure:

Pressure cook dal with turmeric.
Microwave the vegetables for 2 minutes. (It is okay if it is not cooked completely. Because it does become softer when you mix with dal and boil again)
Keep Kadai on the stove. Add oil. Add mustard. When it sputters add one by one cumin, curry leaves, hing, ginger, green chillies, and onions. Fry for one minute. Add tomato. When tomato becomes soft, add vegetables, dal and salt to taste. Add grated coconut and boil all together for one minute. Add coriander leaves and turn off the stove.

(You can add the vegetables without cooking also because, these vegetables can also be eater raw and so it can get cooked when you boil them with dal. Even if they dont get cooked also, it is fine because you can feel crisp pieces while you eat and that is also a good feeling)

You can squeeze in fresh lemon individually when you eat.

Serves two if it is with rice , but serves four if you have it with other sabji with chapathi.

GUDPAVTE

Gudpavte Unde is a healthy snack. I didn’t like it much as a small girl. But now I like it.

The size of each ball is the same as that we take to make one plain chapathi. When I mentioned it once when you were little girls, you preferred to eat one UnDe in place of one chapathi arguing that it is all the same. We, elders had a hearty laugh and I tried hard to convice you that these unDes are good as evening snacks or to have between two meals and that you MUST have chapathi with vegetables for breakfast/lunch/dinner.

This unDe can act as an Indian `Energy bar’ which Poorvi keeps mentioning. But this is best preserved in the fridge unlike the energy bars. You can try making this:

Ingredients:
1 cup godhi hittu (atta)
1 or 2 tbspoons of ghee
1/3 cup bella (jaggery)
1/3 cup onakobri thuri
1 tablespoon roasted kari eLLu (gingili seeds)
¼ teaspoon elakki pudi (cardamom powder)
1 table spoon each of godambi pieces and drakshi (cashew and raisins) fried in a teaspoon of ghee.

Procedure:

You can first microwave atta for one or two minutes (to save time and labour) taking care that it doesn’t get burnt. Then fry this in a kadai with a tablespoon of ghee till it is light brown colour and gives good aroma. Then you Transfer this to a bowl.

Fry cashew and raisins in a teaspoon of ghee. Dry roast eLLu. Dry roast grated coconut and powder it by running in a mixer.

Now prepare the jaggery syrup. First put jaggery in a vessel, add enough water to cover it. When the jaggery melts, strain to remove any sand particles. Take the syrup in the kadai and bring it to boil. Add cardamom powder and then add fried atta, coconut powder and mix well till it becomes one whole lump. Remove from fire and add cashew, raisins, eLLu and allow it to cool. When the temperature of the dough is comfortable for you to handle, make small balls and store in a box.
It stays at room temperature for two or three days, but if you want to preserve it, better refrigerate.

One thing about the quantity of jiggery. I don’t like if any item is very sweet. So the sweetness in my preparations is a bit below the standard sweetness. After you make once, you can change the quantity as per your requirement.

You can prepare 10 balls (medium lemon sized) from one cup of atta.