Monday, June 30, 2014

       I was not a big fan of egg less cakes previously because my taste buds are used to the cakes with eggs. Once i prepare egg less cakes at home i started loving these guilt free soft and flavorful cakes. Egg less cakes makes the cake making process easy and also while eating if we take more than a piece we wont feel guilty and can able to enjoy the food.

       Some cakes like Orange or Lemon flavored cakes really does not require eggs as the juices of citrus fruits can able to make the cake more softer. The zest of these fruits makes the cakes more flavorful than other cakes. This cake was also a super soft and also tasty rich in orange flavor.


Orange Bundt Cake

INGREDIENTS:

*All purpose Flour/ Self Raising Flour- 2 cups
Oil- 1/2 cup
Sugar- 1 cup
Salt- pinch
Thick yogurt/curd- 1/2 cup
Orange juice- from 1 orange
Orange zest- 1/2 orange
Baking powder- 1 teaspoon
*Baking Soda- 1/2 teaspoon
*Do not add Baking Soda if you are using Self Raising Flour.

For Orange Cream Frosting:
Cream (Thick cream/ Whipping cream)- 150 ml (1/2 cup)
Powdered sugar/ Icing sugar- 2 teaspoons
Orange Juice- 1/2
Orange zest- 1/4 teaspoon


PROCEDURE:
  • Preheat the oven to 180oC  for 15 minutes.
  • In a bowl add the oil and sugar and beat well using hand held electric beater  on medium speed or wire whisk.
  • Whisk till the sugar almost dissolved and forms light creamy texture. Add the yogurt and again beat well till creamy.
  • Add the orange juice and zest and salt beat well in low speed.
  • Now add the baking powder and *baking soda (If you are using All Purpose Flour) with All purpose flour/Self raising Flour and sift the flour to combine evenly. 
  • Add All purpose Flour/ Self Raising Flour half a cup at a time and beat well in low speed until combined or fold well using a spatula.
  • Grease the Bundt pan with oil and dust the pan with flour and shake off the excess flour.
  • Pour the batter by scrapping sides of the pan too inside the pan.
  • Keep the tin inside the oven and bake for about 40-45 minutes or until the skewer comes out clean.
Frosting:
  • Add the cream and powdered sugar together in a bowl and beat together for a minute. Now add the orange juice (tablespoon of juice at a time and mix well; add the juice until you get the slightly runny frosting) and zest and beat well.
  • Take the frosting using a tablespoon and pour on top of the cake.
  • Note: If you prepare this cake with eggs, replace yogurt with 2 eggs and follow the same recipe.
Orange Cake

Eggless Orange Cake with orange cream frosting

Eggless Orange Cake



Sunday, June 29, 2014

       Indian Pickles are known as Achar in Hindi, Acharu in Malayalam, Oorugai in Tamil. Each state and region has pickles with wide range of taste and texture. In some families Indian families have some unique pickle recipes that are handed-down through the generations. Generally Mangoes, Gooseberries and Lemon are commonly pickled in Indian cuisine. This easy to make pickle powder suits for all these three pickles. You could make Mango and Gooseberry together in one pickle also using this pickle powder.

     Super easy to make and its really a finger licking recipe. This pickle powder is always better than the store bought Pickle powders. You can also reduce a teaspoon to tablespoon of chilli powder and reduce the spiciness of this pickle to suits your taste. Add half a cup of oil and garlic pods around 10-15 for the below said quantity of pickle powder. Click here to refer how to make this pickle.

Pickle Powder

INGREDIENTS:
Mustard seeds- 1/4 cup
Fenugreek/Methi seeds/Venthayam/Uluva-1 tablespoons
Turmeric powder- 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder- 1/2 cup (for less heat reduce a tablespoon of chili powder or use Kashmiri chilli powder)
Salt- 1/2 cup
Asafetida/ Hing powder- 1/4 teaspoon (optional)

Achar Powder


PROCEDURE:

  • Dry roast the fenugreek seeds till light brown colour appears and remove from pan. Do not roast till dark brown as it gives the pickle a bitter taste;Set aside.
  • Add mustard seeds separately in the same pan and roast for a minute (just to get the heat. You can check by touching the seeds) till the shine of mustard leaves and gets a dull black colour. Dont allow to pop up.
  • In a blender add both(Fenugreek and Mustard seeds) together and make as a fine powder.
  • In the same jar add turmeric powder and red chilli powder  and salt; give it a pulse to just combine uniformly to get the 'Pickle Powder'.
  • If you are not using this powder immediately pulse everything except the salt. Add the salt with this powder at the time of preparation.
  • Note:This quantity will be enough to make big 6 mangoes/ 30 big sized Gooseberry/ 25 lemon
Checkout how to make Avakai (Raw Mango) Pickle using this Pickle Powder.



Oorugai Podi



Wednesday, June 25, 2014

This cake has been our family favourite from when i was kid. As my both parents were working when we return from school we get some snacks from tea shops daily evening as a snack. Other than the savoury items like Parippu Vada, Ulunthu Vada we love this Sweet Vettu cake, we call this cake as Cabbage. Because in some teashops they make round in shape and it resembles cabbage.

Its really a yummy cake can be made without oven or even without much effort. Perfect snack for the evening teatime. Can be made in minutes for the guests at home. I feel this cake can be eaten without any guilt as it has no preservatives. My kids also love this cake so i have planned to make this cake for his snack box too.You can make this cake egg less version by adding two tablespoon of curd or add a small banana mashed well in the place of egg as a substitute. If you are making say 2 cups double all the ingredients and follow the same recipe.

Vettu Cake

INGREDIENTS:

Egg-1
All purpose Flour/ Maida- 1 cup
Baking Soda- 1/4 teaspoons
Turmeric powder- 1/4 teaspoon
Sugar, powdered- 1/2 cup
Cardamom- 3 pods
Oil- for frying

Kerala Tea cake

PROCEDURE:

  • Powder the sugar with the seeds of the cardamom in a blender  as a powder.
  • Mix Baking soda and turmeric powder with all purpose flour.
  • Beat well an egg in a bowl with spoon.
  • Add the powdered sugar with cardamom and mix well till combined.
  • then add the all purpose flour an mix well and form a smooth pliable dough.
  • If the dough sticks to your hand add a teaspoon or two of all purpose flour till you get a non sticky dough. Keep aside for 5-10 minutes.
  • Shape the dough into two small rectangular logs.
  • Slice then into 1 1/2 inch slices.
  • Give two deep cuts at the middle of the dough on each sides. Likewise do for all pieces.
  • You can make small balls also and cut the top to get round shaped cakes.
  • Heat the oil and deep fry the dough till golden colour appears and the outside of the cake gets hard.
  • Note: Do not fry the cake on high flame the inside of the cake will not get cooked.
  • Cook the cake on low flame, first the cake becomes soft then it becomes hard on outside and become golden colour.
Kerala Fried Tea Cake



Friday, June 20, 2014

       Chilli Chicken is always liked by people. Many vegetarian versions like Chilli Paneer, Chilli Mushroom and non veg versions like Chilli Fish is already there. So i planned to make this dish with Broccoli to add extra nutrition to our diet. It is a spicy Manchurian type of preparation.This is spicy with the addition of extra chilli powder in both fried broccoli and also in the gravy.

       I have to say this dish is really yummy and easy to make too. Paired with any Chinese dish really tastes amazing. You can make this dish very dry and eat as a starter too. Can add more water and sauces and made as pouring gravy too.

Chilli Broccoli

Preparation Time: 5 minutes  Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Category: Main Course (Dry) Cuisine: Indo-Chinese

INGREDIENTS:

To make Fried Broccoli:
Broccoli, chopped- half big head (1 cup)
All purpose Flour/ Maida- 6 teaspoons
Corn flour- 3 teaspoons
Baking powder- 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Chilli powder- 1 teaspoon
Tomato sauce- 1 teaspoon
Soya sauce- 1 teaspoon
Sugar- big pinch
Salt- to taste
Oil- To deep fry

To make Chilli Broccoli:
Oil- 2 teaspoons
Onion, cubed-1
Green chillies- 2
Garlic- 3 big cloves
Capsicum/ bell peppers, cubed- 1
Salt- to taste
Sugar- 1/4 teaspoons
Chilli powder- 1 teaspoon
Tomato sauce- 1 teaspoon
Soya sauce- 3 teaspoons
Corn flour- 3 teaspoons
Spring onion, chopped-1

PROCEDURE:

  • In a bowl add all purpose flour, corn flour, baking powder, chilli powder, tomato sauce, soya sauce, sugar, salt and water. Mix well as a semi thick slurry without any lumps. If you drop the batter from spoon it has to drop.
  • Dip the broccoli florets till the oil gets hot. Deep fry the florets in hot oil till crispy.
  • In another pan heat oil and add the onion, green chillies and garlic and cook till the onion colour changes to white.
  • Now add the capsicum and cook till white blisters starts to appear on the skin.
  • Add sugar, salt, chilli powder, tomato sauce, soya sauce and mix well.
  • Dissolve corn flower in 1/4 cup water and add and stir continuously.
  • Once the sauce starts to thicken add the fried broccoli florets and mix well till the gravy coats well and thickens. If needed add a teaspoon of oil and cook well till the floury taste leaves.
  • Garnish with chopped spring onion and serve hot.


Monday, June 16, 2014

       Pineapple jam is one of the yummiest jam. My choice for jam is always Pineapple jam. In my native place its pineapple season and a pineapple was there at my home and i planned to try this jam. Pineapple jam comes handy when u make tarts or dessert with fruits, perfect jam for brushing on top of fruits. Perfect side dish for Biryani.

       It is a super easy jam without pectin, artificial colours or any preservatives. Without pectin you can achieve a superb spreading jam consistency. The sweet cooking smell of pineapple filled all over my home. Super easy jam within minutes without any pain.

Pineapple Jam

INGREDIENTS:

Pineapple-1, large (2 cups of pureed pineapple)
Sugar- 1¼ cups
Water- ¼ cup
Lemon Juice- ¼ , a squeeze


PROCEDURE:

  • Peel and remove the black colour eyes lightly from the pineapple and cut the edges of the pineapple.
  • Cut the pineapple into  four pieces and remove the center core from four pieces.
  • Roughly chop the pineapple pieces and puree them inside the blender jar; Set aside.
  • In a pan add sugar and water, turn on the heat to dissolve the sugar in water.
  • After the sugar water comes to boil, the sugar dissolves and form first a cloudy syrup later it form a clear syrup.(Do not want syrupy consistency. But the sugar must be dissolved in water)
  • Add the pineapple puree and stir well to combine.
  • Once it starts to boil light frothy layer will form on top of jam. Dont worry it will disappear once the jam thickens.
  • When the jam get thicken, the frothy layer starts to disappear and the jam starts to become a clear glossy yellow colour. Now add the lemon juice, mix well and put off the gas.
  • Switch off the gas when the jam is almost thick but little runny if you drop the jam from spoon it has to fall easily. Because of the sugar content the jam thickens further after cooking.
  • Once the jam cools down transfer the jam into a clean sterile bottle and tightly close with a lid. You can store this jam for a week in room temperature and can be stored in refrigerator for a month or more.
  • Yields around 250-300 ml jar of jam.
  • Note: Adding lemon Juice is optional in this recipe. If you are planning to use this jam immediately and finish it is not necessary.
  • Lemon juice can be replace with citric acid available in shops too.
  • Lemon juice is added to prevent crystallization of jam.
  • Initially dissolving sugar in water properly is the essential step to avoid crystallization.
  • In-case if your jam crystallizes after a day or two add a teaspoon or two of water and melt inside oven or on stove top your jam will be fine.






Friday, June 13, 2014

       Baby corn Fingers is an easy to make Starter/ Appetizer. Can be served as a snack or side dish with rice and curries or with variety rice. Outside is crunchy and the inside is soft. Super easy dish to be prepared in minutes without much pain.

      Kids love this dish because of the shape and taste. If the size of the corn is big boil them initially to half cook them then dip inside the batter and fry thm. A perfect Finger food. Serve with Ketchup or mayonnaise as a dipping sauce if needed.

Baby Corn Fingers

INGREDIENTS:

Baby corn- 8-10
Maida/ All purpose Flour- 3 tablespoons
Corn Flour-1 ½ tablespoons
Rice Flour- 1 ½ tablespoons
Ginger Garlic paste- 1/2 teaspoons
Garam Masala (or) Chaat Masala- 1/4 teaspoon
Chilli powder/ Kashmiri Chilli powder-1/2 teaspoon
Soda powder- pinch
Salt- to taste

Baby corn Fritters

PROCEDURE:
  • In a bowl take all the ingredients and dry mix with a spoon to mix all the ingredients.
  • Then add water little by little and make like a thick bajji batter consistency.
  • Dip an roll the babycorn well in the batter.
  • Heat oil to smoking hot and reduce the flame to low and deep fry the corn till crisp on outside and deep golden colour appears.
  • Drain them in paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
  • If the size of the baby corn is big boil them to half cook them with little salt and dip inside the batter and fry them.


Baby Corn Fingers

Monday, June 9, 2014

       I have previously posted two Zebra cakes Chocolate and Vanilla Zebra Cake and Red Velvet Zebra Cake using Natural colours. This inspired me to try another colour and flavour to this same concept. So I have chosen Carrots for Colour and Oranges for Flavour. Colourwise and tastes wise both compliment together. This is my new trial cake with Carrot and Orange combination in Zebra Pattern. I have to say this cake is amazing in taste and the texture. Super soft and moist cake and so orangy in flavour.

       Again i am preparing this cake for my sons snack box for Orange colour theme in his school. So healthy cake as it includes carrots in it and i have not added any eggs in it. You can add two eggs instead of yogurt if you wish to make this cake with eggs. Refer here if you are adding eggs. I have made this cake two times. First time when i made this cake i have done this zebra pattern by adding a tablespoon of batter in alternating manner. I could not able to differentiate the colour well in that cake while taking photos. Next time i have added two tablespoon of batter to show the colour band pattern clearly and succeeded.


INGREDIENTS:
Oil- ½ cup
Sugar- 1 cup
Yogurt- ½ cup
Baking Powder- 1 teaspoon
*Baking Soda- ½ teaspoon
*All Purpose Flour/ Self Raising Flour- 1 ½ cups
Carrot- 1 big
Orange, juice and zest- 1
*Do not add Baking Soda if you are using Self Raising Flour.


PROCEDURE:


  • Combine All purpose flour/ Self raising flour with baking powder, *Baking Soda (Do not use if you are using Self Raising Flour); Mix well and sift if needed.
  • In a bowl add oil and sugar and whisk using electric hand mixer or a wire whisk till the sugar is almost dissolved.
  • Add yogurt and whisk till combined well.
  • Add Orange Juice and zest; mix well.
  • Immediately add the All Purpose Flour/ Self Raising Flour 1/2 a cup at a time and mix/ fold with a wooden ladle or hand mixer.
  • Divide the dough into two equal parts.
  • In one half add the carrot puree and mix well until uniformly combined. 
  • To make the carrot puree, roughly chop the carrots and puree them finely in a blender with out adding any water (Add little orange juice if you need liquid to puree them). Add orange zest with this and mix well or pulse once more to combine.
  • Transfer this puree in another bowl and add the half of the batter. Now this batter will be little loose (thinner than white batter) in consistency.
  • Add little more orange juice to make the white batter little thin so that the batter drops from spoon easily.
  • Preheat the oven to 180oC.
  • Take a 20 cm baking pan and line with wax paper or grease the pan with oil or butter and dust with flour and shake off the excess flour.
  • At the centre of the pan add two tablespoons of white batter then add two tablespoons of carrot batter at the centre of white batter. Like wise repeat the same process in alternative manner till you finish the whole batter.
  • When you add the whole batter in this manner it spread and reach the whole tin in thin layer. Once you bake the cake it raises and gives zebra appearance.




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