Monday, February 15, 2010

Plums Cake


We had got lot of plums from Costco but they weren't ripe ones. So I had been thinking of making a cake using them for quite a few days. Finally today I got some time to experiment with it thought the plums were ripe now. I made it in heart shape in honor of today's Valentines day.

Plums Cake
Ingredients
1 Cup Butter
1.5 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Maida
1 Cup Hazelnuts
1 Cup Walnuts
1 Cup Groundnuts
3 Eggs
1/2 Spoon Baking Powder
6 Plums
2 Spoon Lemon Juice
4 Spoon Powdered Sugar
2 Spoon Almonds

Method
  • Grind hazelnuts to powder
  • In a bowl, beat in sugar and butter till light and fluffy.
  • Add a egg to the butter and beat well
  • Then add in 1/3rd of hazelnut powder and beat well.
  • Continue adding remaining eggs one at a time alternating with hazelnut powder and beat well
  • Add in walnuts and peanuts and mix well.
  • Sieve maida and baking powder together and add in to the above mixture. Mix well.
  • Grease a pan and add in the batter
  • Preheat oven to 350F/180C
  • Bake the cake at 350F/180C for 45 minutes
  • Take out the cake out of oven and arrange in halved plums(without seeds) over the top
  • Bake again at 350F/180C for 10 minutes. Take out and let it cool down
  • In a small pan mix lemon juice with powdered sugar and let it simmer till thickened
  • Pour it over the cake, garnish with finely chopped almonds.

Notes
Alternately you can use marmalade jam if you have. I wanted to use that for the glazing but since I didn't have it I made lemon, sugar mixture.

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Lauki Kofta


Ajoy just loves lauki kofta so much so that he asks ma to make it every time we go to pune. Till last year, that did work out especially since we visited pune atleast each month. But after coming to Redmond, one thing I am sure Ajoy and me too missed was Ma's special Kofta. So this time when we were in india we did ask her to make it quite frequently but the recipe is so good that eating it once in a year doesn't satisfy the taste buds. So after I got the recipe from her, today I made it on valentine's day. Guess my gift to Ajoy :)

Lauki Kofta
Ingredients
3 Cup Bottle Gourd
1 Cup Carrot
1.5 Cup Besan
3 Spoon Corn Flour
2 Onion
2 Tomato
2 Cup Curd
4 Spoon Sugar
1/2 Spoon Chaat Masala
1/2 Spoon Jeera
1.5 Spoon Red Chilli Powder
1/2 Spoon Turmeric Powder
1 Spoon Corriander Powder
1 Spoon Jeera Powder
1 Green Chilli
1/4 Cup Cashews
1/4 Cup Raisins
Oil
Salt to taste

Method
  • Grate bottle gourd and carrot and mix well
  • Heat oil and add in jeera. Let it sputter
  • Add in grated bottle gourd and carrot and mix well.
  • Cook well stirring occasionally till the mixture dries up completely. Keep aside to cool down.
  • Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onion. Fry till translucent and keep aside.
  • In a mixie add tomatoes, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, jeera powder, corriander powder and salt. Grind well.
  • Add in cooked onion and grind to smooth paste. Keep aside
  • In the bottle gourd and carrot mixture, add besan, corn flour make soft dough
  • Prepare small balls with cashews, raisins and green chilli pieces in the center of them.
  • Fry the koftas in oil to brown color and keep aside.
  • In a pan add the grinded paste, 3 cups of water and let it simmer for 5-6 minutes till gravy attains consistency.
  • Add in koftas and simmer for another few minutes. Take of the heat
  • In a bowl, mix in curd, sugar and chaat masala.
  • While serving koftas, add in the kofta with the gravy, add curd and then garnish with grated carrot and some cashew pieces and raisins

Notes
Instead of carrot you can use raw banana as well.

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Paneerbhara Kabab


Today when I opened fridge, found that I have around 2 liters of milk and it is getting expired tomorrow. Gave a lot of thought on what I should be using it before I loose it. Last few times I had been making sweets but this time I wanted to make something spicy and that is when I came up this.

Paneerbhara Kabab
Ingredients
2 Liter Milk
5 Spoon Vinegar
1 Cup Corriander Leaves
2 Spoon Pudina Leaves
5-6 Green Chillies
2 Bread Slices
1/2 Spoon Chaat Masala
Salt
Oil

Method
  • Boil Milk in a thick pan
  • Mix a cup of water with vinegar and add it to the milk to separate whey from it.
  • Strain it and wash it with cold water.
  • Hang it in a dry cloth for around half an hour to remove as much as water as possible
  • Preheat oven to 350F/180C
  • Bake bread slices for 5 minutes at 350F/180C, Flip the sides and bake for another 5 minutes
  • In a mixie, grind the bread to breadcrums. Save aside
  • Grind corriander leaves, pudina leaves and green chillies to fine paste without using water.
  • In a plate mix the paneer that was hanging, the above green paste and salt
  • Make small lemon sized balls and roll them in bread crums
  • Heat oil and fry the balls in it over medium-high heat.
  • Sprinkle chaat masala and serve with ketchup

Notes
If you want you can make it with grated paneer instead, but it tasted awesome with this fresh made paneer and the softness inside the crispy covering was delicious.
For the corriander-pudina-green chillies paste I didnt use any water. The water that was on leaves after washing them was good enough.

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