Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Chocolate Fudge Cake with Avacado



This was an experimental cake but turned out so soft and moist. Really lovely and my family and friends loved it!!! 


Ingredients:
1/2 cup sunflower oil
2 large eggs
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 or 1 cup sugar ( i used 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 Avocado mashed till smooth

Method:
Pre heat oven to 180C.
Grease a 6'' baking tin and line with grease proof paper.
Beat sugar and oil till combined and add in the eggs one by one beating well with an electric beater.
Add in milk and avocado puree. Beat well until smooth.
Sift cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, flour, salt in to the wet mixture.
Mix with a spatula until just combined. 
Pour the mixture in the baking tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes clean.
Allow to cool on the tin completely. 
Spread with chocolate icing and top with chocolate flakes. Serve.



Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Mutton Rogan Josh


Ingredients:
Mutton 1kg
Onions sliced thinly 1kg (equal quantity of onions: mutton)
Cinnamon 2 sticks 5cm long
Cardamoms 5
Cloves 5
Bay leaves 2
Ginger paste 1 tbsp
Garlic paste 1 tbsp
Water or Chicken stock
Oil 4 tbsp
Kashmir chillie powder 2 tbsp
fennel power  1/2 tsp
ginger powder 1/2 tsp(optional)
Whisked plain yogurt 1/2 cup

Method:
Heat the oil well, add spices and stir. And to next add in the onions and fry till them till golden brown and try to stir it well and get the color uniformly. 
When the onions are done, add in garlic paste and ginger paste and stir till browned. 
Add in the mutton and mix well and braised it for 3 -4 minutes until its evenly colored.
Add water enough to cook the mutton and add salt to taste.
Cover and cook until mutton is 80% cooked. Cook for about 25 minutes.
Add rest of the spices: chillie powder mixed with little water, fennel powder and ginger powder. Mix well.
Add whisked yogurt. 
Cook for another 10 more minutes until the gravy is thick.
Serve!!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Liver Fry



 Ingredients:
 Liver 250g
1 medium onion sliced thinly
1 tomato chopped
3 cloves garlic ground
2 cloves
1'' cinnamon stick
1/4tsp chilli powder
1/4tsp cumin powder
sunflower oil 2 tbsp
salt and pepper
1tsp vinegar

Method:
Marinate the liver as a whole piece with salt, pepper and vinegar. Add little water and boil or cook in microwave for about 8 minutes till done.
Heat oil in a pan. Add cinnamon and cloves and stir. Add in the onions and fry until they are golden brown.
To it add garlic and stir to fry. Add chilli powder and cumin powder and stir.
Add in the tomatoes and let it cook until the tomatoes are broken down.
Now slice the liver in to thin pieces and add to the frying pan and let it cook for a minute or two. Adjust seasoning.
Add in the boiled water/ stock. Cook till the gravy drys out.
Serve. 


Apple Cake




Ingredients:
Butter Softened 4tbsp
Sugar 3/4 cup
Flour 1 cup
1 egg
1tsp vanilla essence
3tbsp milk
Apples grated 3 cups
Baking soda 1tsp
salt 1/4tsp
Ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp
chopped nuts 1/4 cup (optional)

Method:
Preheat oven at 180C for 15 minutes. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish.
In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Since the quantity of butter is very less, the creamed mixture was dry and resembled coarse crumbs.
Blend egg. milk and vanilla together.
Add the Egg mixture to the creamed butter/sugar and beat everything together with the hand mixer until thoroughly combined. This mixture looks creamy like a white sauce.
In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon. Add this to the wet ingredients. The batter will be thick.
Stir in apples and nuts. Mix it thoroughly.
Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out with just a few crumbs. Mine was done around 40 minutes. You can also see that the cake starts pulling from the edges.
This cake can be sliced directly from the pan while its still warm, so no need to wait for the pan to cool to invert it and then slice it.

Enjoy!!!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Crab Curry



Ingredients:
Crabs cleaned and washed 1kg

1 medium onion sliced
3 cloves of garlic chopped
2 green chilli cut lenthwise
1 spring of curry leaves
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp pepper ground
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp curry powder
1'' cinnamon stick
1 goraka
handful of Moringa (Murunga) leaves
salt to taste (1tsp)
Coconut milk 2-3 cups (1st extract coconut milk)
1/4of a lime juice


Method:
Put the washed crabs along with all the ingredients above expect Murunga leaves and lime juice Add enough coconut milk just about to cover the crabs. in to a large cooking vessel.  Mix well to marinate.
Cook on medium heat stirring occasionally until gravy is reduced and the crabs are well cooked and orange in color. Cook for about 20 minutes or so. Adjust seasoning.
When the curry is almost done, top it with Murunga leaves and lime juice.
Enjoy!!!



Cauliflower Tempura



Serve 6

Ingredients:
1 small cauliflower , cut into medium-size florets
100 g plain flour
2 eggs , separated
2 tbsp vegetable oil
vegetable oil for deep frying

Method:
Cook the cauliflower in boiling water for 2 mins. Tip into a colander, rinse under the cold tap, drain well and set aside.
Put the flour in a large bowl with a pinch of salt. Whisk the egg yolks and 175ml iced water together, then whisk into the flour with the oil to make a smooth batter. In a separate, clean bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold into the batter.
Heat the oil in a deep fryer or large wok to 190C. Coat some of the cauliflower in the batter then use a slotted spoon to carefully lift into the hot oil. Deep-fry the cauliflower for 2-3 mins until golden and puffy. Drain on kitchen towel and continue with the rest in batches. Sprinkle the cauliflower with salt and serve with a bowl of  mayonnaise.