Plum Pudding

Plum pudding-A delicious soft and spongy cake with a hint of vanilla and cinnamon.The sweetness beautifully complimented with the tartness of the red plums.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups all purpose flour (maida)
Sugar 3/4 cup
Brown sugar 2 tablespoons
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt 1/4 teaspoon
1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda
1/4 teaspoon Baking powder
Apple sauce 1/2 cup (substitute for 1 egg)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup milk (approx)
12 plums
1 tablespoon confectioners sugar for dusting.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
2. Grease and flour 12 individual mini loose bottom shallow flan tins
3. Cut the plums in half and remove stone.
4. Cut plums into quarters keep aside.
5. Add the salt,bicarbonate of soda and baking powder to the flour and sieve twice to incorporate it. Keep aside.
6. In a bowl add the apple sauce, 3/4 cup sugar, vanilla essence and oil and mix together thoroughly.
7. Fold in the sieved flour with a metal spoon gently, making sure not to over mix.
8. Add the milk to make dropping consistency batter. (Adjust milk as needed)
9. Divide the mixture equally into the 12 individual pre prepared mini loose bottom flan dishes and place plum quarters on the top .Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top of each pudding.

10. Bake in a preheated oven 180 centigrade for approx 25 minutes.
11. Plum pudding is ready when a skewer inserted in cake comes out clean
12. Cool on a wire rack, when completely cool remove from tins and dust with confectioner’s sugar.
Serve with cream, custard or vanilla ice-cream.

You may like:
Apple cake

Submitting to:

Stories from an indian kitchen -bake off event.

Ariselu- ICC cooking challenge February 2010

Ariselu -ICC cooking challenge February 2010- A famous Andhra traditional sweet dish made from freshly pounded rice flour, jaggery (Gor) and delicately flavoured with sesame seeds and cardamon powder. It is deep fried to a golden brown colour and served crisp.

I tried the second recipe which was provided by -Srivali and her mum of Cooking 4 all seasons.


Recipe 2 -This method yeilds about 8.

Ingredients :

Raw Rice -200 grams (Once pounded you will need I glass for recipe)
Jaggary - 1/2 glass
Coconut grated - 2 tsps
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Water - 1/2 glass
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Oil for deep frying.

Method for pounding the rice flour:

1.Soak rice for 6 hrs and then shade dry it. (Meaning it should not become dry but should still have some wetness in the rice. )You can either grind this to fine powder using your mixie or give to mill. The rice flour should have that texture of soft and wet feeling when you take a handful and also it should kind of retain your fist shape. This is very important because if the flour is very dry it wouldn't turn out well.

Method to prepare Ariselu:

1.Grate the achu vellum(jaggery)and add to water just enough to cover them.
2.Cook on high and remove the scum.
3.Add the cardamom powder. Once it starts boiling, add the grated coconut. You will see lot of bubbles coming out.At this stage, add the freshly pounded rice flour slowly and stir it together well. You will know when the consistency is correct, so till then you got to keep adding the flour to make asoft dough.

(The beauty of this dough is, you can store and use whenever you want. If it becomes too hard, just add about 2 tsp of water along with 2 tsp of sugar. Get it to boil, while you keep stirring it. The mix should become soft again. When you handle it, it should come together as a soft dough.)

4.Divide it to equal balls. Heat a kadai with oil to deep fry these.
5.In a greased plastic sheet, pat them down to equal sized discs. Press down the sesame seeds over the top.
6.Once the oil is hot, gently drop these into them. Fry on both sides. Since the sesame seeds are just pressed over the top, they will get into the oil. (If you want to avoid this, try adding to the dough.)
7.Once they are golden brown, remove and drain them on a kitchen towel.They will be soft when you remove them, will become crunchy once they are cooled.

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ICC cooking challenge January 2010

Chinese style fried rice.

Chinese style fried rice- Fragrant aromatic rice stir fried in Chinese style with a selection of crisp vegetable and flavoured with Soya sauce it makes a lovely lunch dish.

Ingredients:

1 large bowl cold cooked rice
6 Baby corn cut into small rounds
½ carrot cut into thin rounds
1 tablespoon frozen peas,
1 water chestnut cut into thin slices
1/2 small red onion cut into thin slices
2 green chillies finely chopped
1 mushroom sliced
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon dark Soya sauce
1/2 tablespoon hot chilli sauce
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
1 tablespoon cashew nuts for garnishing
2 spring onions finely chopped for garnishing

Method:

1. In a wok heat the oil and fry the cashew nuts.
2. Remove cashew nuts and drain on kitchen paper.
3. In the remainder oil add the pre prepared vegetables except spring onions and stir fry on high heat about 3-4 mins.(Veg should still be crisp and retain shape)
4. Add the rice, salt and chilli sauce and Soya sauce. Toss (not stir as this will break the rice grains) till rice and vegetables are mixed and rice is heated through.
5. Transfer rice to serving dish and garnish with spring onions and fried cashew nuts.

Serve hot



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Sweet and sour sesame vegetables.

Spicy sprouted Moong beans.

Spicy sprouted Moong beans - Healthy protein packed sprouted moong beans cooked in aromatic spices with a hint of garlic and tomato.

Ingredients:

1 cup dried whole moong beans
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon coriander powder
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
1 red dried chilli
2 tomatoes finely chopped and pureed
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
Lemon wedges for garnish.

Method:

1. Wash and soak the moong beans over night.
2. Next day drain the moong beans and place in colander.
3. Sprinkle with a tablespoon of water, cover and leave in a warm dark place to sprout. Check the beans after 24 hours, you should see small sprouts, sprinkle 1 tablespoon more water if beans have dried out. After second day beans will have sprouted fully and are ready for use.
4. Heat oil in a pan when hot add the mustard seeds and red dried chilli.
5. Add the garlic and sauté taking care not to burn it.
6. Add the sprouted moong beans, salt, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder and chilli powder
7. Add 2-3 table spoon water and cook covered on low heat for 15 mins stirring occasionally till moong beans are tender.
8. Add the pureed tomatoes and cook for further 5 minutes.

Transfer to serving dish and garnish with lemon wedges.

Serve with hot rotis, kadhi and boiled rice.

NB .Sprouted moong beans can be frozen for later use.

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Pumpkin and Apple Soup

Pumpkin and apple soup-A quick and easy heart warming winter soup with a fruity tasty. Sweetness from the pumpkin balanced by the tartness from the apple balances the flavour of this soup beautifully. A lovely healthy soup without compromising the taste.

Ingredients:

400 grams pumpkin peeled and diced.
2 cups water
1 granny smith apple (need apples that are slightly sharp in taste)
½ teaspoon white pepper powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon sugar.

Method:

1.Place the diced pumpkin in heat proof dish, add 1 cup water cover and microwave for 8-10 minutes till pumpkin is tender and cooked.
2. Peel and grate the apple and toss in lemon juice to stop it discolouring.
3. Put the cooked pumpkin and the apple into a blender and puree to desired consistency.
4.Transfer the apple and pumpkin puree to a sauce pan and add the second cup of water and heat the soup through. (Adjust the soup by adding more or less water to get the desired consistency)
5. Add the salt, pepper and sugar. Stir and simmer for 3-5 minutes.

Serve hot with fresh bread.

NB. A spoonful of cream can be stirred in just before serving for a richer creamier taste.

You may like:
Chunky Vegetable Soup

Submitting to:

Nithu’s Kitchen-Think beyond the fruit event

Drum sticks (Saragwa) in yoghurt gravy.

Drum sticks (Saragwa) in yoghurt gravy-The fruit is a long, thin pod, resembling a drumstick.
(Interesting fact: wikepedia says Saragwa is a fruit not a vegetable)

In this dish, Saragwa sticks are cooked in a rich yoghurt gravy. The taste is tangy with a spicy kick.The best way to enjoy the dish is to split the drum sticks in half, dip in the gravy and eat the inner flesh and seeds with the gravy and discard the outer tougher skin.






Ingredients:

4 drumsticks cut into 3 inch pieces (approx 12 pieces)

1 cup natural sour yoghurt
2 cups water
3 tablespoons besan (chick pea flour)
1 teaspoon garlic paste
4 curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
4 green chillies finely chopped
½ teaspoon chilli powder
1 red dried chilli
1 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander for garnish.
1 tablespoon sunflower oil

Method:

1. Wash and cut the drum sticks into 3 inch pieces.
2. Place in a steamer and steam till tender, alternately place in bowl with a little water and cook in microwave on high for 8-10 mins till tender. Keep aside

3. In the blender add the yoghurt, water, salt, turmeric, besan and blend together. Keep aside.
4. Heat the oil in a pan and when hot add the mustard seeds, and red dried chilli and curry leaves. Add the garlic and sauté taking care not to burn the garlic.
5. Add the yoghurt mixture and keep stirring for about 5-10 mins till the mixture thickens and the raw taste of besan is gone. (Consistency should be so that it coats the back of a spoon)You may need to add a little more water if gravy appears too thick.
6. Add the precooked drum sticks and the green chillies and chilli powder.
7. Cook for a further 5 mins stirring regularly to avoid gravy sticking to pan bottom.
8. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with chopped coriander.

Serve with hot rotis.

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Khata Urad