Chocolate cake

Chocolate cake-A scrumptious chocolate cake,moist, velvety,simple chocolicious and melts in the mouth and chocolate lovers heaven.

Ingredients:

10 oz sugar
6oz softened butter
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
6 oz natural low fat yoghurt
8 oz self raising flour
2 oz cocoa
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

For the icing:

2 oz softened butter
2 oz cocoa
3 tablespoons milk
12 oz icing sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F
2. Grease abaking tin and dust it with flour ,keep aside.
3. Mix together the sugar and butter and mix till smooth.
4. Mix together the eggs, yoghurt and vanilla essence and add to the butter sugar mixture.
5. Sieve the cocoa, flour and bicarbonate of soda,
6. Gently fold the dry ingredients with the wet, do not over mix.
7. Pour into greased cake tn and cook for approx 40 minutes.
8. Leave to cool .

For Icing:

1.Melt the butter in a pan
2.Add the icing sugar and cocoa and milk
3. Mix throughly and spread over the cake.

(For devils chocolatety cake reduce the icing sugar to 4 oz and add 8 oz milk chocolate instead. To make this icing you will need to folow steps 1 and 2 then melt that chocolate and add to icing.)

You may like:

Carrot Cake

Chocolate crunch Barfi

This recipe was submitted to:

Dil Se show me your cake event.

Food for 7 stages of life

Cook like a bong

Easy Cooking -Best chocolate cake event.

Couscous Salad

Couscous Salad-Couscous a grain made from rolled semolina wheat and very popular in Middle Eastern dishes. It’s very versatile; although on its own it’s bland in taste it can be flavoured in variety of different ways to suit the dish. It makes a beautiful and delicious salad or it can be served as a substitute for rice with any vegetable dish.
I first tried this salad whilst on holiday in Greece at a quaint Turkish Cypriot restaurant and since then it’s become a firm family favourite.

Ingredients

1 cup dry instant couscous (will yield 2.5 cups when cooked)
2 inch piece cucumber diced
1 tomato deseeded and diced
2 spring onions finely sliced
1 small carrot grated
1/4 red pepper finely diced
1/4 green pepper finely diced
8 seedless grapes cut in halves
1 tablespoon jalapeno peppers in brine (bottled)
1 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander
4 lemon wedges for garnishing

Dressing:

Juice of 1/2 a lime
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
1/2 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon white pepper powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons Tabasco sauce (hot red pepper sauce)

Method:

1. Make up the instant couscous as per packet instructions. Once couscous is ready, fluff it up with a fork and leave to cool.
2. In a jar with a lid add all the dressing ingredients plus 1 tablespoon brine from the jalapeno peppers. Shake and keep a side.
3. Add the dressing to the cooled couscous and stir in.
4. Mix together the diced cucumber, tomato, carrots and spring onions and peppers and the grapes. Stir in the flavoured couscous and toss together.
5. Transfer the couscous salad to a serving platter and sprinkle on top the jalapeno peppers and coriander.
Serve immediately with hot crusty bread or pitta bread and lemon wedges.

You may like:

Garden Salad with Italian herb dressing.

Submitting to:

Joy of cooking-Joyful eating while travelling event.

Veg Inspirations-Healthy Onspirations salad event

Experiments,emotions and experiences with food-greek event- original event by dkchef in you

Khichdi (rice with lentils)

Khichdi-A glutonous porridge type of rice dish made with short grain rice and lentils.It is a hearty gujarati comfort food which is served with spinach or aubergine curry, kadhi (yoghurt soup)and rotla(millet rotis).

Ingredients:

1 cup patna shortgrain rice or thai jasmine basmati rice
3/4 cup split moong dhal with husk
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons salt.
1 dollop of butter or ghee for serving
6 cups water

Method:

1.Wash the rice and dhal and place in a deep saucepan .
2.Add the water and the salt and turmeric.
3.Leave to soak for 1 hour
4.After 1 hour bring the rice and dhal mixture to boil, once boiling,turn the heat to the lowest setting cover the pan and leave to simmer for about 25 minutes
5.The khichdi is ready when all the water is absorbed ,it should be glutonous and soft and sticky.
6.While khichdi is still hot mix throughly and add a dollop of butter or ghee before serving.

Serve with aubergine or spinach sabji, kadhi and rotla.






You may like:
Gujarati Kadhi
Masala stuffed baby aubergines in gravy.

Masala Stuffed baby aubergines in gravy.

Masala stuffed baby aubergines in gravy – Whole baby aubergines stuffed with a spicy mixture, steamed and cooked in tomato gravy.

For Gravy:

3 medium ripe tomatoes ( chopped and blended smooth
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 tablespoon tomato puree
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon chilli powder
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
2 tablespoons sunflower oil
3 tablespoons water

For stuffing:

2 tablespoons peanuts coarsely ground.
1 tablespoon chick pea flour (besan)
1 teaspoon ground cumin powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 table spoon sunflower oil

Method:

1. Wash the aubergines and dry them.
2. Make a slit a long the length of the aubergine on one side only. Do not remove the stalk
3. Mix all the ingredients listed in the stuffing list above. It should make a crumbly mixture.
4. Lightly fill the cavity of the each aubergine with this stuffing mixture. (If there is any left over keep aside and can be added to gravy later)
5. Place the stuffed aubergines in a steamer and steam for 20 mins until tender (alternatively can be cooked in microwave in a covered dish for about 8-10 mins till tender.
6. While aubergines are steaming, heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a shallow pan, when hot add the mustard seeds.
7. Add the blended tomatoes and tomato puree and sauté.
8. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. At this stage you can also add any remaining stuffing you may have and 3-4 tablespoons of water to make thick gravy.(adjust as needed)
9. Cook the gravy till spices infuse in to the tomatoes and the gravy starts to leave oil.
10. Remove the aubergines from the steamer and place over the tomato gravy side by side. Do not stir otherwise aubergines will break.
11. Gently spoon over some of the gravy over the aubergines.
12. Cover the pan and heat through the aubergines on low heat about 5-8 mins.
13. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with chopped coriander.

Serve with Khichdi, Kadhi and Rotla (recipes for khichdi and rotla to follow soon.)



You may like :

Bainghan ka bartha

Submitting to:

Anitas Kitchen-Vegetable marathon-aubergines.

Chana Dhal ( split chickpea dhal)

Chana ( split chickea)dhal-A warm and hearty dhal, thick and chunky cooked in an array of aromatic spices. An ideal accompaniment to crispy finger parthas and rice.
Ingredients:

2 cups chana dhal (split chickpeas)
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
4 green chillies finely chopped
1.5 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 tomatoes peeled chopped and pureed
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
2 red dried chillies
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon chilli powder
1 tablespoon fresh coriander for garnish

Method:

1.Wash and soak the chana dhal in water over night.
2. Drain the dhal and cook with 2 pints water in a large vessel on stove top.(approx 25 mins) Dhal should be cooked but still holding shape not mushy
3. In a pan heat the oil when hot add the mustard seeds and red chillies.
4. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds taking care not to burn it.
5.Add the pureed tomatoes, ginger and chopped chillies.
6.Add the salt, turmeric and chilli powder and cook till spices and tomatoes blended and tomatoes start to leave oil.
7. Add the cooked dhal to the spice mixture and simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes.
8. With the back of a ladle gently press the dhal to break some of it up to give thickness to dhal. Add a little more water if needed.
9.Adjust seasoning if required.Transfer to serving dish and garnish with chopped coriander.

Serve with Crunchy finger parathas and rice.

Serving suggestion: Break up the Crunchy parathas on a plate and pour over hot piping dhal. Eat immediately with onion and tomato salad.




You may like:
Gujarati style tuver dhal.

Submitted to:

Mirch Masala My Legume Love Affair (MLLA) Edition 21 -event-brainchild of Susan of the well seasoned cook .


EASY2COOK RECIPES-FAMILY'S FAVOURITE FOOD event

Crunchy finger Paratha

Crunchy finger Paratha-As strange as the name may sound that’s exactly what these crispy crunchy paratha are. They are made from with wholemeal wheat flour, savoury in taste and delicious broken into fingers and enjoyed with dhal or just as a snack with tea and pickles.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 teaspoon salt
Water to make dough.
Sun flower oil for frying

Method:

1. In a bowl add the flour, salt and the oil.
2. Using the tips of your fingers gently rub the oil into the flour to make a bread crumb type mixture.
3. Add a little water and make stiff dough. Cover and leave for 30 mins.
4. After half an hour knead the dough and divide into 12 balls
5. Roll out each paratha about 5 inches in diameter
6. Starting about 1cm from top edge of paratha cut a vertical slit down the paratha leaving 1 cm edge at the bottom edge too. Cut 3 more slits. When you pick the paratha up it should still be in one piece. Repeat for rest of dough .

7. Heat the oil and fry paratha on medium heat till golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper and store in air tight container.

NB-These paratha should be crunchy and crispy.

Serve with dhal or pickles.

You may like:

Aloo paratha

Heaven on a dessert plate~Tiramisu- DK Challenge February 2010

DARING BAKER CHALLENGE FEBRUARY, 2010 ~ Heaven on a Dessert Plate!

Tiramisu- A creamy and rich dessert made up of layers of sponge fingers, zabaglione and cream. It can be is flavoured with marsala wine or espresso coffee.

The February 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen and Deeba of Passionate About Baking.

They chose Tiramisu as the challenge for the month. Their challenge recipe is based on recipes from The Washington Post, Cordon Bleu at Home and Baking Obsession.

The complete recipe for the Tiramisu can be found here:

Mascarpone Cheese – Vera’s Recipe (Baking Obsession) for Homemade Mascarpone Cheese.

Savoiardi/ Ladyfinger Biscuits – Recipe from Cordon Bleu At Home

Tiramisu – Carminantonio's Tiramisu from The Washington Post, July 11 2007

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I tried the egg less version for the lady finger biscuits and substituted the alcohol with coffee

EGGLESS LADYFINGERS (Source: Adapted from Recipezaar)

This recipe makes about 4 long biscuits (3" long and 3/4" wide).

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons/ 55gms sugar
1 teaspoon/ 5ml vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups/ 340gms unsalted butter
2 cups/ 250gms all purpose flour
1/2 cup/ 40gms coarsely ground almonds
powdered sugar

Blend all the ingredients well and adding the coarsely ground nuts last. Scrape the batter into a piping bag with a 3/4" plain tip and pipe into fingers about 3" long at 1" intervals onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake them in a 300 degree F (150 C) oven for 30 to 45 minutes till they start turning slightly brown at the edges.

Take them out of the oven and cool on tray for about 5 minutes and then move the biscuits to a cooling rack. When slightly cool, roll them in powdered sugar. Store in an airtight container till required.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The assembling of the tiramisu involved dipping the sponge fingers in coffee and layering them in a dish with the Zabaglione and cream mixture.I found that if the biscuits were over soaked they collapsed very easily so utmost care was needed at this stage.The making of the mascarpone and the zabaglione was straightford although a lot of eggs were required in the recipe.

I assembled my tiramisu in a square glass dish and once it has chilled cut it into miniature bitesize pieces and placed them in cake cases. I think the presentation would have worked far better if I had layered the ingredients in a wine glass.The dessert tasted lovely but to make all the stages from scratch it took over a week to get every ingredient prepared and ready.

You may like:

Nanaima Bars-DK challenge January 2010.