Eggless Date Cake (Butterless too)

Surprised by the title? You read it right...This cake has NO EGG AND NO BUTTER ( not even a drop) And the taste? It was soo soft, spongy and absolutely delicious that I couldn't believe that it was eggless.

This is my first post for Blog-Hop Wednesdays started by Radhika of Tickling Palates. And I was paired with Nagashree of Sattvaa. Actually this post was supposed to be posted on Wednesday, but sadly I couldn't. I got too busy past few days with my 5 month old baby being unwell with flu, guests visiting us and with packing and what not...Moving is always a big hassle (specially moving countries) and what with a naughty toddler and a24/7 attention seeking baby at home....things get even messier. We have just 2 more weeks left in UK :( I am sad because we are leaving Oxford and also because I have so much packing to do yet.

Anyways coming to today's post I was going through Nagashree's blog and found so many regional dishes and was wondering what to cook, and then our neighbor from Saudi Arabia gave us huge box of dates. And I knew I had to finish those dates within few weeks, before we leave and as I am too much in baking mood these days I decided to bake this Date Cake from her space, which she had followed from here. And I am really glad I baked this cake. My family just loved it. I will definitely bake it again and I am planning to bake in a loaf pan next time like this banana bread.




EGGLESS DATE CAKE

Ingredients:

20-25 pitted Dates
1 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup All purpose flour/Maida
1 tsp baking soda and
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Method:

Soak the pitted Dates in 1 cup of milk overnight or if you don't have time soak them in warm milk for 3-4 hours. Preheat oven to 350 F / 176 C . Grease and line the bottom of a cake pan and set aside.

In a blender blend together the dates, milk and sugar to a smooth paste.Sift the dry ingredients- Flour and baking soda and set aside. In a wide mouthed bowl add the smooth paste from the blender and now add the cooking oil/vegetable oil. Slowly add the dry ingredients to this and mix with a spatula/spoon until well incorporated or use a hand mixer for 1-2 minutes to mix everything well. Stir in the chopped nuts.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Once out of the oven, cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. Serve it just plain with tea or you can serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream for dessert.



Sending this to Blog- Hop 18

Classic Victoria sandwich

After living in UK from last 4 years, I have seen the love and respect people have for the royal family. And I was have witnessed the celebrations among locals here and have seen how everyone is very enthusiastic about the royal celebrations of the country. Last summer, it was the royal wedding of prince William and Kate and very shop here sold souvenirs of many kinds. Every shop had something special for the celebrations and even at schools the kids got to celebrate it by having a royal wedding tea party. My toddler stills recalls those celebration because he adores the prince and his wife and what more..he was lucky enough to even meet the Duchess of Cambridge at his school :)


There he is lifting his hand and waving(second from left) Pic courtesy :BBC news

This Summer marked Queen Elizabeth II Diamond jubilee celebrations. The Diamond jubilee marked Queen Elizabeth's 60 years as queen and she is the second longest reigning monarch of United Kingdom after Queen Victoria. And it was so exciting to see people wear clothes that had red , blue and white, the street parties and the food with union jacks and crowns on it. It was a memorable event for everyone here and more for us because we will be leaving UK in couple of weeks. We will definitely miss this country and the lovely people we met here.

Coming to the recipe, I decided to bake the most iconic cake in Britain the 'Victoria sandwich' or 'Victoria sponge' which is named after Queen Victoria, which she loved having it with her afternoon tea. A classic Victoria sponge consists of jam and whipped cream or vanilla buttercream sandwiched between two sponges. Whenever I have bought this cake, I have found it containing the butter cream. Maybe because it will have a longer shelf life. But I opted for whipped cream filling as my son loved it. But I have also written the recipe for the vanilla cream.



CLASSIC VICTORIA SANDWICH CAKE
Recipe source: BBC Good Food

Ingredients:

For the cake:
200 grams /1 1/2 cup self raising flour
200 grams /1 cup caster sugar
200 grams softened butter- at room temperature
4 eggs- beaten
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp baking powder

For filling:
200 ml double cream
300 grams strawberry jam
icing sugar for dusting.

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 190 C / 375 F. Butter 2 sandwich tins and line it with a nonstick baking paper. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Now add the remaining ingredients and and beat till well incorporated and you get a smooth batter.

Divide the mixture equally between the prepared tins, smooth the surface with a spatula or the back of a spoon, then bake for about 20 minutes until golden and the cake springs back when pressed. Turn onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.

For the filling, whip the cream till soft peaks and spread it over the bottom of one of the sponges, top it with strawberry jam and sandwich the second sponge on top. Dust with a little icing sugar before serving.



Notes:

If you don't have sandwich tin, you can bake it in any round cake tin and slice it into layers to add the filling.

There are many other options for the filling like you can replace the whipped cream with buttercream or lemon curd. And also you can replace the strawberry jam with raspberry jam. Below is the recipe for the buttercream filling.

For the butter cream filling :

Ingredients:
100g butter - softened
140g icing sugar - sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
Beat the butter until smooth and creamy, then gradually beat in icing sugar and vanilla extract until you get a smooth cream.

Sending this celebration cake to Jagruti's event- Celebrate Diamond Jubilee.

Peanut Butter Cookies

While growing up in India, I had never heard or tasted peanut butter. But I am sure many people back home know about it now.The first time I saw it was in America. And I guess Americans love peanut butter..I used to see people rave about it and PBJ (Peanut Butter and Jelly) is a favorite sandwich among most children in USA. And even my son (and me too) love PBJ sandwich now. And if you are wondering how it is made, then let me tell explain -Its just a Layer of peanut butter on one slice topped with another slice and you spread a layer of strawberry jam on that second slice and lastly cover with another slice of bread. Doesn't it sound easy ? and Its Yummy too..when you bite a slice of this sandwich, you can taste the sweet jam and the nutty and salty peanut butter and all you will say is yummmm.

And also peanut butter cookies are very famous there. Like I said, people there love anything and everything with peanut butter in it. It had been a long time since I baked them, so baked these and also made some chocolate fudge few weeks back to take along while visiting our cousins here. And I was so glad to know that they loved it. If you are a peanut butter lover like me, then this is a must try recipe for you .




PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
source - Joy of Baking

Ingredients:

3/4 cup(170 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature,
1/2 cup granulated white sugar,
1/2 cup light brown sugar,
1 large egg,
1 tsp vanilla extract,
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter,
2 cups all purpose flour,
1/2 tsp baking soda and
1/4 tsp salt.




Method:

Using a hand mixer, beat the butter in a bowl until smooth and fluffy. To this add the granulated sugar and light brown sugar and beat for around 2-3 minutes. Now, add the smooth peanut butter to this and beat until incorporated. Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat again to mix.

In a separate bowl, sieve together the dry ingredients - flour, salt and baking soda and add this to the above mixture and beat on low speed until everything in mixed well and forms into a dough. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F / 177 C and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into small balls (around 1 inch) and place them on the baking sheet. Now dip the tines of a fork in granulated sugar or flour and make the criss-cross patterns on them.

Bake for 10- 12 minutes or until you see the cookies turning light brown on the edges. Once out of the oven, cool on an oven rack and store in an air tight container.



Notes:

Keeping in refrigerator is not needed if you want crispy cookies. Because keeping the dough in the refrigerator will give you soft and chewy cookies. And by not refrigerating it, the dough will spread more and will yield you flat and crispy cookies.

If you want you can add finely chopped peanuts or chocolate chip cookies to the dough after adding the dry ingredients. Or you can use crunchy peanut butter instead of smooth.

And when you place them on the baking sheet place them 1-2 inches apart because they spread while baking.

Eggless brownies

The first time I ever tasted a brownie was almost 5 years ago in USA and I had immediately fallen in love with its chocolaty goodness. But in those days, I was a newbie to baking and always hesitated to make it from scratch and thus bought Betty crocker brownie mix and baked them whenever I craved for it. But after moving to UK, when I started baking more frequently and learned more about baking, I had always wanted to bake brownies and it was on my 'to bake list' for a long time. Finally I managed to bake these eggless brownies which I found on K.O Rasoi to send to India with MIL along with banana bread and some Moroccan cookies .

Brownies are of 2 kinds - 'Fudgy' and 'cakey'. Everyone has their own favorite choice and I personally like fudgy, chewy brownies. And my lil boy loved these cakey ones. And yup :) baking a fudgy brownie is on my list next .




EGGLESS BROWNIES

Ingredients:

1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tbsp cooking oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp instant coffee
1 tbsp hot water
1/2 cup walnuts



Method:

In a pan, toast the walnuts on low heat for 5-10 minutes and chop them. Dissolve the instant coffee powder in the water and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350°F /180°C. Grease and flour a square baking pan.

Sift all the dry ingredients- Flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, sugar and salt. To this, add the wet ingredients - Cooking oil, the diluted coffee and the buttermilk . Mix thoroughly until well combined, add the roughly chopped walnuts and pour into the prepared tin.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then turn onto a wire rack and let cool completely before slicing into squares. Serve warm or at room temperature with yummy ice cream. YUMMMMM....



Notes:

Toasting walnuts is optional. I prefer it toasted because it makes it crunchy.

Also you can use any nuts instead of walnuts, like almonds or pecans .And you can use melted unsalted butter instead of cooking oil.

If you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute it with 2 tsp yogurt dissolved in 1 cup water with 1 tbsp lemon juice mixed into it. Also for vegan recipe use 1 cup soy milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice.



Sending these to Jagruti's event celebrate- Diamond jubilee .

Creamy Raspberry dessert (No cook / no bake)

Who doesn't love easy-peasy recipes..I absolutely love such recipe, which have less ingredients, is ready in a jiffy and tastes yummm. This is one such recipe, which needs just 3 ingredients and is a no bake/no cook recipe.And it will definitely flatter your guests. Had seen this recipe in one of baby magazines a long time back and just fell in love with this delicious dessert. So, let me keep it short and sweet just like this recipe and move on to the recipe.




CREAMY RASPBERRY DESSERT

Ingredients:
80 grams of Cadbury's crunchie bar,
200 ml fresh double cream and
200 grams fresh raspberries



Method:

With a rolling pin, bash the Crunchie chocolate bars into pieces with the wrappers still on. In a bowl, whip the cream with a hand whisk or with an electric beater until you have soft peaks. Open the crunchie packs and add to the whipped cream and stir to combine well.

Spoon into the serving glass or bowl and leave overnight in the fridge to allow the honeycomb in the chocolate to mix with the cream or atleast let rest in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours. And lastly, just before serving, top it with fresh Raspberry and serve. YUMMMMY !!



Notes:

The crunchie chocolate bar is the main ingredient which blends withe the cream and gives a creamy, chocolaty taste. And as far as I know, its available in almost many countries. If you can't find it, you can replace it with any other chocolate bar containing honeycomb.



Sending this over to Radhika's event 'Fruit recipes'.

More similar desserts:

Strawberry Pannacotta

Blueberry Trifle

Instant Eggless Chocolate Mousse

Banana Bread

I was so much looking forward to spring this year after the dark cold winters and also because this will be our last spring in UK but except for just a few days of sunshine and a few daffodils and tulips here and there the spring has has vanished. Its so grey, gloomy and cold again, the temperature is still in single digits and the winter jackets are still being used :(

On such boring and gloomy days, whenever I need to boost up my mood and my day I love to bake something sweet or I love to indulge myself with some hot fried Indian snack. And banana bread is one such thing which I bake again and again during these days, because I love to eat it warm and I feel it tastes best when its warm. And also because whenever I bake this bread my whole house is filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread and the heavenly aroma of cinnamon.



Though I always have a hard time hiding bananas for baking this .Yes ! I have to hide them you know, because everyone in my house including me are banana lovers.So, they vanish in no time. So, I hide a few till they ripen and wait eagerly to bake this Bread.

I found this recipe at Joy of Baking and have baked this many times and believe me it just turns out perfect everytime I bake it and my whole family loves it. So, go ahead and see (taste) for yourselves :)




BANANA BREAD
Recipe source: Joy Of Baking

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup(230 grams) All purpose flour,
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar,
1 tsp baking powder,
1/4 tsp baking soda,
1 tsp cinnamon powder,
1/4 tsp salt,
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter,
2 large eggs,
3 large ripe bananas (1 1/2 cups)-mashed,
1 cup coarsely chopped Walnuts and
1 tsp vanilla extract.



Method:

Lightly toast the walnuts in a non stick pan on low flame for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside to cool. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F (180 C) and butter and flour the bottom and sides of a loaf pan. Melt the unsalted butter and let it cool.

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients - Flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon powder and add the toasted walnuts and keep aside. In another bowl beat two egg lightly with a whisk, add vanilla extract, mashed banana and lastly the melted and cooled butter. With a spatula, lightly fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Pour this batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 50- 60 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.Place on a wire rack to cool for around 15 minutes and then remove the bread from the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.



Notes:

Use big yellow bananas which should be ripe. Their skin should be black and they should be soft and sweet inside.

Don't over mix the batter as it will make the bread tough and rubbery. Just lightly fold the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients until you see a thoroughly moist batter.

Sending this over to Radhika's event 'Fruit recipes'.

Green Apple Pickle/ Chutney

Its peak summer in India and I am missing my homeland so much. Nooo....Not the sun and scorching heat, but I miss all those yummy juicy mangoes and also those tangy and sour green ones. Whenever my mom bought green mangoes for pickle, I used to eat sliced raw mangoes with a dash of salt and red chilli powder...YUMMMM.

Summer was the time for mango pickles.And I am sure many of you love pickles like I do. My love for yummy, spicy pickles started right from my childhood when mom used to make different kinds of pickles throughout the year. Among them my most favourite ones were mango pickle,carrot pickle and nellika (gooseberry) pickle. and now its like 'Like mommy, like Son' . My 5 year old loves pickles.Though he doesn't eat very spicy food, he won't let go of any opportunity to eat pickles.



And after getting married, I used to see my mother in law making grated mango chutney and I just fell in love with the taste, . And then, when we moved to USA I started missing that yummy pickle. But finally found a substitute to it while living here in UK thanks to mom in law who while visiting us one summer, saw the Green Apple tree on our premises and after tasting those sour apples, suggested about trying a grated pickle with them. And it turned out so yummy and tasted exactly(well... almost) like the mango chutney. And there has been no looking back from that day, every year I wait for summer to pluck those Apples and turn them into pickle. And when its not summer what do I do? I go ahead and buy some Granny smith apples from the supermarket to satisfy my craving :) So, here goes the recipe for it.this same recipe can be used for both -Green mangoes or Green apples.






GREEN APPLE PICKLE/ CHUTNEY

Ingredients:
4 granny smith apples-grated,
1/2 cup vegetable oil,
1 pod of Garlic-crushed,
1 tbsp black peppercorns-crushed,
1 sprig of fresh curry leaves,
5-6 dried whole red chillies,
1/2 tsp mustard seeds,
1 1/2 tbsp red chilli powder,
1 tsp turmeric powder,
1 tsp mustard powder- dry roasted and powdered,
1 1/2 tsp methi(fenugreek) powder- dry roasted and powdered,
1 tbsp salt or per taste.




Method:
Heat oil in a kadai/wok. Add mustard seeds, when they splutter, add curry leaves, dry red chilles, crushed or coarsely chopped garlic, crushed peppercorns and saute for 1-2 minutes.

Now add all the dry powders - red chilli powder, turmeric powder, mustard powder and fenugreek powder and salt and switch off the stove. Now add the grated apple to this and mix well. Add more salt if needed.

And after it cools store in a sterilized, clean air tight bottle in refrigerator.



Notes:

Make sure to remove all the excess moisture from the grated Apples. Also make sure you don't grate and leave the apples for a long time, as it will oxidise and changes to brown colour. Grate just before adding it to the spices.

This pickle stays in the refrigerator for at least 2 months.

Hi !

Hello Everyone,

I am back again ! I know..I have been saying this on every other post of mine. But this time, I am very keen on getting back to by blog and post regularly (please wish me good luck) as I have missed blogging and have missed all my friends and readers out here, who visit my blog regularly and leave wonderful and encouraging comments. But I had a reason for being away from my blog- A Wonderful reason. The birth of our baby boy. I had been busy with him, but as he has turned 1 month old today things are settling down slowly and I am getting back to my old routine. Hopefully I will try to be regular in my blog posts and will catchup will all the yummy posts on your blogs . Will be back soon with another post (with a recipe). :)

Matar Paneer

Matar paneer is a famous south Indian curry made with green peas and Indian cheese-Paneer. I have mentioned even in my earlier paneer posts that my family loves paneer dishes....if there is anything my family loves after non-veg it has to be paneer. And thus I keep trying various dishes to see those happy smiles.

And after I learned making this curry, it has become our favourite paneer dish . Specially my 4 year old son loves this curry and I still remember that day when I cooked this for the first time and my son came to me after dinner, hugged me and said ''I love you sooo much mommy and I love your cooking. Thank you for cooking this yummy paneer for me.'' Now, that was the best ever compliment I had got from my little boy. At first I thought it was because of the conversation he had with his friend that evening, which I overheard from the kitchen :)
My son : '' what did you eat for dinner today?''
His friend: ''I had soup''.
Son: ''Soup? Again? ''
Friend: ''Yes..why ?''
Son: ''Every time I ask you, you always say soup or bread and chocolate spread. You know...my mommy cooks yummy dinner everyday.''

But then, I was wrong. He really liked this even the next time and keeps asking for this dish ever time he sees paneer in our refrigerator.

And now coming to the recipe, this is a very easy recipe which will give you the same restaurant taste at home. I have made this countless times and it has never failed to impress my family and my guests. So go ahead and give it a try.



MATAR PANEER
Recipe source : vahrevah.com
Serves-5

Ingredients:
250 grams Paneer -cut into cubes,
1 1/2 cup Green peas,
6-7 cashew nuts,
2 medium Onions- finely chopped,
4-5 large Tomatoes,
1 tbsp ginger paste,
1 tbsp garlic paste,
1/2 cup of cooking oil,
1 tbsp of red chilli powder,
1 tsp coriander powder,
1/4 tsp turmeric powder,
1 tsp cumin powder,
1 tsp kasuri methi/dry fenugreek seeds,
2 cloves,
1 bay leaf,
2-3 cardamom pods,
1 cinnamon stick,
1/2 tsp cumin seeds,
salt to taste,
fresh coriander leaves and
cream for garnishing (optional)



Method:
Heat 1/4 cup of oil in a wok/ kadai, add the cashew nuts and saute till light brown, add finely chopped onions and around 1 tsp of salt. Cook till the onions turn light brown in colour, now add the turmeric powder, ginger paste and garlic paste and saute for 1-2 minutes and add finely chopped tomatoes. Cover and cook till the Tomatoes become soft -around 10-15 minutes. Blend this whole mixture to a smooth paste and keep aside.

Now heat the remaining 1/4 cup of oil in the same kadai add cumin seeds, when they splutter, add the whole garam masala - bay leaf, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and saute for 1 minute. Add the grinded smooth paste back to the kadai and add chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and mix well. Add 1/2 cup of water and bring to a boil and cook on medium flame for 10-15 minutes - until the sauce thickens a little bit. Now add kasuri methi (dry fenugreek seeds), Paneer cubes and green peas and cook on low flame for further 10 minutes and switch off. Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves and cream with hot and fresh rotis or naan.

Notes:
One can use either fresh shelled green peas or frozen green peas for this recipe. If using fresh add them before adding paneer and cook for 5 minutes because thay need more time to cook. I used frozen peas for this recipe.
If you don't like whole garam masala in you curry, you can skip it and add 1/2 tsp of garam masala powder instead to the gravy.

Sending this to Priya's event CWS- Peas .

Strawberry Panna Cotta

Hi all,

Phew !!! Finally I managed to come back to my blog after a looooong gap of 4 months. The past few months had been very very hectic and busy with summer holidays and BBQ parties many friends and relatives visiting us and not to forget my Lil boy keeping me busy througout the day and as many bloggers out there must be aware of how hard it becomes to get back on to blogging if you stay away from it for a long period of time. I really really meant to get back to my blog every day but somehow kept procrastinating it day by day and week by week and I can't tell how much I missed blogging and all my blog friends here. But I am soo happy that I FINALLY managed to sit down and write a post today :)



Today I bring to you the famous Italian dessert Panna Cotta. Its a very creamy, yummy and a very easy dessert. I am sure most of you know about panna cotta. but if you have not heard of it before hre is a little intro about it. Panna cotta is an Italian dessert made by simmering together cream, milk and sugar, mixing this with gelatin, and letting it cool until set. So, if you have never tried this elegant and creamy dessert go ahead and try it NOW and believe me you will be very pleased by yourselves for whipping up this easy dessert which requires only few ingredients.



STRAWBERRY PANNA COTTA

Ingredients :
250 grams fresh strawberries-pureed
300 ml fresh cream,
1/2 cup sugar and
2-3 tbsp of agar agar flakes / powder.

Method:
Strain the pureed strawberries and in a saucepan mix together the cream, sugar and the pureed strawberries. Cook this on low heat for 8-10 minutes and remove off the heat. Let it cool slightly. Meanwhile in another saucepan, cook the agar-agar in 2-3 tbsp of water until it dissolves completely. Add this to the cooked cream stirring constantly and mix well. Pour into cups or ramekins and refrigerate for 4-6 hours or overnight.

This can be eaten straight from the bowl in which it has been set or it can be inverted onto a plate and served topped with strawberry coulis.



STRAWBERRY COULIS

Ingredients:
200 grams of fresh strawberries,
3-4 tbsp of sugar and
1/2 tsp of lemon juice.

Method:
Blend starwberries in a blender(without adding any water). Add to a pan with the sugar and the lemon juice, bring to a boil and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Strain and let it cool completely. Spoon it on top of the Panna Cotta just before serving or you can top this sauce on the panna Cotta and let it set in the refrigerator till ready to serve.

Notes:
Gelatine is 'THE' ingredients that sets this dessert but as I don't use gelatine, I substituted it with agar agar(a seaweed), which is a vegetarian alternative to gelatine.
You can subtitute the strawberries with any other fruit of your choice like raspberries, black berries or mangoes. Or you can just make plain vanilla pannacotta by adding few drops of vanilla essence to the cream while cooking.

Fruit and Nut Raita

Raitas are always served to cool the effect of hot curries or spicy Biryani. And as we all know that the cucumber and mint raita or raita with nicely cubed raw vegetable are best combinatins and and the most common raitas.But have you ever had a fruit and nut version of it? If no...then you should try this one.It has a distinctive flavour with a little bit of sweetness and and with nice flavour from the roasted cumins.

FRUIT AND NUT RAITA

Ingredients:
2 cups plain yougurt,
100 grams green seedless grapes,
2 firm bananas,
1/2 cup shelled walnuts,
1 tsp granulated sugar,
salt to taste,
1 tsp freshly ground cumin seeds and
1/4 tsp red chilli powder to garninsh.

Method:
Place the yogurt/curd in a bowl and add the grapes and wlnuts. Slice bananas directly into the bowl and fold in gently before the bananas turn brown.

Add the sugar, salt, ground cumin and gently mix together. Chill and just before serving , sprinkle the chilli powder and garnish with few extra grapes and walnuts.

Beef Vindaloo

Vindaloo - yummm...just the name 'vindaloo' makes me hungry anytime. The first time I ever tasted it was when I made this Lamb Vindaloo and I can still remember the taste and the effect it left on my tastebuds :) And this beef version is equally awesome and tasty. Actually the lamb vindaloo I had posted earlier has more gravy and this is more like a dry version and also the spices used in this recipe are different. Do try it and believe me you will be craving for more.

Tradionally this fiery Goan dish is made with wine. But still substituting the wine with vinegar and blending the vinegar with aromatic spices gives this recipe a distinctive flavour.



BEEF VINDALOO
Recipe source- Best Ever Indian cookbook

Ingredients:
1 kg lean beef-cut into cubes,
1 tbsp cumin seeds,
4 dried red chillies,
1 sp black peppercorns,
cardamom seeds-from 5 pods,
1 tsp fenugreek seeds,
1 tsp mustard seeds,
1/2 tsp salt,
1/2 tsp demerara sugar,
4 tbsp white vinegar,
2 tbsp of cooking oil,
1 large onion-finely chopped,
1 tbsp ginger paste,
1 tbsp garlic paste,
1 tsp coriander powder and
1/2 tsp turmeric powder.

Method:
Put the cumin seeds,red chillies, peppercorns, cardamom seed, fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds into a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder. Spoon into a bowl and add the salt, sugarand vinegarand mix to a thin paste. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a heavy pan and fry the onion for 10 minutes. Put the fried onions and the spice mixture into a food processor or a blender and make a coarse paste.

Now heat the remaining oil in the pan and fry the meat cubes for about 10-15 minutesuntil lightly browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep aside.In the same remaining oil add the ginger -garlic paste and fry for 2-3 minutes, add coriander powder and turmeric powder and stir for another minute. Add the spice and onion paste to this and fry for 5 minutes.Now return the beef cubes to the pan with 1 1/2 cup of water. Cover and simmer for around 1 hour or until the meat is tender. Serve hot with plain and yellow rice or with naan/chapathi.


Note:
You can just serve this with plain rice or if you want to serve as in the picture above. Infuse a pinch of saffron strands or dissolve little turmeric in a tbsp of hot water. And stir into half of the cooked plain rice and mix the yellow rice into the plain rice.

Blueberry Trifle

I am sure everyone is enjoying the beautiful and bright days of spring after the long grey winters. Spring is my favourite season of the year and I am sure its yours too. Thats because its a season of changes and it brings freshness to our lives and we see so many changes happening around us like the birds chirping happily, new leaves growing on the dry branches, beautiful beds of daffodils growing everywhere and also for me the most exciting part about this season is hosting parties and inviting friends for BBQ parties. We just had a BBQ day last weekend and I can't wait for the weather to get better so we can have more fun . And I love to end these parties with yummy and easy-peasy desserts. And this Blueberry trifle is one of my favourite spring/summer desserts. If you prepare the sauce ahead, its just a matter of assembling this.

Trifles are usually served in tranparant bowls/glasses to show the different layers in it. So make sure you are either using a big serving bowl or individual glasses for this. Traditionally alcohol is sprinkled on the layers of pound cake. But because we don't consume alcoholic drink, I have replaced it by making a vanilla syrup. So, go ahead and try this easy dessert and believe me you would be very pleased to see the pleasant smiles on your guest's face.



BLUEBERRY TRIFLE
Adapted from Joy of Baking
-serves 4

Ingredients:
8 slices of sponge cake/ pound cake,
3-4 tbsp vanilla syrup,
1 cup fresh Blueberries,
1 cup Blueberry sauce,
1 cup heavy whipping cream,
1/2 cup Mascarpone cheese,
1/2 tsp vanilla essence,
3 tbsp granulated sugar and
3-4 digestive cookies/ gingersnap cookies.

For Bleueberry sauce:
1-2 cups fresh Blueberries,
1/2 cup of sugar,
1 tbsp of cornstarch and
juice of half lemon.

For vanilla syrup:
1/2 cup of water,
2 tbsp of sugar and
1 tbsp of vanilla essence.


Method:
Using a cookie cutter cut the pound cake slices into 8 rounds according to the diameter of the glasses you are serving the trifle in. Now in a bowl, place the whipping cream, mascarpone cheese, sugar and vanilla essence and whip till soft peaks.

To make the blueberry sauce:
Combine all the ingredients listed above in a non stick saucepan and cook over a medium heat until the sugar melts, the blueberries break and cook till it reaches the consistency of a sauce. Cool in the refrigerator until ready to use.

To make the syrup:
Put all the ingredients- water, sugar and vanilla in a bowl and mix till well blended and keep aside.

To assemble:
Place 1 round slice of the pound cake at the bottom of the glass, sprinkle with 1 tsp of the vanilla syrup, And spread around 1 tbsp of the prepared blueberry sauce on the pound cake. Place some fresh Blueberries and place a dollop of whipped cream-mascarpone mixture. Now repeat another layer and refrigerate for 4-6 hours or till ready to serve. Just before serving sprinkle with some crushed cookies and top it with few fresh blueberries.

Note:
Refrigerating the Trifle will allow all the flavours to mingle and makes it more tasty. So its always better to prepare this dish in advance and store it in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

You can replace the blueberry sauce with any jam or fruit preserve. And also if you don't have whipped cream-mascarpone mixture, you can just use whipped cream or just plain old custard between the layers.

Curried Carrot Soup

Hi All,

I am back again with a new post after a long gap of almost 4 months and believe me it was not easy for me to stay away from my blog..but I had to because of many personal reasons. And I am sure all my blogger friends out there know how hard it gets to come out of this non-blogging habbit(specially after such a long gap). I am trying so hard to get back on the track and to post regularly like before. So, here I am with my new post or should I say my first post of this year.

Here is how I make my carrot soup.. being someone who loves spicy food, I love to have curried carrot soup instead of the bland(yet easy peasy) version , where you just boil the carrots with the stock and puree it and top it with some seasoning . So here goes the recipe for the soup...lets enjoy this hot soup one last time, before we say goodbye to cold winters and warm clothes.

CURRIED CARROT SOUP

Ingredients:
500 grams Carrots- chopped,
1 Onion-chopped,
2-3 cloves of fresh garlic -chopped,
3-4 cups Chicken stock/ vegetable stock,
1-2 tbsp butter / vegetable oil,
1 tsp red chilli powder,
1/4 tsp coriander powder,
1/2 tsp pepper powder,
a pinch of garam masala,
1/2 cup sour cream(optional)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice and
salt to taste.

Method:
Heat the butter/ oil in a large saucepan. Add the garlic and saute for 15 -30 seconds over medium heat. Add the onions and the carrots and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add all the spices- chilli powder, pepper powder, corinader powder, garam masala and mix well and add salt to taste. Now add the stock and bring to a boil. Simmer and cook till the carrots become tender.
Puree this in a blender, in small batches until smooth . Bring back to a boil on simmer and add salt if needed. Add the lemon juice and serve hot with sour cream or Crème fraiche or freshly chopped coriander leaves.

Note:
If using store bought stock, make sure you add very liitle salt, because the stock already contain salt in it. Or check and add the salt after you puree the carrots.

I am sending this to Ramana's event - Treat to eyes:Series-2.