Cardamom Coffee Cake with Cyrstallized Ginger

As a child I used to wonder so much as to why these adults keep having so much coffee and tea through the day. Now I know that's because there is nothing much to look forward to on a normal day at work! :( There are some days when as soon as I get up in the morning, I think today I will make myself a nice cup of tea/coffee at work and have, and very much look forward to that part of the day! Yes, Really! Do you guys do that too?

And then, there is that best part of starting the week ends, Saturday mornings, when it is very quiet and you feel like you have all the time in the world, when you can sit and enjoy that steaming hot cup of tea!

How nice would  it be to have that steaming hot cup of coffee with a nice moist cake? I keep looking for nice coffee cake recipes, sponge, crumb etc., So far I have liked my Orange cake the best, and I found this Mollie ketzen's cardamom coffee cake recipe. As soon as I saw that, I knew I had to try it, I did this week end, although I altered the recipe a little bit according to my taste buds and the cake turned out really moist and tasty. And as the original recipe says, it did taste much much better after it was completely cooled down.

Here is my recipe for you guys to try:

1/2 lbs unsalted butter, softened.

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

2 cups standard white flour

2 tst baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp cardamom powder

1 cup full fat yogurt

2 tbsp vegetable oil

And to make a nut mixture, you will need:

less than 1/4 cup brown sugar

few finely chopped walnuts

little less than 1/4 cup finely chopped sweetened crystallized ginger.

1/2 tbsp cinnamon powder

I used Masti crystallized ginger for this, as is it tasted yum! :) The addition of ginger gave a very nice flavor to the cake, along with the heavenly cinnamon, cardamom combination, Yes, HEAVENLY!

Preheat oven to 350 degree fh. Grease an 8 inch loaf pan (This is what I used and it gave me a HUGE cake!) In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar well and add eggs, beating well after the addition of each egg. I loved the color of the mixture at this stage, a nice blush color and I couldn't help myself from clicking a picture. 

Mix the vanilla essence to it, Then in a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom powder.

Add the flour mixture to the egg butter mixture, part by part, alternation with sour cream and mixing well after each addition. Mix well.

Mix the brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon and walnuts for the nut mixture in a separate bowl.

Now transfer approximately 1/3 of the batter to the greased loaf pan and cover it with half of the nut mixture, Add another 1/3 of the batter to it and cover again with the rest of the nut mixture, Cover with the rest of the batter, smooth it and bake for 60-65 mins or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Now this is a little bit longer than some other cakes, so I have to admit I was a bit skeptical, but it was alright.

It tasted the best next day with a cup of my favorite apple lemon tea!

So which cake do you like to have best with coffee? Please share.

Sending this recipe to Bake Fest event hosted by Sumee and Vardhini.

Cheers.

Mushroom Kurma

                               

Hello Guys

How are you all doing? Over the week end, I was looking for a one pot meal recipe for brunch and I remembered bookmarking this delicious looking Mushroom korma recipe by Nags from Edible Garden, sometime ago. I finally made it,  although I did not follow the exact measurements. Without further talking, here is how I did it.

To  fry and make a paste:

Onion – 1 large, chopped.

Tomato – Just ½ of a medium sized tomato, roughly chopped

Coconut - 1/2 cup chopped

Garlic Cloves – abt 8-9

Ginger paste – 1 tbsp

3 Green chilles and 1 dry red chilli

1 tbsp garam masala

1 tbsp coriander powder

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, star anise

                        

                  

Other ingredients:

Mushroom - 400 gms

Peas - 1/2 cup

Some curry leaves,

Heat a tbsp of oil and add the dry red chilli, some cloves, ¼ cinnamon stick and little bit star anise. Then add some coriander seeds and cumin seeds and fry till it leaves a nice aroma. Then add 3/4th of the chopped onions, fry for a few  minutes, add ginger paste, garlic paste, green chillies, and fry for few more minutes. Once onion turns translucent, add the chopped tomatoes. The add some salt, turmeric powder, garam masala, coriander powder and keep frying in medium flame till it completely cooks and the oil separates . Then remove it from heat, let it cool for some time, Then add ¼ cup chopped coconut to this and make a paste of everything together. You can add ¼ cup of water to this while blending it. Keep this separate.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, once it heats, add some  mustard seeds and cumin seeds, once it splutters, then add some curry leaves, once that cooks, add the remaining chopped onions, some turmeric and remaining garlic cloves and fry till its cooked. Now add the chopped mushrooms and peas to it and fry it till mushroom leaves all the water.

                                     

Then add the paste to this and let it cook for some more time. And add ¾ cup water to it, adjust salt  and let it simmer and cook till the oil separates.

                                 

I served it with some rice and as Nags has mentioned this will make a tasty accompaniment for dosa/idli/roti etc.  Besides if you are anything like me, this can be eaten on its own as well :)

Kurma tasted so yummy and DH scored it 9 out of ten! :) Thanks Nags for the wonderful recipe!

                                  

Nankhatai/Indian Tea Biscuits

Those of you from my hometown Coimbatore must have definitely relished Soospari biscuits from the bakeries in Coimbatore. I am not even sure if I have got the spelling right. For those of you who have never heard about it, they are Indian tea biscuits that we find commonly in bakeries in Coimbatore. 

For me, there was nothing particularly special about these biscuits, that is until I left Coimbatore for work. Although I have never visited a bakery just to buy these biscuits, I remember always picking up a few, whenever I went to buy something else, now I guess that makes it quite special. :) 

So many times I have searched in Google looking for the correct name and recipe for these maida biscuits and have never found them, the closest was a kind of Italian cookie called "Sospari". May be that is it? I have no clue!, that is until I came across the recipes for Nan Khatai from Divya Kudua's Easy Cooking blog.   It was too familiar so I had to try that and feed my nostalgia!

When I mentioned about making soosparis to my mom, she instantly said the recipe would call for maida flour and sugar, so may be Nankhatai is Soospari? I don't know, But if any of you know or remember something, please leave a comment :)

I adopted the fourth Nankhatai recipe by Divya, the recipe can be found here, I have not modified anything from the original recipe. Just baked it for an extra 3 minutes which gave the biscuits a nice golden tint. 

And the verdict, I guess Divya can now stop looking for more recipes for Nankhatai, they were just so perfect, crispy, sugary and just melted in my mouth. All my friends liked it too and they were more than happy to pack up the left over cookies home.

Hope you guys enjoy making and eating this sometime too.

Easy Mango Ice Cream

Hi Guys,

I was looking for some simple dessert recipes and found this easy to make recipe for Mango Ice cream. It took just 15 mins for me to whip up the entire thing. Something light, summery and easy to make.

To make this you will need:

2 ripe Mangoes
1 + 1/4 cup thickened cream
About 4 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
handful of pistachio nuts, to sprinkle while serving.

1.Peel and chop the mangoes and puree that.
2.Take a wide pan and add the thickened cream to it.
3. Add the mango puree to the thickened cream and blend it until it is mixed well.
4. Add the condensed milk and vanilla extract and mix until combined.
5.Freeze it for 6 hrs or more
6. Take it out and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving,
7. I served mine with some chopped pistachio nuts sprinkled on top.

Notes:
1. Heavy whipped cream in US is the same as thickened cream in New Zealand/Australia
2.Adjust mango puree/condensed milk for your taste
3.I do not have an ice cream maker, So i depended just on freezing to make the ice cream, I took mine out of the freezer after the first two hrs, stirred it very well and put it back so to avoid ice crystals being formed.

4. If the ice cream is frozen way ahead of your time to serve, take it out of the freezer and put it in the chiller section 2 hrs before serving. This way you will get perfect scoops, and no ice chips.

Chocolate mini cupcakes with caramel frosting

Hello you guys,

Hope you all are having nice time enjoying the holidays.. I made these chocolate mini cupcakes with caramel frosting for some friends and us..And I m having so much fun eating these.. I love these mini cup cakes, these are like mini pieces of heaven.. yum yum.. :)

To make these you will need:

For the cake:

1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 of 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp flour
1/8 cup + 1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch salt
1/2 egg beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup boiling water

For the icing:
1/6 cup butter
3 - 5 tbsp cup milk [adjust until you get a spreadable consistency]
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/3 cup brown sugar + 1/3-1/2 cups white sugar

This amount makes about 15-20 mini cup cakes, depends on whether you want muffin top.

To make the cake,

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Stir all dry ingredients into a large bowl.
Add egg, milk, oil and vanilla then beat well together until combined.
Add the boiling water and mix until just combined.
**Batter will be quite watery unlike other cakes, dont be alarmed
Pour batter equally into each of the cupcake tims
Bake for roughly around 20-22 minutes
Cool the cake well before icing it.

To make the icing:

Bring brown sugar, 3 tbsp milk and butter to a boil and remove from heat after 2 minutes.
Add vanilla essence.
Cool it until it gets to luke warm temperature and then add the white icing sugar and stir well.
Spread the icing on the cake when the cake is cool. I also added some sprinkles and a dark chocolate chip on top of each cake.

And this is how it looked inside.. so chocolaty...I was a bit greedy and added loads of icing, if you want to go easy on the sugar or would like to have more chocolate then reduce the amount of icing to suit..

And yes, If you do not want to eat too much, just eat one and then take the rest and run..... run fast to your neighbors  :)

Orange Mini Cupcakes and A New Year wish!.

Hello you guys,

Wish you all a very Happy new year 2013! Hope all of us have a fantastic year! :) I made these cute orange mini cupcakes for my husband's work colleagues this holiday season. 

This is one cake recipe that will never let you down! I got this recipe from this wonderful blog here. The first time I tried this recipe, it came out so wonderful that I went back to the blog to leave a comment and found this interesting bit..

This Sicilian Orange Cake is the famous orange cake from the once popular CaféAgostini (this cafe has closed on 22 July, 2005) owned by Margie Agostini, in the heart of Sydney ’s suburb for the rich and famous, Woollahra. Customers have often been heard to say that “Margie’s orange cake is to die for”.

I found this recipe on Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escape Cookbook a while ago but was surprised to find out how this recipe was linked to Australia:

Rick Stein: "To be accurate, I suppose this cake should be known as Margie Agostini'sorange cake. It was her signature dish at her greatly missed Caffe Agostini in Woollahra in Sydney. It seemed to me to be just made for Sicilian oranges. The recipe came from an article in the Times by Jill Dupleix, although I had eaten the cake at the cafe a few years earlier and I thought it was amazing. As Jill says, it has to be the richest, moistest, butteriest and yet lightest orange cake in the world." 

Well, no wonder it tastes sooooo good. And yes, from then on, I have made it quite a few times, and every time it has turned out perfect and its veru quick and easy to make as well, (and my basic sponge recipe too, minus the orange juice!) So thought of sharing this with you all today.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

For the cake:

125 grams lightly salted butter.

125 grams brown sugar

2 medium eggs

2 tsp finely grated orange zest

125 grams standard white flour

50 ml fresh orange juice

1/2 tsp baking powder

For the icing:

1/4  cup softened butter
2 cups icing sugar
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest
A pinch of salt
2 tsp ofresh orange juice 
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk together butter and sugar. 
Add one egg at a time, Beat well after each egg and add a tsp of flour after each, if necessary to prevent curdling. 
Beat in Orange zest.
Add all flour at once, mix well.
Add baking powder.
Slowly mix in orange juice.

Grease cake pan, pour the batter and bake @ 170 degree cs for 25-30 mins. I used a mini cup cake pan, and made 12 mini cup cakes and also had some better remaining which I used to make 2 small four inch cakes, for some friends (That is if I do not gulp it! :()

Once the cake is done, cool it completely before icing.

For the icing, mix all the ingredients for icing well until you get a spreadable consistency and ice the cupcakes, I also added some sprinkles on top of the icing... And then enjoy...

Adios!

Savoury Spinach Muffin

                             


      The original recipe is here. That is actually a cup cake recipe, I added salt and pepper instead of sugar and added shredded carrots and chopped walnuts instead of pine nuts.

       This one is ideal for evening snacks. The measurements in this recipe make 8 muffins which can be stored in an air tight container for a few days, and is quite satisfying for an evening snack, especially for people like me who raid the kitchen every evening! :(
                   
                                          

Recipe:

11/2 Cups all purpose flour

1 tsp of salt (adjust as you like)

1 tsp of black pepper (adjust as you like)

1 tbsp baking powder

11/4 cup milk

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lighly beaten egg

2 cups chopped uncooked spinach

1/2 cup chopped red onion 

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

 Preheat oven to 175 degree celcius.Mix together, chopped spinach, carrots, red onions,baking powder, flour, salt and pepper. Make sure the flour is coated over all the chopped veggies. In a separate bowl whisk together egg, oil and milk.

Pour the wet ingredients slowly over the dry mixture and fold everything together. Grease a muffin pan. Pour the mixture onto 8 cups in the pan, add the chopped walnuts on top and bake for 25 mins.

Once done, (till a knife inserted comes out clean), let it sit for 5 minutes and cool before serving.

Dahi Bhindi

Mor kulambu, Gujarathi Kadhi, Rajaasthani Kadhi, Dahi Bhindi! How many yoghurt based dishes and a lot similar in preparation! However twisting any of the above even a little, needs a name change!

I have adopted the dahi bhindi recipe from here. I guess I can blindly follow any recipe from this site and trust it will turn out fabulous!

To make this we need:

a tbsp coriander powder
a tsp cumin powder
2 tsp besan powder
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1 1/2 cup think yogurt
salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
few chillies (green should be good, i had to use red though :()
cumin and mustard seeds for tempering
200 gms of bhindi, washed and dry (Pat dry with a kitchen towel, cut them into big pieces and fry in a tsp of oil for 3-4 mins. I also added a little bit of salt and a pinch of turmeric powder.. Leaves a nice aroma while frying)
1 big onion, chopped (The original recipe din't have this, Though I couldn't imagine this without onions, so...)

Method:

Heat some oil in a pan and add the mustard and cumin seeds, once the mustard seeds splutter, add the red chillies, onions, garlic and ginger and fry for a little bit.  Add the turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and besan powder and fry for a while.. Just till it leaves aroma.. Add the prepared bhindi, fry for a few mins and add diluted yogurt. Adjust the seasoning and cook for 10-15 more mins.. Serve with piping hot rotis or rice!

Butternut Squash and Zucchini Fried Rice

This one is a perfect Lunch box recipe. I have used zucchini and butternut squash(Oh! I seem to have become a fan and regular eater of butternut squash! what to do. It is firm.. or soft.. or mushy.., depending on how long I leave it on the stove, and every time it turns out perfect and tastes so good and blends well with everything!). Its very quick and easy to make too! Cooking rice is in fact the most time consuming part in this preparation.

Zucchini and Butternut squash can be substituted with any available veggies, But of course, I cannot guarantee that they will not be look spoilers! 

Zucchini and Buttercup fried rice with Beetroot Raitha..

To make this we need:

1 tbsp butter

salt and olive oil as required

A tbsp of Light soy sauce

chopped butternut squash and Zucchini
Julienne onions and some shallots

few garlic cloves, chopped

slit green chillies and black pepper as required

cooked rice 3 cups

A Closer look of the fried rice!

Heat a pan and splash in some olive oil and butter. Fry the onions, shallots (Yes, don' even bother about tempering, remember this is not a traditional dish? ;)) chillies and garlic and add in the chopped veggies. add in the soy sauce and cook till the veggies are done. add the black pepper and mix with cooked rice. 
And, Voila we are ready to serve! I did with some beetroot raitha.


Beet root raitha recipe: Mix a cup of grated beets with curd, salt and black pepper powder as required.


Do not miss out the butter and soy sauce. Essential for the flavor!

Passion Fruit!

Malaysian Veg curry

I had been eating out in Malaysian and Thai recipes quite a few times in the past weeks/months and that inspired me to try this one. Especially I love the Pad see ew jay, Pad Thai jay and Thai green curry, besides this Malaysian veg curry. Original recipe can be found here


I should first mention that its not very authentic. I had to twist the original recipe to make it completely vegetarian and suit the available ingredients.


To make this we need:


To Grind:


Onion -  1 whole big onion, roughly chopped
few mint leaves
turmeric powder
red chillies according to taste, 1/4 cup chopped squash
2 green chillies
a tbsp of garam masala, 1 tbsp coriander powder, salt as needed
ginger - little more than what we normally use
Garlic - few cloves
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp black pepper powder


along with oil and usual tempering ingredients


And vegetables: 2 cups of Soy chunks, mushrooms, carrots, butternut squash, all chopped and combined

Grind all the ingredients together to make a fine paste. Heat a pan with some oil and add the paste. Keep stirring till the oil separates, this might take a while. Then add all the chopped vegetables and also the coconut milk and some water. adjust the seasoning and cook till the veggies become soft and cooked.


This goes very well with steamed Jasmine rice!

Bharwa Karela/Stuffed bitter gourd

Some days we have that intriguing curiosity to explore and try recipes from other cuisines and feel happy about the grand success :)

On one such day I tried making this stuffed bitter gourd recipe and I swore that day that whenever i m going to make bitter gourd hereafter its going to be Bharwa karela. 

Its one of those promises thats written on water! :) Hunger rules always, Isnt it? Not to mention this recipe is a little time consuming!

To prepare this we need:

bitter gourd: About 1/2 kg

1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Garam masala

1 1/2 tsp Chilli powder

1 1/2 tsp Amchur powder

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

one large onion chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

salt as needed

Bharwa karela another pic: 

Slit the bitter gourds lengthwise, without cutting it into two pieces! And take out the seeds. Cook the bitter gourd in boiling water and drain. Use as little water as possible to preserve all the nutrients. Remove any moisture from the bitter gourds using paper towel.

To prepare the stuffing:

Take a pan and heat abt a tbsp of oil and fry onion. While the onions turn translucent, add ginger and garlic paste and keep stirring till the raw smell goes. Add tomatoes and all the other powder ingredients.  Keep cooking till the oil separates. Put off the stove and stuff the karela's with the stuffing prepared thus, tie the bitter gourds and shallow fry them.

The amchur powder in the stuffing makes this dish extra delicious! Don't miss out adding this particular ingredient, it adds a tangy taste which is the essence of this dish and complements the mild bitterness of the karelas well.

Yes, and I should mention that easily the quantity of consumption increases by cooking bitter gourd this way!

Beets and Sprouts Salad

This is just an easy snack for those mid afternoon cravings! I know!!!! Salad for a mid afternoon craving??! Instead of those bar chocolates and short breads!

Not crazy!! I also served a slightly sweetened apple tea on the side, though it cant be a real substitute for chocolates and bread crisps, at least something sweet for the sad soul! :p :) It did help!

Just throw in together some beet sticks, some sprouts (I used alfalfa and bean) and mix in some olive oil, salt and pepper and squeeze some lemon on top. I dint have croutons then, that would've been good too! Serve fresh with some hot herbal tea!

Kiwano!

This is Kiwano, a fruit that I saw for the first time in New zealand.  Yeah, it dint taste great though!

Veggie sticks with Avacado dip!


 To make this you will need:

One big ripe Avacado, 1 chopped green chilli, abt 1/4 tsp black pepper powder, 1 tomato chopped into smal cubes, one small onion, chopped into small cubes, few cilantro leaves, chopped. salt to taste. juice of 1/2 a lemon and a tsp of Extra virgin olive oil. 


 Scoop out the pulp from avacado and mash it very well, combine all the other ingredients and mix well.

Serve with Carrot and beet sticks. This is a very healthy and tasty evening snack. Make sure you use a big avacado, or the dip wont be just enough! :)

Spinach in coconut milk!

I used to like spinach gravy so much.  My mom used to make it with ground spinach, tamarind and regular spices. But last few times I had that with rice, I felt the gravy had quite a strong flavor, may be the tamarind, and suddenly stopped eating it.

After a while, I twisted the regular gravy by adding some coconut milk minus the tamarind. It turned out really well and light and my OH and I had an immediate liking to it and I prepare spinach regularly this way on week ends. On one such week end, I had enough patience to click this pic before going for it!

Ingredients: 2 cups of coarsely chopped spinach, 1 whole onion chopped, 1 cup of coconut milk, salt, 1/2 tsp white pepper, 2 whole red chillies, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 3 cloves garlic and some cardamom pods and a cinnamon stick. some curry leaves, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, oil and some salt.

Heat some oil in a pan, and add some mustard seeds, once it splutters, add some cumin seeds and the cardamom and cinnamon pods. add the curry leaves and chopped onion and chopped garlic. Once the onion turns translucent, add some turmeric and red chilli powder and stir it till the onion starts turning slightly brownish. Add the ground spinach and let it cook for a few minutes. Then add the coconut milk, black pepper powder and adjust the spices. Cook till the spinach is cooked.

 Serve hot with rice!

Karunaikilangu Puli kulambu/Spicy Yam gravy

I was so happy to find yam in the supermarket, a relief from all those regular veggies! So, I decided to splurge on oil and make this tastier!

So here goes the recipe:

To make this we need, a couple of yams, peeled, washed and chopped into small round pieces. I used amchur powder along with a small ball of tamarind, a pinch of asafoetida,

Salt, turmeric powder, chilli powder, few red chillies, some oil, one big onion, chopped and one tomato, chopped and a sprig of curry leaves, along with some garlic cloves, mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Abt half a tsp of garam masala too!

Heat some oil in a pan, and add some mustard seeds and once it splutters, add some curry leaves and cumin seeds. Then add all the chopped onion and garlic and once the onion starts turning slightly brown, add the red chillies and chopped tomatoes. add some red chilli powder and turmeric powder and keep stirring till the tomatoes cook and the raw smell of turmeric powder goes off. mix the amchur powder and tamarind powder with some water and pour the mixture into the pan. Add about 2 more cups of water and adjust the salt.

Let this sit on the stove for about 20 mins or so, but now the water would have reduced to less than half in quantity and the oil would  separate as seen in the picture.Switch off the stove and serve hot with rice!