Strawberry Sponge

Hi.. I was kind of bored of preparing white & brown cakes... thought of going for colors.. My nephew loves strawberry cake.. so thought of trying strawberry sponge.

Ingredients:

Flour - 1 cup
Butter - 100 gms
Eggs - 2
Sugar - 1 cup (powdered)
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Strawberry Essence - 1 tsp
Vanilla Essence - 1/2 tsp
Pink Color (edible) - 1 pinch
Milk - 1/3 cup

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven at 175 deg. Sieve the flour & baking powder twice. Line the baking tin with butter & dust with flour
2. Cream Butter & Sugar till it is light & creamy
3. Separately beat Eggs till it is light & fluffy along with Strawberry essence & Vanilla essence
4. Add eggs to butter & sugar mix.
5. Add Sieved flour & baking powder to it & mix it in cut-fold method. Add the Pink Color.
6. Add milk to loosen the mix. Pour it in the lined tin
7. Bake it for 35 to 40 mins till toothpick comes out clean

Tips:

• You can grind & add real strawberry puree to the cake mix to get real strawberry sponge
• You can also use strawberry preserve/jam to excite kids. :)  
• Goes very well with Vanilla Butter Cream or Chocolate sauce

Chana Dal Manchurian

Hi... I made Chana Dal vada during week end, however there was some batter of that Vada left over. I made small dumplings... fried them & made Manchurian out of it.. It was really tasty especially who love Chinese & South Indian food.

Ingredients:

For Chana Dal Dumplings:
Chana Dal - 1 cup
Toor Dal - 1/2 cup
Urad Dal - 2 tsp
Dry Red Chilli - 4
Salt to taste
Onion (finely chopped) - 1 medium sized
Asafetida -  generous pinch
Curry Leaves (finely chopped) - 10 leaves 
Ginger (finely chopped) - 1.5 inch
Oil for frying

For Manchurian Sauce:
Capsicum - 1 medium sized cut into 1/2 inch squares
Onion -  1 medium sized cut into 1/2 inch squares
Spring Onion (finely chopped) -  1 small bunch
Ginger - 1 inch (Grated)
Salt to taste
Pepper - 1 tsp
Sweet Chilli sauce - 1 tbsp.
Soya Sauce - 1 tbsp.
Tomato Sauce - 1 tbsp
Chilli Vinegar - 1 tbsp.
Corn flour - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

1. For Chana Dal Dumplings: Soak Chana Dal, Toor Dal & Urad Dal along with dry red chilli. Coarsely Grind above with Salt, Asafetida, and add Onion, Ginger & Curry Leaves. Make small dumplings & fry them and keep aside.
2. For Manchurian Sauce: Heat Oil in Kadai, Add Onion, Capsicum & Half of Spring Onion. Saute for 1 min, add salt, pepper, sweet chilli sauce, tomato sauce, soya sauce & chilli vinegar. Add 1 cup water and separately add corn flour mixed water to Kadai & let the sauce thicken. Add fried dumplings & cook for two minutes. Add balance Spring Onions & Serve Hot.

Tips:

• Loved by kids
• Can be made dried or with sauce so as to eat it as starter or sides for rice
• Very high in Protein because of Chana Dal dumplings 

 

Chocolate Pound Cake

Hi... The recipe is the same from my Marble Pound Cake. The Variation is that instead of using 100 gms of Flour. You need to use 75 gms of Flour & 25 gms of Cocoa Powder. You need to skip the step of Mixing cocoa powder to hot water & adding while baking for marble cake..

Tips:

• Serve it with vanilla ice-cream or hot white chocolate sauce
• Best for Kiddie Snack box

Crispy Corn Kernels

It is raining outside... Usually we make bajji, bonda, pakoras for rainy season snacks... I made crispy corn kernels.. Everyone loved it.. goes very well with a cup of tea or coffee on rainy/cold days.. or with chill juice/beer ;) in summers:

Ingredients:

American Corn (Boiled) - 1 cup

Maida - 2 tbsp

Cornflour - 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Pepper (Crushed) - 1.5 tsp

Ginger (Finely chopped) - 1 inch

Onion (Finely chopped) - 1 (medium)

Green Chilli (Finely chopped) - 1

Green coriander (Finely chopped)- 1 small bunch

Soya Sauce - 1 tbsp

Chilli Vinegar - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Make a thick batter (like bajji batter) from Maida, Corn flour, salt & 1/2 tsp of pepper (crushed)
2. Add boiled corn to the batter & drop them in hot oil one by one. Fry till golden brown & strain them.
3. Heat 2 tbsp of same oil in a separate Kadai. 
4. Add Ginger, green chilli, onion till onion turns transparent.
5. Add salt, pepper, soya sauce & chilli vinegar
6. Add the fried corn kernels & coriander & toss it for 1 min
7. Garnish with coriander & Serve hot

Tip:

•  Reduce chilli if it is to be served to kids
• Ensure you make a lot coz it gets over in a jiffy
  

Instant Pulihora (Tamarind Rice) - Andhra Style

This is one of my favourite recipe... which was told my by Sister-in-Law.. Her Mother-in-Law is an expert in cooking Andhra Cuisine.. This is so easy to make when you have Rice left out at your place. it is best for kids carrying lunch. Tangy & Spicy Rice made in 10 mins

Ingredients:

Rice (Cooked) - 2 cups

For Pulihora Powder:

Oil - 1 tsp

Till - 1tsp

Channa Dal - 1/4 tsp

Methi Seeds - 1/4 tsp

Dry Red Chillies - 3 to 4

For Tamarind Paste:

Tamarind Water - 1/2 cup (extract out of small lemon-sized Tamarind)

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

For Temper:

Oil - 2 tbsp

Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp

Udal Dal (Spilt) - 1 tsp

Channa Dal - 1 tsp

Green Chilli - 1 Big (cut into slits)

Dry Red Chilli - 1 (broken)

Curry Leaves - 10 to 12

Asafoetida - 1 tsp

Method:

1.      For Pulihora Powder, heat Oil in a Kadai & add all ingredients in "For Pulihora Powder" and Grind to a fine powder. Add this powder to Cooked Rice

2.      In the same Kadai, Heat Tamarind water, Turmeric Powder and Salt. Cook till it becomes a thick paste and there is no raw smell. Add this paste to Cooked Rice

3.      Heat Kadai with Oil, Add all ingredients in "For Temper". Cook till Dals become golden brown. Add this temper to Cooked Rice

4.      Mix all in a big bowl.

Tips:

· You can make & store Pulihora powder previously

· Serve with Chill Curd or fried plain papads

Marble Pound Cake

My daughter has started going to school... she wants something or the other in her snack box.. She once asked me to pack cake for.. So I baked a basic pound cake with twist of cocoa mix:

Ingredients:

Flour – 100 gms

Butter – 100 gms

Sugar – 100 gms

Baking Powder – 1 tsp

Eggs – 2

Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Milk – ½ cup

Cocoa powder – 1 tbsp

Hot Water – 1 tbsp

Method:

1.  Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees for 10 mins. Grease 8’ tin with butter & dust with flour
2. Seive Flour & Baking powder twice & keep aside
3. Cream butter & sugar till it is light & fluffy
4. Separately beat the Eggs & Vanilla Essence till it is fluffy
5. Mix the Eggs with Butter & Sugar mix.
6. Add Flour to the batter & fold it in. Add Milk if the batter is too tight
7. Separately mix hot water & cocoa powder
8. In the cake tin, add half of the cake mix, pour in half of the cocoa mix & swirl it with a fork.
9. Add the next half of the cake mix, pour in the balance cocoa mix & swirl with fork. 
10. Bake it for 30 to 45 mins at 180 deg till the toothpick comes out clean

 Tips:

• You can skip the cocoa powder step if you do not want it.
• You need to beat eggs with vanilla essence to remove that eggy smell