Sunday, November 26, 2017

ORANGE JELLY LAYERED ORANGE CAKE

Orange cake

Ingredients:

 Eggs -2
 Sugar - 1/2 cup
 Oil - 1/4 cup
 Non bleached all purpose flour - 1 cup
 Baking powder - 1 tbsp
 Orange zest - 1 tbsp
 Orange juice - 2to3 tbsp

Preparation:

 First beat eggs well and then add sugar and beat again.

 Now add oil and beat until fluffy.

 Mix baking powder and flour. Now mix with the egg mixture and add orange zest too.

 Add orange juice to get cake batter consistency. Pour in 20 cm pan.

 Bake in pre-heated oven for 25-30  minutes.

 Orange jelly

Ingredients:

Sugar - 1/4 cup
Water - 250 ml
Agar agar - 20 gram
Orange juice - 250 ml

Preparation:

Boil water and sugar.

When it comes to boil, add agaragar mixed with water.

When it comes to boil, remove from flame and add orange juice.

Pour in 20 cm plate and allow to set in refrigerator.

Layering:

Whip cream with orange zest and some powder sugar.

Slice cake into two and place in a serving tray.

Layer first layer of cake with cream, then jelly, cream and finally next layer of cake.

Coat the cake with  cream.

Store cool in refrigerator and serve cool.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

MILLETS CHOCOLATE BANANA LOAF

Ingredients:

Eggs - 3
Brown sugar - 3/4 cup
Ragi / finger millet flour - 1 cup
Bajri / pearl millet flour - 1 cup
Baking powder - 2 tbsp
Overripe banana - 3
Butter - 1/4 cup
Chocolate - 150 gram

Preparation:
Beat egg and sugar until fluffy. 

Melt butter and chocolate together. 

Mash bananas. 

Mix butter mixture with bananas. 

In the egg mixture add flours and baking powder. 

When mixed well add banana mixture.

Pour in greasd and dusted loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes.


Monday, May 8, 2017

KAMBU / PEARL MILLET DRY FRUITS BREAD

Ingredients:

Kambu / pearl millet flour - 1 3/4 cup
Non-bleached all purpose flour - 1 3/4 cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Butter - 1/4 cup
Milk - 1 cup and more if needed
A pinch of salt
Active dry yeast - 7 grams
Raisins, candied orange peel, candied lemon peel, tutti fruity - each 1/4 cup

Preparation:
Take both flours, yeast and salt in a large bowl.


Warm together milk, butter and sugar until sugar dissolves and the mixture is warm enough to raise the flour but not hot.


Now mix this to the flour mixture and make a stiff dough. If necessary add more flour or warm milk. 


Finally add the mixed peel and raisins.

When mixed well cover and allow to raise it double.


Again mix well and shape it to a bread and allow to raise again. This can be placed in a sandwich tin too. In this mean time pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.


When the dough is raised to double, brush milk over and bake for about 20 to 30 minutes. It takes about 30 minutes in a tin. This one is done in 25 minutes.


Cool in a cooling rack and serve.




Tuesday, March 14, 2017

BOILED TAPIOCA

Ingredients:
Tapioca/ Maravalli kilangu
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds
Coconut scrapping
Finely chopped green chilies
Curry leaves

Preparation :
Remove skin of tapioca and cook in water with little salt.


Cook for 15 minutes until it is soft. Drain water and set aside.


Now heat oil in a seasoning pan and splutter mustard seeds. Now add free chilies and curry leaves.
Sprinkle coconut over cooked tapioca. Now pour the seasoning over.


Serve hot with chutney, meat or fish curry. Or as evening snack with black tea or coffee.



Thursday, March 9, 2017

WHEAT COCONUT SWEET DOSA

Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Freshly grated coconut - 1 cup
Salt to taste
Sugar - 1 or 2 tbsp


Preparation:
Mix salt with wheat flour and add water to prepare dosa batter.


Heat a tawa and pour one ladle batter.


Sprinkle some coconut and sugar to taste.


Allow to cook for about 1 minute. Fold and serve.


Sweetness of sugar, freshness of coconut and taste of wheat together gives a heavenly treat to the taste buds.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

APPLE JOWAR MOIST CAKE

Ingredients:
Eggs - 2
Brown sugar - 1/3 cup
Jowar flour - 1/2 cup
Almond flour - 1/2 cup
Apple small sized - 1
Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp
Orange juice - 1/4 cup
Melted butter - 1/4 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp

Preparation:

Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celcius.
Grind apple with lemon juice and orange juice.


Beat eggs with sugar until fluffy.


Mix jowar flour, almond flour and baking powder together.


Fold in this mixture to the egg mixture. Add apple paste, cinnamon powder and butter.


Fill in a greased and floured 18 cn cake tin.


Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
 

After 10 minutes remove from the tin, cool and serve.



Wednesday, March 1, 2017

PANEER BUTTER MASALA

Ingredients:
Paneer - 200 gms
Onion - 1 medium sized
Tomato - 2 medium sized
Ginger garlic paste - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp to saute onion
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 3/4 tsp
Chili powder - 1/2 tsp or little more
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Cashews - 6 numbers
Butter - 1 tsp + 1 tbsp


Preparation:
Dice paneer into 1 inch cubes.


Heat oil in a pan and saute onion until raw smell goes


Cool and grind to a paste. If necessary add some water.


Grind tomato to a smooth paste. It can be blanched in hot water, removed skin and then pureed. Another variation: Add diced tomatoes after onion is cooked and when tomato too cooked, cool and make a paste together.


Make a paste of cashews.

Heat oil in a shallow pan and slightly roast paneer, until golden color on all sides.


Place a pan in medium flame and immediately add 1 tsp butter. Add ginger garlic paste and add onion paste and tomato puree.


Allow to cook for a few minutes until raw smell goes.


Now add all masalas and allow to cook for about 10 minutes. Close with lid and let it cook.


Now add cashew paste and leave to cook for another 10 minutes or until a nice flavor releases.


Finally add roasted paneer and butter. Serve hot with roti, naan or poori.













Tuesday, February 28, 2017

PAZHAM PORI / PLANTAIN FRY

Ingredients:
Plantain - 2 large or 3 medium
Non bleached all purpose flour or whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Rice flour or fine semolina - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 1 tbsp
Sugar to taste
Turmeric powder (optional) - a pinch
Oil to deep fry


Preparation:
Select ripe plantain. The skin must be black. Only then it tastes good.


Mix all the ingredients except oil and plantain in a mixing bowl. Add water to make batter of dosa or pancake consistency.


Peel the plantains and half them.


Now slice each piece to 4 to 6 pieces.


Heat oil in a heavy bottomed deep pan. When oil is hot enough to fry, dip plantain slits in the batter and fry until golden. When one side is golden turn and fry until the other side too is golden.




Serve hot with tea or coffee. It hoes best with black tea or black coffee.


Monday, February 27, 2017

BASIC BUTTERCREAM AND FEW VARIATIONS

Basic ingredients:
Butter - 1/2 cup
Icing sugar - 1 1/2 cup + (1/2 cup icing sugar for russian tulip piping)

For vanilla buttercream:
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 1 tsp

Orange buttercream:
Orange zest - 1/2 tsp
Fresh orange juice - 1 tsp

Chocolate buttercream:
Melted chocolate - 1 tbsp
Milk - 1 tsp
or
Add 1/2 cup cocoa powder
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 2 -3 tsp
Tip:
For strong chocolate flavor more cocoa powder and more milk accordingly can be added...

Lemon buttercream:
Lemon zest - 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Any fruit flavor like raspberry, strawberry, pineapple etc:
Add 2- 4 tablespoon of particular jam or one tablespoon smoothly pureed fruits.
If necessary few drops of food coloring can be added.
Tip:
Use jam with no seed or fruit pieces. If not available please press through a sieve. For filling or spreading it doesn't matter.



Coconut buttercream:
Add 2 tablespoon of thick coconut cream.

Preparation:
Leave butter at room temperature overnight to make soft. Sift icing sugar and keep aside.
It is very important that the butter must be softened naturally to room temperature. If the butter is melted and cooled you don't get fluffy buttercream.

In a mixing bowl take softened butter.


Beat with hand mixer for about 5 minutes until it's pale and fluffy.

After beating for 1 minute.


After 5 minutes it became light, pale and fluffy.


Now add icing sugar teaspoon wise and mix well in low speed. When the added sugar is incorporated well add the next spoon. Scrap the sides using a spatula often.


When all the sugar is added, run the mixer at high speed for two minutes. Till this step is the basic recipe and at this point of time, flavor and some liquid for variations must be added as listed in the beginning.



I prepared vanilla buttercream. So clear vanilla extract and milk are added.

Soft and fluffy buttercream is now ready.


This butter cream is suitable for spreading over a cake, sandwiching between layers and also for piping.

If colored butter cream is required, add gel food colors and mix thoroughly.


I just showed three cupcakes frosted over flower shaped cupcakes.


This one is a flower using petal tip no: 123.


Or simply a star tip swirl.


If piping using Russian nozzles, the frosting must be stiffer to hold the shapes. So add another 1/2 cup of icing sugar to this basic butter cream. So the ratio is 1 part of butter to 4 parts of icing sugar.

Also it is very important to use icing sugar for smooth piping. If icing sugar is not easily available then you can prepare your own icing sugar. To get the recipe click here.