White chocolate sponge cake

Moist, soft and delectable sponge cake that is light and airy and simply divine to eat.


Ingredients:

240 grams / 8 oz self raising flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
240 grams / 8 oz sugar
240 grams / 8 oz butter
5 small eggs (or equivalent egg replacer)
2 tablespoons natural yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

For Topping:

240 grams / 8 oz White chocolate
60 grams / 2 oz Milk chocolate

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 centigrade/ 400 Fahrenheit
2. Prepare a loose bottom 8 inch cake tin by lining it with parchment paper and greasing it.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar, add the eggs and yoghurt and mix together.Add the vanilla essence.
4. Sieve the flour and the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
5. Fold in the flour into the wet ingredients .(Do not over mix)
6. Transfer the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin  and bake in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes .
7. Check if the cake is baked by inserting a skewer in the centre of the cake, if it comes out dry cake is ready.
8. Remove  cake from oven and cool.
9. In a double boiler melt the white chocolate.
10.In a separate bowl melt the milk chocolate.
11. Cover the cooled cake with the white chocolate.
12. Using a piping bag fill  it with the milk chocolate.
13. Pipe vertical lines 1 inch apart on top of the white chocolate topped cake.
14. To make the swirl pattern. take a cocktail stick and draw lines on the cake in the opposite direction to the milk chocolate piped lines. The dragging of the cocktail stick will form the swirl pattern.
15.  Allow chocolate to set before serving.

You may like:

Chocolate cake.

Semolina Dhokla-Instant

Semolina Dhokla-A savory teatime dish healthy and delicious . Steamed and tempered with green chillies, sesame seeds, mustard seeds and garnished with grated coconut and chopped fresh coriander.

Ingredients:

For dhokla

1 cup coarse sooji /rava(semolina)

1 cup natural yogurt (sour)

3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh ginger paste

1 teaspoon fresh finely chopped green chillies

1 level teaspoon eno salt

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander

For tempering:

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon fresh chopped coriander

1/2 teaspoon chopped green chilli

1 tablespoon desiccated coconut
1 tablespoon oil
1½ teaspoon till seeds
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
2 red dried chillies
3-4 curry leaves

Method:

1.Put water in a steamer to heat up.

2.Slightly oil a small 8-10 inch thali with a rim and keep aside.

3.Mix all the ingredients for the dhokla together (except the eno salt) and form a batter.

4.Place the oiled thali in the steamer and just before you are ready to pour the batter, add the eno salt and mix the batter gently.

5.Pour the batter in the thali and sprinkle with chopped coriander and a bit of red chili powder on top.

6.Put the lid on the steamer and steam for 10- 15 minutes.

7.Open the lid of the steamer and if the dhoklas are ready they will spring back when gently pressed.

8.Remove thali from steamer and let it cool.
9.Add tempering and then cut dhokla into diamond shapes and arrange on serving tray

For tempering:

1.Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan when hot add mustard seeds, till seeds ,dried red chilli and curry leaves and chilli powder.
2.Pour over the tempering over the dhokla and sprinkle with fresh chopped coriander, desiccated coconut and fresh chopped chillies.

3.Serve with coriander chutney.

You may like:

Spinach Dhokla

Sweet Lemon Pickle

Homemade sweet lemon pickle, spicy and hot ,sweet and tangy , a taste that will leave you licking your fingers.

Ingredients:

240 grams/ 8 oz preserved lemons
180 grams/ 6 oz jaggery
120 grams/ 4oz achar masala
2 tablespoons  sunflower oil
2 red dried chillies

Method:

1.Cut the preserved lemons into small bite size pieces( appox 1 inch )
2. Place the preserved lemons on a sheet of kitchen paper and place on a tray, leave to dry in a warm place or  in sunlight  for few hours.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan when hot add the red chillies and jaggery.
4.Cook the jaggery on a low heat untill it melts , Once the jaggery is soft add the achar masala and mix well.
5. Take off the heat and allow to cool to room temparature.
6. Stir in the semi dried preserved lemons, cover the pan and leave it in a cool dry place for 7 days.
7. Each day stir the lemon pickle once in the morning and once at night.
8. After a couple of days you will find that the sweet masala will infuse into the lemons and coat them really well.
9. After 7 days transfer the pickle into sterelised jars and keep in a cool dry place or in the fridge.
10. Pickle is ready to eat and will keep up to 4-6 weeks.
Seve pickle with parthas and puris.

You may like:
Carrot Pickle
Achar Masala (Pickle masala)

Khandvi ~ ICC Cooking challenge January 2011

Khandvi  a delicious gujarati snack that is made from chickpea flour and yoghurt. Tangy and  spicy in taste with a wonderful garnish of coconut and  sesame seeds  makes this snack mouthwatering and delectable .

Ingredients:

Gram flour / Besan - 1/3 cup (heaped)
Curds / Yogurt - 1/3 cup slightly sour, beaten
Water - 1 cup
Salt as per taste
Ginger Green Chilli paste - 2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp
Cooking Oil - 3 tbsp

For tempering:

Cooking Oil - 2 tsps
Mustard seeds 1 tsp
Sesame seeds 2 tsps
5-6 curry leaves
1 red dried Chilli

For Garnishing:

Grated Coconut - 2 tbsps
Fresh Coriander Leaves, chopped - 2 tbsps
2 green chillies finely chopped

Method:

1.Oil a flat baking tray  ready before proceeding to cook.
2. In a bowl, take the gram flour, salt, ginger-chilli paste, beaten curds and turmeric and water and mix well.
3.The batter should be of smooth thin batter, free of lumps.
4.Add the  and turmeric powders also at this stage.
5.Heat oil in a thick bottom pan and add the prepared batter.
6.Cook the batter, stirring continuously until well cooked.
7.You can know it is cooked with the batter turns a light brown tinge, glaze from the oil and will not stick to the walls of the pan.
8.The batter should still be in a semi liquid state, tipping more towards solid state.
9.Over cooking will result in a mass that will not spread evenly.
10.Transfer the cooked batter quickly on to the flat greased plate and with the ladle spread the batter to a thin sheet over the surface.
11.This has to be done very fast as the batter will thicken as it cools and become difficult to spread.
12.Using a knife make strips of this sheet. Roll each strip into spirals.
13.Place the khandvi rolls on a serving platter.
14.Heat another pan with oil,  when hot add mustard and sesame seeds and allow to splutter. When they crackle pour them over the rolled khandvis.
15.Garnish with a generous sprinkling of fresh, grated coconut and chopped coriander leaves and few finely chopped chillies.

NB  -I omitted the sugar and asafetida for health reasons, although they were in the ingredient list.
Verdict- The recipe was simple and easy to follow, however in the process of trying to capture some photos of each process my batter got slightly over cooked and resulted in a little difficulty in spreading. However despite little cracks , khandvis rolled beautifully and tasted wonderful.

You may like:
Punjabi Kadhi

Mango Milkshake

Refreshing, smooth, creamy healthy  mango shake with a rich tropical buzz , this milkshake is perfect for breakfast or teatime snack .

Ingredients:

2 ripe mangoes stoned and  diced
300 ml milk skimmed milk
6 scoops low fat vanilla ice cream

Method:

1. Place the mangoes, in a blender jug and puree to a fine pulp.
2. Add the milk and 4 scoops ice cream and blend again.
3. Pour in to tall chilled glasses and top with scoop of ice cream on top of each shake.
Serve immediately

You may like:
Banana milkshake

Carrot Paratha

Delicious parathas with the goodness of carrot .Delicately seasoned with ajwain and a hint of spice with chillies these parathas are delicious accompaniment to any curry.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 medium carrots
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon oil
4 tablespoons oil for cooking paratha in
2 tablespoons plain flour for rolling parathas.
1/2 teaspoon ajwain seeds ( bishops weed seeds)
1/2 teaspoon green chiili paste (omit for kids)

Method:

1.Wash and peel the carrots and grate them.
2. Place in a heat proof bowl, add 2 tablespoons water and microwave on high for 4 minutes.
3. Remove from microwave and place in blender and puree.Cool.
4. In a bowl add the wheat flour, salt and turmeric and ajwain seeds and green chillies.
5. Rub in 1 tablespoon oil and add the carrot puree as needed to make a soft dough.(Depending on the wetness of the puree and the brand of flour used, you may have a little left over or you may find to bring dough together you may need to add 1-2 tablespoons water.Judge this yourself)
6. Knead the dough, cover and leave aside to 15-30 minutes.
7. Divide the dough in to 10 balls.
8. Take one of the balls dip in dry flour and roll out in a square / round  shape paratha.(I made square)
9. Heat a tava and place the rolled paratha on it, when bubbles start to form flip the paratha.
10. Spread a little oil on to this side and flip again . Repeat for 2nd side.Paratha is ready when brown spots start to appear on it.
11.Remove from tava and repeat for rest of dough.

Serve with  vegetable curry, yoghurt and mango pickle or simple rolled up with jam, chocolate or cream cheese.

NB-If seving to kids or lunch box you can roll partha with a little jam or cheese spread .

You may like;
 aloo paratha