Buttermilk strawberry cake

I came across a strawberry summer  cake.And wanted to try it out. Yet, strawberries were becoming less visible in the markets,as their season has almost ended.So decided to try this recipe out before the whole lot of strawberries gets exhausted.

I googled for recipes to see which was most suited for lazy person like me.I decided to follow this buttermilk strawberry cake recipe.I did tweak it a little.

Ingredients : 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup maida, 1.5 tsp baking powder, 1/4 cup Amul butter ( salted ) , 1/2 cup Patanjali brand jaggery sugar( dark brown in colour ) , 1/2 cup buttermilk, 3/4 cup fresh strawberries hulled & chopped into halves each , approx 1.5 -2 tbsp white everyday sugar for sprinkling on cake top, 1/8-1/4 cup water if needed.

Method : Preheat oven to 200 degrees centigrade .

I melted the butter in oven & added dark brown sugar .Mix it up nicely.I still found small bits & pieces of sugar lumps which did not mix.Keep it aside.

Mix whole wheat flour, maida & baking powder nicely many times over with fork or whisk. Keep a side. Now add the sugar butter mix to the flour mix. Mix nicely.Add the buttermilk to this mix drop by drop till a batter is obtained. Batter will be thick.Add 1/8-1/4 cup water to this batter if some lumps of flour sugar butter mix are still dry. Add water drop by drop to get batter.Keep aside.

Line a baking dish with butter paper.Pour the batter into the baking dish lined with  butter paper.Flatten the top of batter with spoon.Arrange halved strawberry pieces on top of the batter.I added so many in the outer row that it formed a complete border without any gap ! Sprinkle white everyday sugar on top of strawberries uniformly.

Bake at 200 degrees centigrade for half an hour or till a toothpick pricked comes out clean after apoke into the baked cake !

After removing from oven , cool outside for 10-15 minutes. Put the baking dish upside down on plate. After another 10-15 minutes, gently remove the butter paper sticking to the bottom of cake & sides. Cut the cake into desired shapes & serve.

Tips: The Patanjali sugar has sugar lumps & they get baked as chunks of sweet brown candies in the cake.If this is suitable. its fine. Alternatively , use, any other sugar, white or brown. Please remember, while everyday sugar is more sweet than brown sugar.So , use less accordingly.

Drumsticks amti

Maharashtrians make a very delicious drumsticks dal called Shevgyanchya shenganchi amti.

Drumsticks are extremely healthy .

A souring fruit called kokum which grows in coastal Maharashtra in Konkan region is used in this dal .Kokum is said to be very effective in treating acidity. In Maharashtra as also in Mumbai, there are vendors selling Kokum sherbet or kokum juice. It is dried with salt.It gets dark in colour almost black when one gets it in markets.

Goda masala is the spice powder used in this dal preparation. I have used Mazedaar Maharshtra masala or goda masala from Madhavi Spices.

After reading more about the nutritional benefits of drumsticks, I try to make this dal once every week. Alternatively, use drumsticks as one of the many veggies in Avial , from Kerala Cuisine.

Ingredients : 1/4 cup toor dal , 2 drumsticks washed &  chopped into 2 inch pieces each, 1-2 green chillies roughly chopped, few curry leaves ,1-2 kokum pieces,  1 tbsp oil, 1/4 tsp mustard seeds,1/4 tsp hing, 1/2 tsp haldi, 1 tsp Mazedaar Maharashtra Masala  , 1 tsp gur or jaggery, salt to taste.

Method : .Add chopped green chillies, hing & 1/4 tsp haldi to dal & then pressure cook the dal. Keep aside.

In a kadhai, add oil.Heat it up.Add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add curry leaves.Then add chopped drumsticks.Fry for some seconds. Add water just enough to drown thr drumstick pieces. Add haldi to the kadhai. Add salt to taste. Let the drumsticks cook in the water.After 8-10 minutes, , the seeds of drumsticks can be seen in the boiling water. This means drumsticks are cooked.Add koum pieces to the kadhai.Mix nicely all contents with a ladle. Let the water continue to boil.Add jaggery .Mix again. After about 10 minutes, add goda masala to kadhai. Mix all contents in kadhai again.

Mash the pressure cooked toor dal with ladle. And add the toor dal to the kdahai. Mix nicely.Let the contents of the kadhai come to aboil.Let it simmer for 2-3 ,minutes.Put off gas.Cover the kadhai. After 5-10 minutes, serve drumsticks amti with rice.Of course, it is so tasty that it can be eaten with rotis as well.

Bhappa doi -steamed yoghurt.

I have been wanting to try baked yoghurt or misthi doi since along time. So much so that just at Deepavali , I had brought in this small tin of Mithai Mate to try out this shortcut recipe for mishthi doi. And then, it never got made until last night.

There are steamed as also baked versions of misthi doi ( Bengali for sweet dahi or  sweet yoghurt )   I picked up the steamed version last nite. There are so many types of recipes...some use milk & caramelizing of sugar or jaggery .Still others use milk, dahi & condensed milk.Some recipes use just two ingredients curd & condensed milk.Since I am  too lazy, I used the two ingredient recipe of AnnaParabrahma.

Ingredients :   200 gm tin of Amul Mithai Mate ( condensed milk tin of AMUL brand ), 300 gm yoghurt or dahi ( I measured this by adding the dahi to the emptied Amul tin of Mithai mate.Then emptied the tin of dahi & filled it up to half again.so 1.5 tin of dahi ) , a few strands of saffron ( optional ), 1 tsp ghee for greasing the dish.

Method : Mix yoghurt & condensed milk together nicely. Whisk it up so that a smooth consistency is obtained. Add saffron strands .Mix again nicely. Keep aside.

In a pressure cooker, add 4-5 inches water at bottom. Keep it on gas & start the gas so that very soon, steam will start coming up.

Meanwhile, grease a dish that fits easily in the pressure cooker which is steaming by now. Pour the youghurt condensed milk  mixture into it.Close the pressure cooker lid. Please do not put whistle on top of cooker.

Steam on slow - medium flame for half an hour. Put off gas.After steaming stops...maybe 5 minutes. Remove lid.  The yoghurt -condensed milk mixture will have set .Let it cool outside the cooker. Then keep it in refrigerator  ( not freezer ) for 5-6 hours ( I kept it overnight as I made it last night ). In the morning, it can be cut & enjoyed.

I removed it after lunch.I was able to cut it.Though, I was unable to remove it smoothly like a cake .I cut it in the vessel itself.And yes, its creamy , cool & deliciously yummy !

I made dahi or yoghurt from low fat version of Amul Milk.And this dish is so awfully simple.....this shortcut version. There are longer versions as well.

And yes, it was quite sweet.So , if you want it to be less sweet, add more dahi...almost double the dahi so that ratio of condensed milk to dahi is 1: 2.Or maybe any other ratio that you prefer.

Carrot rice.

Winter is the season where I buy carrots  regularly , the winter red carrots. I buy the thin slender ones.I eat one slender carrot daily preceding lunch.I love it ! I had been told in my childhood that carrots are good for weak eyesight & I have stuck to eating carrots during winters.Summer carrots, I am unable to munch on .Whatever remnant eyesight I still possess, is due to this carrot eating.

Since carrots were too many , I thought why not try some carrot rice. There are many  recipes on carroty rice. I wanted to use pressure cooker to make it a one pot meal. I chose this one from Indian Khana. I changed it a little. I skipped using garlic & onions.I added peas as I had them.

 I cut carrots in small pieces after peeling them .I put them in mixer & got very bit sized pieces .I was failing too lazy to chop them finely.Slender carrots do not grate properly.

Ingredients : 3/4 cup basmati rice,1/2 cup carrot bit sized pieces, 1/4 cup peas,1 green chilly roughly chopped, a few sprigs of curry leaves, 1/2 tsp grated ginger, 1/2 inch cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 4-5 peppercorns, 1-2 cloves, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp haldi, 1/4 tsp garam masala powder, 1tbsp oil, salt to taste.

Method : Wash rice & keep aside.

Take  the green chilly pieces, curry leaves & grated ginger into a mix by grinding in mixer without water.Keep aside.

In a pressure pan, heat oil.Add slightly crushed cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, star anise, mustard & cumin seeds.They will soon get aromatic.

Add the   ground green chilli, ginger curry leaves mix. Fry nicely.Add green peas.Fry nicely so that all spices, coat the peas.Add carrot .Mix nicely.Add haldi. Mix all things nicely.After 2-3 minutes, add rice.Mix nicely.Add salt.Mix nicely.Add 1.5 cups water.Mix nicely.Add garam masala. Mix all with rice & water.Close the lid of the pressure pan.Put on the whistle on the lid.Pressure cook for 2-3 whistles. After cooker cools, take off whistle & fluff up rice with a fork.

Serve carrot rice with dahi or raita or papad or enjoy it just like that !

My recipe turned out too spicy maybe because I ground the green chillies, ginger & curry leaves. I had to add a dash of lemon juice before I ate it !

Cauliflower in tomato carrot gravy

I have started cooking Cauliflower in the Bengali way. Well, in this method, break down the cauliflower into florets.Put these florets in a vessel filled with water. Add 1/4 tsp turmeric & a tsp of salt to the vessel.Bring the water containing the florets in water to a boil on a gas stove. .Put off the gas.Drain the water. The cauliflower florets are ready to be cooked.This method removes residual pesticides from cauliflower. Cauliflower is sprayed with too many pesticides. Hence, this method to make it safer for consumption.

I had boiled  cauliflower florets in salt turmeric water & kept in the morning. I was trying to prepare a gravy when the bell rang. It was the gas pipeline fellow .He said he is going to check for leakage in gas pipeline. He checked & found all to be fine. He then put off the gas supply as they were fixing the gas pipelines all over the building where I reside. I knew,that I will have to use the microwave. The gas supply was to be restored by six in the evening.I decided to use the microwave to make the sabzi.

Ingredients : 200 gm Cauliflower florets boiled in salt turmeric water , 1tbsp oil, 1/2 tsp jeera, 1 medium carrot peeled , 2 tomatoes-chopped into cubes, 1/2 tsp flax seed powder ( optional ) , 2-3 green chillies roughly chopped, 1/2 tsp grated ginger,  few curry leaves,1/4 tsp black pepper powder,  1/4 tsp garam masala powder, salt to taste.

Method : Grind the chopped green chillies, grated ginger & curry leaves into a grainy mix. Keep aside.

Grind chopped carrots & tomatoes into a fine paste. Keep aside.

Take oil in microwave able vessel & add cumin seeds to it. Microwave on high for 1 minute.Add grated chilli-ginger-curry leaves mix to the vessel.Microwave on high for a minute.Add carrot tomato paste to vessel.Remember that cualiflower florets have been boiled in salt water.Microwave on high for 2.5 minutes. Add 1/4 water & salt to taste  to vessel. Add flax seed powder to vessel. Give the mix in vessel a good stir with a spoon. Microwave again on high for another 2.5 minutes. Add cauliflower florets to vessel.Give the vessel ingredients a stir.Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes. Give the ingredients another good stir. Add  pepper powder & garam masala powder & give it another stir. Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes.Put off microwave. Let it cool.After five minutes, take out the vessel from microwave. Serve with rotis and or pulao .

As flax seed powder was added, the gravy was quite thick .So very doubtful , if this gravy can be had with plain rice in place of dal.Though with pualo, its should work out fine.

Hara chana nimona

Green garbanzo beans or hara chana are in season now. I had read about hare chane ka nimona on Sangeeta Khanna's  banaras ka khana blog.I felt, that, this nimona needed one try by me .

Ingredients : 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp  green chana, 2 medium potatoes,1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp dhania seeds, 5-6 peppercorns, 1 small bay leaf, 1 tsp grated ginger. 1-2 green chillies, 1 tbsp oil,1/2 tsp haldi, salt to taste.

Method : Pressure cook the pototoes. After they cool, peel them & cube them. Keep aside.

Grind bay leaf, peppercorns, dhania seeds, cumin seeds into a powder. Keep aside.

Make a paste of 1/tbsp green chana, chopped green chillies & grated ginger.Keep aside.

In a kadhai , take oil.Heat it. Put 1/2 tsp cumin seeds .After they crackle, add the cubed & peeled potatoes followed by green chana .Add haldi & saute all nicely.Add the ground masala powder.Fry for a minute till it gets aromatic.Add the ground paste .Fry all nicely so that masala & paste is coating the green chana & cubed potatoes.Let it fry for 3-4 minutes. Throughout the kadhai cooking, keep gas on slow mode.Add a cup of water .Add salt.Pressure cook for 1 -3 whsitles .Put off gas.

Serve hara chana  nimona with rice and rotis.

Note : This nimona turned out  watery as I added more water ( more than 1 cup, I learned after I saw that the content was watery ).I should have made paste of 1/4 cup hara chana ( & not 1 tbsp hara chana ) with ginger & green chillies .The spiciness was just fine.So , if more spice is needed, simply increase the amout of red or green chillies & pepper & ginger. Alos ,I need to have added just one boiled , peeled & cubed potato instead of two.

Red pumpkin - red lobhia curry

I have got some red lobhia or red beans at home. I have made the usual usal with that .I wanted to try something different. I had read about a pumpkin- beans curry on Saffron Trail.I googled more & came across this Kerela Erissery recipe using red beans & pumpkin. I decided to give it a try.

Ingredients : 1/2 cup peeled & diced pumpkin, 1/4 cup red lobhia beans ( soaked overnight ) , 1/4 tsp haldi, 1/4 cup fresh dessicated coconut, 1-2 green chillies, 1 tsp jeera, 1/4 tsp mustard seeds, 1 red byadgi mirchi broken into 2-3 pieces, a few curry leaves,1 tbsp oil, salt to taste.

Method : Pressure cook the lobhia & red pumpkin by adding salt & turmeric up to 1 whistle. Keep gas on slow flame for 10 minutes. Put off gas. Keep aside.

Meanwhile, grind half the fresh desiccated coconut with green chillies & cumin seeds into a paste.

Take out the pressure cooked pumpkin -red lobhia mix into a kadhai & add this ground paste to it. Mix nicely. Bring this  mix to a boil.Put off gas.

In a non stick pan or another kadhai, heat oil.Add mustard seeds, when they crackle, add the curry leaves & byadgi mirchi pieces.Add the remaining fresh desiccated coconut & roast all ingredients in kadhai till it gets aromatic & slightly browned. Put off gas. Transfer this roasted coconut mix to the kadhai containing the pumpkin red lobhia ground paste mix. Serve this erissery with rice and or rotis.