Vanilla Butter Cake

  Birthdays were always a special occasion at my maternal home. My mom always baked me a cake, icing or no icing :) I guess my brother was not as lucky as me when it came to getting to cut a birthday cake..... as mom mostly made payasam for his birthday. I vividly remember how my mother once baked a plain cake and iced it with my favorite pink color home made icing. She used all the different nozzles to pipe out a cute doll on the cake. I still remember the black peppercorns she used to create the doll's eyes with :) That was for my eleventh birthday. Back then, there was no ready made icing available in India and there definitely was no Betty Crocker brand in any of our stores. So mom would buy icing sugar, food colors, blanch almonds, make almond paste, make colorful rosettes and flowers out of that to decorate the cake...in short, it was a tedious process. But she always took extra pains to get an outcome as good as the photos in her recipe books. She mostly preferred to bake a simple vanilla cake or 'plain cake' as she would call it, whenever she wanted to ice it. She always felt that this was the best cake to enjoy the flavor of home made icing. Well, all I can say is that whatever she baked, I thoroughly enjoyed eating...it really didn't matter to me whether the cake was plain or not :) Mom did try to hand me down the recipe for her vanilla cake, but the recipe got misplaced somewhere :( Hence began my search for the perfect 'plain cake' and after many months of searching the web, I chanced upon a recipe quite similar to my mother's. On second thoughts, I wouldn't exactly call this my old plain cake as this one is way more buttery than my mom's cake. I do relish this recipe though, as this was the first perfect cake I baked, all on my own. It is very simple to bake and very heavenly to eat...... thank the butter for all the dense flavor!

Vanilla butter cake out of the oven

Vanilla cake, less a yummy slice !

Ingredients:

All purpose flour or maida - 1 1/2 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Eggs - 2 (at room temperature)
Baking powder - 2 tsps
Butter - 1/2 cup (1 unsalted stick)
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 3/4 cup
Vanilla extract - 2 tsps

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Grease and flour either a 8 or a 9 inch round pan. The cake will rise more in an 8 inch pan. The pan in the above picture is a 9 inch one.

1) Bring the eggs and butter to room temperature. You can place cold eggs in luke warm water to speed up  the process. Microwave cold butter for about 10-15 seconds if you don't have time to thaw it. Hopefully in peak summer time, it should take less than an hour to thaw them both.
2) Sieve together the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. 
3) In another large bowl, cream the butter using a hand or stand mix on low and then medium speed, for about 2-3 minutes. Slowly add the sugar and continue beating on high speed, till you use up all the sugar. Take care to scrap the sides of the bowl so that all the butter is well creamed. You should get a smooth pale yellow mixture once creaming is done. If the butter and sugar are not properly creamed, then the mixture will be slightly gritty in nature and this will affect the texture of the cake. The creaming process will take about 3 minutes.
4) Now add the eggs and vanilla extract to the creamed mixture and beat on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy.
5) Gently add the sieved ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk until well blended. Use a spatula to 'cut and fold' all the ingredients.To do this first add a small quantity of the flour followed by a little milk, then take the spatula and cut through the creamed mixture, simultaneously folding all the ingredients in a gentle circular motion.You could divide the dry ingredients into 3 portions to make this easier. Continue with this gentle mixing until all the dry ingredients and milk is used up.
6) Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 °F. Check for doneness with a toothpick or a tester. The cake if done should spring back on a slight gentle touch. Remove from the oven and let it cool in the pan for about 10 mins, before transferring to a cooling rack. I prefer to leave the cake in the pan itself to cool down, as that way, the surface of the cake does not become too moist. Just be sure to cover the cake with a clean kitchen towel or paper napkin after a couple of hours.

7) Once cooled completely, cut into pieces and store in an air tight container. Refrigerate the cake in the hot summer to increase shelf life, else it may go bad in a few days due to the heat.

Note: This cake is awesomely buttery in taste and so is slightly on the denser side. If you don't prefer the dense taste, increase the quantity of flour to 2 cups. Enjoy eating 'plain vanilla cake' :) Once cooled you can ice it with any icing of your choice.

Stuffed Brinjal Curry

   I love Andhra cuisine! Most varieties of 'pappus','podis','kuras' are mouth watering and very tasty mainly because of the famous Guntur red chilly and groundnuts, I suppose. My first brush with andhra style of cooking was when I got to stay with a very close telugu family friend of mine (my favorite Latha aunty), for an extended period of time. I got a taste of 'Meerakai Pacchadi', 'Pesarettu and Upma', 'Khaja from Kakinada' and a variety of Andhra specialities. Then again, when I moved to Bangalore, I stayed with my Aruna aunty (also from Andhra) and got to taste her awesome 'Stuffed Brinjal kura'. If you love spicy food, then tasting this is a must, in my opinion :) Aruna aunty always made her stuffed brinjals with the powdered stuffing from her native place. And it was always a dry fry, made with very little oil in a small cooker. She always used the freshest brinjals to make these. She would slit the brinjals, stuff them with the powder and place them in the cooker and allow them to fry without actually closing the cooker lid. After a while she would toss the brinjals gently. This kura or vegetable was a favorite of mine, especially with curd rice. Since then, it has always been my interest to learn to make this wonderful dish. As luck would have it, I found many recipes online, tried a few, but none came close to what my aunt used to make. The one I am writing now has become somewhat of a favorite of mine, as it evokes memories of the time I spent with both my aunt's. 

Stuffed Brinjal Curry

Ingredients:
Small brinjals - 6 to 8 (I prefer the purple ones to the green ones as they have lesser seeds)
Onions - 2 large ones
Tomatoes - 3 plum or 1 beefsteak tomatoes (add more if you want more gravy)
Tamarind - half lemon size (add a lime sized ball if you want a sour gravy)
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp for seasoning
Salt - to taste
Powder for stuffing - (dried coconut + roasted peanuts + roasted sesame seeds + urad dal + chana dal + cumin seeds + dried red chillies + cinnamon stick + cloves + salt)
(refer to the 'Stuffed brinjal powder' in the 'Powders and Pickles' menu item for full details)
Jaggery - small pellet
Mustard - 1/2 tsps
Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - a few

Slit brinjals stuffed with wet paste

Method:

1) Chop the onions finely and grind the tomatoes into a fine paste. You can also use store bought tomato puree if you like. You can add chopped tomatoes if you wish, but I feel grinding them gives you more quantity of curry. Wash the brinjals and remove the green stem. Dry them on a paper towel and slit them vertically without breaking them. Take about 4 tbsps of the stuffing( I shall call it 'brinjal powder') add few drops of water to it to make a paste and stuff this paste into the slits of each brinjal. You can also stuff the brinjals with the dry powder instead of making a paste. Soak tamarind in water for half hour and extract the juice. Keep aside.

2) Heat some oil in a heavy bottomed vessel. I prefer to use the cooker for this curry as it is much faster. When the oil is hot, season it with mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves. Add the chopped onions, a little salt for the onions and fry till onions are translucent. 

3) Now add the pureed/ chopped tomatoes and fry till it is cooked. Add the tamarind extract and salt to taste. Any leftover brinjal powder paste can be added to the curry, together with another tbsp of the same.Gently place the brinjals one by one, the slit side facing upwards, into the curry. Add a small piece of jaggery for taste. Close the cooker and place the weight. Simmer the cooker for a minute or two when you hear the whistle and then switch off. Allow the cooker to cool a little before opening it. That way the brinjals would have been cooked just well enough. Serve this curry with hot rice.

Brinjals ready to be placed in the curry. The green one was a trial brinjal :) 

Curry with onion, tomatoes, tamarind extract and brinjal powder

Brinjals placed in the curry to be cooked

Brinjal curry done!

Note: This is a curry recipe and not a dry fry, but you could use the brinjal powder to make a dry fry. Slit the brinjals, stuff the powder and place it in a kadai with few tablespoons of oil. Season the oil and add the brinjals to the same. Allow it to fry, taking care to turn over the brinjals from time to time till done. In the above recipe, I have added a small piece of jaggery and it truly enhances the taste of the curry....giving the essential sweet-sour flavor. You can omit the jaggery, if you wish to savor only a sour taste.

Serving size: This curry will be enough for 2 people for 2 servings. Increase the quantity of all ingredients to serve more people.

Phulkas (Puffed Rotis)

  Phulkas are made of wheat flour which is kneaded with water and salt, rolled out into a thin circular shape and cooked on a tava or griddle. You can call it the thinner version of the roti or chappati, which are generally thick. I call them 'Halka Phulka' as they are an extremely light and a versatile Indian bread.You can eat them with any sabzi (vegetable), curry, jam, pickle or butter. The Phulka derives its name from the fact that it puffs up when it is directly placed over the fire. 'Phulna' in Hindi means puffing up. This Indian bread is a staple of North India and is a little difficult to make as compared to the regular roti. The technique to get the phulka right, is in the quantity of water used and the amount of kneading done to make the dough soft. The more you knead the dough, the softer it becomes. Some people  may find it difficult to make phulkas with a very soft dough, not to worry, refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes and it will be easier to work with. My mother made phulkas almost everyday for lunch and dinner as these and thick chappatis were a favorite of my brother's. Most times when we had unexpected guests for lunch, my mother would scramble to make rotis. And she was so adept at making these, she would have a plate stacked up with garma garam phulkas in under twenty minutes. Not to mention the dollop of home made desi ghee smeared on each phulka. I prefer making phulkas to the thicker chappatis. At home, we had something called the 'thick chappati' and the regular chappati which was the phulka. I always preferred the phulka as it was easier to eat and consumed less time ;)   

Naram Garam Phulkas (without the ghee)

Phulkas when kept folded

Ingredients:        

Wheat flour (Atta) - 2 cups (for kneading)
Wheat flour - 3/4 cup (for dusting the phulkas)

Water - 3/4 to 1 cup

Salt- a pinch (to taste)  
Ghee- a few tbsps

Method:
  
   Keep the following at hand: Rolling pin, Tava/ flat griddle, a pair of tongs or a wire mesh, Hot pack/ Casserole to store the phulkas

1) First visit the Indian store and buy a 5 or 10 lbs atta bag :) You will have many choices to choose from. I found that the brand one picks also matters here in the US as some are coarse ground and others are finely ground. There are also some brands which have maida mixed in the wheat flour, but claim to be pure wheat flour. In my opinion, coarse ground attas are better to make rotis/chappatis/phulkas/puris. I am not promoting any particular brand, but after lots of experimenting, I found Sujata atta to be the one closest to what my mother uses back home. Mom always did it the old fashioned way....buying wheat, washing and drying it and then getting it ground the way she liked it at the flour mill (chakki). She doesn't do that anymore as it is laborious and  I am not there to help her too.
2) Measure out the atta in a large bowl. Add the salt. Add a little water at a time and begin to knead the dough. Add only so much water initially so as to wet and bind the entire dough. Keep kneading and sprinkling a little water till you get almost an elastic consistency in the kneaded dough.The dough should be come soft and pliable. Cover and rest the dough for about 10 mins before making phulkas. You can also refrigerate the dough for about 20 mins in case you are not very comfortable working with a very soft dough.

Soft and pliable dough

3) Now make small round balls out of the dough. Take a flour ball and flatten it a little by hand, to make a small slightly thick disc. Dust this in the extra flour and roll it into a very thin roti. You will have to dust the roti once or twice to prevent it from sticking on the surface you are rolling the phulka out on. Making rotis or phulkas may be a little messy and I prefer to use the flat kitchen counter top to roll out the phulkas. I keep the  atta for dusting usually in a flat plate or on the counter itself. You could use a 'chakla' or traditional elevated flat wooden surface to make the phulkas too. Not that it will reduce the mess :)
4) Heat the tava / griddle on high. Once it is hot enough, slightly lower the flame and place the phulka on the tava. Once it changes color, flip it over and allow it to cook, till light brown spots appear on it. Now, holding the tava handle with one hand, place the phulka directly on the fire with your other hand. You could also place the hot tava on another unused gas burner, so as to keep your hands safe. Making phulkas is a little tricky and does need some practice, but once you get the hang of it, it is very easy :)
5) The phulka placed directly on the fire should puff up due to trapped steam. Using the kitchen tongs, flip the phulka over on the fire for a few seconds. Remove it with the tongs and place it on a plate or casserole.  Smear with a dollop of ghee, if you like the taste of ghee. Mom used to smear a lot of ghee on her phulkas, but I stopped using ghee on mine long ago....guess I don't really like the taste anymore. Repeat the process for all the balls of atta you have, taking care to lower the flame when placing the phulka on the tava each time.Take care to cover the casserole once all the phulkas are made. That way they will stay warm and remain soft when you eat them.
6) Another option would be to use a wire mesh, which I believe is available in the Indian store. Place this on a different gas burner than the one on which you place your tava on. Keep the flame on high and place the phulka over the mesh to puff up. I have never used the wire mesh and learnt to make the phulkas my mom's way.....which did include burning my finger tips in the process. But definitely worth it!

 Note: In case you find placing the phulka directly on the fire or wire mesh is not for you, then you could also use a kitchen towel. Crumple it first and gently press down on the phulka when it has slightly cooked on both sides, keeping the flame on high while doing this. Steam will build up inside the phulka causing it to puff up.








                                                                                                                                          

Maavu Laddu (Pottu Kadalai Laddu)

   Maavu laddu is a sweet delicacy mostly popular with the people of southern Tamil Nadu. It is made from Pottu kadalai or Pori Kadalai which is the south Indian name for split gram dal, which in turn is chutney dal. Or more specifically the gram dal used to make coconut chutney. Pottu kadalai being a very rich source of protein, these laddus are usually made in many households with little children. It is called Maavu laddu, since all the ingredients are in powdered form ('Maavu' in Tamil means powder) and 'laddu' is any sweet in the form of a sphere.I recently came to know that these laddus can also be made from Pasi paruppu or whole moong dal and are called Pasi paruppu laddus. I haven't tried making them with moong dal yet, but I may give that a shot in future. I have seen these maavu laddus in quite a few sweet shops selling traditional sweets, but never bothered to buy them or even taste them as they never appealed to me. I had my first taste of this laddu after my marriage at my in-laws home. My co-sister makes these very often for her kids and I found the taste of the laddus to my liking, albeit I always felt there was something missing in the laddu. I eventually got to make these laddus myself when I found a nice way to get my son to eat ghee...apparently, he doesn't enjoy the taste of ghee with his rice and curry :) And ghee (clarified butter) being essential for a child's growth, these laddus are very handy. Its another story that a calorie conscious me can never eat these laddus. But I really enjoy making them. And what I found was missing in my co-sister's laddus was the fact that she always made these laddus the traditional way. That is, just grinding the pottu kadalai with the sugar, adding ghee and making laddus. She never roasted the split gram dal. Well, I found that roasting the dal, cooling and then grinding it makes a lot of difference in the taste of these laddus. You should try doing the same. Ahem, I think I'll go and take a dig at just one laddu from my kitchen.

Maavu Laddu

Ingredients:

Split gram dal (Pottu Kadalai) - 1 and 1/2 tea cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/3 cup or 1/2 cup (depending on how rich you want it)
Cardamom - few grains or 1 pod ( as per individual taste)
Cashew nuts - 1 tsp or 1 tbsp (finely broken)
Raisins - (optional)

Method:

1) First you need to make a trip to the Indian store to buy 'Chana Dalia', as that's the name under which pottu kadalai/ split gram dal is sold in the Patel store. Next, heat a kadai or heavy bottomed saucepan on high. When it is hot enough, reduce flame to medium and quickly dry roast the gram dal till it is a slightly golden color. Stir continuously so as not to burn the dal. This should take few minutes. Most people usually just grind the gram dal along with sugar to make the laddus. As the raw smell disappears, you will find that this dry roasting really enhances the taste of the laddus. 

2) Transfer the dal to a plate and allow to cool completely. On cooling, grind it to a fine powder along with sugar. In case you use fine powdered sugar, like we do in the US, you don't have to grind it along with the dal. Mix the roasted gram flour and sugar in a large bowl and set aside.

Sugar mixed with powdered gram dal

3) Warm the 1/3 or 1/2 cup ghee in a microwave. Use a little of this ghee to stir fry the cashew and raisins, in case you desire to add them to the laddus. I usually don't add either as my little son does not like biting into them while eating his favorite laddu :) 

4) Powder the cardamom and add it to the gram flour mixture. Mix well. Now, pour the warmed ghee little by little into the mixture. Using a spoon or ladle, constantly stir the ghee into the mixture. Actually, using your hand would be better as you will know just when to stop adding any more ghee. The mixture should have just about enough ghee, so as to easily shape it into laddus. No problems if you use up all the ghee to make the laddus....just make sure you workout more in the gym afterwards ;)

Mixture after adding few tbsps of ghee

Mixture ready to make laddus after adding more ghee

Note: 
This recipe will make approx. 25 - 27 small ladoos. Since the protein in the dal and the oodles of ghee added make this sweet a little heavy on the stomach, you may want to limit the quantity consumed by very small kids, say in the age group of 2-5 yrs. Agreed that they play a lot and burn all the calories, but it is better to be cautious :) Also, I have used a measuring cup to measure out the ghee, but you can add as much as your heart desires. Just know that it is the ghee which actually brings out the taste in this delectable sweet.

Kara Kadalai (Spicy Peanut snack)

   Peanuts or Monkey nuts have always been a favorite food of mine, albeit ever since I began counting the calories, they are not as dear as before! 'Kara Kadalai' was always a great snack to have, especially during the summer vacations when I loved getting lost, reading my favorite Enid Blyton books. Just loved digging into the kadalai and sipping cold 'Rasna', the most popular flavored drink of those times. Kara Kadalai derives its name from 'Karam', which means 'hot and spicy' in Tamil and 'Kadalai,' meaning peanuts. So it is basically 'Hot and spicy peanuts'. You can find these in most savory shops in south India. I have tasted the shop made kara kadalai......they were deep fried and almost always dark red in color, maybe due to the red chilly flakes added to make them spicy. But they were never anywhere close to the kara kadalai my mom made, either in taste nor appearance. They also seemed to lack the besan coating of the home made kadalai. The measurements given below are based more on judgement rather than accuracy, since I sometimes increase or decrease the quantity of all the ingredients mentioned. To start with, you could use about 1 teacup of raw peanuts and try out this recipe, altering the quantity of all the ingredients. Since my mother used her experience in making this snack, her proportions always went by 'a handful'. This recipe is from her favorite old, handwritten recipe book.This is one easy snack to make, so do try it :)

Kara Kadalai

Ingredients:

Raw Peanuts - 1/4 or 1/2 kgs (use whole peanuts with skin)
Besan (Gramflour/ Chickpea flour)) - 1/4 to 1/2 cup
Chilli powder - 1 tbsps (add more if you like it very spicy)
Salt - 1 tsp or as per taste
Water - 1/4 cup
Oil - 1 cup

Method:

1) Place the raw peanuts in a large bowl and sprinkle just enough water so as to just coat all the nuts with water. Take care not to soak the nuts, else you will get lumps of peanuts while adding besan. Kara kadalai is supposed to have individual peanuts coated in gramflour. Don't worry if the 1/4 cup water mentioned above is not used up entirely. The peanuts should have just enough water, so the besan sticks to them properly. An easy way to do this would be to toss the nuts around in the bowl :)
2) Now add a handful of besan, chilli powder and salt to the peanuts and toss them around till they are well coated in the besan. Taste the raw peanuts to check for salt and chilli powder. Add more besan, chilli and salt, in case you feel it is less. Sprinkle some more water on the peanuts if you feel it is too dry and the besan is not sticking to it. The reason I recommend using a handful of besan at a time, rather than just adding 1/4 or 1/2 cup to the peanuts is to ensure that you don't over coat the nuts in the gramflour. This way you can adjust the flavor. Want to taste more peanuts, add less gramflour. Want a spicy flavor, add more gramflour, salt and chilli powder.

Raw peanuts coated with Gramflour, Chilli powder and Salt

3) Heat the 1 cup oil in a kadai or heavy bottomed saucepan on high flame. Once the oil is ready, test it by adding one peanut. If it sizzles, you should lower the flame and add a handful of nuts to the oil. Fry the nuts on very low flame till it appears light brown in color, taking care to stir them continuously, lest they burn.
4) Place the fried nuts on a paper towel and put them in an airtight container once they are cooled. They should  remain crunchy for upto two weeks.

Note:
  The peanuts will appear to taste soggy when you take them out of the oil. But they will become crunchy once they cool down.
                                                      

Poondu Kulumbhu (Garlic Curry)

   Garlic or Poondu as it is known in South India, is a very strong smelling, pungent root. Peeling garlic in the kitchen is despised by most women, thanks to the smell that lingers in the fingers. But everyone will agree when it comes to the health benefits of the garlic clove, that it is one ingredient they would love to include in all their cooking. Garlic pearls are known to purify blood, improve blood circulation and serve as an anti-oxidant, promoting the well being of the heart and immune system. Mom used to use garlic in all her dishes in one form or the other. Sometimes it was garlic paste, garlic powder, chopped garlic, whole garlic..... the garlic pod was a staple in our kitchen and together with ginger, it was essential to create many a gastronomic delight ! Mom used to make poondu kulumbhu a lot, especially in garlic season. This was my Dad's favorite and together with plain dal, he used to have a feast. I never liked poondu kulumbhu in my younger years, but developed a taste for this once I learned to cook. Like my dad, now I love the combo of having hot rice with  plain dal, a dollop of ghee on top and the poondu kulumbhu as an accompaniment or mixed with the dal rice. Absolutely delightful !

Poondu Kulumbhu (Garlic Curry)

Ingredients:

Garlic cloves or poondu - 1 and 1/2 handfuls

Onion - 1 and 1/2 (finely chopped)

Tamarind - a small pellet (1/4 size of a lemon)

Tomatoes - 2 (pureed or finely chopped)

Fenugreek seeds (methi seeds) - 1/4 tsp

Sambar powder - 1 1/2 to 2 tsps

Grated fresh coconut - this is optional

Salt - to taste

Cooking Oil - 2 tbsps (use sesame/ gingelly oil as it is tastier)

Mustard - 1/2  tsp

Urad dal - 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves - 3

Method:

1) Soak the tamarind in water for 20 minutes and extract juice by squeezing the pulp and straining. You can increase the quantity of tamarind in case you prefer a very sour flavor (pulipu flavor). You can also microwave the soaked tamarind in water for about 1 minute, cool it and extract the juice.

2) Heat some oil in a kadai or skillet. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds, urad dal, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves to season the oil. Take care not to add too much of fenugreek seeds, else the curry will turn bitter. These seeds are only added to enhance the flavor of the kulumbhu. Now add chopped onions, a little salt and stir fry till onions are slightly translucent.
3) Add the peeled garlic cloves. An easy way to peel garlic would be to microwave the garlic with the skin for about 30 seconds. Or else roast the garlic with the skin in a hot kadai/ saucepan for about a minute. The skin will loosen up and the garlic will become soft, making it easier to remove the skin. An advantage of this is the fact that the garlic cloves will fry faster and absorb the liquid curry better, making the kulumbhu tastier. If peeling garlic is not for you, then use the peeled garlic readily available in the freezer section in the Indian store or Costco. I am sure you get peeled garlic in India too, only I don't know the store names.

4) Now add the pureed tomatoes, the tamarind extract and the sambar powder to the fried onions and garlic cloves. Fry them for few minutes till the tomatoes are cooked. You can add chopped tomatoes too, but I feel adding ground/ pureed tomatoes increases the quantity of the curry and the garlic cloves blend well into the curry. You may need to add red chilli powder in case your sambar powder does not contain chilli powder in it. Since I use home made sambar powder already containing chilli powder in it, I have not added the same here. Add salt to taste. Add only required quantity of water to the mixture, making sure you do not thin down the consistency. This curry is usually an accompaniment to rice and dal, so should have a slightly thicker consistency. It can be eaten with rice as such too, not necessarily as an accompaniment. Watering down the curry would essentially ruin the taste. 

5) Bring the curry to a rolling boil till the raw smell of the sambar powder is all gone. You can add grated coconut before the curry starts to boil, in case you wish to tone down the sourness of the kulumbhu. I have had this kulumbhu with and without the coconut. I like the one without the coconut better as you get the actual sour flavor of the curry and the pungent but yummy taste of the garlic cloves.

Note:

  Try to use gingelly oil (sesame oil ) while doing seasoning as it enhances the flavor of the kulumbhu. You can also use regular canola, sunflower or vegetable oil. My mom says you should try grinding the tomatoes with 1/4 onion. Add a small pellet of jaggery to the kulumbhu before bringing it to a boil. This way you will sample a delightful combination of sweet, sour and spicy kulumbhu.

Serving size: Will serve 2 people for a single meal.

Banana Walnut Cake

    I got my first taste of the banana walnut muffin in the US. I do vaguely remember seeing banana recipes in my mother's old trusted recipe books, maybe my mom did try out this cake long time ago, but I have no memories of that.All I remember about bananas being used as an ingredient in a sweet was the 'unniappam', where ripe bananas were smashed, mixed in the maida or rice flour batter along with sugar, cardamom and deep fried. Those were yummy in their own way, but nothing beats the combo of walnuts with bananas. Truly heavenly! Got ripe bananas and don't feel like eating them...well then, just bake this cake. I tried baking this cake with variations in the quantity of flour and it came out great on all the occasions.

Banana Walnut Cake

Ingredients:

All purpose flour or maida - 2 cups

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Brown sugar - 1/2 cup(optional, but highly recommended for best results!You can also use just 1 cup                                     sugar, if you don't have brown sugar)

Ripe bananas - 2 (pureed)

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Salt - a pinch

Eggs - 2

Butter - 1/2 cup (use 1 stick of unsalted butter)

Milk - 3/4 cup

Walnuts - 1/2 cup (broken and roasted)

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp or more (if you like a cinnamon flavored cake)

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

1 round 9 inch cake tin or a 8.5 inch square tin

Method :

     Prepare the cake tin first by smearing a little butter or cooking spray and dusting with flour.Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1) Firstly, bring the butter and eggs to room temperature. You can microwave the butter for about 10 seconds till it is just soft, taking care that it does not become liquid. Immerse cold eggs in luke warm water for a while and it should fasten the process.

Butter and eggs ready for use

2) Sift together all the dry ingredients (flour, soda, salt and cinnamon) in a large bowl using a sifter. Sifting ensures that all the dry ingredients are mixed well without any lumps.

Sifting together flour, soda, salt and cinnamon

3) Cream the butter using a hand or stand mixer at low speed in another large bowl. You will find it easier to cream butter kept at room temperature.Slowly increase the speed till the butter turns a light yellow color, taking care to scrape the sides of the bowl. By scraping the sides, you make sure that all the butter is properly beaten.

Creaming butter with a hand mixer

4) Slowly add sugar to the butter and continue beating the mixture till you get a coarse sand like texture. It is best to add the sugar in parts, so as to incorporate maximum air. Now add the two eggs and vanilla essence.Beat again on low speed. You can add the eggs directly or first mix them in a bowl and then add them.

1/2 cup Sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar mixed together

Creaming butter with sugar

Eggs and vanilla added to the creamed butter

Fluffy texture after beating eggs and vanilla with creamed butter

5) By now you should have a fluffy light colored mixture. To this add the banana puree and beat for a few seconds on high.The mixture will appear curdled. You can even try to mash the bananas with a fork and add the same. Personally, I prefer the smooth texture of the pureed bananas to the mashed one.

Bananas in mixer jar ready for pureeing

Pureed bananas

Adding banana puree to creamed mixture

Creamed mixture after adding banana puree

6) Add the dry ingredients slowly to this curdled mixture alternating with the milk.Use a spatula to gently cut and fold the ingredients into the wet mixture.You can use cold milk for this purpose.Milk is added to give texture to the cake and to prevent it from being too dry after it is baked.Use up all the flour mixture and milk to get a smooth batter.

Measuring 3/4 cup milk

Cut and fold dry ingredients with creamed mixture, alternating with milk

7) Now add the roasted walnuts and give it just one mix with the spatula till the nuts blend in. Microwave the walnuts for about 20 seconds, if roasted ones are unavailable.Adding the nuts in the end will ensure that they don't sink to the bottom and are evenly distributed in the cake.Add either 1/2 cup or 1 cup depending on how 'nutty' you want your cake to be.I usually don't add more than 1/3 cup as I don't prefer a very nut filled cake, even though I love walnuts.

Roasted walnuts dusted with wee bit of flour

Mixing in the walnuts

8) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.Check with a toothpick or cake tester for doneness, both on the top and sides of the cake. Bake for 5 more minutes in case you feel it is not done. Remove from the oven and keep in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring it to a cooling rack.Cool completely before cutting and storing the cake in an airtight container.

Cake batter in a 8.5 inch square pan

Ta Da!!  Banana Walnut Cake :))

Variation:

Try these measurements if you want a denser, more rich cake with a buttery taste.
Flour- 1 and 1/4 cup, Sugar - 3/4 cup + 3 tsps, Baking soda - 1 tsp, Salt - a pinch, Eggs- 2, Bananas - 2(pureed),  Milk- 1/2 cup, Butter - 1/2 cup or 1 stick, Vanilla essence - 1 tsp.

Follow the same instructions as given above and bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes in a 9 inch round pan. Test for doneness. Cool completely before cutting and storing the cake in an airtight container.

Note:  
1) If both recipes are made in a 9 inch round pan, expect it to rise in the center and don't worry if the cake cracks a little on the top. The first recipe is also perfect for the square pan. The cake rises only slightly, but mostly evenly in this pan. In case the cake is not cooked well enough in the center after 35 minutes, reduce the heat to 200 degrees and leave the cake in the oven for 5- 7 minutes till the center cooks well enough.
2) The first recipe is very light and fluffy and absolutely yum! The variation recipe I have mentioned above, I used it when I first started out baking cakes. I recently tried baking this cake in a 9 by 13 inch pan with 3 large and 1 medium ripe banana. I had 2 and 1/2 cups of the puree and used it all with a cup of white sugar. I ended up with a slightly dense brownie like cake. It was mildly sweet and good, but I am still wondering why I didn't get a fluffy texture. Have to investigate ;) Also, I have not used brown sugar in either recipe...... a must ingredient in the banana walnut cake, because on all the occasions I have baked this, I never had stock of this sugar in my pantry :) Honestly speaking, I never missed using brown sugar as my cake was tasty without it. Its only recently that I have started adding 1/2 cup of brown sugar to 1/2 cup white sugar. Oh wow, nowadays, I am baking the tastiest Banana walnut cake ever!!! The brown sugar really does work wonders to the flavor.....hmm, heading to the kitchen to indulge in more baking ;) 

Peanut Chikki

    As a kid, no vacation to my grandma's place was ever complete unless I bit into my favorite 'Kadalai mittai'. I can still remember how we kids used to buy peanut chikki (peanuts and jaggery toffee) from the store near grandma's home.Each small square would be covered with colored dried coconut shavings, mostly pink and yellow colors. I still love kadalai mittai and bring back a packet each time I visit my mother's place.This recipe is a purely accidental one as I was attempting to make the 'puran' for the delicacy called 'puran poli'.Simply said, the jaggery syrup boiled a wee bit longer and changed color and consistency.Knowing it was beyond the 'puran' point, I hurriedly fried peanuts and added them to the syrup, spread it on a sheet, cut it and lo and behold, I get peanut chikki :))  What a sweet accident it turned out to be! The picture below may not appear very appealing as I was in a big hurry to snap a picture before my tasty chikki was all gone!

Peanut Chikki

Ingredients:

Raw Peanuts - 1 to 1 1/2 cups
Jaggery - 3/4 to 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 tbsp (to grease plate)

Method:
1) As you'll need peanuts without the skin, you would first need to remove them. The easiest way to remove the skin is to roast the peanuts.Heat a kadai or saucepan on high and start roasting the raw peanuts.Reduce the flame to medium once you see the skin peeling off.Transfer to a plate and allow it to cool a little. Now using your hand rub off the remaining skin from all the peanuts.Your roasted peanuts are now ready.
2) Grease a plate with the ghee to place the chikki on.I greased a foil and placed it on a cookie sheet.
3) Mix the water and jaggery in a heavy bottomed pan and heat it on high flame till the jaggery dissolves.It is better to use powdered jaggery to make the syrup, as I have always struggled to break hard jaggery balls bought from the Indian store.Strain the syrup once to remove any impurities from the jaggery.Once the strained syrup begins to boil, the jaggery will start to get a thick, glaze like consistency.Take a little of the melted jaggery between your thumb and index finger and check for one string consistency.Continue to boil till you get almost a two string consistency and the jaggery starts to leave the sides of the pan with almost a toffee like appearance.
4) Now remove from the gas and immediately add the roasted peanuts.Mix well and spread on the greased plate.Cut it into squares.Yummy chikki is ready to be relished.

Variation: You could try adding some cardamom powder and colored dry coconut shavings while mixing the peanuts with the jaggery.

Note: I got 20-25 chikki squares. Also, the measurements given here are based on 'Andaaz se' (using your own judgement) as I have already said, this was a on the spur creation to prevent wasting the jaggery syrup :) A lot of traditional Indian recipes handed down from grandmothers to mothers are based on this 'Andaaz se'.The chikki's turned out crunchy, hard and tasty,just like the ones at my grandma's place. But I must admit, the quantity of jaggery was a wee bit more than the store bought chikki. Should have added more peanuts perhaps...some sweet accident, eh!


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Ulundu Vadai/ Medhu Vadai

    Vadai or vada is a south Indian delicacy.Serving up a meal with vadai and payasam is considered the ultimate in 'Athithi Sanskar' (hospitality) in the south.So much so, wedding feasts are considered incomplete without  the vadai...either urad dal (ulundu) or channa dal. Ulundu vadai or Medhu vada is truly versatile.....you can add onions and peppercorns to it, serve it up plain with coconut chutney or sambar, soak it in sambar to create sambar vadai, soak it in lots of home made curd and serve it up with chaat masala and imli chutney to make the mouth watering dahi vada.....the ulundu vadai will never disappoint you :) I learnt to make this vadai from my mom and in true tradition, I used to make the vadais as soon as I ground the soaked urad dal(ulundu).The general belief is that the batter would become watery if the vadais are not made immediately, due to the salt added to it.Apparently, this is not true and I improved my vadai making skills by watching Vahchef Sanjay Thumma on the internet.The secret of making light, crispy and fluffy vadais is to beat the batter by hand to incorporate air after mixing salt and other ingredients.So, here is the recipe for plain vadai.....eat it as is or with coconut chutney.Enjoy!

Ulundu or Medhu vadai with coconut chutney

Ingredients:

Urad dal without the skin (whole or split) - 1cup
Onion - 1/2 (finely chopped)
Curry leaves - few
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp (you can use whole peppercorns too, instead of the powder)
Salt - 1/4 tsp (the batter should not taste salty )
Hing(Asafoetida) - a pinch
Oil - 1 to 1 1/2 cup for deep frying
Water- about 1/3 cup for grinding and 1/3 cup to soak hands while making vadai

Method:
1) Wash and soak the urad dal in water for atleast 1/2 hour. You can buy this at the Indian store and it is commonly called 'black gram' or 'white lentil'.You don't need to soak the dal for too long.I usually soak it upto a maximum of 2 hours.

Urad dal before soaking

 
2) Grind the dal in a mixie or blender.Add a little water at a time,taking care not to add all the water at one go.Grind to a smooth but slightly thick paste like consistency (the ground batter should not be of a flowing consistency like dosa batter).Transfer batter to a vessel.
3) Now add the chopped onions, curry leaves, pepper powder or whole peppercorns,hing and salt to the batter. Use your hand to blend in all the ingredients.Check the taste of the batter and add more salt if needed. Just keep in mind  that the vadai should taste of all the condiments added to it, not just of salt.Moreover the quantity of salt is kept to a low in this vadai to bring out the flavor of the chutney/sambar/dahi accompanying it. In case you get a salty batter, just add more chopped onions or balance it with more pepper powder.

Ulundu vadai batter ready to be fried!

4) Now comes the trick! Once you have added all the condiments to the batter and mixed it all once or twice with your hand, continue to mix a while longer in a manner so as to incorporate air into the batter. Let the batter rest for about 5 minutes.You can also make this batter a day ahead, refrigerate it and then make vadais.Don't worry...it will not become watery.You just need to leave it outside the fridge for about 15-20 minutes before making the vadais.Also remember to first allow the batter to cool down to room temperature after grinding it, then store it in the refrigerator.
5) Next, heat oil in a kadai or heavy bottomed saucepan on high.To check if oil is hot enough, spoon a little batter into the hot oil.If it sizzles and floats on the top, then the oil is at the correct temperature to fry the vadais. Keep a little water in a glass bowl handy, to soak your fingers into while making the vadai.Wet all the   fingers and using your right hand scoop a little batter out onto your left fingers.Make a hole in the batter and place it in the hot oil. Be very careful while doing this.You could reduce the flame while placing the batter in the oil.Don't worry too much if you don't get the perfect vadai shape.To me, the taste is more important than the shape and it takes a little practice to make perfectly round vadais.
6) Once the vadai turns golden on one side, flip it over and fry till the other side is golden in color.Remove and drain on paper towels.You should be able to fry about 3 vadais in one go.Serve with sambar or the all time favorite, coconut chutney.

Variation: Try adding a few chopped green chillies in lieu of the pepper. Or try a few finely chopped pieces of ginger and finely chopped fresh coriander.

Note: This recipe will make about 15 medium sized vadais.Frying the vadais may seem a little messy process. But I'll bet, you won't stop with eating a few crispy vadais....you will definitely long for more!
 

Badam Burfi

   Burfi is a traditional sweet made for almost all Indian festivals, especially Diwali.The name has its origin in the Persian word 'Barf' (snow) as most burfis are similar in appearance to ice or snow.Plain burfi is usually made with mava (khoya) or condensed milk and sugar with almonds and pistachios for decoration. Nowadays you will find burfi's in all colors, flavors and shapes.... most loved shapes being diamond, squares or rectangles.My friend Isvarya gave me the original recipe from a cook book she had referred to.I looked it up online and found one using lesser sugar.I must admit though that the burfi I made was way less in ghee and different in texture than the badam and kaju burfi's made by my mother-in- law.MIL is an expert in making these...so much so that I usually call her kaju burfi, 'ghee' burfi as she uses tonnes of ghee to lovingly make them :) This recipe is so easy to make....its almost a cinch! The badam burfi I made were really delicious...hmmm, never thought I would be able to make such delightful burfi. And this is a good way to get picky toddlers to eat  nuts, if they are not allergic to them, that is!

Badam Burfi

Ingredients:

Badam(Almonds) - 3/4 cup

Cashew nuts- 1/4 cup (I used cashew nuts as I did not have enough badam)

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Milk - 1/2 cup

Ghee - 2 tbsps

Cardamom - 1 pod (grind to fine powder)

Method:

1) Soak the badam in water for more than an hour, to remove the skin.I soaked the cashew with the badam as I was not too sure if I was to powder them separately.You could microwave the soaked badam for a minute to speed up the process.Peel the skin off and grind the badam and cashew to a fine paste in the blender.I added the 1/2 cup milk to this paste as it was very sticky and ground it some more.This way I could get the fine paste to come out of the blender.You could maybe try grinding the badam, milk and sugar all together, like my friend did.Just use a large jar while grinding, keeping in mind the quantity of paste you will get. 

2) Grease a flat plate or thali with little ghee to pour the burfi into.Set aside.

3) Put the badam and milk paste into a kadai or heavy bottomed saucepan.Add sugar to this and stir continuously on slightly medium to low heat.After about 5 minutes add the 2 tablespoons of ghee and continue stirring on low heat, till the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan.This entire process takes about 15  to 20 minutes.You will know when to switch off the gas as the mixture would have changed to a slightly creamish color by then. Take care not to burn the burfi mixture. I do wish there was a way to avoid the stirring as my arm did slightly ache as it was my first time.But entirely worth the effort!

4) Remove from the stove.Add the cardamom powder and mix well. Transfer to the greased plate and flatten the mixture with a flat spoon or ladle.Allow it to cool sometime and cut into diamond shaped burfi. You can add a pinch of saffron while adding the cardamom powder.Garnish with silver foil (varki) if you like.

Note: This recipe will make about 30 burfi.