Eggless Chocolate Cake

   

    
    I have been wanting to try eggless baking for a while now and after some searching on the web, came across this easy recipe for chocolate cake. I tried baking this recently and was so surprised with the result, I just had to blog about it! Most recipes for baking always call for the use of eggs to add texture, increase the volume and enhance the taste of the baked goods. Eggless baking on the other hand uses egg substitutes to get the same end quality. These substitutes may be products like distilled vinegar, condensed milk, pureed fruits like applesauce, pureed tofu, curds etc. I had a tin of condensed milk on hand, to use if I needed, but decided against it as I wanted to eat something chocolaty without making too much of an effort. This recipe uses vinegar in lieu of eggs. Do try this and tell me how much you liked it :)

Luscious cake to bite into :)

Ingredients:

All purpose flour or maida - 1 and 1/2 cups

Cocoa powder - 3 tbsps

Sugar - 1 cup

Oil (any vegetable oil) - 1/4 cup (I used canola oil)

Water (at room temperature) - 1 cup

Baking soda - 1 tsps

Distilled white vinegar - 1 tbsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp (I used just a pinch)

Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Walnuts - a handful (roasted in the microwave for 20 secs, to make them crisp)

Chocolate chips - a handful

 ( I added the walnuts and chocolate chips to enhance the taste and indulgence. You can leave them out, if you so desire to )

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and dust a 9 inch round pan. 

2) Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, till all lumps are removed. Set it aside in a  bowl.

Adding the flour, cocoa powder, soda and salt

Sifted dry ingredients

3) In another large mixing bowl add water, then add the sugar and stir together till the sugar is all dissolved. Now add the oil, vanilla essence and distilled vinegar. Stir just once to blend the liquids. Take care to pour just the measured quantity of vinegar. Excess vinegar will make the cake taste tart.

Water, sugar and oil mixed together

Vanilla and vinegar added to the sugar mixture

4) Add the dry ingredients to the liquid in two parts, mixing well with a spatula. Take care to see that there are no lumps of dry ingredients. Don't over mix as once the vinegar comes in contact with the baking soda, it will begin to react. The batter will be a little watery and thin. Don't worry, you are assured of getting a fluffy cake :)

5) Now add the walnuts and chocolate chips, mixing once or twice with the spatula to blend them well. Pour the batter into the prepared container and bake for 30-35 mins or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. 

Batter with the walnuts and choco chips in the pan :)

6) Take the cake out from the oven and cool it in the pan itself or remove it from the pan onto a cooling rack. Once cooled, cut into pieces and store in an air tight container. Refrigerate the cake if it is summer, else it should stay out for about 3 days, if you don't have a go at it ! 

Hmmm..Eggless chocolate cake ready !!

  

Note: This is a very moist, soft and fluffy cake....so much so, its hard to believe it is eggless.  I was a little surprised to see the walnuts on the cake surface when I was expecting them to actually sink :) The choco chips being denser were mostly at the bottom of the cake though. You can convert this recipe into a eggless Black forest cake too. Sure, the amount of cocoa powder may seem less. Just double the quantity of the ingredients and bake two cakes and proceed to follow the instructions I have written down for the Black forest cake :) I must admit that I am yet to try the eggless version of the black forest myself, but will  try it out soon. But knowing how good anything chocolaty can taste, I am sure it will come out good.

Tayyir Sadham (Curd Rice)

  

  Apart from Idlis and Dosas, the next best thing that happened to South Indian cuisine, especially Tamil cuisine, is the Tayyir Sadham (curd rice) or dahi chawal, as it is called in North India. In most households, this rice item is usually consumed after all the spicy sambhars, kulumbhu's and rasams are savored. The usual way of eating tayyir sadham is to just mix cooked rice with home made curd or plain yogurt. But the tayyir sadham served at hotels or taken along as 'Katthu sadham' (parceled rice or 'picnic rice', as I prefer to call it) is prepared quite differently. Aah, old memories are kindled yet again......who can ever forget all the sweet times spent with cousins, aunts and uncles, out on a temple trip and my grandma serving tamarind rice (puli sadham) followed by curd rice and pickle on a plantain leaf for a sumptuous lunch :) Eating out of a banana or plantain leaf truly  elevates the taste of food :)Tayyir sadham prepared for a picnic or as a meal in itself starts with the preparing of cooked rice. The rice is usually cooked the previous night itself. In the mornings, the rice is mashed up, boiled milk is added, followed by a few tablespoons of curd, then salt and mustard tempering is added for taste. Most people like adding green chillies, grated ginger and hing (asafoetida) to the tempering. It is in fact the hing and green chillies that give the 'picnic rice' its real taste. The reason milk is added to the rice is to prevent it from souring too much.Traditionally, curd rice is sometimes offered as prasadams in temples. Most people love curd rice as not only is it tasty, but it aides in digestion. Every family has its own way of preparing curd rice. Some add fruits like grapes, chopped apples and pomegranate seeds, others prefer just the tempering, and still others add boondhi and fried cashews. Some people, like my mother, add a tablespoon of home made dairy cream (cream collected from the surface of refrigerated boiled milk, better known as 'Pal aadai') while mixing the curd rice, to add a rich flavor... so rich, it will literally transport you to Tenth Heaven :)) and leave you stranded there! Sure thing, I can't count enough the number of times I have been to 'Snoozeland' after consuming my mother's rich curd rice with pickle for lunch. At school, at work and just about every where, the curd rice and pickle combo is sooooo tasty, especially during the hot summer months, you will sleep through any task you intend to do after eating this ;) Prepared curd rice is best eaten at room temperature, when you can just taste the mildly sour flavor of curd and the added tempering. If it is hot or too warm, you will mostly taste milk. If chilled or out of the refrigerator, it is not curd rice at all! Rather it would be frozen yogurt rice. Curd rice should never be heated or warmed in a microwave, I really don't know why, but assume that it affects the composition of the curd. Try making this very simple dish and you will love it!

Ingredients: For the rice 

Rice (Sona masoori, basmati or any variety) - 2 cups ( I use sona masoori as I find it very tasty)
Water - 4 cups
Salt - 1/4 tsps

Method: To prepare rice

1) Wash rice and drain the water. Place washed rice in a pressure cooker and add 4 cups of water. Mom always followed the 1:2 ratio of rice and water and I do the same. Sometimes if the rice is 'new' (freshly harvested rice), mom would reduce the quantity of water as the rice would over cook if too much water was added. If it was 'old rice' (a year or more old), she would add 1/2 cup extra water or allow it to soak for at least 15 minutes. If using basmati rice, wash it once and soak the rice in water for at least 20 minutes. That way you will get longer grains when the rice is cooked. I don't really prefer basmati rice for making my 'picnic rice', as I feel it doesn't bring out the real taste of curd rice. 
2) Add salt depending on your taste. Some people leave out adding salt while cooking rice. You could do the same if that's the way you prefer to. But do remember to add the salt while mixing the rice with the milk and curd. Pressure cook the rice until done. I usually cook it on high for about 2 whistles, then simmer it for about 3 minutes and switch it off. Make the rice the night before to save time, in case you wish to have it for lunch the next day or use any leftover rice. You can make curd rice out of fresh hot rice too, only it will consume more milk than the cold rice made earlier.

Ingredients: For the tempering and making curd rice

Mustard - 1 tsp
Urad dal - 1 tsp
Jeera - 1/2 tsp (I use this as my hubby loves the taste)
Chana dal - 1/2 tsp
Green chilly - 2
Ginger - 1/4 inch (finely chopped, use mango ginger if you can as it tastes even better....awesome actually!)
Asafoetida powder (Hing) - a pinch
Curry leaves - 2 or 3
Whole or 2% Milk - 1 or 1/2 liter ( I use 1/2 liter of 2 % milk and water it down further as I feel it is still a bit fatty :))
Curd - 1/2 cup
Milk cream - 2 tbsps (optional, I have never used this here in the US )
Oil - 2 tbsps
Fresh coriander leaves - a few finely chopped (optional)
Fruits (optional) - Pomegranate seeds, green grapes, chopped apples or any dry fruit of your choice

Method: To prepare the tempering and curd rice

1) Heat oil in a pan on high heat and when it becomes hot enough, add the mustard, urad dal, jeera and channa dal. Slit the green chilly or chop it finely and add it to the seasoning.
2) Next, add the finely chopped ginger, curry leaves and asafoetida powder (hing). The seasoning is ready once the mustard starts to splutter. Take care not to burn the seasoning by reducing the flame to medium heat, once the spluttering starts. This whole process should take about 1 minute.
3) Boil milk in a saucepan or heavy bottomed vessel. You can dilute it with water if you wish to reduce the fat content further :) It is better to boil the milk as cold milk will not allow the curds to sour, thus giving you only milk rice after a few hours of making curd rice.
4) Slightly mash the cooked rice with a ladle and add the cup of curd to it. You can also leave it as is, but I find that mashing it up gives a better texture to the rice and the curd mixes well with it too.
5) Add the tempering to the rice and mix it nicely. Add salt if required.
6) Now add the boiled milk and mix well. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves or any fruit or your choice (preferably without seeds). 
7) Enjoy your curd rice with aam ka acchar or any veggie pickle after a few hours ! It should take less than 3 hours for the curds to sour in peak summer and about 5 hours in the winter.  

Allowing the curds to sour in milk rice :)

Note: Above recipe will serve two people for approx. two helpings.

Melting Moments (Russian Tea Cookies)

 
    I love home made cookies as I know for sure that I wouldn't ever get to see the calorie value of the cookies I bite into, unlike the packaged ones where the first thing I always seem to count are the 'Fat Calories' :) Remember, how the very mention of a food item can bring back some very fond memories......well, the Melting moments cookies does make me a wee bit nostalgic. I do remember how I used to take hand written notes of this recipe to my mother's friends home as a little girl. And the many times mom and her friends would discuss cookies at tea parties, melting moments would definitely find a mention :) These Russian tea cookies are very delicate. Oh, so very delicate they simply melt in your mouth....hence the name. History has it that the Russians baked them for their tea sharing ceremonies during the 18th century. They just mixed flour, water and nuts and baked them, finally dredging the hot baked cookies in powdered sugar. Apparently they added more sugar once the cookies cooled down. The water in the recipe was replaced by oodles of butter over the course of time, which made these cookies really light. The Mexicans have a similar cookie called 'Mexican Wedding Cookies' which uses ground anise as an additional ingredient and are traditionally a part of every mexican wedding. These cookies are better known as 'Snowball cookies' in the US and are a part of Christmas holiday traditions. I baked these cookies recently and was simply blown away by their crisp lightness.  When I told my mother about me baking them, she said she always preferred baking other cookies than baking these. She felt there was much better use of all the butter that went into baking a batch of these.... yup, she sure was health conscious. All the same, indulge in the melting moments cookies first and count all the fat calories later :) 

Ingredients:

Flour - 2 cups (sifted)
Butter - 1 cup (2 sticks, softened at room temperature)
Sugar - 1/2 cup (add a few tsps more if you want sweeter cookies)
Salt -  1/4 tsp 
Vanilla extract - 2 tsps
Chopped nuts - 1/2 or 3/4 cup (chopped and roasted almonds, pistachios and walnuts)
Confectioners sugar - 1/2 cup

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 325 °F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or silpat. You can use a medium or large size cookie tray for these cookies.

Flour, sugar, butter and vanilla essence

2) Cream butter in a large bowl by beating it with a hand or stand mixer for about 2 minutes till it is very soft. Add sugar and vanilla extract to it. Continue beating the butter for about 3 minutes till the mixture is pale yellow and not gritty. Take care to scrap the sides of the bowl while beating to ensure all the butter is well creamed.

3) Sift together the flour and salt. Remember to measure out 2 cups of flour after sifting it first. That way air will be incorporated into the flour and will ensure soft cookies, since there is no baking soda or powder in this recipe.

4) Divide the flour into three parts and add it little at a time to the creamed mixture and blend thoroughly with a spatula. 

5) Add the nuts and mix well. Use store bought roasted nuts or roast them at home. First chop them into small pieces, then microwave them for about 20 secs at high power. That way they will be crunchy and add flavor to the cookies.

6) The cookies dough should be soft in texture. Scoop out 1 inch balls with a spoon or ice cream scoop and place them on the parchment lined sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 15-20 minutes till the sides of the cookies are slightly brown. Don't allow the cookies to brown completely. Russian tea cookies are meant to be slightly browned on the sides only.

Cookie dough ready for the oven!

7) Once done, remove the cookies onto a cooling wire rack or another unused baking sheet. Once cooled, roll the cookies in confectioners sugar. You can either buy this sugar at the store or just powder a cup of granulated sugar in the mixie or coffee grinder. 

Cookies left to cool on a baking sheet

Dredging cookies in confectioners sugar

8) Now sit back and enjoy the most delicate cookie ever......just melts in your mouth!!!

No one can eat just one :)

Note: This recipe should make close to 3 dozen cookies. It should store upto 2 weeks in an air tight container.

Black Forest Cake

  

Black Forest Cake with Strawberries

    I vividly remember the times I visited the 'Nilgiris Bakery' on Brigade road in Bangalore as a kid. I was  irresistibly always drawn to the 'black forest pastry' :) in spite there being so many other delicious looking pastries...hmm, guess it was either the tantalizing chocolate factor or the rather mysterious name that drew me towards it ;) I was allowed to indulge myself at times, but on many occasions I was denied the pleasure of eating my favorite pastry, since my mother believed that it was only chocolate color and no real cocoa in the pastry. And she wanted to keep my teeth safe from the excess sugar! She was mostly correct about there being no real cocoa (or rather a sparing amount) in the pastry, as the last time I ate the pastry at Nilgiris as an adult, I was thoroughly disappointed. But I must admit that no matter which bakery I go to in India or anywhere I visit for that matter, I am always on the lookout for the Black Forest. This cake or pastry has its origins in the black forest region of south western Germany and is named after the specialty liquor 'Schwarzwälder Kirsch', that is distilled from tart cherries. A typical black forest cake has several layers of chocolate cake with whipped cream and pitted maraschino cherries in between. Then the entire cake is covered in whipped cream and decorated with whole cherries and chocolate shavings. Traditionally the tart cherry liquor was added to the cake layers, but it may be substituted with rum. Since its this alcoholic Kirsch that gives this cake its unique and absolutely heavenly flavor, this cake is truly called  'Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte'  (Black Forest Cherry Torte).

     I baked this cake for the first time for my little son's birthday and had no idea it would turn out a big hit! I used fresh strawberries as I love them more than cherries. Moreover I could not get fresh maraschino cherries and did not want to used the canned variety. I did not use any alcohol whatsoever to wet my cake... instead, I steeped some strawberries in sugar syrup and used the syrup in lieu of the kirsch. I would call this the asymmetrical cake as I baked two very moist chocolate cakes in disposable pie pans, didn't bother to trim the cake edges to a circular shape, layered one cake on top of the other with the whipped cream and strawberries in between....lo and behold , I made my very own tasty black forest cake! And this recipe is so easy, you will absolutely love it. 

Ingredients:

All purpose flour - 1 3/4 cups
Sugar - 2 cups
Cocoa powder - 3/4 cup
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsps
Baking soda - 1 1/2 tsps
Salt - 1 0r 1/4 tsp (I always add a slightly more than a pinch of salt)
Eggs - 2
Whole milk - 1 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup ( Canola or any vegetable oil )
Vanilla extract - 2 tsps
Boiling water - 1 cup
Chocolate bar (for shavings) - 1 (160z) use the one with 70% cocoa

For decorating between the cake layers:

Maraschino Cherries - Fresh or 1 can (20 oz), drained ( you can cut and pit fresh cherries,  not necessarily the maraschino variety. The ones in the can will already be pitted and cut. If using fresh strawberries, wash and slice them into thin pieces. This will make it easier to layer the cake.)
Kirsch or brandy or rum - 1/4 cup

If you desire to refrain from using any alcohol, then you can make your own fruit in syrup to wet the cake layers. I have used this in the above cake, as mentioned before.

Fruit in syrup:

Water - 2 cups
Sugar - 1/2 cup or 3/4 cup (if you want a very sweet cake. Black forest cakes should be slightly tart, to allow the chocolate flavor to stand out.)
Fresh cherries (any variety will do) or fresh strawberries - 1 pack (8 oz or 16 oz, if you want many layers of cake)

Method:

Boil the 2 cups of water and add the 1/2 cup sugar in it.  When the water boils, add the cut and pitted cherries or sliced strawberries. Cook for 5 minutes and cool completely. Refrigerate juiced up fruit.

Preparing fruit in mild sugar syrup

Steeping strawberries in syrup

For the whipped cream topping:

Heavy whipping cream - 1 cup or 1 1/2 cups (8 fl.oz or 16 fl.oz pack, if you want more cream)
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 2 tsps

Chill the container in which you wish to whip up the cream in. If using a stand mixer, place the bowl in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes. If using a hand mixer, place the wire whisks into the fridge too. I usually place the wire whisks into the bowl and place them in the ice box for a good 1/2 hour. That way on whipping up the cream, it will retain the stiff peaks a while longer. Pour the chilled heavy cream into the cold bowl and beat on high speed for about 3 minutes. Add the sugar, vanilla extract and beat again till soft peaks form. Don't over beat, else it will become butter. You can whip up the cream as the cake cools, cover it with cling wrap and place it in the ice box, until it is ready to use.

Method for baking the cake:

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.

Greased and floured pan 

2) Whisk or sieve together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl.

All the dry ingredients sieved together

3) Beat eggs or add them directly with the milk, oil and vanilla extract to the dry ingredients.  Beat all the ingredients on medium speed for 2 minutes. Remember to use a really large bowl for this as mixing all the ingredients will increase its volume.

4) Stir in 1 cup of boiling water. You can microwave it on high for 2 minutes until water boils. Stir the batter well. It will be of a very thin consistency.

Chocolate Cake batter before placing in the oven

5) Now divide this batter equally between the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes . Test for doneness with an inserted toothpick. It should come out clean. Cool the cakes completely in the pans or remove them from the pan to a wire rack.

6) Once cooled, level both cakes by removing any peaks from the center. If you have used baking strips, then you would not have to level the cake as it would have risen evenly. Place one cake on the serving platter you wish to serve the cake on.

One layer of cake placed on the serving platter

7) Wet the cake with a few tsps or so of the prepared fruit juice. Take care not to wet the cake too much, else it will become a pudding. Start from the sides and move on the center of the cake. If using kirsch or rum, sprinkle few tsps of this of the cake to slightly wet it.

8) Take a dollop of whipped cream, place it on the center of the cake and with a spatula evenly spread it round. Place the cherries or strawberries in juice on the cake, after draining the sugar syrup.

Whipped cream and drained strawberries on 1st layer of cake

9) Place another layer of cake on top of the 1st cake, wet it with the fruit juice, add whipped cream and level it. Cover the sides of the cake with more whipped cream. If you have a pastry bag, you can pipe rosettes onto the top of the cake. In the picture below, I have placed the second cake atop the first one.

Cream covered two layered cake, with tiny rosettes

10) Take the bar of chocolate and using a knife or melon baller scrap the sides to get shavings. Take care to do this as fast as you can as holding the chocolate too long will start to melt it. Gently lift the shavings with a flat knife or spatula and place them on the sides and top of the cake. If you find it challenging to place the shavings on the cake, use your imagination and decorate the cake as you please :)
11) Place glazed or fresh maraschino cherries with the stem on the top of the cake or decorate with sliced strawberries. Enjoy!

Cake without the decorative strawberries. My son ate them all !! :)

  I also tried decorating just a single layer of the cake with cherries. For this, just take one layer of cake, place it on the serving platter and slice it into two even halves by turning the platter and running a knife through it. Follow the same procedure of placing whipped cream and cherries in juice between the layers and decorating with more cream and cherries.

Black Forest cake with cherries

Yummy Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte !

A slice of the delectable Black Forest Cake !

Note: This is a very moist and spongy cake. You might wonder how using just 2 eggs can make a cake so spongy..... trust me, I had the same doubt, but after baking my cake, I was  surprised too. Mixing all the ingredients is almost like baking a cake out of a boxed cake mix. On one occasion, I forgot to add the boiling water, but still got a moist, but slightly dense cake. You can use both cakes to make the black forest or else use just one, slicing it into 2 or more layers. You can try freezing the unused cake and use it later on. I did try doing that once, but was not very happy with the cake once it was thawed. Maybe I did not do a good job trying to freeze the cake.

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.