Coffee Butter Cake

This is a cake that I baked for Swara's 15th month B'day…just didn’t get around to posting it. I'm planning to celebrate her quarterly B'days this year. For her 15th month B'day , I was looking for a coffee flavored cake when I came across this Coffee Butter Cake on Deeba's Blog. I loved this simple recipe and also the idea of decorating it with some chocolate ganache and topping it with sliced almonds. The cake came out really good but I accidently left it in the oven a little longer so it was a little dry. I fixed it by brushing it with some warm coffee syrup (1/2 cup hot water + 1 tbsp instant coffee powder) which made it very moist and delicious. A slice of this cake with morning coffee will certainly wake you up!

The cake is baked in a 9 cups bundt pan.
Ingredients -
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups brown sugar 
3 tbsp instant coffee (You may change the proportions to suit your taste)  
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 pinches salt
4 eggs
180 gms melted butter (I used 1 3/4 stick butter)
6 tbsps heavy cream (I used Half & Half)
FOR CHOCOLATE GANACHE
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2-3 tbsp heavy cream
Slivered almonds for garnish

Method -
1. In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and coffee
2. In another bowl, add eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract and cream and beat this together until smooth.
3. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Grease the baking pan and dust some flour on it.
5. Pour the batter in the greased pan.
6. Preheat the oven to 350F and bake the cake for 35- 40 mins. Cool the cake.
7. Melt the chocolate chips with 2-3 tbsp of heavy cream in the microwave.
8. Gently pour this chocolate ganache over the top of the cake and sprinkle slivered almonds.

Goan Dal - Toi

Though I was born and brought up in Maharashtra, my family is basically from Goa. So the food that I grew up eating had both Maharashtrian and Goan influence. With Goa being on the western coast of India, fish is available in abundance in this region and coconut based fish curries served with rice is the staple diet. However, on certain days of the week, people refrain from non- vegetarian food for religious reasons. On such days fish curry is substituted with Dal.
Every region in India has atlleast few simple dal recipes that are cooked very often. One such simple Goan dal is 'Toi'. I cook it atleast once every week and it goes very well with any dish. It's super simple to make and requires only some basic ingredients from your pantry. The ginger, curry leaves, dried red chillies and asafoetida gives this dal a nice heavenly aroma. We use a special type of hing called 'Shankar Chaap Hing' which makes this simple dal taste divine. However, any hing variety can be used. Though we love this version with dried red chillies, it also tastes very good with green chillies.

Ingredients -
1/2 cup toor/ tovar dal
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp hing
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
4- 5 dried red chillies
8-10 curry leaves
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1/2 tbsp oil
1/2 tbsp ghee/ clarified butter
3-4 tbsp cilantro
Salt to taste

Method -
1. Soak the toor dal in water for about an hour and cook it in the pressure cooker.
2. In a kadai, heat some oil and ghee and add mustard seeds.
3. When the mustard seeds splutter, add cumin seeds, dried red chillies, curry leaves, finely chopped ginger, turmeric powder and hing.
4. Now add the cooked dal, salt and some water and mix well.
5. Cook the dal for sometime and garnish with chopped cilantro.

This is my entry for Suma's 'Delicious Dals from India' event.

Panini with an Indian twist - Tandoori Chicken N Cheese Panini

Panini is Italian for sandwich. Here, in the US, Panini is generally associated with a grilled sandwich with gorgeous grill marks. As I was writing this post, I was reminded of the delicious Paninis we had while vacationing in Montreal, Canada. The one that I loved the most was a simple sun- dried tomato, spinach and fresh mozzarella grilled Panini on ciabatta bread...yum.
When I read about Panini Happy's '2nd Annual Grilled Cheese Pageant' , I knew I was in. I wanted to make a sandwich with an Indian twist. There were several combinations that came to my mind but I settled for this Tandoori Chicken N Cheese Panini. What can I say about Tandoori Chicken? Anyone who has been to an Indian Restuarant must have surely tasted the famous sizzling Tandoori Chicken. Tandoori chicken to a non –vegetarian Indian is what barbeque chicken is to an American. This is a spicy roasted chicken traditionally made in a earthen clay oven called 'Tandoor'. The chicken is marinated for several hours in a spicy yogurt sauce and then grilled to perfection.
Coming back to the Panini, I shredded the tandoori chicken and added some mint chutney and grilled onions and bell peppers to the sandwich for more flavor. The mint chutney goes very well with the tender and juicy tandoori chicken. I served the Panini with some mint mayo (1 tbsp mint chutney +2 tbsp mayonaise) and a refreshing cucumber- onion- tomato relish. These paninis were awesome!

Ingredients -
For Panini -
2 slices white sandwich bread
1/2 cup shredded Tandoori Chicken
Grilled onions
Grilled green bell pepper
Mint chutney
Shredded Mexican 4- cheese or any cheese of your choice
Butter

For Mint Chutney -
1 cup chopped cilantro
10-12 mint leaves
1 clove garlic
1 inch piece ginger
1-2 green chillies
1 small onion chopped
1 tbsp lemon/ lime juice
salt to taste

Method -
For Mint Chutney -
Blend all the ingredients in a blender or food processor into a smooth paste.

To assemble the Panini -
1. Spread some butter on two bread slices on both sides. Apply a generous layer of mint chutney on both the slices
2. Now add a layer of shredded tandoori chicken and some grilled onions and peppers on one slice.
3. Spread some grated cheese and top with the other bread slice.
4. Grill the paninis on a hot skillet/ pan on both sides till golden brown. I have used a traditional Khakra (Indian toasted bread) press to grill the panini and it worked out great.

Check out Kathy's Panini 101 - Secrets to making great Panini

Cucumber- Onion- Tomato Relish -
In a bowl add some chopped onions, tomatoes, cucumbers. Then add some salt, pepper, lime juice and chopped cilantro. Mix well. Serve chilled.

                                 TANDOORI CHICKEN

This is my entry for Panini happy's '2nd Annual Grilled Cheese Pageant'

Tandoori Chicken

This is a spicy roasted chicken traditionally made in a earthen clay oven called 'Tandoor'. The chicken is marinated for several hours in a spicy yogurt sauce and then grilled to perfection.

Ingredients -
2 lbs whole chicken
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon garlic paste
2 tsp turmeric powder
3 tbsp vinegar
10 tbsps thick yogurt
salt to taste
TANDOORI MASALA - Use store bought tandoori masala or the ingredients below
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp cumin- coriander powder
1 tsp black pepper powder
1/2 tsp red food color (optional)

Method -
1. Cut the chicken into 4-6 big pieces and make incisions on them with a sharp knife.
2. Apply salt, turmeric powder and vinegar to the chicken.
3. In a bowl mix together yogurt, ginger paste, garlic paste, tandoori masala or (garam masala powder, cumin- coriander powder, pepper powder, red food color) and salt
4. Rub this mixture over the chicken and marinate for 6 -8 hours in the refrigerator.
5. There are several ways to cook the chicken
#1. Skew the chicken onto a skewer and cook in a moderately hot tandoor
#2. Skew the chicken onto skewers or arrange the chicken on a baking sheet and grill in a preheated oven on high. Grill the chicken on both sides @ 10 minutes each side or until done (you should see some black grill marks on the chicken).
#3. Cook chicken in a pan on the gas stove on low heat. This method takes longer to cook. The chicken can be grilled later in the oven for 5 minutes for the smokey flavor.

Masoor Kachori

A very common Hindu saying that I grew up listening to is 'Anna Hey Purna Bramha' which means food is equivalent to God. My parents always taught me and my brother to respect the food we ate and avoid wastage. I remember my mom creatively using leftovers to make delicious meals the next day. She would turn leftover chapatis into delicious phodnichi poli or chiwda, leftover bhajis and curries into exotic parathas and cutlets, usals into sweet and spicy misals and leftover rice into many a tasty dish.

Last week I made some masoor usal in a jiffy for Thursday night dinner. I had enough leftovers and thought of using it to make a quick snack on Saturday evening. I reheated the usal to make it completely dry and added few more ingredients to it. Then I formed round balls of this mixture, dipped them into some rice flour batter and deep fried them to make these Masoor Kachoris. I served them with some sweet and tangy khajur- tamarind chutney. The kachoris turned out to be very delicious. 

Masoor Usal (These are approx. measurements)
Ingredients -
1 cup masoor usal (Soaked in water for 2 hrs and cooked in pressure cooker)
1 large onion finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp coriander –cumin powder
2 tsp garam masala powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp sugar
Chopped cilantro
Salt to taste

Method –
1. Heat oil in a pan. Add garlic cloves and fry for sometime. Then add chopped onions and cook them till they turn slightly golden brown.
2. Add ginger garlic paste and cook for a minute. Then add chilli powder, coriander- cumin powder, garam masala powder, salt and sugar and mix well.
3. Add the cooked masoor and mix well. Add little water and cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Garnish with chopped cilantro

Masoor Kachori
Ingredients –
Leftover masoor usal (I had @ 11/2 cups masoor usal)
1 tbsp dried raisins
1 tbsp broken cashewnuts
1 cup rice flour
Chopped cilantro
Salt to taste
oil for deep frying

Method –
1. Take the leftover masoor usal in a kadhai and cook it on slow flame till all the liquid evaporates and the usal becomes very dry.
2. Add raisins, cashew nuts and chopped cilantro and mix well.
3. Form round ball of this mixture and set aside
4. Mix rice flour, salt and water and make a thick batter similar to potato vada batter.
5. Heat oil in a pan. Dip the round balls into the rice flour batter and deep fry in hot oil on all sides.
6. Serve with chutney of your choice.

I am sending these Masoor Kachoris to COL- Leftover Delicacies event at Spicy Lounge.

These are also going to 'My Legume Love Affair (MLLA)' event hosted by Ruchika for the month of April 2010.

Plantain Green Peas Cutlets

Plaintains are available all year round in the Indian Stores here in the US. I end up buying these pretty much every time I go grocery shopping. I usually use these to make phodis or chips and sometimes curry. I love to experiment by replacing potatoes with plantains in several dishes. This makes the dish healthier and the natural sweetness of the plantains makes it taste even better. Few weeks back, I bought some plantains, hoping to make some paneer stuffed veg shami kebab. However, I was so crunched for time that weekend that I ended up making these simple Plantain Green Peas Cutlets. These cutlets turned out to be so delicious, that I thought of making a note of the recipe, so I can make it many more times in the future.

Ingredients -
2 plantains
1 small onion
1 tbsp green chillies – garlic - ginger paste
1 cup green peas
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 pinch asafoetida/ hing
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp amchur powder
1/2 tsp Frankie masala/ chat masala
1/2 tbsp lemon/ lime juice
3-4 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
1 tbsp oil + oil for shallow frying cutlets

Method -
1. Cook the plantains in the pressure cooker, peel them and mash them into a smooth mixture while they are still warm.
2. Boil the green peas and grind them into a paste. Some frozen peas are already cooked and only need defrosting in the microwave.
3. In a pan, heat some oil. Then add cumin seeds, asafoetida/hing and turmeric powder.
4. Add finely chopped onions, salt and ginger- garlic- green chili paste and cook till the onions turn translucent.
5. Add the green peas paste and cook for sometime.
6. Turn the stove on low and then add the cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, amchur powder, Frankie/ chat masala and mix well.
7. Add mashed plantain mixture and mix well. Cook for a couple of minutes.
8. Turn off the stove and add lime juice and cilantro and mix well.
9. Let the mixture cool and shape them into desired shape. Roll the cutlets in semolina and shallow fry them on a skillet. Fry both sides till they turn golden brown in color.
10. Serve with chutney or sauce of choice

BeNNe Dosa/ Butter Dosa

I first read about BeNNe Dosa on Shilpa's Blog. I have been a regular reader of her blog and especially love all of her mom's traditional Konkani recipes. When I read her interesting post of the crowded restaurant that served these dosas, I immediately wanted to try them out.

"BeNNe" means butter in Kannada. Apparently, this dosa is said to have originated in the Davanagere district of the state of Karnataka. It is prepared by adding liberal doses of butter (Benne) and hence the name. What makes it different than the traditional dosa is the addition of rice flour and maida in addition to rice and urad dal. The rice flour makes it very crispy on the outside and maida gives it some softness. The main ingredient "BeNNe" gives it a nice golden brown color and heavenly aroma. I made a few changes to the dosa batter by adding some methi/ fenugreek seeds and some cooked rice which I usually add for fermentation. I served these dosa's with palya or potato bhaji, coconut chutney and my mom's spicy peanut chutney. I made the potato bhaji following my usual recipe. I made some changes to the chutney. Since I didn’t have dalia on hand, I replaced it with some roasted channa dal, added some tamarind for sourness and also added some cilantro for color. This recipe is a keeper and I'm definitely going to make these dosas very often.



FOR DOSAS
Ingredients -
1 cup urad dal
2 cups dosa rice/ boiled rice (You can also use regular rice)
2 cups rice flour
1/2 cup maida
1 tbsp methi/ fenugreek seeds
1/4 cup cooked rice (optional)
1/8th tea spn baking soda
Butter
Oil
Salt

Method -
1. Soak urad dal and rice separately overnight. Also soak the methi seeds either with the urad dal/ rice.
2. Grind urad dal to a very smooth paste in your blender or wet grinder.
3. Then grind soaked rice to a smooth paste along with some cooked rice.
4. In a large bowl, mix together the rice and urad dal paste.
5. Now add rice flour, maida, water, salt to it and mix well. Do not make the batter too thin.
6. Let it ferment for few hours.
7. Add soda to it and mix well.
8. While making dosas: Heat your dosa pan/ griddle and grease it with some oil when hot.
9. Take some water in a bowl and add 1 tsp of salt to it. Sprinkle this water on the hot pan to get nice golden brown crisp dosa. Repeat the oil and salt water procedure every time you make a dosa.
10. After the water quickly dries out, pour the dosa batter on the pan with the help of your ladle and spread it in circular motion to form a dosa. Again apply some oil on and around the edges of the dosa and cook the dosa till golden brown.
11. Spread some potato bhaji/ palya and butter over the dosa and fold it.

NOTE - Depending on where you live, fermentation of the batter can take anywhere from 6 hrs to coupe of days. I usually leave the batter in my oven and it takes a day for the batter to ferment and rise well. Always let the batter ferment in a relatively large cooking pot or bowl to prevent it from overflowing the pot after fermentation (Has happened to me few times …it wasn’t really fun to clean the oven with the fermented mess :-))

POTATO BHAJI / PALYA
Ingredients -
3 medium sized boiled potatoes (chop/ lightly mash the potatoes while they are still warm)
2 medium sized onions sliced vertically
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds/ jeera
1 tsp split urad dal
1 tsp chana dal
2 dried red chillies broken into pieces
2 tbsp broken cashewnuts (optional)
3-4 green chilies slit in the middle and chopped into pieces
10-12 curry leaves
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp hing
2 -3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter (optional)
1 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
1 tbsp lime/ lemon juice
Chopped cilantro

Method -
1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds
2. When the mustard seeds splutter add chana dal and let it roast for sometime. Then add urad dal.
3. When urad dal is lightly fried, add cumin seeds, dried red chillies, hing and turmeric
4. Add cashewnuts and fry till golden brown
5. Add, ginger, garlic, curry leaves and green chillies, mix well and fry for sometime
6. Add chopped onions and fry for sometime. Don’t cook the onions too much.
7. Now add salt , sugar and boiled potatoes and mix well. Mash the potatoes some more if needed.
8. Add few tbsps of water and cook the bhaji covered for sometime.
9. Then add lemon/ lime juice and butter and cook for few seconds.
10. Garnish liberally with finely chopped cilantro

COCONUT CHUTNEY -
Ingredients -
1/2 cup dalia (Since I didn’t have Dalia, I used 2 tbsp of chana dal. I roasted the chana dal in 1 tsp of oil on slow flame)
1 cup fresh or frozen coconut
1 tbsp chopped ginger
4-5 green chilies
3-4 sprigs of cilantro
Tamarind to taste
½ tsp sugar
Salt to taste

Method -
Grind all the ingredients to a smooth paste. Add a little water to bring it to required consistency.

Eggless Pineapple Cake

Adapted from ManjulasKitchen

Ingredients -
1-1/4 cup all purpose flour (maida)
1/2 can (7oz) sweetened condense milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted butter
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple, drained. Save the juice.

Method -
1. Preheat the oven at 325 degrees (F).
2. Grease 8×8 inches cake pan
3. Drain pineapple using strainer let the juice dripped through without squeezing. Note: we will use juice and pineapple both.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom and salt in a bowl.
5. In center part of the flour mix, add ½ cup pineapple juice, ½ cup pineapple chunks, butter, and condense milk.
6. Gently fold every thing together.
7. Pour the mixture in greased cake pan.
8. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until cake starts leaving the pan from sides and an insert knife in the center of the cake come out clean.
9. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool off for few minutes only.
10. Run a knife around the edges to loosen the cake and place a flat plate over the cake pan and turn it over to transfer the cake on to the plate.
11. Prick the cake several places with a fork.
12. Brush the top of the cake generously with the leftover pineapple juice while still hot.
13. Let cake cool before slicing the cake.

JHATPAT Chicken Biryani

I agree the word "Jhatpat" and "Biryani" don’t go together. But this biryani is relatively easy to make and less complicated than the traditional Kachhi/ Dum biryani. I saw this on some cooking show and modified the recipe slightly to suit our palate. This biryani turned out to be delicious and is a perfect dish to make on those days when you are really busy but want to eat something special. I served it with some yogurt raita.

Ingredients -
1/2 kg chicken (5-6 big pieces)
2 cups basmati rice
1 potato (sliced and deep fried like fries)
1 cup yogurt
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 cup fried onions (sliced and deep fried to golden brown color)
(Note - 3 tbsp fried onions to be crushed into the marinate)
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp Masala #1 (Grind equal quantities of cloves, cinnamon and whole black pepper into a coarse powder. Do not roast the spices)
2 tsp Masala # 2 (Any home made Garam Masala or store bought one will work)
2 tsp cumin -coriander powder
6-8 cinnamon pieces
6-8 whole black pepper
4 -6 cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp ginger- garlic paste
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tbsp fried cashewnuts
salt to taste

Method -
1. For Rice Preparation - Rice can be cooked in the rice cooker. If cooked outside, the rice should be slightly undercooked. Divide the cooked rice into three equal portions. Add a pinch of red bush food color/ tandoori color to one rice portion. Mix a pinch of turmeric in 2 tbsp of milk and add this to the second rice portion. Leave the third rice portion white. If you choose to use the rice as is, it will not affect the taste of the biryani. So this step is optional.
For Chicken Marination - Mix yogurt, salt, Masala# 1, ginger- garlic paste and crushed fried onions (@ 3 tbsp) in a bowl. Marinate the chicken pieces in this mixture for 2 hrs.
2. Heat oil in a pan and add whole garam masala (cloves, cinnamom and whole black pepper) and cumin seeds in it.
3. When the cumin seeds splutter, add finely chopped onions and fry them for sometime.
4. Now add marinated chicken and mix well. Cover the pan and cook the chicken.
5. Once the chicken is completely cooked, add turmeric, red chilli powder, Masala # 2, cumin- coriander powder and salt and mix well.
6. Add the cooked rice in to the chicken and mix together.
7. Add in fried potatoes, fried onions and cashewnuts.
8. Add some chopped cilantro and cook the biryani covered for 15- 20 mins.
9. Garnish with more cilantro and serve with yogurt raita.

Mix Dalicha Uttapa/ Adai Uttapam

Eat Breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince, and Dine like a Pauper
This is an ancient proverb that we all have probably heard many a times, but sadly our life is so busy and fast paced that we conveniently skip this most important meal of the day. I'm no different. I have gone without having breakfast for days and weeks and though I feel guilty later for doing so, there is always some excuse every morning to not have breakfast or just grab a pack of sugar loaded cookies or cereal bars which I'm sure do more harm than good. Breakfast is exactly what it says....breaking your fast since the previous day's last meal. Which is why starting your day with a healthy breakfast is so important.

So by participating in 'JIHVA for Breakfast' this month hosted by Suma of Veggie Platter, I'm making a resolution to start the day right – By not letting me and my family skip breakfast and also eating a healthy breakfast. 'JIHVA for Ingredients' is a popular blog event started by Indira of Mahanandi and I'm very excited to participate in this event.

Keeping this resolution in mind, I made this protein rich healthy 'Adai Uttapams' or 'MIX Dalicha Uttapa' as we would call it in Marathi for breakfast last Sunday. In addition to the rice and urad dal which are the main ingredients in the traditional sada dosa/ uttapam, it also has a combination of variety of dals like chana, toor/ tuvar and yellow/ green moong dal. The addition of dried red chillies, ginger, cumin seeds and curry leaves makes the batter very flavorful by itself. But I took a step further and threw in some chopped veggies like onions, tomatoes, peas, carrots and cilantro to transform these into an even more flavorful and healthy breakfast item. Though this batter does not require any fermentation, it does require some planning to allow for soaking the rice and dals. These can be served with any chutney of your choice and sambar. I served mine with some fresh Coconut Chutney and also some traditional Maharashtrian Dried Coconut and Garlic Peanut Chutney (Khobra Ani Danyachi Lasanichi Chutney).

Ingredients -
1/2 cup rice
1/4 urad dal
1/4 cup toor/ tuvar dal
1/4 cup chana dal
1/4 cup yellow/ green moong dal
1/2 tsp methi/ fenugreek seeds
3-4 dried red chillies
8-10 curry leaves
1 small onion
1 inch ginger
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 pinch hing/ asafotida
1/2 tsp sugar
salt to taste

FOR UTTAPAM TOPPING-
grated carrots
finely chopped onions
finely chopped tomatoes
green peas
finely chopped cilantro

Method -
1. Soak the rice, dals and fenugreek seeds in water for 6 -7 hours or overnight.
2. Grind the soaked rice and dals into a coarse paste along with cumin seeds, dried red chillies, curry leaves, ginger and onion.
3. Now add salt, sugar and hing to the batter.
4. Heat the dosa pan on medium heat and rub some oil on the pan.
5. Pour a ladleful of batter on the pan and spread into a 6-7 inch diameter circle.
6. Spread the grated/ chopped veggies on the uttapam. Sprinkle few drops of oil on and around the edges of the uttapam and cook it till its golden brown.
7. Then flip the uttapam over and cook on the other side for sometime.
8. Serve hot with chutney of your choice or sambar

COCONUT CHUTNEY -
Ingredients -
1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
2 green chillies
1 inch ginger piece
3-4 sprigs cilantro
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp lime juice
salt to taste

Method -
Blend all the above ingredients with very little water into a coarse paste

DRIED COCONUT & GARLIC PEANUT CHUTNEY (KHOBRA ANI DANYACHI LASANICHI CHUTNEY)
Ingredients -
1/4 cup dried grated coconut
1/4 cup roasted shelled peanuts
2-3 cloves garlic
2 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste
1 pinch sugar

Method -
1. In a pan lightly roast the dried coconut.
2. Combine all the ingredients in your blender/ spice grinder and grind into a fine powder.