Banana Cake

This is the quickest and simplest cake recipe ever. Just blend and bake.

Ingredients:

1. Sugar - 1 cup ( 125 ml )
2. Maida - 1 cup (125 ml)
3. Cooking Oil - 1 cup (125 ml)
4. Baking powder - 3/4 - 1 tsp.
5. Eggs - 2
6. Vanilla essence - 1/2 - 3/4 tsp.
7. Banana - 1 large ripe

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder.
3. In a mixie, grind the sugar to a powder.
4. Add oil to the powdered sugar in the mixie and blend it till a creamy paste is formed.
5. To the mixie, add the eggs one at a time and whisk. Run the mixie in pulse mode for a few seconds at a time.
6. Add the vanilla essence and banana chunks and blend till a smooth paste is formed.
7. Now, either add the flour little by little to the mixie and quickly blend it by running the mixie or by folding the flour with a ladle.
8. Only if the batter is too thick and does not flow when you ladle it, add very minimal warm milk and whisk again. I didn't have to do this step.
9. Grease and dust a cake tin and pour out the batter into the tin to form a layer of one inch or slightly more. Leave space for the cake to double in size.
10. Bake at 180 degrees C for 25 mins. Check if the cake is done using a knife or fork. Bake for an additional 10 minutes if not done. I baked for 35 minutes.

The cake would be dense, yet soft, not very spongy. The colour would be light brown, like whole wheat bread. This was a Valentine's Day special cake. Hence the heart shape.
Recipe courtesy: Yogita Pimpalkar. The original recipe had 3 eggs, but I didn't want an eggy flavour, so cut down an egg.

I felt that the cake had a little more oil than required. I am going to try this with slightly less oil next time. Also this had a milder flavor of banana. I would like to add another banana to this and try it out.
Please try this out and let me know any variations that worked better for you.

Kitchen garden delights - Radish

If you are looking for a vegetable to grow in your kitchen garden and you, like me, are the sort of person who is impatient to see the results, what do you start with? We were on our regular visit to Madiwala market for vegetable shopping when we saw the well-known face of the lady selling seeds and seedlings. I asked her which was the fastest growing vegetable she had, and she immediately fished out a packet of radish seeds.


We bought the seeds packet for Rs.10 and planted 6 of them in a pot. I made sure the soil was loose without any hard rocks which might hamper the roots from growing or disfigure the roots. 4 out of the 6 seeds germinated within 3-4 days of planting.


Every day in the next one month brought with it a noticeable growth in the foliage of the radish plants. And soon we could see the white root below the leaves at surface of the soil. After around 5-6 weeks of planting, we could see the root emerging up from the soil and pushing itself outwards to see the sunlight. Judging by the circumference of the root, we decided to wait for a few more days, By the 8th week, we decided it was time to harvest the radish.


Harvesting radish doesn't necessarily require a shovel or a knife. We just loosened the soil around the root and pulled it by hand.


The leaves became Radish Leaves Chutney and the radishes were used for Arachchu Vitta Sambhar by amma.

Not a recipe this time - Its about my garden

To have a garden in our balcony was a very old decision by me and G. We have had plants in pots right from the day we moved into our apartment and over the years, we have seen plants grow, flourish and die, some due to neglect and some because their season ended. Though none of our original plants are with us any more, we have continuously replenished our garden with new plants every season.
Each plant brings a lot of memories to mind and reminds us of how we have grown too. I have gone through seasons when I have struggled with a particular plant, only to sow it again the next season to see it grow effortlessly. Sometimes the plants that flourished the first time, failed to do so in subsequent trials.
In the next few blog entries, I intend to write about my plants and the story behind them. Although it seems like a misfit in a blog page dedicated for recipes, I was lazy to start a new blog page for gardening and hence clubbing it here.
For ease of filtering I will tag all these entries with the label "gardening".
So here starts my green saga.....

Paneer Corn Capsicum

Ingredients:

1. Paneer - 100g cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2. Capsicum - 1 medium sized, cut into 1/2 inch squares
3. Sweet corn - boiled and separated from cob, 1/2 cup
4. Onion - 1 chopped finely
5. Tomato - 1 chopped finely
6. Panch Poron - 1 tsp. or 1/4 tsp Saunf, 1/4 tsp. Jeera, 1/4 tsp. Kalonji, 1/4 tsp. Methi.
7. Oil - 1 tbsp.
8. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp.
9. Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
10. Dhania powder - 3/4 tsp.
11. Jeera powder - 1/4 tsp.
12. Salt - to taste

Procedure:

1. Heat oil in a kadai. When oil is hot, temper with Panch Poron or the mixed spices.
2. Add onions and fry till they turn light golden.
3. Add capsicum and sauté till they are half cooked.
4. Now add the tomatoes. Sauté for 2-3 minutes. cover the lid and let cook on a low flame for 5 - 10 mins. Open the lid and check once or twice in between. Tomato leaves water for its cooking. In case the water evaporates and the curry gets stuck to the pan or burns, add 1/4 cup of water, stir well and continue cooking on low flame with lid covered.
5. When the tomatoes are completely cooked ( when you cannot make out the individual pieces) and the capsicum is tender, add in the corn and paneer cubes.
6. Add the powdered spices - turmeric powder, chilli powder, dhania powder and jeera powder. Add salt.
7. Paneer and corn take some time to absorb the spices and salt. So keep covered and continue to cook on low flame for 5 more minutes, stirring in between, adding very little water if required.
8. When all the water is evaporated and the curry looks somewhat homogeneous and dry, switch off the flame.
9. Serve with chapatis.

Togari Kaalu Saaru

Togari Kaalu is the fresh whole form of Tuvar Dal, also known as Pigeon Peas. It is quite common to find it in the markets during the winter months. They can be shelled and stored in the fridge for a week.
The grams are greenish with red spots on them.
This saaru is made from the pigeon peas and the recipe source is my m-i-l.
The saaru can be mixed with rice and eaten and it  also serves as a side-dish for chapati and dosas.

Ingredients:

1. Togari Kaalu - 2 cups
2. Onions - 3
3. Garlic - 8-10 pods
4. Peppercorns - 1 tsp.
5. Tomato - 1 large or 2 small
6. Grated coconut - 3-4 tsp.
7. Coriander leaves - 4-5 sprigs
8. Curry leaves - 1 sprig
9. Sambhar powder - 1 tsp.
10. Oil - 6 tsp.
11. Mustard - 1/2 tsp.
12. Rock salt - 1 tsp.

Procedure:

1. Boil the pigeon peas with a little more than enough water to submerge them, in a pressure cooker with salt added, for 3-4 whistles.
2. Chop the onions length-wise.
3. In a mixie, puree together tomatoes, pepper, garlic, coconut, coriander and curry leaves till it forms a smooth paste.
4. In a kadai, heat oil and add mustard seeds.
5. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the chopped onions and fry well for around 5 mins.
6. Add the boiled peas with the water, the ground masala  paste and sambhar powder.
7. Stir well and boil for around ten mins till the gravy thickens and the raw smell of tomato is gone.
8. Switch off the flame when the desired consistency is reached.
9. Serve with chapatis or rice.

Sathu maavu

Sathu means nutrition and maavu means flour.
This is a nutritious powder used to make porridge. This porridge is usually given to infants (6+ months), although it can be equally enjoyed by adults too.

Ingredients:

1. Parboiled rice/Parboiled Red rice 200g
2. Broken Samba wheat 200g
3. Fried gram/Pottu kadalai/Kadle pappu 100g
4. Green gram 100g
5. Ragi/Kezhvaragu/Finger millet 200g
6. Bajra/Sajje/Kambu/Pearl millet 100g
7. Harka/Varagu/Kodo millet 100g
8. Saame/Saamai/Little millet 100g
9. Jowar/Jola/Cholam/Sorghum 100g
10. Makka cholam/maize/corn 100g
11. Barley 50g
12. Sago 50g
13. Groundnuts - 2 tsp.
14. Almonds - 2 tsp.
15. Cashews - 2 tsp.

Roast all above ingredients separately and grind together in mill.

Note:
All millets other than ragi (6-10) and barley and sago are optional. The more, the better. In case you do not find a variety of millets, you can compensate for them by using ragi in a higher quantity, say 500g.
You might also want to germinate and dry the ragi before grinding it.
Also groundnuts, almonds and cashews are optional and not to be added if you want a longer shelf life. You can grind only the nuts separately at home and add them as and when you prepare the porridge.
You may add around 50-100 grams of sprouted soya bean also, but I don't prefer it personally, since it is not a native bean.

To prepare the porridge add 2 heaped spoons of the powder to half a cup of cold water and dissolve such that no lumps are formed. Add milk and any sweetener (sugar or jaggery or fruit pulp) and stir again till no lumps are seen. Heat it slowly on stove and keep stirring continuously so as not to form any lumps. When it boils ( when you can see it bubbling lightly), switch off.

Radish leaves chutney

As part of our amatuer gardening efforts, G and I grew radish in our balcony. After 2 months of nurturing, we decided to harvest them. The radishes are stowed away for Sambhar, while I turned the leaves into chutney.

This is a recipe given by my m-i-l. Radish leaves are supposed to be beneficial for recovery from jaundice. If you are finicky about taste, a bit of warning: Do not expect this to be yummy. It tastes a little coarse and leafy, but makes for a good change from the regular chutneys.

Ingredients:

1. Radish leaves - 20-25
2. Chana Dal - 5-6 tsp.
3. Urad Dal - 5-6 tsp.
4. Red chillies - 3
5. Garlic - 8 pods
6. Jeera - 1 tsp.
7. Tamarind - a small 1/2 inch piece
8. Grated coconut - 5-6 tsp.
9. Oil - 3-4 tsp.
10. Salt - to taste

Procedure:

1. Wash the radish leaves and chop them coarsely.
2. In a kadai, heat oil and roast the chana dal and urad dal on low-medium flame till they turn lightly golden.
3. Throw in the red chillies, garlic pods and jeera and sauté for ten more seconds on low-medium flame.
4. Transfer the contents in the kadai to a mixie and grind to a powder.
5. Meanwhile in the kadai which is smeared with the oil used for roasting, sauté the radish leaves. If required, add one or two more spoonsful of oil to the kadai before that. After sautéing the leaves will shrink and give out water.
6. Add the sautéed leaves, tamarind, salt and grated coconut to the powder in the mixie and grind again to make a slightly coarse, but homogeneous paste. Add very little water if required to achieve the required consistency.