Thursday, June 24, 2010

Green Peas pulao

A very simple and mildly spiced pulao made as an alternative to the usual plain rice.

I make this green peas pulav as a quick dish for hubby's lunch pack. It won't consume much time or demand a great skill during the peak hour.



Ingredients:
Green peas (frozen or fresh) - 3/4 cup
(Don't use dry ones for this recipe)
Basmathi rice / raw rice (pacharise) - 1 cup
ghee - 1 tbsp
ginger - 1 inch
garlic - 2 pearls
green chillies - 2
onion (sliced thinly lengthwise) - 1/2 cup
lemon juice - 2 tbsp
cilantro + mint leaf (chopped) - 1/4 cup
bay leaf - 1
cloves (lavangam) - 2
cinnamon (pattai) - 1 inch
cashews - 10
salt - to taste

Method:
Wash and clean the rice. Soak it for 30 minutes.
Defreeze the peas by putting them in some water.
Grind the chillies, ginger, garlic together to a fine paste.

In the mean time, heat ghee in a wok. Fry the cashews to golden color and keep aside.
In the same wok add the bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon and fry for a few seconds.
Immediately add the sliced onion . Saute it till the onion wilts.
Now put the masala paste and fry till oil separates. Put the green peas and saute a little. Add salt to taste.

Add the soaked rice (remove the excess water by a colander) and fry for a minute. Pour water just enough to immerse the rice. Add the lemon juice (lemon and ghee keeps rice grains separate). Cover and cook in very low flame till done.(We can cook the rice separately and add at the end also). Remove from heat while the rice is almost cooked (but stiff) and serve hot.

Garnish with fried cashews and minced cilantro + mint leaf.

Green peas pulav is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serves 2 people.
Pair this flavorful peas pulav with any spicy curry like Gobi manchurian or simply a mint chutney + raitha and enjoy!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Plain Vanilla cake

Nearly a month ago I wanted to make a plain vanilla cake. Though very long back I tried some method (before the blogging era) , I was not pleased with the outcome.So after a lot of googling and blog hopping, I got a solid idea and some confidence to make it from scratch. There were many recipes and I chose to try Cham's infallible Plain vanilla cake recipe and the result was amazing.

Thank you Cham!

The below recipe is from Cham of Spice club. I have halved the quantity to make one 8x8 inch cake. Click to see the original version.



Plain vanilla cake baked and allowed to cool before slicing.



Plain vanilla cake sliced and arranged.


Ingredients: 
(To make one 8x8 square cake)
All purpose flour (maida) -  1 cup
sugar- 3/4 cup
egg - 3 (medium size eggs)
butter (unsalted) - 1 stick (8 tbsp / 113 gms)
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Method:
Bring the eggs and butter to room temperature , by keeping them outside the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Grease the baking pan with 1/4 tsp butter.

Mix the dry ingredients like maida, baking soda, baking powder by sieving twice.
(This makes the cake spongy).

Add the egg, butter, sugar, vanilla essence , salt to a blender / mixie and beat till it turns fluffy.

Add the dry ingredients and beat well. we can mix the dry ingredients by using a fork / spatula also.

Pour the cake batter in to the greased pan and shake / tap it to release the air.

Place in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
(Test the quality of baking by inserting a skewer and see if it comes out clear).

Plain vanilla cake is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as dessert or tea time snack. Icing is optional.

Calorie calculation: (from main ingredients)
AP flour 1 cup = 400 kcal.
Sugar 3/4 cup = (1 tbsp = 45) = 45 x 12 = 540 Kcal
butter 1 stick = 100 x 8 tbsp = 800 Kcal
egg 3 = 70 x 3 = 210 Kcal
Total calories (approx) in this plain vanilla cake = 1950 kcal

(data courtesy : Livestrong.com)
---------------------------
Small 6 inch cake recipe
For a 6 x2 inch round cake: 

unsalted butter 5 tbsp, softened
sugar 1/2 cup
large egg 
vanilla extract 1 tbsp
all-purpose flour 3/4 cup +2tbsp
corn starch 2 tbsp
salt 1/8 tsp
baking powder 3/4 tsp
curd (plain yogurt) or milk - 4 tbsp

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
Sift together flour, corn starch, salt, baking powder. Keep aside.
In a mixing bowl put butter, sugar - beat for 2 min using an electric beater.
Add milk, egg, vanilla, beat together for 2 mins.
Add the flour. Beat for 1 minute.
Prepare a baking pan by applying butter a coating and coat with 1 tsp four.
Bake for 30-35 mins. 


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