Coming back to the post of the day… I had read this recipe since long but was not much interested in baking a cake without eggs. Dates? I was not sure!

Suddenly our friends said we are coming. I had all the ingredients for this one and thought maybe I can give it a shot. Also.. It is shilpa and I had that confidence in her! Her carrot cake was still fresh in my mind.

 I have followed her recipe to the T but just added more sugar as my husband has a very BIG sweet tooth. It came out almost like her second photograph shown here. Except that my cake had a light brown crust and very dark brown inside. The cake tasted like a chocolate cake even without a drop of chocolate. It was not like a date cake at all…

I had 8 guests so I had to double the quantity for every ingredient. It came out fabulous. I am confident in my cake baking skills now. I can recognize the batter consistency for a cake correctly. I have a long way to go though. Now bread baking is my next goal. I have got 2 books and also shilpa’s recipes. So hopefully I should be baking a bread next year.

My inferences:

• The cake was very soft… maybe because of the milk in it.
• This time it was not oily like the carrot cake. Again I guess because of the milk.  

 Verdict:

Awesome! Very Nice! Very Tasty! “Please give me the recipe”. These were the few comments from my guests. I am sure I have forgotten a few compliments but Shilpa, all the credit goes to you.

Till the next post…

C’est votre coquette!!

 Of all the recipes that I’ve tried since the time, this is the only one which I have always wanted to talk about. This was a hit! I got so many compliments for this one that this has remained etched in my mind.

 It was summer offcourse! Hot noon and I had a very big watermelon sitting in my fridge. We were to leave the city the next day for a week and we didn’t want to take a chance. Had to finish it. We were expecting guests so I thought this might be my chance to impress them.

 The recipe by Sailu can be found here.

Hardest part:

De-seeding the watermelon. I guess you can try the seeded watermelon and follow with straining in the end. Not sure about the result though! You might have seed particles.

Verdict:

“It was very nice” by my husband.

“Badhiya!!! What is this!!! (On the lines of this is wonderful)” by  our respected mamaji. Couldn’t ask for more .  He helped himself for one more glass.

I would definitely recommend this for you. If it’s summer at your end then go ahead and grab that watermelon. I strictly followed the recipe. Including the 10 sec swirl in the blender. Didn’t want to take a chance!

 Hope you like it when you try it.

Till the next post…

C’est votre coquete!!

Her measurement is 1 mug throughout. 1 mug = 1 small glass nearly. It was a cup which you normally get free along with Nescafe or products like that.

Recipe:
1 mug maida or all-purpose-flour
1 tea spoon cooking soda*
1/2 mug sugar**
1/2 mug thick dahi***
1 egg
1/2 mug oil or butter****
3 table spoons cocoa powder*****
1/2 mug lukewarm water******
*Also called as mitha soda. It is normally put in idli batter and while boiling palak (so that it stays green)

**This can actually vary. When I made it for the first time then I put 1/2 mug. My mother said that it’s not that sweet so I put 3/4th mug the next time. She again said it’s not that sweet so I guess I should use 1 mug next time. Another idea is to use your cake recipe(The one which you’ve made loads of times and like a lot). Use the same Flour:Sugar ratio. Say the recipe asks 1:1 then go for the same.

***1 mug dahi for eggless cake. I used Nestle Dahi both the times. If your dahi is not thick then reduce the amount of water that you are going to put.

****Any oil that’s NOT smelly…like mustard oil.

*****I used Cadbury’s cocoa powder.

******Water addition is just to make it to pouring consistency.

Important Note:

For a cake prepared in convection oven, the batter should be of ribbon consistency(Thick. When the beater or spoon is held high…batter will fall in shape of ribbon) and for the microwave oven it should be of pouring consistency. It’ll flow freely when the beater/spoon is held high.

Procedure:

This will not take more than 3 minutes.

Beat the egg in a bowl. Add dahi, sugar and oil. Beat until it forms a nice mixture.

Sift maida+soda. Add maida+soda to the egg mixture. Then add cocoa powder. Beat well. The batter will come together nicely due to oil.

This mixture is ready for a normal convection oven but this one will not work for a microwave oven. We’ve to add water to make it to pouring consistency.

So…Add water and mix well.

Put it in microwave oven on full power for 5 mins. That’s it. My oven’s power is 900W so it takes 5 mins. Adjust your time accordingly. Don’t make it go more than 8 mins. Cake might turn into a stone due to dehydration. Be careful and please check after every 3 minutes by putting a knife inside. It should come out clean that means the cake is done.

Mrs Varma says you can add nuts, fruits in the recipe. You can add them to the batter or spread them on the bowl and pour the batter on top so you’ll get a nice upside-down cake. (I think this is the term to use)

Verdict:

The cake came out soft both the times. In my mum’s words it was like a flower(The idea is to convey that it was very soft and delicate). My husband didn’t like it much as it was not sweet at all according to him. I liked it though as it was perfect for me and my sis-in-law.

Till the next post…
C’est votre coquette!!

Cake in 5mins (Amazingly soft and fluffy chocolate cake )
Rice Pulao in 12 mins
Aloo cabbage curry in 8 mins
chicken curry in 8 mins

I was so awed and spell bound that I was dancing the whole evening. I was just dying to cook in Microwave oven.

It was easier, faster and cleaner to cook in it.

My oven’s power is 900watts so adjust the timing in your oven accordingly. Else check in batches of 2-3 mins and stir the ingredients well (you’ve to stir else hot spots will set in..few portions will cook well and few will remain raw).

Gyan by Mrs Varma:

• Never cook for more than 4 mins at once in a microwave oven.
• Check after every 4 mins. Mix the ingredients and microwave again. This way you’ll know what’s happening.
• Once the dehydration sets in the food. you can’t help it.
• You’ve to keep checking till you get to know your machine well. Once you get used to it you can cook things at once for 10 mins(for rice etc).
• Using tomato puree is better than tomatoes itself. I forgot the reason why!. She also mentioned that Stuffed tomatoes shouldn’t be made in Microwave. They don’t taste good.
• Baking soda/Mitha Soda should be used while baking cakes in Microwave oven. Baking powder should be used while baking cakes in Convection oven (or) microwave oven in convection mode.
• Mustard seeds don’t splutter in the tadka in Microwave oven as heat comes from all the sides and not just from the bottom(in case of pan/kadai).
• If you think the curry, rice or anything is not yet cooked completely(just before perfection) then leave it aside for sometime as the food gets cooked in the standing time also.
• Microwaves penetrate only for 2 inches so it is better to use flat dishes to cook more.

I remember only this much. I’ll keep updating this as and when I remember more…

Please feel free to metion your observations also. I will be glad to add them.

Till the next post…

C’est votre coquette!!

I’ve prepared many things from her blog. Like Spaghetti in peanut sauce(which I tried as soon as I bought my mixer. It was great!!! ), oatmeal upma, bringal ginger curry, brinjal jaggery chutney(which was a hit at my in-laws place recently), Methi chutney, radish curry and many more…

Today..I’m going to blog about Methi Matar Malai which she has posted recently. I had all the ingredients in my refrigerator. I had taken the pain to segregate methi leaves in the morning and I was all set in the evening to cook it.

I took all the masala paste ingredients in the blender and I put it in oil to cook. In 2mins… My gas was finished. The cylinder…I shook it but still there was no gas left in it…What to do???

The same day in the evening I had attended a cooking class about how to cook food in Microwave oven.

Here I had the chance..The same night I cooked this dish by Indira in micrwave oven.

1) Indira said to add the masala paste in oil and cook till it turns red. The paste was green with peas and green chillies(It didn’t turn red…in my case). I put the paste in oil and microwaved it for 3 mins. The mixture left oil which means it has been cooked. You can rarely see the phenomenon on gas(I never managed to cook things until they leave oil…either they end up being charred or I feel I’ve cooked enough.)

This is the only step worth mentioning which will help you in cooking the gravy.

I’ve followed Indira’s recipe for the rest of the subji. I’ve made it in batches of 3 to 4 mins. I added 1/4 cup grated paneer (in the end) as methi was a bit bitter. I had to overshadow the bitterness. I also skipped adding potatoes as I thought it’s already fattening with so much malai so had to skip the carbs.

We had them with grilled Kulchas(raw being readily available).

I’ll be posting microwave recipes soon. It’ll take 2 days atleast for the gas to arrive so till then we’ll be having microwave versions of subjis and dals. I’ll post them as my friend Vamsi metioned that many people will need them due to easy cooking.

Verdict:

The subji was very tasty and my husband had 2 cups which I should say is an achievement in itself. He never eats more than 1 cup unless it’s very tasty…

Till the next post…
C’est votre coquette!!

More than that we don’t own a normal OTG and my in-laws own one so whenever we visit them, I make sure that I bake something.

So far my experiments were good enough and they yielded good results.

Now…I own a microwave oven but not an OTG. I got to know that cakes bake better if they are baked in an OTG rather than a microwave oven with convection mode. I’ve to see that as I didn’t bake a cake in my oven yet.

I’ve followed Shilpa’s recipe to the T but just skipped the apple filling and icing.

Verdict:

What a cake!!! I got so many compliments!!! People liked it a lot and it was finished withtin no time. It was so soft and amazingly sweet!

You know what happened after that? My husband told me if you promise me that you’ll bake a cake for me every weekend then I’ll get you a Microwave Oven. I said that I will and that’s how I got my new Micrwave oven. I didn’t keep my promise though. I’ll soon bake one as I’ve the recipe ready. This one I’ve picked up from some site and not a food blog.

Inferences:

• Maybe the presence of oil and eggs made it extremely soft.
• It was very sweet. 1 cup maida and 1 cup sugar. So I’ve to reduce the amount of sugar to atleast 3/4th cup.
• After a while…The cake left an oily trace on the plate…that made me think …maybe the oil amount also should be reduced. Maybe to half a cup?

Do let me know if you have made this cake and how did it come out. I would be really glad to share the experience. Also… Do let me know your views about the difference between Microwave oven and OTG for baking cakes…That would be really helpful.

PS: I got 2 comments on my blog. The first one is from Lulu and second one from Trupti. I was so happy!! I hope to get more visitors soon…

Till the next post…

C’est votre coquette!!

Anyway.. today is the day of Dosa and especially Tomato Dosa.

My husband had a bad experience in South India. He stayed there for nearly 1 year and eating so much spicy / sour and different food for such a long time had a bad effect on him. He just doesn’t prefer South Indian food. I, on the otherhand grew up on it so I miss all that. I generally prepare less spicy and less sour dishes for him. I should say that…Now, I eat even less spice than him!!

I never prepared Dosa on my own. I used to buy the batter from store and just spread it on the pan and eat them. I never prepared the batter myself. After marriage I did this just once and my husband had it without complaining. I felt maybe he didn’t like them at all.

Recently Sailu posted this Tomato Dosa’s recipe. The dosa looked so wonderfully red I was very tempted. I asked my husband is he’s willing to eat Dosa for the morning breakfast. He said OK.

This recipe is taken from Sailu’s this post.

I always go through Sailu’s site as she is a South indian who prepares north indian dishes as well. I’ve also prepared Dal Makhani from her blog itself which also turned out great!! That might be another story…

Verdict:

Fantastic!! This is straight from the horse’s mouth! I mean from my husband’s mouth. He loved it!! He said I’m glad that you read all those food blogs!! Wow!! I am very happy. Finally he ate something south indian and loved it as well!!

My Inferences:

• I soaked rice and dal overnight. I wonder if soaking more makes any difference. I will find about this from my mother.
• I still don’t know if this has turned out just the way Sailu has made them. They were beautifully red though.

I prepared this with peanut chutney and I also applied onion paste (Onion + salt + red chilli) on the inside of the dosa. My mom used to do the same and it tastes amazing.

I hope you get a chance to prepare the same sometime and you also get a chance to tickle someone’s taste buds.

Till the next post…

C’est votre coquette!!

This week and the last week I was not much in the mood of cooking as it has been pretty cold to which I’m not much used to.

Happy new year to you all!!! I had baked a cake for this new year or rather on 31st Dec to be precise. I’ll post about the cake sometime later on as today is the day of Scrambled eggs.

This one made by referring to Lulu’s post

Verdict: It was EXCELLENT and FILLING!! in my husband’s words. He liked it a lot and went for another round of toast. I’m very much happy that he liked it as he is very picky in the kind of food he eats and all the things that I cook are to appease him!

 My inferences:

• I guess using butter has made the difference. Normally I use oil to cook eggs. I guess butter gives it a better taste.

 I’m putting it under the category Lulu and not LuluLovesLondon as Lulu has nearly 3 blogs.

Till the next post…

C’est votre coquette!!

First time: As SH said to vary spinach according to wish… I reduced the amount of paneer and increased the amount of Spinach. I should say that it made a lot of difference… I had to add water to the dough which otherwise was not needed by the original recipe. The parathas turned out GREEN(very very green) to the disgust of my husband. He gulped twice and asked me “Yeh hara hara kya hai?”. With an injured look he had it anyway…

Second time: This time I didn’t want to take any chance!! I added nearly 400gms of paneer. I added enough Spinach. The mixture didn’t need any water. I also didn’t use any dry atta to roll the parathas… The dough was perfect, soft and was not sticking to rolling pan or the board!! BUT AGAIN… This time it was my father-in-law “Yeh hara hara kya hai?”

I didn’t put any filling both the times. It was a just Spinach-cheese paratha.

My inference from these experiments:

• Filling is NECESSARY for this paratha as spinach and paneer lose their taste when combined with atta. They taste bland. You need filling for these parathas to taste great and LOOK great!!
• I didn’t chop Spinach both the times. I just put those leaves directly into my mixer along with paneer. Maybe that made a difference.
• I will have to put less spinach next time so that parathas don’t turn so green.
• I might have to add Ajwain, Dhaniya powder and Jeera Powder next time to perk it up.

I’ll make it again and again until I get those beautiful parathas made by SH. This recipe is the one which always made me go back to her blog. Such lovely photographs!! Do check her site if you didn’t till now.

Till the next post.. 

C’est votre coquette!!

You may not find new recipes here. I can say,  It’ll be a rare feat as I’m a novice in cooking and I prefer tried recipes of others rather than mine.

Someday…this lady will venture out to conquer that arena… but she is not ready yet! This blog is just one step towards it.