Cauliflower and Paneer Subji

Seems a bit strange for me to be making something other than sweets right? Well here's the thing... I don't do the cooking in my house. The housekeeper does. Seems a bit snobbish really, having a maid - but really its the norm in these parts and she enjoys it. So really the reason I'm always making sweets and desserts is because I never get the chance to make lunch or dinner - and therefore my posts on savoury foods have been rather low.

Today is different though and today I post a recipe for one of my favorite vegetable subjis (with rather poorly focused photographs sorry!)


Ingredients:
1 medium Cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces.
5 medium Tomatoes, chopped
Paneer, made from 1L milk and cut into cubes.
2 Tbsp Ghee or cooking oil
1/2 tsp Fresh ginger
1/2 tsp Hing
1 tsp Mustard seeds
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Garam masala
1 tsp Ground coriander
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp Fresh coriander, chopped
1 small Lemon

To Make:
1. Use 1 Tbsp ghee and heat in a shallow fry pan. Lightly brown the paneer in the pan, turning frequently so as not to burn it. Set aside.

2. Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp of ghee in a medium pot on a med-high heat. Add the ginger and hing and saute for 1 minute.

3. Add the mustard seeds and when they begin to crackle, add the cumin seeds. Saute until the cumin seeds have browned slightly.

4. Add the cauliflower pieces and mix thoroughly to ensure the spices have completely coated them. Cook for 10-12 minutes, stirring often.

5. When the cauliflower had browned slighly and is starting to stick to the bottom of the pot, add the tomatoes, turmeric, garam masala and coriander and mix thoroughly. Lower the heat, cover with a lid and set to simmer for another 10-12 minutes, or until the cauliflower pieces are soft and tender. Check the subji often, making sure the cauliflower is not sticking to the bottom of the pot.

6. When the cauliflower pieces are fully cooked, add the salt and sugar and continue to simmer for 3-5 minutes.

7. Take off the heat and add the paneer cubes and fold in the juice from the lemon and the fresh chopped coriander.

A tried and true recipe from long ago.
I have forgotten the origin.

Condensed Milk Cake (Cupcakes)

This has got to be one of the best cakes I've ever made. Ever. Its light and fluffy, and moist and not too sweet. They are yummiest just after they come out of the oven... but even hours later they are just as delicious. Plus its quick and super easy, no fancy ingredients or fancy mixing.

Seriously. If cakes are ever needed for an occasion, this is the one. Enough said.


Ingredients:
1 1/4 C White flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Baking powder
400g Sweetened Condensed milk
1/3 C Melted butter
3/4 C Milk
1 tsp Vanilla essence

To Make:
1. Combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder in a medium bowl.

2. Add the condensed milk, butter, milk and vanilla essence and mix together thoroughly with a wire whisk. DO NOT OVER MIX.

3. Pour into a greased and floured cake tin and bake at 150 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through. Alternatively pour into greased muffin trays and bake for 10-12 minutes or until cooked.

4. Sprinkle with icing sugar and top with small slabs of cold butter.


Click here for original recipe

Mango Cookies

You may have figured out by now that most of the recipes I have, are plain and simple and have loads of room to adapt and customise to YOUR tastes. These cookies are no exception. See the no frills photos? Thats because now its up to you to make them as you like. Top with mango icing. Sandwich nutella in between to make yo-yo style cookies. Even just a thin layer of jam atop these babies would be pretty delicious.

These are so handy to have on hand when unexpected visitors pop in, or top off you last cup of chai before bed. I made them bite-size but feel free to make them any size – or shape – you like!


Ingredients:
4 tbsp Softened butter
1/3 C Sugar
1 1/2 C White flour
1/4 tsp Baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
3 tbsp thick mango pulp
1 tsp Vanilla essence


To make:
1. Cream the butter and sugar until light anf fluffy. Mix in the mango pulp and vanilla essence.

2. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and cardamom powder and fold together using a rubber spatula until a dough is formed. You may want to use your hands to get the mixture thoroughly combined.

3. Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 30minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.

5. After half an hour, remove the dough from the fridge and knead thoroughly. You may need to sprinkle a little flour on your hands and work bench to make the dough a little less sticky.

6. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin and use a cookie cutter (any shape!) to cut out cookies and place them on a well greased baking tray. These cookies hardly spread at all so you can lay them quite close together. I used the lid of my baking podwder bottle and ended up with small bite-sized cookies.

7. Bake for 10 minutes or until the sides start to brown.

Click here for original recipe.

Custard Cake (Cupcakes)

Yes I know, more cupcakes. The story behind these ones is that.. well.. basically I was just looking for a simple vanilla cake. Somehow I stumbled across this one, made with custard powder, so essentially its a custard cake. You could substitute the custard powder with cornflour to make the colour of the cake less yellow but I liked the idea that it was a custard cake, and should therefore be yellow.

As you can see from the photos as well I had a bit of fun with food colouring and made some cupcakes green and orange. Although I cut the cupcakes before they had cooled properly and they ended up a bit of a mess, it made for a very colourful array!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C White flour
3/4 C Custard powder (or Cornflour)
2 1/4 tsp Baking powder
3/4 C Sugar
150g Butter (softened)
1 cup milk

To make:
1. Combine the flour, custard powder, baking powder and sugar in a large bowl.

2. Add the milk and butter and beat until completely combined.

3. Pour into a well greased cake tin and bake at 180 degrees celcius for approx 40 minutes or until cooked. Alternatively pour into cupcake lined muffin trays and bake for 12-15 minutes or until cooked

Click here for original recipe

Lazy Lasagna

The reason I call this "lazy" Lasagna is because its a quick way of cheating through it, and not taking the time to prepare it carefully and properly. In fact it could just be called Pasta Dish, but the mixture of white cheese sauce and rich tomato sauce give all the tastes of a delicious lasagna.

See I can make a mean lasagna, if I do say so myself (I'll post the recipe one day and you can judge for yourself), but today I didn't have the time OR all the right ingredients to do it properly, so I made shortcuts and improvised with what I had.

It was pretty yummers...
(though nothing beats a perfectly layered lasagna, with ALL the ingredients)


Ingredients:
2 C Pasta. I used bow-ties, and although I'd try to avoid macaroni, pretty much anything else works.
1 C grated cheese for topping

For the white sauce:
1/3 C Melted butter
1/4 C White flour
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Asafotedia (hing)
2 1/2 C Warm Milk (I used coconut which was a delicious twist!)
2 Tbsp grated cheese (optional)

For the tomato sauce
2 Tbsp Butter or oil
1/4 C Chopped capsicum
1/4 C Chopped eggplant
1/4 C Chopped zuchinni
1 C Chopped tomatoes (canned also works)
1/3 C Tomato paste
1/3 C Water
3 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Dried oregano
1 tsp Dried or fresh basil
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Ground black pepper
1/4 C Black olives

To Make:
Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling water. While its cooking, make the white sauce and tomato sauce.

The white sauce
1. Pour the milk in a small pot and put on a low heat. While the milk is heating, in a separate pot, melt the butter in a medium pot also on a low heat.

2. When melted, turn the heat to high and add the nutmeg and hing. After a few seconds, add the flour and stir quickly, so as not to burn the flour. Constantly stir the flour for approx 3-4 minutes, until the flour begins to emit an aromatic smell and tans slightly.

3. Take off the heat. Pour the milk into the flour/butter pot, all the while whisking so as not to accumulate lumps.

4. Once it is fully mixed, put back onto a low heat and continue to whisk until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the grated cheese and salt and take off the element. Put aside for assembly.

Tomato Sauce
1. Heat the oil in a medium pot over a medium flame. Add the hing and after a few seconds add the capsicum, eggplant and zuchinni. Stir to cover all veges with oil.

2. When the vegetables begin to stick to the bottom of the pan and have browned a little, add the chopped tomatoes and stir to combine everything.

3. Let the tomatoes cook right down to a pulp (approx 10 minutes) and then add the tomato paste and water.

4. Finally, add the herbs, sugar, salt, pepper and olives. Take off the flame.

To assemble:
By this time the pasta should be cooked el dante. Drain the water out.

1. Pour enough tomato sauce into a deep tray, enough to cover the base of the pan.

2. Place a layer of pasta in the pan, enough to cover the tomato sauce. Do not pat down to flatten, just drop the pasta in and leave no gaps.

3. Pour in the white sauce over the pasta, enough to cover it all. It may help to use the ladel or a wooden spoon to spread the sauce evenly over the pasta.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 until you have used up all three dishes, however be sure that the white sauce is the last layer.

5. Sprinkle over a generous amount of cheese over the top layer of white sauce and bake in the oven at 150 degrees Celcius for approx 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the top is slightly browned.

My own made
up recipe

Vegan Carrot Cake (Cupcakes)

Gosh at this rate anyone would think I was a vegan and that I only like cupcakes. Despite what it may look like, this is not true. I DO love cupcakes don't get me wrong, but there's a time and place for a cake, and today was just not one of them.

This morning my mother went back to NZ for her annual visit, and while she is away, I get to take her portable oven to my place! Yaaay no more having to trek over to mums apartment with my cake batter or bread dough under my arm, I can do it in my own kitchen! Seriously you have no idea how happy I am. So it kinda goes without saying that I had to bake something in it, now that its sitting quite happily on my kitchen bench.

I went with carrot cupcakes, since there were 3 carrots sitting doing nothing in my fridge. They turned out beautifully, just the right amount of light and fluffy, and the oats giving them a bit of a chew. Lovely. Just lovely.


Makes 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
3/4 C White Flour
1/2 C Oats
1 1/4 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Ground cinnamon
1/2 C Honey
1/4 C Sugar
1/4 C Water
1/2 C Oil
1 1/2 C finely grated carrots (approx 2 large carrots)

To Make:
1. Combine the flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a bowl.

2 In a separate bowl, combine the honey, sugar, water, oil, and carrots and mix thoroughly with a rubber spatula or whisk.

3. Empty the dry ingredients into the second bowl and stir until all ingredients are fully combined.

4. Pour into a well greased cake tin and bake at 175 degrees celcius for approx 45 minutes or until cooked. Alternatively pour into cupcake lined muffin trays and bake for 20-30 minutes or until cooked.

Click here for original recipe and cinnamon and oat topping.

Vegan Chocolate Cake (Cupcakes)

I emailed my godmother about a year ago, asking her for some chocolate cake recipes, knowing full well she'd have a whole recipe box full of them. She is after all, a professional cook. She caters for events, has a column in the local paper and also supplies different schools canteens. I knew I couldn't go wrong by asking her.

She sent me two recipes, but this one I like the best, its the easiest one-bowl wonder, and its vegan! Which means when I have my vegan friends over, I don't have to worry. I've tried different variations too, adding cinnamon, a little strawberry essence etc.

It was Jala's birthday in the weekend, and I'm sick of mango cupcakes, so used this recipe to make cupcakes instead of a cake for her. Topped with chunks of almond chocolate slabs... what could be yummier!?


Makes about 12-15 cupcakes

Ingredients:
2 1/2 C White Flour

1/2 C Cocoa powder
2 tsp Baking powder
2 C Sugar
2 C Water
1/3 C Oil
2 Tbsp Vinegar or lemon juice
1 tsp Vanilla essence

To Make:
1. Sift flour in a bowl and add other dry ingredients.

2. Add wet ingredients and beat together with a whisk or rubber spatula.
DO NOT OVER-MIX.

3. Pour into a well greased cake tin and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. Alternatively pour into cup-cake lined muffin trays and bake for 12-18 minutes or until cooked.

4. Make buttercream icing (with added strawberry essence or a little cocoa powder for flavour) and pipe over the cupcakes. For an extra touch, top with slabs of chocolate.

Recipe from my Godmother

Hot chai

It kinda goes without saying that living in India, there is chai all around me. Just a few steps out of the compound where I live, you will find a chai-wallah with rows of clay cups, just waiting for you to hand over your Rs3.

I searched online for some sort of recipe, and tried a few, but couldn't find anything I really liked. The recipe that I did find, I adjusted it so much that I couldn't really say I even followed it in the end! I decided to give it a go making my own, without actual tea... that way not only will I know exactly whats in it, but also I can adjust it to my liking. The basis of chai is cardamom... so don't even bother trying to make it without it. I've only just discovered the amazing number of uses for cardamom since being in India, and always keep a healthy supply on my spice tray.

Adjust this to YOUR liking. If you like your chai milky, put more milk and less water. If you like it sweet, put more vanilla or sugar. If you like more of a kick, add a little bit of fresh grated ginger, or more black pepper. Make it your own.


Makes 2 mugs (or clay pots) of chai

Ingredients:
1 1/4 C Milk
1 1/4 C Water
6x Crushed cardamom pods
4x Crushed black pepper corn (avoid using pepper powder)
1 tsp cinnamon or 5cm stick of cinnamon
1 tsp Vanilla essence or 1x Vanilla bean
2 tsp sugar

To Make:
1. Bring the water and milk to boil on a medium heat.

2. Add all spices and let it simmer for approx 10-15 minutes to let the flavours absorb.

3. Pour through a sieve into mugs and serve with a sprinkling of cinnamon or nutmeg.


Click here for original recipe.


















Other flavours you could add or subtract:

1/4 tsp Grated ginger
1/2 tsp Nutmeg powder
1/2 tsp Fennel
1/2 tsp Anise seeds
4x Crushed cloves

Easy Pancakes

Don't look any further for other pancake recipes. This is the mother of all pancake recipes. And I mean that in two ways. First, my mother gave me the recipe, and second.. well, you can do just about anything with this recipe to make it your own. It trumps all.

The secret is that its just a complete basic recipe. There are no frills, no complicated steps, nothing. Everyone has these basic ingredients in their pantry, and you have yourself a pancake. Anything extra is a bonus! Have fun playing with different flavours and styles in the batter - and mix it up with toppings as well.


Makes 10-13 medium pancakes

Ingredients:
1 cup White flour
1 tsp Baking powder
3/4 C Sugar
1 C Milk
1/4 C Water
1 Tbsp Melted butter (optional)

To Make:
1. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add baking powder and sugar.

2. Pour in the milk, water and melted butter, and whisk together until mixed well.

3. Heat up your fry-pan on medium heat and melt a small amount of butter - approx 1 tsp.

4. Using a ladle, pour approx 1/4 C of batter onto the pan.

5. When the pancake begins to get 'holes' or 'bubbles' on the top, flip it over using a spatula and cook until a golden brown colour. *Note - if it looks a little burnt before the holes appear, the flame is too high.

Serve hot with desired toppings.

Recipe from
my mama


















Other ideas:

* Topping can include maple syrup, golden syrup, cinnamon, icing sugar, honey, whipped cream or my favorites - lemon juice and sugar or fresh berries.

* To make a particular flavour pancake, add a small amount to the batter - ie 1 tsp vanilla essence, 1 tsp cinnamon powder, 1 tsp lemon zest or other such flavours.

* For a more rich pancake, use 1/4 C cream instead of water or even just 1 1/4 C Milk and omit the water completely.

* Fresh fruit pancakes are scrumptious too, try adding 1/4 C mashed bananas to the batter, or 1/4 C mango puree. If the batter gets too thick, you can just add more water, or if its too thin, you can add a little more flour.

* Omit the sugar and add 1 tsp salt. Voila - instant savoury pancakes. You can either have plain, or add grated potato in the batter. Serve with tomato chutney and fresh salad.

Sweet-rice

There's nothing quite like a bowl of chilled sweet-rice. Its just as the name suggests - its rice, and its sweet. Whats not to love! I love it thick and creamy like a pudding or thick custard, but if you like it runny and more like a drink, just reduce the amount of rice used.

I love this particular recipe because its very simple, and doesn't need a whole bunch of exotic ingredients, although it does take some time. You could adapt this recipe with different fruits, nuts or spices, but I like to keep it simple. The tip to making this just right is to be by the stove the whole time, so the rice doesn't burn and it doesn't become clumpy.

Its best to make this at least a few hours before you want to serve it because not only does it take a bit of time to make, it needs time to cool, and then time to chill in the fridge. I usually make it the night before I need it so it can chill in the fridge overnight.


Ingredients:
1 1/2 L Milk
3/4 C Rice - short-grain is best.
3/4 C Sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence


To Make:
1. Bring the milk to a boil. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't spill.

2. Turn the heat down and add the rice. Continue to simmer, constantly stirring to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot. After about half an hour or so, the sweet-rice will begin to thicken.

3. When the rice becomes translucent, add the sugar and vanilla essence and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes or until the rice is completely cooked.

4. Set aside to cool, and then put in the fridge. Serve chilled.

I've been making this for years so I'm unsure where I got the recipe from!

Potato and Carrot soup

The last few weeks I've been making a delicious creamy potato soup. Its super easy and you only need one pot...easy cleanup! Plus my three-year old loves it - a great way to get veges into him!

Today I had carrots and potatoes boiling on the stove for mashed veges... but decided halfway through to try it as a soup instead. I'm glad I did - it was a great adapted version of the plain soup, and even more delicious! The carrots give a fabulous flavour and the outcome is a perfect soup for warming up those cold winter nights.


Ingredients:
6 Medium sized potatoes - washed, peeled and cut into small cubes.
3 Large carrots - washed, peeled and grated.
6 C Water
6 C Milk
1/4 tsp Asafoetida (hing) - optional
1 Tbsp Dried oregano
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 tsp Salt

To make:
1. Bring the water to boil. Add the potatoes and grated carrots and cook until soft. DO NOT drain the water out. Remove from the heat.

2. Add the milk, asafoetida, oregano, pepper and salt and stir to ensure its mixed thoroughly.

3. Blend everything together using a hand blender. If you prefer, leave a few chunks of potato in the soup, and don't over blend. Best served hot with chunks of wholemeal bread.

Click here for original recipe.

Mango Slushy

I know I know, I just posted a mango recipe! But I couldn't resist, this is just too delicious. Plus I DO have about ten mangoes on my windowsill right now that need using. I've also made the same recipe with bananas and its just as yummy!

This is a good one to make with the kids, my son loved getting his hands in the mangoes, and then pressing the button on the stick blender.


Makes two cups

Ingredients:
24 Water ice-cubes
24 Milk ice-cubes
1 C Mango puree (2 medium fresh mangoes)
2 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Cardamom (optional)

To make:
Blend all the ingredients using a stick blender, or put all in the blender and blend until smooth. The end result should be thick like a slushy, not runny like a milkshake. If its too thin, add more milk/water ice cubes.

Recipe told to me by a friend.

Vegan Mango Cake (Cupcakes)

So here goes. I'm starting with something basic, and delicious too of course. The recipe that I originally found was yum as it was, but I've adjusted it slightly for a different taste. Mangoes season is in full swing now, and all around its been mango chutney, mango sweet-rice, mango ice cream.

Here's my go at something mango....



Ingredients:
1 1/2 C Mango Puree* I used two large fresh mangoes instead of mango puree. I would assume you could try other summer fruits in here too but I haven't tried it with anything other than mangoes yet.
1 1/2 C White flour
2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/3 C Oil
1/2 C Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla essence

To make:
1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

2. Sift the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.

3. Mix the rest of the ingredients in another bowl, making sure there are no mango lumps left. I used a stick blender to make sure the mangoes were well and truly smushed up.

4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, and whisk until fully combined. DO NOT OVER MIX.

5. Pour into a well greased cake tin and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cooked. Alternatively, pour into muffin trays lined with cupcake papers and bake for 10-12 minutes or until fully cooked.

PS yes, this is a vegan cake!

Click here for original recipe.


















Nothing is complete without icing! I made plain buttercream icing, but feel free to add a little leftover mango puree for flavour. To keep these cupcakes vegan however, I suggest a light dusting of icing sugar, topped with a few slices of fresh mangoes.

Ingredients:
4 Tbsp softented butter (or vegan butter if you'd prefer to keep everything vegan)
1 C sifted icing sugar

To make:
Cream the butter and icing sugar with a rubber spatula until fully combined. You can use on the muffins any way you like - I piped them on but you can also just spread a generous amount over the muffins with the spatula.