7 cup cake

7 cup cake :

My grand mother used to make this sweet for Diwali every year, since it was a dish which could be made in the same pan, no process as such. And it yeilds a lot in quantity, so she used to keep this sweet as a backup for giving to all the neighbors.

Ingredients:

Chickpea flour or Besan - 1 cup
Milk- 1 cup
Grated coconut-1cup
Sugar-2 to 2.5 cups, this is if you want it medium sweet, if u need full sweet, then 3 cups
Cashewnuts - 10 - 15 powdered dry
Ghee- 1 cup

Grease a tray with ghee  to pour the dish and make pieces

Method:

Take a heavy bottom vessel or nonstick , keep the heat on medium and roast the besan or chickpea flour, till there is a nice aroma, keep on stirring , since it will burn the besan faster. Once it is roasted, add 1 cup of sugar, then once the sugar melts in the besan , keep stirring to avoid any lumps. Now as the sugar syrup and besan is mixed well, now start adding half cup of ghee( save the other half for later use), and keep stirring, so that all the ghee is absorbed and the besan and the sugar is cooked well . Add the grated coconut, and milk and cashewpdr now, and keep stirring.

Please note, that this dish needs constant stirring , since it will easily burn if left unattended. It will take 10- 15 mins, nonstop stirring. ( Nice way to work your biceps :))..).

Once it is done, the aroma of the besan mixed with all the ingredients will really smell nice, keep adding the rest of the ghee as it absorbs. Finally when you see the bubbles and the whole dish will come from the sides of the pan without sticking, then  pour it into the greased tray.

Take a knife which is smeared with ghee and when the sweet is warm, make cuts with knife . If you wait too long to cool , then you cannot cut it .

Wait to cool down, and relish the sweet. It is really delicious (I could not wait to cool at all. :))..

Try this recipe and let me know the feedback

Cranberry Thokku:

Always during thanksgiving, we get lots of cranberries in the market. It is healthy as well as delicious too. If you love the tangy chutney to go as a side with dosa or you can spread this thokku on top of bread , or you can take as a savory dip for chappathis, then this dip is very good. You can store this thokku for a long time, since we dont add water..

Ingredients :

Cranberry ( 8 oz packet )- 1
Salt to taste
Turmeric- 1 tbsp

To grind :

Tamarind - Small lemon sized ball - 1 soaked in little warm water
Green chillies- 15-20
Methi seeds - 1 tbsp

To season:

Gingely oil- 2 tbsp
Mustard Seeds- 1 tbsp
Asafoetida- 1 pinch

Take a vessel , when it is nice and hot, add gingely oil, then add mustard, and asafoetida, Then next step add cranberries to the pan, add salt and turmeric, and stir it around, Until the cranberry pops( close the lid )for 10 mins approximately . Keep the heat to medium when you add cranberries, so that it doesnt burn.

Meanwhile grind the soaked tamarind, green chilly and mustard in the coffee grinder to fine paste.

Once the cranberries are popped, then add the ground paste and stir it  for a while. You can adjust the salt and add chilli pdr if you want the thokku more spicy, since cranberries are tangy, it can take more heat to balance the taste.


Hope you enjoy this dish and write the feedback..

South Indian Sambar

Sambar:

Ingredients:

Sambar Powder(store bought) or make at home,
Turmeric, imli, salt, asafoetida, veggies, toor dhal (if u dont have u can substitute with moong dhal too, but toor dhal tastes classic),

Method:

Cut vegetables like radish, carrot, capsicum, onion , etc, whatever you have in hand tastes good, cut into even round shapes, then fry the onion in a pan with lil oil,, till it is golden brown, then add the other veggies slowly, add turmeric pdr-1 spoon, salt - 1 to 1 and half spoon, then sambar pdr-2 spoons, then roast the veggies slowly for 5 to 7 mins till the sambar pdr smells really good, then soak 1 small lime sized ball of imli in hot water for 5 mins, now squeeze this imli water into the roasted veggies, pour enough water till the veggies are in the water, then cook on medium high for 10 to 20 mins till the veggies are cooked properly and then raw smell of imli goes... now cook 1 cup toor dhal in the pressure cooker with enough water for 4 to 5 whistles,, after the veggies are cooked, add the cooked dhal slowly and adjust the seasoning now, like add salt if needed , add lil water according to your choice of consistency,, sambar is ready,, it goes very well with idli, dosa, upma..

Enjoy..

Madras Mixture:

Time taken to make it: 45 mins,
Ingredients :
Gram flour-2 cups,Riceflour-2 tbsps, Rice flakes-1 to 1 1/2 cups,groundnuts-2 small handfuls, putana dhal(pottukadalai in tamil, dalia in hindi)-2 handfuls, curryleaves- 1 small bunch, cashews-1 handful, turmeric, asafoetida, salt, chillipdr- these are all according to taste..

Method:

Sieve the Gramflour , riceflour, lil turmeric and salt, then add lil water and make a paste like dosa batter.. Batter shud not be too watery, it shud be thick like a cake batter.. Then heat oil in a pan, take the sieve which is used to make the boondi. the sieve is specially made for boondi, with big wholes,,, take the batter, then press it with the cup on the sieve, shown it on the hot oil,, you will see small balls of batter falling in the oil,, cook it for a couple of mins till it turns crispy, drain it in a paper towel.. Now when you are done making the whole batch of boondi, transfer the boondi to a big newspaper, so that it absorbs excess oil.. Next fry the cashews till brown, then drain it in the same way, mix with boondi.. next deepfry the riceflakes.. ofcourse it absorbs more oil, but it turns crispy faster, so be careful not to burn it, then drain it and mix with the boondi,, now deepfry putana dhal, curry leaves one by one,, take extreme care when you add curryleaves since it has lil wetness, chances of oil getting splattered on your face are more.... then add the groundnuts, deepfry them too, and add this to the boondi mixture.. finally add turmeric pdr, to the mixture , add asafoetida-lots, salt, chillipdr, sugar-1 spoon to balance the flavor, and mix it with hand evenly so all the spices are evenly mixed.. Mixture is ready !!!!!

You can store it in an airtight container for upto 15 days to 3 weeks..Homemade mixture has a fresh smell, and it takes less oil too..Enjoy... Pls post your comments after trying this recipe

STIR Vegetables

If you feel you need to have snacks and you are left with some green and leafy vegetables you can try this. Cut small pieces of Broccoli, Cabbage, Capsicum, cauliflower. Boil water in a pan. Put all the cut vegetables for 2 minutes max and remove them. Fry them in a pan with Olive oil, add salt, pepper (chilli powder). This is quick to make.

Other interesting food blogs

1. http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/
2. http://vegconcoctions.wordpress.com/category/ingredients/milk-and-milk-products/paneer/
3. http://www.chooseindia.com/RECIPe/sweet/c87.htm

Appetizerr

cheese and veggies filled in mushrooms:

Button Mushrooms- 10 -12 depends on your liking.. if you love more add more,,,
For the filling:

Mushroom stalks, celery-1 or 2 pieces, shallots or onions-1 finely chopped, carrots- 1 grated, potato- 1(boiled and smashed), bread crumbs- 1 small cup, garlic- 1 clove, oregano-1 spoon

method:
Take a tava, add lil oil, add the chopped garlic, shallots, fry them well, then add chopped mushroom stalks, grated carrots, oregano- 1 spoon , then fry them till raw smell goes, now add the smashed potatoes, then parsley if you have, then add salt, chillipdr, for your taste, then let the mixture cool,,


Preheat the oven to 350degrees , and spray the baking dish with pam sray.
wipe the mushrooms with damp towel for taking off any dirt. Carefully cut the stems and scoop out the inside of the mushroom lil bit for the filling, without breaking the caps,, then add some olive oil to the caps , sprinkle some salt and pepper on all the mushroom caps, now stuff the filling inside the caps , then add some cheese(parmesan works best, but it is ok if you have any kinda grated cheese),then arrange the caps with filling side facing up to you, then bake for 10 mins approximately till the cheese melts,,,

it is ready to be served hot with sauce, but this appetiser has to be warm , so you can make ahead and heat it in the oven for 5 mins before serving