Apple pecan cake

I found this recipe at a site but modified it a bit for convenience.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (75 grams) chopped walnuts or pecans
1 pound (454 grams) apples (red delicious or fuji apples)
1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 cup (195 grams) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
1/3 cup (50 grams) raisins


Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter or spray with a non stick cooking spray, an 8 inch (20 cm) square baking pan and then line with parchment paper or wax paper.

Place the nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly brown and fragrant. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack and then coarsely chop.

Peel, core, and coarsely chop the apples. Toss with 1 - 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla extract and beat until fully incorporated. Fold in the chopped nuts, raisins, and chopped apples. If the batter is thick, stir in the milk.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake in preheated oven for about 35 - 45 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Serve with softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Aloo Posto(potatoes and poppy seed)

This recipe reminds me so much of Ma! Miss you Ma!

Ingredients:
3 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cubed
Poppy seeds (posto)5-6 tbsp posto bata(poppy seed paste)
Green Chillies – 2/3
Cumin seeds-3/4 tsp loosely packed
Salt
Turmeric Powder
Sugar - 1/2 tsp or none according to taste
Oil - for Cooking
Mustard Oil- a dashto sprinkle on the top


Method:
Grind the posto/poppy seeds to a fine powder. I use the coffee grinder which can be used to dry grind only. So afterwards I mix it with water to make a paste. The consistency of the paste should not be too watery. If you are wet grinding make a paste at one go.
Cut the potato in cubes.Chop or slit the green chillies.
Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds and fry till they start sputtering.
Add the potato cubes in the oil with a pinch of turmeric powder.
Saute the potato lightly till they develop a golden tinge.
Then add the poppy seeds paste.
Add little water (around 3/4 cup), adequate salt, and the chopped green chillies.
You can sprinkle very little sugar if you want.Cover and cook on low heat till the paste has uniformly coated the potatoes and the potatoes are well-done. I usually wait till the gravy has dried up.
At this point you can add about 1 tsp of mustard oil and stir well before you remove from heat. Srtve hot with rive and papad!

Paneer Bhurji

This a recipe I tried today itself and surprisingly even my husband who is not too fond of paneer finished off the whole helping and asked for more!

So here you go:

Ingredients:
300g fresh paneer, crumbled coarsely with hand
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon lime juice
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon garam masala powder
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
Pinch of asafeotida (hing) powder

Method:

1. Heat the oil, add the onion and green chilli and fry until soft.
2. Add the cumin seeds and fry until browned and fragrant.
3. Add the pepper, chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and asafeotida (hing) powder and stir fry till a wonderful aroma leaves the pan.
4. Next add the grated ginger, sugar and chopped tomato.
5. Now add the paneer and salt and keep stirring on medium heat till panner and other ingredients are well-cooked.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice.
7. Serve hot with rice or Indian flat breads like roti, chapati or naan.

Butter Chicken


Ingredients
1 cup yogurt
2 ounces/50g ground almonds
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp crushed bay leaves
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp garam masala
4 green cardamom pods
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
2 tomatoes diced
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 pounds/1kg chicken, skinned, boned and cubed
1 tbsp butter
2 medium onions, sliced
4 tbsp cream

Method:

· Place the yogurt, almonds, all the dry spices, ginger, garlic, and salt in a mixing bowl and blend together thoroughly.
· Marinate the chicken in this mixture for at least 2 hrs. The longer the better (max overnight).
· Melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the onions and fry till pink. Add the tomatoes and the chicken mixture and stir-fry for about 7 to 10 minutes.
Pour over the cream and stir in well (optional). Simmer till oil starts to leave the pan. (For this recipe there is no need to add water). Serve hot with aloo parathas. Yum!

Spice Hut

When I first learned how to cook I had no clue which spice had what kind of flavor. I looked at recipes and added them to a dish accordingly and as time went by understood that each spice had its own personality. To throw them unknowingly into the cooking pot was sacrilege.

No two people ever agree on the exact recipe of a favourite dish. Recipes are handed down from generation to generation, verbally in the kitchen or from hand-me-down cookbooks---all of which are closely guarded secrets in most cases. But all agree, a dish is well cooked when the spices blend into the gravy and the meat. The spices should not be have disparate flavours, or taste raw. No one spice should over-power the other and be so intrusive as to completely hide the true taste of the vegetable or meat being cooked. It should enhance the character of the dish, give it colour and fragrance and leave you wanting more!

So for an Indian kitchen what are the essential must-haves?


Asafoetida ( Hing )

Bay Leaf ( Tej Patta )

Black Cardamom ( Badi Elaichi )

Black Cumin Seed (Shahi Jeera )

Black Mustard Seeds ( Rai)

Cardamom ( Elaichi)

Cashew nuts ( Kaju )

Cinnamon ( Dalchini )

Clarified butter ( Ghee )

Cloves ( Lavang )

Coriander Powder ( Dhania powder )

Coriander seeds ( Dhania )

Cumin seeds ( Jeera )

Curry Leaves ( Kaddipatta )

Fennel seeds ( Saunf )

Fenugreek Leaves - dried ( Kasoor Methi )

Fenugreek leaves ( Methi Leaves )

Fenugreek seeds ( Methi seeds )

Garlic ( Lahsun )

Ginger ( Aadrak )

Golden raisins ( Kishmish )

Gram Flour ( Besan )

Green Cardamom (Elaichi)

Mint ( Pudina )

Moong Daal

Mustard Oil

Nutmeg ( Jaiphal )

Pistachio nuts ( Pista )

Plain Flour ( Maida )

Plain yogurt ( Dahi )

Poppy seeds ( Khus Khus)

Red chilies powder ( Lal Mirchi powder)

Red Lentils ( Masur daal )

Red chilies ( Lal Mirchi )

Red Kidney beans ( Rajmah )

Saffron ( Kesar )

Salt ( Namak )

Sesame seeds (Til )

Spice Blend ( Garam Masala )

Tamarind ( Imli )

Turmeric ( Haldi )

Wheat Flour (Aata)

Yellow Lentils ( Tur Dal)

And Panch Phoron which is often used in Bengali cooking is nothing but:
•1 quantity whole cumin seeds
•1 quantity whole fennel seeds
•1 quantity whole yellow mustard seeds
•1 quantity whole fenugreek seeds
•1 quantity whole nigella (kalonji) seeds

Potato and Leek soup

Ingredients:
2 slender leeks
I small onion
2 small or medium potatoes
2 tbsps butter
3 cups of water or more
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:
Trim the leeks, discarding the hard green tops and cut them into approximately one inch thin strips. Rinse thoroughly and drain. Peel and chop onions and potatoes.

Take a deep bottom pan and melt the butter
Fry the onions till soft. Add the potatoes and then the leeks and sweat them over low heat for a few minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Cover and cook at medium to low heat for at least 1 hr till the potatoes are velvety soft.

Now mash roughly with a potato smasher or a slotted spoon. Add the ground pepper and salt. Serve hot with bread.

bangali'r khichudi!

Bhuna Khichudi

Ingredients:
1 cup moog daal (mung beans)
1 cup masoor daal (brown-skinned lentils), washed
1 1/2 cups rice, washed
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
1/2 head cauliflower, separated into large florets
1 onion, diced
1 tomato, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 green chillies, finely chopped
Salt and sugar, to taste
1 tbsp desi ghee

Method:
Dry fry the mung beans in a hot pan or wok until lightly browned then add water and bring to a boil. Take off the heat and stir-in the rice and lentils. Transfer to pressure cooker and cook on low heat for 30 minutes.
Add a little oil to a pan and use to fry the potatoes, cauliflower and onions for about 6 minutes, or until the onions are soft. Reduce the heat and add the ginger, cumin, tomato and chillies. Season with salt and sugar and continue frying until aromatic. Stir-in the vegetables and spices to the rice-lentil mixture. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes until everything is well-blended.Lastly, add the ghee and serve hot with papad!