Fresh strawberry cake

very ripe fresh strawberries- 200-250gm
1/4 cup milk
6 eggs
2.5 cups of maida
2 cups of sugar
1teaspon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Butter 200 gm. softened

1. Cut the strawberries and add sprinkle some sugar on it.. to soften it. Then run it in a mixer along with sugar to make a puree .. set aside some pieces to add into the dough as such as well as to decorate.
2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees and prepare pans: spread a thin layer of butter throughout the pan and sprinkle some flour else you can use butter paper.
3. Combine puree, milk, beaten eggs, mix with fork until well blended.
4. Then in another bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Then fold in the butter. Now add in the liquid mixture and hand beat for 2-5 mins.
5. Add the cut pieces of strawberry to the dough mixture.Divide the batter evenly among two pans and smoothen the tops.
6. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cake is done. Let cakes cool completely.

The cake had amazing texture and taste.. :)However, the icing that I tried to make was mostly a disaster..I tried to make the icing for the cake with strawberry puree, gelatin, cream and icing sugar.. what I got was more like a pudding :(.. so any suggestion for making the icing for the cake ppl ?

Chettinad chicken curry

Chicken - 750gm to 1Kg,

Lemon/tamarind / curd

Onion – 2 big ones sliced

Tomato – 2 big ones, chopped

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Oil

Curry leaves,Coriander leaves, Pudina leaves- garnishing

1 bay leaf

Paste:

Green Chillies - 3 nos

Garlic - 2 big cloves

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Poppy seeds - 1 teaspoon (Soak in 1 tablespoon warm water for 10 minutes)

Masala:

Black Pepper - 1 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

Fennel seeds – 1 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander seeds - 1 tablespoons

Dry red chillies - 6 nos ( you can vary this depending on how spicy you want)

Channa dal – 1 table spoon

Cardamoms - 2 no

Cinnamon - 1 inch length

Cloves -2 nos

Nutmeg

mace– a little

Star anise- ½

Curry leaves - 1 string

Coconut- ½ cup, sliced

Marinate the chicken (skinned and washed) with a spoon of turmeric powder, ½ of red chilly, salt and either lemon juice from a ½ lemon or that of tamarind or curd (1 tablespoon) ( helps in marination) for 20 to 30 mins

In the meantime:

In a pan, dry roast the ingredients given for Masala for 2-3 minutes till the pepper and cumin seed crackle (channa dal should just get brown) , cool and grind it to a powder. Keep aside.

Then, make a paste of green chilly, ginger, garlic and poppy seeds.

Heat Oil (1/2 to 1 table spoon) in a bottom heavy pan or a pressure cooker. Add onions and curry leaves, pudina and a bay leaf. Saute them till onions till they are golden brown but soft ( can add a bit of salt to accelerate this process)

Then add paste(of chilly, ginger, garlic, poppy seeds) and saute for a minute or so. Then add the chopped tomato and turmeric powder and stir in for 2-5 minutes for the tomato to cook in..

Add in the marinated chicken cover and cook . Chicken will leave out some water now while cooking and will also cook in its own fat ( hence the less oil initially). Stir in between for proper cooking. Once the chicken is like half cooked, add in the masala and little water and cook till chicken is fully done.

( you could pressure cooker the chicken , adding in masala for like one whistle as well).Once done garnish with coriander leaves.

I love it with Dosa or steamed rice

Smoked Chaach(Buttermilk)

Buttermilk
salt
garlic,ginger,green chilly
jeera
mustard seeds
curry leaves
coal

mix very little 3G's in the butter milk.add salt and jeera.
take some ghee and put mustard seeds and curry leaves.let it splutter.
mix it in the buttermilk.
make the coal red.put a few drops of oil.when the smoke starts coming out,put the glass upsude down on it.please use only steel glass as the other one might break.
once the smoke is collected in the glass,pour the buttermilk in it.
u wud never have had something like this before so do try it.

Tandoori Gobi

Ingredients:
1 Cauliflower
2 onions
1 capsicum
besan
curd
ginger,garlic,green chilli
kasuri methi
ajwain - 1/2 tsp
coal 1 piece

Method:
Cut the cauliflower into medium pieces.clean and half cook it in some oil.
chop onions and capsicum into watever size u like.cook them well and keep aside.
mix 2 tblsp of besan,2 tblsp curd,ginger gar lic green chilly paste,salt,kasuri methi,ajwain and marinate the cauliflower in it for min 15 mins.the longer you marinate,the better.
in a kadhai take oil and cook the marinated cauliflower.once done,add the onions and capsicum.
take it out in some vessel a little big with a lid.
now take the coal and heat it.when its red put it in a kinnum.keep the kinnum in the centre of the vessel surrounded by the cauliflower.put some oil on the coal.as the smoke comes out put the lid immidietly.leave it for sometime.
you wil get the smoked tandoor effect.

Pongal- Ven pongal, Sakkarai pongal and rava pongal

Ven pongal

raw Rice to moong dal 1:1 ( For 5 of us , I use (1.5 cup of rice and 1.5 cup of dal))
1 cup milk
Cumin seeds
Black pepper
Ginger ( cut to very small pieces,, then lightly smashed.)
curry leaves
Oil 3 table spoons
Ghee 1 table spoon
salt to taste

wash and soak the rice and dal mixture for 15 mins
Add water to this mixture in the ratio of 1:3. add a cup less . so for the 3 cup of rice and dal mix, I add about 8 cups of water. add salt to taste. cook it in the pressure cooker .. 3 whistles.
When it is done, mash it nicely with the back of the ladle. Then mix in 1 cup of milk. (this gives the extra creamy taste but is optional.)
In the meanwhile,in a kadai/ennai karandi heat oil, put in the black pepper and when it crackles add cumin seeds and switch off the flame. Add curry leaves and ginger to this saute for few seconds.
Mix the spices to the cooked rice and dal.
heat the ghee and then add to the pongal as a final step.. it gives awesome flavour to the pongal.
If you prefer the completely non-sticky pongal - just increase the amount of oil and ghee..

my mom's version is : in the pressure cooker.. add the oil, saute pepper, cumin seeds, curry leaves, ginger for half a minute and then add the rice and dal mix with the water and salt. pressure cook it.. 3-4 whistle. when done mix in the milk..and ghee.. pongal is ready to serve.

adding fried cashew will also add to the taste of the pongal.


Sakkarai (sweet) pongal

raw Rice : dal : powdered or grated Jaggery 1:1:2 (3/4 cup of rice and 3/4 cup of moong dal, 1.5 cup jaggery)
cashew and raisin
wash and soak the rice and dal mixture for 15 mins
cook it just as in the case with ven pongal but do not add salt
When it is done, mash it nicely with the back of the ladle. Then mix in 1 cup of milk.
while constantly mixing in the rice and dal over low flame, add in the powdered/grated jaggery. ( if you worry that the jaggery might have some stone or mud, then to the powdered jaggery add abt 1-2 tablespoon of hot water and mix it well . then strain it. .this Syrup can now be added to the cooked rice and dal.).
heat the ghee, add the the cashew nuts and raisins and fry in a low flame till it cashew becomes golden brown colour.
mix it into the pongal..


Rava pongal

Instead of rice use rava
rava and moong dal 1:0.5
Ghee 3tablespoon
curry Leaves
Ginger
Blackpeppercorn
Cumin Seeds
Salt to taste

Pressure cook the moong dal with 1 cup of water.
Fry the rava without any oil till golden. let it cool by spreading it on a plate.
In heavy bottomed pan, add the ghee and fry the black pepper and cumin seeds, chopped ginger, curry leaves. add 2 cups of water to this along with salt to taste and let it boil.
To the boiling water, mix in the cooked moong dal. then add the fried rava in small measures and stir continuously till the rava is cooked completely.
Once done you could add little ghee.. . as with most things fried cashew nuts are optional too..

My mom version.: no dal. .and rest of the recipe the same.. and she uses powdered black pepper.. tastes great too .. and is one of the quickest tiffin to make.

I love the ven pongal and rava pongal with spicy coconut and pottukadalai ( roasted gram -I think) chutney and sambar.. But it tastes great with vathakozhambu or pullikozhambu as well.

custard pudding

Marie biscuits or any neutral taste biscuit - 1 packet
instant coffee powder - 2 tblsp (to make coffee decoction or if you have filter coffee decoction, its even better! )
vanilla custard powder - 4 tsp
milk - 1 litre
sugar - as required

1) Make a decoction using coffee powder and hot water. The decoction should have a strong taste of coffee and also shouldn't be too watery.
2) In the meantime, prepare custard as per the instructions on the packet- Boil milk and sugar, add custard powder mixed with 1/4 l of milk to the mixture and allow it to thicken. It shouldnt be too thick(it should be pour-able)
3) take a mould/ bowl in which you want the pudding to be set. Dip each marie biscuit in the decoction and make a layer of coffee dipped biscuits in the bowl. Then pour custard on top of it. Make another layer of biscuits etc. and then continue till you are done.
4) Close the bowl(dont forget) and let it set in the fridge for about 6-8 hrs.
5) Once set, you should be able to cut slices of it. You can add any topping to it (chocolate sauce, nuts, etc. )and eat it :) . it tastes yum!

Dum Biryani

Ingredients:

For the Rice:
Basmati Rice
Tej patta,clove,black elaichi,dal chini,star anise,mace,lemon,haldi,garam masala

For the Gravy:
Onion chopped,tomatoes chopped,ginger garlic green chilli paste,pudina and coriander leaves,curd,vegetables
biryani masala-i use the parampara one.

for garnishing:
kesar soaked in milk,fried onions,coriander leaves and fried cashew

method:
cook everything together under the rice section and keep it aside.u can remove all the items from tthe rice once its done coz the flavour is all we need.
for the gravy,take some ghee in a kadhai.add saunf,dal chini,cloves,elaichi,star anise,mace and black pepper.then add the onions followed by ginger garlic paste.once done add the pudina and coriander leaves.then add the tomatoes followed by salt,turmeric and biryani masala.
the vegetables like carrot,beans,cauliflower,peas can be sauted seperately and added to this.
then add the curd and mix well.the gravy is ready.
take a big bowl and make alternate layers of rice and gravy.3 layers of rice and 2 of gravy.
top it with friend onions,cashew,coriander leaves.add the kesar and close it.put it in the microwave for 5 mins.