After spending almost 10 years away from home and being terribly under-exposed to home cooked food, I find my self hopelessly addicted to the kitchen when I'm back home.This trait of mine is causing a lot of anxiety to my parents and understandable grief to thier stomach's ..but the brave souls that they are, they never breathe a word of protest while being subjected to my culinary experiments.
This vacation however was not as big a disaster as the previous ones..you see..I'm improving as a cook.
Posting some interesting recipies from the escapades ( the basic recipies are from some cook book or the other, but altered to my convenience, based on my tastes and the availability/non-avaliability of certain ingredients.)- Trust me - the pictures and the end products have come out well :D - Certified by my Amma, who is a perfectionist when it comes to cooking.
1) Vanilla Victoria Sponge Cake
This was our Christmas-or rather -post Christmas cake for this year.We had almost dropped the idea of baking a cake for Christmas.On 26th December, Dad had to go out to Cochin and we (Amma n myself) were spending a lazy afternoon at home, when we suddenly decided to bake a cake. The recipe is from 1 mix 50 Cakes recipe book that I had got for Amma from Croydon, and which she had left lying at the bottom of the book shelf till this time.
We have used the same basic ingredients as mentioned in the book.Yet we had to customize it quite a bit, as it was a sudden venture and there were not many things available at home..plus we had a broken down weighing machine, which meant we had to do some gimmicks with the measures specified in the recipe..
However we had a nice time baking the cake together.
Ingredients
Flour -3 cups sieved in with 3 tsp baking soda (Substituted for approx 350 g flour).
Sugar - 2 1/2 cups powdered (Substituted for approx 300 g).
Eggs - 6
Butter -250 gms- Recipe called for un salted butter. We had only 200 gms of salted Amul butter plus approx 50 gms of home made un salted butter at home. So added those. The salted butter did not do anything bad to the cake though :)
Milk 1/2 cup
Vanilla essence- 2 tsp
Grated cherries-50 gm (our addition to the original recipe)
Grated Cashewnut-50 gm (our addition to the original recipe)
Nutmeg grounded - 2 tsp (our addition to the original recipe)
Method
Sieve flour with baking soda and keep aside.Mix powdered sugar, butter and egg yolk. Mix well till batter is smooth and without lumps. Beat eggwhite till stiff. Pour in the beaten egg white, add in the flour and mix well.Now add milk , vanilla essesnce ,grounded nutmeg , grated cherries(3/4th) and cashewnut(3/4th). Mix thoroughly so that all ingredients have blended well.
Grease cake tin and line the base with buttered paper.Pour the prepared cake mix into the greased tin.Sprinke some grated cherries and cashewnuts on top. Bake in pre-heated oven for 25-30 mts or until risen firm and golden brown. Once done, take out from Oven , and leave to cool for few minutes.
2) Prawn Stir fry in Tomato gravy
Prawns are a favorite of mine, and during this vacation, Amma trusted me enough to let me cook this one on my own.
Ingredients
Prawns - around 30 - 35 medium sized
Onion - 2 , sliced
Ginger-garlic Paste 2 tsp
Tomatoes - 2, pureed
Curry leaves - 2-sprigs
Cilantro-1/4 cup -chopped
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder - 1 tsp
Oil required
Salt - To taste
Marinade
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Salt - To taste
Method
Marinate the prawns using the ingredients under marinade and keep for half n hour.
Heat oil in a pan. Add the sliced onion, enough salt and ginger-garlic paste. Saute until the onions are slightly . Add the tomato puree , few curry leaves and chopped cilantro. Cook until the gravy becomes thick and oil separates, then add the turmeric powder and chilly powder. Saute for a few seconds, then add the marinated prawns and curry leaves. Mix well. Cover and cook at mediumheat. No need to add additional water to the gravy. Cook for around 10-15 mts(until the prawns are done).
Once the prawns are well cooked add a few curry leaves. Stir fry for a few minutes at medium heat.
3) Orange Cashewnut cake
This was our new year cake for 2011-A tangy, sweet delight.Ingredients
Flour -1 1/4 cup sieved in with 2 tsp baking soda( Substituted for approx 115g flour).
Sugar -1 1/2 cups powdered (Substituted for approx 175g).
Eggs 3
Butter -100gms- Recipe called for un salted butter. We had only 100gms of salted Amul butter. As in the case of the Vanilla Sponge cake ,the salted butter did not do anything bad to the taste.
Grated Cashewnut-50 gm( Original recipe suggested almonds)
Oranges-2
Orange juice - 2 tbsp
Method
Take 2 oranges, place them in boiling water( enough to cover the oranges) in a sauce pan and simmer for about 30-35 minutes.( Recipe called for an hour).Once the oranges are soft, drain off the water, and leave the oranges to cool. Cut them in half, remove any pip and puree them in a food-processor ( rind included).
Sieve flour with baking soda and keep aside.Mix powdered sugar, butter and egg yolk. Mix well till batter is smooth and without lumps. Beat eggwhite till stiff. Pour in the beaten egg white, add in the flour and mix well.
Now add the pureed orange and orange juice along with grounded cashwenuts. Mix thoroughly so that all ingredients have blended well.
Grease cake tin and line the base with buttered paper.Pour the prepared cake mix into the greased tin.Sprinke some grated cashewnuts on top. bake in pre-heated oven for 40-45 mts or until risen firm and golden brown. Once done, take out from Oven , and leave to cool for few minutes.
The fun of cooking ( or for that matter-any job) is in doing it with someone you love, and doing it for someone you love. I enjoyed baking and cooking with Amma this whole week. With Dad pitching in with offers to help in sampling out the dishes, it was a great family time for all 3 of us :)
