APPLE CAKE

Apart from Indian food cakes are my all time favorite and that too Apple cake...With a cup of hot chocolate or green tea or black tea is a great combination. Baking is my hobby means I just love baking cakes and breads yeh…. cookies also but my husband doesn’t like cookies. Every time when I bake first I give a try and then second time I make some changes and if any mistakes clear them and then I post the recipe here. In the original recipe they didn’t add chopped apple to the batter but they top the cake with apple wedges, that wedges gave a juice and crunchy texture to the cake so when yester day I again bake this cake I added some chopped pieces in the batter too and this time the cake taste more delicious with crunchy apple pieces and nice cinnamon flavor. We just enjoyed the cake hope you all also like the recipe. Now let’s check the Apple cake recipe….

INGREDIENTS:----

Self-rising flour --- 250g

Un-salted butter --- 250g

Caster sugar --- 250g

Eggs ---- 4

Vanilla extract --- 1 tea sp (you can use ½ tea sp vanilla essence also)

Cooking apples --- 2 peeled, cored and cut in to wedges

Cooking apple --- 2 peeled, cored and chopped

Demerara sugar --- 2 tab sp

Cinnamon ground ---- ¼ tea sp

METHOD:----

1. Pre heat the oven at 180 c gas mark 4 for 10 min.
2. Butter a 26cmx16cm tin then line the base with a baking paper
3. Now in a big bowl beat the eggs it they become stiff and leave a side
4. Then in a big mixing bowl beat butter and sugar till it turns fluffy.
5. Now add beaten eggs to the butter and sugar mixture mix well to combine.
6. Then add flour to the wet mixture and beat quickly to make a smooth batter.
7. Add vanilla, chopped apple and mix well to combine.
8. Now pour this batter in to the prepared tin and top with the apple wedges
9. Sprinkle with the demerara sugar and cinnamon.
10. Bake in a pre heated oven for 1 hour or till skewer comes out clean.
11. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for few mins.Then release the tin and cool the cake on a wire rack.
12. Serve warm with a cup of green tea (with out sugar)
13. I used self-rising flour you can use all-purpose flour with 1 teasp baking powder.
14. I used green apples (total 4 apples) you can use any cooking apples you like.
15. For me it took 1 hour to bake it depends on your oven if it is not finished in 1 hour then you can keep it for 5 min. more ... check with a skewer before you remove from the oven..

TOMATO CHUTNEY

Some times we get bored with same old coconut chutney with dosa and idli,at that time this Tomato chutney will be a great choice and it goes very well with any thing like dosa, idli, hot steamed rice or even with chapathi. Same thing happened to me this morning at breakfast time I don’t want to make same chutney for dosa, I am craving for some thing tangy and spicy then I checked my fridge there were some beautiful red tomatoes and here I go with the Tomato chutney

INGREDIENTS:---

Tomato ---- 3 medium (red ripe tomatoes)

Green chilies --- 5-6 or according to your taste

Tamarind --- 1 inch piece

Coriander seeds --- 1 tea sp

Cumin seeds --- 1&1/2 tea sp

Garlic -- 4 cloves

Salt to taste or 1 tea sp

Oil -- 1 tab sp

Coriander leaves --- 1 tab sp chopped

METHOD:---

1. Cut tomatoes in to small pieces and slit green chillies and leave a side

2.Heat a pan and add coriander seeds and cumin seeds fry till they change the color and nice aroma comes out.

3. Remove from the pan and grind in to a fine powder.

4. Now heat oil in the same pan add green chilies and tomatoes and fry till tomatoes become soft. Then add tamarind piece to the cooked tomatoes and leave a side to cool.

5.After tomatoes cool down add this green chilies and tomatoes, tamarind and salt to the coriander and cumin powder grind in to a smooth paste

6. At the end add garlic cloves and chopped coriander leaves, grind for a second to blend well.

7. Remove from the blender jar and serve with dosa, idli or any thing you like.

PALAK PURI (SPINACH PURI)

Hi everyone I am back from my one month vacation. When I came back from my holidays I have only some wheat flour at home and I don’t know what to make for dinner and I didn’t have vegetables also at home yeh I have some cauliflower pickle in the fridge which I made before I am leaving for holidays and suddenly I remember that there is a packet of frozen spinach in my freazer.I thought of making dal or palak paneer then I realize that I don’t have dal and paneer also at home ahhhhhhhhhh.. Getting mad .Then subbenly hubby dear told me that` way didn’t you make palak puri we can have them with that cauliflower pickle’. Hummm not a bad Idea and here is the recipe……

INGREDIENTS FOR PALAK PURI(SPINACH PURI):-----

Whole wheat flour (Atta) --- 2 cups

Spinach ------ 1 small bunch or 1 pack of frozen palak (after you make the paste that should measure 1 cup or 100 Gms)

Garlic --- 5 cloves grated

Oil -- 1 tab sp

Salt to taste (aprox.1/4 tea sp)

Oil for deep frying

According to Spinach paste and Wheat flour measurement that should be in 2:1 that means if you take 2 cups of Wheat flour then Spinach paste should be 1 cup.

BLANCHING THE SPINACH:---

1. Blanching vegetables is a Cooking form that makes the vegetables soft, intensifies the color and heightens the flavor but remains the crunchiness of the vegetable especially leafy greens like spinach.

2. To blanch Spinach fill a large pan with water and bring to a full boil add spinach to the boiling water.

3. Blanch Spinach for 30 seconds or till leaves turn in to bright green color.

4. Now switch off the flame and strain the spinach from water in to another bowl and add ice water with ice cubes this will stop further cooking.

5. Remove Spinach from ice water also and squeeze all of the excess water.

6. Now you can make paste with this blanched spinach and use in your curries like palak paneer and palak puri too

NOW LET US SEE HOW TO MAKE PALAK PURI(SPINACH PURI):---

1. In a big mixing bowl add wheat flour, spinach paste, salt, one tab sp oil, grated garlic and mix with your hand to make a semi- hard dough(if you fell like dough is little bit hard to form like a ball or cracks on the ball then sprinkle little water and knead well).

2. Keep the dough covered for at least 10 min.

3. Then divide the dough in to equal sized balls (this measurement gives you nearly 15 balls)

4. Now dust the surface with little flour and roll the each ball in to 4 inch – diameter discs.

5. In the same time heat oil in a deep frying pan and fry this beautiful green color puries both sides in a medium heat.

6. Remove from oil and drain on to an absorbent paper and serve hot with any pickle and curd or raita or you can try with dal fry also a good combination for this puri