Cottage cheese cake - Paneer Cake : Perfect tea-time treat

A trip to Madras is incomplete without a drive to Pondicherry. Once, we took up a homestay and stayed over for a couple of nights - walking around the lovely streets in the French quarter, peering into some bookshops, boutiques, incense and candle shops while we were there. During a peek into one such bookshop I came across this little book on baking called Baking Delights by Aruna Sheth with the kind of recipes my mother's generation would make at home. The sections include breads, biscuits, cakes, multi-purpose meals, puddings & pies and snacks.

I have a liking for all things old-fashioned and so I got this home. After reading those quaint old recipes many a times - I fell in love with one Cottage cheese cake, the recipe of which had no butter or oil. With my slight modifications, I turned this into a faux mava cake, using the Mixed Fruit essence and some tutti frutti - a total 70s style cake, perfectly simple to make, and just right with that cup of tea / coffee - feels like a treat but not like a sinful indulgence.

So here is the recipe for Cottage cheese cake with Tutti Frutti

Ingredients

Makes 2 small square cakes or 1 loaf

1/2 litre milk, 1 tbsp white vinegar - to make paneer

1.5 cups atta

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup sugar, or slightly less, ground with seeds from 3 cardamoms

4 tbsp milkmaid

2 tbsp oil

1 tbsp vinegar

1/4 cup tutti frutti in any colours

1/4 cup milk (if required)


Directions

1. Bring the milk to a boil, add the vinegar and stir till milk splits to give paneer and clear whey. Filter out paneer and save the whey.
2. Preheat oven at 180 C.
3. Line 2 square tins of 12 cmX12 cm with foil or a loaf tin. Grease the foil with some oil.
4. Sieve the flour with the baking soda and baking powder.
5. In a large bowl, mash the paneer well with the oil, milkmaid. Add 1 tbsp vinegar, sugar-cardamom mix to this and half the whey water.
6. Add the flour in batches into the whisked wet ingredients. Use the reserved whey water and extra milk if required to get a batter consistency.
7. Fold in most of the tutti frutti, reserving some to decorate on the top of the cake.
8. Divide the batter into the two square tins or a single loaf tin, sprinkle remaining tutti frutti on the top.
9. Bake for 30 minutes (in case of two small tins) or 45-50 minutes for loaf at 180 C reducing the temperature after 20 minutes to 160 or so in case of square tins to prevent excessive browning of the tops.
10. Remove, cool in the tin itself for 15 minutes and remove out with the foil. Slice and serve warm.

Food-shopping in Hyderabad

Where to buy Tutti-Frutti - Branches of Heritage- Fresh, QMart-Banjara Hills, branches of Ratnadeep

Disposable aluminium foil baking containers available at most supermarkets - eg. Balaji Grand Bazaar in Road.1

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Vegetarian chili made with black eyed peas and a Mexican Pizza

Ingredients inspire dishes. My sudden love for Mexican cuisine is totally inspired by the tins of Chipotle Chillies in Adobo sauce that Nupur (One Hot Stove) was so sweet enough to gift me when she was visiting us in Mumbai last year, among many other gifts including a handmade Eggplant cap for Atri :)

Having never cooked Mexican food before, they were just lying at the back of my kitchen shelf for many many months. The day I opened the can and took a teeny taste of the contents, I was sold on this. One tin goes a long way and the large chillies soaked in adobo sauce are bursting with heat and smoky flavours, giving any Mexican recipe an authentic touch.

This Chili dish is something you can serve as a stew to eat with soft tortillas, top slices of bread or make it thinner and have it as a hearty soup on a cold evening. Whichever way, this is guaranteed to be a sureshot crowd pleaser and the spicy flavours will easily agree with the Indian palate.

Vegetarian Chili with black eyed peas

serves 6

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil

4-5 cloves garlic, finely chopped

5-6 mushrooms

1 green capsicum

1 red capsicum

1 onion

6 medium tomatoes

2 cups boiled black eyed peas (Pressure cooked with enough water until very soft and mushy)

2 chipotle chillies in adobo sauce (or use regular green / red chillies finely chopped)

1/2 tsp red chilli powder or more as per preference

1 tsp dried ground oregano

1 tsp freshly ground cumin 

Preparation

Finely chop the garlic, onion, mushrooms and capsicums.

Fill a large pot with 2 L water. Score the tomatoes with a cross at the smooth end. Allow to come to a boil and drop the tomatoes. Once this comes to a simmer, turn off flame and cover for 2 minutes.

Fish out the tomatoes and place them in tap/cold water, until cool enough to handle. Peel off skins and chop to a medium dice, seeds included.

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large wok. Saute the garlic for 30 seconds, before adding the onions, capsicums and mushrooms. On a medium flame, let these cook for 7-10 minutes with a pinch of salt added towards the end.
2. Once the vegetables are nearly done, add the chopped blanched tomatoes, cooked black eyed peas, chopped chipotle / chillies and spice powders along with a tsp (or as per taste) of salt. Add 1/2-1 cup of water, cover with a lid and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Check for spiciness and salt, adjust the taste according to your preference and remove into a serving bowl. This chilli should be quite dried out if using as a pizza topping or else the base will get soggy. If serving with tortillas or rice, you can leave some amount of liquid in the chili.

You can use black beans, kidney beans or any other beans instead of black eyed peas.

For Pizza

Ready pizza bases - 6

Black eyed peas chilli

Grated cheddar cheese - 1 cup

Dried oregano

Dried chilli flakes (optional)

Preheat oven to 200C

Spread the chilli over the base. Top with grated cheese and bake for 5-7 minutes, till cheese melts.

Sprinkle oregano and if you like it really hot, then chilli flakes too.

Keep a chilled beer or iced water handy!

 We started the Mexican dinner with a bowl of guacamole and baked corn chips (Italia brand). It was the most fun dinner we had in a long time. Thank you Nupur!

If you happen to spot tinned chipotle chillies in a supermarket near you, please leave a comment and I shall include it in a note here, to help the readers.

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Homemade granola, at last - with homemade applesauce

 

 

I am not a big fan of store bought cereals. However I do stock whole wheat flakes and unsweetened cornflakes for breakfast in a hurry. Buying boxed cereals with sugar and salt overload are totally avoidable as the first meal of the day. Oats is another regular during breakfast hours. That is one thing the husband has mastered in microwave cooking - Oats, frozen peas, masalas of choice, water and microwave for 4 minutes or so - for a bowl full of fibre, protein and good carbs. I prefer my oats slightly sweetened with jaggery, cooked with milk and cinnamon. When I saw this recipe for granola on Nigella Lawson's show - combining cereals with nuts, seeds, spices - I knew I had to try this. But it turned out to be one of those ideas that keep sitting on the back burner - waiting for the right moment, to be explored. Early this week, sufficiently inspired, I went to the store and bought the necessary ingredients - Oats, cornflakes, apples, sesame seeds for the rest of the stuff I already had at home.

 

Ever since the waxed, coated and 'sitting in cold storage for god knows how long' apples from US and NZ have flooded the markets, I have totally given up apples. I hate the shiny waxy skin, I hate the pasty texture and total lack of taste. But Shimla apples are another breed altogether - they are the perfect combination of juicy, crisp and sweet and I bought 2 kilos. The timing was perfect as I could use a couple of them to make applesauce to hold the garnola together. [Recipe for applesauce at the end of the post]

The resultant breakfast in a bowl is very high in fibre from the whole grains and wheat germ, the sesame seeds are rich in calcium, iron, vitamin B1 and zinc. The taste is absolutely superlative with subtle sweetness from natural sugars in jaggery, honey, apple and the spicy sweetness of cinnamon. Try this once and I guarantee you will never buy the cardboard shards sold in the name of Muesli in supermarkets here.

 

 

Here's my recipe - adapted from Nigella Lawson's - Andy's Fairfield Granola

 

Special equipment
Pressure cooker if making applesauce at home (preferable for quickly stewing apples)
Two large baking trays atleast 9X9

 

Ingredients
500 g Rolled oats ( I used Saffola brand)
2 cups unsweetened corn flakes or wheat flakes
1 cup wheat bran ( I used Baggrey's )
100 g sesame seeds (or roughly 1/3rd cup)-lightly toasted in a wok for 1 minute
1/2 cup - mixture of almonds, sunflower seeds, walnuts, cashews - chopped in bits

 

1/2 cup jaggery dissolved in 1/2 cup water
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp sunflower or any neutral oil
1 cup applesauce or make your own from 2-3 apples (Recipe below)
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp dried ginger powder
1 tsp salt

 

1 cup mix of dried apricot bits / raisins / sultananas or any other dried berries

 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven at 200 C.
2. In the largest bowl you have, mix the oats, wheatflakes, nuts, toasted sesame seeds.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the jaggery water, honey, oil, applesauce, ground ginger and cinnamon and salt.
4. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients in the large bowl and mix with two serving spoons or with your hands, until the spices and liquids have thoroughly coated all of the cereals and nuts.
5. Line the baking trays with aluminium foil.
6. Distribute the granola mix between the two trays, pressing down well.
7. Bake each tray for around 30 minutes at 200 C - keeping a watch that the granola is not burning. If it is browning too fast, turn the tray and reduce the temperature to 175 and bake till quite crisp.
8. Once cool, break into bits or crumble, mix up the dried fruit and store in airtight container.

 

To serve
2 handfuls of granola or 1/2 cup with a cup of milk and some fresh fruit if you like

How to make applesauce

• Wash, peel and core 2-3 good apples.
• Chop into medium pieces and pressure cook with 1/2 cup water, either directly in the cooker or in a bowl for 5-7 minutes. ie. After three whistles, keep on sim for 5-7 minutes.
• After a few minutes, open cooker, remove the stewed apples and mash with a back of a ladle or in food processor.
• This will yield over a cup of applesauce.
• If you dont have a pressure cooker, follow the process in a saucepan with a fitting lid. Simmer for 20-30 minutes till apples are totally soft and then mash.

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Sunday night dinner - Chickpea Basil burgers

Whoever said TV dinners cannot be healthy? These burgers are perfect TV food to pile on a plate and curl up on the couch watching your favourite soap or movie. This recipe is another discovery in my quest for high protein vegetarian recipes. The food and dining section of NYTimes, Guardian, WashingtonPost is my regular haunt not only to see the food trends around the world, but invariably I stumble upon some interesting stuff. The recipe of Spinach and Chickpea burgers from The Washington Post is what inspired me to come up with this version.

We all love burgers, at least most of us. This one is way easier than the mixed vegetable burgers, where you have to clean, cut and prepare an assortment of veggies. This one has just two main ingredients - chickpeas and potatoes. Add to this your favourite greens and spices and you have some really filling burgers ready. Eat them as it is, or as an open sandwich or inside a burger bun. Choice is yours. Pair it with slices of fresh cucumber and tomatoes, lettuce if fresh ones are available - to make up for the lack of vegetables in the burger. I like it with a kick of sharp mustard like Coleman's but ketchup, barbeque sauce, pepper sauce, anything is fine.

Chickpeas are vegetarians' best friends to catch up with protein requirements. Not to mention how loaded in fibre and folic acid they are. Two of these patties provide 25% of your daily fibre requirement and 35% of your folic acid requirement. Combine chickpeas with rice or bread and you get a high quality protein from the meal from a combination of various amino acids. The fibre content not only keeps your full for longer but also helps lower bad cholesterol. Fibre also makes sure your sugar levels go up gradually and this is of special benefit for diabetics.

Ingredients
1/2-3/4 Cup dried chickpeas - soaked in lots of water overnight
1/2 cup mashed potato
1/3 cup chopped basil leaves or any other herbs / greens
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
Besan / gram flour if required

2 tsp olive oil or vegetable oil

To assemble
Bread of your choice (6 burger buns or 12 slices of bread)
Sliced tomatoes, cucumber, washed and dried lettuce leaves
6 cheese slices (optional)
Ketchup, mustard

Directions

• Pressure cook the chickpeas with 2 cups water for 8 minutes or so. (After 3 whistles, lower the flame and keep on sim for 7-8 minutes)
• Drain and mash with a heavy mortar or till coarsely mashed in a food processor.
• In a large bowl, mix mashed chickpeas, potatoes, chopped basil, pepper, salt, red chilli powder.
• Sprinkle gram flour or bread crumbs if the mixture is too wet.
• Divide this into six balls, flatten into thick patties and place on a lightly greased non-stick tava / skillet on a medium flame. Grill each side for 5-7 minutes, till golden brown using little olive oil.
• Remove and keep aside.

Lightly toast the bread for the burger on the same hot skillet. Apply mustard on both slices. Place the cucumber and tomato slices, cheese slice and place the hot burger on the top. Cover with more salad if you like and a slice of bread or the other half of burger bun.

Eat / serve immediately.

Note
If you mash the chickpeas in the food processor, make sure you use the 'pulse' function so it does not turn into a paste, after which it will be tough to shape them into burgers.
You can prepare these upto the 'shaping into patties' stage and freeze them keeping a layer of cling film / butter paper in between and directly grill them on the pan for a weekday dinner.

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Apple Fig and Poppyseed Muffins

Weekend is here. My weekend mornings are no different from weekday mornings. My toddler hasn't yet figured out the weekend business so it's business as usual for us. Last night we forgot to leave the basket out for the milk, so the milkman rang the doorbell at 6 am so that the cats don't get to the milk before me. His intentions were good, but that meant my son woke up with the sound of the bell and dragged me out of bed too. S had left really early for his long run - that left the two of us to fend for each other for the next couple of hours. 

Sometimes, I just throw whatever is on hand when I get a craving to bake something. Sometimes, I prepare the ingredients over a few days and finally get compelled to use them in something. This morning, it was the second situation. I'd finely chopped up some figs a couple of days ago. Yesterday I brewed some strong fruit infusion (Twinings Strawberry and Raspberry), chopped up an apple and soaked the chopped apple and figs overnight in the tea.

This morning, it was time to put them to use. I recently bought this lovely little book called the Muffin Bible. No fancy author here, just a compilation of several very doable recipes. I'd bought to gift Arundati on her birthday. As luck would have it, we could not meet up that day and then when I called her last week, she said she already had that book. Trust a food blogger to have the best and most useful cookbooks on her shelf already! I'd already flipped through the book the very night I'd bought it. Needless to say right? The recipe I've adapted from is the Almond-poppyseed muffins.

Apple, fig and poppyseed muffins

Makes 1 dozen 

Ingredients

8 dried figs, chopped finely

1/2 apple, chopped finely

1 cup strong tea (made from 2 tea bags, fruit infusions or any other)

2 tbsp yogurt or 1 egg

1/2 cup sugar, coarsely ground

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup sunflower oil

1/2 cup milk

2 tbsp poppy seeds (the dark variety)

1 cup Maida (all purpose flour)

3/4 cup Atta (whole wheat flour)

1/4 cup Makkai ka atta (corn meal)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Preparation

Soak the finely chopped figs and apple in the tea. Cover and keep for a couple of hours or overnight.

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 200 C. Line a 12 muffin pan with paper liners or oil them well.
2. In a large bowl, beat the yogurt (or egg) along with sugar and salt well. 
3. Whisk the oil into this. Add the milk and mix in the poppy seeds.
4. Sieve the flours with the baking powder and soda a couple of times.
5. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just incorporated. Do not over-mix or beat this. 
6. Add the soaked fruits and the half cup of tea that will remain behind.
7. Spoon the batter into the liners until 3/4th filled.
8. Bake at 200 C for 20-25 minutes. Test with a knitting needle / spaghetti if the centers are done. If not bake for 3-4 minutes and check again.
9. Remove the muffins and eat warm.

Notes

• Some ovens can accommodate not more than 9 muffin tin. In that case bake 9 muffins and once done, bake remaining 3 in a second batch or bake a small cake in a small tart tin or so.
• I have soaked the fruit in flavoured tea for added flavour. You may choose to omit the soaking stage, add the chopped fig and apple as it is, but use 1 cup milk instead.
• You can also soak the fruit in 1/4 cup rum + 3/4 cup warm water if you prefer a fruit-cake like taste.

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Moroccan Chickpea stew

Update: Starting this post, I will try and list the places where you can procure ingredients that feature in the recipe, if it is not a regular pantry item. Since I am currently located in Hyderabad, I will be featuring places from this city, and the areas I am familiar with. Readers are welcome to leave their comments about availability of such ingredients in other parts of Hyd / other cities.

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A few weeks ago, a fellow foodie friend dropped by home and told us how he loves to dish out Moroccan food in his kitchen and how he managed to get a local potter to make him the tagine dish too! The foodie in me did not need more kindling than that to start craving a hot pot of Moroccan stew with robust flavours, not very unlike our Indian flavours.

My first brush with Moroccan cuisine was in the Momo Moroccan restaurant in London a few years ago. The vegetable stew and couscous was just perfectly spiced and delicious to suit my vegetarian palate. Chickpeas are another common ingredient in Moroccan cuisine and a chickpea stew sounded like the perfect way to satisfy the cravings.

You can easily pair this stew with some hearty bread like ciabatta or a rye loaf. Couscous is fairly easily available in most Metros. [See end of post on where to buy couscous in Hyderabad.] I usually give a laundry list of foodie items to the husband when he travels abroad and he is only too happy to comply.I don't call him my (eating) partner for nothing!

I adapted from a Food Network recipe - Recipe courtesy Dave Liebermann

Recipe for Moroccan Chickpea Stew

Serves 2

Ingredients

1/2 cup dried chickpeas

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for garnish
1 large onion, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, crushed roughly
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 cup chopped tomatoes
3 cups water plus 2 cubes Maggie Super seasoning or 3 cups of Vegetable stock
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1-2 cups of fresh greens (I used spinach)

Preparation

Soak the chickpeas in lot of water with a pinch of baking soda (optional) for 6-12 hours

Directions

Drain the chickpeas - cover with 2 cups water and pressure cook for 10 minutes, till soft but not mushy. Keep aside.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the oil. Saute the onion and garlic on a low flame till soft and cooked, around 7-8 minutes.

Add the spice powders, chopped tomatoes, boiled chickpeas with water and seasoning cubes.

Taste before adding salt as the seasoning cubes contain salt.

Simmer for 7-8 minutes on low flame for the chickpeas to absorb the flavours and the tomatoes to cook.

Add the roughly chopped greens. These will wilt in a couple of minutes.

Grind some black pepper on the top and serve hot / warm with bread or couscous.

For directions on How to Prepare Couscous, check my post on Couscous with roasted Vegetables

Places to buy couscous in Hyderabad

SPAR - Begumpet

QMart - Road 2, Banjara Hills

Hypercity - Inorbit Mall, Cyberabad

Places to buy gourmet breads in Hyderabad

Deli 9, various outlets

Sweet Nirvana Patisserie, Madhapur

Beyond Coffee, Road 36 Jubilee Hills

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Arisi Upma - A breakfast in minutes

Steaming hot upma is served

This recipe is another example of how simple traditional Tamil Brahmin cuisine is. No frills, no laundry-list of ingredients and yet divine in taste.

In earlier times, rice rava used to be painstakingly prepared at home by picking, washing and draining the rice. It then used to be left to dry on layers of old muslin cloth in the shade. The rice would then be hand-pounded into a coarse powder. My mother and grandmother still follow the procedure except that in the last step, the food processor has replaced the hand-pounding. Thankfully. 


As much as I love traditions, I am deprived of this virtue called patience. My husband will tell you the same thing. So I pick this packet of readymade Idli Rava from the supermarket and that makes life a lot easier for me.



Idli rava / rice rava (rice that is broken into a coarse rava) is a very useful ingredient to have around the kitchen. It cooks in a jiffy compared to whole rice or regular rava (semolina). You can use this to make delicious Upma Kozhakattai - which is one of the lesser known Tamilian tiffin items that I have never seen in a restaurant menu. This was one of the earliest entries on this blog.

You can also soak this instead of rice to grind idli batter. A simple rice porridge can be prepared in minutes for your toddler at a moment's notice if you have idli rava at home. And of course this breakfast recipe that you can virtually make in the time your family takes to settle on the dining table. 

This makes a quick weekday breakfast. To make it a more sumptuous breakfast, serve it with sambar and a variety of chutneys.

The coconut oil used in this recipe gives a deep aroma to the upma, but it's not a must really. Use any other vegetable oil or ghee instead.

This is way faster than the regular upma because you need not roast the rava nor chop any chillies, ginger, onions etc. and this cooks in almost half the time as regular rava.

So you have no excuses not to try this out. Just make sure you add 'Idli Rava' to your grocery list the next time :)

Arisi Upma - Broken rice upma

Serves 3

Time taken - Under 10 minutes

Ingredients

1-2 tsp edible coconut oil

Small pinch of asafoetida

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1-2 dried red chillies

1 tsp udad dal (ulutham paruppu)

1 sprig curry leaves (optional)

1 cup idli rava

3 cups water

1 tsp salt

1-2 tbsp scraped fresh coconut

1 small piece of jaggery

1/4 cup frozen peas (optional)

Directions

1. In a large non stick kadai, heat the coconut oil.
2. Stir in the asafoetida and splutter the mustard seeds. Add the udad dal and fry till lightly golden. Fry the curry leaves if using for a few seconds and the dried red chillies.
3. Add 3 cups of water, salt, coconut scrapings, frozen green peas (if using) and jaggery. Let this come to a rolling boil.
4. Reduce the flame to sim and add the idli rava while stirring constantly to avoid lumps.
5. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook until the water evaporates - this takes under 3-4 minutes. Give it a good stir. Check for salt. If you think the upma is too dry and the rice rava needs to be cooked some more, add few more tablespoons of water, cover and cook on low flame for 2-3 minutes more.
6. Once this water is absorbed and the rava is cooked, turn off the flame. Keep covered for 2-3 minutes. This will make the grains absorb the moisture from the steam and fluff up some more.
7. Serve hot garnished with some more fresh coconut if required.

Note:

• The jaggery will not make this taste sweet, but according to my granny rice-rava has a slight bitter tinge about it which this jaggery will neutralize.
• The original arisi upma recipe does not use peas. This is just to make it more filling and add to the protein content.

15 June 2010

Edited to add- Comment from my Dad on email after seeing this post:

Unnudaya uppumavai partha udaneye appdiye sappidanumbola irukku. Moreover, the garnishing is TOP. God bless you. Appa.

This made me so happy this morning :)

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