Zebra on my plate!!!

Baking fascinates me but, I hadn't dared to bake anything other than the usual sponge cake and blah blah.. I have been wanting to bake some really good looking colourful cakes :) Today, being relatively free decided to make 'Marble Cake' which I have been eyeying from a long time. I love to see the striped pattern the cake shows off! I had the recipe resting in peace on one of my bookshelves. Today was the day of action , it had to be dusted and put to use.All went well till the final step, Coz then...I had nail biting tension, as to how it would turn out. YIPEEEEEEEEEEE...Finally it was a success, and I'm on cloud nine!!! actually the credit goes to all of you who prepare such wonderful recipes and post the procedure along with amazing pictures. My tons of thanks to all the blogs(along with my good old recipe book) which I went through to simplify and make the method as easy as possible for the fear of messing it up. The recipe for marble cake is as follows:

Ingredients:

Eggs 4

Sugar 1 cup

Milk 1 cup

Oil 1 cup ( refined vegetable oil)

Vanilla essence 1 tbsp

Maida 2 cups (+1 tsp baking powder +1/2 tsp salt)

Dark cocoa powder 3-4 tbsp

Method:

• In a large mixing bowl combine eggs, sugar till it is creamy and light in colour
• Add milk and oil and continue beating it blends well (i used a blender)
• Add vanilla essence to the mixture.
• Gradually add flour and beat until the batter is smooth and evenly mixed.
• Divide the mixture in 2 equal portions. Keep one portion plain.
• Add the dark cocoa to the other portion and mix well.
• Grease the baking tin.
• Pour the light coloured batter and the chocolate mixture alternatelyand evenly. Start with the light coloured batter.
• Do not disturb the setting, it will spread on its own.
• Bake it in a pre-heated oven for 35-40 mts (till a knife pierced comes out clean)
• Take out from the oven and cool it on a wire rack.

Peas-n-Cabbage Spicy Upkari (sabzi)

Cabbage is an excellent source of vitamin C. I like this vegetable as it’s low in calories and high in fibre. It’s raining cabbage recipes here in my blog as I had bought a huge cabbage and it’s not getting over however hard I try ;) So don’t be surprised to find a couple of more appearances of this vegetable. I usually make a simple bland subzi out of cabbage. This time around I wanted a change, so dished out this spicy Upkari. ‘Upkari’ is a Konkani word which means subzi.

Ingredients:

• ½ a cabbage (finely chopped)
• ½ cup peas (I used frozen peas)
• 1 medium sized onion (coarsely chopped)
• 1 green chilli (slit)
• 1 small tomato (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp ginger (slit length wise)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 5-6 curry leaves
• Juice of half a lemon
• coriander (finely chopped) to garnish
• 3 tsp oil

Method:

• Heat oil in a wok/kadhai and add the cumin seeds.
• When the cumin seeds start to crackle, add curry leaves, ginger, green chilli and sauté
• After a few seconds add onion and sauté till it is slightly golden brown.
• Next put tomato, peas and stir for about a minute.
• Add turmeric, garam masala, salt, mix well and sauté for about 30 seconds on a medium flame.
• Now add cabbage and mix well to fold in all the contents in the kadhai/wok, add ketchup and mix well again.
• Cover the kadhai/wok and cook the upkari till it is done. Keep stirring it occasionally.
• Once the cabbage and peas are fully cooked, switch off the flame and add juice of half a lemon and mix well.
• Garnish it with coriander leaves and serve it hot with roti/rice.
• If you prefer it less spicy you could adjust the measure of garam masala to suit your taste buds.

PANEER TIKKI PASANDA

I really look forward to Sundays as that's one day when there is no haste. I like to take it easy and usually rope in my husband for the cooking ;) Today we decided to make a simple yet uncommon dish. We zeroed in on 'Paneer Tikka Pasanda'. It is nothing but paneer tikkis served in a gravy rich in herbs and spices. It's easy but demands patience. I am (actually we are) extremely satisfied and thrilled that the dish turned out superb. This dish can be the show stealer when you have guests over for lunch/dinner. Paneer Tikka Pasanda may sound very extravagant but believe me it's very easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

For the tikkis:

• 2 cups paneer (cottage cheese)
• 1 tbsp finely chopped green chillies
• 1/4 cup maida (plain flour)
• Salt to taste
• Oil for shallow frying

For the paste no. 1:

• 1 cup onion (roughly chopped)
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 inch ginger piece
• 2 tbsp broken cashewnuts

For the paste no. 2:

• 1 cup onion (sliced)

Other ingredients:

• 1 cup fresh curd (whisked)
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tbsp oil
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying

Method:

For the tikkis:

• Mash the paneer well
• Add the green chillies, plain flour and salt and mix well
• Shape into tikkis and cook on a non-stick tava by adding a little oil from the sides while cooking

For the paste no. 1:

• Boil the onions in 1 cup of water until soft
• Add the garlic, ginger and cashewnuts and blend in a mixer to make a smooth paste

For the paste no. 2:

• Deep fry the onions in oil until golden and make a paste in a grinder using little water

Moving on:

• Heat the oil in a vessel. Add the paste no. 1 and cook on a low flame for a few minutes
• Add the chilli powder and garam masala, mix and cook again, till the masala leaves oil from sides
• Add the curd. Mix well and stir all the time
• Cook for a while. Add the paster no. 2 and salt and cook for another 5 minutes
• Arrange the paneer tikkis in a plate. Pour the hot gravy on the top. Serve hot