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Archive for May, 2011

Recipe for Mawa Cake

May 17th, 2011

It’s getting hotter day by day and though this is the norm of things every year, it does not stop us from crying over it every summer and stating the obvious ‘it is sooooo hot’. There are times when the tea is also not fun anymore and coffee just makes you even warmer than you would like to be. In Summers I save a lot of milk almost every week and keep looking for ways to get rid of it or else the packets of milk just increase traffic in my refrigerator.

I usually boil the left over milk and make ‘khoya’ or ‘mawa’ out of it. I tried looking for an English equivalent for mawa but could not as its not ‘evaporated milk’ and definitely not just ‘thick milk’. It’s much denser and has the consistency of cottage cheese by the time I finish ‘evaporating’ it. I have to assume that the Western World is still not familiar with the delectable mawa made barfis and sweets.

This mawa can be deep freezed till needed and I thaw it to make mawa cake. Now it sounds slightly off beat to anyone who has not eaten the ‘Kayani Bakery’s Mawa cake (at Pune) But those who have tasted this Bakery’s mawa cake are just short of kissing the hands of chefs who made it. I could never muster courage to ask the chefs of Kayanis how they baked the mawa cake, but I have come up after quite a bit of experimentation, my own version of mawa cake. Try baking it…the preparation takes barely 15 minutes and is much easier than making gulab jamuns and other sweets out of mawa. -

Ingredients

Mawa 100 gms

Butter 200 gms

Sugar 250 gms

Eggs 6

Plain Flour 300 gms

Baking powder 1 1/2 spoons

Milk 2-3 tablespoon

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line the cake mould with silver foil as the bottom may stick due to mawa. Take butter in a bowl, add sugar and whisk together till light and creamy. Add mawa to the butter mixture and continue to whisk. Put Plain flower and baking powder into a strainer and sieve the mixture into the butter mixture

Break the eggs into another bowl and whisk with an electric blender till frothy and should become 4 times in volume.

In this cake egg is added the last so that the batter becomes airy again so that the cake is dense yet fluffy. Blend the eggs slowly.

Add 2 -3 tabsp milk to get the correct pouring consistency of batter. You may decrease or increase the milk quantity accordingly.

Pour the batter into the mould. I’ve used 6 inch cake moulds and I could make two cakes at one time with these ingredients. After all, may I humbly add that these cakes are shared with many in my neighbourhood .

Bake the cake for 20-25 minutes at 200 degree centigrade. The toothpick inserted inside the middle of the cake should come out clean.

Rest the cake for 5-10 minutes before cutting it as it may be very soft.

My husband Swami insisted I put some candied fruits in one of the cake hence you see some pieces on top with the fruits in it. You may sprinkle some icing sugar before serving the pieces and every bite of this cake will make you realize that living today was worth all the effort.

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Tags: aradhna's recipe cake canon 7d eggs flour khoa mawa Mawa cake

Cheese Stuffed Bread

May 16th, 2011

Cheese Stuffed Bread, originally uploaded by Swami Stream.

Via Flickr:
This frsh out of oven with a slight brushing of butter on the top. Aradhna made this

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Tags: aradhna recipe cheese stuffed bread Food

Recipe for Mango Mousse Pie

May 8th, 2011

Whenever an Indian hears the word ‘pie’ a picture of ‘western food’ comes in our minds, something evasive and not easy to work with in kitchen. When I started baking a few years ago the word ‘pie’ for me was synonymous with ‘formidable’ and ‘cant be done’ . Another article I read once mentioned that the Sushi chefs and Pastry chefs are the Rajnikant Gods of all the chefs in the world. Well that did not help my confidence in any way because which imbecile can compete with Rajni

One of these days my husband was looking at some photos of cheese topped pie on flickr and starting salivating. The photos he shared also did not make my baker gene kick in to pick up this challenge.

April brought in pre- Mango season and with it came our impatience to buy non ripe yet expensive mangoes. I went to the market last weekend and said two prayers. I saw an expensive lovely dress and secretly prayed for a miracle to fit into two sizes smaller and also get a 95% discount on it. Also I saw fresh yet expensive Mangoes and though there was no great smell but again prayed they miraculously be golden juicy and sweet from within.

The mangoes as expected were sour and whitish from within and everyone in my family made a face and pushed it away. Now the challenge kicked in. I shall not throw it away. After making aam panna with a few of them I decided to look for more mango recipes in my cook books. After reading through the mango mousse, mango cake which did not impress me I came to …lo and behold… the MANGO MOUSSE PIE. Well, here I was again staring at the monster needed to be conquered like that dress I was coveting.

I did a lot to research and came to the conclusion that I will go further with the pie shell making and then move on to the mango filling. If one failed at least I can convert the mango filling to the mango mousse. I decided to make pie shell from scratch.

Here is the recipe for it. I’ve taken help from Rachel Allen baking methods of making pie crust and mango filling is my own. And yes the satisfaction of saying ‘my own recipe’ is amazing. I did have to put a lot of sugar to overcome the sour taste of mangoes so you may reduce sugar if you are using ripe mangoes.

Ingredients : for making Two 6 inch pies

For Pie shell or short crust pastry :

Plain flour - 200 gms

Butter - 100 gms

Icing sugar - 2 tabspoon

Egg – 1

Put the flour, butter and icing sugar in a bowl rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Do not over process it. Use cold butter cubes, though in the summer heat of India nothing remains cold for long so one can only hope to be quick with this process.

Add half the beaten egg and continue to mix.

You might add a little more egg, but not too much as the mixture should be just moist enough to come together.

Spread out cling wrap and flatten out the ball of dough, then wrap it in cling film and place it on the pie dish and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Needless to say you need to use the pie dish for making pie. One can attempt a pie with borosil glass ones as well but taking it out and cutting the pie can get messy. After all after so much of effort, we do not want it getting spoiled. Once you’re done cooking this the phrase ‘pie in the face’ shall hold a whole new meaning for you. Roll out the pastry with cling wrap on top and bottom till it’s about 2 cm thick and big enough to fit the pie dish edges. Then peel away the top cling wrap and gently put it on top of the pie dish.

Gently fit it in and cut out the edges with your fingers and then peel away the cling wrap. Voila! The pie dish is ready for baking.

Blind Baking is a technique where you cook the pie shell without any filling. Preheat the oven to 180 degree centigrade. Cover the base of pie with the two-three folds of cling wrap. Fill the cling wrap with baking beans or any beans you have and bake blind for 10-15 minutes.

Remove the beans and cling wrap. Check if the pie is cooked by touching the surface, it should be dry. Bake again for the last five minutes of baking for a golden crust.

For Mango mousse filling

Mangoes – 3 big or 4 small

Cream - 250 ml

Icing sugar - 100 gms

Caster sugar – 100 gms

Mango essence - 5- 6 drops (optional)

Custard powder – 2 tablespoon

Milk - ¼ cup for mixing custard

Make a fine paste of mangoes and add castor sugar and 100-120 ml of cream in it and heat it. When starts boiling mix custard powder in milk and add to it and cook for few more minutes. It should be a thick paste by now. Add 50 gms or more icing sugar according to taste or sourness of the mango. Cool the filling. Once cooled add mango essence. This is optional but quite helpful as no matter which mango you use the essence will give it a lovely smell.

Pour it in the cooled pie shell. Now it depends on how much your heart can take the filling vis a vis cream. This filling is good for two 6 inch pie dishes. Accordingly leave space for cream or fill it to the brim and keep it in the fridge to cool for 3-4 hours. In the mean time whip the cream and left over icing sugar and mix in few drops of mango essence.

Decorate the cooled pie with whipped cream, some mint leaves and cherries. You may also fill the entire top with cream. A pie definitely not for the weak hearted but for the happy hearted

A slice of this pie will make you dream for more and will make you realize that living today was worth all the effort.

P.S …And yes if you are still guessing about my other prayer…. I did not buy the dress for reasons untold.

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Recipe of Chilli Garlic Bread

May 1st, 2011

I have been getting requests to share my bread recipe. With a 16 month old on my back its becomes a daunting task to enter

the kitchen without the inevitable innocent faced mentally controlling me. He will be wanting to step into the kitchen,

leaving all the toys aside at the exact moment i would be kneading the dough and am helpless to stop him from reaching my

shelves. With the leg manouvre, even Beckham would be envious off, I have often stopped him from reaching atleast the most

coveted dustbin. Well… as exasperated a new mom could be ( can i call myself a new mom anymore, I wonder) I keep on cooking

and have become a bake-a-holic with my husband’s constant requests to taste more baked items. All these breads, cakes,

cupcakes, casseroles, pizzas, rolls, au gratin etc are definitely not helping our waistlines but are helping a great deal in

busting my stress and keeping me from knawing my husband away with constant demands .And may I proudly add that we do not

bring any ‘pizza base’ home anymore. Yes! I make it from scratch.:)

Here is the most basic recipe with tit bits of experiences with Bread. You need very few ingredients to make a basic bread.

This recipe caters to a foot long bread. You may omit using garlic chilly and make it lovely soft plain bread as well.

I have been getting requests to share my bread recipe. With a 16 month old on my back its becomes a daunting task to enter the kitchen without the inevitable innocent faced mentally controlling me. He will be wanting to step into the kitchen, leaving all the toys aside at the exact moment i would be kneading the dough and am helpless to stop him from reaching my shelves. With the leg maneuver, even Beckham would be envious off, I have often stopped him from reaching at least the most coveted dustbin.

Well… as exasperated a new mom could be ( can i call myself a new mom anymore, I wonder) I keep on cooking and have become a bake-a-holic with my husband’s constant requests to taste more baked items. All these breads, cakes, cupcakes, casseroles, pizzas, rolls, Au gratin etc are definitely not helping our waistlines but are helping a great deal in busting my stress and keeping me from gnawing my husband away with constant demands .And may I proudly add that we do not bring any ‘pizza base’ home anymore. Yes! I make it from scratch.:)

Here is the most basic recipe with tit bits of experiences with Bread. You need very few ingredients to make a basic bread. This recipe caters to a foot long bread. You may omit using garlic chilly and make it lovely soft plain bread as well.

Ingredients :

Plain Flour = 3 cups

Water = 1 and a half cup

Green Chillies = 1

Garlic clove = 2 flakes

Fresh Yeast = 5-7 gms

Salt = 3/4 sp

Sugar = 1 sp

Egg (optional) = 1

Nigella seeds, Paprika, Oregano – to sprinkle on top

Now here is the tricky part, which makes your entire IQ go for a toss: Activating YEAST.

The first bread I made became rock hard and even the cow in my maid’s house refused to eat it. And why? Because of the yeast. I thought how difficult can it be, mix hot water and sugar and put yeast in it, wait for 10 minutes and blend it with flour. I was so so wrong. You have to have the yeast done right. That’s the first and last preparation required for a great bread.

Rule of thumb : If you are using dried yeast take 3-4 gms, if by some providence you can buy fresh yeast somewhere in India, use a little more. Almost all firang books will tell you to use ‘strong flour’, and you would think it would make you stronger. Far from it. It’s just flour high in gluten. Gluten is what you try to bring out in the flour to get that lovely bread texture. i would love to get my hands on one to see the difference but still haven’t been that lucky.

The water has to be lukewarm, and by luke warm I mean like the baby’s milk warmth, nothing more nothing less. Water measure has to be half of the amount taken for flour. Mix sugar in it and put the yeast in it and leave it aside for 5-7 minutes. You will see bubbles rising or a fascinating sight of yeast first sinking and then coming up like balloons have been set free under water. If you do not see any of this magic, then it means two things. Either the water is too hot or too cold. If the water is too hot it will kill the yeast and if too cold then yeast will remain dormant

Crush the garlic and chillies in pestle mortar. After measuring out the flour in a mixing bowl mix salt and chilly garlic in it and keep it aside while you prepare the yeast. After you see yeast getting activated, do not wait any further and mix it with the flour and knead it. Ive done it lazily in processor but using hands are absolutely fine. The dough will be little sticky and you may use a few drops of oil to make it more manageable. Knead it for 10 minutes by clock. Do not chicken out at this stage. Its crucial to get the gluten out of the flour, which in turn will help the bread to become soft and fluffy.

After 10 minutes of kneading make a round roll and press with three fingers gently. The dough should be springy and should come back to shape again where you have pressed it. If this does not happen then knead for a few more minutes.

Take the stickiness out by using few drops of oil and put the dough in a vessel where there is room for dough to double in size. Put a cling wrap on top of vessel and put the vessel in a warm place. If making bread in winters then switch on oven at 180 degrees for 5 minutes, switch it off and put the vessel in the oven where its warm.

The Proofing will start in the vessel and the dough will become almost double in size in about an hour.

Needless to say a baking tin is required, you may also use a cake tin to make round bread and who will stop you from calling it Lebanese Rectangular Bread tin will give you the right bread shape. But let the creative juices flow while baking and allow your hands to give the bread dough any shape or size.

Take out the dough and punch in the air for dough and now you may give it any shape or size based on what container you wish to cook in. I’m posting other shapes of bread as well. After giving it the required shape, place it in the container which is brushed with flour. Let it proof again for 25 minutes and you will see it rising again to almost double size.

Break an egg in a bowl and use a brush to egg wash the bread on top. Vegetarians may omit this step, its just that the egg wash will give the top of bread a glossy finish.

Decorate the bread now with paprika, Nigella seeds and oregano. Again you may use your imagination and can put olives on top or coriander leaves or anything you think will taste good with bread.

Oven should be warm with 190-200 degree centigrade. Now every oven in my opinion varies in the convection heat they produce even if you use same temperature. Mine gets pretty hot at 190 degrees so i use that. Bread needs more heat than cake. Place the container in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. The test of bread being cooked is the hollow sound it will make when you tap it gently with a wooden spoon. If it has still not browned or still sounds like a dull thud then bake it again for 5-7 more minutes. Unlike a cake you can take it out of the oven and check the sound and it will thankfully not collapse. That’s the advantage of making bread at home.

Let the bread rest on a wire mesh for 10 minutes as slicing it will be easy. Enjoy the slices with hot melting butter on top. The aroma of freshly baked garlic bread in the house will make you realize that living today was worth all the effort.