Kashmiri Pulao/Pilaf ~ a royal treat

Yes, you read it right. This pilaf is fit for a king, fit to be in the kitchen of kings and queens and fit for everyone out there. Its sweet from the crunch of the fruits, mildly spiced and rich from those ghee roasted cashew bits. Is that enough reason for you to try this dish atleast once. Yes, try it once and you will be hooked to it or else you would want to try it atleast once every month, a change from the regular spicy and masala-y biryanis. Atleast that's what has happened in our case.

I love to try new dishes much to the huss's annoyance. He always sticks to the tried and tested recipes. Once during a common friend's treat, we ordered an Indian bread basket. It had naans, tandoori rotis, stuffed phulkas and a heavily buttered Kashmiri naan which was totally ignored by everyone. It sat there beautifully studded with red and green tutti frutties and that made me grab the naan. I totally loved it ~ the slight hint of sweetness worked out great for me and since then its been Kashmiri naan for me.

But Kashmiri pilaf has never made it to my plate till date. Whenever I imagined Kashmiri pilaf, all I got was an overdose of sweetness. And so when the question of weekend lunch was thrown during the weekday dinner, I thought of giving this a go mainly because I was in control of what went into the pressure cooker. I browsed for recipes but was not satisfied with what came up and hence went by my instincts. It came out good and I am sure I will be making this often. I made a simple potato masala to go with it and the two teamed up great.

~*What U Need*~ Basmati rice - 1 1/2 cups Water - 1 cup Milk - 2 cups Cinnamon - 1" stick Cloves - 2 Cardamom pods - 2 Bay leaf - 1 Onions - 2 + 1/2, sliced Green chilli - 1 Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp Tutti frutti - 1/4 cup Fruits, chopped - 1 cup(apple, pineapple, pomegranate) Raisins - 2 tbsp Broken cashews - 2 tbsp Ghee - 1+2 tbsp Oil - 2 tbsp Warm milk - 1 tbsp Saffron - 1/2 tsp

How I Made it:
Clean and soak basmati rice for 15 mins. Add the saffron to the warm milk and set aside for 10 mins. Chop the fruits and set aside. Fry the raisins and cashews in 1 tbsp ghee till golden and puffy.

Heat the remaining ghee in a pressure cooker. Add the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and bay-leaf and fry. Add the slit green chilli and fry.

Add the sliced onions (from 2 onions) and saute till golden and soft. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute. Once done, add the water, milk and soaked basmati rice and pressure cook for 2 whistles. Meanwhile deep fry the remaining sliced onions till brown.

Once the rice is done, fluff with a fork. Sprinkle the soaked saffron mixture onto the rice and fluff. Add the frutis, half of the fried onions, fried raisins and cashews and mix carefully not to break the rice.

Serve warm with the remaining fried onions!!!

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

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Overnight Christmas Fruit Cake | Merry Christmas

Jingle bells... Jingle bells... Jingle all the way... Yaaayyyy... its carols and merriment everywhere. and so it is here in my space too. Merry Christmas to all my readers.
I spent half of my school days in a Christian school and hence I am very much tied to the season. I had sung carols and played 'Mother Mary' in the nativity play. I still remember the tune of all the carols and I love everything Christmassy. Carols, fruit cakes, and not to forget Santa claus are all a part and parcel of my childhood memories. When I told the huss that I am making a rum soaked fruit cake for Christmas, he simply asked my "Why are you going Christmassy?" I might not have my roots stuck to the religion but cakes and celebration know no religion and so does the individual (...and thats me) who eats cakes. Now the huss was not against the thought and all he needed at the end was his portion of the rich rum soaked cake.

I actually planned to make the cake few weeks back, allow it to age brushing rum every other day and finally have a bite on Christmas. But then nothing goes as per my plan these days and with the huss flying abroad, I didn't find any reason to make the cake and so didn't soak any fruits and nuts before-hand. I whipped the batter after repeated requests from my huss. Just go by the plan, he said. So finally pulled myself together and made this overnight fruit cake.

I already have a fruit cake in my space but I prepared that using fruits soaked in red wine for a month. This is a keeper if you have not pre-soaked your fruits. It is no less in flavor and tastes fruity and delicious. I suggest let the cake age for atleast 3 days, the flavor intensifies as days go by. I had mine aged for 3 days.

~*What U Need*~ All purpose flour - 1 cup Icing / confectioner's sugar - 1/2 cup Demerera sugar - 1/4 cup Butter - 100 gms Eggs - 2, separated Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp Baking powder - 1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp Ginger powder - 1/8 tsp Black raisins - 1/2 cup Dates - 1/2 cup, chopped Tutti frutti - 1/4 cup Cashew nuts - 1/2 cup Orange flavored rum - 1/2 cup, divided For the Caramel syrup: Sugar - 3 tbsp Water - 1 1/2 tbsp Boiling water - 1/4 cup

How I Made it:
Lets make the caramel water first. In a small pan, take the sugar and water and swirl. Heat in medium flame until the sugar turns deep amber, add the boiling water and mix till the caramel has dissolved. Set aside. In a pan, add 1/4 cup rum, dates, raisins, tutti frutti chunks and cook everything in medium flame till the dry fruits have moistened. Finally add the cashews, cook till the rum is absorbed. Put this in an air tight container, add the remaining rum and leave it overnight.

Preheat the oven to 170 C. Sieve the flour with cinnamon powder, ginger powder and baking powder. Set aside. Beat together the butter and sugar in a bowl until it turns creamy.

Add one egg yolk at a time and beat till well blended. Add the flour little by little and beat together. Add the vanilla extract and caramel syrup and blend well. Add the fruit and nut mixture to the mixing bowl and gently mix it with a spatula.

Grease well a round baking pan with butter and keep aside. Beat the egg whites in an another bowl with a pinch of salt until it turns fluffy with soft peaks. Fold the egg whites into the cake batter gently. Pour this cake batter to the greased baking pan and bake for 45-50 minutes or a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool completely. (..sorry missed to click these pictures)

Serve dusted with icing sugar.

** My Notes:
** U can replace demerera with brown sugar too.
** I used a mix of broken cashew nuts, sliced almonds, chopped pistachios and chironji nuts
** You can use any type of rum or brandy. I used orange scented Bacardi rum
** If you want a non alcoholic version, substitute rum with orange juice or apple juice. Orange juice works best
** The cake tastes best when aged. Wrap in cling film or aluminium foil and store.
** I aged mine for 5 days. It was then cut and packed off for relatives. Will try to update the post with a cut piece the next time I make this.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

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A comeback, wishes, 'nd a cake ~Fruit Cake / Christmas Plum Cake

...118 days or 3 months 27 days or 16 weeks. Wondering what this is all about. Well, I have been away from the blogging world for an approx of 4 months and I would say that it was for a good reason. I had loved and hated this break as well. Hate as I had to stop doing one thing that I most loved and love.. well lets come back to that later.

So dears, hows it going with all of you. Hope everything is good with everyone... and thanks to all my dear friends who stayed in touch with me when I was away. U guys were one reason that I missed blogging.
Hope you welcomed the new year with utmost joy and had a great time celebrating the day. HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL YOU GUYS...

I am hoping to blog frequently here on but lets just see how everything happens... So now to the reason why I was away for such a long time. I am so happy to tell all you guys that me and huss are waiting for the arrival of our little angel in another 4 months. The past months have been so tiring with all the morning sickness and dizziness but in addition to that was taking in every second of the happiness of motherhood and all the pampering that I received. It was only this month that I visited the kitchen properly ...let alone cooking. So it was just dosas and chutneys / upmas, nothing special or new. But then with Christmas and new year, I wanted to make my way back, the original me who baked, tried and fried. What best than with the traditional Christmas fruit cake / plum cake.

I had intended to bake the cake on Christmas but moved the plans for New Year as huss's friends were showing up and so baked this for them.
Verdict from the men:
Soft, moist, fruity and truly addictive.

~*What U Need*~
For caramel water:
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Water - 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp

For the cake:
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Butter - 1/2 cup
Dried fruits - 1 cup (chopped dates, tutti frutti, black raisins, dried grapes, dried figs)
Dried nuts - 1/2 cup (toasted and chopped almonds, cashews and walnuts
Eggs - 2
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Salt - a huge pinch
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Rum/Brandy/Red Wine - 1/2 cup

How I Made it:
In a non-stick pan, add sugar and 1 tbsp of water at low flame. Warm 1/2 cup of water. When the sugar turns light brown to dark add the water slowly. Be careful when adding in the water. It splutters so maintain a distance from the pan. Shake and keep aside. Let it cool completely.

Soak dried fruits in red wine for 1 -2 days. I did it for 1 week.

Lets Bake:
Grease the cake pan and place buttered parchment paper in the base alone.
In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs and again beat. Combine caramel water, vanilla extract, garam masala, salt and beat well

Sift APF, baking soda and baking powder thrice.

Add this to the wet ingredients and fold in together. Strain the dry fruits from the juice. Fold in the dry fruits.
Pour the batter into the pan.
Mix the dry nuts with 1 tbsp flour. Spread the nuts on the top of the batter.
Bake at 180°C in a pre-heated oven for 40 to 50 minutes or until the tester comes out clean.
Cool completely. Insert the knife in the edges of the cake to loosen it. Invert it on a wire rack. At this stage, the cake will be sticky.

Slice and enjoy.

So thats it Folks...
With Love,

Signs off!!!

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Black Forest Cake for Parent's Anniversary

It was my parent's anniversary yesterday and it was special to us as my dad had turned 60 this year and so it was their Sashtiapthapoorthi (a special function that is celebrated when the husband reaches 60).
I wanted to make THEIR DAY so very special and was confused to drill down on what to do when huss dear jumped in to save my day. Proud of my baking skills these days, he asked me to bake and decorate a full cake for the midnight celebrations. I always wanted to bake and decorate a whole cake from scratch after looking into all the lovely blogs out here but was too frightened to take this up. But Mr.A motivated me into this process and yeah I baked my first complete cake yesterday and it was a hit with everyone.
My mom and dad were proud of their little girl and were happy to look at the love and effort that I had put in that had transformed into a wonderful cake in front of their eyes. They were too touched and did not want to cut their little angel's creation.

So when it came to bake the cake, the first question that popped was what kinda cake to bake... My mom is a die-hard fan of black forest cake and what else would come into my mind. So black forest it is...

So next to the recipe... I was confused which recipe to follow because I do not have an oven at present and whatever I have blogged about were steamed ones only. So I needed a steamed chocolate cake recipe for the base cake and finally found one at Divya Kudua’s Easy cooking
So onto the recipe;

~* Ingredients *~

For the chocolate cake:
All purpose flour – 1 cup
Dark Cocoa powder – 4 tbsp
Sugar – 1 cup
Baking powder – 1 tsp
Baking soda – ½ tsp
Salt – a pinch
Milk – 1 cup
Vinegar – 1 tsp
Egg – 1
Melted butter – 1 tsp
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

For the sugar syrup
Sugar – ½ cup
Water – ½ cup
Or
Orange Juice – 1 cup

For the cream
Whipping cream – 200 ml
Powdered sugar – 3-4 tbsp
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Others
Finely chopped cherries – ½ cup
Halved Cherries – 3 - 4
Dark Chocolate shavings – 1 cup
Chocolate vermicelli / Silver sugar balls / Colored sugar balls
**Keep all the above refrigerated till use

The Making:
Of Steamed Chocolate Cake:
Add the vinegar to milk and mix well with a spoon.
Set aside for few minutes after which the milk will start to curdle and become sour milk Sift together all purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt thrice

Melt the butter. Cream the sugar and butter together

Add the egg and mix well till creamy. Add the vanilla essence and beat well

Add the sour milk and combine everything without any lumps. Now add the flour mixture and fold in till well combined and lump-free

Grease a baking pan with butter and pour in the batter

Place it in a steamer and steam for 30 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Tips: Cover the pan tightly using aluminum foil so that the steam does not escape. This is optional. I skipped this.
Once done allow it to cool completely and then remove the cake.
Refrigerate the cake till use. This will ensure that when decorating the cake, you won’t have lot many crumbs.

Of Sugar syrup:
In a thick bottom pan, mix the sugar and water and boil till the sugar melts.
Keep aside to cool.
You can also use orange juice. I used half of sugar syrup and half of orange juice.
Using orange juice gives a bit of tanginess to the cake which we loved. The dark chocolate complimented the citrussy flavor very well. Next time I will be using orange juice only because I feel that this will make the cake moister. So waiting to experiment.

Of Whipped Cream filling:
Place the cream and the beater blades in the freezer for about half an hour.
In a large bowl, add sugar and essence to the chilled cream

Beat well till the cream is thick and forms soft peaks

Keep refrigerated till use.

Assembling the cake:
Cut the cake into 3 layers horizontally using a serrated knife. Mine was a small cake and hence I cut it into 2 layers Keep one layer of the cake on the serving plate.
Sprinkle 3-4 tablespoons of sugar syrup / orange juice on it. You can also brush the cake with the sugar syrup using a bakery brush
Now spread a dollop (3 to 4 tbsp) of whipped cream on top of the cake. Smooth it out with a spatula or knife dipped in chilled water.
Add the chopped cherries on top. Repeat with other layers if any.
Crumb coat the entire cake with a layer of whipped cream. Smooth out the cream. Refrigerate for 1 hour

Again cover the cake completely with whipped cream on all sides and the top.
This time use more cream so that the frosting thickness is atleast half centimeter, Level the top and sides with a broad spatula dipped in chilled water.
Scoop out the excess whipping cream into a piping bag and decorate the sides of the cake. This is also optional. I used the Star nozzle and used the following icing model.

Decorate the top and sides with chocolate shavings, halved cherries and colored sugar balls. Keep chilled in the fridge till use.

Note: My mom and I are ardent fans of dark chocolate and hence I have used dark cocoa powder and dark chocolate shavings. You can use milk chocolate as well.
I dedicate this post to my lovely family (my mom, dad, huss and brother dear). A special dedication to my brother who is currently residing in the US and whom we missed a lot throughout the celebrations... Miss u dear and wish you were here...

Sending this to Treat to Eyes: Series 2 held at Rumana's blog

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A wish and a cake ~*Tutti Frutti Steamed Cake*~

Wishing all the wonderful women out there "A Happy Woman's day".
I dedicate this post to the most beautiful women in life "OUR MOMS"...
May the good lord bless each one of us with love and all pleasures...
So hope all you guys had a blast on this day as this is the day where all women around the world will be pampered. I asked my huss wat was my gift and he went on to tell "Why do you need a gift when you are always special to me?" Grrrrrr went I. And then he promised me to take me shopping today evening. As I am totally into cooking, baking and clicking these days he asked me to choose my own gift... Yayyyyyyyyyyy went I.

So now onto the recipe. This cake goes for a victory, a wish and a dedication.

Baking cakes in my oven with a slightest wish that the cake would come out soft and spongy just as I see in fellow blogger posts has become a routine for me. But every attempt turned out to be a failure. Then I came across a blog which said "Steamed cake" and I got my answer. So turned away from the MW and towards my loyal pressure cooker and the end result the cake was soft and too good...
Huss and me loved the texture and gobbled down the entire lot...


So off to the recipe...

~* Ingredients *~
All purpose flour - 1 cup / 100 gms
Sugar - 3/4 cup / 75 gms
Butter - 1 stick
Milk - 1 cup
Egg - 1
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Vanilla essence - 1 1/2 tsp
Tutti Frutti - 1/2 cup

The Making:
Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda thrice.
Combine butter and sugar with an electric mixer till creamy
Then add the egg and beat well till foamy and creamy.
Add in vanilla essence and mix well.
Now add in the milk beat well till all is combined.
Next add the flour, baking powder, soda mixture.
Finally fold in tutti frutti's , mix gently, do not overmix. Pour the batter into a greased pan and pat it on floor to ensure the batter is even on all sides of the loaf.

Set up a steamer and place the pan without touching the water. Steam till done (approx 30 mins) / till a inserted skewer comes out clean.

In case of ovens, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. for 35-40 mins until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Remove from steamer / oven, cool completely and then slice.

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