Baked Plantain Chips

Every time I buy plantains, it usually is to make a thoran or a kootu curry.  This time I decided to do something different and make chips.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil and grease well.

Peel 2 plantains (green bananas) and slice into very thin rounds. 

Toss with oil, salt, pepper and red chilli powder and mix well.

Arrange the rounds in a single layer on the baking sheets and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until crisp, turning the chips over halfway through the process.

>Custard Powder Cake

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An unusual combination of ingredients – custard powder, cream cheese, and sour cream, along with a few kitchen and pantry staples come together in this recipe.

I found a recipe on Aparna’s blog that I used as a reference point but ended up making a whole lot of changes to it, adapting it to suit the ingredients I had on hand.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease your baking pan of choice. I used silicone bakeware (a mini loaf pan and a rose-shaped baking mold). This gave me a mini loaf and 6 mini cakes.

In a large bowl, mix together:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¾ cup vanilla flavored custard powder (I used the Brown and Polson brand)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• A pinch of salt

In another bowl, mix the following very well:

• 5 Tbsp softened butter
• 3 Tbsp sour cream
• 4 Tbsp cream cheese
• ¾ cup + 2 Tbsp sugar (the cake was not sweet enough for me in the end)
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ cup milk

Combine the dry and wet ingredients together.

Stir in:

• ¼ cup chopped sun-ripened cranberries
• ½ cup chopped toasted hazelnuts (reserve some for sprinkling on top of the prepared batter)

Transfer the batter to the prepared pans and sprinkle the reserved hazelnuts on top.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. My mini loaf took about 40 minutes while the small cakes were done in 30-32 minutes.

Notes:

The cakes were a little too dry for my taste and I was not very happy with their texture.

I had to use a chocolate glaze to top the cakes since they were not sweet enough; I’ll increase the amount of sugar if I ever make these again.

I’m glad I decided to add the toasted hazelnuts to the batter and as a topping for the cakes- in the end that was what gave the cakes their flavor.

I’m not sure I’d make the custard powder cakes again without completely changing a lot of things about the recipe!

>Wordless Wednesday: Coffee

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Come Alive With Nescafe!

>Strawberry Cake

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I’ve been baking a lot lately. Here is a strawberry cake I made recently using a recipe from the Martha Stewart website.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar (set aside 2-4 tsp for sprinkling over strawberries)
• 1 egg
• ½ cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2-2 ½ cups of sliced strawberries

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease your baking dish of choice. I wanted to bake this cake in smaller batches, so I used a small baking dish and 2 mini loaf pans instead of the 10-inch pie dish used in the recipe.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, beat together the egg, softened butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Stir in the flour mixture in small batches and mix well after each addition.

Transfer the batter to the prepared baking dishes. Arrange the sliced strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down, and sprinkle the remaining sugar over the strawberries.

Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Slice and serve.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

>Strawberry Balsamic Jam

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Last year, I made jam for the very first time. The process was pretty simple and straightforward and not as daunting as I had thought it would be. Yesterday, after a very long time, I made another batch of the same jam. I used my original recipe but made a couple of changes. This time I added a splash of balsamic vinegar to the strawberries while they were cooking. I also substituted the cloves with some nutmeg. Both balsamic vinegar and nutmeg turned out to be fantastic additions to the recipe and the resulting jam had the most wonderful taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 16 oz. pack of strawberries, hulled and chopped
• ½ – ¾ cup sugar (I used ½ cup- adjust according to your taste and sweetness of the strawberries)
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• Juice of half a lime
• 1/4 tsp or a large pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• A pinch of salt

Method:
Place the chopped strawberries in a saucepan and cook, stirring frequently until the juices are released. Crush the larger pieces of fruit.

When it starts to boil, add the sugar, balsamic vinegar, lime juice, nutmeg powder and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (it took me about 25-30 minutes).

Allow the jam to cool and transfer it to a clean jar. Store in the refrigerator. It will keep for at least a week.

>Besan Laddoo

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Although I love Indian sweets, I usually wait for a festive occasion to make them make at home- preparing sweets seems far too time-consuming and labor-intensive to do so otherwise.

These besan laddoos made in the microwave are an exception, though, and take less than 15 minutes to make, from start to finish. I first noticed the recipe on Tee’s blog, Bhaatukli, a few years back and I’ve been following her method ever since. Since this is such a fuss-free recipe, I make these laddoos every now and then without even waiting for a special occasion.

Please refer to Tee’s post for detailed instructions on making these laddoos.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup besan (chickpea flour)
• ¾ cup + 2 tsp sugar
• 8-10 Tbsp ghee
• ¼ tsp cardamom powder
• A handful of raisins

Method:
In a microwave-safe bowl, mix together the besan and ghee. Cook the mixture in the microwave for 6-8 minutes stirring and mixing every 45 seconds or so. As the besan roasts, it turns a darker shade of yellow and becomes fragrant.

When the besan is cooked and while the mixture is still hot, add the sugar, cardamom powder and a handful of raisins and mix well. Shape into small balls. Store in an airtight container.

>Poha

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This is a breakfast dish that comes together very quickly using simple pantry and kitchen staples.

Ingredients:

(For 3-4 servings)

• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• A pinch of asafoetida
• 4 green chillies, minced
• 4-5 curry leaves
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• A pinch of turmeric
• 2 potatoes, cubed
• 2 ½ cups thick poha (beaten rice)
• ½ cup coriander leaves
• 3 tsp sugar
• Juice of a lemon
• Salt to taste

Method:

Rinse the flattened rice flakes and drain off the excess water. Place in a bowl and pour over just enough boiling water to cover. Let it stand for 5-10 minutes. The rice flakes will absorb the water and swell. Make sure you’re using the thick variety of poha here- the thin kind will just fall apart. Fluff with a fork and set aside

Heat oil in a large pan and add the mustard seeds, asafoetida, chillies, curry leaves and turmeric followed by the onions. When the onions turn soft, add the potatoes and cover and cook till they’re done.

Stir in the rice flakes and mix. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the chopped coriander leaves and sugar. Take the pan off the heat and add the lemon juice. Serve hot.

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