Thursday, November 26, 2009
Mung Bean + Raw Papaya = A thoran at its best!
The incessant rains have stopped and the climate here is pleasant. With a pleasant weather and an urge to make one among the many of my comfort food, I set about doing just that... The comfort one here being a thoran that contains pacha payar (mung bean) thoran. I love mung bean with anything..Just off the cooking pan is what I like the best. Normally when I make thoran using payar, it always has either cabbage, cauliflower to accompany it.
This time around a papaya tree in my vicinity that I have been waiting to see bear fruit finally did. It did bear a lone papaya. While craving for payar thoran, with no above-mentioned pairing to go with, I used the papaya. An unripe green papaya is what I used.
So, what you need for this thoran are:
Mung bean-1 cup, boiledRaw Papaya (medium sized)-1 chopped
Grated Coconut-1 cup
Green Chillies-2
Garlic-1 pod
Turmeric Powder-1/4t
Mustard Seeds-1/4t
Curry Leaves- a sprig
Shallots-5 sliced thinlyCoconut Oil- 2T
Grind coconut, green chillies, garlic and turmeric powder.. to a coarse paste..Heat oil preferably coconut oil. Add the mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Add the sliced shallots and fry until they soften. The coarse paste follows this. Add the chopped papaya. Add 1/4 cup of water and cover and allow the papaya to cook, which takes just 3-4 minutes. Add in the boiled mung beans and stir the mixture and cover and cook until all the moisture content evaporates. Finally do a salt check and sprinkle curry leaves and serve.
So there you go.. This thoran, white rice, and moru (curry made from yoghurt) is the ultimate comfort food. Served warm, this simple yet very tasty thoran would be so for anyone who tries this.
Since this thoran contains mung beans that belong to the Fabaceae family, this thoan makes my entry to MLLA-17 hosted by Sra, an event created by Susan.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Burnt Sugar Cupcakes and mini bundts....
The making of the cake requires a burnt sugar syrup which needs to be done pretty carefully. Despite adding the boiling water along the sides of the pan, the liquid bubbled and spurted but thankfully it didn't harm anyone. The burnt sugar frosting was a breeze to work with as well but was too sweet for my liking.
November’s Cake: Burnt Sugar Cake(Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)For the Cake3 cups all purpose flour1 tbsp baking powder½ tsp salt1 tsp vanilla extract1 cup milk1 cup (2 sticks) butter1¾ cups sugar4 eggs½ cup Burnt Sugar Syrup (below)For the Burnt Sugar Syrup1 cup sugar1 cup boiling waterFor the Burnt Sugar Frosting3¾ cups confectioners sugar½ cup Burnt Sugar Syrup (above)¼ cup (½ stick) butter½ tsp vanilla extract2 – 3 tbsp evaporated milk or normal milkMethod – Burnt Sugar SyrupHeat the sugar in a cast iron skillet or another heavy bottomed pan with high sides. Heat over a medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar melts into a clear brown caramel syrup. It should be the colour of tea. Gradually add the boiling water, pouring it down the sides of the pan so that if the syrup foams and bubbles up, you should be protected.Continue cooking, stirring often, until the water combines with the syrup and turns a handsome brown syrup. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Store the cooled syrup in a sealed jar if not using straight away.Method - CakeHeat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9 inch round cake pans.In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and stir with a fork to mix well. Stir the vanilla into the milk.In a large bowl, beat the butter and the sugar with an electric mixer at high speed for 2 – 3 minutes, until they are well combined. Stop now and then to scrape the bowl down. Add the eggs, one by one, beating well each time. Pour in half a cup of the burnt sugar syrup and beat well. Add a third of the flour mixture and about half of the milk, beating at a low speed, until just incorporated. Mix in another third of the flour and the rest of the milk. Finally, add the remaining flour.Divide the batter between the cake pans and bake at 350F for 20 to 25 minutes until the cakes are golden brown, spring back when touched gently in the centre and begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Let the cakes cool in the pans on a wire rack for15 minutes. Turn out the cakes into the wire rack to cool completely.Method – Burnt Sugar FrostingIn a large bowl, combine the confectioners sugar, the burnt sugar syrup, butter and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at medium speed for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl now and then to bring the ingredients together. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and continue beating until the frosting is thick, soft, smooth and easy to spread. Add a little more sugar if it is thin, and a little more milk if it is too thick.To AssemblePlace one layer, top side down, on a cake stand or serving plate. Scoop about ¾ cup of the frosting onto the cake. Spread to the edges and place the second cake layer over it, top side down. Frost the sides of the cake, and then the top until it is evenly covered.
Do remember to check what my fellow Cake Slice bakers baked.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Persimmon and Almond Loaf
I bought a couple of persimmons a few weeks back.... These are common in the Indian market only since the past couple of years... I love all fruits but this is one fruit that is not quite to my liking...The only thing I like about this fruit is the inner shade of colour, the shape and that it is seedless. I know that there are two kinds of persimmons-fuyu and the hachiya. The first time I had this fruit, i promised myself I would not ever buy it again owing to it being unpalatable...until I realized the so-called variety had to ripened well to remove that astringent quality..and so after a year when I saw them at the store, I bought a few of them...After eating one and no more takers in the house for the fruits,it stayed in the refrigerator until I found a neat recipe and I did at Susan's Fatfree Vegan Kitchen.
Persimmon Bread (from here with my substitutions in italics)
1 C pulp of persimmon
1T lemon juice
2 T applesauce
1/2 cup agave nectar (I used honey instead.)
2 C whole wheat flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t ginger (Fresh ground ginger)
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1/4 cup raisins (omitted)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (1/2 C chopped toasted almonds)
Mix persimmon pulp, lemon juice, apple sauce and honey in a bowl. Combine the remaining ingredients except for the nuts.Add the wet mixture into the dry. Do not overmix. Fold in the toasted nuts. Grease a loaf tin and pour the batter in, which is of a thick consistency. Bake in a oven that has been preheated at 350 degree F. Cool once done and then slice.
A great recipe that works well... A very crumbly texture and a nice way to use persimmons. The apple sauce apart from the persimmon pulp lends a much needed additional moistness to the crumb. The orange specks you see on the crumb are the persimmons. I think they pair well with almonds or any kind of nuts...A quick bread full of spiciness, sweetness and goodness!!!
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Chocolate, zucchini, orange cake....
What do you do when it rains non stop? the roads are flooded...so there's no way you can take a walk or the car. The programs on TV are boring and how long can one browse...
So what did I do? I baked a cake and experimented with zucchini and chocolate. Having never used zucchini in a cake and only in a salad, I did get quite a few surprising glances and my other half asked me not to please add it into the cake. But me being me, who ensures she gets done what she plans to do, I did make the cake...yes with the zucchini in it and the other half of mine did eat it..He still thinks there was no zucchini and was just chocolate.
And where did I go for a recipe....Food librarian of course, who has been doing bundts almost every other day...It is a visual pleasure to visit her place every time a new post is up...Each bundt is different and very gorgeously done. She's done 25 till now and I am sure going to try more of them.
I chose to do her chocolate zucchini bundt. Mary had done Simply Recipe's Chocolate Zucchini Cake . Mary used squash along with zucchini but mine had zucchini with orange zest and chocolate of course.
The cake was moist with an extremely tender crumb. There was no proof tastewise for the presence of zucchinni in the cake. It was mildly sweet which was a a tad bit less for our sweet palate. Hence the chocolate cream ganache with butterscotch chips.
It was crunchy on the outside but with the ganache it turned moist. It will probably have tasted better if cream cheese frosting had been used but owing to exorbitant prices of cream cheese in India, the chocolate ganache and the butterscotch chips made a great great substitution!
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