Baker's Corner: Apple Cinnamon Cake

Ok so there isn't going to an elaborate prologue to this post. I'm not in the headspace to ramble today so I'm going to state my case as succinctly as possible. 

This is a cake recipe that I've posted on my blog before but since that was a modified version, I decided to keep it true to the original recipe in this post. I also decided to chuck in the step-by-step pictures because I didn't have time for that in the earlier post.

The only other thing I will say to make my case stronger is that this is one my hubby's most loved cake recipes.

Enjoy this lovely Apple Cinnamon Cake with ur favourite cuppa.

Back to basics: Making homemade paneer

What is the best thing that you can make with just two basic ingredients? My humble opinion is the delicious and versatile PANEER.

Paneer is Indian cottage cheese that is used to make a variety of dishes. If anyone asks me what my favourite appetizer/starter in the world is then without batting an eyelid, I will say paneer tikka. I love this dish so much that I can keep eating it until my stomach sends signals of distress to my brain to stop. And my infatuation with paneer doesn't just end with tikka, I love any form of paneer for that matter.

In India, fresh paneer is always readily available. Unfortunately, the same luxury is not always available for those of us living abroad. Fresh paneer is available in Singapore but it isn't something that I can just run to the nearest grocery store and get whenever my heart desires it. I figured that if I had a sudden impulse to make a paneer dish especially one that favors fresh paneer over the frozen variety (as in paneer tikka/paratha/bhurji), then I would have to learn to make it myself. 

Here is the recipe for homemade paneer. The resulting paneer was soft, spongy and firm. It is a really simple procedure and the end product is worth the extra effort.

Snapshots of my trip to India 2013

I'M BACK!

After a very eventful past month in India, I'm back to the daily grind. It is a bittersweet return but there is a certain comfort in slipping back into the familiar rhythm of home-husband-work-friends-blogging.

This post is a little photo diary from my recent holiday. I was mainly hopping between cities within my home state of Karnataka, starting with Bangalore and then heading off to Udupi, Manipal, Mangalore, Shimoga and then to Mysore along with a quick detour to the neighboring state of Kerala.

The pictures you will see begin with a vibrant wedding in Udupi and move on from there to the sun-kissed beaches of Dakshina Kannada, some scenic spots in northern Kerala and finally the wonderful Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary and Venugopalaswamy temple near my beloved Mysore.

A big shoutout to my cousin Samarth (those interested can check out his amazing photography at his Facebook page here) and my husband for taking some of the lovely photos in this post.

I hope you enjoy browsing through the snapshots!

Recipe of the month: Vegetarian Burgers

Kicking off the new year with a recipe post that is close to my heart. I have a backstory for it but before I elaborate, if you are here just for the recipe, feel free to ignore my ramblings and scroll straight to the recipe 😄

Growing up in South India, the name Mallika Badrinath was synonymous with humble homestyle cooking. She is a well-known cookbook author who specializes in Indian vegetarian cooking. My mum owned the entire collection of her books, and let’s just say that my siblings and I spent many a childhood evening offering our services as guinea pigs for her enthusiastic kitchen experiments.

One of those early experiments was a potato kebab recipe - a simple yet flavorful starter my mum found in one of Mallika Badrinath’s books. The recipe is a straightforward one in which potatoes are boiled and mashed, mixed with fresh aromatic herbs like mint and coriander, spiced with green chillies and flavored with a select few Indian spice powders. Bread/breadcrumbs and rice flour are incorporated for texture and crispiness after which the potato mixture is shaped into kebabs and subsequently deep-fried in hot oil. That recipe went on to become a family favorite and was the very first dish I made as a new bride at my in-laws' home, thereby making it even more special.

Fast forward to a recent evening when I was wondering what to make for dinner. I was craving a burger, and conveniently, there were burger buns lounging in the fridge. My husband and I, unfortunately, do not have many recipes for vegetarian burgers in our arsenal. He is the portobello mushroom burger specialist in our household and I have made burgers with mixed vegetable patties on occasion in the past but I wanted to try something different (and more importantly, avoid having to buy specific ingredients or chop too many veggies!). That is when I thought of giving my trusty old potato kebab recipe a little makeover.

I shaped the potato mixture into burger-sized cutlets and shallow-fried them instead of deep-frying. Then came the fun part which was assembling the burger. I slathered the toasted buns with jazzed up mayo, placed my patty in the center, added my go-to toppings (iceberg lettuce, sliced tomatoes & onion rings), slapped on a slice of cheese, a few splashes of fiery hot sauce, and got ready to tuck in!

And there you have it - my beloved kebabs turned into a hearty and tasty veggie burger. The beauty of burgers is their versatility: mix and match patties, toppings, and sauces to your liking. While the term “burger” generally conjure up images of meat, this potato-based version is a satisfying vegetarian spin. Think of it as aloo tikki given a Western makeover. Or call it a potato kebab sandwich, if that makes more sense to you 😊

Update: A few years later, I learned how to make Black Bean Burgers with Avocado Mayonnaise. This is my most favourite recipe for a vegetarian burger that will appeal to everyone so check it out! 

Welcome 2013

I know my wishes are coming in a little late but I'd like to wish all my friends, family and blog readers a very Happy New Year.

I haven't been keeping tabs on my blog lately because I've been too busy having fun in India. This year, I celebrated new year's at my in-laws place in Bangalore. We had a small gathering of family members at home and it made for an intimate and eventful celebration. My MIL, SIL and me compiled the menu for the evening which featured an assortment of each of our signature dishes. 

As you can see from the picture, one of my dishes was a Pineapple and Cherry Upside-down Cake. This is an adaptation from Peach Caramel Upside-down Cake that I had posted some time ago. The base is a French yoghurt cake which is ridiculously simple and requires only a few ingredients. All I did was substitute the canned peaches with canned pineapple slices and cherries. I had a few issues with the brown sugar during the caramelizing process because it was markedly different in color, texture and sweetness from the kind that I use in Singapore but the overall outcome of the cake was still good. It was a learning experience in resourcefulness for me because for the first time, I was outside of the comfort of my own kitchen where I have all my baking related equipments and tools. Using a rice measuring cup for the main dry ingredients, a plastic measuring cap of a cough syrup bottle for the smaller tsp measurements, a hand-held whisk to mix the ingredients, a baking dish that was one size too large and an oven completely different from my own was something I had never done before. But I handled it better than expected and even managed to have a whole lot of fun. I think a lot of it can be attributed to my kitchen collaborators - my MIL and my SIL 😊

I chose this image for my new years post because like this cake, I hope that your year is filled with sweetness, vibrancy, color and a variety of experiences that enrich your life. 

Happy 2013 🎉

Cheers,

Megha