Banana Walnut Pancake

Makes about 5-7 pancakes ( Recipe adapted from here)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 large egg, brought to room temp
1 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil ( one can use melted butter too)
2 cups. buttermilk
2 small ripe bananas ( one can use 1 large too), smashed with fork
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
More butter or oil for greasing pan
Vanilla Essence few drops

Recipe

1. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg melted butter and then the buttermilk.

Buttermilk- is generally half yoghurt and half milk but in case yoghurt is unavailable quickly turn milk into a buttermilk substitute, simple add 1 tbs of lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 cup of milk and let sit for 10 minutes.

3. Mash the bananas using a fork .

4.Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour the buttermilk mixture into the well and whisk a few times.

3.Right before the mixture is just incorporated, add bananas. A few lumps should remain. Do not over mix the batter or you will end up with chewy pancakes. I added few drops of vanilla essence for taste.

4.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium for 3 to 5 minutes and then low the flame to lowest. Brush the pan bottom with 1 tsp. oil or butter. Using 1/4 cup (or more than that) of batter per pancake, add the batter to the skillet I use a spoon to add the mixture to the pan and round in circles but one can use a small bowl (katori) to make similar shaped ones.Quickly sprinkle a few tablespoons of walnuts on each pancake.

5.Cook until large bubbles begin to appear, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown on second side, about 1 1/2 minutes longer. Repeat with remaining batter, brushing the skillet with oil/butter as needed between batches.

Serve them with a scoop of butter and maple syrup. I used home made vanilla sugar syrup. ( As mentioned in a previous recipe of mine here.

Note: Don't overcook or use less water for the syrup or else it crystallizes.

Belgian Double Chocolate Cake ( with Fudge Icing)

Recipe is inspired from here

Ingredients

180 gm flour ( 1 1/2 cups)

60gm cocoa powder (1/2 cup)

125gm butter ( about 3/4 cup)

125gm sugar ( I used almost 1 cup)

3 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

three quarter cup milk (3/4 cup)

2 tsp vanilla essence

75 gm chopped chocolate (i used dark chocolate)

3 tbsp chopped walnuts ( one can use hazelnuts too)

Some walnuts for sprinkling on top.

Method.

1.Grease and line an 8 or 9 inch baking pan. I used a heart shaped cake tin and lined it with baking paper. One can line with a foil and grease it and sprinkle some cocoa/ flour on it too.

2.Cream butter with sugar, then add eggs one at a time and beat until well incorporated. Or else one can cream them using a electric mixer to save time.

3.Sieve flour with cocoa, salt ( if unsalted butter), vanilla essence and baking powder. Gradually add flour and milk in three instalments, mixing until just incorporated, do not over mix. Add the chopped chocolate and nuts.

TIP: Dust the nuts and chopped chocolate in some flour before adding them to the batter. This will help prevent them from sinking during baking.

4. Fold gently and pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170 C for about 30minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool then either frost with chocolate ganache or lightly dust some icing sugar. I frosted it with Fudge Icing

Recipe (to cover an 8" cake)

2 tbsp margarine/butter

8 tbsp icing sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

half tsp vanilla essence

some milk

Heat the margarine until it melts, keep the heat on low.

Sieve the icing sugar with the cocoa together, then add this into the melted margarine.

Stir together, then slowly add milk a teaspoon at a time. You will need about 5-8 tsp so just have a bowl of milk next to you and keep adding and stirring until you reach a smooth consistency.

The icing will thicken as it cools so keep it a bit thinner than what you want the final results to look like. Add the vanilla and turn off the heat, immediately ice your cake and sprinkle crushed nuts or cake crumbs. Give it a few minutes to set, and serve!! :)

Note: cakes crack due to overheating so keep temperature less if your cake cracks....also bake in the middle shelf to avoid burnt crusts.

Kadi Pakoda

Ingredients:

Oil-1 cooking spoon

Cumin seeds-1 tspCloves(Loung)-2
Black pepper- 2
Salt- About 1 spoon
Tumeric(Haldi)- 1 spoon
Coriander leaves

Besan mixture

Curd(dahi)- 500ml
Gram flour(besan)- 3 cooking spoons
Asafoetida (hing)- 1-2 pinch
Water- about 2 -3 litre

Masala mixture

Onion-1
Tomotoes- 2-3
Green chilly- 1-2
Red chilly powder- 1 spoon
Ginger garlic paste- 1 tablespoon

( One can use grated onion and tomatoes if mixer is unavailable)

Tadka

Oil-1 spoon
Dry Red Chilly-3-4

Curry leaves(Kadi pata)-5-6

Pakoras

Besan -according to need.
Fennel seeds(Sauf)- few
Baking soda-2-3 pinch( more baking soda means it quenches more oil)
Ginger garlic paste- 1 teaspoon

Salt- a pinch
1 spoon oil in besan
1/2 tsp red chilly powderWater
Oil-for frying

Recipee

Kadi -

1. Take about 500 ml of curd and blend it well using a fork. Put the besan in it and blend it well so that no lumps are formed. Put the hing in it and blend well by adding some water.

2.Take all the masala ingredients and blend it well in a mixer.

3. Take oil in a cooker and put cumin seeds, loung and black pepper and then put the blended mixture. Put haldi and cinnamon stick (darchini) and a bit of salt for the mixture to cook nicely. Let the mixture cook nicely till it let out oil.
4. Put the blended besan mixture into the cooker followed by 2 litre of water. If the mixture seems thick you can add 1 more litre. Stir it properly and keep stirring till it comes to boil. The flame should be high till boiled.

5. Once boiled, Add the salt. Cover the cooker and let it let out around 2 whistles. At this time the flame should high and then bring the flame to lowest after the whistles. Let the kadi cook for about 20 more minutes and then close the flame.

6. Once the cooker had let out all the steam stir the kadi nicely with the cooking spoon and add salt if less..

Tadka.

1. Heat some oil in a pan. Break the dry red chilly and take out the seeds from inside and then put them in the oil. Also put some curry leaves.

2.Once the red chilly break out, put the whole mixture in the cooker. If you want you can put some kadi in the pan let it cook a bit and then put it back in the cooker.

Pakoras
1.Blend the pakoras ingredients with water so no lumps are formed and a good consistency is reached. Add some sauf to it. Add 1 desert spoon of baking soda just 5 minutes before making them or else they flatten the pakoras. Add salt and bit of red chilly powder if you like.

2. Take some oil in a kadai and heat it. Then make some mixture and put it in the oil to make some pakoras. Fry them nicely and take out and put them directly in the kadi.

3. Decorate the kadi with some fresh coriander leaves.

The home cooked Mom special Kadi pakoras are ready. One can serve them with rice to make a hearty meal of kadi chawal.

Note: To have a layered top in cold kadai, put the hot kadi in the bowl, cool it and then store in the fridge. Also avoid re heating kadi or it becomes thinner.

Gazar Halwa

Ingredients:

Carrots - 2 kg, cleaned, scrubbed, and grated to shreds(red carrots)

Sugar - 1 medium bowl(4 cups)

Milk- 3-4 kg(thickened)

Almonds - 15, blanched and cut

Cashew nuts - 15

Elaichi seeds (from 3-4) - roast on tawa and then grind it.

Ghee or butter - 2 tablespoons (preferably Indian ghee)

Method:

1. Grate the carrots and then put it in a kadai to cook. It will leave lot of water and get cooked in it. Don't add milk in the starting or gajar will become black. Later Add 1/2 cup milk if you want.

2. Take milk in a heavy-bottomed vessel and let it thicken. Let it be thickened to be turned into khoya. Or else one can use khoya made earlier/ from outside, just fry it in ghee to soften and crumble it nicely.

3. Once the water from carrots have dried up, add sugar to it and add 1 spoon ghee to it and let it cook nicely till they thicken nicely.

4. Add khoya when there is no trace of water and Keep stirring and then add nuts.

5. When done add elaichi powder and kevda and close the kadai with a plate .

6.Serve hot

Alternative method.

One can cook this halwa in milk too. Put milk in kadai and cook till it thickens and condenses into half. Then add the carrots. and keep stirring and removing milk from sides till water dries up. Then use the same process as above. Add 100 -250 grams of khoya in the end.

Nutrela Pasta and Butterscotch Desert

Ingredients 

500 grams pasta

2-3 tablespoon nutrela

2 spoon butter

1 spoon pasta seasoning

4 cloves

2 green chilly

1 big onion

2 -3small capsicum

2 tomatoes

Salt

Few drops of tomato puree/chilly ketchup

Grated cheese

Cream (optional)

Recipe 

1. Put water to boil....when boiled add pasta...with spoon of oil and salt.....when done strain and run cold water over it....in the same boiled water....put those handful of nutrela till they swell....keep pasta in side

2.Take 2 spoon butter in pan Add a spoon of pasta seasoning .

3. Add 4 cloves of garlic and 2 green chilly and fry nicely ....then add onion and let it fry nicely.

4.  And then add capscicum ( 2-3) to it...and nutrela ( or else fry them in butter seperately ) and then add or fry there in butter so its crispy....

5. Finally add 2-3 tomotoes long cut and cover pan a bit....once all are half done.....add salt to it...so it leaves juice and is done....now add pasta to it....and add tomoto puree/chilly kechup to it and mix

6. Then  season with  grated cheese and pasta seasoning...one can add cream a bit too....

Desert ideas

Take 3 marie biscut in a bowl....butterscotch ice cream on top and choco sauce for  desert

One can also make hot chocolate fudge at home...by crushing the biscut and nuts in a mixer. Heating the syrup a bit and then adding it in a class filled with butterscotch ice cream scoops