Orange-Soaked Bundt Cake

Recently when I saw this recipe I tried it and we really loved this amazingly moist cake.... The cake has a good orange flavor and is very moist.... both flavor and moistness improves with time..... I made some changes from the original recipe, the amount of oil in the original seemed a little too much for me so I reduced it to ½ cup, I used orange zest in the cake not lemon zest and for syrup I used fresh orange juice not frozen.... It was a really good cake and the best part is you can make it 2 or 3 days ahead of time if you are planning a party and the cake tastes wonderful after 2 days.....

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Uppumanga / Salted Tender Mangoes in Brine

I think Uppumanga (Raw mangoes in brine) with kanji along with a kanthari mulaku (bird’s eye chilly) is the Malayali’s favorite comfort food... right?? I know my husband will not agree with it :D...  Almost a year ago when Sarah of Vazhayila posted this recipe it triggered my childhood memories...  But I never got tender mangoes (kannimanga) here...  so this year when I saw some green mangoes I decided to make it with that... so I selected the smallest thin skin mangoes available and made Uppumanga and now I am a happy girl having it with kanji and making uppumanga curry and chutney! Traditionally uppumanga is preserved in a big bharani (earthen pot).... In one of my old recipe books it’s written that to prevent it from fungal attack, in the old days people make a pouch with clean sand in a cloth and tie the bharani with this sand pouch and the Uppumanga preserved this way lasts yearlong! If you don’t have a bharani use clean glass bottles, make sure to add enough salt water to cover the mangoes.... My aunt told me to add little coriander powder tied in a clean cloth in the brine to givethe mangoes and the brine a lovely smell.... Always use clean sterilized bharani / jar to preserve mangoes and use a dry spoon, else you will see fungus attack....

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Arabic Stuffed Zucchini in Tomato Sauce / Kousa Mihshi Recipe

Kousa Mihshi (Stuffed Zucchini) is an Arabic main dish and widely popular in this region. Minced beef / lamb is mixed with raw rice and spices and then stuffed inside the cored Kousa / koosa (marrow squash / Arabic zucchini) and cooked in tomato paste. I used minced chicken instead of red meat.... I got the basic recipe from my maid and then I searched on the net and made this dish to suit our taste buds.... While searching the net I remember reading on one site that you can make a vegetarian version of this dish by replacing the meat with chopped mushrooms, I never tried it though.... If you like zucchini you will enjoy this mildly spiced dish. Serve as a main dish along with some nice salad.... 

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Passion Fruit Squash Recipe

Like I have said in many of my passion fruit recipe posts, my appa collects and freezes passion fruit pulp for me which I then bring back to Kuwait. Since my son loves passion fruit juice appa always tells me to make juice for his grandson....  alas little does he know that his daughter uses most of the pulp for her baking / desserts or wine than for making squash for his grandson :D.... But this time I made sure to make some squash as I received many requests for the squash recipe... Amma used to make passion fruit squash using this recipe.... Potassium meta bi sulpahte is used to preserve the squash, so that you don’t need to store this syrup in the fridge.... But if you are making small quantities I suggest not to use preservatives and to keep the juice in the fridge and it will lasts months.... Do make this squash if you get hold of some passion fruit and also you can use this squash to make fabulous cocktails with rum or vodka.... 

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Hot Cross Buns Recipe

Hope you all had a great Easter celebration with family and friends! In Kerala traditionally we make IndariAppam on Maundy Thursday and have it for supper. Good Friday we spend 6-7 hours in church and  serve piping hot Kanji and payar at the end of mass.... And on Easter it’s always Appam and Chicken curry for breakfast, followed by a lavish lunch and dinner with non-veg delicacies made with chicken, beef, mutton and pork... Hot Cross buns are not even part of our tradition :)... But since I see a lot of Hot Cross Bun recipes all over the net during this time I too got tempted to try and made a batch of these.... I followed Poineer Women’s recipe and the buns came out super soft and delicious.....  

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White Chocolate Caramel Slice

Hope all are ready for Easter celebrations.... Wishing all my readers a Blessed and Happy Easter! 

Today I am sharing an absolutely decadent little indulgence of White chocolate caramel slices....Got this recipe from Australian Women’s weekly.....I had posted Banoffee Slice recipe from the same book earlier.....This too was really delicious and some of my guests who tried it really loved it..... The only problem for me was cutting the slices into neat pieces after setting as my white chocolate had become very hard.... I suggest using really good quality white chocolate for this....Do let me know if you try this recipe.... 

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Mini Carrot Cupcakes with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting ~ March 2013 Daring Bakers’ challenge: Hidden Veggies

Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 Daring Bakers’ challenge host. She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results!

It’s been a busy month as my son has school holidays and my whole day is spend with him.... I didn't even read the challenge properly to understand that we have to hide the veggies.... I made this carrot cupcake for the challenge.... Though the carrots are not hidden, these cupcakes are really soft, moist and tasty with the lemon cheese frosting.... try it I am sure you will love it....  

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Kadumanga Achar Recipe / Kerala Spicy Mango Pickle Recipe

Kadumanga pickle is every Keralites favorite and since it’s mango season try to make some. Kadumanga is also very popular during Lent; as we abstain from non-veg dishes pickles are in high demand. In our church Kdaumanga pickle is served along with piping hot Kanji and payar after the long Good Friday service.

You can make this pickle in two ways, either grind ginger and garlic along with spices and sauté like I did or you can add chopped ginger and garlic as it is and sauté. I like thick gravy for kadumanga, so I opted for grinding. Also while making pickle one thing to remember is never to add water to the pickle, if you want to store it for a long time... If you need gravy add vinegar not water please and adjust salt....  I have seen a lot of people store their pickle in the refrigerator and I never liked the taste of refrigerated pickle ;)... So here is how I made Kadumanga pickle....

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Vettu Cake Recipe / Deep Fried Sweet Cake ~ A Special Chayakkada Palaharam of Kerala ~ Step by Step Recipe

Vettu (Cut)Cake is a famous chayakkada / local tea shop palaharam (snack). Amma used to make this when we were kids and I used to help her cutting and shaping the dough while she fried them in hot oil. The cross like cut on the square shape should be deep, so that when we add the dough to the oil it will puff up and the cut will open up and resemble a flower.... Well mine didn't come out perfect in shape as I was doing it all alone and by the time I started frying the cuts had started joining back :D.... So the point is if you want a perfect shape like a flower ask someone to help you while you are frying them :D.... Eggs used in the original Vettu cake recipe are duck eggs and since I don’t have duck eggs I used large chicken eggs. Another important point while frying is that the heat should always be on medium low; do not over fry vettu cake.... Since its summer holiday time in Kerala make this for your hungry kids and their friends while they are enjoying their holidays! 

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Saucy Paneer Recipe

Since it is the Lent Season vegetarian recipes are much in demand.... deciding the daily menu without any non-veg dish is challenging for a Christian family :D.... Since Paneer is loved by almost all I thought of sharing this Saucy Paneer recipe with you today.... with just a couple of sauces you can make this curry very quickly and it goes well with fried rice, noodles or even with chapathi.....  If you don’t have 8 to 8 sauce at home you can easily omit it or substitute with sweet and sour sauce like I do when I run out.... Instead of paneer you can also use Tofu for a vegan version..... Check out the other Paneer recipes I posted earlier too.....

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