Aarthi, wish you and Satheesh and happy married life and may all your dreams come true!

Source: Aarthi of Yummy Tummy
Total Time: 50 – 55 minutes (includes boiling potatoes)
Preparation: 25 minutes (for boiling potatoes, could reduce time by using a pressure cooker)
Cooking Time: 25 – 30 minutes
Serves: 2-4

Ingredients:

• 6 medium sized Potatoes or appox. 800 grams / 1.75 lbs (I used red skin potatoes but any kind can be used)
• 3  – 4 tbsp. Oil (I used 4 tbsps. but cut down a little and might have to cook it little longer until potatoes are crispy)
• 10 Curry Leaves
• Turmeric Powder (I did not measure and sprinkled it right out of the bottle)
• 1 – 1/2 tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
• 3/4 – 1 tbsp.  Chili Powder (adjust to taste.  I used 3/4 tbsp and felt I could have added a little more)

Preparation:

• Wash potatoes, put them in pot of water and boil them until cooked. To speed up the process, can use a pressure cooker as Aarthi did.
• Discard the boiling water and pour some cold water into he pot to cool the potatoes.  Peel the skin off and cut each potato into 12 – 16 pieces.
• Take oil in a pan and heat it. When the oil is hot, add the curry leaves and let it roast.
• Add turmeric, salt and give a quick stir.  Add cut potatoes and mix it well.
• Reduce the heat to medium high and roast the potatoes for about 10 minutes stirring it in between.  When the potatoes turn light golden brown, reduce the heat to medium low.
• Add chili powder and give it a good stir.  Continue to cook it on medium low flame until the potatoes and nicely roasted and become crispy.  This should take any where  from 15 – 20 minutes.
• When the potatoes are roasted, turn off the heat, transfer to a serving bowl and serve it hot rice or Indian bread.

Recipes posted this day in 2011 – Anjum Anand’s Easy Lime Cookies and in 2010 – Sauteed Cauliflower
Recipes posted this month in 2010, in 2009 and in 2008

Before I get to the recipe, here the recipes I posted for this marathon, cooking by alphabets theme.
Aloo Kheer ~ Potato Pudding
Badami Murgh ~ Almond Chicken Curry
Chili Rubbed Roasted Curried Chicken
Dondakaya Gutti Masala ~ Stuffed Ivy Gourd Curry
English Muffin Pizza
Fattoush

Ingredients:

• 1 Avocado
• 3 tbsp. Red Onions chopped
• 3 tbsp. Tomatoes pulp removed and chopped
• 2 small Green Chilies or Serrano Peppers (Adjust to taste)
• 1 tbsp. Lime Juice
• Salt to taste
• Pinch of pepper
• 2 – 3 tbsp. Cilantro chopped

Preparation:

• Cut the avocado horizontally or lengthwise. This fruit has a pit and you cannot cut across. Cut it all around and then twist it around to open the two pieces.
• Remove the pit or the seed and scoop out the flesh into a bowl and mash it using a fork or a back of a spoon.
• Cut a tomato and remove the pulp and chop it.
• Chop onions & green chilies or Serrano peppers.
• Add these to avocado and mix well. Add salt & lime juice.
• Taste and adjust the seasoning. I added a pinch of black pepper the dip wasn’t spicy enough.
• If serving right way, add cilantro and serve it with tortilla chips or fresh warm tortillas. I had some left over toasted pita bread from yesterday and served it with guacamole.

Note:

• All the ingredients listed above can be adjusted to your taste
• Few recipes call on the web called for garlic as well. Can add it if one like the flavor for garlic.
• One of cousin’s adds dry oregano to the dip and it tastes fine. Use this as a base recipe and adjust or add more flavors to one’s liking.

Recipes I posted this month in 2009, in 2010 and in 2011.
Blogging Marathon: To know more about the various themes and participating bloggers for this marathon, checkout the blogging marathon page on Srivalli’s blog.

Most of the recipes online used lettuce and I found a recipe that did not use it. I had already bought lettuce for this preparation and hence decide to use it. The next time I prepare Fattoush, I might use very little lettuce or skip it altogether. I followed Kalyn’s recipe and made ¼th of the recipe.

Source: Kalyn’s Kitchen
Total Time: 15 – 20 minutes
Preparation: 10 minutes
Baking Time: 8-10 minutes
Serves: 1-2 (depending on how you serve it)

Ingredients:

• 2 Pita Bread
• 1 big Garlic Clove
• ¼ tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
• ½ Lime or 2 tbsp. Lime Juice
• ¼ tsp. Sumac + more sprinkle on the salad (I used lemon zest)
• 2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• ½ Lettuce head or approx. 2 ½ cups bite size chopped Lettuce
• 1 tbsp. Green Onion chopped
• 6 Cherry Tomatoes diced
• 1 mini Cucumber diced or ¼ – 1/3 cup diced Cucumber
• 1 Carrot or ¼ cup sliced Carrot
• 2 tbsp. chopped Mint
• 2 tbsp. chopped Cilantro (recipe called for parsley)

Preparation:

• Preheat the oven to 400F.
• Cut pita bread to ¾” – 1” strips and arrange them on a baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes until crisp. I baked for 7 minutes and while tearing or crumbling the bread into smaller pieces I noticed some of the pieces were not crispy enough. Since oven was still hot, I put the crumbles bread back into the hot oven for 2-4 minutes. My oven was off but still hot toast the crumbles.
• Crush garlic clove with some salt in mortar pestle or crush the garlic with a knife. Take it in a small bowl, add lemon juice, sumac or lemon zest, oil and whisk it. Keep it aside.
• Wash the lettuce and cut it into bite size pieces. Dry it in a salad spinner or dry it in paper towels as I did.
• Cut tomatoes and leave it in a colander or a strain to drain the juices.
• Cut rest of the vegetables and herbs and put them in a bowl.
• Add tomatoes, lettuce, ½ of the vinaigrette and toss it. Add crumbled pita bread and remaining vinaigrette and toss it again.
• Let the salad sit for few minutes for the flavors to blend into the pita bread.
• Sprinkle some lemon zest or Sumac on the salad and serve it.

Note

• Other vegetables that can be added to the salad are chopped bell peppers and radish.
• I cut cherry tomatoes into two but I felt cutting it into pieces might have been better.
• This salad was a little lemon and adjust lemon/lime juice according to your taste. I like lemon and it was perfect for me.

Recipes posted this day in 2009 – Lisa’s Black & Yellow Chickpeas Sweet & Spicy Sauce and in 2010 – Egg Roll
Recipes I posted this month in 2009, in 2010 and in 2011.
Blogging Marathon: To know more about the various themes and participating bloggers for this marathon, checkout the blogging marathon page on Srivalli’s

Source: Baked by Rachel
Total Time: 17 – 20 minutes
Preparation: 10 minutes
Baking Time: 7-10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 English Muffins
• 11 – 12 Pepperoni Slices
• ¾ cup (approx.) Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (I was frugal with the cheese you can add more)
• Pizza Sauce (I did not use)

Preparation:

• Pre heat the oven to 425 F.
• While the oven is heating, slice each muffin into 2 slices. Use a fork to cut the muffin and tear it open.
• Cut or tear each pepperoni slice into 4 pieces. Stack 3-4 pepperoni slices and then cut it into 4 pieces to speed up the process.
• Put the muffin slices on a baking tray. If using pizza sauce, spread it on each muffin slice.
• Sprinkle cheese on the muffin slices and top it off with pepperoni pieces. I used 7 pieces (each pepperoni slice cut into 4 pieces) per slice.
• Pop them in the oven and bake for 7 – 8 minutes. I baked one batch for 7 minutes and other for 8 minutes.
• Both were god but I liked the ones I baked for 7 minutes. The pizzas in the picture were baked for 8 minutes.
• Sprinkle some pepper flakes and dig in right way.

Notes:

• I used pepperoni slices but can use any topping. Can add veggies too but I have not tried it yet.
• I was very frugal with cheese as I do not like too much cheese. If serving for kids, add more cheese. Use your discretion.
• Oven temperatures vary from oven to oven. Keep an eye on the pizzas.

Recipes I posted this month in 2009, in 2010 and in 2011.
Blogging Marathon: To know more about the various themes and participating bloggers for this marathon, checkout the blogging marathon page on Srivalli’s blog.

Dondakaya gutti masala or stuffed ivy gourd is a dry curry in which spiced onion paste is stuffed into the gourd and, sautéed until the gourd is tender and crunchy. Although the stuffing is a little time consuming, the effort is all worth it.

Source: Daawat.com
Total Time: 35 – 40 minutes
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 – 25 minutes
Serves: 2 – 4

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ tbsp. Urad Dal ~ Black Gram
• 2 tsp. Cumin
• 5-7 Dry Red Chilies (About 2 – 3″ long and adjust to taste)
• 1 medium sized Onion chopped or 1 cup chopped Onion
• 1 tsp. Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
• 1 tsp. Salt (this is approx. I did not measure the salt and adjust to taste)
• 3-4 tbsp. Oil (I think 1 used 3 tbsp.)
• 1 lb. Ivy Gourd ~ Dondakaya ~ Tindora

Preparation:

• Take urad dal, cumin & dry chilies in a pan and dry roast them until they are lightly roasted. Let the spices cool. Grind together roasted spices and onion to a fine paste.
• Add chili powder and salt to the paste and mix well.
• Wash ivy gourd and cut off the tips. Cut each gourd lengthwise, ¾th way down, like a”plus”.
• Stuff some onion paste into each gourd and keep aside. There is going to be some left over stuffing and keep it aside.
• Heat oil in a frying pan or a saute pan. Add stuffed ivy gourd and left over stuffing to the pan and saute for 2-4 minutes until the gourd is nicely coated with oil.
• Reduce the heat to medium – medium high, cover and cook for 5-8 minutes until ivy gourd is almost tender. Stir in between to avoid or you could end up with a burnt stuffing or masala.
• Remove the cover and continue to fry it on medium flame until done. Reduce the heat if the masala or the onion paste burns and keep stirring it every few minutes.
• Serve it with rice or with roti.

Recipes I posted this month in 2009, in 2010 and in 2011.
Blogging Marathon: To know more about the various themes and participating bloggers for this marathon, checkout the blogging marathon page on Srivalli’s blog.

This is such an easy recipe to prepare with a little bit of planning ahead and only time consuming part of this preparation is baking. Chicken pieces are marinated in a simple chili, cumin, lime juice marinade and baked on a bed of roasted onion paste.

This would be a good recipe to prepare for parties as well if the onion paste is made ahead of time. On the day of the party, all that needs to be done is place everything in a tray and bake it, checking on it every 10-15 minutes.

Source: Life’s Ambrosia
Total Time: 55 – 65 minutes
Preparation: 10 – 20 minutes
Baking Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
Marinade:

• 5 Chicken Drumsticks or 1.2 lbs. Chicken Drumsticks **
• 3 tbsp. Oil
• 2 tsp. Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
• 1 tsp. Cumin Powder
• 1 tsp. Coriander Powder (opt)
• 1 tsp. Salt
• 1 tbsp. Lime Juice
• Pinch of Turmeric

** The recipe called for drumsticks and thighs but I used only drumsticks as we prefer those to thighs. The recipe also called for leaving the skin on but I removed it. I rather add a tablespoon (tbsp.) of extra oil than cook with the skin on.

Curry:

• 1 – 1 ½ tbsp. Oil
• 2 cups chopped Onions
• 1 tsp. Ginger Garlic Paste
• 1 tsp. Chili Powder (Adjust to taste)
• Little Salt
• 1 tsp. Coriander Powder
• Turmeric
• ½ – 2/3 cup Chicken Stock (I used water today and in the past used vegetable stock)
• 2 Jalapeno Peppers Sliced
• 2 tsp. Oil to be used when baking (opt. and might not need it)

Preparation:

• Remove the skin of the chicken and make 3-4 deep gashes on the drumstick.
• Make a marinade by mixing together all the ingredients listed under marinade and pour it over the chicken pieces. Marinate the chicken for 4-6 hours or overnight. I once marinated chicken for 1 hour and it tasted fine. However, I do recommend marinating for more than an hour.
• Take oil in a pan, heat it and sauté the onions until light brown. Add rest of the spices and sauté for few more minutes.
• Cool the onions and make a paste using the stock or water, which ever you are using.
• Pre-heat the oven 450F.
• Take a baking tray and wrap it with an aluminum foil. Use a tray that is oven & broiler safe or a serving dish that is broiler safe. I used my cake pan hence decided to wrap it with a foil.
• Spread the onion paste in the tray, sprinkle sliced jalapeno peppers, arrange the drumsticks over onion paste and pour any remaining marinade over the drumsticks.
• Pour 2 tsp. of oil reserved for baking, over the chicken pieces. Today I made more onion paste than I did in my previous preparations. 15 minutes into baking I felt I might need to add more oil and did so. But I think I could have omitted it. As you can see in the picture, it was a little too much. If you do not mind indulging yourself, then go ahead and pour the oil over the chicken pieces.
• Bake the chicken for 15 minutes at 450F and flip the drumsticks. Reduce the temperature to 350F and bake them for another 20 minutes flipping and basting the chicken pieces, 10 minutes into baking. After 20 minutes of baking at 350F, turn on the broiler and broil for 10 minutes, flipping and basting the drumsticks 5 minutes into broiling.
• Transfer to a serving dish and serve. Drumsticks can be served with rice and the curry goes well with rice.

Note:

• Today I used 2 cups of onions for more curry or gravy. It tasted fine but I liked this preparation better when I used only ½ of the onions yielding less curry. If you are using 2 cups of onions as mentioned in the ingredient list, I would recommend using a wider pan so that the while drumsticks are roastes, so would the curry or cut down on the stock/water that was used to grind the onion paste.
• Oven temperatures vary from oven to oven, please use your discretion here.

Recipes I posted this month in 2009, in 2010 and in 2011.
Blogging Marathon: To know more about the various themes and participating bloggers for this marathon, checkout the blogging marathon page on Srivalli’s blog.
Event Entries: This goes to my own event Chicken Feast

I came up with this recipe year and half ago, when I was going thru “I don’t want to cook chicken shorva” phase. Chicken shorva is most often cooked curry in my house. I cook it so often that sometimes, just the thought of cooking it turns me off. When I was going thru such phase, I wanted to try something different, that has lots of gravy and not very heavy either. I searched for few curry recipes online and came up with my own version of badami murgh. It turned out pretty good! I am glad I experiment with the almonds and now I make it once in a while, whenever I need a break from our favorite chicken shorva.

Before I get to the recipe, I am very excited to let you all know that I am hosting my first food event here. This event is called Chicken Feast. I hope you all will participate in the event and make it a huge success. The idea behind this event is to have collection of chicken recipes in one place. I was going to announce the event yesterday but Mr.U disappointed me by letting me know that he is going to eat only vegetarian food for the next few weeks! He is the meat lover in the house and if he doesn’t eat, what I am I going to do with all that cooked meat?? I debated if I should even host the event now, when I might not be able to sending in as many entries as I would like to. But you see my husband’s resolution to eat only vegetarian food does not last very long. I am taking a chance and going ahead with the event. Please check the event details here.

Total Time: 35 – 55 minutes
Preparation: 10 – 20 minutes (excludes marination and it takes about 15 minutes to clean whole chicken)
Cooking Time: 25 – 35 minutes
Serves: 4 – 6

Ingredients:
Marinade:

• 650 grams / 1.4 lbs. (approx.) Chicken, skin removed and cut into pieces
• ½ tbsp. chili
• ¾ Salt
• ½ cup Yogurt

Paste:

• ¼ – 1/3 cup sliced Almonds (I started with 1/3 cup and while roasting them I ate a few. That is why I mentioned ¼ – 1/3 cup almonds)
• 2 Cardamoms
• 1-2 Cloves
• ¼ “Cinnamon
• ¼ cup Water

Gravy/Curry:

• 4 tbsp. Oil
• 1 cup firmly packed chopped Onion or 2 small Onions chopped (depends on how small the onions are)
• 1 – 1 ½ tbsp. Ginger Garlic paste (always use homemade and if using store bought, use less)
• ¼ chopped Mint Leaves
• ½ cup Tomatoes finely chopped or 1 medium Tomato chopped
• ¼ tsp. Salt
• Pinch of Turmeric (can skip it for almond color gravy)
• 12 Green Chilies (adjust to taste)
• 1 cup Water or as required

Preparation:

1. Remove the skin of the chicken and cut it into desired size pieces. I usually buy a 3 – 3.5 lbs. whole chicken, cut it into small pieces and use half the chicken. The other half, cut into small pieces goes into the freezer for later use. Yesterday I could not find a small bird and ended buying 3.9 lbs. chicken. Since it was a big bird, I cut the drumsticks into. The quantity mentioned in the ingredient list is half chicken.
2. Marinate the chicken with chili powder, salt and yogurt for at least 30 minutes at room temperature or overnight in the fridge. Before cooking the chicken, leave it on the counter top for at least 30 minutes to bring it to room temperature. Yesterday I marinated the chicken for 1 hour at room temperature.
3. Dry together roast almonds, cardamoms, cloves & cinnamon until almonds are lightly roasted. This step can be skipped and the almond paste needs to roasted/sauteed a little longer when preparing the gravy in step 8. I prefer to dry roast it just to make sure I don’t get the raw almond taste in the gravy.
4. Let the almonds cool and make a fine paste using some water.
5. Take oil in a sauce pan and sauté onions until light brown.
6. Add ginger garlic paste, chopped mint and sauté until raw smell of the ginger disappears.
7. Add tomatoes, salt, pinch of turmeric if using and sauté until tomatoes are mushy. Cover and cook on medium flame for another 2-3 minutes until oil separates from the onion & tomato mixture.
8. Add badam or almond paste, green chilies and cook until oil separates from the mixture. Keep stirring it to avoid burning of the paste and also evenly roasting of the paste. This should take 2-4 minutes. The aroma of roasting almond paste is amazing! Hmm.. If using un-roasted almond paste, cook the paste a little longer, until almond paste cooked.
9. Add marinated chicken and give a good stir until the almond paste coats the chicken pieces. Cover the pan and cook on medium flame until the chicken is tender. This should take about 10 minutes. The chicken in the US is tender and cooks very fast.
10. Add water, taste the gravy and adjust seasoning accordingly. My family likes thin gravies hence I add water. You can adjust water depending on how thin or thick gravy you want.
11. Simmer for another 3-5 minutes and turn off the heat.
12. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with pulao, roti or with steaming rice.

Note:

• I usually prefer grinding fried onion to get a smooth creamy gravy. In this recipe, The few times that I have made it, I did not grind the onions. If I were cooking it for a party or for a when I have guests at home, I would grind the onion tomato mixture after cooking the tomatoes in step 7. GRind the mixture, transfer it back to the pan and continue with step 8.

Recipes I posted this month in 2009, in 2010 and in 2011.
Blogging Marathon: To know more about the various themes and participating bloggers for this marathon, checkout the blogging marathon page on Srivalli’s blog.
Event Entries: This is my first entry to my own event, Chicken Feast going on here until May 31st.

Non-veg recipes can be split into poultry, red meat, sea food and eggs (some people eat egg but do not eat meats). In the first of non-veg recipe series, chicken is the start ingredient for the next few weeks. I will be sharing my chicken recipes and am welcoming you all to MySpicyKitchen’s Chicken Feast. I am also inviting you to share your chicken recipes with me as I share mine.

Here are the rules for Chicken Feast:

• Post any chicken recipe on your blog starting today till May 31st 11:59 pm EST. There is no limit on the number of new entries you can to this event.
• It can be of any course, appetizer, main course, side dish, soups and even a dessert, if that is what you used to prepare the dessert.
• Please link your post back to this announcement and submit your recipe using the linky tool below.
• You can send up to 5 archived posts, if it is re-posted and linked back to this event announcement OR if you are posting a new recipe and sending it to this event, in the same post, you can mention the archived posts that you are sending to this event and give a link to this announcement in the original posts.
• Although it is Chicken Feast, you can share Turkey, Cornish Game Hens and Quail recipes too.
• Please use the logo to spread the word about the event but not mandatory.
• If you are a non-blogger, then email your recipe along with a picture and I will include it in the round up. Round up will be posted in the first week of June.

If you have any questions, email me at events(dot)myspicykitchen.net

Aloo kheer ~ potato pudding or potato sweet as is we use to call it was a very regular in my house when growing up. I made it a few times when I first came here after marriage and have not prepared in a very long time. As I said, I was going to start my marathon with alphabet “B” and in the last minute decide to start with “A”. Why leave out poor “A”. Since it was a last minute change in heart, I was jotting down all the dishes that start with “A”. Then I remember this sweet which I have not prepared in a long time. Grated potato is roasted in ghee (clarified butter) and then simmered in sweetened milk.

Total Time: 30 – 40 minutes
Preparation: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes
Serves: 2 – 4

Ingredients:

• 2 medium size Potatoes grated or 2 (approx…) cups grated Potato
• 2 – 4 tbsp. Butter or Ghee (I used 2 tbsp.)
• 10 Raisins
• 6 – 8 Cashews broken into two pieces or desired size
• 2 cups Milk (I used 1 cup whole milk & 1 cups 2% milk) **
• ½ cup Sugar
• ½ tsp. Cardamom Seeds powdered

** I used milk but once can also use 1 can of evaporated milk & 1 cup of milk OR Little condensed milk & milk. If using condensed milk, adjust sugar accordingly.

Preparation:

• Peel and grate potatoes. Wash grated potato in water a few times to remove the starch. Leave grated potatoes in water until ready to sauté it.
• In a pan take butter and melt it. Add raisins & cashews and roast them until cashews turn golden brown and raisins puff up. Remove the raisins and cashews from butter and keep them aside. Leave the butter in the pan itself.
• Remove grated potato from water, squeeze out all the water and roast it in same pan raisins & cashews were roasted. Roast for 2-3 minutes on high stirring constantly and then reduce the heat to avoid burning of the potatoes. Roast potatoes until light brown stirring constantly. If using more butter, roast it until butter separates form the potatoes. This should take about 8-10 minutes.
• Add milk and bring it to a boil. Then simmer for 5-6 minutes until desired consistency is reached.
• Add sugar, cardamom powder, raisins and nuts. Mix well, taste it and add more sugar if required.
• Simmer it for few more minutes until it is done. Remove from heat and let it cool. Kheer is ready to serve. I like mine chilled.

Recipes I posted this month in 2009, in 2010 and in 2011.
Blogging Marathon: To know more about the various themes and participating bloggers for this marathon, checkout the blogging marathon page on Srivalli’s blog.
Event Entries: Sending this over to Let’s Cook # 14: Chilled Delights

The cake preparation was easy but I had a little difficult preparing the caramel. In the first attempt, I used a nonstick pan and the sugar would not caramelize properly. Then I tried caramelizing sugar in a stainless steel pan and but that did not quite work. I think I over caramelized the sugar. However, I did manage to transfer the caramelized sugar to the cake pan. Except for preparation of caramel, the rest of the preparation was a breeze.

Source: Shibani & Nikki
Total Time: 40 minutes (excludes paneer preparation time)
Preparation: 10 minutes (excludes paneer preparation time)
Baking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
For Paneer:

• 2 quart Milk (I used 1 quart whole milk & 1 quart 2% milk)
• 1 Lime juiced or 3 tbsp. lime juice

Chenna Poda:

• ¼ kg or 2 cups loosely packed Paneer
• 2 tbsp. Sooji
• ½ cup Sugar (adjust to taste. It was a little too sweet for my palate)
• ½ tsp. Cardamom Seeds powdered
• 1 tbsp. Raisins (Can skip these. Raisins also made the cake a little sweeter)
• 6 – 8 Cashews or 1 tbsp. broken Cashews
• 1 tsp. Butter
• ¾ tbsp. Sugar (for caramelizing)

Preparation:
Paneer:

• Heat milk in a pan and bring it to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Add lime juice to the milk and continue to boil for a minute or 2 two. By now the milk will curdle and paneer or cheese will separate from the whey. Whey is the water that forms after milk curdles and paneer is formed.
• Drain the paneer and wash it properly with water to wash away the sourness of the lime.
• Transfer the paneer to a cheese cloth and squeeze it to drain the water. Place the paneer cheese cloth in a sieve or a colander and place a heavy object over it. Leave it for about one hour until all the whey is drained.

Chenna Poda:

• Pre-heat the oven to 350F.
• Transfer the paneer to a bowl, add sugar, sooji, cardamom powder and kneed/mix well. Taste the paneer mixture and adjust sugar to taste. The recipe called for castor sugar (known as super fine sugar in the US). Sugar in the US is not very granular so I used it as it is. If sugar is granular as in India, use castor sugar or powdered sugar.
• In a pan heat butter and roast cashews & raisins (if using) until light brown. Raisins will puff up. Remove from butter and add to paneer mixture.
• Once the oven is pre-heated, take a pan, heat it and sprinkle sugar to caramelize. I used the same pan that I used to roast the nuts. I used a non-stick pan and sugar did not caramelize properly. Use a stainless steel pan instead. Once the sugar melts and turns light amber color, transfer it to baking pan or a dish. I used a 4.5” mini spring form pan. Pyrex or any oven safe dish will work to.
• Spread the caramel in the pan, press the paneer mixture over the caramel syrup.
• Place the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until a tooth pick insert in the cake comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and let it cool for about 2 hours before digging in.

Verdict:

• The cake was good but it was a little too sweet for my taste. Next time I make this cake; I will either reduce the quantity of sugar or omit raisins. I felt addition of raisins made the cake little sweeter.

This day in 2010 - ICC: Saggubiyyam Murukulu, in 2011 – Vatteppam
Recipes I posted this month in 2009, in 2010 and in 2011.