Simple vanila cake

Ingredients:

• Flour - 1 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 1 cup
• Egg - 1
• Oil or butter - 1/2 cup
• Milk - 1 cup
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Vanila extract - 1 tsp

Method

Sieve flour and baking powder together twice and keep aside.
Beat the egg light and fluffy.
powder 1 cup sugar.
In a bowl beat sugar and oil/butter (which ever you want to use). beat till light and creamy.
Now pour the egg and beat slightly.
Now add the seived flour little by little and fold in along with milk alternatively.
Add vanila extract and mix.
Now grease a cake mold. (I used the cooker separator) and dust with maida.
Pour this cake mixture and tap well.

Baking with Pressure Cook.

Heat the pressure cooker for 3 to 5 minutes.
Put a flat bowl or plate upside down and place this cake mold over that.
Close the pressure cooker. Do not put the cooker weight.
Keep in high flame for 3 minutes and then simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.
turn off the stove and let it cool for 10 minutes.
Now take the mold carefully and turn it on a plate. Place the cake on a gauge to let it cool.

Cake ready for evening tea.

Kosamalli

This is a traditional dish of chettinad made with Brinjal in tamarind... usually served as a side dish for Thalicha Idiyappam and in house holds a side dish for Idly or Dosa... Harmless and tasty.

Ingredients:

• Brinjal – 4 (Violet and white striped)
• Small Onions – ½ cup sliced
• Tomato – 1 sliced
• Green Chilli – 5 to 8
• Red Chilli – 5 (Dry roast 3 and run in the mixie)
• Mustard – ½ sp
• Split Urudh Dhal – ½ sp
• Jeera – ½ sp
• Curry Leaves – 2 strings
• Coriander Leaves – a small bunch
• Tamarind – a small ball
• Salt – to taste
• Oil – 2 sp

Method:

Wash and keep the brinjal over stove. The outer skin gets burnt. Keep turning it on and off so that it is cooked on all sides.

Now just remove the burnt skin and remove the stem.

Make a solution of tamarind and salt.

Chop this cooked brinjal. Mash half the sliced onions with hands (to separate the rings) into the brinjal. Pour the tamarind into it. Mix and check for salt.

Heat oil in a kadai. Season with mustard, urudh dhal, jeera, red chilli and curry leaves. Add the remaining onion, chopped tomatoes, slit green chillies. Sauté for a minute, add the chilli flakes and the mixed brinjal contents.

Bring it to a boil and switch off. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Note: Do not boil for a long time since the sauce of this dish is mainly tamarind it will go slightly bitter like.

Instead of burning the brinjal over stove, cut into four pieces (Lengthwise). And cook in water. Remove the flesh from the skin and mash with hands.

Also all the onions can be added into the brinjal or all can be sautéed.

And also the chilli flakes is optional.

Prawn Curry

Ingredients:

• Prawn - 250 gm
• Small Onions - 1/4 cup
• Garlic - 5 to 6 pods
• Green chilli - 2
• Tomato - 1
• Chilli powder - 1 sp
• Turmeric powder - 1 sp
• Jeera - 1/2 sp
• Somf - 1/2 sp
• Fenugreek - 1/2 spoon
• Pepper - 1/2 sp
• Kasa kasa - 1 sp
• Cashew - 3
• Coconut - 3 tbsp
• curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• oil

Method:

Remove the prawns from the shell and clean well. Blend coconut, small onion ( 3 or 4), half tomato, Jeera and somf, kasa kasa and cashew to a paste.

Cut the onion and garlic into two or three pieces. slit the green chilli and chop the tomato.

In a kadai heat 2 table spoon oil and fry the pepper and fenugreek seed followed by the curry leaves, onion and garlic and green chilli.

sauté for a while and then add the tomatoes and cook we..

Add chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt, sauté till the raw smell goes.

Add a little water and the cleaned prawns.

Cook it closed for a minute and then add the ground coconut paste.

Bring it to boil slightly and turn off the stove.

Note: Prawns get cooked faster. Clean the prawns in lot of water as it will have fine sand in it. If the prawns are bigger cut them into two. you can reduce the coconut if you want it as a think masala.... increase the quantity if you want it as a gravy for rice or chapathi.

Channa

Ingredients:

• Channa - 1 cup
• Onion - 1
• Tomato - 2
• Ginger - 1 inch piece
• Chilli powder - 1 sp
• Channa Masala Powder - 2 sp
• Garam masala powder - 1 sp
• Jaggery - 1 sp
• Tamarind pulp - 1/2 sp
• Oil - 2 sp
• Salt - to taste
• Coriander leaves - 2 tb sp
• Tomato sauce - 1 tb sp
• Spices - Cardamom, Cinnamon, clove
• Knob of Butter or Spoon of Fresh cream

Method:

Pressure cook soaked chaana with little sugar and spices. In a small white cloth add all the spices and make it like a sack and put it in the pressure cooker.

Blend onion tomato and ginger to a paste.

Heat oil in a kadai and fry the ground paste in it till the raw smell goes and water evaporates.

add chilli powder and channa masala powder.

Now take the spice sack out and discard the content add the channa with that water and let it cook well.

Add a spoon of jaggery, tamarind pulp and salt to taste. Mash a little of the channa to give thickness to the gravy.

Add the tomato sauce and garam masala.

Garnish with chopped coriander and a knob of butter or fresh cream.

Note: Can also a add a potato while you cook the channa. Mashing the potato into the gravy will thicken it. Also cook channa in correct amount of water and use that in cooking as the flavor of the spice will be in it. Since we are using the water wash the potato well and add to avoid any sand or dust.

Babay Potato Masalai

Ingredients:

• Baby Potato - 1/4 kg
• Onion - 1
• Tomato - 1
• Garlic - 2 pods
• Red Chilli powder - 2 sp
• Turmeric Powder - 1/2 sp
• Garam Masala Powder - 1 sp
• Methi Leaves - 1 sp
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt - to taste

Method:

                                 

Pressure cook Baby Potatoes with salt and a spoon of chilli powder. Peel them and keep aside. If it is a little big cut into two.

Heat oil in a kadai add the crushed garlic along with the skin. add the sliced onion sauté well. Add the tomatoes and sauté  till the tomatoes are mashed and cooked. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. When the oil starts to separate add the potatoes, and toss well.

Keep it closed for 3 minutes.

Toss well and add the garam masala and sprinkle crushed methi leaves. Keep it in medium flame for a minute sauting it well.

Serve with chapathi or curd rice.