Frozen Plum Yogurt

 Frozen Plum Yogurt 

One of the ingredients I miss in the Indian market during the summers are berries. As it is India does not grow too many berries and we get out share of strawberries during the winters. The truth is there is an abundance of fruits we get here during the summers but somehow I always crave a tart fruit during the summers especially to be used for frozen desserts etc etc.

Anyway the rains came in, the humidity rose and along came the season for plums. So when I got this season's first batch of plums it turned out a bit more tart than expected and while at first I did not know what to do with them I suddenly had an idea and it resulted in a creamy tart frozen yogurt.

I adapted BBc food's recipe for Plum preserve and made some frozen yogurt

You might be left with some extra plum sauce which you can use later on

Please note that the  amount of sugar I have used is a bit on the lesser side so feel free to use more sugar

For the Plum Preserve

450gm Plums
170gm sugar
200ml water
2 inch cinnamon stick
A few drops of lemon juice

For the frozen yogurt :-

400gm yogurt which is made into hung curd
100ml dairy cream


Tie the yogurt in a cheesecloth or muslin cloth and let the water drain away for 2 hours to create hung curd.

In the meantime make your plum preserve. Stone the plums and chop them. After chopping them they would roughly weigh 400gm or so.

Bring the water and sugar to a boil and boil for 1 minute and add the chopped plums , cinnamon stick and lemon juice and boil for 10 minutes. Remove the scum. Let it cool down.

Chill the cream in a large bowl. Once the hung curd is made whip it with the chilled cream and then add 1 cup of the plum preserve and fold it in.

Cup used holds 250ml liquid.

Freeze for 2 hours to 3 hours until just set and scoop out and serve immediately. Do not over freeze it else it becomes rock hard and you end up with scoops of frozen yogurt with a little bit of ice crystal in them.

The end result was perfect for me , mostly tart with a hint of sweetness. If you want it to be sweeter make some syrup of single thread consistency and add the syrup which you must cool before adding to the yogurt and cream when whipping it.

                          

Butter Chicken / Murgh Makhani

Butter Chicken / Murgh Makhani 

Cut to 2017 and when I finally tried the butter chicken from Moti mahal Daryaganj, Delhi where this iconic dish had been created donkey years ago .  I realized how the real butter chicken should be like and I also realized that the butter chicken I had created using the recipe from this fabulous cookbook from the house of moti mahal gifted to me by Pritha tasted quite similar to the one I tasted at Moti Mahal.

Be warned that copious amount of butter has been used in the recipe and its meant to be that buttery. This is supposed to be for those are days of indulgence hence a bit of extra buttering is welcome.

Back in 2007 right out of school I was learning to make a lot of new dishes and I had tried the butter chicken masala but since our oven was broken at that time I used the chicken normally after frying it and so I can assure you that the tandoori chicken makes a whole lot of difference.

To be fair the entire process is not difficult at all. A little bit of patience is needed what with the time for marination and the grilling of the tandoori chicken but the end result is magnificent.

I understand if you have just moved into a new house or are yet to buy an oven then of course you have no other option but to use the gas stove for the chicken before it is cooked in the gravy. In that case pan roast it . I don't recommend this wholeheartedly but then again originally the tandoori chicken is made in a clay tandoor 'Clay Oven' so there you go.

What I particularly liked was that the book used chicken with bones. I personally feel when cooking Indian gravies chicken with bones work much better than boneless chicken and then I was assured by many on social media that originally it was cooked with bones but not with the skin on mind you.

Serves 3 to 4

You need tandoori chicken : Recipe Here : Tandoori Chicken


For the gravy you need 560gm tomatoes (firm and ripe)
1 heaped tsp ginger paste
1 heaped tsp garlic paste
85gm to 100gm softened butter
100ml to 120ml full dairy cream
Salt as per taste
1 tsp tandoori masala / garam masala made with green cardamom, black cardamom, bay leaf, black peppercorn and cinnamon
1 tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder

Once the tandoori chicken has been made start with the gravy.

Melt 1 tbsp butter and add the ginger garlic paste and saute for 1 minute and add chopped tomatoes and saute stirring continuously for 3  minutes to 5 minutes on medium flame and add 3/4th of the remaining butter. Now lower the heat and simmer till the oil separates and the cream , tandoori masala or garam masala , some salt and mix well and cook on low heat till its bubbling away. Joint the chicken (cut it up into medium sized pieces using a butcher's knife) and add this to the gravy , cover and cook for 4 minutes and then Mix well , add the remaining butter and serve with hot butter chapati or tandoori roti. Enjoy

Tips :-

1. If using salted butter go easy on the salt in the gravy 
2. In case you are not using the oven for the tandoori chicken . Marinate it as instructed and then heat a bit of ghee or mustard oil in a shallow flat pan and add the chicken and cook on low heat covered for 6 minutes per side. Then one the pan increase heat and cook for 2 minutes per side. Let it rest for 5 minutes and cut it into pieces. 

Kesar Pista Malai Kulfi (Saffron pistachio cream kulfi)

Kesar Pista Malai Kulfi (Saffron pistachio cream kulfi) 

When it comes to traditional desserts I do not believe that a healthy version can do justice to the dish. Now I have always used whole milk to make my kulfis yet I was simply not satisfied till I tried this version. This is one of the reasons that I have not shared the recipe on my blog till now.

I have a book called the 'Classic Cooking of Punjab' by the legendary Jiggs Kalra and needless to say it contains quite a few recipes for kulfi but he adds eggs to his kulfi and since my grandmother is allergic to eggs I am not much in favour of using eggs for my kulfi.

So what I ultimately did was use his recipe as a base and after a short chat with my friend Somnath who is a food enthusiast I finally decided to give the kulfis one last shot at making it perfect for my taste buds. I had an idea of how I wanted it to taste which is smooth creamy silky .

The trick is in using the 'malai' aka extra cream

Its actually one of the simplest desserst that one might try

Makes 7 Kulfi when using the moulds :-

1 litre full cream milk
400ml cream (I used Amul cream which has 25% fat)
80gm sugar which you can change as per taste
1 green cardamom pounded well in a mortar an pestle
Half cup whole pistachios (Cup used holds 220ml liquid)
A fat pinch of saffron
1/2 tsp ghee
Ghee to prepare the kulfi moulds

Start by first blanching the pistachios and then chopping them.

Now one needs to make the rabri for the base of the kulfi.

Keep aside 1/4th cup milk and mix 200ml cream , ghee and the rest of the milk in a heavy bottomed pan (preferably aluminium or iron)

Now reduce this on low heat till it reaches half its content and then add the sugar and 100ml cream and add half the amount of chopped pistachios in the milk while you further reduce it. Keep checking every 7 minutes to 10 minutes and stir it well.

Reduce the milk till it reaches 1/3rd of its original content. In this case you are reducing 1.3 litres milk + cream which means you need to reduce it till it reaches 433ml.

This process of reducing the milk took me 1 hour 45 minutes.

Let the rabri base rest for 15 minutes and then add the saffron an mix well and add the remaining 100ml cream and gentle mix everything.

Use a tiny bit of ghee to grease the moulds and then pour in the kulfi to be frozen. Freeze it till its just about frozen (takes me 2 hours to 3 hours but the time require largely depends on your freezer and the amount of things it is storing when you are freezing the kulfi)  and then de-mould and serve garnished with the remaining chopped pistachios.

Important Note

1. The ghee used when reducing the milk prevents the milk from sticking to the bottom of the pan keeping it smooth and silky. This is a valuable tip I have learnt from my aunt.
2. The ghee used to grease the moulds helps you easily demould the kulfi .
3. From my experience with ice-creams freezing it till its just about frozen gives you the most creamy and silky tasting kulfi. Excessive freezing makes it very hard in consistency and prevents you from enjoying the creaminess.  

Piyau Bare

Piayau Bare 

There is a saying in Bengali, 'Chena manush ke notun kore chena' (Getting to know something we already know afresh from a different perspective) This is exactly what had happened with me while I was engrossed in Adil .I. Ahmed's wonderful book, 'Tehzeeb - Culinary Traditions of Awadh' The book is not only a treasure of this aristocrat's family recipes but it explores a by-gone way of living.

I have always known that Bengal's cuisine is greatly influenced by many culture's cuisines, Awadh being a great influence. Its not as if Benga's cuisine is exactly like Awadh's but the influences are seen quite distinctly. Take the example of Egg Halwa, an egg based halwa dish which is very popular in present day Bangladesh which was a part of undivided Bengal and it finds its roots nestled in Awadhi cuisine.

When I came across the recipe for Piyau Bare  in the book I immediately felt that I know it and it immediately hit me that we have a variation of the same recipe in Bengal which goes by the name, 'Rosh bora' meaning juicy syrupy fritters. Piyau bare is more majestic with the use of saffron and Vetivier water aka Kewra  water and is served with cream which is completely left out in Bengal.

To be fair after making this extremely easy yet delectable sweet dish I actually find the creamy version even better than the one I have grown up with and it being Diwali its the Festival of Indulgence as well.

Recipe Source: The Culinary cookbook Tehzeeb

The author credits Saba Hasan for the recipe

I have reduced the quantities to suit my audience since we are 2 people in this house

1/2 cup of Split black gram
2 cups of sugar
3/4th cup water
Fat pinch of Saffron
1/2 tsp Vetivier water aka Kewra water
Vegetable oil for frying
100ml thick cream

Soak the lentil for a good 2 hours to 2.5 hours. The longer its soaked the fluffier it will be.

Now make a fluffy paste of the lentil by first draining it of all the water and grinding it with 1 tbsp of the water it is soaked in. Make sure you scrape the sides of the grinder so that it becomes a smooth fluffy consistency. The trick to getting a fluffier batter is to grind the already ground lentil a second time with 1 tsp water.

Now soak the saffron in 1 tbsp water and make a syrup by bringing the water and sugar to a boil and simmering it for 10 minutes or so. It should be of a single thread consistency. Add the saffron and Kewra water and simmer l for a few seconds.

Now heat oil and fry the fritters. Keep a bowl of water near you and dip your fingers in the water and scoop out a bit of batter and make a ball and fry it on low heat till it reaches a golden stage. I like mine the colour of gold but you can fry it a bit longer to get a brownish hue. Remember to never increase the heat else the fritters might burn. keep adjusting the heat between low to medium.

Once fried use a kitchen towel to absorb extra oil and soak the fritters in the syrup for about 10 minutes and take it out and then serve it topped with cream.

If you like your cream thick like I do whip it with a fork for 1 minute and put it in the refrigerator when you soak the pulse  so that by the time you serve it it is quite thick.

Enjoy a not so popular but exquisite dessert

This is part of Kolkata Food Blogger's Ongoing Event, 

Deepavali Festival of Lights with Sweets n Savouries 

Creamy Potato Spinach 'Aloo palak malaiwale'

Creamy Potato Spinach 'Aloo palak malaiwale' 

There here are some dishes which you anyway know are going to be delicious because butter and cream makes everything extra delicious. Now normally I don't even bring in fresh cream in my house because the thought of those extra kilograms hanging from everywhere on my body  is not something I relish thinking about but then there are those special occasions when you can actually indulge and my mother-in-law's visit is reason enough to make a creamy lip-smacking Aloo Palak Malaiawale aka Creamy Potato Spinach.

Now before I share the this recipe let me tell my readers from before that any substitution of the ghee or cream used here will not render the same results at all. In case you want to not use ghee the only other substitute for ghee can be mustard oil but even that cannot give it that delicious taste that ghee gives .

Anyway moving on to the recipe

Serves 3 to 4

4 medium sized potatoes cubed into medium size
1 large bunch of spinach
1.5 tbsp minced garlic
1 inch ginger chopped julienne
1 green chili julienne
Salt as per taste
4 cups of water
4 heaped tbsp fresh cream
2 heaped tsp clarified butter 'ghee'
Pinch of asafoetida 'hing'
Garam masala made with 1/2 black cardamom, 1 green cardamom, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2 tsp coriander seeds, 1 blade of mace, pinch of nutmeg, 1 bay leaf , 1/2 inch cinnamon, 3 cloves
3 to 4 green chilies
Dollop of butter

Start by dry roasting the ingredients for your 'Garam Masala' and then grinding it to a fine powdery consistency.

Now ever since I read this Italian chef's tips on maintaining the green colour of spinach I have never had  trouble with maintaining its colour. Its simple actually. Wash the spinach well. The easiest way to make sure you get rid of all the dirt is to fill a bit pan with water and then chopping off the end of the spinach and soaking the leaves in the water and rubbing them and cleaning them. This mostly gets out all the dirt.             Bring the 4 cups of water to a boil. Now add the chopped spinach leaves and let it boil for exactly 2 minutes and immediately take out the spinach and there you have boiled green spinach. Reserve the water in which you have cooked the spinach.

Cube the potatoes and heat the ghee and add the asafoetida 'hing' and when it splutters add the minced garlic, ginger and chili  and saute till softened and add the potatoes and cook on medium heat to saute the potatoes and add the reserved spinach water and bring to a boil and add salt and then simmer covered till the potatoes are mostly cooked. It might take anything between 10 minutes to 15 minutes.

In the meantime make a paste of the cooked spinach and 3 green chilies.

Now add half the garam masala and remove the cover and cook till the curry dries up. Add the spinach paste and mix well and then add the cream and mix well and simmer for 2 minutes . taste and add salt if required. Serve with a dollop of butter on top with soft chapatis or hot fluffy rice.

Rose Parfait

Rose Parfait 

The truth is that, once you have had the superior variety of a dish its hard to go back to the other varieties even if you have grown up with the second non perfect variant. It started when I had put a spoonful of the glorious Movenpick ice-cream in my mouth. Smooth, silky decadent I was in 9th heaven if there is such a place and then I noticed that it had a little red symbol beside some flavours. I went back home and gathered as much information as possible about ice-creams over the internet and was surprised to know that eggs are a staple ingredient of most European ice-creams.

Ever since that time I  have made the most decadent of silky ice-creams thanks to the rich texture provided by this one simple ingredient but then again my grandmother is allergic to eggs which is sad, so she misses out on most desserts I make and I honestly feel bad. So when I bought a litre of double cream. I decided that I would use half of it for a decadent chocolate flavoured silky indulgence with eggs and a rose flavoured variant without eggs.

You see rose is something which has fascinated me from my childhood. My grandmother's huge roses in our garden which has been there for over 40 years has this sweet aroma which cheers me up instantly and then again there is something about this beautiful flower. And not only does it aesthetically please me but the flavouring in food makes me happy and so when I tasted this amazing rose flavoured ice-cream at Taj Bengal I was intrigued , fascinated and wanted to try my hands on it.

To be fair most Persian recipes , for those who do not know this delicacy that we all enjoy actually originated in Persia and there it is known as Bastani and most of the Iranian recipes have the full richness of eggs, so I basically developed this recipe but I have to admit that it did have ice-crystals even though I whippe dit every 1 hour for 6 hours while it was being frozen but then again on these days when the weather becomes unbearable it sure does taste deligthful and with my cosuin brother helping himself to a second scoop and declaring the flavoru to be 'perfect' I have to say I am calling it my rose parfait, the French invented this word which in the culinary sense means frozen .

What you need for 7 to 8 scoops

500ml whole milk
500ml double dairy cream
15gm of dried rose
Sugar as per taste ( I needed a total of 5 tbsp)
2 tsp rosewater
2 tbsp rose syrup
2 tbsp corn-flour
3 green cardamom

Start by making your rose syrup. Simply use the edible petals from 2 roses and steep it in 1 cup of boiled water covered for 5 minutes. Now bring this water to a boil with a little more than half the amount of sugar and when thickened add a drop of lemon or two so that crystals do not form. Dry roast your dried rose and then grind it smooth.

Now begin with the parfait by first taking 4 tbsp milk and makign a smooth paste with the cornflour and leaving it aside and then thickening the milk with the ground dried rose .Mid-way while reducing the milk add the sugar and seeds from 3 green cardamom and then add the cornflour paste. Reduce to 1/3rd of the original amount . Strain it well.

Once the milk has been reduced let it cool down completely and in the meantime whip the double cream to soft peaks. Be careful when using double cream , I use a non electrical whisk and even I have over whipped double cream at times where it becomes watery to the stage of making butter. Whip the reduced milk and add the rose water and rose syrup and then  fold in the cream and freeze in an air-tight container. Whip it after 1 hour when its half frozen and do this 6 times every hour and then let it get frozen for 4 hours or better overnight. Enjoy this frozen treat

Chocolate ice-cream

Chocolate ice-cream 

The truth is I have always had this particular obsession inside of me where I have the compulsory need to make things from scratch and while some things cannot be made at home some others with a bit of research or rather extensive reading will prove to you how you can give a run to those big companies for their money. It was way back in 2008 when I tried my first homemade ice-cream. Needless to say as a 19 year old I searched for recipes and found that most of them required an ice-cream maker and then searched for recipes for ice-creams without an ice-cream maker , made ice-cream which was not bad but the problem of ice-crystals almost defeated me even with hourly churning for 6 hours and then freezing it. Quite frankly I had decided that making ice-cream at home isn't worth the trouble without an ice-cream maker but then this was before I became Mr.Blanc's fan. A few episodes on BBC and I realized this man is a real magician of the kitchen. He effortlessly showed a recipe for a frozen dessert which is basically what English speaking people would call an ice-cream and low and  behold there was no ice-cream maker involved. I was overjoyed and what followed was a immensely successful batch of ice-cream but more importantly I decided to read up as much as possible about this one dessert which most people cannot stop loving.

I was surprised to know that ice-creams in Europe in fact used raw egg yolks or even whole eggs for that decadent creamy silky texture and many a recipe doesn't even require a machine because there are other tricks. For instance Raymond's recipe uses a fruity wine or some other alcohol to prevent ice-crystals. After many a batch of successful ice-creams which included flavours such as vanilla, Blanc's coffee flavoured parfait. Parfait is the French word for a dish which is perfect and usually frozen and indeed his recipe is perfect but then again once you get the gist of a dish, that is you understand its characteristics and truly understand it you have already entered into a magnificent relationship with the dish and you can whip up a successful version of your own.

While I have usually stuck to coffee flavoured ice-creams or glace or parfait if you would like to call it and have followed Blanc's recipe changing the flavours between vanilla and coffee but this was the first time I made my very own glace or ice-cream and  it sure was creamy and delicious and here is why. My recipe does not use alcohol but the secrets in the butter,well not dairy butter but cocoa butter. All that fatty goodness makes it decadently silky smooth and creamy and then there are the yolks working magic but I have made this without eggs as well and while I wouldn't suggest leaving out the yolks for people who eat eggs for those who do not there is the other option as well  .

Makes about 6 large scoops of ice-cream

What you need :-

500ml double dairy cream (Non dairy will not work)
5 egg yolks /If you do not eat eggs substitute it with 2/3rd cup homemade condensed milk made from 500ml of full fat milk
130gm of dark chocolate
7 to 8 heaped tbsp cocoa powder . Now here is the deal, I like my chocolate to be bitter , I mean normally I like mine 85% dark so I suggest you adjust the cocoa powder and I will show you how
3 heaped tbsp icing sugar

Start by chilling the cream in a big bowl and whipping it and then using a second large bowl to melt the chocolate on a double boiler and take off the heat and add the yolks or if you are using the condensed milk use that and whip very hard. Don't let the eggs scramble so keep whipping and when you have a glossy texture slowly start adding the sugar and cocoa powder and a bit of cream to make a smooth texture when mixing. Here I suggest adding the sugar and cocoa powder bit by bit and tasting it so that you know when to stop. Now simply fold in the whipped cream to make a smooth mixture and then freeze in an air-tight container. The trick to not getting any ice-crystal is to serve it as soon as it freezes which can take somewhere between 3 hours to 5 hours.

Here are a few  very useful tips :-

1. We often find the ice-cram to be too hard and it stubbornly refuses to come out as a nice round scoop. Here is what you do. Simply warm water and plunge your ice-cream scooper in it and then try creating a smooth ball, You will be amazed , at least I was.
2. Remember that serving the ice-cream as soon as it freezes over gives you ice-crystal free smooth ice-cream. 

French chocolate truffle

French Chocolate Truffles 

The truth is that, there is precious little difference between Swiss chocolate truffles and French chocolate truffles. As per Wikipedia while Swiss chocolate truffles have the added butter, French truffle chocolates use cream and chocolate alone. Now I had already tried my hands at Swiss chocolate truffles and it was but natural for me to venture into the French chocolate truffles. Easy to make and easy to please your guests

What you need is :-

200gm double cream (the more the fat the creamier the taste)
250gm good quality dark chocolate
50gm cocoa powder to roll the truffles in

Chop the chocolates (it is advisable to chop them as small as possible for ease of mixing with the cream) Simply use low heat to warm the cream but make sure you do not burn the base, so keep stirring and when its warm enough pour it over the chopped chocolates and use a spatula to mix it well till its smooth and creamy and then let it cool down to room temperature and , in it goes in the refrigerator for 12 hours to 24 hours and then take the cocoa powder on a flat surface , dust your hands with cocoa powder and make little balls to make your friends and family go Mmmmmm

French Buttercream

French Buttercream 

Its silky, creamy , smooth and one of the best frosting ever 

After refrigeration 

Before refrigeration 

Now here is the only fact that makes any sense when it comes to frosting, it is hugely subjective. So while some like it fluffy , some like it rich and so if you are the kind who loves frosting with whipped cream you might or might not like Buttercream frosting since it is rich, creamy yet fluffy and melts in the mouth but when your base is butter you cannot but have a rice silky taste to it. I for one am crazy for butter cream and after much trial and errors found my favourite Buttercream recipe. You see there are a number of ways to make buttercream, you can use the most simple format of butter and sugar alone which is way too heavy for my taste, then there is the meringue based one which is very light and airy and needs you to whip your egg whites separately but I for one am simply in love with French buttercream, silky, smooth, fluffy which vanishes in the mouth it is a pure sinful delight. Of course I am yet to try the custard based buttercream but well with the huge success of this French sensuous buttercream I for one have the highest respect for French cuisine. This is egg based, more precisely yolk based but as far as the smell is concerned with the whipping that goes in I for one have never found it smelly, besides if you have had egg based mousse you are good to go. Now living in a tropical country means it is hot and humid the entire year round and so I use a little bit of double dairy cream. Besides, since I use a non electrical hand held whisk I have found that this addition of cream results in that homogeneous silky buttercream else it is not homogeneous (all from experience)

So what you need is :-

6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/4th cup water
350 gm butter
120 gm double dairy cream whipped to soft peaks

Whipped cream 

Whip your cream and keep it in the refrigerator. Now prepare your syrup before you begin work and let it cool for a few minutes while you whip your egg yolks to a stage where it is pale and fluffy and then slowly incorporate the syrup bit by bit. You have to be super fast with the whisking else the eggs will scramble  from the heat.  What you shall first have when you have whipped all that syrup with the yolks is a foamy mixture , well you do need a lot of strength (of course if you are using an electric whisk I wouldn't be able to help and it would take you less time and not require too much skill but I for one am with the French when it comes to cooking and like it hand held old fashioned )

Before the addition of syrup 

Whip this till it reaches the stage of whipped cream and then add the butter bit by bit for a homogeneous butter cream once you have incorporated all of this slowly fold in the whipped cream . If you are adding any flavours do it now.  When making caramel flavoured buttercream you have to be extra careful since caramel has a very high temperature which can inevitably result in scrambled yolks. For that make a caramel sauce and incorporate that. If making coffee flavoured butte cream simply make 6 tablespoonful of strongly brewed coffee and whip with the butte cream .                      

Emulsion of egg yolks and sugar syrup 

                                                                                                            
Let it sit in the refrigerator for 5 minutes before using since ours is a tropical country but no more than 5 else it will become stiff  whip and use . With experience I have gained a valuable tip of using frosting in a tropical weather. Apply your first layer on the let it sit in the refrigerator for 15 minutes before applying the second cake base and then the frosting but do not let it sit for too long else it will before stiff and you shall not be able to make the base sit properly on the previous layer of buttercream.

Sample of frosting
(caramel frosting) 

Sample of Chocolate buttercream 

Sample of frosting caramel frosting

Creamy potato salad

So salads can be as healthy or as hearty yet well rich and beautiful as you want them. So the occasion was Roast chicken and somehow I wanted some creamy potato. With a little help from Chef Turner's recipe I give you creamy  potato salad. can be served both warm or cold

I used 10 baby potatoes boiled whole in their skin and then skinned them                                                     2 tablespoonful of finely chopped celery stalk
1 tablespoonful of chopped onions or shallots or spring onion. I used the crisp onions of which I ahd made a bed for my chicken roast

Ah creamy dressing thou art mine

3 egg yolks
salt as per taste
pepper as per taste
1 tablespoonful of red wine vinegar
3 heaped tea spoonful of clotted cream or well just cream that has been stored in the refrigerator so that it is very thick and almost hard / for a healthier version use hung curd
Pinch of paprika
1 heaped tsp homemade mustard sauce
1 tsp honey
150ml oil refined or olive

Boil potatoes but do not over-boil them. 1 whistle in the pressure cooker is enough. the trick is to keep them covered post cooking. Just before serving add the finely diced onions and celery.

When making your dressing add everything but oil and slowly add oil bit by bit and blend to get the creamy satisfaction of your choice. Sometimes you might not even need the entire amount of oil.

Serve the dressing in a separate small jug or bowl for guests to help themselves.  Enjoy a hearty dish. if all is not used simply store in an air-tight jar for the next few days. 

Victorian Sponge Cake

Tribute to Queen Victoria ,

 the humblest yet one of the best Cakes

Before you read this post I have to say that my Victorian Cake has remained the same over the years but what has changed is the quality of the photographs 

 The Classic Cake 

I have observed that in recent times there is a craze for artistically crafted cakes. So the rage is to be a Michelangelo in baking but I personally still fail to understand the charm of fondant coated cakes over so many delicious pastries. We all have our personal likes and dislikes. I believe this diversity ultimately unites us but for me the allure of  traditional baked goodies would always  win over artistic cakes which really need artistic hands but the taste , well is too sugary, for what is fondant or other cake decorative items but unhealthy masses of sugar, almonds and other ingredients.

I have gone back to the basics. This cake is said to be famous from Queen Victoria's times. Legend has it that the Queen herself would enjoy this delicious cake with rich whipped cream and tea every afternoon.          

 Rich, buttery and delicious , it is a perfect tea-time accompaniment. The smell is intoxicating and the ingredients are so basic that it is probably the first cake that an amateur should take a shot at. A very old baker once told me that a baker's quality can be best tested with the kind of Victorian sponge cake also known as pound cake one makes. Simple yet not to be unjustly not given due respect. The only thing to be kept in mind is that all the ingredients should be of an equal amount. You can make a loaf or the classic round cake.

I have seen that the quality of ingredients is the key to any good dish. It does not matter if one does not have access to some exotic ingredient but freshness and good quality are the only secrets which maketh or breaketh a dish. I have found that in Calcutta the unsalted butter from J.Johnson's is fresh and creamy and renders the best of cakes.

Serves 4 to 5

Pan size to be used - 6 inch to 7 inch pan

The basic ingredients are:

125 gm unsalted butter + 1.5 tsp for buttering the cake pan
125 gm all purpose flour + a 1 tbsp for using on the cake mould. (If you are using a cup which holds 250ml liquid then use 1 cup of the flour minus 1 tsp since a cup which holds 250ml liquid holds 128gm of flour)
125 gm castor sugar
Baking powder (Now for this please do read the package to know how much to use) I personally require half a tsp
2 large eggs

For the filling and topping for round cakes

250ml double cream (I would always recommend the dairy cream )
170gm strawberry
100gm castor sugar
1/4th of juice from a lemon

Start with the strawberry compote.

First mix the sugar and 120 gm (leaving 6 strawberries for decoration) strawberry together and let it sit for about 1 hour and then use the juice of lemon and bring to a boil and then simmer till ti reaches a soft sticky consistency. Whip you cream and keep it ready in the refrigerator.

The first thing to do is to butter the baking mould  ( 6 inch to 7 inch)  and dust it with flour. Timing is everything for baking. You should have your cake pan ready.

One should begin by sieving the all purpose flour and baking powder together. While one mixes the cake batter one should pre-heat the oven to 180 C. From my experience in the area of baking, the best cakes are the ones baked over a long period on medium heat. Too much heat would make the outer parts crispy and the inner parts uncooked.

Once you have started the process of preheating you need to be a bit quick because a  batter which sits out  for too long is a ruined batter. The Victorian sponge cake is one of my favourite cakes and so I have not only made it numerous times but have learnt to improve upon it overtime and only recently did I learn that using a wooden spatula yields the best result. So use the wooden spatula to soften the butter and then cream the butter by using the spatula against the wall of the bowl till its fluffy and add the sugar bit by bit to fluff it up to a point where all the sugar has melted and you are left with something which tastes light as air. Then add the eggs one by one and it is now that you should use your whisk to fluff up the batter and then reject the whisk again when you add the flour and switch to the wooden spoon and finally fold the flour and baking powder sifted from before by sifting it a second time . Your batter should be light and have a dropping consistency. (Remember that extra baking powder would invariably result in a cracked top and zinc like taste so be very careful about it)

 Seasoned bakers say that  the batter should never be over mixed.

Then all one needs to do is to pour the batter in the baking pan and bake it for  40 minutes to 50 minutes  in case one is using a convection oven or 30 minutes to 35 minutes for regular ovens. Do not open the door at any cost during this period. For a fool proof recipe (wrap a tea towel around the cake pan because when you use an aluminium pan the sides tend to heat up faster and as a result your sides often get overcooked, besides this might also lead to cracked tops so a tea towel ensures slow even baking)

Now patience is the key to success. So once done do insert a toothpick to check if its done. If the toothpick comes out clean your cake is ready but first it needs to sit in the pan once you take it out from the oven for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and then flip it over a rack and flip that back and let it cool for another half an hour before slicing it in half for the whipped cream and strawberry compote to be applied. Apply a thick layer of whipped cream and strawberry compote and then place the other half of the cake on top and then apply a generous amount of whipped cream on top and decorate with strawberries. Enjoy this classic cake with a cup of steaming hot tea

Here are a few tips which might help in achieving that light firm yet airy Cake.

1. Never over mix the batter 
2. Creaming the butter and sugar to a fluffy airy consistency is a must 
3. Once you start making your batter be as quick as possible 
4. Once you have transferred the batter in the cake pan, wet your hands and gently press the batter. This helps in achieving an even top. 
5. B every careful about the amount of baking powder since even a tiny pinch of  extra baking powder would lead to a cracked top. 
6. If you double the recipe use 2 , 8 inch pans