Cake House

D ifferent varieties of chaats are available all over India.Chaat is a savory snack that contain four flavors like sour, sweet, spicy and tangy in one plate, which is loved by all. In my family these chaats have a special place.In India, when we used to roam around, we used to have unlimited pani puri. I ended up having 20- 25 in one go and my daughter’s was the record. She likes these chaats a lot and will eat how much ever is possible. Today I made ragda patties, which I tasted once and loved the flavors and texture that got blended well with each other. In this ragda patties the potato patties are topped with dried green peas gravy along with sweet chutney, green chutney , curd, onions and sev. Here I didn’t use green chutney, as my husband is not a big fan of coriander leaves. In Kerala, chaats are not so famous. They have their own delicacies. Now a days this chaat business is growing up slowly. As I grew up in Andhra, I love all different varieties of food and so chaat is one of ...

Saffron Cream, Crab and Leek Tarts I love the smell and taste of saffron, making me Cornish, I reckon. So I use it often if I can, especially in savoury tarts and breads. This tart is great for lunches or as cold picnic food. You could even dress it up a bit for a dinner starter. I have used little mini quiche tins but you could use large muffin tins too. The quality below makes about 6 mini quiche. I made four large mini quiches 5” diameter [more if you use a muffin tin] Start off by making the pastry [or buy, ready made in Sainsbury’s!!!’] Take some strands of saffron, wrap in a piece of parchment and place in a very cool oven for ten minutes, to dry. Lightly crush. [use as much saffron depending on how saffrony you want it!] 8 oz plain flour  large pinch salt 4 oz cubed cold butter 4 tablespoons very cold water Place the dry ingredients in a processor, pulsing until resembling breadcrumbs. Add the water until it forms a ball. Or alternatively rub in the butter. Wrap in cling fil...

RED BERRY CHOCOLATE CAKE I love the mix of cherries and chocolate!! Who doesn’t? But I love the tartness of cranberries as well, so a generous mix of both is a good balance in this indulgently delicious, easy, rich cake. It keeps well too in an airtight tin. Never in this house!! You can add a topping for a special occasion, but it is so moist and tasty it does not need it. Maybe drizzle over a little extra melted chocolate, if you must???? Your choice. Oil a 2lb loaf tin and place some baking parchment across and over the long side to help you lift it out. Pre heat your fan oven to 150C In a medium bowl, place: 7 oz butter, softened 7 oz caster sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste Cream the above until light and fluffy, then add: 3 large eggs, one at a time, along with a little of the flour to stop it curdling. [see * on cherries] 5 oz plain flour  1½ teaspoon baking powder 1 dessertspoonful good quality cocoa 3 oz ground almonds Fold in the dry ingredients and mix well. Now add: 3...

W hen we were in Bangalore, on lazy weekends our breakfast used to be from hotels and mine and my daughter’s preference would be masala dosa and I once had this Mysore masala dosa and that became my favorite. There is a lot of difference between plain masala dosa and mysore masala dosa. Right from the batter to the filling inside the dosa. I loved the red chilli garlic chutney that is spread on the dosa. After coming here, it became difficult to get our desired masala dosas, so thought of making this at home and prepared this for a Sunday breakfast. If every ingredients are kept handy, then we can make this within minutes. I prepared the red chili, garlic chutney the day before, boiled the potatoes before hand and on the day of making this dosa, it was easy to prepare. In this Mysore masala dosa , the dosa will be crisp from outside and soft like sponge texture inside and have a nice golden brown color too. Just try this out and you will love them. Ingredients: Dosa Batter: Rice- 3 Cup...

O n my son’s first birthday my friend brought a small jar of homemade strawberry jam. That was the first time I tasted homemade jam, which was so juicy, slight tangy and with luscious red colour. I thought of making this, so one day gave a try and this amazingly delicious soft, spreadable jam is made with very less ingredients, with not much hard work and within less time. Bubbling on the stove Thick Strawberry jam I have added sliced strawberries, so my jam gives chunky pieces in between, if u want a smooth jam, just blend the strawberries well in a blender and make it. We won’t use jam very often, so I never tried making it at home. But after this I started to make different varieties of jams with different fruits. You can make it without any artificial colours or preservatives and a much healthier version at home rather than buying it from store. It is so easy to make that just add all the ingredients together and stir once in awhile till you get thick jam like consistency and tran...