Roma's Space

A couple of weeks ago the ladies in our apartment decided to have a Chinese potluck. They asked me to make Chilly Paneer. Although I have been relishing it at various parties I had never really tried my hand at it. I just knew that this dish is dry and can be eaten as a starter.

I was confused about how to maintain that perfect texture of paneer. Those of you who have experimented with paneer will be aware of how difficult it is to cook paneer cubes well till inside as well as have them firm on the outside.

After interviewing a whole lot of people I found the trick. Its called ‘half-fry’. Here you need to shallow fry paneer fingers till they are exactly half done and pull them out.

Paneer’s behavior :

1) Deep frying paneer makes it go hard and brown.

2) Grilling paneer directly on  tawa / hot plate will make it stick to the bottom

3) Cooking paneer directly without frying makes it brittle

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I found this cake to be particularly soft! Since applesauce is used as an egg substitute it has all the qualities that make a cake soft and spongy. Add a few eggs and now you have a cake thats even softer, yet well bound. 

Apples and cinnmon are a match made in heaven. Its rare to find a apple dessert that doesnt contain cinnamon. Its advisable to freshly prepare any spice powder by roasting and grinding the spice. This when added at the very last stage of bread making results in a lasting aroma. I tried roasting the cinnamon but didnt know that it burns so fast. I threw those poor charred sticks away and started again, very cautiously. This time I tossed them around constantly and turned off the gas as soon I got the fragrance of roasted cinnamon. The resultant cakes were soft and brown with a hint of cinnamon in them.

I have adapted this recipe from Mansi’s Apple Bread Recipe. Thanks Mansi, for sharing this delicious recipe with us.

I made a few changes to the original recipe :

1. I made it as a muffin since my baby likes small round portions
2. I didnt add nutmeg powder and nuts
3. I also added 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to the flour while seiving
4. I baked muffins at 175 °C for 25 mins

As you might have guessed by the name its a chocolate cake, in taste and appearance its a close cousin of the Deep Dark Chocolate Cake. The main difference being that Black Magic Cake contains a magic potion, coffee.

The procedure of making this cake is fairly simple. Since we dont use any butter there is not much beating, the baking soda and oil does the softening part for you. Only one thing you need to take care of, when you mix hot water to the egg mixture you need to whisk constantly else the eggs could scramble. The hot water combines with the eggs to result in a sticky kind of cake hence you really must wait for the cake to cool off before trying to demold it otherwise the cake could stick to the mold and detach.

I have so far found recipes from Hershey’s website fairly simple and with reliable results. I keep going back for more, I’m sure my doctor wont be very happy with this.

About a few weeks ago Mayank planned a party with his friends. He asked me if I would be interested in making a welcome drink for the party and I agreed. The best drink to beat the heat these days is a chilled lemonade, flavored with fresh mint leaves and ginger juice.

Mayank asked me the ingredients required for the drink and I gave him a list. He ran the errand rather promptly and in an hours time our house was fragrant with a whole lot of mint leaves. In the evening he told me that there was a change in plans. We wont have to make the beverage as an arrangement had already been made. Hmmmm….. what was I to do with the mint leaves, ginger and whole lot of lemon that was chilling in my fridge?

Mint leaves are versatile and can be used to make pudina chutney and pulao. So that wasnt a problem and thankfully ginger also has a rather long shelf but lemon doesnt survive that way and how long can you eat tangy food in order to finish the lime juice? A week went by and every time I opened the fridge 12 angry big lemons would stare at me and I would look away, promising myself that someday I would put them to good use.

At this point my mom came up with a good solution. She asked me to make lemon squash so in the upcoming summer months we can drink refreshing lemonade whenever we want.

The procedure was simple. I bought a lemon squeezer so it would hasten the process. Once the squash was ready I added PMS to give it a shelf life of one year! Unlike the market-made squash it doesnt contain essence and food color. It has the flavor of freshly squeezed lime juice in every glass. Now I am happy that managed to preserve my 12 angry lemons for one year without really putting them in a pickle

Glass Painted the Squash Bottle

Glass Paint dried up, awaiting the Squash

Lets start Cooking. Besides the ingredients mentioned in the picture below please make sure you have a lemon squeezer and a funnel (to pour the squash into a bottle).

Procedure :

1. Heat sugar with water in a heavy bottom pan till it boils.
2. Turn off the heat and add citric acid. If you find froth on the surface extract and discard it. Thats the impurity in sugar that citric acid helps to collect.
3. Once the sugar syrup is cool add the lime juice, PMS and mix well.
4. Store in clean, dry bottle. 
5. When you want to have a glass of lemonade mix the syrup with the desired quantity of water and enjoy it with ice. If you find the sweetness to be less you can add sugar to the syrup even after its made.

Variation

You can add strands of kesar to the squash once its ready. This will add kesar flavor and color to the lemonade.

You can mix this syrup in ice tea or fuzzy apple drink to get delicious mocktails.

I tasted this delicacy for the first time at a Kannadiga wedding. I was amazed at how creative people can get with pineapple. I was sure someday I would crack the code and make it for myself. Then years went by, lots more weddings and lots more Gojju. I just couldnt seem to have enough of it. Finally I decided to find out the recipe to this mid-boggling taste and set off to speak to some ladies in my apartment who have mastered the art of Gojju-making. 

I must say you need lots of patience in cleaning and cutting the pineapple, not to mention the bruised fingers at the end of it. The time taken to get the pineapple ready was nearly half of the entire time taken to make the Gojju. 

Anyway, I must say I was very happy with the end result. I made just one small change. I should have thrown away some excess water after boiling the pineapple but I didnt have the heart to waste delicious pineapple juice. So I went ahead and used it up. Unlike the original recipe it became a bit watery but somehow the taste was not diluted. I just loved the khatta-meetha flavors that were exploding in my mouth with every spoonful of this dish. 

You can also make Gojju with other Sweet N Sour fruits like grapes. It compliments best the taste of plain dal and rice. You can choose to make tur dal or better still yellow moong dal. Just ensure that the dal is given the most simple and basic tempering. Any masalas in your dal could fight with the flavor of the Gojju. 

I had saved the pricky flower head of the pineapple to dress up the Gojju for a snap but my maid thew it away saying it looked dirty. Ok, so feast your eyes on the Gojju without distractions.

Gojju was then on made frequently

One big dollop of tempering!

Ingredients :

• 1 cup Pineapple pieces
• 1 tablespoon Tamarind juice
• 2 teaspoons Jaggery (change as per sweetness of pineapple and your taste)
• Salt (to taste)

For the Masala :

• 2 teaspoons Coriander seeds (optional)
• 1.5 tablespoons Channa dal
• 1/2 teaspoon Methi seeds
• 4-5 Byadige red chillies
• 1.5 tablespoons grated Dry coconut
• 1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds

For the Tempering :

• 1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds
• Few Curry leaves

Procedure :

1. Wash and cut pineapple into small pieces (this is the toughest part, if someone cuts it for you half the work is done)
2. Boil pineapple pieces till they are soft.
3. Heat oil. Add Channa dal, coriander seeds, meethi seeds, rai, byadige chillies and roast till golden brown.
4. Now take out the roasted masala into a mixie jar. Cool and grind into a powder.
5. Dry roast the grated dry coconut for a few minutes.
6. Add to the mixie and grind further (grinding with the masalas initially itself wont give you a fine powder)
7. Add tamarind juice and jaggery to the boiling pineapple pieces. 
8. Now add ground masala and boil till mixture thickens.
9. Heat oil in a wok. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves.
10. Once they splutter add tempering to the pineapple Gojju.
11. Serve hot with rotis or plain dal & rice.

Variation

• You can also add til/ sesame seeds to the masalas while roasting.
• You can make Gojju out of Urad dal instead of Channa Dal.

Please NOTE :

Try to buy a pineapple from a vendor who cuts and sells it. In India, you find hand cart chaatwalas or guys who sell pineapple slices by the plate. You can buy a whole pineapple from him. It will cost you a premium price but it will definitely be very sweet.