February 28, 2014

Pineapple Masala Noodles


 


Hub wasnt coming home for lunch, and I was wondering what to cook for myself. Left to myself, Im quite lazy to cook, so I wanted to make something simple. So I put together some spaghetti, mushrooms, and frozen veggies, added some Indian Masala and had some Noodles for lunch.

Later in the day, I was biting through some juicy pineapple and wondered how it would be to marry the spaghetti with pineapple. I tried, and they clicked! Happy happy!

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup Boiled Noodles (I used Spaghetti)
1/2 cup Pineapple juice
1 tbsp Oil for cooking
1/2 Onion - sliced thin and long
1 tomato - sliced long
1 cup Mixed Veggies (I used frozen veggies, but if you have fresh veggies, please please use them!)
1 cup Mushrooms (You can omit them if you don't like them)
1 tbsp Coriander Powder (Dhaniya)
1 tbsp Cumin Powder (Jeera)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Dry Mango powder (amchur)

Method

  1. Soak the boiled noodles in pineapple juice for 10 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a saucepan, and add onions.
  3. After the onions have browned a bit, add tomatoes and salt.
  4. After the tomatoes turn mushy, add the mushrooms and mixed vegetables.
  5. Stir a bit and add the coriander, cumin, and amchur powders.
  6. Let the mixture cook for a while, about 3 mins.
  7. After the vegetables and mushrooms have cooked, add the pineapple juice-soaked noodles.
  8. Stir well and let it cook for 6-7 mins stirring occasionally.
  9. Serve hot.

Pictorial



Heat oil in a kadhai (saucepan), and add onions.




After the onions have browned a bit, add tomatoes.




After the tomatoes have turned mushy, add the mushrooms and vegetables.




Add the coriander, cumin, and amchur powders and stir well.




Add the boiled noodles soaked in pineapple juice




Stir well and let it cook for some time




Enjoy hot!

Hope you try out this recipe and give me feedback about this.


Tips

  1. If you want to spice up this dish, add a teaspoon of chilli powder.
  2. Its best to avoid veggies such a Cauliflower, Broccoli etc that have their own distinct flavour.
  3. Let the noodles sit for a minute on high heat and the noodles below crisp up a bit. Try It !

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February 26, 2014

Date Cake with Toffee Sauce


Okay! New Blog and First Post. I'm excited! :)

I thought it would be good to start of with a dessert post. Its my hub's birthday and I'm starting my blog and .. and.. oh well! Lets have a sweet beginning!

I adapted this recipe from Nags of Edible Garden who has adapted hers from Marcy Goldman's 'A Passion for Cooking'

Without further ado, here is the recipe.

Ingredients for the cake

1 cups dates (pits removed)
1 and 1/2 cups of water
3 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsalted soft butter @ room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup All purpose flour or Maida
3/4 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt

Milk (if necessary)


Ingredients for the Toffee Sauce

1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp unsalted soft butter
2 tsp vanilla essence

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 deg F or 180 deg C.
  2. Add dates, water, and vanilla essence to a saucepan and simmer it on medium flame. 
  3. When the dates ate cooked and mushy, without being watery, turn off the gas.
  4. Add the baking soda to the cooked dates. It will froth a bit, but thats okay.
  5. Take a mixing bowl, add the butter and whisk it.
  6. Add the brown and white sugars and whisk it well till its all blended and smooth.
  7. Drop in the eggs into the butter- sugar mixture and beat them well.
  8. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk well till it all comes together.
  9. Next, add in the cooked dates, and fold it into the cake batter and mix well. 
  10. If the cake batter is a little thick, you can add some milk to loosen it up a bit. 
  11. Pour the batter into a greased baking tin (springform is best).
  12. Bake for 45-50 mins. A skewer inserted into the cake should come out clean.
  13. Lift the cake out of the oven after its done.
  14. In another saucepan, boil butter, sugar, cream, and vanilla essence together until it becomes thickish. 
  15. Poke holes in the cake and pour the warm sauce over it.

Pictorial


Pour in the cake batter into the prepared pan



Bake to all its scrumptious goodness

Prepare the toffee sauce



Pour over the cake and serve warm


Tips

  1. This is a sticky cake. So, you might not be able to overturn it onto a serving plate.So its best to use a springform pan to bake this cake, then remove the rim to serve it.
  2. If you want to serve it onto another plate, use a wet washcloth on the bottom of the cake pan (on the outside, to be specific). I havent tried so myself, so let me know if this works.

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