Monthly Archives: February 2012

Victoria Sandwich Cake

Sweets


Victoria Sandwich Cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

  • 8              oz butter
  • 8              oz sugar
  • 4              eggs
  • 8              oz white flour
  • 2              level tsp Baking Powder
  • 1              tsp  vanilla essence
  • ½             cup luke warm water

Filling

  • 4              tbsp strawberry Jam

Decoration

  • Icing Sugar

 

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cream butter and sugar until light and creamy.
  3. Beat in eggs one at a time.
  4. Fold in the white flour and baking powder, together with the water to give a dropping consistency.
  5. Pour the mixture into 2 greased 8″ round cake tin and bake for about 20 min or until done.
  6. Cool on a wire cooling tray, sandwich with the jam and decorate with icing sugar.

Note:

To test cake: –

  1. press gently with a finger, if no impression remains cake is cooked.
  2. Prick it with a tooth pick and if the tooth pick comes out clean the cake is done.

Chocolate Cake

Substitute 1 oz cocoa for flour.

Coconut

Add 2 oz coconut

Orange or lemon

add zest of 1 orange or 1 lemon and the juice.

Crème Caramel(chasni wadi pudding)

Sweets

Cream Caramel

Serves 6

Ingredients

Caramel

  • 1                 cup sugar
  • 1/4              cup water

Custard

  • 1/2             cups sugar
  • 1                 Liter half and half (light cream)
  • 5                 eggs
  • 1/2              tsp crushed cardamom seeds
  • 1/4              tsp nutmeg powder

Instructions

  1. In a small saucepan  add the sugar and the water. Mix it and boil it till it turns to chocolate  brown.
  2. Pour this in an 8” x 3” round cake tin.
  3. In a large bowl  mix the sugar, half and half,  eggs,  crushed cardamom seeds and nutmeg powder.
  4. Pour the custard on top of the caramel in the cake tin.
  5. Put a baking tray in the oven.  Fill it half way with water and place the cake tin on the baking tray and bake for about one hour or when you put a tooth pick  in the centre,  it comes out clean,
  6. Let it cool.
  7. Before serving:  cover the cake tin with a plate (plate should be bigger than the cake tin) and turn it over.  The custard should come out.
  8. You can make this dessert the day before and store it in the fridge.  To remove:  Fill a flat bottom bowl (the kitchen sink is perfect) with hot water.  Put the cake tin in the hot water for about 5 minutes and then transfer it into a plate.

Shrimp and Avocado Salad

Snacks & Appetizers, Soups & Salads

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 2            avocados
  • 1            cup cooked shrimps
  • 1/4         cup diced cucumber
  • 1/4         cup diced carrots
  • 1/4         cup diced tomatoes
  • 1/4         cup diced celery
  • 2            tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2            tbsp sour cream
  • 1/4         tsp salt
  • 1/4         tsp Black pepper
  • 1            lime (zest and juice)
  • 1            lime for decoration
  •               Parsley sprigs  for decoration

Direction

  1. Cut the avocado in half.  Remove the pip and dice the avocado.  Save the skin.
  2. Take the shrimps and rinse them in cold water.  Drain the water
  3. In a bowl add avocado, shrimps, cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, celery, mayonnaise, sour cream, salt, pepper, lime zest and juice.  Mix everything.
  4. Fill the avocado skin with the salad mix, decorate with lime wedges and chopped parsley

Strawberry Cinnamon Chiffon Cake

Sweets

This is a recipe I got from the First Magazine in 1992.

Tip:

Don’t remove the green hulls before rinsing strawberries.  The leaves keep the berries from absorbing water and getting mushy.

Strawberry Cinnamon Chiffon Cake

Serves 16

Ingredients

  • 2-1/4           cups white flour
  • 2                  cups sugar
  • 1                  tbsp  baking powder
  • 1                  tsp ground cinnamon
  • 3/4               tsp salt
  • 6                  eggs, at room temperature
  • 1/2               cup butter melted
  • 3/4               cup water
  • 1-1/2            tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4               tsp cream of tartar
  • 1                  qt strawberries
  • 2- 1/2          cups heavy cream

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
  2. Combine flour, 1 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Separate eggs.  Combine the yolks, melted butter, water and 1 tsp of the vanilla.  With an electric mixer set at low speed, gradually beat egg yolk mixture into flour mixture until just smooth.
  4. With clean beaters, beat egg whites with cream of tartar, at medium speed, until whites hold soft peaks.  Beat in 1/2 cup of the remaining sugar, adding it gradually.  Continue beating until whites hold stiff peaks.
  5. With a rubber spatula, carefully fold the egg whites into the cake batter.
  6. Pour into an ungreased 10” angel-food-cake pan.  Bake until a toothpick stuck in the centre comes out clean, 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes.  Cool.
  7. Slice off the top 1/2 inch of the cake and set aside.  Cut a tunnel about 1 1/2 inch deep in the cake.  The cut should be about 3/4 inch from the centre and from the outside of the cake.  Remove cake with a fork to form a tunnel.
  8. Hull and chop half the strawberries.  Beat heavy cream with remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla until the cream holds stiff peaks.  Combine 1 1/2 cups of the whipped cream with the chopped strawberries.
  9. Fill the tunnel with the strawberries-and-whipped cream mixture.  Replace the top of the cake.
  10. Frost cake with remaining whipped cream.  Shortly before serving, hull and half the remaining strawberries.  Decorate the cake with the berries.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE TORTE

Sweets


Chocolate Mousse Torte

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prep Time: 20 min (plus refrigeration)

Makes 16 servings

Ingredients

  • 18           Lady Fingers
  • 4             squares Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate
  • 2             pkg (3.9 oz each) Jello  Chocolate Instant Pudding
  • 2             cups plus 2 tablespoon cold milk
  • 1             tub (8oz.) Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed
  • 1             pkg. (8oz.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
  • ¼           cup sugar
  • ¾           cup fresh raspberries
  1. Cut lady fingers in half and line inside edge of 9-inch round pan lined with plastic wrap.
  2. Melt 3 chocolate squares over a hot bath.
  3. Beat pudding mixes and 2 cups milk in medium bowl with whisk 2 min. Add melted chocolate; mix well. Stir in 1 cup Cool Whip; pour into prepared pan.
  4. Beat cream cheese, sugar and remaining milk with mixer until well blended. Stir in 1 cup of remaining Cool Whip; spread over pudding. Top with remaining lady fingers. Refrigerate 3 hours. Meanwhile, shave remaining chocolate square into curls.
  5. Invert torte onto a plate. Remove pan and plastic wrap. Top torte with remaining Cool Whip, berries and chocolate curls.

250 ml whipped cream can be substituted for Cool Whip.

Chapatti

Accompaniments

Chapatti  is generally a South Asian bread made from stone ground whole meal flour, traditionally known as Atta flour.  Chapattis are one of the most common forms in which wheat, the staple of northern South Asia, is consumed.  Chapatti is a form of roti or rotta (bread). The words are often used interchangeably. While roti,rotta refers to any flat unleavened bread, chapati is a roti made of whole wheat flour and cooked on a tava (flat skillet).

Cooking

 

A roadside chapatti stand in               Indian Tava

Mandalay, Myanmar. .

Often, the top of a chapatti is slathered with butter or ghee (clarified butter). A piece of chapatti is torn off and used to pick up the meat or vegetable dish(es) that make the meal. It is folded into a sort of loose cone and used as a scoop to eat the more liquid dishes at a meal..

Chapatti sizes (diameter and thickness) vary from region to region and kitchen to kitchen. . Chapattis made in domestic kitchens are usually not larger than 6-7 inches in diameter since the ‘tava’ on which they are made comes in sizes that fit comfortably on a domestic stove top.

Tavas were traditionally made of unglazed earthenware, but are now typically made from metal. There are also electric tavas manufactured in India. The shape of the rolling pin also varies from region to region. Some households simply use a kitchen work top as a sort of pastry board, but many homes have round flat-topped ‘boards’ specifically for rolling out chapattis that may be made of wood or stone.                                                                           Roti 2Roti 1                                       

 

                                                                  

Roti 4   Roti 3

Ingredients                      

  • 2           cup whole wheat flour
  • 4           tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1           cup water

Instructions

  1. Put the flour in a medium bowl, add the oil and rub it in the flour.
  2. Add the water(you may need a little more)  and make a firm dough. Transfer the dough on a floured board and kneed for about 2 minutes.  Let it rest for 10 minutes. (If you let the dough rest, it is easier to roll).
  3. Divide the dough into 12 and make small balls.
  4. Roll each ball in flour, flatten the ball and roll it into an eight inch round.
  5. Cook this on a tava on both sides. (You have to turn it a couple of times on both sides)
  6. Brush the chapatti with butter or ghee.

Prawn Bhatt

Entrees, Seafoods

Ingredients

  • 2               lb prawns  (16 to 25 count)
  • 3               cups rice
  • ¼              cup oil
  • ½              tsp  cumin seeds
  • 5               cardamom pods
  • 1               piece cinnamon stick
  • 5               cloves
  • ½              tsp black pepper
  • 4               med potatoes
  • 4               med onions sliced
  • 4               tomatoes
  • 1               bunch fresh Coriander leaves
  • 1               bunch fresh dill weeds
  • 2               jalapeño (or to taste)
  • 1               tsp garlic paste
  • 1               tsp ginger paste
  • 2               tsp coriander & cumin powder(dhanajeera)
  • ½              tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
  • 3               tsp salt
  • 1               can(397ml) coconut milk
  • 2               fresh lemon
  • 1/2            tsp garam masala

Instructions

  1. Peel the prawns and devein them.  Add the juice of a lemon and 1 tsp salt and let it rest.
  2. Soak the rice in cold water.
  3. Peel the potatoes and cut them in quarters.
  4. In a large saucepan heat oil and add cumin seeds, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, cloves, black pepper, and onions.  Fry till they are transparent.
  5. Meanwhile In a blender, blend tomatoes, half  bunch coriander leaves and half a bunch dill weeds and jalapeño.  Add this to the onions. 
  6. Add  coriander & cumin powder, turmeric powder, salt and coconut milk.
  7. Mix everything, turn down the heat to medium and let this simmer for about 15 minutes or the sauce is thick.  Squeeze the juice of 1  lemon. 
  8. Chop the coriander leaves and dill weeds and add this to the sauce.
  9. Rinse the rice with cold water.
  10. Take a third of the sauce out in another large saucepan.  Add 41/2 cups of water and boil.  Add the rice and potatoes.  When the rice starts to boil turn the heat to low and cook  covered till most of the water has evaporated.  Sprinkle garam masala and put the saucepan in the preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes or till the rice is cooked and dry.
  11. Rinse the prawns with cold water, drain and add this to the rest of the sauce and cook for about 10 minutes or till the prawns are cooked.  Prawns are cooked when they become pink and the prawns curls  up into a round.

To Serve

Serve rice on a platter and put the prawns on top. 

Decorate it with  chopped coriander leaves on it and lemon butterflies.

Falooda/Faluda

Sweets

Agar-agar is a natural vegetable gelatin substitute produced from a variety of seaweed vegetation. White and semi-translucent, it is sold in packages as washed and dried strips or in powdered form. Agar-agar is approximately 80% fiber, so it can serve as an intestinal regulator.

Agar Agar is sold in health food stores, Chinese grocery stores,and Indian stores, in both flake and powder varieties, and can be used in a variety of dairy-free and vegan recipes as a stabilizing and thickening agent for custards,puddings, sauces and even vegetarian marshmallows.

Falooda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

  • 4              cups half and half
  • 1              can (370 ml) evaporated milk
  • 3/4           cup sugar (or to taste)
  • 2-1/2        level tsp Agar agar powder
  • 1/2           tsp crushed cardamom seeds
  • 1/4           tsp nutmeg powder
  • 1/8           tsp pink colorer 1/4 tsp saffron

For decoration

  • 1/4 cup chopped almonds and pistachios
  • 1/4 cup pomagrate seeds

Instructions

  1. Mix everything and boil it. When it starts to boil remove it from the stove, pour it in a serving bowl and cool it before you put it in the fridge.
  2. Decorate with almonds and pistachios before serving.

You can set this in a medium size bowl or 4- 8 oz bowls.

If you are using the grass agar agar, soak it in a cup of water for 2 hours, then boil it on medium heat until it completely dissolves and then add it to the warm milk and boil the mixture.

Variations

You can use 1/4 tsp saffron instead of the pink colour.

Agar Agar Powder

My Profile

Special Occasion

I am a third generation born in East Africa. My Maternal grandparents were born in Kenya, my mother was born in Uganda, and I was born in Uganda. My paternal grandparents came from Gujarat in India, my father was born in Uganda. I am the eldest of the 4 siblings. We lived in a small village in Uganda and I went to school in Kampala and stayed with my paternal grand parents. During the holidays when we went home,my mother entertained us by teaching us how to cook, sew, knit, crochet and embroidery. We had to make all our snacks as there were no cafes nearby, so I learnt to make cakes and breads too.

I did my elementary school in Uganda and my high school in Kenya. My parents bought a farm and moved to Kenya. I went to a boarding school. On the farm we had no shortage of eggs, milk, cream, butter and ghee. We grew a lot of vegetables and fruit. When in season we had a lot of corn and wheat too. My mom made new friends and was introduced to a lot of different foods and vegetables including marmalades and jams. From junior high to high school I studied home economics and learnt to cook different foods and baking. After high school I went to London, England. In England I was introduced to a lot of different cuisines and met a lot of people from different cultures. We exchanged recipes and learnt about each others cultures.

I moved to Canada in early seventies and stayed with my maternal grand parents till I got married, and learnt some more from her. What I did not learn from my mum, I learnt from my grandmother and mother-in-law.

My husband comes from Kenya, my mother-in-law was born in Kenya, my father-in-law came from Pakistan. My in-laws ran a restaurant in Nairobi called Curry Pot. I learnt some things from them. My brother-in-law is married to an Irish woman, from whom I learnt to celebrate Christmas and Easter. My father-in-law’s family is from Pakistan and Ceylon and I have learnt about their culture and traditions as well.

I have traveled half the world to be in Canada and on the way picked up a lot of different cuisines.

I have a daughter and a son and I was a stay at home mum, so I started catering from home and made cornish pasties, chicken pies and cakes, (plain, birthday and wedding). I also start catering for a deli.I made cornish pies and chicken pies for them. In mid eighties I opened a restaurant called Cafe Nairobi in partnership with my sister-in-law where we did a lot of catering for private parties and weddings. I then joined the school board and worked in their Lunch program. I also went to Vancouver Vocational College and took a chef’s course. I taught Indian cooking in the evening at an adult learning centre in Vancouver. I retired from the board and opened a restaurant called Heavenly Bites where we did Tiffin’s and take out, and catered for parties. I also supplied a deli with samosas.

I am now retired. I have a daughter who is a dietician and a pastry chef and she helps with my recipes.