Raw Papaya pickle

Raw Papaya in its texture and appearance mimics raw mango.
The papaya we bought was used to experiment one of the favorite south Indian pickles Manga Kari.☺.

Ingredients:

Raw Papaya                              -  1 medium size
Red chilli powder                       - 1-2 tsp
Salt                                             - as per taste
Turmeric powder                        - 1 tsp
Lime juice                                  - 1 small lime
Gingelly oil(refined sesame oil) - 1 tsp
Asoefatida .                                - 1 small pinch
Mustard seeds                           - 1 tsp

Chop papaya into small strips(julien) as shown in the picture below.

Then add salt and keep it closed in a cool place, not refrigerated. After a day add the chilli powder, lime juice and mix well and refrigerate for about   2-3 days until it softens.

Spices added 

Non

Ready to eat 🙂

Once it is softened, heat the oil , add mustard seeds and asoefatida. Once the mustard seeds splutter add this to the papaya and mix well. Bottle this in a sterilized container. Store in refrigerator. Stores well for 2 weeks.



Tips:
1. Mix the papaya well every few hours until it is bottled to avoid moisture retaining in one part of the bowl.
2. Store in a cool dark place away from too much heat and light.
3. You can try with half ripe papaya if you like a sweet and spicy pickle.
4. The red chili powder can be added to suit your taste.

Date almond eggless cake

Happy 2018 to all.
This is my first post for the year. It has been a busy start to the year and before I realised it is already March🙂. I am starting off with a cake recipe which I baked for my son’s ninth birthday. This recipe reminds me of my first introduction to baking. It was when my mother used to bake eggless cakes for us. We used to take turns to beat the butter and the sugar as we had no processors then. This is similar to a date and walnut cake she baked.
The cake turned out moist and flavorful. The birthday boy enjoyed the cake with vadai 🙂:-).

Ingredients:

Wheat flour.                   -1/2 cup
Maida.                             - 1/2 cup
Raw Sugar.                     - 1/2 cup
Dates(chopped).            - 3/4 cup
Baking soda.                   - 1 tsp
Instant coffee powder - 1 tsp
Water                               - 1 cup
Butter(melted).              - 1/4 cup
Almonds(chopped).      - 1/4 to 1/2 cup
Salt.                                  - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom powder.      - 1 tsp

Steps to make the cake

Boil the dates with the water and sugar in medium heat until it all blends together.Let this cool down to room temperature. In the meantime in a bowl mix the dry ingredients together and mix well. Pre heat the oven to 360 F.
Add the melted room temperature butter to the date water mixture and mix well. Now add this liquid mixture to the flour mixture and blend the ingredients together well.
Grease a baking pan and pour in the mixture.
Bake the batter for about 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick cones out clean.Mine took about 40 minutes.  Let it cool down. Serves as a snack for kids and goes well with a cup of tea or coffee.

Recipe source :
https://www.yummytummyaarthi.com/2017/11/eggless-dates-walnut-cake-recipe-christmas.html

This is the 124th post, one away from the 125th. Hooray!


Tips:

1. You can mix the instant coffee powder in the date water mix after taking off from heat and mux well. I added the it with the flour and blended it well.
2. Cocoa powder may be a good alternative to the coffee powder.
3. I melted the butter to make clarified butter(ghee). Used the melted butter from this for the recioe whike it was processing.
4.The original recipe used walnuts, cinnamon, brown sugar and oil. I replaced them with almonds, cardamom, raw sugar and butter.
5. The cake was very mild in sweetness. If you prefer more sweetness you can add a little more brown sugar or raw sugar.