What did you cook/eat today? Part 2 Options

[Sue Darlow]

Jenni, if your eggless chocolate cake recipe is quick'n'easy and really good, I would love to see it posted here..

TIA!

[Jenni]

Hi Sue, sort of made this up on the fly so I can't promise that it's the best eggless cake ever, but it tasted good to me! I'm just copying the recipe straight off my blog, so here it is:

Ingredients:
200ml milk
150g good quality 72% chocolate
200g cream cheese (choose a good quality, preferably organic, cream cheese with no added stuff like carrageenan)
200g sugar
100g fine wholewheat flour
100g rice flour
1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
50ml extra milk
2 teaspoons baking powder

Put the 200ml milk in a small pan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, break up the chocolate and put it in a jug. When the milk comes to the boil, pour it slowly over the chocolate, stirring until the chocolate is completely melted. Allow to cool.

When the chocolate mixture has cooled, preheat the oven to 180°C. Put the cream cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream them. Add the flours and the coffee, and mix well. Slowly pour in the chocolate mixture, mixing all the time. Add the extra milk to the jug you had the chocolate in and stir it around to get all of the chocolate off the sides, then pour it in to the batter. Mix well until smooth, then add the baking powder and mix again.

Pour into a prepared baking tray and bake for about 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

ETA: Oh, and my baking tray was 7 inches by just shy of 11 inches. And I can confirm that the cake is delicious when cool, just been eating it for lunch. Actually rather brownie-like.

This post has been edited by Jenni: Nov 7 2009, 07:01 PM

[Jenni]

Lunch was roasted cauliflower and almond soup, followed by more chocolate cake. A delectable meal.

[Sue Darlow]

Thanks for the cake recipe, Jenni. Although eggless, it is very dairy! The cauliflower and almond soup is a classic.

Yesterday I made yummy pumpkin, cavolo nero and borlotti bean soup.

[Jenni]

^^
I like my dairy Were you looking for a vegan cake?

[Wildflower]

Yesterday I made yummy pumpkin, cavolo nero and borlotti bean soup.

Mmmmmm. That sounds good -- all of those (including fresh borlotti beans) are in season here. Do you mind posting a sketch of the recipe in the Lets Talk Soup thread?

[Matilda]

Went to a restaurant for a yum cha (dim sum) with friends. Had the usual favourites but the one that left a lasting impression were:

the steamed oblong soft rice noodle rolls enveloping shrimps, with some soy drizzled on top
and the chewy beancurd wrapping with some delicious savoury meaty filling.

Loved the warm egg custard tarts & mango pudding. Could have had seconds!

Can't wait for another yum cha organised in 2 weeks time!

[Sue Darlow]

^^
I like my dairy Were you looking for a vegan cake?

The answer is not straightforward, I'm afraid. In my past I have been omnivore, ovo-lacto vegetarian, vegan, and then back to omnivore, but with a definite bias towards an essentially vegan diet. One thing I have never been is lacto-vegetarian, as most Indian vegetarians are. So in my mind, if I am going to have an eggless cake, I would probably want it to be vegan too.

I think this distinction arises because while most Indian vegetarians are so because of ethical, socio-religious and cultural reasons, more than merely health reasons, in the West there is more of a mix of the two. Also, most Indian vegetarians are so because they were brought up that way, most vegetarains and vegans in the West have made a personal choice to be.

Having just written the above, I can see there is plenty of room for debate!

[Jenni]

I was vegan for a while, but although I was essentially healthy on the outside, I was not feeling my best on the inside. I've now introduced some dairy back into my life, but not eggs. Usually I just eat a little yoghurt, and maybe a bit of milk here and there in recipes, but when I'm making a cake, it's a treat! Also, you have to remember that the amount of dairy per slice is actually not hugely high.

Just so you know, you could sub soy milk for the milk, and vegan cream cheese for the cheese. I don't know if you can get that where you are, but I can get it in my local supermarket so I guess it's not that uncommon. If not, why not use soft tofu? Obviously, the cake will be drier as these substitutes have less fat.

This post has been edited by Jenni: Nov 8 2009, 08:26 PM

[deedawar]

I was vegan for a while, but although I was essentially healthy on the outside, I was not feeling my best on the inside. I've now introduced some dairy back into my life, but not eggs. Usually I just eat a little yoghurt, and maybe a bit of milk here and there in recipes, but when I'm making a cake, it's a treat! Also, you have to remember that the amount of dairy per slice is actually not hugely high.

Just so you know, you could sub soy milk for the milk, and vegan cream cheese for the cheese. I don't know if you can get that where you are, but I can get it in my local supermarket so I guess it's not that uncommon. If not, why not use soft tofu? Obviously, the cake will be drier as these substitutes have less fat.

silken tofu works well as a sbstitute for cream cheese. I's geat for ice cream type desserts too.

[Sue Darlow]

Made alu paratha after AGES, and though they were pretty good, they were not as nice as Ushaji's... Want to try using dried kasoori methi next time.

I followed Jiggs Kalra's recipe from his book of Punjabi recipes, but there is something about the way the recipes are laid out that rubs me the wrong way. It's like that in Prashad as well. Also, he is always described as a consultant - does that mean he doesn't write the recipes, or doesn't cook?

For instance in this case, he calls for 400g of Atta-dough. Then an asterisk says "See recipe for tandoori roti". Then after flicking around to find that recipe, it calls for 550g atta, so then you have to work out proportions. This is just laziness on his part. He should have listed the amount of atta and water to be used and then, perhaps, have said, follow instructions for tandoori roti dough, if not writing out the complete instructions.

[agp]

We had mushroom tonak and ambadachi chutney with chapattis today.

I am not sure where this message will end up for I know only to reply not to create a new message. I am sorry if I am adding a reply in the wrong place.

Could someone please point me in the right direction.

Thanks.
agp

[bague25]

Sue, Your aloo paratha looks good!

We had kheema pulao for dinner.

[hima]

I like the look of your metal rolling pin, Sue! Where did you get it?

[jason gogal]

Nice ghee jar.

Edit to add: I found some green mangoes today so we made a green mango/carrot/cucumber salad that was really tasty. The green mango added an awesome flavor.

I also picked the magical right day to go to a desi grocer here, and found fresh curry leaves, which is a monumental event. The leaves aren't in the best shape, but just to get them here is a revelation.

This post has been edited by jason gogal: Nov 19 2009, 06:00 AM

[Wildflower]

I also picked the magical right day to go to a desi grocer here, and found fresh curry leaves, which is a monumental event. The leaves aren't in the best shape, but just to get them here is a revelation.

Do report back on what you did with them, Jason.

[Wildflower]

Back in the kitchen after a longish break. Found some fresh ash gourd (white pumpkin) at the farmers market, had some sour yogurt in the fridge, so made some southern style kaDhi i.e. with freshly pounded coconut, ginger and green chillies, and a taDka of mustard seeds, hing and curry leaves. Also saw some tender, radiant looking, purple mustard greens, so shot off in the northerly direction and made some sarson ka saag. Julienned the greens, washed them and drained them partially in a colander, then bunged them in a pot with no oil or anything else (i.e. resisted the urge to add any water to the pot). When the greens cooked down, pulsed with a hand blender so that I ended up with a coarse puree, not a pool of liquid or an over smooth paste. Tadka of ghee, microplaned ginger and green chillies. Ate this with local fresh thick corn tortillas. KaDhi/majjiga pulusu with rice of course.

Dessert is all about fall fruit: gorgeous pomegranates, fuyu persimmons and the best Shinseki pears I've had in years.

[Sue Darlow]

I am not 100% sure, but I think both the stainless steel rolling pin and the stone platform were bought in Akbarally's in Fort, Bombay. You get nice, good quality, and quite stylish kitchen and table ware there, sort of midway between merely functional and total designer ware. Decent prices, good value.

PS I also found a kind of multi storey department store for "gifts and novelties" that had a similar kitchen and table ware section at Crawford Market, just near to Badshah Cold Drink Depot, of Falooda fame. Can't remember the name though.

This post has been edited by Sue Darlow: Nov 19 2009, 02:36 PM

[Sue Darlow]

Belated Halloween Greetings!

Display in a shop making and selling fresh pasta.



My local supermarket started stocking this yummy pumpkin bread, with pumpkin seeds in it. I enjoy it with all kinds of cheese, in this case, Gogonzola.