Honey Cake/Dil Pasand/Dil Khush...

Bangalore Honey Cake, Dil Pasand and Dil Khush

For anybody staying in Bangalore, we all love our good old iyengar bakeries and their goodies. One of the most oldest and favorite bakery product is the Honey Cake and an equally enticing delicacy is the Dil Pasand/Dil Khush.. I am posting this recipe for the benefit of those people who have been searching for these recipes on the Internet, which even included me at one point of time.

So here you go folks. Do try these and it would be great to let me know the results. I have personally tried and tested both the recipes and they come out perfect..

Honey Cake

Note: You can follow any regular white cake recipe for the cake..
Ingredient Quantity
150ml Water
50g Sugar
50g Egg
50g Maida
10gm butter
1/2 T spoon baking powder
1 Tspoon Milk powder
1 Tspoon Vanila Essens........


Honey dip for soaking:
1/ 2 cup fresh honey
150ml water
50ml sugar
25gm coconut powder

In pan boil water with honey, sugar and coconut powder and add 1/4tsp cardamom powder. Boil for 10mines and cool till warm.

Method

Sift the flour.
Add the baking powder and sift the flour again. This makes soda spread evenly in the Maida.
Break the eggs and pour them in a cup. Beat them till the froth color is white. Better if u do it with an egg-beater.
Add sugar and keep beating till the sugar dissolves completely.
Slowly pour the Maida, and as u do, keep mixing to ensure there are no blobs of Maida…
Do not batter it overly. And as soon as the Maida gets dissolved get the batter ready for baking.
I guess u know the baking process. I don't elaborate on that…. Oil the pan, line the bottom of the oven with a waxed paper… oil it again… and then fill it with batter….. Preheat the oven to 350F and bake for around 45mins till the cake is done. Check after every 30 minutes.
After the cake is baked, get it out of the oven and let it cool.
When the cake is done, add this syrup to the entire cake and let it soak for 20-30mins. Cut it and enjoy the Honey Cake.

Tip: Just make sure you adjust the flavor and sweetness of honey and use honey accordingly.

Dilpasand: (serving 4 people)
150Ml Water
250g Maida
150g dalda
10g Salt......

Method: Mix all the above four ingredients to a soft dough like chapatti dough. Cover it and let it sit for an hour.

In a bowl mix.50g dried coconut scrapings, 50gms sugar,50g Cherry frts,50g Dry fruits . Now roll the dough into a thick circle. Dab it either with egg wash or with butter. Add the above mixture and bake it in the oven at 350 for 15mins. Keep checking at 10minutes till it is brown and crispy..


Dilkhush: (Serving 4)

150Ml Water
250g Maida
10g Yeast
60g sugar
10g salt

Mix above ingredients into a dough like chapatti dough and leave it covered for 45minutes-1hr.
For the Masala

For the stuffing
Plum Cake1
Pineapple Essence As desired
Sugar¼ Kilo
Pineapple icing as desired
Coconut grate Grated lengthwise – as required


Mix the ingredients well. Take care that the mix is loose enough just like "alu masala for alu samosa".

3) Prepare a "peda" of thickness u desire out of the dough.
4) Spread the masala on ONE HALF of the peda. Fold the other half of peda sop that it covers the masala. You now have a roti folded in the middle with masala inside!
5) Break an egg. Mix it well in a cup. Take a brush and dab it on the top surface of the bread.
6) Bake the "peda with the mix" for 10 mins. Check if it requires more time. You can check the crust color for that!... to check if it has fully baked, poke it with a toothpick.

Holige/Obbattu/Bottatlu/Puran Poli

Bele Holige/Bele Obbattu

Don’t we all love Holige which is also called obbattu or Puran Poli..

In any Karnataka home, Holige is the traditional sweet prepared whether it is the Kayi Holige, Sakkare Holige or the regular Bele Holige..

All three are a treat to your senses. However, below is a traditional recipe for the Bele Holige..

For Kanaka/Dough you need..

2cups maida

2tbsps Chiroti Rave/fine semolina

A pinch of salt

A pinch of turmeric..

2tbsp oil for soaking

Mix all the ingredients with warm milk till you get soft elastic dough (almost like a chapatti dough). Keep it covered in a warm place and add oil on the dough to prevent from drying..

For Hoorna/suffing

1 cup (1 pav) channa dal

1.5 cups soft dark brown jaggery

2tsps green cardamom powder

½ cup fresh grated coconut

Boil channa dal on stop stop with 3cups of water till the dal is soft but does not break. Strain all the water. Grind the dal to a smooth paste without any water.. In a thick kadai, add jaggery and sprinkle a handful of water and melt the jaggery.. and boil for 2-3 minutes till bubbles form. To this add cardamom powder and mix well. Now add the dal paste and mix well. In a medium flame, keep stirring this mixture for 10-12 minutes till all the water evaporates and the m ixture gets to a halwa consistency. To this add fresh coconut and keep it aside to cool.

To make Holige

Take a pingpong sized dough. Pat it on a foil greased with oil to a little disk. Now take a pingpong sized filling and place it in the poori. Close all the ends and roll out to a desired size. On a tava fry the holige with very little oil if needed.

Tip: Use rice flour for dusting when rolling out the holige. This gives a very unique flavour..

Mysore Badnekai -Kothambari Palya/Green eggplant-Coriender Palya

Badnekai Palya

Mysore Badnekai/green eggplants have a unique flavour.. This is one of my most favourite vegetable. My mom has a very special way of making this vegetable with a coriender masala, it is very simple to make and yet the flavour is out of this world. Here is the recipe..

4 medium sized green eggplants/brinjals(chopped and soaked in cold water)

To make the Coriender masala
a bunch of coriender/cilantro leaves cleaned and chopped
1/2 inch piece of ginger chopped
3-4 green chillies
Make a chutney with the above ingredients..

To make:
In a pan, heat 2tsp oil. Add mustard seeds, 1tsp urad dal, and a little hing. Now add the drained chopped brinjal pieces and mix well. Leave it on a medium flame for 4minutes and these brinjal chunks become crispy . At this point add salt and mix well and leave it for a minute or two. Next, add the coriender masala and mix well for 2-3minutes in a high flame till the chunks are coated well and all the masala seeps through the chunks.
Serve this with chapati/any bread or curd rice..This really tastes very good with plain rice with ghee as well..

Kadubu/Modak/kudumulu

Ganesha Chaturthi!!!

VAKRATUNDA MAHAKAYA SURYAKOTISAMAPRABHA
NIRVIGHNAM KURUMEDEVA SARVA KARYESHU SARVADA

O Ganapati, One with a curved trunk, a large body, and a brilliance equal to a crore (10 million) suns! O God, please make all my undertakings free from Obstacles always.

We all love to celebrate Ganesha Chaturthi dont we?..People of any age group indulge in celebrating Lord Ganapathi on this day to seek blessings and victory in any task they do..

Today, I made the traditional kadubu also called modak..Kadubu comes in various forms, either a steamed one or a deep fried one..I chose to deep fry today:)..Here is how you do it..

You need:
2cups fresh coconut
1.5 cups jaggery
1tsp cardamom poweder
1/2 cup water

For the stuffing: take a heavy bottom kadai. Now add jaggery and water and stir till all the jaggery melts. To this add the grated coconut and cardamom powder and keep stirring till all the water evoporates and forms a thick mass (6-7mins)..

For the dough
2cups maida
2tbps sooji/chiroti rava
2tsp melted butter
Make a dough like poori dough and keep it aside for 10mins.

To assemble:
make small tiny pooris, place a tsp of stuffing and close the outer edges to form a semi circle. You can seal the edges with sugar water. Now deep fry these kadubus till crispy and golden and enjoy..

Menasinakai Bajji/Stuffed Mirchi Bajji/Mirapakai Bajji

Menasinakai Bajji with Coffee....

When we think of a fiery evening snack especially on a cold evening,, the first thing that comes to my mind is the "Mirchi Bajji" lovingingly called as "Menasinakai Bajji" in Karnataka..Especially in bangalore, the cartwheel vendors made delicious bajjis and it was my favourite indulging snack..
My friend got me a bag full of the portugese peppers which are fiery hot fresh from her garden..She warned me about the degree of heat in these chillies..So I decided to make these stuffed bajjis to satisfy my snack craving:)..Here it is..

You need:
5-6 portugese peppers/banana peppers/any kind of peppers which can hold stuffing and long..
Clean them, make a vertical slit on one side and remove the vein with the seeds if you do not like it very hot..
For the stuffing:
2 boiled potatoes
1 onion chopped finely
1/2 cup coriender leaves chopped
2tsps chat masala powder
1tsp peanut powder(optional)
juice of a lime and salt

Mix everything together..

For the batter:
1cup besan/kadle hittu
a tbsp of rice flour/akki hittu
a pinch of turmeric
a pinch of red chillie powder
water
salt
oil to deep fry

mix everything together toa thick batter..
To make
Stuff the potato mixture into the peppers gently and keep it aside..
Heat oil and deep fry the stuffed peppers dipped in batter till brown and crispy.
Cut them into pieces and serve them with lime, chopped onion and cilantro with a steaming cup of coffee..

Tomato Uppinakai/Tomato pickle...& a Tag:)

Tomato Uppinakai"..

With all the tomatoes which has been harvested this summer..my home smelled like a big tomato patch :)..I tried almost all the dishes with tomatoes and still left with many more..Finally I realised I hadnt tried my most favourite pickle which I have eaten growing up , which my grandmom made every summer which is the "Tomato Uppinakai"
This version of the pickle is little labourious for the busy bees but nevertheless its worth the effort..

You need:
3cups of ripe tomatoes (Ihave used a mixture of grape, plum, cherry tomatoes)
salt( preferably sea salt, if you dont have it, you can use the regular table salt) 1/4 cup
red hot chillie powder 3 big tbsps (I love it very hot)
hing 1/2tsp
fresh fenugreek powder/methi powder- 2tbsp
oil- 1 cup
seedless tamarind 1/2 cup soaked

To make
cut the tomatoes into big chunks and place the pieces on a baking sheet.. Now sprinkle salt generously and coat the pieces. Bake it at the lowest temperature for an hour.. Keep checking the tomatoes and tossing once in 30minutes..

Now drain all the water which the tomato leaves and dont throw it away. Now grind the baked tomatoes with all the above ingrediants excluding oil and hing..

In a thick kadai,, heat oil, add turmeric and hing to this and gently add the ground tomato paste..
In a medium heat cook this mixture for exactly 20minutes covering the mixture with a lid to avoid spluttering..

After 20minutes, the paste will be very think and oil will float on top indicating it is ready..
Cool this completely and store..This can be served with roti, rice, curd rice or even bread...

Now time to MeMe:)

Curry Leaf of http://tastycurryleaf.blogspot.com/ and SriLekha of Me&My Kitchen have tagged me for a MeMe :) Thanks guys. Here are the rules
(a) List these rules on your blog.
(b) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.
(c) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

B)7 facts about me:

I am a simply complex character :) living in the US but originally from Namma Bengaluru..

I strongly believe in simplistic living and modern in thinking and trying very hard to follow this principle.

I strongly believe a good upbringing & good friendship is very important to positively influence a person. I am proud of all the people who have influenced my life..

I love my family & they always come first in my priority list..

I have a bachelors in engineering and MS in computer science from RPI, new york and presently working..

I love music from mozart to M. S. Subbalakshmi..

Finally I believe life is full of surprises and Life is very beautiful....

C) I would love to know all my blogger friends.. but sticking to the rules..I would love to tag
Divya of http://mixtomatch.blogspot.com/
Vidhya of http://iyercooks.blogspot.com/
Asha of http://foodieshope.blogspot.com/
Rashmi of http://envittuvirundhusamayal.blogspot.com/
Priti of http://indiankhanna.blogspot.com/
LG of http://testtasteofmysore.blogspot.com/
Rajini of http://vegetarianinme.blogspot.com/

Looking forward to knowing more about you guys :)..

Award & MeMe

For my friends...

A token of appreciation to my friends: I would like to thank my friends who continue to inspire and amaze me everyday. I learn something new from you guys everyday..
I would like to pass this award to Priti of IndianKhana, curry leaf of tastycurry leaf, cham of spice-club, rashmi of envittuvirundhusamayal, Suma Rajesh of suma’s cuisine, Masala Magic, Vegetable Platter, Kitchan flavours, Sireesha, Archy, & Purva

Please pick up your award guys...

I would like to thank Kitchen Flavors , Curry leaf and Srilekha for passing the "Wylde Woman Award" to me. Thanks for thinking about me guys :).. I would like to pass this award to all the wonderful bloggers out there in the blogsphere who constantly teach something new everyday..

The rules of this award are:

1.You can give it to one or one hundred or any number in between - it's up to you.
Make sure you link to their site in your post.
2. Link back to this blog site Tammy can go visit all these wonderful men and women.

Purpose of the Award

To send love and acknowledgment to men and women, who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy. It's been a blessing and an inspiration to meet all of you through your wonderful blogs.

MeMe

Sireesha from Mom's Recipies has tagged me for a meme :)

The rules of the MeMe are the following:

Pick up the nearest book
Open to page 123Find the 5th sentence
Post the next three sentences
Tag 5 people and acknowledge the person who tagged you.

:) the nearest book is "IKEA 2009" (lovely manual btw:)

The 3 lines are (:) wow, cant believe this..) Time to make cookies. Time for a snack. With children, you sepand a lot of time in the kitchen together. So make space for it !! give them space for their things and a step up to give you a hand.. Plan your kitchen with the children in mind..

Now.. I am tagging

Divya
Suma Rajesh
LG
Usha
Cham
Curry leaf

Thanks Sireesha,, sure had fun doing this MeMe :)..

Karnataka Tiffin series--Mallige Idli

Karnataka Tiffins Series...

One of the most common and versatile Karnataka breakfast is the "Idli"..These white puffy steamed rice cakes are very simple to make and very healthy with almost nil oil content in them..
We all know what idli is and love it..Here is how you make soft Mallige idli's...These idli's are very soft and extremely delicious..

You need
1 cup whole urad dal (deskinned)--soak if overnight with luke warm clean water
21/4 cup Idli rava--Soak it for 2hours in warm water
1tbsp-poha/cooked rice

Method:
drain the soaked dal and wash it once more under running water. Grind it with a cup of water for atleast 20-25minutes till it turns frothy.The more you grind, the softer your idlis come out..Now mix the idli rava and run the grinder for 6-7minutes till everything is incorporated, add the poha or cooked rice and grind it for 2minutes. Now add salt and mix well.
Take the batter in a big clean vessel and fill it upto 3/4th the vessel. Keep the batter for 4hours in a warm place..(I generally turn on the rice cooker stand for warm setting keep the batter inside the vessel)..
After the batter is fermented , it rises up to the brim of the vessel. Now the idli batter is ready to be used. Grease the idli mould with little ghee/oil,add the batter and steam it for 15minutes till they are nice and fluffy..
Enjoy this with sambhar or coconut chutney or spiced chutney powder...

Karnataka Festive Food

Varamahalakshmi Pooja

Who wouldnt love festive feasts..We all do especially the color, the various rituals, new clothes, holidays and Food..Karnataka festive food is a delicious melange of various tasty dishes..

As the history goes Varalakshmi Vratam is an important pooja performed by many women in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and some parts of Tamil Nadu.The Hindu festival going by the name 'Vara Lakshmi Vrata' is celebrated on the last Friday of the bright fortnight in the month of Ashadha, also called Adi, which corresponds to the English months of July-August
This pooja came to be practiced year after year by women. Done with devotion, it is said that boons would be granted and thus many wishes would be realized.
This pooja can be done with no restriction to caste or creed. To this day, the faithful of modern times observe this tradition.

Some of the popular dishes prepared during this festival are

Hesarabele Payasa/Moong dal Payasam
Aaama Vade/Channa dal fritter
Kosambaris (Kadlebele kosambari/Hesarabele kosambari)/Dal salads
Seemebadnekai Palya
Thovve
Majjige Huli

For Hesarabele payasa/Moongdal Kheer
Grind to a paste (1/2cup coconut, 1tsp dry roasted poppy seeds, 2 cloves, 3-4 cardamom pods,3-4 almonds)
Dry roast 1 cup of moong dal with a tsp of ghee and pressure cook till soft.
To make:
In a thick pan, add the pressure cooked dal, mix with 11/4 cup jaggery and the ground paste. boil till all the ingrediants mix well and jaggery fully melts. Add a cup of milk (optional)..Serve hot or cold..

For Aama Vade/Channa dal fritters
Soak 2 cups of channa dal/kadlebele. Drain and pulse this with a cup of fresh grated coconut, 4 green chillies. Do not overgrind.
To this mixture add chopped mint, chopped coriender leaves and a tsp of jeera.
Flatten small rounds of the mixture into your palm and drop it in hot oil and deep fry till crispy and brown..

Seemebadnekai palya/Chayote Palya
For Take 2 Chayote/Chow Chow and chop into small pieces. Microwave them for 5-6 minutes with little water till soft.
Now in a pan, season with oil, mustard, green chillies and a tsp of turmeric. Now add the boiled chayote. Add salt and fresh grated coconut and serve with hot rice.

Majjige Huli
Please refer to my previous post using Taro leaves. Instead of Taro leaves, I have used a mixture of drumsticks, white pumpkin and okra.

Maavina Seekarane/Mango Relish

Mango, the fruit of the Gods they say..Dont we all love it..I havent come across a variety which I have not liked so far..Here is an authentic simple dessert which is made during festivals in any Karnataka home..I am sure, a variety of this dish must be popular in other regions of India as well.

For Mango Seekarane, you need..
2 very ripe juicy mangos (preferably sweet ones to avoid adding more sugar)
1/2 cup milk
1tsp green cardamom powder
4-5tbsps pure honey
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut
a pinch of ginger powder (optional)
chopped dates and raisins for garnish

To make
Peel mangoes and chop the pieces. If the mango is overripe, try to squeeze out the pulp and juice in a bowl. To this add honey, fresh grated coconut and cardamom powder. Now add ginger powder and mix well. Finally add milk and garnish it with chopped dates and nuts..Serve as it is or chilled.
This can also be eaten with chapatis or rotis..