A simple chocolate walnut cake

Simple Chocolate Walnut Cake:

Ingredients (for a 10" cake ~ 1.25 kg):
4 eggs
100 g butter (preferably unsalted)
225 g sugar
~ 50 g cocoa powder (unsweetened)
125 g multigrain flour (yeah, I don't use maida)
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
50 ml warm milk
~ 75 ml hot (and not boiling) water
50-75 g walnuts (either broken coarsely or chopped in an electric chopper)

Preparation:

Set your oven to 175 degrees celsius and grease your baking tin with cooking oil. Line the base of the tin with baking sheet. Keep the tin ready before you get the cake batter ready.

Break the eggs into a bowl and beat with either hand or a blender (I use blender, so the entire preparation is done in 15 mins flat). Powder the sugar (it quickens the preparation), add to the beaten eggs and beat until the mixture becomes kind of stiff. Now add softened butter (don't add after taking right out of the fridge, it won't mix properly).

In a shallow vessel, sieve the flour, baking soda, baking powder and cocoa powder to mix evenly. Add this dry mixture spoon by spoon to the fluid mix and blend. At the end of addition of the dry mixture, it will be a pretty viscous mixture. Now add the milk, blend and finally, add the hot water in small lots.

The mix will now look pretty fluid. Pour into the baking tin and bake for about an hour. To avoid the crust on top, cover with a baking sheet cut to size. This makes the cake softer but needs baking at a lower temperature and for longer time.

After an hour, check the cake by poking with a skewer in the center. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. Take the tin out of the oven and allow to cool. The edges of the cake typically get released from the tin after the cake cools down. Turn upside down with a plate covering the tin. The cake will come out clean. Remove the baking sheet and cut to serve.

Serving suggestion: Pour chocolate sauce in thin lines and garnish with coarsely broken walnuts :)

Corn cheese paratha

Hello All,

After ages, I finally have the time to share the recipe for one of my all time favourites - the corn cheese paratha! This paratha has been a hit with everyone I have ever made it for. You can try your own variation of the same. I am in love with sweet corn, so I make it with that. You can have peas/chana/aloo.......it's your own imagination you're limited by. :)

Ingredients:

• Shelled sweet corn - 200 g
• Mozzarella cheese block - 100 g (you can also use the cheese block containing cheddar but the paratha tastes better with mozzarella). For all those in India, mozzarella is sold by Amul in a block of 1 kg (if you spot a smaller one, let me know too :D)
• Onions - 2 medium sized (peeled and very finely chopped)
• Garlic - according to individual taste (I use it generously), peeled and very finely chopped
• Roasted cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon
• Chaat Masala (optional) - according to individual taste
• Asafoetida (hing) - a pinch
• Salt - to taste
• Green chillies - 1 medium sized one (either finely chopped or made into a fine paste)
• Coriander - a handful of leaves (finely chopped)
• Soft dough for making parathas (the filling with the quantities above is sufficient for about 10 parathas)

Method:

Boil water (with a pinch of salt in it) in a vessel that will hold the corn and still have about two inches clear depth left for water to be able to boil. Add sweet corns when the water is boiling vigorously. Set your timer for 3 mins from the time when the water starts boiling again. Drain the water from the corn and allow to cool. In the meantime, grate the cheese using a medium grater (if the cheese is grated too fine, it doesn't allow for the distinct tastes of corn and cheese when you eat the paratha). Add the chopped onions, roasted cumin seeds, hing, chaat masala, green chilli, chopped coriander and finely chopped garlic to the grated cheese.

Crush the sweet corn slightly (don't put it in a mixer or chopper, that will make the corn too pasty). Use a flat spoon or vegetable masher for this. Once the corn is crushed a bit, add that to the filling mix prepared and mix thoroughly BUT gently. Cheese should still be in strands when you mix and not become a lump. 

Take a small ball of dough and roll till it is about 3 inches in diameter. Put a tablespoon full of filling in the centre. Lift the edges and seal the filling in. Gently roll with a rolling pin, taking care not to have the filling come out of the edges. Cheese can make it very tricky to roll this paratha, so go gentle. Roast the parathas on tava with a small amount of oil (if you use a non-stick tava, the amount of oil needed is lesser and cheese won't stick either) till you start seeing small dark brown spots on either sides. 

Serve hot with coriander chutney/tomato chutney/curd/pickle :)

Happy Cooking :)

Pritesh