A Secret Bake!!

How would you feel if you are biting a piece of chocolate cake & something suddenly struck your teeth....and when using your super fabulous testing skills, you try to identify what was that...and suddenly you realize, it was an almond or a pistachio or a raisin!! How would you feel then?? Won't  you feel as if it is some secret within that bake? Does that sound funny....but that was something Y felt after having the first bite of this cake which I surprisingly made on the 1st day of this year and so I thought of naming it this way.

After the Winter Special- Mawa Ladoo post this one is again dedicated to one of the same categories- The Dry Fruits!! After sharing with one of my friends about what did I do on the New Year, he composed a Quatrain for my post understanding my special love for Dry fruits this season. Would like to share it with you all here:

Rooms shift seasons, sometimes in Summer & sometimes in Winter

Tastes shift occasions, sometimes in Watermelon & sometimes in Almond

Its a taste, its a passion

Its a journey, its a bond!!

- Amit Ghosh

This is a simple chocolate cake with some dry fruits added to it. I assure you, it will not last longer once you give it a try :)

Dry Fruit Chocolate Cake

Serves: 3-4                Preparation Time: 15 mins                      Baking Time: 20-30 mins

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour + 1 tbspn for dusting the pan

1 egg

1/4 cup refined vegetable oil

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tbspn cocoa pwd

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 1/2 tsp baking pwd

small pinch of baking soda

7-8 raisins

1/2 tsp ghee

Coarsely Powder:

3 cashews, 3 pistachios, 3 almonds, 2 dry dates( kharik)

Step 1: While you prepare the batter, keep the Pressure cooker on the gas stove to preheat. Refer Pressure Cooker Magic- Choco Lava Cake post.

Step 2: Grease a pan with oil & whole wheat flour. Keep aside & work with the batter.

Step 2: Sieve whole wheat flour, baking pwd, baking soda & cocoa pwd. Mix well & keep aside.

Step 3: Heat ghee in a pan & saute the raisins till golden. Set aside.

Step 4: Beat the egg & oil till smooth & creamy. Add milk & mix well.

Step 5: Add sugar & beat well till it dissolves & gives a creamy liquid base.

Step 6: Add vanilla essence. Add the whole wheat flour mix prepared in Step 2 in batches. Mix well. Make sure not to overbeat now. It should just be mixed nicely with the liquid base.

Step 7: End up adding the powdered Dry Fruits & golden raisins. Mix again.

Step 8: Pour the batter in the greased pan. Put the pan in the preheated pressure cooker. Cover with a plate placed upside down.

Step 9: Cook on a medium flame for 15 mins. Reduce the flame & cook till the knife inserted comes out clean. 

Step 10: Once cooled, remove from the pan & serve with a cup of Ginger Tea!! Heaven!! :)

Note: You may vary the type of Dry Fruits and their quantity as per your choice! I ran out of walnuts but they will surely add a crunch!

Winter Special - Mawa Ladoo

Winter....Cold...it has already geared up here...all over in Maharashtra... the temperature is falling down. May be this is the first time it is so cold right in the month of December. It never starts so early. If the nature had taken a step ahead...why not me then?? :)

Winter for me means time to pull up a blanket, snuggle up close to your loved one & enjoy a hot cup of tea or coffee! But for Grand Moms & Moms, winter also means something else...time to prepare various types of ladoos with oil seeds like groundnuts, sesame & plenty of dry fruits & ghee....simply mouth melting!!

Mawa Ladoo

Since I have been promoted to a 'Mom' now....I too thought of adding some nutrition to my baby's diet (adults will offcourse enjoy ;) ) by preparing this rich ladoos which Kaku prepares. She never missed sending them to me..all the way from Nagpur...in every winter & Y was the first to finish them up!! But this time, I decided to try out the "Mawa ladoos" (as Kaku calls them) myself! Thanks to her for the ladoos & also permitting me to share this wonderful & simple recipe with you all....

Before I start....something about having dry fruits in winter season:

Due to the cold weather in winter, what the body needs is a lot of energy. Winter is the season in which heavy food (like dry fruits) can be easily digested. Dry fruits are all a powerhouse packed with minerals, vitamins, various nutrients and the very important Omega-3 and 6 fatty acids. These fatty acids are very important for the body but cannot be produced by the body itself. They help to build your brain power and are vital for growing children. They help in keeping the skin soft & supple in the dry weather of winter season (really important!! :) ).

So how about preparing these ladoos, loading them up with all healthy goodies & indulging yourself the healthy way this winter...what say???

Winter Special - Mawa Ladoo

Makes: 30-35 medium size             Preparation Time: 30 mins               Rolling Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

250 gms kharik/ dry dates

2 cups grated dry cocnut

100 gms cashews

100 gms almonds

100 gms Walnuts

50 gms Pistachios

50 gms Godambi/ Marking Nut/ Marsh Nut/ Oriental Cashew Nut

50 gms Edible Gum/ Resin

50 gms Charoli/ Chironji

30 gms  raisins

1 cup powdered sugar (adjust as per taste)

1 cup ghee

2-3 tbspn khus-khus/ poppy seeds

1/2 tsp Nutmeg pwd

1/2 tsp cardamom pwd

Step 1: De-seed & cut the kharik (dry dates) into small pieces.

Step 2: Heat a pan/ kadhai. Dry roast the kharik (just to help it loose the moisture if any) approx. 5 mins. Set aside.

Step 3: In the same pan, dry roast the Poppy seeds, Coconut, Godambi (Marking Nut). Powder the poppy seeds & set aside.

Clockwise: 1. Mixed Kharik & Coconut 2. Fried Edible Gum/ Resin 3. Roasted & powdered Poppy seeds

Step 4: Heat 1 tbspn ghee & toss the raisins till golden. Set aside.

Step 5: Add rest of the ghee. Once its hot, deep fry the edible gum/ resin till it nicely fluffs up!! Make sure you are patient at this stage & no hurry since it can remain uncooked from inside.

Step 6: Now get all set with your grinder. Mix the kharik & coconut (only kharik is difficult to be powdered, hence this step).

Step 7: Put the fried edible gum/resin in the blender & blend once. It will become fine in no time. Set aside.

Step 8: In 2-3 batches, grind the kharik+coconut mixture to fine powder.

Step 9: Now mix all the nuts. In small batches, grind them to powder (a bit coarse will also do!)

Step 10: Mix all the powders in a big pan. Add cardamom & nutmeg pwd. Add raisins & powdered sugar. Mix well.

Step 11: Now warm the ghee used in Step 5 to fry the Edible gum/ resin. Once warm, pour this above the mixture. Mix well.

Step 12: Now you can easily bind the ladoos out of this mixture as per the size you like!!

Dates- تمر