Instant Carrot Paddu

This is a variation on those round ones. I stumbled upon Carrot-Ginger Appe at As Dear as Salt, when looking for options for breakfast and liked it very much. I made some changes to the original recipe and made these.

The best part about them is that they are instant, no fermentation required. And they pack in carrots so they are healthy too. I would like to try a different combination of veggies next time.

Instant Carrot Paddu

(Adapted from this recipe at Richa’s As Dear as Salt)

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups grated carrot
• 1/2 tsp grated ginger
• 1-2 Green Chillies, finely chopped
• 1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
• 2-3 tblsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
• 4-5 tblsp All Purpose Flour (Maida)
• 2-3 tblsp Rice flour
• 1-2 tblsp Semolina (Rava/Sooji)
• Salt
• Oil

Method:

Mix all the above ingredients except for the oil to make a thick batter. Use a little water if required.

Heat the Appam Pan and lightly oil each depression.

Pour spoonfuls of batter into each depression, reduce the flame and cover and cook for about 2-3 min.

Remove the cover, drizzle some oil on each of them & cook on high flame for another minute.

Flip over the paddus & continue to cook on medium flame for another 2-3 minutes.

Remove on Kitchen towels. Serve hot with any chutney of your choice. I served these with the Dhaniya-Pudina Chutney.

My Notes: Adjust the quantity of the flour (Maida, rice & Semolina) depending upon the consistency of the batter. The final batter should resemble a thick Dosa Batter. Actually it could be a little thicker than that too. I will try to reduce the Maida, the next time I make it.

Cherry & Almond Cake

While I am quite a confident cook, or if I can even say so myself at the risk of blowing my own trumpet, a seasoned cook, I am not so sure when it comes to baking. Although I am not new to baking, having made quite a few cakes, cookies, muffins even bread etc, I am always nervous when I am baking. It could be a tried & tested recipe but I am still biting my nails until I have seen the final product.

I would always look at the baking books on the shelf in the store & sigh, thinking whether it will be a good investment. I decided I had to start somewhere and was delighted to find ‘Easy Baking’ and I didn't have to think twice before buying it.

The recipes are basic and limited but have been so neatly presented along with great pictures that I wanted to try everything at once. There are a few recipes that I have already tried but there are some which I have always wanted to try & was on the look out for easy & manageable recipes. And this book gives me exactly that.

I chose this particular cake as my first from this book basically because I had an opened pack of glace cherries which I wanted to use. What happened to the earlier used cherries is a different story for another post

Cherry Almond Cake

Ingredients

• 2 cups Glace Cherries
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup golden caster sugar (I used regular caster sugar)
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup ground Almonds
• 2 3/4 cup Plain Flour
• 1.5 tsp Baking Powder
• Flaked Almonds for topping

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 160 deg C. Prepare a 7 inch square cake tin by lightly greasing it & dusting it with flour.

Cut the glace cherries in half and run water through them to get rid of the syrup. Dry them & keep aside.

Combine the butter, sugar, eggs & ground almonds and beat together.

Sift the flour & baking powder and add to the above wet mixture. Beat well to mix.

Add in the cherries and stir to mix. Spoon in the mixture in the cake tin and smooth the top.

Sprinkle the Almond flakes on the top. I did not have flaked almonds with me so heres what I did. Blanched the almonds & removed the skin and then chopped them into thin slivers and used them to top the cake.

Bake in the pre heated oven for about 1 1/2 hrs to 1 3/4 hrs until a thin knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Leave in the tin for about 10 min and then remove and cool on a wire rack.

When cool enough, cut into slices and store in an Air tight container. We finished off the cake within 2-3 days but I feel it will keep good for about 4-5 days.

My notes: The cake was very nice, tasting a little similar to the pound cake or the butter cake as it is called. Although I would cut the cherries into smaller pieces next time to distribute the sweetness.

This goes to JZ’s Tasty Treats for Lets go Nuts - Almonds. The event has been initiated by Aquadaze of Served with Love.