Pumpkin Cake with Cocolate Glace

Yesterday I went vegetable shopping, I show nice yellow pumpkin similar to the one which we see in pictures of Halloween.  It looked so tempting and was cheap; I couldn’t resist buying it and about 1 kg. When I brought it home, some I used for sambar, kept a little for pumpkin bartha.  But with the remaining didn’t knew  what to do. So went searching for some pumpkin recipes and found this one from by favorite baking site “Joy of Baking” with the few changes here are there. The major change is, using wheat flour instead of wheat bran.

It has come out very well. You can try it.

Ingredients

Egg – 4 large

Oil – 1 cup
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
Granulated Sugar – 1¾ cup (powder it)
Pumpkin pure – 2 cups
Maida – 2 cups
Wheat flour /atta – 1cup
Baking powder -1 tsp
Baking soda – ½ tsp
Cinnamon powder – ¾ tsp
Ginger powder – ¼ tsp
Clove powder – 1 pinch
Chopped walnut – ½ cup to 1 cup

For Chocolate glaze

Semi sweet cooking chocolate – 180gm
Butter – 4 tbsp
Liquid glucose – 2tbsp
Brandy – 1tbsp (optional)

Method

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.      <!--[endif]-->Preheat the oven to 180⁰  and place rack in center of oven

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.      <!--[endif]-->Butter and dust 8 inch and a 6 inch tin ( 2cakes) or you can make just 1 cake of 10 inch.  Preferably use a cake tin with a glass in between, as it is a thick batter and may take time to cook in the middle.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.      <!--[endif]-->In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the eggs, oil, vanilla essence , and sugar until well combined (about 2 minutes).

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.      <!--[endif]-->Add the pumpkin puree and beat until it is mixed properly.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.      <!--[endif]-->In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->6.      <!--[endif]-->Add the flour mixture to the pumpkin batter and beat just until incorporated.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->7.      <!--[endif]-->Stir in the nuts.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->8.      <!--[endif]-->Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 mins, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. 

<!--[if !supportLists]-->9.      <!--[endif]-->Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then invert and remove the cake from the pan. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Glaze:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.      <!--[endif]-->Melt the chocolate, butter, and corn syrup in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water ( double boiling).

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.      <!--[endif]-->Remove from heat, stir in the brandy, and let cool to room temperature.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.      <!--[endif]-->Pour the glaze over the top of the cooled cake, letting the glaze flow down the sides. Keeps several days at room temperature.

 For Pumpkin Puree

·         <!--[endif]-->Take ½ kg pumplin, remove the skin and fiber and seeds in the center.
·         <!--[endif]-->Cut into cubes and microwave in high for 15 min.
·         <!--[endif]-->Cool and puree it in a blender.

Kada Fry

Kada is the Malayalam name of Quail.  Is a small sized bird, small as a little chick.  

This is a recipe which I try every time I go to Kerela.  Though it doesn’t have a special taste, everyone is eager to have it once. Try it; it tastes a little bit like chicken fry.

Ingredients

Quail - 4
Red chilli powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Ginger - 1 tsp
Garlic - 1 tsp
Salt
Oil needed to fry

Method

1.         Clean the quail and pat dry .
2.         Then make a paste with all of the powders and with ginger and garlic paste.
3.         Marinate the quail with the paste and keep it for 1 to 2 hours (overnight would be best).
4.         Then deep fry the quail and serve it hot

 



Aluchi Vadi

Alu in English is known as colocasia/tora/elephant-ear. In Hindi it is arabi and in Malayalam it is called as Chembu.  They are many types colocasia. The one we use for aluchi vadi is the small soft one which grows on marshy land.

It’s a Maharastrian dish. And I was introduced to this when I was a child. We had just moved in to a ground floor of government quarter, with a small garden in front. Mom was very excited to make it into a kitchen garden. But we got a shock when we saw there were kitchen drain leakage and the water use to come out into the garden. In this mess there were lots of colocasia plants growing. My father was all ready to clear this mess, when one of our Maharashtrian neighbor asked us to give us some of these leaves. She prepared aluchi vadi and gave it to us. We all relished it and the entire plan of scraping of the alu plantation was cancelled. Mummy learnt it how to prepare and it was regularly made at house.

 Ingredients

Colocasia leaf - 10 tender medium sized

Besan (Chickpea Flour) - 1cup
Chili Powder - 2tsp (or per taste)
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala - 1/2 tsp

A pinch of hing

Salt as per taste

For Tamarind paste
Tamarind – 1 lemon size ball
Water  - 1 cup

Oil as needed for deep fry

 Method

1.      Soak the Tamarind in water and keep for an hour.  Mash this hand and then squeeze the pulp.

2.      Wash the leaves gently, flip and remove the veins keeping the leaf intact, specially the stem portion, as it would make the leaf to roll easily. Pat dry the leaf.

3.      Mix basin, chili, coriander, cumin, turmeric, garam masala, hing and salt.

4.      To this add the Tamarind paste and make a thick batter. 

5.      Now take the biggest leaf and place it on the flat surface.  The rough part facing you.

6.      Apply the batter evenly.

7.      Place the next leaf on top of it and apply the batter.  Repeat this procedure for total of 5 leaf.

8.      Now roll it from wider edge to the pointed edge.

9.      Apply a batter on this roll

10.   Do the same process with the next 5 leaves (point 5 -9)

11.  Place these rolls on a greased steamer.  I use idli maker.

12.  Let the roll steam in medium heat for 20 mins.

13.  Remove and let them cool completely. Now using sharp knife cut 1/2" thick rounds vadis.

 

14.  Deep fry these Vadis and serve hot.