Apple, celery and kiwi refresher

This is just made for a hot summer's day but I find it is a great pick me up when I am feeling dull and tired...

4 green apples (Not granny smiths as it would be too tart. Golden delicious is a thumbs up)
2 stalks of celery
3-4 Kiwis
1/2 lime

Put the apples, celery and kiwis through a juice extractor. Round it off with a squeeze or two of lime juice - to your liking - and lots of ice.

You can do the same using a blender, but do strain the pulp out as it tastes best that way. You do need a bit of acid in this, otherwise the apple juice in it will turn brown.

Chicken curry with fennel and coconut milk

500g boneless chicken thighs cut into pieces
1 onion chopped finely
1 tomato chopped
1 stick of cinnamon
3-4 cardamom pods
1 star anise
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 cup of  thick coconut milk
2 tsp oil
handful of coriander leaves chopped
Salt to taste

Masala powder
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp black pepper
6-8 cardamom pods
2 star anise
1 stick of cinnamon
2 whole dried chilli
1 tsp powdered pomegranate seed (optional)
1 tbsp poppy seeds

Marinade
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
2 tbsp lemon/lime juice
1 tbsp masala powder (see above)

• Dry roast the masala ingredients and grind to a fine powder in a spice blender.
• Marinate the chicken pieces with the masala powder, ginger-garlic paste and lemon juice for at least 30 mins.
• Meanwhile, heat some oil in a pan. Add the whole spices ( star anise, cardamom and cinnamon) to the hot oil and fry for a few seconds. Add the fennel seeds and allow to splutter slightly.
• Add the chopped onions and fry till they are golden brown.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric and chilli powder and continue to cook till the tomatoes are done and the oil starts to separate from it. 
• Add 11/2 tbsp of the masala powder and sauté for a minute. 
• Add the marinated chicken pieces and stir till the pieces are coated nicely with the masala.
• Add salt and little water (1/2 to 3/4 cup). Cover and cook till the chicken is done. Do not add too much water as the chicken will also release water as it cooks. 
• Finally add the coconut milk and simmer for 3-4 minutes. If the gravy is too thick, dilute with some more water.
• Finish with chopped coriander leaves.

Seven cup cake or burfi

Just like a pound cake contains a pound of each ingredient, this sweet also contains 7 ingredients each of the same measure. Hence the name! It doesn't necessarily have to be a baking cup measure. Just ensure what ever you use,  you use it to measure all the ingredients.

It took me a about 45 mins from start to finish on a medium flame.

1 cup chickpea flour (besan)
1 cup grated coconut ( dessicated coconut is fine too)
1 cup clarified butter or ghee
3 cups sugar
1 cup milk

• Mix all of the above and pour into a pan.
• Keep stirring this mixture over medium heat till the mixture thickens to a slightly runny  peanut-butter-like consistency and starts to leave the sides of the pan. This can stick to the bottom and burn quite easily toward the end of the cooking time, so make sure you keep stirring.
• Spread this evenly into a greased baking tray and while it is still warm score the surface with criss cross lines so you eventually end up with diamond shapes. When it is fully cooled, cut along these lines. It is easier to cut when it cools down if you have done this. 

Chocolate cake

Whilst organising the cupboards in my kitchen, I came across a tin of unopened cocoa powder that I had bought a couple of years back with the intention of using it in a cake. Since it was nearing its best before date, I decided to use that as an excuse to bake. There goes my diet out of the window but who cares, right?!

I have only ever baked a chocolate cake once in my lifetime. This was when my parents had first bought a microwave. Microwave was still new in the Indian market and every cookery programme at the time was trying to cook anything and everything under the sun using this appliance. This was about the time I started to discover my love for cooking. Knowing my propensity for "accidents" this just seemed like a safe tool to experiment with! One of the more successful experiments then was a chocolate cake. The best part of that cake was that it was incredibly moist.

So when I decided to bake one this time, I started searching for a recipe that would for one use cocoa powder ( duh, that's what started this whole thing remember!) and would be as moist as the one I first attempted.  I found this one from AllRecipes that ticked all the boxes (follow the link for the original recipe).

I had to make a few adjustments as I didn't have the exact ingredients. I had self raising flour instead of plain, so that's what I used. The cake batter I thought was a little too runny (I read somewhere that american cake batter is  usually wetter than british ones, but I might be wrong). Anyway, I used half of the boiling water quantity recommended. I don't think it took anything away from the cake. I didn't  have the amount of icing sugar that the buttercream frosting required. I had a 500g pack and that's what I used by adjusting the amount of liquid I added. I still found it a tad oversweet, so I'll probably reduce that the next time as well.

 For the cake
225g self raising flour
375g caster sugar
65g cocoa powder
11/2 tsp baking powder
11/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
125ml vegetable oil
250 ml milk (easier to work with when closer to room temperature)
2 tsp vanilla extract
175ml boiling water

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg Celcius. 
• Rub two 23cm cake tins with butter and dust with cocoa powder.
• Place the sugar in a large bowl and also sift together flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and bicarb soda. Whisk the milk and egg together and add to this along with the oil and vanilla. Mix this for about 3 minutes with an electric mixer. 
• Add the hot water to this and mix using a wooden spoon. The mixture can be quite runny.
• Spread the batter evenly between the two cake tins and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until a skewer or knife comes out clean.
• Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before removing from the tin.

Frosting
175g butter ( at room temperature )
125g cocoa powder
500g icing sugar
about 150ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

• Whisk the butter in bowl until softened and light.
• Add the icing sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla and 100ml of milk. Mix well with an electric mixer starting at a low speed till it comes together and forms a creamy and spreadable mixture. Add the remaining milk in small quantities if needed.  

Split each cooled cake in half. Stack them one over the other after covering the top of each layer with the frosting. Use the remaining frosting to cover the outside of the cake.

I found the amount of butter cream I made was more than what I needed. That was probably because I only had a layer of cream in between the two cake layers. It will probably be needed if you split each cake and end up with 3 layers of cream.