Passion Cake, Page Ten and Cloud Nine

Of late, I have been having a lot of conversations with friends about food and cooking. I really love cooking, but more than that, I love good food. So much so, that I'm not even particular about eating it. I can read cookbooks to pass time. (We all read each other's blogs, don't we?) I think about meals (though I don't really plan ahead) and food combinations a great deal. I also wonder about food habits and how they come to be what they are. The other thing I wonder about is the "I'm a working girl and so I can't cook" syndrome. Now, I don't believe that cooking is a woman's job. But I also don't believe that a woman who goes to work cannot manage the kitchen. Maybe it was because of what I saw growing up. Amma had a full time job and yet she managed to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday. Back then, "home delivery" and "take away" weren't exactly commonplace. And even if they were elsewhere in the city, the IIT campus allowed us no such luxury.

Life has fallen into a routine for most of us. And I am no exception. Cooking our meals is a part of that routine in my case. It irks me no end when I see young colleagues run into the office huffing and panting from barely 2 km away because they "had" to make lunch. I asked one such what the big deal was and she said, "I don't know how you manage to cook and reach in time. But I can't. I don't know why I am expected to. At my mother's place, education was given importance, not cooking." That usually does it. End of conversation. Because in a way, it is as though in my house, I was made to cook instead of study.

I think there are several issues here:

• The feeling that girls "have" to do the cooking
• The myth that education and cooking run as two parallel lines
• The bigger myth that a working girl cannot run a home
• The biggest myth that cooking is laborious, boring and time consuming

I hear things like, "Oh, we never cook in a pressure cooker. My mother is very particular about cooking things the right way." Excuse me! Who decides the right and wrong ways? I am also told, "You can get away with pasta and all that, my husband has to have rotis, rice, dal, vegetables and salad at every meal." I have not been able to understand how "I get away with pasta". But more importantly, even that entire meal is ready in less than 30 minutes in my kitchen. With some prior planning of course. I have been baking for 22 years and cooking for about 19 years now. Did it interfere with my education? Maybe it did. But it didn't stop me from being a gold medalist at University. Does it interfere now with my career? Maybe it does. But it hasn't stopped me from enjoying what I do for a living or giving it my very best. I have never thought of these as chores. On days when I really don't feel like cooking (and S is also knackered!!), we eat out. I don't fuss over our food or our mealtimes. I merely enjoy them. And there's every attempt to eat right. (Mangoes and icecream do make a meal, don't they?)

I baked a little cake today. I'm on cloud nine. Why, you ask? For a multitude of reasons. I got a raise and I got a bonus at work. But why would I talk about that here? This has to be about food, right? Yes, you're right. This is not only about food. This is about this very food blog. The Singing Chef was featured on Page 10 of this morning's Metro Plus, a supplement of The Hindu under

Food Bytes. I have not yet read the newspaper clipping, but my dear friend, Aarti, told me about it in the morning. Appa has kept aside a clipping and will show it to me when I meet him in May. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the internet edition. So, I made this fat free Passion Cake because I firmly believe that the proof of the passion is in the cake!

1 cup Carrots, grated

1 cut Zucchini, grated

3 Eggs, separated

2 tbsp Almonds, ground

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Cinnamon Powder

Zest of 1 Orange

1 tbsp Icing Sugar (for dusting)

Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease and line a square baking tin.

Sift the wheat flour along with the baking powder and cinnamon.

Beat the egg whites until stiff.

In a separate bowl, whisk the yolks along with the brown sugar, orange zest and almond powder. Fold in the flour mixture and the grated vegetables alternately. Fold in the egg whites carefully. Spoon the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 40-50 minutes. When done, sprinkle icing sugar through a sieve over the cake.

Cooking and baking aren't as tough as they're made out to be. I've said this before and I'll say it again. I'm about the laziest person you'll ever meet. So, if I'm saying these aren't tough, then you have no choice but to take my word for it. In the words of Peter Pan, "All you need is faith and trust... and a little bit of pixie dust!"

Cashew Vermicelli Kheer

I’ve talked earlier about my general dislike for payasam/kheer. Madgane, Badam Kheer and Rava Payasam are the few varieties I enjoy. But coconut milk kheers do not feature in Tamil festival menus (at least not in my house). So, if it isn’t badam kheer, then it has to be Semia (Vermicelli) Payasam. While I really like this payasam, S really loves it. I made it recently after a gap of some 18 months. The last time I made it was when we completed a month of marriage. We were not living together at the time as our jobs were in different cities and I happened to be in Gurgaon around then for some interviews.


I remember that day because it was terrible. I had specifically told the consultant that I wanted a job with normal working hours and that the worst case scenario would be one where I finish work by 9 p.m. The job I’d taken up in Bangalore required me to work at a different time each day of the week and since I had a personal compulsion to move to Bangalore, I accepted the job with every condition the company laid. I did not want to just accept any job that came my way in Gurgaon. I wanted a job with timings that would more or less coincide with S’s work timings. The two hour interview ended with a, “So, I am told you’re open to working till 1 a.m. twice or thrice a week.” I was seething inside. I spent my hard earned money to get on that flight and come to Gurgaon. I spent more money hiring a cab to ferry me to and from that interview. And I felt as though all of that was a total waste. I needed to do something to shake myself out of that lousy mood. So I made semia payasam. The only sweet dish I could make on a hot plate (we had no fridge, gas stove or microwave then). And the look of utter delight on S's face when he saw the payasam was enough to get me out of that lousy mood.

I will blog about the original recipe sometime later. The one all of us know and love. This payasam has a little twist in the tale. I did not add cashews and raisins fried in ghee to the dish. Instead, I added ground cashews to the dish.


1/4 cup Roasted Vermicelli

2 tbsp Cashews, ground

1/2 can Sweetened Condensed Milk (Milkmaid/Mithai Mate)

4-5 cups Milk (I used a litre)

½ tbsp Clarified Butter (Ghee)

½ tsp Cardamom Powder


Heat the ghee and roast the vermicelli for a couple of minutes. Add the milk to it and bring to a boil. Add the condensed milk to this. Keep stirring until the mixture is even (else you'll have burnt condensed milk). Add the ground cashews and the cardamom powder and simmer the mixture for about 10-15 minutes. It will begin to thicken nicely.

Serve hot or cold. This tastes heavenly either way. (The picture does it no justice!)

This is off to Easy Crafts for the Think Spice… Think Cardamom event.

Potato Capsicum Curry

This is a very simple side dish that pairs equally well with rice – dal and rotis. It is one of those “curry in a hurry” type of dishes. The addition of capsicum to this plain jane potato dish takes it to a whole new level. It is a different matter that I love my plain jane potato dish just as much.

2 large potatoes, washed and scrubbed

2 large Capsicum, roughly chopped
1 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp Asafoetida
1 tsp Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Cumin-Coriander Powder
Salt to taste

Cut each potato (with the skin on) in two. Cut each half lengthwise in 2 and then cut finely width wise. You will have quarter circles (kind of triangular) pieces.

Heat the oil, add the mustard, asafoetida and cumin seeds. When the mustard splutters, add the chopped capsicum and fry for a minute or two. Add the potatoes, salt, chilli, turmeric and cumin-coriander powders. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes. When the potatoes are cooked, remove the lid and allow the potato pieces to crispen to a nice brown.

Sometimes, I mix this with hot rice and eat it as it is. At times, it goes in our lunch box with rotis. At others, it is a side dish with dali saar and rice or sambar and rice. I'd been meaning to post this during the Potato festivals, but it looks like it will now make its way to this month's JFI.

Arbi Ka Saag

For a long time, I knew of 3 ways in which I could make Arbi (Colocasia). I could make Seppankizhangu Fry (Deep Fried), Seppankizhangu Karumadhu, and Seppankizhangu Mor Koottu. All Tamil dishes. So, I'd buy the vegetable only if I knew I was going to make Sambar sometime soon. I never thought I could make a side dish to go with rotis.

When I came across this recipe, I was a bit skeptical about how well it would pair with rotis given how dry it looked. I was pleasantly surprised when not only did I think my lunch was great, my colleagues kept picking pieces off my plate, and S called from work to say, "You should make this more often!"

As with most Rajasthani recipes here, this is also adapted from the Rajasthani Cookbook by Tarla Dalal.

250 g Colocasia (Arbi/ Seppankizhangu), boiled, peeled and quartered

1/4 tsp Carom Seeds

1/4 tsp Mustard

1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder

1 tsp Chilli Powder

1/2 tsp Coriander Powder

Juice of 1 Lime

1 tsp Oil

Salt to taste

Oil for deep/shallow frying

Shallow fry or deep fry the arbi pieces and keep aside.

Heat the teaspoon of oil. Add the carom and mustard seeds. When the mustard splutters, add the fried arbi pieces, turmeric, chilli and coriander powders, salt and lime juice. Mix well.

Serve hot with rotis.

I deep fried as I made it in the morning when I was short of time. I didn't want to shallow fry then as it really is time consuming. This is off to Padmaja at Spicy Andhra as my second entry to the RCI Rajasthan - Flavours of the Desert event.

Banana Nut Loaf and a Personal Note of Thanks

I was always told that the journey was more enjoyable than the destination, that that was the way with life. When I embarked on this journey, I had no destination in mind. I was sitting at home in the middle of the week as I got the day off for Buddha Poornima. Barely two days after starting a new job. I quit the one I had even though the commute was a mere 3.5 km and chose this one 27 km away. As most people who have interacted with me through this medium would know by now, I love my job. Anyway, I had absolutely nothing to do and, as always, I was blog hopping. Then I did it. It was one of those “spur-of-the-moment” decisions. I didn’t give the URL or the blog name much thought. I didn’t give anything much thought that afternoon. The only thing I thought about was the background colour. It had to be green as this was going to be a vegetarian blog. Cliché!


Why am I thinking of that afternoon today? All that was a year ago. That, my dear friends, is the whole point of this post. The Singing Chef is a year old today. The last 366 days were eventful, to say the least. I shared, I explored, I laughed, I cried. And it wasn’t just about food. Food, at times, seems incidental. But I’m amazed at the friends I’ve made across the globe. People I have never met (except one), but people that I can call, email, chat with. And all the while get the feeling that these are people I have always known.


The journey was initially slow, with a little skepticism here. Then suddenly went into the 5th gear with one Saturday seeing 17 posts on my blog. Participation in events added to the enthusiasm and then it was confirmed. I was thoroughly addicted. The month of July 2007 saw 53 posts while this year’s YTD count is a mere 50. Thank heavens for work. Else, I would have run out of ideas months ago and this would have become one more of those “also ran” blogs. I got well meaning advice from some friends and with time, I have settled on between 10 and 15 posts in a month.


Events in the food blogging arena are really something else. From sending my very first entry to WBB, I have come a very long way and I’m actually guest hosting it next month. I have been a regular with several events: WBB, RCI, JFI, AFAM, TST, MBP, A-Z and I try to participate in as many as I can. At one point, I’d fret over trying to make something to fit in. Now, I’m wiser. I’ve even reached a point where I have loads of dishes in drafts and I just match them to events. But at the end of the day, if I can’t participate, I know that it is not the end of the world. I know that my fellow bloggers won’t be mad at me. I know I won’t be shunned by the blogging community.

The love I’ve received won’t be forgotten in a hurry. The acceptance, the appreciation, the adulation is what I’m thrilled to get. The love and the friendship is what I’m grateful to have. The gifts I’ve received will be cherished forever. It has been a great year, and it couldn’t have been even a tenth as great had it not been for all of you. I cook more, share more, and learn more with each passing day. Thank you all.

Here’s a simple, healthy cake to celebrate this big milestone.

1 cup Flour
¾ cup Wheat Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
¼ tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
¾ cup Jaggery, grated
2/3 cup Toasted Walnuts, chopped
3-4 Bananas (overripe), peeled
1/3 cup Oil
2 Eggs

Oil and flour for lining and dusting


Heat the oven to 350F. Grease and dust a loaf tin.

Sift the dry ingredients together.

Combine the bananas, eggs, oil and jaggery in a bowl. Using an electric mixer, blend all these to a rough paste. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and add the toasted walnuts. Mix well and pour into the prepared cake tin.

You can omit the egg and use 2-3 tsp sour curds and 1/2 tsp baking soda.

Bake for 35-40 minutes (or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean). Cool on a rack for a few minutes.

Cut into slices and share with all your blogging friends. (Also send it to Not Quite Nigella's Banana Bread Bake-off.) My lactose intolerant friends can have a big slice of this lactose free cake.

Happy Birthday Singing Chef. I am, both, proud of and grateful for, what you have come to mean to me.

Macaroni Salad and Anouncing MBP - May

The heat is killing. Much as I love cooking, it is the last thing I feel like doing these days. I don’t even mind cooking in the morning, but when I get back in the evening, the mere thought of entering the kitchen to dish up a meal is enough to kill any remnants of an appetite.

Monthly Blog Patrol or MBP an event started by Coffee of The Spice Cafe, is an event I participated in totally by chance. That too, because I happened to make something from her blog which fit very well into that month’s theme. After that, I have tried to be a regular. I know I've missed one or two, and then I missed the event itself for a good 6 months or so. I am guest hosting this event this month. And what I am looking for is a host of stuff that I cam make through summer without having to really toil over the hot stove. The theme for this month is Soups and Salads.

A few simple rules to enlist yourself in the patrol:

1. Make a Soup or Salad from fellow bloggers posted recipes, not food sites.

2. Post a picture of the final recipe on your blog linking it to the blogger, whose recipe you made. You can either post the recipe, or just the picture. Any variations to the original recipe will make interesting reading. One final picture and a link to the original recipe is a must.

3. Don’t forget your hosts! Please add a link back to this event announcement and/or the logo below, and to Coffee’s MBP page.

4. Email the following details to onlineraga@gmail.com with MBP – Soups and Salads in the subject line.

• Your name
• Your blog name
• Name of the Soup or Salad
• Permalink to your post
• Permalink to the original recipe
• A photograph of the final dish.
  

5. You may send as many entries as you like.

6. The deadline for this event is May 24th.

I will post the round up before the end of May (but forgive me if I am delayed as I am planning a trip to Madras around then!)


Here’s a simple salad to get you all in the mood.

1 cup Macaroni, boiled
1 Onion, chopped
1 Tomato, chopped
1 Green Capsicum, chopped
1 Carrot, finely chopped
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Mixed Herbs
1 tsp Chilli Flakes
Salt and Pepper to taste
Lime Juice, optional


Add the herbs and chilli flakes to the olive oil and set aside for 10-30 minutes.

Combine the macaroni with the chopped vegetables. Pour the herb infused olive oil over this. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add a little lime juice if you like. Toss together and enjoy your meal.

Savoury Vegetable Cake

Cakes aren’t always sweet, are they? While I absolutely love the whole idea of baking a cake and having the aroma of vanilla fill my entire house, I love this savoury cake every once in a while. Again, a microwave cake recipe, but this one is all Indian, down to the “icing”!


1 cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Sugar
¼ tsp Turmeric
½ cup Onion, finely chopped
½ cup Oil
1 cup Vegetables, finely chopped and cooked
2 chopped Green Chillies or 1 tsp Green Chilli Paste
1 tsp Ginger Paste
1 tbsp Coriander leaves, chopped
1 tbsp Mint leaves, chopped
2 Eggs, beaten
2 tsp Lime juice

Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and turmeric powder. In a microwave safe bowl, place ¼ cup oil and the chopped onions. Microwave on high for 3 minutes. Combine this with all the other ingredients. Cook uncovered for 4-5 minutes. Allow to stand for 2-3 minutes.

Serve with a tempering of mustard, asafoetida and curry leaves or with green chutney. My favourite way to eat this is by spreading the green chutney over the cake slices like icing. It is a hit at breakfast or tea time.

Off this goes to Srivalli as part of her MEC: Cakes event.