Chocolate Coffee Cake

Chocolate Coffee Cake was one of the first cakes that I baked for my husband. We loved to share a piece of cake over a cup of coffee on the evenings after a busy day at work.

Baking is all the more fun when you do it together with your family. And, we did it together. Responsibility divided between the three of us - my husband , my cousin and myself.  My cousin made his debut at baking a cake, me the actor and my husband the director. The cake definitely fared well at the box office:)

Here is my recipe -

Ingredients

1. All purpose flour - 2 cups
2. Sugar - 1 and 1/2 cup
3. Cocoa Powder - 3/4 cup
4. Baking Powder - 1 tsp
5. Salt - 1 pinch
6. Milk - 1/2 cup
7. Oil - 1/2 cup
8. Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
9. Coffee powder - 1 and 1/2 tbsp
10. Eggs - 4
11. Hot water - 1 cup

Method

Prepare coffee decoction in a cup of hot water and let it cool.

Sieve the all purpose flour, cocoa powder,salt and baking powder to avoid lumps.

Separate the egg yolk and the egg whites. Beat the white until fluffy. Beat the egg yolk along with vanilla essence. Add in the sugar and oil and mix it well. Add the coffee decoction and milk to this.

Pour this into the sieved flour and fold in the batter . Finally add the egg whites and fold in well until combined. Mixing it any further may cause air bubbles in the batter.

Pre heat the oven at 180 degree for 15 minutes. Grease a cake tin and pour the batter into it. Place this inside the oven for 30-40 minutes until an inserted pin comes out clean.

Remove from baked cake from the oven and shift it onto a cooling rack.

Serve it hot with ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Onion Garlic Fried Rice

Every alternate Wednesday was reserved for our dinner outings to our favorite restaurant. I had two reasons to wait for this day - I did not have to study that day and I could have my favorite Fried Rice. I have tried to make Fried Rice several times but never quite liked it as much as this recipe.

Easy to make with easily available ingredients and hence a must try for everyone. As always its a family favorite because it is easy to make.

Ingredients

1. Basmati Rice - 2 cups
2. Cardamom - 2
3. Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
4. Bay Leaves - 2
5. Cloves - 2
6. Onion - 3 sliced thinly
7. Garlic - 4-5 cloves chopped
8. Cashewnut - a handful
9. Raisins - a handful
10. Soya sauce - 2 tsp
11. Pepper powder
12. Sugar - 1 tbsp
13. Spring Onions 
14. Oil
15. Salt

Method

Boil water along with salt and ingredients listed from 2 to 5.

Add washed Basmati rice to this and cook. Make sure you do not overcook it. Drain off excess water and remove the whole garam masala added. 

In a skillet, heat oil and fry the cashewnuts and raisins. Keep this aside.

Toss the sliced onion and garlic into this oil. Saute it till cooked, add salt, pepper powder and sugar. Saute it for another two minutes and add soya sauce.

Add Basmati rice into this and mix well. Keep it covered for another 5 minutes on low heat.

Garnish with spring onions and serve hot with your favorite curry.

Kundapura Chicken Curry/ Kundapura Koli Saaru

Kundapura Chicken Curry is a traditional chicken preparation popular along the coastal belt of Mangalore - Udupi - Kundapura region. It is an excellent accompaniment for kori rotti, sanna , neeru dosa and rice as well.

So that is another jog down the memory lane.
Takes me back to Brahmavar and the tastes of Brahmavar which I grew up to love. It's not just the food but also the special people in my life who cooked this for me. My two akkas Geetha akka and Sabitha akka who took care of me and my sister just like their kids. I am sure Geetha akka is still waiting for me to get home to prepare her special dishes.

Here I have the recipe of Kundapura Chicken for you -

Ingredients

1. Onions - 2 chopped
2. Tomato - 1 chopped
3. Curry Leaves - 1 sprig
4. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
5. Coconut milk - 1 cup
6. Chicken - 1/2 kg
7. Oil
8. salt to taste

For the paste -

1. Ginger - 1 tsp chopped
2. Garlic - 1 tsp chopped
3. Cinnamon sticks - 1 inch stick
4. Cloves - 5 to 6
5. Whole pepper - 1 tsp
6. Coriander seeds -  2 tsp
7. Red Chilly - 4 to 5
8. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup

Preparation 

Dry roast the ingredients 1 to 7 under for the paste for 2 minutes. Add the grated coconut and dry roast till the coconut becomes dry. Let this cool for a while and wet grind this to a paste.

In a separate pan, heat oil, Toss in cumin seeds, curry leaves and fry for a minute. Add the chopped onions and tomato. Saute till the onions turn slightly brown. Now add the chicken and the paste. Pour sufficient water, bring it to a boil and reduce the flame. Keep it covered and let it cook.  Once the chicken is cooked, add coconut milk bring it boil and switch off the flame.

Whats special about Kundapura koli saaru is that it goes along well with almost anything. Be it rice , dosa, idli or even chapati.

You may also note - 

• Do not over roast the dry ingredients. 
• Add coconut milk, only if you need more gravy.