Easy Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Cocoa Frosting / How to make easy Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting: Easiest chocolate cake recipe. Great taste and looks great.  Remember to serve this cake in room temperature.

Yields:12 servings
Recipe source: cacaoweb


Ingredients needed:  

For the cake:

All-purpose flour – 1 ½ cup
Unsweetened cocoa powder (dutched/dark)- 3 tbsps
Baking powder – 2 tsp
Sugar – 1 cup

Salt – 1 pinch
Vanilla essence – 2 tsp
Milk – 3/4 cup
Butter – 3/4 cup
Eggs – 2

For the frosting:

Powdered sugar – 2 cups
Cocoa powder – 2 tbsp
Butter,soften – 6 tbsp
Vanilla essence – 2 tsp

Preparation:

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
Grease a 9 inch cake tin.
Mix the dry ingredients,that is flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl.
Melt the butter at low heat and add to the dry ingredients. Also add milk and eggs.
Mix everything together until smooth, either by hand or by using an electric mixer at slow speed.

Add the vanilla essence and mix well.
Transfer to bake tin and bake at 350 degrees until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 35 to 45 minutes.

Frosting:

Cream the softened butter with powdered sugar in a bowl. Add cocoa and vanilla  mix until smooth. Do not over-mix. If the mix feel too thick add few tablespoon milk and mix well.

Assembly:

Cover the cake with the frosting. You can also cut the cake into half and fill the frosting in the middle and cover with frosting.

Notes:
This cake must be served in room temperature. When it is cold I feel it is little dense.

Aloo Matar Curry - How to make aloo-matar gravy/potato-peas gravy

Aloo Matar gravy - Aloo matar curry is a simple curry with potatoes and peas. It goes very well, not only with parathas, roti,naan but also with jeera rice,ghee rice etc.

Preparation Time:15 min
Cooking time:20 min
Serves:4

Ingredients needed:  

• Potatoes,cubed - 2 medium
• Green peas(fresh or frozen) - 1 cup
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Chilli powder - 2 tsp
• Garam masala - 1 tsp
• Cashew nut/almond paste - 1 tbsp (Optional)
• Salt - To tast

For grinding:

• Onion - 1, small
• Tomato - 2 large

For tempering:

• Oil 
• Cumin - 1 tsp

Preparation:

Wash,peel and cut potatoes to bite sized cubes.
Grind onion and tomato to fine paste and set aside.
Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add cumin and allow it to crackle.
Then add ginger garlic paste saute for a few minutes then add onion tomato paste  and saute until raw smell goes and oil leaves from it.

Add the spice powders chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and salt and saute well.
Then add cashew nut paste and cook for few minutes. Cashew nut paste is added only to thicken the gravy. You can also skip this step if you want.
Then add potatoes and peas and mix well. Add a cup of water and Close the lid of pressure cooker and cook for 2-3 whistles on low flame or till potatoes and peas are cooked well.

Serve hot with roti, chappathi or pulao.

Notes:

• You can also pre-cook vegetables but cooing those in the gravy add more flavors to the vegetables.
• To make cashew nut/almond paste, soak 5-6 nuts in warm water for 30 minutes and grind that in the mixer.
• Instead of cashew nut paste you can also use fresh cream at the end to get that creaminess.

Kerala Style Egg puffs - How to make Egg Puffs

Egg Puffs: My husband's all time favorite snack. Missed this kerala style puffs when relocated to U.S. But once I found out that puff pastry sheets are available frozen here, realized that how easy it was to make any sweet or savory  puffs. 

Preparation Time:10 min
Baking time:20 min
Yields:10

Ingredients needed:  

• Puff pastry sheets, square (Readymade) - 1 packet (Have 10 sheets)
• Hard boiled egg - 5nos
• Onion, sliced - 3 cups
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
• turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
• garam masala - 1 tsp
• tomato ketch up - 3 tbsp
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Salt - To taste
• Egg white, beaten - for brushing ( Optional)

Preparation:

Thaw the pastry sheets as per the instructions in the packet.
Peel the hard boiled eggs and cut in half.
Preheat the oven to 400F.

How to make the filling:

Heat oil in a pan and add onion.
Saute til translucents and then add ginger garlic paste.
Saute til the raw smell gone.
Reduce the heat to low flame and the add turmeric, chilli, black pepper, garam masala powders.
Cook for a minute.
Add tomato ketchup ,mix well and switch off the stove.
You can also add egg and mix well with this filling or keep it separate as per your taste.

Egg Filling

How to assemble the egg puffs:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Take each pastry square and roll a little using rolling pin.
Spoon the prepared filling to its center and place one half of the hard boiled egg on top of it.
Fold the opposite corners to the center and gently press with your finger to hold it tight.
Brush the top with egg wash.
Repeat the steps for every pastry squares.
Line the prepared puffs in baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Notes:

• Instead of egg wash you can also use milk for brushing.
• Use the amount of filling as per your taste.

Aloo Paratha / How to make Aloo paratha

Aloo Paratha - Another favorite stuffed paratha. A north Indian dish but everyone's favorite - Paratha stuffed with potato mixture. The key to make stuffed paratha is to roll the paratha with stuffing. Once you mastered the art of rolling you can make paratha with any kind of stuffing like potato, paneer, carrot, cauliflower, peas or any vegetable with your favourite spice mixture.

Preparation Time:15 min
Cooking time:10 min
Makes: 6 Parathas

Ingredients needed:  
For the dough:

• Wheat flour(Atta) - 1 cup
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Salt - To taste
• Water - As needed

For the filling:

• Potato - 2 large
• Onion(Finely chopped) - 1 small
• Coriander leaves(Finely chopped) - 2 Tbsp
• Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Green chilli(Finely chopped ) - Optional, As per your taste
• Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - To taste

To toast:

• Oil/Ghee/Butter

More wheat flour for dusting

Preparation:

Mix Wheat and salt in a wide mixing bowl and add water little by little to make a soft dough and add oil to make it non sticky. The Dough must be nicely firm but not too tight and non sticky. Cover the dough and allow it to rest.
Cook potatoes until soft. After potatoes cool down then peel and mash the
Make 6 equal portions of potato mix.
Pinch a lemon sized ball from the dough and make it a smooth ball.
Flatten the smooth ball to a thicker medium circle with a rolling pin on a floured surface.
Place a portion of the potato mixture to the center of the flatten dough and seal the edges by gathering the edges to the top and flip over.
Press it with your hands and roll it to a thick paratha.
Heat a non stick skillet and transfer the paratha to it.
Drizzle some ghee or butter.
Flip over and gently press with your spatula for even cooking.
Cook well on both sides in medium flame.

The Filling and the dough

How to roll the paratha

Notes:

• Make sure there is no water in filling, otherwise it will stick while rolling.
• After boiling potato, remove it from water and allow to cool down on its own. Peel it after pat dry. Do not allow potatoes to absorb water.