Black Forest Cake (Eggless and it can be prepared without an oven)

My mother makes these awesome cakes she learnt in a class, I am yet to make it myself, on our 9th month wedding anniversary she made it for us!
Ingredients (For the base sponge cake)
100gms Maida
25 Gms (1/4 cup) Cocoa Powder
½ tspn. Soda Bicarbonate
1 tspn. Baking powder
60 Gms butter (1/4 cup)
200 Gms condensed milk
100 ml soda water (1/2 cup)
1 tbspn. Ground sugar
1 tspn. Vanilla essence (powder or liquid)
Method (For the base sponge cake)
1. Sieve flour (Maida), cocoa, baking powder, and soda & keep aside.
2. Beat butter, condensed milk & sugar for about 10 mins.
3. Add soda water & dry ingredients alternately
4. Pour the butter into a greased, dusted & bottom lined cake tin.
5. Bake to 180 degrees for 25- 30 mins approximately. (If you don’t have an oven, you may preheat a tava on the flame place your cake on it and cover it with a plate, place something heavy on your plate so that pressure is not leaked out.)
Ingredients (Filling & Topping)
1 tin Frozen cherries
2 cups Rich cream

Method (Filling & Topping
1. Beat the rich cream for about 8 to 10 mins. (you may check it by holding the container of cream upside down, the cream shouldn’t drop down)
2. Slice the cake horizontally.
3. Soak the bottom layer with the canned cherry water & rum syrup.
4. Put a layer of cream on the cake.
5. Cover it with cherries and another layer of cream.
6. Sandwich with the other piece of cake and soak with the same syrup.
7. Cover the top layer with cream with cream and decorate it with chocolate curls and cherries.

Banana Sweet Sandwich (with gram lentils)

I saw this amazing recipe on Aamhi Saare Khavayye, and my mom tried it the same day, it turned out great! Its very easy and effortless.
Ingredients
1 cup gram lentils
¾ cup jaggery
2 to 3 tbspn. Ghee
3 to 4 Bananas perfectly ripe

Method

Cook the gram lentils in the pressure cooker until soft. Keep aside.
Take ½ tbspn. Ghee in a pan, add the cooked gram lentils to it, stir nicely, add jiggery and mix well, it should form into a nice paste, if you keep stirring for a while the lentils get smashed and form a paste. Switch off the flame and let it cool.
Peel off the skin of the bananas, slice them horizontally into two halves, make a sandwich by stuffing the mixture of gram lentils between the banana slices. Keep aside.
Heat the remaining ghee in a frying pan, place your stuffed banana on them and fry them till nice dark brown from both sides.
It tastes awesome!! Do try it and let me know!!

Lime Mint Cooler!! For Taste & Create!!

This is my entry to the Taste and create contest by Nicole of http://forfood.rezimo.com/?page_id=581

I am glad to have Simran of http://foodiezone.blogspot.com/, she has adopted Mumbai as a city to settle post marriage and her blog is a variety of tempting food and cool drinks!!! So here's one recipe of a drink I have never tried before, so i gave a shot to this one and we loved it!! It was really refreshing!!

You can visit Simran's Blog for the recipe here http://foodiezone.blogspot.com/2008/07/party-time.html

Bread Pakoras

This is my entry to Rushina Munshaw's Pakora Contest!!!!
My mom and dad have come to visit me and my mom made delicious bread pakodas yesterday when we both returned from office yesterday!! Here goes the recipe.
Serves 2 to 3
Ingredients
8 to 10 bread
4 to 5 tbspn. gram flour
2 tbspn. finely chopped coriander
1 tspn. Ginger garlic paste
½ tspn. Cumin and coriander seed powder
1 tspn. Red chilly powder
¼ tspn. Turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Water
Oil to deep fry

Method
Take the gram flour in a bowl. Add all the ingredients except bread to it. Mix well by adding little water to the mixture. Make it a smooth paste so that you can dip the bread in it. Now, cut the bread slices into four pieces, I cut into triangular ones, dip the whole piece into the mixture and drop it into hot oil for frying. Remove out after its golden brown.
Serve hot with Ketchup.

Kanda Pohe

This is my entry to Neha of http://easyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com/, who is hosting an event called SWC Maharshtra.

Thanks for this event Neha!!


This is a typical Mahrashtrian snacks and an all time favorite in every Marathi household! On a Saturday morning I made Kanda Pohe for everyone and here is my post!
Serves 4
Ingredients
250 Gms Pohe (use the thick ones)
3 tbspn. Oil
3 to 4 finely chopped green chillies
1 medium size onion (kanda) finely chopped
5 to 6 curry leaves
1 tspn. Mustard seeds
¼ tspn. Hing
½ tspn. Turmeric powder
1 tspn. Sugar
½ lemon
Salt to taste
Finely chopped coriander leaves and grated coconut for garnishing.

Method
Lay pohe in a vessel with tiny holes in it, pour water on them slowly to thoroughly dampen them. Let the water drain from it. Keep aside. They become soft and tender in about 2 to 3 minutes.
Heat oil in a pan; add mustard seeds, after they sputter, add hing, turmeric powder, curry leaves, green chillies and onion. Stir for a while, after the onions become pink, add damp pohe. Mix properly. Add salt and sugar, mix again. It cooks within a minute. Switch the flame off. Squeeze half a lemon on it. Mix well again. They are ready!
Garnish with fresh coriander and coconut.(I did not have coconut so I used only coriander)
Serve hot!

P.S. You may add potato (batata) to this recipe too and make kanda batata pohe! Add the potato after the onion is pink and cover it with a lid for the potatoes to cook. After they are soft, add pohe and continue with the same method.

One more award!

I am so delighted, thanks Messo for this friendship award!! It means a lot to me.
Messo has always been prompt to comment on every recipe I have posted, thanks for being so encouraging dear!!
I would like to pass on this award to my dear friend Laxmi (Shubha) of chutkibharpyar.blogspot.com/
We have been friends since school , even when this blogging world was unknown to us!!
Thanks for being so encouraging dear.....hope this cheers you up!!

An Award!!!! I am loving it....;)

Today morning I got a mail from Zainab and Meedo of arabicbites.blogspot.com/they passed an award to me, I am so honoured and thankful to you!!

Your blog has always been inspiring......Love your blog.

I would like to pass on this award to

publishtoday.blogspot.com/ by Maheswari

divya-dilse.blogspot.com/ by Divya Vikram

vegan-fare.blogspot.com/ by Kumudha

delhibelle.blogspot.com/ by Rashmi

You all deserve it!!! Congrats!!!!!!!!!! ;)