My Mum's Fruit and Nut Cake

This is the only cake we knew growing up in Patna. Fancy cakes with icing and frosting were only meant for birthdays. And were mostly pre-ordered from Channa Uncle’s Cake Palace and later his brother’s Polson’s in Dak Bungalow Road.

This is one cake which seldom goes wrong. Perhaps your Mum made it too. That trademark treat to have with your glass of milk, or chai for grownups.

When we did not have an oven, my Mum used to make this cake in the gas tandoor. Some Mums from the ‘80s even made it in the pressure cooker.

I have made this cake after years. Just because its the husband’s birthday tomorrow, and I wanted to treat him with something I have learnt from my Mum.

Ingredients for My Mum's Fruit and Nut Cake are:

1.5 cups all-purpose flour/maida
1 cup sugar, powdered in the grinder
1 cup canola/vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
Quarter teaspoon vanilla extract
Raisins, walnuts, cashews, glazed cherries and tutti-frutti mixed together to form about half a cup
1 heaped tablespoon all-purpose flour (to dust the fruits and nuts)
1 tablespoon butter for the cake pan

Start by sieving the all-purpose flour and the baking powder twice. This will remove any lumps, etc.

Pre-heat oven to 350° F. Butter a round cake pan (today I used a Bundt pan). Line bottom with parchment paper, and butter the parchment.

Now beat together the flour, powdered sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla extract till you get a smooth batter. (I use my blender.)

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and sprinkle the flour-dusted fruit and nuts on the batter. Shake off all the extra flour before you add them.

Bake for 45 minutes. Check by inserting a bamboo skewer in the cake. If the skewer comes out clean, your cake is done!

Slice and serve warm with tea, coffee or a glass of milk.

Between the four of us, a cake this size used to be over within minutes of my Mum baking it. This cake is great to bake during Christmas too. Gives you that old, world charm of eating a rustic, homemade cake and the house smells awesome too! Try it.

The Girl with the Phuchka Tattoo

This is the story of a girl who loves phuchka. The girl who thought she’d marry a phuchka wala when she turned 13.

The girl who wished to have the words “phuchka” carved on her epitaph upon her death. The girl who wanted a tattoo of phuchka on her heart. That girl is writing this post today.

My love for phuchka is famous. Even my in-laws joked that they’d have phuchka at my wedding reception, much to the shock of my Grandmother! Who still believes I will someday elope with a phuchka wala.

But why elope now? When I can make the meanest phuchka at home! And as a fringe benefit, I am married to a guy who is equally passionate about phuchka. Our getting-to-know-each-other over phone, emails, instant messenger was somehow always about that four letter word: F-O-O-D. Followed by the mention of the inevitable phuchka. After we got married, many times we’d do pillow-talk about phuchka too. Okay, I made that up.

I am a pretty tough girl when it comes to eating phuchka. I completely forget my hoity-toity convent education and get downright mainstream when it comes down to gulping phuckka after phuchka with élan. My personal best is a whopping 30!

I am also pretty touchy about calling my phuchka by the correct name. Its not pani-puri or gol gappa or gup-chup. Its phuchka. Pure unadulterated phuchka. The kinds you get on the streets of Calcutta.

I make the dipping water or phuchka’r jol by grinding together few sprigs of fresh coriander and a couple of green chillies. I then mix this paste with some tamarind pulp, kala namak, a pinch of red chilli powder, bhaja moshla and lemon juice. And pour enough water to fulfill the needs of dunking each stuffed phuchka in the water and then drinking little shot glasses of it on its own. You can throw in a few cubes of ice too. Just for special effects.

For the potato filling of the phuchka, I swing between using cooked lal chola (red gram) and yellow peas. I personally prefer the version with cooked yellow peas. Begin by pressure cooking the yellow peas (soaked overnight) with just enough water to cover them. One or two whistles should do it.

Now take ladlefuls of the cooked yellow peas and mix with boiled potatoes, chopped coriander, finely chopped green chillies (or green chilli paste if you can handle it!), bhaja moshla, kala namak, lemon juice and spoonfuls of the “water” we have already prepared. Give it a good mash, but just enough to retain the shape of the yellow peas. And please use your hand to do this.

It may be phuchka blasphemy for some, but I also add some chopped red onion to my potato-yellow peas mixture. I like it this way. You can completely give the onions a miss.

With all our bombastic, homemade ingredients now ready, its time to set your mouth on a flavourful fire.

Since I am not that enterprising, I choose to use store-bought phuchka. Convenience does have its own charm. Poke each phuchka right at the center with your thumb. You will probably end up crushing at least two or three if you are a first timer. Pretend to be a pro. For phuchka’s sake!

Stuff a little of that potato mixture, quickly dunk in the spicy tamarind water and directly put the ready-to-eat phuchka in your mouth. This should happen in seconds. No dilly-dallying. Else you will not only make the phuchka soggy with the wet ingredients, you will also deprive yourself from a burst of flavours in your mouth by two nanoseconds.

So go ahead. Pop that phuchka in quickly. For next awaits you is a plateful of alu kabli.

P.S. Did you realize there was no story to tell in this post? I just wanted to way lead you into looking at some phuchka photographs.

Thanksgiving with Tandoori Bhutta

In this short life of mine, I do have a lot to be thankful about. Like the vast expanse of corn fields from where comes the produce of my favourite thing in this whole wide world.

Its no secret that I adore corn. I used that same love for corn and mixed with some tandoori masala to make some Tandoori Bhutta/ Sweet Corn for Thanksgiving last week.

I am running late on this post. I can explain. But that can wait.

Before that, take down the recipe for Tandoori Bhutta.

Ingredients for Tandoori Bhutta are:

4 corn on the cob
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
3 tablespoons ready to use Tandoori mix spice
Juice of 1 lime/lemon
2-3 tablespoons mustard oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt

Mix together all the ingredients, massaging the spice blend, yogurt, mustard oil and salt into the corn.

Marinate for 3-4 hours.

Use a stove top rack/ roti mesh to roast the corns on direct fire. I have an electric cooking range, and the roti mesh works fine for me.

Make sure you switch the vents in the kitchen on when you are making the tandoori corn. It gets really smoky in there.

Baste the corn with the leftover marinade from time to time. Use butter to brush on the corn.

Keep moving the corn around to get equal cooking time on all sides. Once you see adequate char on the corns, take them off the heat.

Wrap aluminum foil at the stems for easy holding/eating. Squirt some lemon juice on them and serve immediately.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We have so much to be thankful for everyday of our lives.

Kalyani’s Mint and Tamarind Chutney

Kalyani and I have known each other for a very, very long time. She was that protector everybody needs. Especially if you have nosy siblings who go about snooping in your precious secret diary!

She is someone I can call any time of the day or night and pour my heart out. Most times she’d listen patiently. But there have been times she has hung up on me. Times I have been completely out of line with her. And I hang my head in shame for that.

But I know, she forgives. But never forgets. So every time she gets a chance, she reminds me that I have a daughter too!

That’s my Mother. Kalyani. Whose recipes I share here. The do-gooder. The pillar of strength for our family. She is just like this chutney – smooth with things around her, sweet and a mix of tang when it comes to handling people. And the memory of her mint-like freshness. Especially when she came out of the shower smelling like Pears soap. I use Pears too, especially when I miss my Mother. It makes me smell like her. Feel like her.

Okay, coming back to this Mint and Tamarind Chutney which was part of our meals during many summer days.

Its important you use the ingredients mentioned, and NOT substitute jaggery/gur with sugar or tamarind with lemon juice. That will make it an altogether different chutney. And you know how unkind I am to people who tamper with a good recipe!

Ingredients for Kalyani’s Mint and Tamarind Chutney are:

250 grams bunch of fresh mint, leaves torn, stems discarded (use the stems to plant in moist soil for new leaves to sprout)
Handful of green chillies (the real hot ones)
100 grams good-quality jaggery/gur
2 heaped tablespoons tamarind pulp (I use from the jar available in desi grocery stores)
Salt

In a blender add the mint leaves, green chillies, jaggery, tamarind pulp and salt. Give it a whizz, add very little water to get a smooth chutney consistency. Give it a taste test and add jaggery or tamarind or salt if needed.

This chutney will be dark in color, almost like a dark knight coming to kiss your soft face. And the taste will be a burst of mint (of course!) and sweet and sour. With adequate heat. We have the Mint and Tamarind Chutney with Kebabs or Pakoras. Its awesome with some dal-chawal too.

This is how I made an instant beef kebab to go with this chutney.

Mix together some minced red onion, chopped mint and coriander leaves, freshly grated grated ginger, chopped green chillies to the lean ground beef. Season with salt and freshly cracked black pepper, pound well and keep for 10 minutes.

Make small balls with the meat mixture, flatten as patties and shallow fry in olive oil for about four minutes on each side.

Serve hot with my Mum’s Mint and Tamarind Chutney.

You can store this chutney in a clean, glass jar in the fridge for up to a week.