CABBAGE RICE

This is one of the filling and tasty rice dish which I experimented for this month's Shhhhh...Cooking Secretly Challenge started by Priya Suresh akka from Priya's Versatile Recipes. My partner for this month is Manjula Kanted from Desi Fiesta, who suggested my secret ingredients which were Cabbage and Cinnamon. Here, I used both of them to make this delicious rice dish in South Indian style. Cabbage Rice is a quick-fix main coarse dish or a filling lunch box recipe. Cinnamon added some extra flavour to it. A great variation of rice dish for those who don't like to eat cabbage. This dish is for them, who need to quickly cook healthy food, pack for the lunch and move on with our work. 

INGREDIENTS:

2&1/2 Cups Cooked Basmati Rice / Leftover Rice
2&1/2 Cups Shredded Cabbage
1 Medium Onion (Thinly Sliced)
1&1/2 tsp Grated Garlic
2 tbsp Peanuts
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
A Pinch of Asafoetida
2 Green Chillies, Cut into Slits
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
8-10 Curry Leaves
2 tsp Lemon Juice
3 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

METHOD:

In a pan or wok, heat 3 tbsp oil and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, asafoetida. Let cumin seeds and mustards seeds crackle. Now add peanuts and fry for a minute. Add grated garlic and curry leaves. Saute till it turns light brown in colour. 

Add sliced onion and fry till it gets translucent. Add cabbage and salt in it, mix well. Now add all the dry spice powder in it. Stir again. Cover and cook on medium heat for 4 minutes. Keep stirring occassionally. Cabbage should be soft and crunchy.

Pour cooked rice in it. Fold well. Cover and cook for another 3-4 minutes on medium low heat., so that everything incorporate very well with rice. 

Finally sprinkle lemon juice on the top, give a nice stir and remove it from the heat now.

Serve as a main dish with a bowl of curd or raita...Enjoy!!!

SAVOURY VEGETABLE CAKE

Now I am a part of Shhhh.....Cooking Secretly Challenge, brain-child of Priya Suresh akka from Priya's versatile recipes. My secret ingredients for this month were any orange colour vegetable (I choosen Carrot) and any green vegetable (I choosen French Beans) given by Yashodhas Kitchen. Both the ingredients were used in my dish and made this yummilicious and super tasty savoury cake. A great dish for breakfast or evening tea time snack, a delicious appetizer, very less oil is used here, so it is very healthy too. If you are very much calorie consious, may omit cheese, but definitely cheese added some extra flavour to it, if you tryout this simple yet filling dish, you and your family will surely enjoyed it whole heartedly.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour (maida)
4 Eggs
1/3 tsp Freshly Pounded Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/3 Cup Finely Chopped Carrot
1/3 Cup Finely Chopped French Beans
1/2 Cup Finely Chopped Onions
2 Green Chillies (chopped)
2 tbsp Finely Chopped Coriander Leaves / Cilantro
1/3 Cup Plain Yogurt / Curd
1/2 Green Bell Pepper (chopped)
2 Processed Cheese Cubes (grated)
1 tbsp + Few Drops of Olive Oil (may use any white oil too)
Salt to taste

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease the baking tray with few drops of olive oil and flour it nicely.
In a large bowl, break eggs, add salt and black pepper in it and whisk well.
Add flour, baking powder and blend well.
At this time add all vegetables, 1 tbsp olive oil and yogurt. Mix thoroughly.
Pour this mixture to baking tray. 
Sprinkle grated cheese on the top and bake it for 40 minutes.
Take out the tray from the oven and let it cool down completely on a cooling rack.
Garnish with grated cheese on the top.

Cut into desired shapes, serve and enjoy this yummy savoury cake.

CONDENSED MILK ORANGE CAKE

Coming to the Shhhhh... Cooking Secretly Challenge which started by Priya Suresh akka from Priya's versatile recipes. The mission of this event is to know the fellow bloggers more mutually and share the cooking ingredients and cooking experience with her. As this the first challenge of this event and my co-blogger partner is noone rather than Nirmala Gurunathan, a wonderful co-blogger friend and a foodie writer of Nirmala's Kitchen. My secret ingredients were condensed milk and flour, I used both of the ingredients here to make this mouthwatering cake. It was really very dense. It had a good flavour, but you really do need to serve with whipped cream and fruit or simply sprinkle icing sugar on the top. 

INGREDIENTS:

14 oz / 400 gm Condensed Milk
1 Cup Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
15 gm or 1/4 Cup Melted Butter
4 Eggs
1 tbsp Orange zest
1 Orange, cut into round slices and de-seeded
2 tbsp Roughly Chopped Walnuts
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 tbsp Sugar

FOR GARNISHING:

1 tbsp Icing Sugar
Few Walnuts
Few Fresh Cherries

METHOD:

Grease and floured a 9" cake pan.

Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F. In a large bowl, well combine condensed milk, flour, baking powder, melted butter, eggs, 1/2 tsp vanilla essence and orange zest. Add walnuts in it, fold again.

Pour the batter on the cake pan.

In the mean time, heat a non stick pan. Arrange round slices of orange on it. Sprinkle sugar and remaining vanilla essence on it. Heat both sides of the orange pieces, so that orange glazes well.

Place the glazed orange pieces on the top of the cake batter now.

Put the cake pan on the oven and bake for exactly 40 minutes (time may little varry from oven to oven). Let it cool down on wire rack. 

Sprinkle icing sugar on the top, garnish with with walnuts and cherries. Serve and enjoy this toothsome delicacy!!!