Butter cake

The last egg based recipe for today is my mother’s recipe for her delicious butter cake. My mother has used vegetable oil margarine instead of butter for a while now. Ingredients can be scaled down according to requirement. This was a large cake and I only managed to get a photo of the last two pieces before they too vanished.

Butter/ Margarine cake

Time taken: 40 – 45 mins

Makes around 24 pieces

Ingredients:

Butter or vegetable oil margarine – 1 cup
Eggs – 4
Sugar – 1 cup
Wheat flour – 1 ½ cups
Baking powder – 2 tsp

For the butter cream:

Butter or vegetable oil margarine – ¼ cup
Icing sugar – ¾ cup
Lime juice – 1 tsp
Vanilla – ½ tsp

Method:

Sift the wheat flour and baking powder. Keep aside.
Whisk the sugar and margarine together in a bowl. Keep aside.
Whisk lightly the eggs. Add the whisked eggs to the sugar and margarine bowl and continue to whisk.
Gradually add the sifted wheat flour and baking powder to the wet ingredients bowl and stir them together.
Pour the batter into a greased baking tray.
Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 140⁰C/284⁰F.
Let the cake cool while you make the butter cream.
Whisk together the butter cream ingredients – butter/ margarine, icing sugar, lime juice and vanilla – and then spread the cream evenly over the cake.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Egg cutlets

Today’s theme has been egg focused. The third recipe for today is my grandmother’s recipe for egg cutlets, as remembered by my mother.

Egg cutlet

Time taken: 15 – 20 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Egg – 1 + egg white, for dipping the cutlet
Potato – 1
Onion – ¼, chopped
Green chilli – 1, chopped
Pepper – 1 tsp
Salt – ¼ tsp
Fennel powder – ½ tsp
Bread crumbs, for rolling the cutlets
Oil, for deep frying

Method:

Boil the egg and potato for about 10 minutes.
Mash the boiled potato in a bowl and keep aside.
Finely chop the boiled egg and add to the mashed potato.
Add the finely chopped onion, green chilli to the bowl and add the pepper, salt, fennel seasoning to the cutlet mix.
Mix well and divide the mixture into four balls.
Whisk lightly the white of an egg in a small bowl.
Dip each of the cutlet balls in the egg white and roll them in bread-crumbs. Keep aside.
Heat the oil for deep frying the cutlets. Drop the cutlets into the frying pan and fry them, turning them around so that they are browned on all sides.
Remove the cutlets from the frying pan and place them on grease absorbing paper before you serve them with a chilli or tomato sauce.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Veggie omelette

This is my mother’s version of a veggie omelette. It is spicy, crunchy and very filling.

Veggie omelette

Time taken: 8 – 10 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Egg – 1
Green peas – 2 tbsp
Chopped carrot – 2 tbsp
Chopped beans – 2 tbsp
Chopped potatoes – 2 tbsp
Chopped onion – 2 tbsp
Green chillies – 2, chopped
Salt – ½ tsp
Pepper – ½ tsp
Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

Whisk the egg in a small bowl and add the chopped veggies and seasoning.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and pour the egg and vegetable mixture onto the pan.
Fry the omelette for a couple of minutes each side.
Serve hot.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Omelette and Omelette Curry

This omelette and omelette curry are recipes of my grandmother’s, as remembered by my mother.

(a) Omelette

Time taken: 6 – 7 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Eggs – 2
Onion – ¼
Green chilli – 1
Salt and pepper, to taste
Sesame oil (gingelly oil) – 1 tbsp

Method:

Finely chop the onion and chillies.
Whisk the two eggs. Add the salt and pepper and the chopped onion and chillies and whisk them together.
Heat 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a pan on low heat. Pour the egg mix in the pan and fry for about 2-3 minutes. Flip to the other side and cook for another 2 -3 minutes so that both sides are well-cooked and browned.
Remove from heat and serve as is or use in omelette curry.

(b) Omelette curry

Time taken: 20 mins

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Omelette
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
Onion – ½ , chopped
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Tamarind extract – ¼ cup
Coconut milk – ½ cup
Curry powder – 2 tsp
Sesame oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

Cut the omelette into pieces and keep aside.
Heat a tbsp oil in a pan and sauté the fenugreek seeds, chopped onion and curry leaves.
Add the tamarind juice and cook for a few mins.
Then add the coconut milk and curry powder and salt, to taste.
Cook for about 6- 7 minutes till the curry comes together and gravy thickens and then add the omelette pieces. Cook for a minute or two before removing from heat.
Serve with rice or pittu.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Ash plantain curry

The second recipe that I would like to share today is one of my mother’s ash plantain recipes.

Ash plantain curry

Time taken: 35 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Ash plantain – 1
Tomato – 1
Onion – ½
Green chilli or capsicum – 1
Ginger – 1”
Garlic cloves – 2
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
Crushed chillies – 1 tsp, or as per taste
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Salt, to taste
Low fat oil – 1 tsp

Method:

First, cook the ash plantain, with skin, in water for 15 minutes. Leaving the skin on during boiling will prevent the plantain from turning from white to ash.
Once cooked, remove the plantain from the water and peel. Chop up the plaintain into small pieces and sprinkle some salt over them and keep aside.
Chop up the tomato, onion and green chilli.
Heat a tsp oil in a pan and sauté the chopped onion, ginger, garlic and green chilli with the fenugreek seeds.
Add the chopped tomato pieces to the pan and continue to sauté for a few more minutes before adding the salted, chopped up pieces of ash plantain.
Add ½ cup of water to the pan and adjust salt. Add 1 tsp crushed chillies and ¼ tsp turmeric powder.
Cook the curry till it comes together and the liquid nearly dries up.
Serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Vegetable coconut curry

Today’s recipe is a curry recipe of my mother that I really like. It is a simple and delicious curry.

Vegetable coconut curry or Vellai curry, as it is known in Tamil

Time taken: 20 – 25 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Cauliflower – ½ cup, chopped
Potato – ½ cup, chopped
Green peas – ¼ cup
Carrot – ½ cup, chopped
Onion – ¼, chopped
Chilli – 1, chopped
Coconut milk – ¼ cup
Pepper – ½ tsp
Lime juice – 1 tsp, or more as per taste

Method:

Heat 1 tsp oil and sauté the chopped onion and chilli for a minute in a pan.
Then, add all the chopped vegetables to the pan along with 1 cup of water and cook the vegetables for 10 mins.
Add the coconut milk to the pan and cook the curry for another 5 mins.
Add the pepper and cook for a couple of minutes before removing from heat.
Squeeze some fresh lime/ lemon juice over the vegetable curry and serve with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Thosai with Sambhar

Today’s recipe is a meal that my mother often makes at home for dinner – Thosai with sambhar and sambal. This is a meal that can also be eaten at breakfast or lunch.

(a) Thosai

Cooking time: 30 mins + soaking and fermenting time: 12 hours

Makes 20

Ingredients:

Raw rice – 1 cup
Ulunthu/ urad dal – 1 cup
Fenugreek – ¼ tsp
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Onion – small piece, chopped
Cumin – 1 tsp
Pepper – 1 tsp
Turmeric – ½ tsp

Method:

Soak the rice, dal and fenugreek for 6 hours.
Drain the soaked mixture and wash it lightly.
Put the mix in the blender together with the curry leaves, chopped onion and cumin, pepper and turmeric. Blend until the thosai batter has a consistency similar to that of pancake batter consistency.
Transfer the batter to a bowl. Cover and let it ferment for another 6 hours.
Add salt and mix before heating up the thosai pan or flat pan.
Pour a large spoonful of batter and spread it out. Flip to the other side after a minute or two so that both sides are cooked well and have brownish tinges.
Serve the thosai hot with sambhar and dried red chilli sambal.

(b) Sambhar

Cooking time: 30 mins

Serves 5 or 6

Ingredients:

Mysore dal – ½ cup
Brinjal – ½ cup, chopped
Beans – ½ cup, chopped
Carrot – ½ cup, chopped
Potato – 1 medium-sized, chopped
Pumpkin – ½ cup, chopped
Murungai Kai – ½ cup, chopped (optional)
Onion – ½, chopped
Curry leaves – 1 sprig
Tamarind extract – ¼ cup
Crushed chillies – 1 tsp
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Pepper – ½ tsp
Garlic cloves – 2 or 3, crushed
Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
Coconut milk – ¼ cup
Salt, to taste

Method:

Cook the vegetables, in a pan with 3 cups of water, for about 15 – 20 minutes on medium heat.
Reduce heat and if water had dried up, add another ½ cup water. Add the tamarind juice, mix well and cook for another 5 minutes.
Add the crushed chillies, cumin, coriander and pepper powder, crushed garlic and turmeric powder to the pan. Mix well and cook for a few more minutes.
Towards the end, add ¼ cup coconut milk. Cook for a few minutes before removing from heat.
Serve sambhar with thosai or idli.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Ambarella chutney

Update (02/07/2014): As I wished to send in a dish to the first virtual vegan linky party initiated by Annie, Poppy and Angela, I decided to send in an old recipe that I had shared on my blog in its early days. So, I am sharing this chutney under the side dish category for the potluck.

The chutney recipe for today is ambarella (spondias dulcis) chutney. Ambarella is said to be good for people with diabetes.

Ambarella chutney

Time taken: 15 – 20 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Ambarella – 3
Cinnamon – 1” piece
Crushed chillies – 1 tsp
Sugar – 1 tbsp
Salt, to taste

Method:

Peel the three ambarellas. Chop up the ambarella into 5 or 6 pieces each and put them in a pan. The middle portion is difficult to remove or chop up so it can be left as it is and included in the pan.
Add 1 cup of water or just enough to cover the ambarella pieces.
Add a piece of cinnamon and some salt, to taste, to the pan. Cover and cook for about 10 mins.
If the water has completely dried up, add ½ cup of water.
Add 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp crushed chillies to the pan.
Increase heat and cook for some minutes till the chutney comes together and it is no longer watery but rather a thick sauce-like consistency.
Remove from heat and transfer to serving bowl.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Mango chutney

Today, I thought of sharing two of my mother’s chutney recipes.

Mango chutney

Time taken: 20 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Mango – 1, unripe
Onion – ¼, chopped
Malu miris/ capsicum – 1, chopped
Mustard – 1 tsp
Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
Crushed chillies – 1 tsp
Sugar – 1 tbsp
Vinegar – 1 tsp (optional – best to add, if you want to keep chutney for some days)
Turmeric – ½ tsp
Salt, to taste
Low fat oil – 1 tbsp

Method:

Wash the mango, de-seed and chop up the mango with the skin into 1 inch slices.
Marinate the chopped up mango pieces with salt and turmeric. Keep aside.
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the mustard and fennel seeds. As they start to splutter, add the chopped onion and malu miris.
After a few minutes of frying or once the onions become pinkish, add the marinated pieces of mango and mix well.
Cover and cook on low heat for 5 mins.
Remove cover and stir.
Add 1 tsp of crushed chillies to the pan. Mix well and cover and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
Remove cover again and this time, add 1 tbsp of sugar and the optional 1 tsp vinegar.
Mix well and cover and cook for a few more minutes.
Remove from heat and mix well before transferring to the serving bowl.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Watermelon and lime juice

The best fruits during unbearably hot weather are watermelon and lime or lemon. So, combining both is a special treat and my favourite fruit juice. Besides instantly reducing dehydration and giving a healthy energy boost, watermelons and limes are said to be good sources of Vitamin A, B and C and good for preventing or fighting different types of cancer.

So, today’s juice blends both to make a refreshing and healthy summer drink.