First attempt baking a cake which turned out good

Yesterday I baked a cake! It turned out awesome and everyone enjoyed it. Well, I should not take all the credit; I used the ready-made mix off the racks from Target. But nevertheless I was very excited baking one.

It was a yummy chocolate cake. I got vanilla frosting to dress it up. I followed the instructions one by one; made sure that I did not add a little less or little more than what was listed in the instructions. I remember once I tried baking a cake and added an extra egg thinking it would make it fluffy; on the contrary it turned out hard and chewy. So I had learned my lesson in baking.

I baked in two portions in 8 inch square trays. After they were baked, I cooled it in the open. Placed one on top of the other adding the frosting layer in between and covered it with the frosting. Did a bit of decoration; put the birthday message. It was one of my colleague's wife's birthday and belated birthday of two cute babies.

I am glad everybody loved it.

Mango Pie (My favourite)

We had a great get-together many many days back; now I think about it, was many months back. If I remember correctly it was Navin's birthday and his project mates had planned a surprise party to our house. Shurud's wife Shruty, had prepared this wonderful mango pie! Everyone loved it and enjoyed it a lot. I made sure I took the recipe from Shruty right away. I have made it 2 or 3 times already and each time friends and family have relished it!

So today I am sharing it with everyone. I looked for the recipe over the net and you can find it all over the place too. I am putting it here for quick reference :)

Last night I had a party at my place for my colleagues and their families. I took a pic of the ingredients so that I could put it up here! The recipe is very very simple and I bet you are going to love it.

Ingredients:


All you need is -

1 Ready made pie crust (you get this in any food store)
2 small Gelatin packs

Mixture:
250ml/8oz Mango pulp (you can get this in any Indian store)
8 oz whipping cream
2-3 tb spoon whipped cheese cream (I usually add less only for consistency; too much can be injurious to health :))
10 tb spoon sugar (If the mango pulp is already sweetened, no need to add sugar)

Preparation:
Put the mixture ingredients in a bowl and whip it well for 5 minutes to make a smooth paste.
Boil 250ml/8oz water and add the gelatin to it. Make sure the gelatin is dissolved completely. Add the gelatin solution to the mixture. Blend the mixture again for sometime.
Now pour the mixture in the pie crust. Put it in the refrigerator for approx. 4 hrs. and let it set.

Ta-da! You are all set. Enjoy the yummy treat! Hope you love it.

Crab Curry (Goan Style)

Hi All,

Last week I had made crab curry for one of my favorite Aunts in Chicago. She loves crabs (kullyo; like the way we say in Goa) and I thought I will surprise her by making one of her favorite dishes. Called my mom and took the recipe from her. Aunt loved it so much and that has encouraged me to post the recipe on my space!

If you are a sea food lover, you should definitely try this one.

Caution - This dish contains coconut, in case you are allergic or don't like coconut, you may not want to put lot of time cooking it.

I may be using some words in Konkani. I will try to find the equivalent English word for the ingredients. Sorry, if I cannot give you all of them.

Crabs - In India there should not be any problem to find crabs. In the U.S., you may want to check out Chinese/Mexican stores and look for Chinese blue crabs. If you are lucky, you may get the live ones too.

Clean the crabs properly before cooking. Remove the limbs seperately from the shell. Now hold the front of the crab with both your hands. Using both hands pull the shell apart slowly to open it. Rinse it with water so that all the dirt is removed.

Preparation time 45 min - 1 hr

Ingredients -

Masala

5 Cloves

10 Pepper

1/2 inch Tikhi (Cinnamon)

1 pinch Badishep (Fennel seeds )

1 pinch Shai Jeere (Black Cumin Seeds)

1/2 tb sp spoon Khaskhas (Poppy Seeds)

1 tb sp Coriander Seeds

1/4th of a leaf;very very small dagad phool (Star Anise)

1/2 sp Red Chilli Powder

1/4 sp Haldi (Turmeric Powder)

Salt to taste

Few strands of finely chopped Oli Kothambir (Coriander leaves)

1 tb sp. Tamarind

2-3 tb sp Oil

6 Crabs
1 cup Sai (Shredded coconut)
1 1/2 cup cut Onion

Preparation -

Alain (Gravy)

Heat Oil on a Tava (flat pan). Add the masala and 1 cup Onion. Fry till onion lightly brownish. Add shredded coconut and roast for some time. Turn off the stove and let it cool for sometime. Now finely grind the ingredients to make paste (add some water when grinding). Add tamarind when grinding.

Add 1 tb sp oil to a pan. Add 1/2 cup onion. Fry till brown and add crabs. Add chilli powder and turmeric powder. Cook for 10-15 mins. Add the gravy paste to crabs. Let it cook for 15-20 mins. Add coriander leaves to the gravy.

I hope you try it out and let me know if you liked it! Tastes awesome with portuguese style (torraad - crisp) bread or rice.

Enjoy!

Welcome to my Space!

Welcome Everyone to my favorite space!

The Food Space :)

There are no guesses I love food- fortunately to cook and to eat of course. I have learnt quite a few recipes from my Mom-who masters in authentic Goan dishes. I love to cook her recipes cos I know they turn out really good!; though many Goan dishes may be time consuming to cook. Nevertheless the end result is worth all the time and effort. I dedicate this space to the great food I have come across and want to share with everyone.

Do try some of the recipes in my space and share your experiences. Let me know if you like them; it will encourage me to post and cook more!

Bon Appétit!