Magpie's Recipes

Perfect Breakfast Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

Fluffy, and with the interesting texture and health benefits of whole wheat flour, this has to be THE perfect pancake recipe. I have traversed many a food blog and chomped my way through countless rubbery, flat or too eggy pancakes to bring you this delicious and filling recipe. The Geek and I love breakfast foods-pancakes, hash browns, muffins, sausages, eggs benedict with hollandaise sauce .. mmm! Sunday breakfast at a quaint little diner was almost a ritual. After the jellybean's arrival, we've mostly been on granola or quick oats and suddenly mid week, I had a H-U-G-E craving for pancakes and decided to try out this recipe from here We had them for breakfast yesterday and I refrigerated the remaining batter to make pancakes again this morning. They were still nice and fluffy. The batter yeilded 14 medium sized pancakes.

Old-Fashioned Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe Source: Applepiepatispate For the Dry Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (traditional or pastry) 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 tablespoon brown sugar ( I used 2 tbs regular- it wasn't very sweet, just enough for the syrup to compensate for the demands of my sweet tooth) 1 teaspoon salt For the Wet Ingredients: 2 large eggs 2 1/2 to 3 cups buttermilk ( I used one cup of yogurt and 2 cups of water.For a dairy free version substitute with soymilk) 2 tablespoons vegetable oil ( I just used one and it was enough) Notes: * Make bigger batches of the dry ingredients – a.k.a. your own healthy instant pancake mix – and refrigerate in an airtight container until needed. * Use whole wheat pastry flour for more tender pancakes. * Replace up to 1/2 cup of the flour with wheat bran or germ for a better texture and nutritional profile. Metdod Stir together all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk the eggs with the buttermilk briefly and add to the dry ingredients. Mix the batter just until barely incorporated. Stir in the vegetable oil. It’s okay for the pancake batter to be lumpy and dry in some spots. Heat a non-stick griddle over medium heat, until sprinkled water dances across the surface. Ladle the batter in the middle of the griddle. Cook until bubbles start showing on the surface. At this point you can also put a few thinly cut slices of ripe banana. ( This tip is from my favourite diner where they also add chopped walnuts and shredded coconut too) Gently flip the pancakes and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is set. As a variation, and for extra sweetness & flavour you can add some mashed up ripe bananas into the batter. Serve immediately and top with fresh fruits, butter, or your favorite pancake syrup.

Edited to add: This recipe can be modified slightly for a dairy free version with soy milk instead of buttermilk. They taste great though I do prefer the buttermilk version, however I'm on a dairy free diet and so I'll be making them this way for some time.

The Easy but Perfect Chocolate Cake

This is the cake that restored my the faith that I can indeed bake. Before this cake, everything that I had attempted had flopped miserably and very literally. There was the cake I baked for my grandfather as a child under my aunt's supervision which cracked right in the center and we tried to cover up and prettify with fresh flowers from her garden, my very first own experiment later on that I cringe to even think about: A cake that called for vinegar and where, instead of baking soda used baking powder and instead of coca powder used drinking chocolate powder. The result was more a pancake than cake. A very sour, mud coloured pancake.

There was also the incident where my roommate and I were baking a cake for a friend's birthday and as we watched it baking through the clear glass of the oven were horrified to see it grow and grow and grow, like a volcano waiting to erupt. A triangular cake that was rock-hard but which we could atleast pass off as a brownie. A tasty birthday brownie.

These and many more such incidents have taught me that Baking is a science and there is a lot of chemistry and interplay between ingredients so substitutions and in accurate measurements can lead to doom- or volcano cakes!

So my sister-in-law who is an awesome cook actually wrote down her favourite recipes into a little red book for my husband and me while we set up our kitchen here. It has became almost a bible for me and many of those recipes I have shared here, as well as new ones she emails me. They are fail proof and instant hits and so is this chocolate cake recipe.

This has now become my go-to chocolate cake recipe. I bake this beforehand, whenever I have people over and almost always get recipe requests. It has a rich decadent chocolate taste even though it does not call for butter or cream, and instead uses oil. The ingredients are pretty much always on hand and its very easy to make too-comes out perfect every time..

The taste is heavily influenced by the type of chocolate powder used, so make sure it's a brand you really like I use the Ghiradelli brand though a dutch processed chocolate powder would be best.
In India I have made it with the Cadbury's coco powder which I love, and is easily available there. Did not have much success with other brands like the Bakers brand of coco powder.

Even though I have made this many many times now, we never seem to get tired of this tender, moist cake which is great on its own or with chocolate sauce or ice cream, and its all gone in a flash!

Perfect Chocolate Cake

Recipe source: My sister-in-law ( She got it from a NZ newspaper where it was called Serena's Cheating Chocolate cake. A little googling and I unearthed the Serena in question to be Serena Bass author of Serena, Food & Stories : Feeding Friends Every Hour of the Day )

Dry Ingredients

3/4 cup cocoa pwd (preferably dutch processed)

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking pwd

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp table salt

Wet ingredients

1 cup buttermilk ( I use half a cup of curd and half a cup of water)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

Method

Preheat oven to 180 C

Lightly grease base and sides of a 23 cm deep round cake tin with oil

In a large bowl sift cocoa sugar flour baking pwd, baking soda and salt and combine.

In another bowl put the eggs, and all the other wet ingredients (except the water) and whisk

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until half combined.

pour the boiling water and whisk till fully combined and the batter is smooth

Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and place in oven for 40-45 mins until skewer inserted into the center of cake comes out clean

You could also pour the batter into prepared cupcake tins and bake for about 20-35 mins or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.

( I have also added 4 tsp of coffee pwd into the boiling water and some chopped toasted walnuts which I dusted with flour and stirred into the batter towards the end. I also tried to use white chocolate bits which however just melted into the batter so that didn't really make a big difference unfortunately.)

Verdict: this cake is moist and fluffy and has come out perfect every time I've baked it. The second time after I have tried a recipe I'm back to my old tricks of substituting and adding random things. But in this case with the addition of coffee and nuts it was sensational. Would also like to try incorporating Kahlua or even orange extract sometime.

I don't know why but I like the idea of using oil to bake instead of butter. I think I'm quite obsessed with the idea that oil makes the cakes very moist and that it's somewhat healthier than butter. Also for making a recipe dairy free its very easy to just substitute the buttermilk for soured soymilk ( just add about 1/4 cup lemon juice to 3/4 cup of soy milk) or almond/rice milk ( though I have not tried almond or rice milk) and not have to worry about butter substitutes since there will always be a bottle of canola oil in my kitchen. Thankfully there are lots of food bloggers out there that fuel my obsession. For why else would someone make a red velvet cake with oil? See here for a wonderful recipe from smitten kitchen for red velvet cake that I just have to try.

Update: Ria pointed out that this recipe may be the Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate cake which I just checked out and it does seem very similar but they use 1 cup milk instead of buttermilk/yougurt & water as this one does. I have not tried it with milk. The site also lists some info on frosting and baking in alternate pans which I found very useful:

ONE-PAN CAKE: Grease and flour 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Heat oven to 350° F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely. Frost.

THREE LAYER CAKE: Grease and flour three 8-inch round baking pans. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost.

BUNDT CAKE: Grease and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Heat oven to 350°F. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. Frost.

CUPCAKES: Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.

Marble Cake/ Zebra cake

I love taking a beautiful freshly baked cake out of the oven. It's definitely going to be a pleasure cutting a slice of this cake with the beautiful chocolate and vanilla, zebra stripe effect.

This was surprisingly easy to make too, achieving spectacular effects.

I tried putting in toasted walnuts and although this tasted good, it messed up the stripe effect a little.

I also like this cake recipe since it's simple and I can use oil instead of butter.

Farida has explained the steps very clearly so I'm simply going to link to her recipe here

Chicken Curry in Coconut Milk

The curry is spicy and rich and since the chicken is cooked ( preferably in a pressure cooker) with the spices and coconut milk, it becomes tender and absorbs all the flavours. Commonly called Pal Pizincha Kozhi Curry, this is a family favourite, as it is in most homes in Kerala and you are sure to have tasted it, with rice, appam, or chappatis if you are from Trichur and a Syrian Christian. It goes especially well with the layered buttery soft Malabar Parathas that I picked up conveniently frozen and microwave ready, from the Indian grocery store, and also with rice, appams, stringhoppers, rotis and even bread.

With coconut milk being available in tins nowadays, it is quite easy to make too, though an even easier and much faster version of this curry, can be found here: chicken curry in a hurry

Pal Pizincha Kozi Curry (Chicken curry in a thick coconut milk gravy)
Recipe source: This is a common preparation in many Syrian Christian homes and one we make very often at home

Ingredients:

Chicken ( Cut into medium sized pieces. Can also use about 3 frozen and thawed chicken breasts or equivalent) – 6 pieces
Potatoes ( small sized)- 4 ( cubed)
Ginger paste- 2 tsp
Garlic paste-2 tsp
Onions (medium sized)– 2 (Chopped )
Tomato (medium sized)– 2 (Chopped)
Green Chillies – 6 slit into halves (add more or less depending on your tolerance for spice)
Red Chilly powder – 1 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
Garam masala – 2 tbsp
Coriander powder 1 tbsp
Coconut milk – 1 cup (Can use tinned or mix 3 tbsp coconut powder in warm water)
Oil – 2 tbsp
Salt- 1 tsp

For garnish ( optional)

Coriander/cilantro leaves – a small bunch (optional)
Mint leaves- a small bunch (optional)

Method

Take a deep dish ( preferably use a pressure cooker) and add the oil. Keep on medium flame
When the oil is hot, add the chopped onions and salt and fry till translucent
Add the ginger garlic paste and keep stirring so that it doesn't get burnt
When it turns brown and the oil starts to separate from the onion garlic and ginger mixture, add the spices ( red chilly pwd, turmeric pwd, coriander pwd and garam masala pwd)
Saute for a minute until the spices get roasted and the raw smell leaves.
Add the chopped tomatoes and green chillies slit lengthwise and saute for a couple of minutes
Add the cleaned and cut chicken pieces and saute for a couple of minutes so that the pieces are well covered in the masala and the flesh turns whitish.
Add the potatoes. Add 1 cup thin coconut milk ( also called second extraction and if using a tin, this is the thinner milk that collects at the bottom of the tin, under the heavier creamy part- I usually turn the tin over and open it, so that I can pour out the thinner milk first. The thinner milk does not curdle as much as the thicker milk) with 1 cup water
Close the lid of the pressure cooker and when the whistle blows, lower the flame and simmer for 7 minutes.
Alternatively, you may need to cook it for about 15-20 mins if you are not using a pressure cooker. The potatoes should now be soft enough for a fork to go through easily.
Now add the creamier, thicker coconut milk ( also called first extraction)
The chicken curry is ready to serve and if you want you could garnish it with coriander and mint leaves.

Sometimes the thicker milk is added first which then curdles creating a thicker consistency which come prefer. I prefer not to do this since I use tinned coconut milk which tastes a little weird when it curdles.

You can also make this curry vegetarian by substituting the chicken for potatoes and adding some hard boiled eggs at the end. I also make this with channa beans, capsicum and potato during lent time. It is also made with beef.

If you like this, try out the much easier chicken curry in a hurry which tastes a lot like this but takes much less time since you just add everything to the pressure cooker and let it cook- no frying

Milk Sweet- Pal Khova/Khoya

Pal khova is a sweet that I loved as a kid. We used to buy it in little blocks at our school's tuck shop or canteen and it was almost addictive! It is made of milk that is cooked down with sugar until it thickens and is similar to the South American milk sweet Dulce De Leche which is cooked a little more until the milk caramelizes.

Pal Khoya
Ingredients:

Milk, preferably full cream ( You can also use non fat but the yield will be lower)- 1 lt ( i.e 4 cups)
Sugar- 2 tbsp ( You can add more if you want it sweeter)
Cardamom (Elaichi) Powder – 1 tsp
Lemon Juice – 1/2 tsp

Method:
1. Boil the milk in a heavy bottomed pan, preferably one that is non stick
2. Once it starts boiling, reduce flame to medium
3. Now add the lemon juice to the milk, a few drops at a time, so that the milk curdles just a little.
Make sure you don't add more than 1/2 a teaspoon as otherwise it may become too sour.
4. Turn the heat down to low. Stir the milk frequently so that the milk does not burn or stick to the pan, especially in the bottom.
5. Once the milk starts turning thick, add the sugar and cardamom powder, and keep stirring.
6. Continue to stir until the milk has become a stringy, powdery white solid and there is no water left. This soild is called Milk Koya or Pal khova.
7. Remove from flame and allow it to cool down.
8. You can also add a few drops of rosewater as well as some slivers of badam/almond and pistachio nuts if you like.
9. Either serve it warm and gooey like I did, or knead it into any shape and chill it in the fridge so that it hardens.

For the South American sweet Dulce De Leche made with condensed milk, in about 15 mins in the microwave, which in the liquid state can be used to fill cakes, tarts etc. see here

For a choco-variation of this that's made in the microwave and so is much quicker try this recipe here
Here are some more ways to make this

How to cook rice

There is nothing more appealing than a bowl of fluffy, perfectly cooked, steaming hot rice.
Although I love tasting food from around the world, comfort food to me is a bowl of rice and dal.
From a lot of trial and error, I think I have learnt how to cook rice perfectly.
The secret to cooking perfect rice i found is to wash it 4-5 times before cooking to ensure that all the sticky starch has been removed. You should also soak it after washing for about 30 mins to ensure it comes out just perfect. I use a pressure cooker & put a little more than double the amount of water per cup of rice.You can also use a pan with a tightly fitting lid. I wait exactly until the first whistle ( about 10-20 mins) after which I quickly run the pressure cooker under cold water to release the steam ( this step is of course unnecessary if you are not using a pressure cooker) & immediately strain the rice so that it doesn't get overcooked. If you leave the rice in the hot water in the pot you run the risk of it continuing to cook and turn mushy.

However, accidents do happen. If they must, you could use some of the following little tricks that I found here and have used to rescue my rice, sadly a few more times than I would like to admit.

Problem: The rice is still very chewy or hard in the middle.
Solution: Add just enough water to create a little steam, 1/4 cup or less. Put the lid on and cook the rice on very low heat for another 5 minutes.

Problem: The grains are split and the rice is mushy because of over cooking.
Solution: This is the worst problem because you can't really fix over cooked rice. You could wash the sticky rice under cold water. That helps a little, but the best way to use it up would be to make rice pudding with it,

Problem: The bottom layer of rice has burned.
Solution: Run cold water over the outside of the pot's bottom to stop it from continuing to cook, and preventing the burnt flavor from permeating the rest of the rice (don't add water to the rice itself).Tip out as much rice as you can salvage. Be careful not to mix the burnt part at the bottom with the rest of the rice.

Rice is usually eaten with curries. It is also often flavoured and cooked with ingredients as in fried rice, biryani etc.

South Indians have an interesting variety of rice dishes like curd rice, mint rice, coconut rice, spinach rice, tomato rice, sambhar rice, tamrind rice and my favourite, the tangy Lemon Rice.

Lemon Rice

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked rice
2 tbsps vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
3-4 curry leaves 4 green chillies slit lengthwise 4 dry red chillies
1 tsp ginger paste or grated ginger
1/2 cup peanuts (roasted and unsalted)
1 tsp turmeric powder
Juice of 2 lemons
Salt to taste

Preparation: Add salt and lemon juice to the cooked rice and mix well so that it is spread evenly. Keep aside Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chillies. Fry till the spluttering stops Add the ginger and peanuts. Fry for another minute. Add the turmeric powder and red chillies and stir. Turn off the fire. Add the rice and mix well so that it takes on the bright yellow colour from the turmeric. Can be eaten plain, with pickle or served with a raita ( Yogurt mixed with a little salt, finely chopped onion, cucumber or tomatoes)

Stew in Coconut milk or Ishtoo

This "ishtoo" is typical to Syrian Christian homes in Kerala and I try to make this with Appam whenever family visits, especially for breakfast at Easter or Christmas.Stew with crispy lacey Palappams is an integral part of family gatherings and most definitely on special occasions. It is quite simple to prepare with coconut milk being easily available in tins but incredibly tasty especially if you like coconut milk based curries.

Traditional Syrian Christian Coconut Milk Stew
Recipe source: My mother and mother-in-law

Ingredients:

*Mutton 500 gms or Chicken 1/2 Kg ( Omit to make vegetable stew)
Onion-1 (large or 2 medium)
Green chilly- 3-4
Ginger - small piece about half the size of your thumb, smashed with a pestle ( no need to slice)
Curry leaves- a few about 5-6
Thick Coconut milk 1 cup
Cinnamon sticks (patta) 1
Cloves (karayampoo) 4
Cardamom (elakka) 4
Whole Peppercorns 4-5
Diced vegetables likes potatoes-2, carrots-2 are traditional but nowadays people also add beans, peas, corn, mushroom etc. especially if making a vegetable stew

Optional, for my mother in law's spicier variation: ( omit for traditional white coloured stew):

Garlic cloves 3
Coriander powder 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
Garam masala powder 1/2 tsp

Optional for garnish:

2-3 small onions ( shallots) or half a regular onion sliced thin and 4-5 curry leaves fried in a tbsp of ghee or coconut oil

Method:

Heat oil (I prefer coconut oil mixed with a little canola oil). Splutter cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom and pepper
Fry thinly sliced onion, salt to taste, smashed piece of ginger, curry leaves and slit green chillies until onions turn transluscent ( they should not turn brown)
Now if you want the spicier yellow coloured stew like my mother in law makes, add and lightly fry the garlic, and then the spices mentioned - coriander, turmeric and garam masala and saute just until till spices no longer smell raw.
Add mutton/chicken and stir fry for about 5-10 mins and then add the chopped vegetables
Add 3 cups water ( can reduce water if you want a thicker gravy) and 1/4 cup coconut milk and cover and cook ( I use a pressure cooker)
When done- (usually for chicken 10 mins after the whistle goes, the meat should be white and cooked through, a fork should go through the potatoes and carrots easily), reduce flame pour first extraction thick coconut milk (or 1 cup thick coconut milk from a tin), and simmer for 10-15 mins on low heat stirring occasionally so that the coconut milk does not curdle
For added flavour you can fry curry leaves and 2 small onions till brown in 1 tbsp ghee/ coconut oil and pour on top.

* - You can choose to leave out the chicken or mutton to make a vegetable stew.

Stew is traditionally served with Appams or Idiappams but it is also great served with soft warm bread rolls or rice too.

If you like this and coconut milk based curried check out my favourite super quick and easy chicken curry in coconut milk ( which I also make with just veggies)