Pork Curry

It has been a while since I have been meaning to add this recipe here but somehow looks like the time has only come now. This started as a pork vindaloo recipe but over a period of few years it has undergone changes according to my daughter's taste as this is her absolute favourite. This recipe can be made either with oil or without depending on the cut you buy.

Ingredients :

Pork : 1 kg

Onion : 3 - 4 big ones (Sliced)
Star anise : 1 flower
Cardamom : 3-4
Cinnamon : 1" piece
Cloves : 3-4

Ginger : 1" piece (Grated)

Garlic cloves : 15-20 (Crushed)

Turmeric Powder : 1 tsp

Coriander Powder : 1 tblsp

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder : 2 tblsp (you could make it fiery by adding normal red chilly pwd)

Garam Masala : 1/2 tsp

Pepper Pwd : 1/2 to 1 tsp

White Vinegar : 2 Dessert spoon

Sugar : 1 tsp
Oil : Approximately 2-3 tbl spoon

Heat oil in a cooker add star anise, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves for a minute before adding sliced onions and sauteing till soft. Add ginger garlic and saute another 3-4 mins or till the raw smell goes. Now add all the dry masala powders and saute for couple of minutes. Then add the meat and mix well and let it saute in the masala for 3-4 minutes before adding the vinegar, sugar and 1/2 cup of water. Now if you are cooking in pressure cooker close and cook till done and cook or otherwise you can just put a lid and cook stirring one in a way till the meat is well cooked. If using the cooker then once the pressure drops open and you can cook it down or add more water and boil some more as per the gravy requirement.

Garlic Flavoured Clams

Seafood is something very close to my heart and I always look forward to eating it :) . And whenever I am in good mood I seem to think of ways to try them. So like that yesterday when I saw clams I wanted to try out a simple method. So here is the out come. Really happy to say this tasted as delicious as I envisioned it.

Ingredients :

Clams with shell on : 1 kg
Garlic : 10 - 12 cloves crushed
Chives : 1 tsp
Oregano : 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Butter : One inch size

Take about 2 cups of water in a pot and bring to boil. Add cleaned clams into this and put a lid for for about 4-5 minutes. The clams should be open by then. Drain them out.

Melt butter in a pan and add crushed garlic and saute for a minute or two and then add chives and oregano and add the drained clams. Mix well and season it with salt. Make sure all the clams are well coated.

That's it simple and delicious clams ready :)

Delicious and Dense Chocolate Cake

Well after two years of being dormant I have now decided to get active once again and what better way to start than Chocolate cake :).....Now who doesn't really love to dig into an amazingly moist and yum chocolate cake (there might be people but I guess too bad for them :p). Well this one recipe is one of my favourites. It is really simple and comes out well all the time.

Ingredients you would need :

200gms or 2 cups of multigrain flour (you could use plain flour too)
225 soft unsalted butter
380 gms either demerara or soft brown sugar
4 eggs medium size beaten
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
250 ml boiling water
100 gms dark chocolate melted (75% cocoa preferred) 
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method :

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Sieve the flour and bicarbonate of soda together so that it is mixed nicely.

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler and allow to cool a bit. Put the water to boil.  In the meantime cream the butter and sugar with a electric beater and then add eggs, vanilla extract. Beat in well and then add the hot water and flour alternatively little at a time and blend well do not over mix. Here you can use a wooden spoon instead of hand mixer. Once all the flour and water are mixed you should have smooth and fairly liquid batter. 

Pour this into lined cake tin and bake for 30 mins at 190 degrees. After half an hour reduce the temperature to 170 degree and bake for another 15 mins. Depending on your tin size the cake can be squidgy inside so the tester might not come out clean. 

This cake always tastes much better a day later.