Pepper 'n Spice

A basic sponge cake has only flour, sugar and eggs. It depends on well whisked eggs as the leavening agent. (To enlighten; leavening agent is one that helps a cake to rise.) Victoria sponge cake has fat and a leavening agent added too, namely, butter and baking powder. It is named after Queen Victoria who used to like this cake with her tea. Victoria sponge cake takes after the pound cake, in that it uses equal measures of flour, butter, sugar and eggs. I follow the old-fashioned method of baking; which is to cream caster sugar and butter, mixing it well with beaten egg, then folding in flour and baking powder.  So let's dive into the recipe .. Granulated sugar - 250g Butter - 250g  or 156ml olive oil Organic brown eggs - 4 Vanilla essence - a few drops All-purpose flour - 250g Baking powder - 1/2 tsp Milk - 1/2 cup Nutmeg (grated) - a bit I cut down on the sugar to 200g and butter to 200g. So, the modus operandi.. Grind granulated sugar to a powder. Keep butter out of the ref...

 The esoteric thoran dish is a typical Malayali dish. It is prepared in all Keralite households and served with red rice. It is usually cooked in coconut oil. The important ingredient is coconut, freshly scraped. My dish differs from the staple salver with its exclusion of oil. Here goes the steps..   Constituents... Beans, haricot - 250g Coconut, grated - 100g Shallots - 2 Green chili - 1 Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Water - 1/4 cup Recipe... Wash the beans well. Trim the ends of beans and chop into small pieces. Cast into a deep-bottomed steel saucepan along with water. Allow the beans to soften on slow heat for about 10 minutes. Slice shallots and throw into a small blender jar. Also, fling in green chili, cumin seeds, salt, turmeric powder, coconut flakes and a splash of water. Grind for 5 seconds. Separate some of the beans towards the sides of pan and spoon in the crunched coconut into the center of the pan. Cover the coconut potpourri w...

When one doesn't have eggs, you can still make your child's favorite breakfast. The leavening agent here is baking powder and soda. I also used demerara sugar instead of white sugar. Demerara sugar named so after the British colony of Demerara, which is now in republic of Guyana is made of 97-98% sucrose, as compared to 93% in white sugar. Hence it is healthier. This brownish tinged sugar is made from the first pressing of sugarcane.   ABCD's are... All-purpose flour - 1 cup Baking powder - 1 tsp Baking soda - 1 tsp Oat  milk, homemade - 1 and 3/4 cup Demerara sugar - 1 and 1/2 Tbsp Salt - a tad Olive oil, extra virgin - 1 and 1/2 Tbsp     The procedure... In a clean, glass bowl, add all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Intermingle to combine everything. Add in the oat milk and give it a good stir. Heat up a flat-bottomed non-stick saucepan and drizzle a bit of oil when the pan becomes hot. Brush the oil to spread it across the pan. Add a tablesp...

 The essential contents are... Spinach - a big bunch Mint leaves - a big bunch Ginger - 1/2" Garlic - 4 cloves Green chili - 1 Lemon - 2 Water - a splash Salt - a smidgeon  The mechanism... Soak spinach and mint leaves in water with a bit of vinegar and salt for an hour. This helps remove pesticides. After that, wash well under running water. Break off and discard stem.  Peel ginger, garlic and mince them. Slice chili into bits.  Throw in spinach, mint, ginger, garlic, chili, salt, lemon juice and water into a blender and blitz for a minute or until all the leaves are crushed. Have a whale of a time, enjoying the chutney alongside crisp dosa.

 This dish was cooked by daughter. The fundamental elements are... Wheat noodles Green capsicum  - 1 Cabbage - 1 cup Onion - 1 Salt - 1/ 2 tsp Dark soy sauce - 1 tsp Vinegar - 1 tsp

  The elements of this uncomplicated dish are... Beans - 500g Drumsticks - 2 Onion - 1 Salt - 1/2 tsp Black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp Nutritional yeast - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - a smidgeon Water - 3/4 cup The modus operandi... Wash beans and drumstick well. Trim ends of beans. Chop into thin rounds. Cut open the drumstick and scrape out the insides. Microwave beans and drumstick seeds with some water and a tad bit of salt for 3 minutes. The vegetables will soften. In a deep-bottomed steel pan, throw in chopped onion and a splash of water. Let it cook for 5 minutes.  Fling in the vegetables. Allow them to soften on slow heat. Add in salt, pepper, turmeric powder and yeast flakes. Give it a good stir. Cook until the vegetables dry up. Platter and serve alongside rice or quinoa. Have a whaling time savoring the wholesome food.

 The building blocks of the steak... Chicken breasts - 500g Salt Apple cider vinegar Pepper (whole) Black pepper powder Chili powder Ginger garlic paste Olive oil - 1 Tbsp Wash chicken well under running water. Cut each breast into two halves lengthwise. Slash it on top many times. This is so that when it is heated, the insides will be cooked thoroughly.  Marinate with salt, vinegar, whole pepper, pepper powder, chili powder and ginger garlic paste. Store in fridge overnight.  In a nonstick pan, dribble oil. Place the steak pieces gently. Cook on low heat, turning often; for half an hour or until nicely browned on both sides. Savor as such or as a sandwich with tomato and spinach leaves. Recipe adapted from here  .