Mundiri Cake a.k.a. Cashew Cake / Slice

Hope you all had a great Deepavali / Diwali!! Mundiri (Cashew) cake is one of my favourite childhood desserts that I have relished from don't know when. Later on over the years I got introduced to the North Indian version of it known as Kaju (Cashew) Katli (Slice). This is one dish that could be called in many names Cake / Slice / Katli / Barfi - what not. As they say rose is a rose is a rose - and so is Mundiri Cake. While it has many names, forms and recipes, here's my own -  mixing a bit of my mom's recipe with some found on the internet. It's a fairly simple but a long process. Hope you could try it out for your next event. Wait - you don't really need an event for this one. Just do it. :)

Ingredients:

1. Cashews - 2 cups
2. Sugar (I used raw sugar) - 3.5 cups
3. Milk - 2 cups
4. Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 1/2 cup
5. Nutmeg powder - 1-2 teaspoons

Note: You can add more or less cashews but make sure the ratios are kept intact.

The Method:

1. Grind the cashews in a food processor - preferably using the pulse option. (I saw somewhere that a normal blend turns it into a paste.) Make sure not all of it is smoothly ground and leave a bit of chunkiness for the texture.
2. In a large (thick) sauce pan mix the ground cashews, sugar, milk and nutmeg until all blended well.
3. Boil the mix under low flame until the milk evapourates while stirring the mix with a spoon (preferably wooden) constantly. This is to ensure that there are no lumps formed none of the mixture gets burnt. This is the most time consuming step of this recipe and could take a good 20 - 30 minutes depending on the quantity.
4. Stop the process when the mix is still in flowing consistency but separates easily from the vessel. Almost like an oats porridge consistency if that could be a reference.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and mix the ghee into it until it gets mixed evenly. You might see some ghee oozing out - which means its excessive and you can carefully drain it out.
   
6. Grease a deep tray with ghee - preferably rectangle or square in shape and pour the mix into the tray.
7. Leave it to cool for a minute or 2 and draw lines diagonally to make diamond shaped slices.
8. Let it cool for about 5-10 minutes and slice it up using a sharp knife. Do not leave it for too long else the slices will get brittle (as in the pic below).
9. Soft and chunky Mundiri cake ready to be served. It can be boxed and stored for up to 10 days. I prefer not to refrigerate desserts since it would require reheating and it may not have the same taste.

Enjoy!!

C

Carrot Rice

Happy New Year folks!!  Hope you all had a good start to 2017. Mine surely did with a few tasty experiments at home. The first post for this year is a childhood favourite of mine - Carrot Rice. This is my mom's recipe with a bit of twist here and there. This is one of those rice dishes that doesn't taste too bad when gone cold - having packed it many times for lunch at school. This is a fairly simple and easy to cook as well. Hope you will try this. Do let me know how it turned out.

Ingredients

1. Grated Carrots - 2 cups
   
2. Cumin seeds - 1 tablespoon 
3. Onions - 2
4. Green chillies - 4/5
5. Ginger Garlic paste - 1 table spoon
6. Cashews - 1/2 cup
7. Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 2 table spoons
8. Garam masala - 1 tea spoon
9. Butter - 150 gms
10. Basmati rice - 2 cups
11. Bay leaves - 3 or 4
12. Turmeric

Method

1. Pressure cook the basmati rice (1:2 water and 1 whistle) and let it cool.
2. Heat a wok / kadai and melt the ghee and butter until they liquefy.
3. Shallow fry the bay leaves, and cashews for a few minutes until the cashews turn golden 
4. Add the green chillies, cumin, onions, turmeric, garam masala and ginger garlic paste and saute for a few minutes until the onions turn translucent.
5. Add salt to taste. 
6. Add the grated carrots and quickly toss it around for about a minute.
7. Add the basmati rice and mix it thoroughly making sure the rice is all separated and not lumpy.

Carrot Rice Ready!!

Happy Cooking!!

C

p.s.: Please remember to share the post if you like it.

Roti (Bread) Roast - A Salem Delicacy

Roti (Bread) Roast - dish made out of typical sandwich bread (white / wholemeal) was a dinner tiffin item I grew up with. It was a delicacy / specialty whenever we had guests at home so it had it's own special value. In the last 2.5 months my mom stayed with us I had the privilege of re-living some of my childhood favourites. This would be the first of those series of my Mom's recipes. Apparently this recipe is known / available in very few restaurants in Salem when they were not supposed to eat non-vegetarian food for religious reasons. Hence a good substitute when you have a craving for meat but can't. Here it comes....

Ingredients:

1. Bread - cut into 1 inch thick cubes
2. Diced Onions
3. Diced Tomatoes
4. Ingredients for Masala

• Grated Coconut
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Poppy seeds
• Cinnamon sticks
• Cardamom
• Cloves
• Fennel seeds
• Coriander seeds
• Cumin seeds
• Black Pepper
• Dried Red Chillies

5.  Mustard seeds
6.  Channa dal
7.  Urad Dal

8.  Cashews
9.  Curry leaves

The Method:

1. Roast the bread with oil in a large pan / wok and keep aside.
2. Blend the ingredients for Masala into a coarse paste with minimal water.
3. In a large wok temper the mustard seeds, channa dal, urad dal and curry leaves with oil.
4. Saute onions until golden brown
5. Saute tomatoes for a few minutes until it becomes a bit mushy
6. Add the masala paste and saute until oil separates
7. Add a bit of salt to taste.
8. Add the roasted bread and saute until masala is mixed well. Make sure the bread doesn't get too mushy
9. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Enjoy!!

C