Ber ka Achaar (Kuler Achar)

Ber ka Achaar or Kuler Achar

The other day we were taking a walk and we smelt the fragrance of ripe 'ber', which brought back a host of childhood memories of 'bodo kul & choto kul' and the 'ber-wala' outside the school. Buying a 'chatak' of ber from the ber wala for 5 np (naya paisa) and shooting the seeds from our mouths like cannon. The tree was laden with a thousand ber, so with the kids we had an outing to pluck the ber. I dont know about the kids but i sure had loads of fun throwing a stick up into the tree and waiting for the shower of ber, some ripe and brown and others green; then rushing around to see who picked up the most!!
The recipe was something I tasted as a kid and I referred to the net a bit but went by feel....

Ingredients -
250 gms Ber
2 tsp Haldi (Turmeric powder) -
1 1/2 cups Jaggery (grated)
2 tsp Mirchi Powder (Chilli powder)
1 tsp Jeera (cumin) Powder
Salt to taste

Jaggery

For Tempering - 

1/2 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
1/2 tsp saunf (fennel seeds)
1/4 tsp methi (fenugreek seeds)
1 pinch Hing (Asofoetida)
8 tbsp mustard oil

After drying for a day

Method

• Wash the ber. Carefully slit each one to check for worms (some wild ones do have larvae inside).
• Add haldi (turmeric) powder and dry in direct sunlight for a day.
• In a kadai (wok) heat the mustard oil, add the ingredients for tempering; as they splutter add the jaggery and reduce heat and let the jaggery melt. At this point you can add 2-3 tbsp of water to help the jaggery dissolve. This will evaporate as you reduce the mixture.
• Once the jaggery has melted, add salt, mirchi (chilli) powder and jeera (cumin) powder. Taste and adjust the seasoning as required.
• Now add the ber and let simmer for 2-3 minutes.
• Take off the heat and let the mixture cool. The 'kuler achar' is ready to be bottled and consumed.

The final product!!

 What is ber?
This is what the wikipedia has to say - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziziphus_mauritiana

Orange Date Cake

I love butter cakes, which are soft, fluffy and you cant stop at one. They are not as spongy and voluminous like some other cakes, yet make up some really delectable dishes. I guess it is the butter, which sort of calls out to you and says one more, one more.
This one is a basic butter cake, and allows for multiple variations with minor changes in procedure.

Ingredients (for Cake)
1 1/2 cups Self Raising flour (self raising flour is all purpose flour or maida with baking powder added in the ratio of 2 tsp baking powder to 1 cup of flour, sieve it together to mix both well)
125 g butter
1 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup castor sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp grated orange rind
3/4 cup finely chopped dates.

Ingredients (for icing)
 90g cream cheese
2 tsp grated orange rind
1/2 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar if you dont have icing sugar)
2 tsp orange juice

Method
Cream butter, vanilla essence, orange rind and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until combined.Stir 3/4 cups of finely chopped dates into the creamed mixture. Stir in half the sifted flour and half the milk, then stir in remaining flour and milk. 

Grease your pan (for the quantity mentioned here you will need a deep 20 cm round cake pan). Preheat your oven to 190degC / moderate / 375 deg F.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 190 deg C for about 50 min. Check using toothpick technique to see if the cake is done. Once done, let it cool for 5 min before taking it out of the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the orange cream cheese frosting -
Beat the creamed cheese (when i dont have creamed cheese i use plain amul cheese spread in place of creamed cheese) until creamy. Beat in 2 tsp grated orange rind and then about half a cup of icing sugar. Add 2 tsp of orange juice (adjust quantity accordingly to make the frosting spreadable).

Spread on the cooled cake and enjoy!!!

Honey-Iced Coffee Cake

Coffee Honey Iced Cake

 This easy to do cake is a must for all coffee lovers. It is a no frills, one bowl quick mix cake. It turns out nice and soft with a beautiful flavour of Coffee. The icing is a must if you want to enjoy the flavours of the recipe, for the icing compliments the cake.

Ingredients (for Cake)
4 Tsp instant Coffee
1 Tbsp hot water
125 g butter
2 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup brown sugar (firmly packed) {can be replaced with regular sugar but the flavour is much better if you use brown sugar}
2 eggs
1 cup self raising flour (self raising flour is all purpose flour or maida with baking powder added in the ratio of 2 tsp baking powder to 1 cup of flour, sieve it together to mix both well)
1/4 cup custard powder
1/3 cup milk.
Remember to have all ingredients at room temperature.

Ingredients (for Honey icing)
30g butter
1 tsp instant coffee
1 tbsp hot water
1 tsp honey
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup icing sugar (you can also use regular sugar ground to a powder, but icing sugar gives a better texture)

Method
Dissolve coffee in hot water, combine in a large bowl with butter, vanilla essence, sugar, eggs, flour and custard powder and milk. Beat on a low speed till all ingredients are combined and then increase the speed to medium and beat for another 3-4 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and changed in colour.

I have a philips electric beater which I use for all my cakes and a microwave with a convection mode which gives excellent results for all kind of cakes and breads.

Grease your pan (for the quantity mentioned here you will need a 20 cm ring pan or round pan). Preheat your oven to 190degC / moderate / 375 deg F.

Spread the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 190 deg C for about 40 min. Check using toothpick technique to see if the cake is done. Once done, let it cool for 5 min before taking it out of the pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the Icing - melt butter in a saucepan, remove from heat, stir in coffee (mixed with water), honey, vanilla essence and half the icing sugar. Gradually sift in the remaining icing sugar to mix to a spreadable consistency.

Spread icing and the cake is ready. Butter icing works best when slightly warm.

We garnished the cake with some roasted coffee beans on top and they provide a good crunchy coffee flavour.