Vegetable Tava Pulav with Beetroot

Tava Pulav with Beetroot

Who doesn’t like street food and that to something which is loaded with vegetables? Who doesn’t like Pav-bhaji, tava pulav? At least those who are from Maharashtra? My mouth is watering now just by the thought of it. So here comes a very very easy yet delicious recipe of Tava Pulav which usually we get at the pav-bhaji stand and we order it after we are done with yummy pav-bhaji. I always used to think street food is unhealthy and we shouldn’t consume it, though it never stopped me from having it and relishing it. LOL.

Ingredients:

1. Cooked white rice: 3 Cups
2. Onion: 1 Medium (cut in juliennes or thinly sliced) 
3. Green peas: 1/2 Cup
4. Beetroot: 1 Small (semi-boiled) 
5. Green pepper: 1 Medium (cut in juliennes or thinly sliced) 
6. Tomato: 1 Medium (finely chopped) 
7. Bay leaf: 1 Large
8. Cinnamon stick: 1 Medium
9. Peppercorns: 5-6
10. Clove: 2-3
11. Star-anise flower: 1
12. Cumin seeds: 1 Tbsp.
13. Cumin-coriander powder: 1Tbsp
14. Ginger- Garlic paste: 1 Tbsp.
15. Pav-Bhaji Masala: 2-3 Tbsp. (according to your spice buds)
16. Butter: ½ Stick
17. Coriander/ Cilantro leaves: ½ Cup (finely chopped)
18. Salt: To taste

Procedure: 

1. Take a large pan or wok and put 1/4 stick of butter to it.
2. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, clove and star anise to it. Sauté nicely till the beautiful aroma of this whole Garam masala fills your kitchen. Put cumin seeds and let them splutter.
3. Now add onion and fry it till crispy golden brown. Do not over fry it to black color.
4. While the onion is getting translucent, take a small microwave safe bowl. Peel the beetroot and make cubes of it. Add 4-5 Tbsp. water to it and microwave on high for 4 min. take it out after 2min and stir a little. If you feel beet is sticking to the bowl, add one more tablespoon of water to it and continue in the microwave. Take it out and keep it aside.
5. Once the onion is done, add tomatoes and little salt. Let it cook till tomatoes are mixed nicely and cooked perfectly.
6. Start adding other vegetables to it starting with green peas, green peppers and beetroot. Saute them well.
   
7. Now add ginger-garlic paste. Stir well.
8. Add remaining spices like cumin-coriander powder, pav-bhaji masala and more salt. I use “Everest” pav-bhaji masala. Stir it well. Put ½ cup of water and put a lid on it. Let it cook till all the vegetables and spices are incorporated well in each other.
9. Once the veggies are cooked, add some cilantro to it and stir well.
   
10. Now add rice (cooked) carefully and slowly to this mixture. Stir it well. Do not stir it vigorously otherwise the rice grains will break and the pulav will lose its beautiful look.
11. Add remaining butter and put the lid on again. Taste the rice and if the salt is less, it is the perfect time to add it. Stir it well.
12. Take the lid off. Take the rice out in a serving bowl and garnish it with the remaining coriander leaves. You may want to take out the whole garam masala or you may garnish the dish with same whole garam masala.
    

Presenting to you a very healthy yet yummilicious street food. If you like this recipe, give a thumps up and please share it with others. Don’t forget to enjoy this yummy and popular street food of India. Happy Cooking!!!! 

Please leave your comments and suggestions about this recipe. We welcome your feedback.

Enjoy homemade Pav recipe by clicking this link.

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Quick Egg-less Microwave Chocolate Cake

Just googled an easy chocolate cake recipe since my toddler loves it and found a nice microwave chocolate cake recipe. Thanks to Madhura’s recipe. I made a little changes according to our family taste buds to the original recipe. With some preparation ahead of time you will be able to impress your guests for sure. My hubby loved it and my toddler hogged onto it LOL. So here we go!!!

Ingredients:

All purpose flour: 1 ½ Cups
Sugar: 1 ¼ Cup (adjust according to your family’s taste buds)
Whole Milk: 1 Cup (room temperature)
Cocoa powder: 3 Tbsp.
Baking Powder: ¼ Tsp.
Baking Soda: ½ Tsp.
Vanilla Extract: ½ Tsp.
Vegetable Oil: 3 Tbsp. (Optional)
Lemon Juice: 1 Tbsp.

Procedure:

1.    Take sugar in a mixing bowl and add room temp milk to it. Stir it till the sugar is dissolved completely. Please adjust sugar according to your taste. I added little less sugar since my family doesn’t like it too sweet.

2.    Once the sugar dissolved completely, start sieving the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. Start with all purpose flour. Add cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda respectively. Sieve it nicely by breaking the lumps of cocoa powder and baking soda with the help of a spoon.

3.    Whisk all the ingredients together. There should be no lumps in the cake batter.

4.    Add vanilla extract and oil to the batter. Oil is totally optional however it surely gives a nice glaze and taste to the cake. It helps keep the cake moist. Whisk everything together.

5.    Now add the lemon juice and keep whisking until it’s well incorporated in the cake batter. This will help to rise the cake since we are not adding egg in the batter. Also it will help to make this cake really spongy.

6.    Grease the pan with cooking spray or oil nicely. You may use butter paper in the bottom. I usually use butter flavored cooking spray for all my baking.

7.    Pour the batter in the microwave safe bowl. Tap the bowl lightly on the counter top to take the air bubbles away from the cake batter.

8.    Put this bowl on a microwave safe plate or dish so by any chance the cake oozes out it will be in the dish and will not be a mess in your microwave.

9.    Keep it in the microwave over high power for 5min.

10.  Take the cake out with the help of oven mittens and check with the help of a toothpick insert. Always insert the toothpick in the center or middle of the cake, if it comes out clear that means the cake is ready. If it doesn’t, keep it back in the microwave for another minute. Check it again. At this time it should be done. Every microwave is different so please check after 5min. however do not go over 6 ½ min all together. If you over bake it, the cake will not be moist from inside.

11.   Give a 5 min standing time.

12.  With the help of a knife try to separate it from the edges, take a cooling rack and take the cake out (upside down). Let it cool down on a cooling rack. Taddaaa your quick microwave chocolate cake is ready.

If you like it give a thumps up and please share it with others. Don’t forget to enjoy this yummy and popular cake. Happy Cooking!!!! 

Please leave your comments and suggestions about this recipe. We welcome your feedback.

You can transform same chocolate cake into a beautiful Black Forest Cake. 

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Quick Egg-less Microwave Black Forest Cake

Hubby’s 40^th birthday, wanted to make something different yet easy peasy. Just googled it and found a nice microwave chocolate cake recipe. Thanks to Madhura’s recipe. But didn’t want to just make a cake so transformed the same cake into a beautiful Black Forest cake. With some preparation ahead of time you will be able to impress your guests for sure. My hubby loved it and my toddler hogged onto it LOL. So here we go!!!

Ingredients:

For Chocolate cake:

1. All purpose flour: 1 ½ Cups
2. Sugar: 1 ¼ Cup (adjust according to your family’s taste buds) 
3. Whole Milk: 1Cup (room temperature) 
4. Cocoa powder: 3 Tbsp.
5. Baking Powder: ¼ Tsp.
6. Baking Soda: ½ Tsp.
7. Vanilla Extract: ½ Tsp.
8. Vegetable Oil: 3 Tbsp. (Optional)
9. Lemon Juice: 1 Tbsp.

For Decoration:

1. Cool whip or heavy whipping cream: 2 Cups (8Oz container) 
2. Icing sugar or confectioners’ sugar: 1 Cup
3. Maraschino cherries or red cherries (from Indian grocery store): 9-10 
4. Strawberry Jam/ mix fruit jam: About 1 Cup 
5. Chocolate shavings or grated Chocolate: ½ Cup
6. Water: to make jam thin

Tools:

1. Microwave safe container: 8 inch (square or round)
2. 13 inch. Angled Icing spatula: 1
3. Disposable Decorating bag: 1
4. Pastry tube (star): 1
5. Butter paper or parchment paper: 4 (cut in 5-6 inch wide)
6. Sieve/ strainer: 1 Big & 1 small (tea strainer)
7. Toothpicks
8. Cooling rack: 1
9. Whisk: 1 

Procedure:

1. Take sugar in a mixing bowl and add room temp milk to it. Stir it till the sugar is dissolved completely. Please adjust sugar according to your taste. I added little less sugar since my family doesn't like it too sweet, and also the whipping cream on the decoration is very sweet.
2.    Once the sugar is dissolved completely, start sieving the dry ingredients in the same mixing bowl. Start with all purpose flour. Add cocoa powder, baking powder & baking soda respectively. Sieve it nicely by breaking the lumps of cocoa powder and baking soda with the help of a spoon.

3.    Whisk all the ingredients together. There should be no lumps in the cake batter.

4.   Add vanilla extract and oil to the batter. Oil is totally optional however it surely gives a nice glaze and taste to the cake. It helps keep the cake moist. Whisk everything together.

5.    Now add the lemon juice and keep whisking until it’s well incorporated in the cake batter. This will help to rise the cake since we are not adding egg in the batter. Also it will help to make this cake really spongy.

6.    Grease the microwave safe pan with cooking spray or oil nicely. You may use butter paper in the bottom. I usually use butter flavored cooking spray for all my baking.
7.    Pour the batter in the microwave safe bowl. Tap the bowl lightly on the counter top to take the air bubbles away from the cake batter.

8.    Put this bowl on a microwave safe plate or dish so by any chance the cake oozes out it will be in the dish and will not be a mess in your microwave.
9.    Keep it in the microwave over high power for 5min.
10.  Take the cake out with the help of oven mittens and check with the help of a toothpick insert. Always insert the toothpick in the center or middle of the cake, if it comes out clear that means the cake is ready. If it doesn’t, keep it back in the microwave for another minute. Check it again. At this time it should be done. Every microwave is different so please check after 5min. however do not go over 6 ½ min all together. If you over bake it, the cake will not be moist from inside.

11.   Give a 5 min standing time.
1   12.  With the help of a knife try to separate it from the edges, take a cooling rack and take the cake out (upside down). Let it cool down on a cooling rack. And your "quick, microwave chocolate cake" is ready.

     13.  Now very carefully, with a sharp knife cut the cake in half.

14.  Take strawberry jam in a bowl and add cold water to it, whisk it. Make a thin juice of it. We do not like cherry flavor so I didn't add the syrup of maraschino cherries to make the cake moist. If you like the cherry flavor then instead of using strawberry jam juice, you may use this syrup. Also instead of using water to make the juice, you may add the cherry syrup.
15.  Carefully spread the strawberry juice on the bottom of the cake. Soak it in juice. Also similarly soak the other part of the cake too in another plate. Be very careful, this cake may break it you over soak it or if the layers are too thin.
16.  Take 2 cups (8oz) of cool whip in a mixing bowl and add confectioners’ sugar to it. Fold it gently together. Cool whip becomes very soft and runny at the room temp so you have to handle it very carefully and for a very less time.
17.  Now put the cake either on a plate or on a turn table. Before you start the icing process, slide down 4 pieces of parchment papers under the cake forming a square. We will take these papers out once we are done with the icing. It will keep the cake surface clean.

18.  Take an icing spatula and spread enough amount of the icing on the lower layer of the cake. Spread it evenly.

19.  Put the other part of the cake very very carefully on this one. Spread enough amount of icing on the top layer. At this time spread the icing on the sides and edges of the cake too. The chocolaty cake should not be visible anymore.

20.  Spread the chocolate shavings or grated chocolate evenly on the cake with the help of a spoon. These shavings are very delicate so do not put it with hand, please use spoon. I used tobleron bar for these shavings, however you may use your choice of chocolate bar for it.
21.  Take a disposable decorating bag, cut its tip and put star shaped pastry tube in it. Now fill it with the whipping cream. (Alternatively you may use a zip lock bag, fill it with whipping cream and cut its tip to decorate the cake)
22.  Start decorating the cake. Make small circles or flowers on the cake and put a cherry on each circle. (Before putting the cherries on the cake, strain them in a tea strainer. These cherries have lot of syrup so we need to drain it out, otherwise the cake will be more moist and the cherries will slide down from the icing. Put cherries in a strainer and keep a bowl under the strainer to strain out the syrup from them.)
23.  Remove the parchment paper one by one very gently. You may decorate the sides of the cake if you wish and if you have left over whip cream on hand.
24.  Tadaaa!!!! Your beautiful Black Forest cake is ready.

2  5.  Keep it in the refrigerator and serve it chilled.

Please post your comments on this blog on my blog page. If you like it give a thumps up and please share it with others. Don’t forget to enjoy this yummy and popular cake. Happy Cooking!!!! 

Please leave your comments and suggestions about this recipe. We welcome your feedback.

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