Cooking With Kids - Zebra Cake

When I started this blog, I had grand visions of publishing my recipes. But I have become so addicted to blog-hopping, and trying out recipes from other blogs, that I hardly think of posting my own. Anyways, here is another one that I just had to make as soon as I saw it.

I have to juggle work and taking care of my 6-year old, Adarsh between 3 and 6 in the evening. And he is forever wanting to do some activity or the other with me. When I saw this recipe, I was amazed at how simple it was, and thought that it would be a perfect candidate for an activity with Adarsh. Not to mention that he loves spending time in the kitchen.



The original recipe is from here. I followed Farida's recipe for the cake batters too. Adarsh helped me in measuring, breaking the eggs, mixing, and finally the funnest part - pouring out the white and chocolate batters. I had the chocolate one, and he had the white one. My pictures didn't turn out as well as Farida's, but the picture here doesn't do justice to the actual cake. But it was the only picture taken, as we were all busy eating the cake afterwards. We were pretty impressed with the way the cake turned out, both in the looks and taste department.

I found that the batter became thick when I added chocolate. When I make it again(and I sure will), I will thin out the chocolate batter a little with milk. The layers would come out more pronounced then. Or I might give it a try with other cake batter recipes.

But overall, a wonderful technique, and ample opportunities for the little ones to help out, and feel excited, and important:)

I am not posting the recipe here, as you can get detailed instructions with pictures on Farida's lovely blog.

Do try this...

Kafuli:
Yes, not Kulfi, but kafuli, and it is a savory dish made with greens. This has probably become my most favorite recipe for spinach. Knowing the health benefits of spinach, I try to include it atleast 1-2 times a week and am always on the look-out for new recipes. Some of my favorite ways of cooking spinach are:
- Traditional south-indian keerai masiyal
- Spinach kootu with moong dal - variations with and without coconut
- Spinach mor kootu
- My mil makes a puli-itta keerai, supposed to be especially good with poricha kozhambu, but me and my husband don't favor it much(ofcourse, I relish and eat everything :))
- Kinda andhra-style preparation with onion, ginger, garlic, and some kind of lentil, usually tur dal or chana dal
- Classic sindhi preparation of sai bhaji - spinach pressure-cooked with soaked chana dal, jeera, tomato, green chillies, ginger and cilantro, seasoned with salt, chilli powder and dhaniya powder, and roughly mashed after that
- Classic palak-paneer - spinach with onion, ginger, garlic, roughly mashed, and fried/plain paneer pieces added at the end. Sometimes, it's palak without the paneer,sometimes replaced with tofu, and with potatoes at other times.
- Palak rice - Gravy similar to palak paneer toasted with rice, and cooked in a rice-cooker
- Palak roti/puri - Dough made with atta and blanced pureed spinach (usually with green chillies, ginger, cumin, cilantro), and made into rotis or puris.
- Palak tucked into Italian preparations like tortellini, ravioli or lasagna, or Greek spanakopita, but I haven't made any of these from scratch at home
- A recent addition to the palak repertoire is kashmiri haaq adapted from one of my favorite blogs It is close to the south-indian masiyal in terms of sheer simplicity, albeit with the flavor difference due to mustard oil, but it lets the flavor of spinach shine through, unmasked.

Okay, enough of my spinach ramblings...So, getting back to the recipe in question, as soon as I saw the recipe on Mydhaba, I knew I had to try it. Kafuli is a Kumani preparation from what I gather from the post at VKN, and is made with pahadi palak and pahadi rai, and mentioned that it could be made with spinach and methi. I love the flavor combination of spinach and fenugreek leaves, and use it in my sai-bhaji, if I have fresh methi(fenugreek). During dinner with kafuli, I was mentally transported to a crisp cool breezy summer night at a roadside punjabi dhaba. This version is a quick, tasty version, and will replace my palak-paneer recipe, for the most part. No chopping onions, tomatoes etc., and the taste is superb. In my humble opinion, the flavor punch comes from the mustard oil, and the fresh ginger and garlic sauteed in it. So please don't skip these. And oh, don't skip the methi too, as it gives the dish a deep and earthy note.

Here's the recipe copied verbatim from MyDhaba (I used rice flour paste in the end, and didn't add yogurt or tomatoes). A big thanks to Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal for her recipe, and VKN for publishing it...

Kafuli:

Serves 4 Cooking time: 45 Mins

Ingredients:
250 gms spinach /mustard greens chopped coarsely
100 gms fenugreek leaves chopped coarsely (optional) 4-5 green chilies 2 tbsp oil (preferably mustard oil) 4-5 cloves garlic 3-cm piece of ginger 1 tsp cumin seeds a pinch of asafetida ½ tsp coriander powder ¼ tsp turmeric powder 1 tbsp rice or chickea flour mixed with water into a paste 2 tbsp yogurt (optional) 1-2 cups water salt to taste

Method: Wash spinach and fenugreek under running water. Chop and boil both vegetables along with the green chilies in a little water till tender. (A pressure cooker or microwave can be used here). When cooked smash it against the walls of the utensil it has been cooked in. The result should be a coarse puree. (Do not use a blender as that will result in a smooth puree and the dish will lose its texture). Finely pound ginger and garlic. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add garlic and ginger. When the garlic and ginger are aromatic, add cumin seeds and asafetida. Add spinach and fenugreek puree, turmeric powder, coriander powder and salt. Add required amount of water to kafuli and bring to boil. Now add rice paste or chickpea flour paste to thicken. Cover and cook for 8-10 minutes on a slow fire till the gravy is thickened. If too thick add some water and boil again. Garnish with pure ghee and serve hot with roti or steamed rice. Traditionally sourness was added with yoghurt at the end but a more modern variation also allows for a tomato or two just after the asafetida, before adding greens in which case the yoghurt would be omitted.