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My two pennies on the matter of brown-rice chakkara pongal: It takes longer to cook but tastes chewier and better than regular chakkara pongal.
Other points to note:
1. It might not take YOU as long as it did me to cook the brown rice, even in a pressure cooker, if you know:
a) how long it takes to cook brown rice, and
b) how much liquid to add per measure of brown rice so that it is not just perfectly cooked, but perfectly overcooked (as required for pongal).
2. Following on from 1(b) above - and if 1(a) and (b) don’t apply to you, the way they didn’t to me - your pressure-cooked brown rice+dal might be slightly swimming in milk. This will not matter if:
a) You boil the heck out of the pongal to reduce down the excess milk to the consistency you like, and
b) You like your chakkara pongal to be slightly runny even when cold, rather than so thick that you can slice it.
3. I substituted flaked almonds for the more traditional cashewnuts because I didn’t have the more traditional cashewnuts. You don’t have to do what I did. Especially if you DO have cashewnuts.
With these facts and caveats to hand, you may now go on to the
Recipe for: Brown rice chakkara pongal
Ingredients:
1 tbsp moong dal
3 tbsp brown basmati rice
1/4 cup jaggery
Seeds from 3 cardamom pods
1-1/2 cups milk
2 tbsp flaked almonds
2 tbsp raisins
1 htsp ghee
About 1/4 cup water
Method:
1. Toast the moong dal in a pan, shaking it frequently so that the dal doesnt burn, until the dal changes to a darker colour.
2. Pressure cook the dal, rice and milk for at least 5 whistles, preferably turning down the heat after 3 whistles and letting it simmer for 10 minutes before turning up the heat again.
3. Let the pressure reduce on its own before opening the cooker. Mash the rice and dal a bit - it's ok if there's some milk left in the container.
4. Meanwhile, heat the ghee in a pan and fry the raisins and almond flakes until toasted light brown. Remove from the heat and pour onto the milk-dal mixture.
5. Now place the jaggery and water in a pan and let the jaggery dissolve. 
Once it is dissolved and the water is bubbling, 
pour the milk-dal mixture into it and stir well. 
If the chakkara pongal is runny, let it simmer for 5-10 minutes or till the pongal thickens. (It will thicken a bit more on cooling.) 
Serve warm.
RECIPE: BROWN RICE CHAKKARA PONGAL
Ingredients:
1 tbsp moong dal
3 tbsp brown basmati rice
1/4 cup jaggery
Seeds from 3 cardamom pods
1-1/2 cups milk
2 tbsp flaked almonds
2 tbsp raisins
1 htsp ghee
About 1/4 cup water
Method:
1. Toast the moong dal in a pan, shaking it frequently so that the dal doesnt burn, until the dal changes to a darker colour.
2. Pressure cook the dal, rice and milk for at least 5 whistles, preferably turning down the heat after 3 whistles and letting it simmer for 10 minutes before turning up the heat again.
3. Let the pressure reduce on its own before opening the cooker. Mash the rice and dal a bit - it's ok if there's some milk left in the container.
4. Meanwhile, heat the ghee in a pan and fry the raisins and almond flakes until toasted light brown. Remove from the heat and pour onto the milk-dal mixture.
5. Now place the jaggery and water in a pan and let the jaggery dissolve. Once it is dissolved and the water is bubbling, pour the milk-dal mixture into it and stir well. If the chakkara pongal is runny, let it simmer for 5-10 minutes or till the pongal thickens. (It will thicken a bit more on cooling.) Serve warm.
My husband loves fruitcake in all forms – heavy and dense, light and fluffy, dry and crumbly, with exotic dried fruit or just with currants, with nuts or without, egg-free or eggful, fancy or homely, buzzing with alcohol or completely teetotal… you name it, he’ll eat it. Of course it goes without saying that he prefers fruitcake that's well-made to one that's second-rate... but in a pinch he'll eat the second-rate one too. In general he can be as nutty as a – pardon me for this – fruitcake when it comes to this variety of cake. Me, on the other hand… I can take fruitcake or leave it. It’s marginally more “take it” if it’s got nuts in it that cut the sweetness of all the dried fruit, so I usually add some to most fruitcakes I make.
And because Pete mostly doesn’t mind how his fruitcake turns out, as long as it’s not turned to coal, I feel free to experiment without worrying about “what ifs” like “what if the cake’s heavy like a brick”, or “what if it’s so crumbly that you choke on fruitcake dust”, and so on. (I’ve even made fruitcake with dark chocolate that needs to see the light of day at some point.)
Anyway, this cake combines the best of what Pete likes (dried fruit) with the best of what I like (banana) with some dried sour cherries (bought in the YewYessYay, naturally) thrown in for that “exotic” touch. The addition of mashed overripe bananas was a touch of genius if I do say so myself, because the flavour it gave the fruitcake – helped by the addition of cardamom powder – was luvverly. It was almost like an Indian fruitcake, if there is such a thing. If there isn’t, there is now.
The cake keeps well and stays moist at room temperature (under cover, that is, not left open to the elements) for at least a week that I can vouch for. We both think it tastes gorgeous too – let me put it this way, we’re all three made for each other because if he’s nutty about banana fruitcake, I’m bananas about nutty fruitcake, and the fruitcake is bananas and nuts anyway. See what I mean?
Recipe for: Banana almond fruitcake
Ingredients:
2 medium overripe bananas, mashed well
1-1/2 cups plain flour or wholewheat cake flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp ground cardamom seeds
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup Splenda 1/4 cup sugar
2 cups dried fruit (I used currants, dried sour cherries, chopped mixed citrus peel)
1/4 cup almond slivers
1 cup + 2 tbsp milk (or as needed)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1/2 tsp baking powder
Method:
1. Sift the flour and spices together with the Splenda, sugar and salt. 2. Add the dried fruit
and the dried cherries, mix them into the flour.
3. Make a well in the flour-fruit mix, then add the almond slivers and the mashed banana.
Mix again.
4. Add milk little by little, mixing as you go.
The batter should be thick. It is the correct consistency when it drips slowly off the back of a spoon. Mix in more milk if it's too thick, to get it to the right consistency,
5. Pour the batter into an 8" square or round pan sprayed with Pam or greased with butter.
Bake at 180C for about an hour, or till the cake tests done. Start checking at the 45-minute mark as different ovens work differently. 6. Remove the cake tin from the oven, and let the cake sit in the tin for 10 minutes.
7. Unmould the cake onto a wire cooling rack and let cool completely. This cake stays good at room temperature for a few days.
RECIPE: EGGLESS BANANA ALMOND FRUITCAKE
Ingredients:
2 overripe bananas, mashed
1-1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom seeds
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup Splenda
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups dried fruit (currants, dried sour cherries, chopped mixed citrus peel)
1/4 cup almond slivers
1 cup + 2 tbsp milk (or as needed)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Method:
1. Sift the flour and spices together with the Splenda, sugar and salt.
2. Add the dried fruit and the dried cherries, mix them into the flour.
3. Make a well in the flour-fruit mix, then add the almond slivers and the mashed banana. Mix again.
4. Add milk little by little, mixing as you go. The batter should be thick. It is the correct consistency when it drips slowly off the back of a spoon. Mix in more milk if it's too thick, to get it to the right consistency,
5. Pour the batter into an 8" square or round pan sprayed with Pam or greased well with butter. Bake at 180C for about an hour, or till the cake tests done. Start checking at the 45-minute mark as different ovens work differently.
6. Remove the cake tin from the oven, and let the cake sit in the tin for 10 minutes.
7. Unmould the cake onto a wire cooling rack and let cool completely. This cake stays good at room temperature for a few days.
After a long time, I'm really excited about an eggless cake. This was originally called "apple pound cake", and arrived in my inbox a few months back. It called for horrendous amounts of eggs and sugar and butter, and although I saved the recipe because I wanted to play around with the ingredients and quantities, I didn't feel like making the effort to turn idle thoughts into action.
However, there were a few Granny Smith apples that had been in the refrigerator for weeks. They needed using up, but they didn't quite look appetising enough to eat (plus there were fresh eating apples which I'd bought, having forgotten about the Grannies!) So I hauled out my file book of "cakes to try" and chanced upon the apple pound cake recipe again... and my mother's presence here encouraged me to omit the eggs, so that she could eat the cake too. I used oil instead of butter, and substituted the eggs with mashed banana, and because I had run out of regular flour, I used self-raising flour. Then of course I wasnt sure how much baking powder/soda I should add to the flour to make up for the lack of eggs... all in all, let's say that I wasnt very certain of the cake's outcome.
Surprisingly, and very pleasingly, it was super moist and wonderfully flavourful - the moistness from the grated apple and the flavour because I'd used cinnamon and cardamom rather than vanilla extract. The layer of apples at the bottom (which became the top when the cake was inverted - oh, did I forget to mention that I made it an upside-down apple cake?) had caramelised just the tiniest bit from the sprinking of demerara sugar I'd added to the cake pan at the first. About 98% of the apples unmoulded cleanly from the pan, but the bits that were left in the pan tasted unbelievably gorgeous - which I scarfed down as cook's perk, naturally... All in all, the cake was great on its own with a cup of tea, and just as gorgeous warmed slightly and served with vanilla icecream. All in all, one of the nicest eggless cakes I've made despite my meddling with the instructions and ingredients!
Recipe for: Moist apple cake
Ingredients:
3 Granny Smith apples
1-1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
3/4 cup vegetable/sunflower oil
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tbsp demerara sugar
1 small ripe banana (to make 1/4 cup mashed)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
2-3 tbsp milk
Method:
1. Grease an 8” tube pan. Sprinkle demerara sugar evenly over the bottom.
Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Peel and core apples.
Slice one apple in half vertically, turn it a quarter circle and slice again into ¼ cm thick slices.
3. Grate the remaining apples and set aside, covered.
4. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and cardamom powder and salt in a medium bowl.
5. In a large bowl, add the mashed banana, white sugar and vegetable oil.
Beat till well blended.
6. Add the flour in three or four stages, mixing well after each addition.
If the batter gets very thick, add a couple of tbsp milk to make it easier to mix. Don’t add too much milk, though - the grated apples will add enough moisture to the batter later.
7. Fold in the shredded apples
and chopped walnuts into the batter.
8. Arrange the sliced apples on the demerara sugar at the bottom of the pan, overlapping the slices slightly.
9. Spoon the batter evenly over the sliced apples and bake at 180C for 30 minutes.
Check to see if the cake is done; if not, give it another five minutes (and a further 5 if required) and check again. The cake should have pulled away slightly at the edges.
10. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a serving plate.
Let cool completely before slicing carefully.
Serve with vanilla icecream or thick cream, if desired.
Anybody remember the powering-up war-cry of He-Man (of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe fame) – “Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii’ve got the POWER!”? Well, if this cake had a voice – and the exaggerated V-shaped over-muscular animated cartoon body of He-Man - that’s what it would be shouting – “Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii’ve got the POWERRRRR!”. And it would be right, it’s got dried goji berries, blueberries, cranberries, sour cherries and currants, not to mention almonds, and if that doesn’t make a powerful cake, I don’t know what does.
Recipe for: Power fruit cake
Ingredients:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, cut into pieces
2 cups mixed fruit (I used cranberries, goji berries, blueberries, dried sour cherries and currants)
1/4 cup sliced almonds (or other chopped nuts of choice)
1 tsp mixed spice
1/4 tsp clove powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 pint milk
1 cup glace cherries washed of excess syrup and dried on kitchen paper
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup self-raising flour
1 tsp soda bicarb
Method:
1. Place the sugar, butter, fruit, spices and milk in a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
Boil for a minute or two, then switch off the heat and let the mixture cool. It might look curdled as it cools, but dont worry, all will be well.
2. Preheat the oven to 160C.
3. Add the nuts to the fruit mixture and stir,
then add the beaten eggs and mix well.
4. Add the flour and fold through the mix. The batter will be quite thick.
6. Place the mixture in a greased, deep square 8" cake tin.
Bake for about 1 hour, checking that the cake isnt burning on the top, after about 30 minutes. If it looks like browning too quickly, cover the top with brown paper.
7. The cake might need more than an hour to cook, or less, depending on the sort of oven you have. After 40 minutes, check the cake with a skewer to see if it's cooked. If not, check every 7 minutes until the tester comes out clean.
8. Cool in the cake tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
I got the basic recipe for this cake from Joy of Baking, one of my favourite blogs for cake porn. I’ve made carrot cake a few times before, but I like trying out new variations when I come across them, and the tip of adding crushed pineapple was tempting. Then, because there was a small beetroot in the fridge, I reduced the amount of carrot required and made up the deficit with the beet, grated. Well, why not? I just wanted to see if the beetroot would make its presence felt and if anybody would object to it in a cake.
As it turned out, nobody could tell there was beetroot in it. The batter turned pink thanks to the addition of the beetroot but the end result didn’t have the red colour that I imagined would show up. I could taste the beetroot, but perhaps it’s because I knew it was there.
I do like to sneakily make people eat things they profess not to like, wait for them to say “mmmm… that’s nice” and then hit them with the reality. (It gives me a certain satisfaction which probably has its roots in sheer meanness!) This formula worked perfectly with Pete and his daughter (yet again, haha).
Unfortunately for Pete, he cant play that trick on me… that sort of thing doesn’t work because my palate is very discerning and can pretty much always tell if there’s something I don’t like in my food. Nobody but NOBODY can sneak aubergine/brinjal/eggplant into anything I eat - and folks, this aint a challenge, so don’t force me to throw up a rainbow-coloured yawn. (I came across that phrase recently in a novel set in Australia – isnt that just the prettiest euphemism for a very unpretty physical reaction? I just HAD to use it myself!)
As far as beetroot in cake is concerned, I would say that a judicious use would be the best way. I don’t think I would care for a cake made entirely with beet – that would most likely be a bit too strong a flavour to mask with anything else.
Recipe for: Pineapple-beet-carrot cake
1/2 cup brazil nuts and walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup carrots, grated
1/2 cup beetroot, grated
1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp allspice + 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
6 tbsp oil vegetable of sunflower oil
1 heaping tbsp ghee
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, well drained
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Spray 8” round pan with non-stick spray and line the bottom with silicone paper.
2. Toast the chopped nuts on a skillet, stirring constantly, till the nuts are lightly browned and fragrant.
Let cool.
3. Peel and finely grate the carrots and beetroot. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and allspice & cardamom. Set aside.
5. Beat the eggs until frothy.
6. Gradually add the sugar and keep beating until the batter is thick and light colored.
7. Add the oil in a steady stream and then beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.
Add the ghee and mix in.
8. With a large rubber spatula fold in the grated carrots and beet and chopped nuts.
9. Stir in the crushed pineapple.
Spoon the batter into the prepared cake pan.
Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
10. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. After about 5-10 minutes invert the cake onto the wire rack, remove the pan and silicone paper, and then cool completely before cutting.
