Milk Cake

This uses a minimum amount of butter and tastes great. You could add bits and pieces of your favourite ingredient to it or have it plain.

Heat a cup of milk and add 4 tbsp of butter.
If you use vanilla pods, add them now, or a few drops of essence. Allow butter to melt. Keep aside.

Sift 2 cups flour,
with a pinch of salt and
2 tsp baking powder.

Take 4 eggs and whisk it with
2 cups of sugar till light and fluffy.
Fold in the flour mixture slowly. Add the milk.

Bake it for 40 minutes at 180 deg C.

Variations:

• Peeled and chopped pears and/or apples (with some ground cinnamon and nutmeg)
• Desiccated coconut
• Dry fruits - walnuts, blanched almonds, dates
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder (subtract 2 tbsp flour from the whole)

Onion Soup

With the rains and then the winters (or what passes here for winter) coming up, there's nothing better than a wholesome soup to cuddle up with.

In a saucepan, heat about 3 tbsp of Butter, add to it 3 finely sliced onions and some chopped garlic. Reduce the heat to its lowest setting and cook till onions turn golden brown. Keep stirring making sure the onions don't burn.

Then sprinkle 1 tbsp of flour and mix well. Add 4 cups of water or stock and bring to boil. Lower the heat again and let it simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes till onions are tender and the stock is reduced. Add salt/pepper to taste.

Pour the soup into an oven safe bowl/cup. Top it with a slice of French bread and add cheese. Gruyere cheese is recommended but since I couldn't find it, I used a mix of mozzarella and cheddar.

Bake it for 15 minutes at 150 deg C.

Kokum Juice

 I picked up some kokum last summer. Truth be told, I didn't know what they were. I had never seen fresh kokum before.

Dried kokum is used as a souring agent in curries in the Konkan coast in India, and is also made into a juice that is perfect to beat the summer heat.

If you are a brave soul, you can try eating them raw with some salt (the flesh has some pits like Mangosteen that you can remove).

Another option is to collect all the flesh in a bowl. Mash it with your hands and soak it in a bowl of water for an hour. Then boil it adding some sugar till slightly stick. Put this through a strainer and discard the lumps. The resulting juice can be had with some salt and roasted cumin seeds.

The skin is also used for making juice and dried up, it can be used in curries as well.
Store the peels in a container with twice as much sugar. Keep the container in strong sunlight for a week. Make sure to shake the jar 2-3 times everyday. The resulting juice is a concentrate that can be mixed with some water, salt and roasted cumin seeds for a refreshing drink.

The peels can be dried further on a piece of paper where it will get direct sunlight. Once it is thouroughly dry, you can use it in fish curries or other Konkan delicacies. There are many recipes available online.

Hash Browns

On the topic of breakfast, here's another favourite.

Half boil 2-3 potatoes (don't cook them completely else the hash browns won't get crisp).

Let them cool then peel the skin off. Grate the potatoes and add some salt/pepper and 2-3 tbsps of oil.

Take a handful of the mixture, squeeze it into a ball so that it sicks and flatten it out on a pan or baking tray.

You could cook it on a pan or bake it for 20 min in a preheated oven at 180 deg C.

Baked Eggs

A great breakfast idea and easier to make than an omlette.

Butter a ramekin.
Make a base with your favourite cold cut/bacon slices
Add chopped veggies if you like (onion, mushrooms, broccoli)
Break in 2 eggs
Add salt/pepper
Top with some grated cheese
Garnish with some oregano and chilli flakes

Bake at 180 deg C for 10 minutes.

Carrot+Apple cake

This is as simple as ABC (for those who speak English). Easy to remember too!

You need:
1 cup peeled and grated carrots
1 cup peeled, cored and grated apples
1 cup vegetable or olive oil
1 cup flour
Pinch of salt
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Optional:
A few drops of Vanilla
Handful of Walnuts and/or dates
Orange zest

Beat the eggs with the sugar till fluffy.
Add the oil and whisk again.
Sieve in the flour with the baking powder and salt. Then fold in the mixture.
Fold in the rest of the ingredients.

Pour in a greased pan and bake for 40 minutes at 180 deg C.