Plum & Apple Crumble

A very easy and yummy dessert that does not need any elaborate preparation!

Sending this off to Baking from a Book-4 hosted by Sowjanya. This event is the brain child of Champa. Also sending this off to Champa's weekly Bake-Off.

Ingredients:

2-3 Fresh Plums deseeded and cut into wedges.

2 medium fresh apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges.

1 tsp golden syrup.

Splash of water.

1 tbsp caster sugar.

Pinch of cinnamon powder.

For the crumble topping:

1 tbsp butter.

1 tbsp brown sugar.

1 tbsp AP flour.

1 tbsp rolled oats.

Pinch of cinnamon.

Serves 2

Process:

Preheat the oven at 200 C. Line 2 heat proof bowls or ramekins with the plums wedges with the skin down followed by apple wedges. Drizzle golden syrup over it and add a splash of water. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon powder and heat in the oven for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile for the crumble topping, mix all the ingredients and rub it well till it resembles rough crumbs. Remove the bowls from the oven squeeze them lightly with the back of a spoon. Then cover it with the crumble mixture. Bake it in the oven for 20-22 minutes till the crumb layer is nice golden brown.

Enjoy!!

Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream or chilled custard.

No pain...Khaman Dhokla

Why 'No pain?' Well, I love Khaman Dhokla and sometimes I have severe cravings for it. So, I always keep a packet of Gits instant Dhokla in my pantry for those crazy cravings. Its not that I am doing a product review or anything. It is just that, I have always been satisfied with the way Gits Dhokla have come out. In fact, I don't know how to go about making Dhokla from scratch. When, I saw Nayna's Event - Flavours of Gujarat, I decided to write about my experience about making instant Khaman Dhokla, so that next time you need it fast you don't have to dig in your recipe book. I am in no way encouraging you to use instant stuff. It is just my experience!

I always remember the dailogue from the movie, 3 Idiots when I think of Gujrati cuisine, I donot remember it exactly but it was like  "dhokla, fafda, handwa, thepla, khakhra, etc.  Something like "Bush ne Iraq pe do dhokla gira diya" as if they were missiles. :D.  Hopefully I will try all these recipes in coming days:

Now coming to Dhokla again- Follow the instructions at the back of the Gits Dhokla pack for the Dhokla and tempering.

What I like to do in addition to that is soaking them in a Sugary-Lemony Syrup. 

For it you will need:

1/2 cup water.

1/4 cup sugar.

Generous pinch of salt.

Juice of 1 small lemon.

Process: 

Mix all the ingredients and let it sit till the sugar dissolves. Chill it in a refrigerator till needed.

Just 5 mins before serving pour the juice over the dhokla and let it sit for 3-5 mins. It should not become very soggy but the juice should be well infused. Serve with green chutney, tamarind chutney or ketchup.

Sending this off to Nayna's Event- Flavour of Gujarat. Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

Finally, I have managed to squeeze some time for my blog. Actually, there are so many things in our 'To-Do' list on our India visit that my blogging has taken a back seat. I think it happens with everybody. I am having a lovely time here socialising, relaxing, catching up with friends and having good food prepared by my Mom.  

Before flying to India, I had prepared and taken pictures of a few dishes intending to post it soon. But, it seems like I had been postponing it a little too long. Today, I am sharing the recipe of 'Blueberry Muffins' which I tried from the book -101 Cakes and Bakes from BBC Books. The recipe was named 'Buttermilk Berry Muffins' in the book but I prefer to call it simply 'Blueberry Muffins'. I have baked these muffins twice and was happy with the results both times. My husband loved it. It was the first time I used an Egg-replacer powder of the brand name Orgran. I have followed rest of the recipe as given in the book. I hope to experiment with the egg replacer powder more often.

Needless to say sending this off to Baking from a book 4 event guest hosted by Sowjanya. This event is the brain child of Champa. Also sending it off to Champa's Weekly Event Bake Off and Sri's EFM-Cakes and Bakes Series.

 Ingredients:

400 g AP flour.

175 g caster sugar.

1 tbsp baking powder.

Finely grated rind of one lemon.

284 ml buttermilk.

Egg replacer powder in place of 2 eggs.

85 g butter, melted.

250 g fresh blueberries.

Makes 12.

Process:

Preheat the oven to 200 C. Line a 12 cup muffin tray. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, lemon rind, sugar and salt. Prepare the egg replacer powder as per the instructions given in the box. In a separate bowl mix butter, buttermilk and the prepared egg replacer. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture. Mix it lightly so that it is well combined. Do not over do. Fold in the blueberries and spoon it into the prepared tin.

Bake it for 25 mins until risen and pale golden on top. Leave to cool on wire rack for 5 mins. Place them on the wire rack to cool further.  

These muffins are very delicate when hot. I have tried it second time substituting the butter with 1/4 cup + 2tbsp oil. They came out good too.

Enjoy!