Almond and Orange Torte

Posted on May 20, 2012 by kdonkey

The last time I attempted to bake anything was the 29th April, which was a complete disaster. One thing it taught me though, I won’t be entering The Great British Bake Off any time soon, maybe in about 10 years time. This also wasn’t perfect because I forgot to dust the torte with the icing sugar, but at least it didn’t collapse :-)

This time I decided to make something a lot easier so that I can prove to myself I can bake. Also a confidence boos to try and attempt something a bit harder next time. If you are new to baking then you can’t get a recipe much easier than this and apart from the boiling the orange it’s very quick to put together.

  • 1 medium orange
  • 3 medium eggs, room temperature
  • 225g/8oz golden caster sugar
  • 250/9oz ground almonds
  • 7.5g/½tsp baking powder
  • icing sugar to dust

Place the orange in a pan and fill with water until covered. Bring the water to a rolling boil and leave the orange to boil for about an hour.

Take a 21cm/8” cake tin and put in some screwed up grease proof paper. Screwing up the paper makes it easier to place into e cake tin

Pre-heat the oven to 180c/350f/gas 4

Remove from the orange from the pan and allow to cool. Once cooled down cut the orange in half and and remove any pips. Put the whole orange into a blender and whiz until you have a purée and put to once side

Take a bowl and put in the eggs and caster sugar and with a whisk together until thick and pale. Fold in the ground almonds, baking powder and the orange purée.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin and place in the oven and cook for 40-50 minutes. To ensure it is cooked place a skewer into the torte and if it’s clean when removed then it is cooked. 

Take it out of the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Take out of the cake tin and place on a wire rack and allow to completely cool down and then dust with icing sugar.

You can serve it with cream, crème fraiche or my favourite vanilla ice cream

 

 

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Dry-Spriced Potatoes and Cauliflower (Aloo Gobi)

Posted on May 17, 2012 by kdonkey

I am a big fan of cauliflower and the spices used in aloo gobi compliments the vegetable perfectly. This is a great side dish for any curry, because it’s healthy because it is low in fat and high in vitamin c.  So, I decided to make aloo gobi as a side dish for my curry night and it was perfect with tarka dhal and lamb and spinach curry.

 

This recipe came from a the best ever curry cookbook, which I have mentioned many times, see below if you want to purchase it.

  • 450g/1lb potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 30ml/2tbsp vegetable oil
  • 5ml/1tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 fresh green chilli, finely chopped (keep seeds in if you like a heat kick)
  • 450g/1lb cauliflower, broken into florets
  • 5ml/1tsp ground coriander
  • 5ml/1tsp ground cumin
  • 1.5ml/¼tsp chilli powder
  • 2.5ml/½tsp ground turmeric
  • 2.5ml/½tsp salt

fresh coriander chopped for garnish

Put some cold water in a pan and add the cubed potatoes and boil and cook for about 10 minutes. Drain them and put them aside

Add the oil to a pan and bring to a medium heat and add the cumins seeds and fry for 2 minutes, until the begin to splutter. Then add the chilli and fry for another minute.

Add the cauliflower florets to the spices, gently fry and stir occasionally for 5 minutes.

Add the potatoes, spices and salt. Stir altogether and cook for about 10 minutes or until the cauliflower and potatoes are cooked, occasionally stirring.

Ganrish with Chopped Coriander.

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Lamb and Spinach Curry (dilli ka saag gosht)

Posted on May 15, 2012 by kdonkey

In my previous post I made a tarka dhal as a side dish with a curry I was making and for the main dish I made lamb with spinach. This is a full on flavoured main dish, with wonderful hints of herbs and spices and because it’s cooked for a minimum of 90 minutes the meat is juicy and tender. It is best to make the day before to give the herbs and spices as much time as possible to enhance the flavour of the dish, but fine to make on the day. But it should be cooked for a minimum of 90 minutes, but it’s well worth the wait.

This recipe is based on Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooker, which was first published in 1982, which I purchased in 1992. The book looks dated but there are some great recipes in there. When I purchased the book it had sold over 500,000 copies and thanks to the internet can still be bought. Although Madhur has written many other books which might be  a better option.

One good tip I learnt from the book was how to stop the yoghurt from splitting. Beat the yoghurt before using and then add to the mixture a small spoonful at a time and ensuring it’s completely mixed in before using again.

  • 4tbsp vegetable oil
  • 8 whole black pepper corns
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 cardamom pods
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 2.5cm ginger, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 450g/1lb diced lamb (you can use beef if you prefer)
  • 1tsp cumin seeds, grounded
  • 1tsp coriander seeds, grounded
  • ½tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp plain yoghurt, well beaten
  • 450g spinach, washed and chopped, you can use frozen but must be thawed out first
  • ½tsp garam masala
  • (serves 4)

Put the oil into a pan and bring to a medium heat. Add the peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves and cardamom pods and stir together for a few seconds.

Add the onion, ginger and garlic, stir and fry until the onions begin to brown.

Add the meat, ground cumin and coriander and cayenne pepper and cook for a few minutes stirring occasionally.

Using a small spoon take some yoghurt and add it to the curry and stir it completely into the mixture. Repeat this until you have added all the yoghurt.

Once the lamb as a brown look add the spinach a handful at a time and stir until the leaves have wilted and then repeat again until all the spinach has been used.

Cover the pan and turn down the heat and cook for a minimum of 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove the lid for the last 15 minutes and add the garam masala and cook until nearly all the liquid has disappeared and you are left with a tasty thick green sauce.

 

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