Hara Bhara (Spinach & Pea cutlets)

Hara Bhara (Spinach & Pea cutlets)

We recently went to  Delhi O'Deli for the first time in a long while (final year woes..) So when we were there we ate Hara Bhara kebabs with delicious sauces etc. and we got the desire to try make them ourselves. We brought them to a friend’s bbq and they went down a treat.

Ingredients

3 small potatoes

3 tbsp minced fresh ginger

3 cups peas

2 ½ cups spinach (chopped)

1 tsp green curry paste

2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp cornflour

2 -3 tbsp flour (and more for the end)

Spices/herbs: cumin, coriander, chana masala powder

Oil for the oven dish/tray and ½ tbsp oil for each

¾ packet of cashews (optional)

1. Boil the potatoes and then mash or blend them. Put the peas in a blender (or mash) and add the finely chopped spinach. Blend the cashews with 2-3 tbsp water until creamed.

2. Mix the mashed potatoes, peas, spinach and cashews together. Add chopped garlic, green curry paste, ginger, cornflour, flour and spices.

3. Shape the mix into flattened balls/burger shapes and roll in flour to cover.

4. (alternatively for this step they can be fried). Put balls on a well greased oven tray and top each with ½ tbsp oil. Bake in oven until brown and turn halfway for the other side. Bake about 30-40mins.

Enjoy! (Lovely in some pitta bread)

Blackforest cupcakes

Blackforest cupcakes

Gorgeous day and off to a potluck/BBQ/food feast to celebrate a friend of ours finishing her PhD… and still cherries and all sorts of berries floating around so thought we’d make this type of cakey thing we’ve never tried before.

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

3/4 cup cherries blended ( ½ cup for batter, ¼ cup for topping)

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup oil

1 teaspoon vinegar

2-3 drops liquor

(a few blackberries, cranberries, raspberries – optional)

Preheat oven to 180°

1. Blend the cherries until a smoothie like consistency (add some of the other berries into it if desired).

2. Mix sugar, cocoa powder and flour together. Add water, oil and blended cherries.

3. Add vinegar and mix well. Pour mixture into greased cupcake cases and bake for 20mins or until toothpick comes out clean.

4. Add 2-3 drops of cherry liquor onto each once cooled.

For the top we used some of the leftover cherry smoothie mixed with icing sugar, topped with a half cherry. 

Kiwi cupcakes

Kiwi cupcakes

We’re having gorgeous leaving cert weather at the moment (which you can only really enjoy if you’re not one of those unfortunate people doing the leaving cert!) so are having a picnic. My brother is home currently and for some reason this means there’s lots and lots of kiwis in the house (he likes kiwis?), which just made kiwis cupcakes seem the right zesty choice of cupcakes to make…

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups flour

1 cup sugar

2 kiwis

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup oil

1 teaspoon vinegar

2-3 drops lemon essence (optional)

Preheat oven to 180°

1. Blend the kiwis until a smoothie like consistency (you can also mash them until this consistency with a fork, but it may take a bit longer)

2. Mix sugar and flour together. Add water, oil, blended kiwi and lemon essence (if using).

3. Add vinegar and mix well. Pour mixture into cupcake cases and bake for 20mins or until toothpick comes out clean.

Top with chocolate icing (we melted chocolate and just dipped the cupcakes in) if desired.

I love how the inside had visible little bits of the little black kiwi seeds...

Summer Cherry Crumble Cake (with a hint of rum)

Summer Cherry Crumble Cake (with a hint of rum)

It’s finally summer! After myself and Conor having the most difficult years of our degrees, final year exams for him and five weeks of exams myself, we are done and can enjoy baking and cooking again!

So what could be more summery than a cheery cherry crumble cake?

Ingredients

2 cup self-rising flour

½ cup dairy free butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup soya milk

1 tbsp vinegar

1 large pack cherries (or as many as you desire – chopped and halved)

1-2 tsp rum essence +/- vanilla essence (optional)

Crumble:

- 1¼ cup flour

- ½ cup dairy free butter

- ½ cup sugar

Preheat oven to 180˚

1. Mix soya milk and vinegar and leave to stand briefly.

2. Mix sugar and butter together in a bowl. Add in flour. Add in essence if using (or real rum).

3. Add in soya milk/vinegar mixture and mix.

4. Transfer mixture to greased cake tin (preferably lined with baking paper), top with cherries.

5. Crumble: cut flour and butter together using a butter knife, then add in sugar. Make to fine breadcrumb consistency using the tips of your fingers.

Add crumble mixture on top of the cherry layer in the cake pan.

6. Bake for about 40-50mins or until toothpick comes out clean.

Going to have a lot of cooking now to make up for the year I hope! : )

Coffee Walnut Cake

Coffee Walnut Cake

Recently Conor’s future supervisor gave him a bag of walnuts off a tree at home, telling him they’d be great as walnut cake. Well we thought coffee would taste so good with walnuts in cake…

Took a while to de-shell enough, but it was worth it!

Ingredients:

- 1.5 cups self raising flour

- 1 cup sugar

- ¾ cup strong brewed coffee (if using instant: make up 3/4 cup coffee with about ~1-2tbsp instant)

- ½ cup oil

- ½ cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 180°

1. As always, mix the wet ingredients (coffee, oil), mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, walnuts).

2. Mix the two sets together.

3. Put mix into a greased sponge tray and bake in oven for 15-20mins (or until browned).

4. Decorate as you please. We just made up a simple icing (mix some coffee with icing sugar) and topped with walnuts. 

Simple and quick recipe – as it should be!

P.S. The tip to making good cake is knowing your oven. For example, the above recipe works perfectly if you have a good oven, like in Conor’s house back home. In Conor’s oven in his student place though the oven is overly powerful and cooks the cake quickly, so we add another ½ cup of flour to the mix. 

Simple Waffles

Simple Waffles

One of the things I’ve always wanted to try was those sweet waffles you can only really buy (in Ireland no one has waffle makers). However, to my luck I recently came across a shop that was closing down and one of the stock it was selling off was a waffle maker for €10…

Ingredients:

- 2 cups flour

- 1.5 cups dairy free milk (eg soya)

- ⅓- ½ cup sugar (as per your taste)

- 2 tbsp dairy free butter or oil

- Vanilla essence

(cinnamon if desired!)

1. Melt the butter in the microwave (or use oil), mix with milk and vanilla essence. Add sugar, then flour.

2. Put in waffle maker as per directions.

Top with syrup, fruit, jam or whatever your heart desires :)

This recipe is really probably not all too different from the one Conor uses to make his delicious pancakes… which we keep meaning to put up except he usually makes it ‘by feel’ and the pancakes get eaten before we think of photos (as we’re hungry in the morning!). Except we’re making pancakes more often this year than any (everytime I finish a rotation block really!) so should be making some again soon…