Karuveppilai Podi - Spiced Curry leaves powder - Great accompaniment to rice!

I had bunches of curry leaves getting dried up and sitting in my fridge! Although they're given FOC (free of charge) at Indian grocery stores when you buy a reasonable amount of veggies from them, I didn't want to waste soo much of curry leaves! I really hate wasting food and I have even gobbled down leftovers (when they're too little) in an attempt to not waste food.

This spiced powder can be a great accompaniment to rice, esp on those days when you're in no mood to make sambar/rasam/dal! Just sprinkle some "Karuveppilai podi" and half a teaspoon of Ghee (ahem! Gingely Oil will taste just fine too :-) ) and wow! all you need is a packet of Potato Chips to complete your meal :-)

You Need -

Curry leaves - 1 cup
Urad dal - 2 tbsp
Channa dal - 3 tbsp
Dry Red chillies - 4
Cumin/Jeera - 2 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 2 tsp

Method -

Ensure that the curry leaves are dry. Ideally, you should begin by washing thoroughly and drying them in paper towels.

Take a pan, pour oil and start frying all the ingredients together. Once a beautiful aroma emanates, you know it's done and you can switch off the fire. Let it cool down before you powder them.

Store in an air-tight container and label it with date.

Home-made Karuveppilai podi

Orange Cake from freshly squeezed Orange juice - YUM!

This is my go-to recipe whenever I need to bake a cake for guests or a potluck party or an office party. I just sprinkle some powdered sugar on top and serve the cake and have received lots of appreciation for its yummilicious taste! 

It's an easy recipe and more importantly, fail-proof! C'mon, take a look and try it yourself ! I've adapted this recipe to my taste from Chefandherkitchen

Dry ingredients:

1 and 1/4 th cup All purpose flour/ Maida
1 and 1/4 th cup Wheat flour/Chapathi aata
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp baking soda
A pinch of salt

Wet ingredients:

1 can  (400 ml) of Condensed Milk
1/2 cup- melted Butter, at room temperature 
1/2 cup Oil (sunflower oil is what I used)
1 cup - freshly squeezed Orange Juice
5 tbsp Honey or Dates syrup (I've tried with both and got good results)
2 tsp Vanilla Essence 
2 tsp Apple cider Vinegar or lemon juice
1 tsp Orange Zest (just grate orange skin with a fine grater, don't skip this - it really enhances the taste)

Freshly squeezed orange juice and real butter this time!

Fresh out of the oven!

Procedure:

1. Take out the butter from the fridge and let it soften at room temperature.
2. Now, start with sifting the flours together with the baking soda, baking powder and salt .
3. Take a big bowl and whisk all the wet ingredients(except orange zest) together and whisk well. 
4. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius.
5. Now, make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and slowly, add in the wet mixture. 
6. Make sure there are no lumps and it's of uniform texture.
7. Add the orange zest finally and mix gently.
8. Take a baking pan (I used my circular pan) and line with baking sheet.
9. Pour the batter on it and tap well so that it's spread evenly through the pan and there are no air bubbles.
10. Bake at 180 degrees for about 25 minutes. Keep checking after 20th minute. If a toothpick inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean and non-sticky, then the cake is done :-)
11. Switch off the oven and take out the pan after 10 minutes. 
12. Slice into pieces after it has become warmer. Enjoy!!!

Eggless Orange cake