Savoury Cakes

"Hmmm, it smells great", said the husband. "I'm trying out something different", said the wife. "Oh, whatever it is, it smells good", repeated the husband. "I'm baking a cake, a savoury cake", said the wife. "A what?" asked the husband. "A savoury cake", repeated the wife. "What's that!" the shocked husband asked. Unsure how the cake turned out, what it would taste like, the wife kept mum. The husband turned to his newspaper and was lost in the business section.
Later, the wife cut the cake and served the husband – she didn't dare to taste it herself. "What's that?" asked the husband yet again. "The savoury cake", replied the wife. "It's salty and spicy, not sweet like the regular cakes", the wife proceeded to inform. "Ok, I'm the guinea pig anyway", the husband replied resignedly. He took a bite, delivered his verdict and polished off the plate.
The next morning he announced," I'll have that thing you made yesterday for breakfast." He had it with his lunch and dinner too.
The following day a friend came over, the last piece of cake was left, which the husband offered the friend. "What's that?" asked the friend. "A savoury cake", he informed knowledgeably, '"it's got salt and spices in it." "Hmmm, it's good" said the friend, "you must teach my wife to make this."
Here's how the wife baked the savoury cake. It's got a bit of all types of spices, and it's healthy – atleast the wife thinks so!!

You'll need:
2 cups wholewheat four
2 tbsp ragi flour/finger millet flour
2 green chillies
A handful of coriander and parsley leaves finely chopped
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs beaten
1 tsp chilli flakes
4-5 tbsp red, orange, yellow and green bell peppers and mushrooms lightly roasted in 1 tsp butter
½ tsp dry basil
½ tsp dry thyme
A pinch of clove powder
A pinch of cinnamon powder
Salt to taste
1 cup of cheddar cheese
3 tbsp mozzarella cheese
1 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Line and grease the baking tin. Combine all the ingredients, reserving some cheese for the topping. Mix well and scrape into the baking tin. It will be a sticky mixture. Top with cheese and bake for 40 minutes. I know the brown colour of the cake isn't appetising, it's due to the wheat and ragi flours. You get a nice crusty, dense cake that is spicy and filling. tastes wonderful, especially when you bite into the bell peppers. And if you decide to overlook the cheese, it's really healthy too!! :)

My entry to Meeta's Monthly Mingle #8 : Savoury Cakes.

Tip: Substituting plain flour with whole wheat flour and a bit of ragi flour in this recipe. Read about the benefits of ragi/finger millet here and here. This is also my entry to Sushma's Monthly Cooking Tipology.

Potato Cups

Pretty aren't they? The versatile potato is cooked in my kitchen very regularly. After all, who does not like potatoes? So my entry to Jihva for Ingredients – Potatoes, hosted by Vaishali of Happy Burp is Pomme de terre cups. Simple and quick, you can fill in any stuffing you wish into these cups. Here's what I did:

Parboil the potatoes, keep the skin intact. Cut the potatoes into two. Scoop out the centre and keep aside. Grate/mash the centre, add some cooked corn, dry basil, salt, crushed black pepper, a few scrapings of cheddar cheese, a few drops of milk and mix well. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes at 200 degree C.

One more mellowed look.....

Chicken Burger

This recipe has been inspired from Chef Sanjeev Kapoor's programme "Khana Khazana". The recipe has been tweaked a bit, but the end result is great!! So good bye Burger King, Mac Donald's and others, here I come…!!

Ingredients:
1 cup chicken kheema/mince
1 large carrot
4 cloves garlic
1 green chilly
A handful of coriander chopped
4 burger buns
Lettuce/ cabbage leaves
1 large onion cut into rings
1 large tomato sliced
Butter/Mayonnaise
2 tsp olive oil
Chilly sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Cheddar cheese slices
Salt/pepper to taste

Grate the carrot. Pulse together the minced chicken, carrot, green chilly, garlic, salt and pepper. Do not add water. Divide the chicken mixture into balls and flatten them to make patties. Heat a skillet/ grill. Drizzle olive oil on it and shallow fry/grill the patties on both sides till done and a nice shine appears on the patties. Separate the onion rings. On the same skillet/grill, brown the onion rings with a dash of Worcestershire sauce and chilly sauce. Now slice the burger buns and apply butter/mayonnaise on the lower slice. Now arrange a lettuce leafs/ cabbage followed by the onion rings, pattice, tomato slice, and cheese. Place the top slice of the bun and serve with tomato ketchup, French fries and coleslaw/salad.