Palak Matar Makai Tikki /Spinach Peas Corn Patties

I have been missing in action for almost a fortnight now.There have been some late nights at office lately and I have been also been pure lazy on the days when office was not that hectic. 
Before I share the recipe, I would like to thank all my readers and fellow bloggers for their lovely birthday wishes. :)  Your comments have made me forget all the lament that I did on my last post :))
This tikki was on my agenda for a long time since the time I saw them at Sanjeev Kapoor. Somehow one of the other ingredients were always missing whenever I wanted to make them, so I have kept it on hold. This weekend I ensured that I buy everything that was needed to make this. 



Ingredients
 1 large Potato, boiled and mashed 
1/2 cup Green peas, blanched
10 -12  Spinach leaves, blanched and chopped
1/2 cup Corn kernels, blanched
1/3 cup Cottage cheese (paneer), crumbled
1 Onion , chopped
 2 Green chillies, chopped
1 inch Ginger, chopped
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp Black pepper powder
1 tsp Roasted Cumin Powder
1/2 tsp Red chilli Powder
2-3 tbsp Cornflour/ corn starch
Oil  to shallow fry

Preparation

1. Heat  1 tsp oil in a pan. Add onion and green chillies and sauté for two minutes. Add peas and spinach and saute for 2 minutes.l.Let it cool and then coarsely grind in a mixture/grinder
2. In a bowl, Add peas and spinach mixture, mashed  potatoes,chopped ginger, salt, pepper powder,roasted cumin powder and half the cornflour and mix well. 
3. Coarsely grind blanched corn kernels in a mixture/grinder Add cottage cheese salt,red chili powder and mix. Add the remaining cornflour and mix.
4. Take a portion of the spinach-peas-potato mixture and shape into a flat and thick tikki. Using a cutter cut out a round from the center of the tikki . Take a little portion of the corn mixture and place it in the hole of the spinach-peas-potato tikki and press lightly.
5. Heat oil in another pan and fry the tikkis till golden on both the sides.
6. Serve hot !!

Linking this to Aipi and Priya's bookmarked event and Veggies/Fruit event of Priya and Reshmi 

A Birthday that came and went

White Cake with cream cheese frosting and fondant

Sometimes you plan a day months in advance and all plan fails on the D-day. My Birthday was one such day. I had been planning the day, the things to cook, a lavish cake  and what not. But as it happened , the week long whitewash was scheduled the same week as my birthday. So all plans were put on hold.  I had forbidden my husband not to buy a cake for me as I wanted to bake my cake myself.  My sister had got fondant and other baking equipments during her last visit, and I had saved it for using them on a special occasion. Earlier, I had planned to make it on the birthday eve, but didn't get any time that day. Finally when I could make it , it was already 9:30 night on the d-day. I put the cake in oven,  and had the delicious Biryani made by  Mr. Sinfoodie and saved the decoration for post dinner. We were both so tired and it was already too late, that I let go of all the intricate design I had thought of. It was my first time dealing with fondant. Mr. Sinfoodie helped rolling out  and cutting the fondant. The cake was finally made, though by the time it was made, it was already midnight. Anyway,it doesn't matter :) I didn't mind celebrating it a day late as long as it was made by me. :-D

The cake was a white cake with 2 layers filled with creamcheese and white chocolate frosting and covered with fondant. The recipe has been adapted from joy of baking

Ingredients

For cake

2 large eggs separated

1 3/4 cups cake flour [ i used all purpose]

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar [I substituted it with white vinegar]

For Cream Chees and white Chocolate Frosting

Recipe is here on my blog -> Cream cheese and White chocolate Frosting

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350F/177C and place rack in center of oven.
2. Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper and grease and dust the parchment paper with little flour. 
3. Separate the eggs while they are still cool. It is easier to separate cold eggs.
4. Placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another bowl.  Cover the two bowls with plastic wrap and let them come to room temperature, for atleast 30 minutes. 
5. In a mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. 
6. In a separate bowl, beat butter until soft with your electric mixture (about 1-2 minutes).
7. Add 3/4 cup of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). 
8. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined. 
9. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.   
10. In a clean grease free bowl , beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar[ I substituted with vinegar] and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
11.  With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and fold in the remaining whites until combined. Do not over mix the batter or it will deflate. 
12. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. 
13. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes.  Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan. Once the cakes have completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the freezer for at least an hour. (This makes filling and frosting the cakes easier.)

Assembling the Cake.

1.  Place one of the cake layers, top of the cake facing down, onto your serving platter. Spread the cake layer with cream cheese frosting.  
2.  Place the next cake layer, top of the cake facing down, onto the filling. Spread the remaining frosting over the top Cover and refrigerate for some time.
3. Color,knead and roll the fondant. Cover the cake with fondant and decorate it as per your choice.
4. In case you are refrigerating the cake before serving, keep it at room temperature for some time after taking it out from refrigerator

Crushed Garlic Potatoes

I hope you all are not thinking that SinFoodie has gone back to her VeryVeryLazyGirl days. It is almost a week since I last posted. My entire house was chaotic due to the whitewash that lasted a week. Finally, yesterday it got over and I am back to the blog world again.   I had made these crushed potaoes more than a week back and have got time to post it only now. Here goes the recipe for crushed potatoes which can be served as a starter or as a side dish with grilled chicken/fish.
The recipe is inspired from here

Ingredients:
200 gms new baby potatoes - washed and cleaned
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp butter
Garlic cloves - 5-6 chopped
3/4 tsp Oregano
3/4 tsp Rosemary
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper.
Salt to taste
Chili flakes
1 1/2 tsp coriander leaves
Water.

Preparation

1. Boil baby potatoes with skin  in salted water for 10 minutes. Drain it and wipe it dry.
2. With the back of spoon ,crush it. Toss with 1 tsp olive oil, salt to taste and mix well.
3. In a pan, heat remaining olive oil and butter. Add chopped garlic,crushed potatoes,oregano,rosemary,pepper,chilli flakes.
4. Cook till it browns. Add more salt if needed.Serve it topped with fresh coriander leaves. You can add chaat masala too. 

 
Linking  to Aipi and Priya's bookmarked event