CHILLIE CHEESE STICKS

Ingredients

500 grams flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chillie powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
200 grams butter or margarine
200 grams shredded cheddar cheese
½ teaspoon pepper powder
½ cup sour curds or yogurt

Mix all the above ingredients together and chill for about 2 hours in a refrigerator. Take out and leave to attain room temperature. Onto a floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle shape about ¼ inch thick. Cut the dough into 3 inch stips about ¼ inch wide.
Heat sufficient oil in a pan and deep fry the strips till golden.

Alternately, place these strips on an ungreased baking tray and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes until the cheese straws are golden and puff up.

ANGLO-INDIAN BEEF STEAKS

The word “Steak” is derived from an Old Norse word “steik” meaning "roast”. It is a continental dish, popular all over the world, served in restaurants and Steakhouses with or without various accompaniments such as Potatoes, Vegetables, etc. Steak is actually a slice of meat such as Beef or Lamb from the most tender cuts of the animal such as the short loin, sirloin and rib areas with names such as Porterhouse, T-bone, Rib-eye, etc. It is cut on a slant, perpendicular to the muscle fibres, so that it can cook fast. The steaks cut from these parts are quite tender and range in thickness between half to one inch and are cut in a size intended to be one serving per person. Steaks from the short loin, rib, and sirloin are best when grilled or broiled / pan-fried. Steaks can also cut from the chuck, round, plate, and flank. However these are a bit tough if not cooked properly. However they should be marinated for a few hours then cooked. Steaks are typically grilled, but they are also often pan-fried or broiled, using dry heat, and served whole.The meat should be a bright red, the fat should be a creamy white and there should be thin streaks of fat running through the meat. Grilling makes it usually dry where as cooking or broiling it in a pan would make it more juicy. The perfect steak needs the right flavors, and different steak cuts are prepared differently. The amount of time a steak is cooked is a personal preference. The shorter the cooking time, the more juice is retained. The longer the cooking time would result in drier, tougher meat. A vocabulary also evolved over a period of time, to describe the degree to which a steak is cooked such as Raw, Blue rare or Very Rare, Rare, Rare, Medium Rare Medium, and Well done. Steak was first introduced in India by the British as early as the 16th Century. As was the case of almost all of our cuisine, which started out as insipid concoctions, in the days of the British Raj, the original “Beef Steak” introduced by them was quite bland and tasteless. Over the years many more ingredients and spices were added to this dish to make it more spicy and delicious as it is today. It has become synonymous with Anglo-Indian Cuisine, as our famous Anglo-Indian Pepper Steak and Anglo-Indian Masala Steak,. These dishes are relished by all of us and I’m sharing the recipes for them below. So let your steaks sizzle the old fashioned way in a skillet or heavy fry pan. However, the steaks could be grilled if desired using the same ingredients. 

  ANGLO-INDAN PEPPER STEAKS Serves 6 Preparation Time 45 minutes 1kg Beef Undercut or Sirloin cut into steaks 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 3 or 4 teaspoons fresh pepper powder 3 tablespoons oil 2 big onions sliced finely 2 big tomatoes chopped 3 potatoes peeled Salt to taste Wash the meat well and marinate it with the pepper powder, salt and turmeric powder in a flat plate. Pour the oil on top and keep it over night in the refrigerator (or for at least 4 hours before cooking), Pressure cook for just 5 minutes or cook in a pan for about 15 minutes along with the potatoes. Add the onions and tomatoes and continue frying on low heat till the tomatoes turn pulpy and the steaks and the potatoes are a nice brown colour. Serve hot with boiled vegetables and bread. 
 
  ANGLO-INDIAN MASALA STEAK Serves 6 Preparation Time approx 1 hour Ingredients 1 kg boneless Mutton or Beef from the Round portion cut into steaks 2 medium size onions sliced 2 medium potatoes sliced 2 cups water Salt to taste 3 tbsp Oil 1 teaspoon ginger paste 1 teaspoon garlic paste 2 teaspoons coriander powder 1 teaspoons cumin powder ½ teaspoon tumeric powder 1 teaspoon pepper powder Heat the oil in a large, wide pan . Add the onions and sauté for a few minutes. Remove half the quantity of onions and keep aside. Add the meat and stir-fry for 10 minutes until the pieces turn brown. Reduce heat to medium and add all the other ingredients except the potatoes. Mix well. Add the water and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Add the potatoes and salt to taste. Stir and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked. Now add the pre fried onions and mix well into the Steak

CHOCOLATE RUM CAKE WITH FRESH CREAM TOPPING

Serves 6
Preparation time 1 hour
Ingredients

250 Grams Plain Flour / Maida
250 grams soft brown sugar
3 Eggs Beaten
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sunflower oil or any other cooking oil
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
4 tablespoons Rum
200 grams fresh cream
3 tablespoons icing sugar
10 walnut halves

Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder into bowl. Mix in the brown sugar. Add the beaten eggs, rum, oil, a little milk, and vanilla essence and mix well to a smooth batter. Pour into a greased and papered cake tin and bake for 1 hour in a slow oven or until the case has risen well and brown on top. Set aside to cool then remove from the tin.

Beat the Cream, Icing sugar and the remaining milk until thick and creamy. Pile on top of the cake and smoothen with a spatula. Decorate with the walnut halves.

PORK CHOPS & MASH POTATOES


Serves 6
Preparation Time 1 hour

½ kg good pork chops
2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 large onions sliced finely
2 or 3 green chilies sliced lengthwise
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon chilly powder
1 teaspoon spice powder or garam masala
1 teaspoon pepper powder
Salt to taste
2 Tablespoons tomato sauce / ketchup

Wash the chops and marinate them with the ginger garlic paste, pepper powder, spice powder, vinegar, chilly powder and salt for about one hour. Heat oil in a large pan and sauté the onions, and green chilies for a few minutes. Add the marinated chops and tomato sauce / ketchup and mix well. Simmer for a few minutes. Add sufficient water and cook till the chops are done and the gravy dries up. Garnish with onion rings.

MASH POTATOES
Preparation Time 45 minutes
Ingredients

6 large potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoon pepper powder
salt to taste

Method
Wash the potatoes and cook till soft.Remove the skins and mash well. Add the butter, pepper and salt and mix well. Serve with toast and Pork Chops

EGGLESS TEA CAKE

Serves 6 Preparation time 1 hour
Ingredients

200 grams flour / maida
200 grams butter
1 tin condensed milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon soda bicarbonate / baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Sieve flour, baking powder and soda bicarbonate together and keep aside. Mix butter and condensed milk together. Add vanilla essence. Slowly add the flour. Beat lightly till well mixed. Pour into a greased baking tin and bake in a moderate oven for about 25 minutes.