This is one of the hardest things ever to make. Takes hours, patience, an absurd number of ingredients. But once in a while, put on that apron and enjoy being a domestic angel for day and a half. I was taught it by an aunt who said it would bring me many husbands. It did bring me two. And one even stayed.
I have adapted this one from a lovely recipe book called Cooking With My Mother-in-Law by Simon Daley and Roshan Hirani. Believe it or not it is simplerthan the one Aunty taught me.
1 tbsp vegetable oil for greasing
14 oz corase semolina
4 oz besan, chick pea flour
12 fl ozs plain yogurt ( not creamy or Greek)
8 fl ozs vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp crushed ginger/garlic
3 green chillies fairly hot
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 carrot
2 onions
1 red pepper
1/4 finely sliced white cabbage
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh coranider with the stems
2 oz frozen peas
2 tsp castor sugar
Juice of 1 lime
2 tsp salt
3 tsp mustard seeds
12 curry leaves
1/2 tsp asafoedita
2 tsp baking poweder
1/2 tsp Enos Fruit Salt ( you cab get them at good Chemists shops)
1 tabps sesame seeds
(PHEW! Told you. I am exhausted already)
Oil a 9 inch cake tim or better still line with parchment paper and grease under and over that.
Mix the besan, semolina, yogusrt and half the oil.
Clean and chop all the vegetables, quite small
Chop the chillies really small
Add all the vegetables to the batter
with ginger garlic, chillies, peas, sugar, lemon juice and salt. Mix with your hands ( clean of course)
Heat the rest of the oil in a small suacepan until hot and add most of the mustard and cumin seeds, curry leaves and asofoedita
Turn on the oven to preheat to 200 degrees C or gas mark 5
When it starst popping pour into the batter
Add 2 fl oz of hot water to the mix and now beat witha wooden spoon.
Add baking powder and enos beat again quicky and pour into the prepared tin
sprinkle with the rest of the mustard and cumin seeds
bake for fifteen minutes then turn down the temperature to 180 degrees or gas mark 4
Cook for an hour and a half.
The cake should be be springy and dark brown on the outside. Do not burn.
Remove and cool before cutting into wedges. Great with yogurt or ketchup