Have you soaked your dry fruits for Plum Cake this Christmas ? No !! Then it is still not late, Do it now..

Hi Friends
This time no excuse for not baking plum cake at home. Consider this post as reminder call to soak the dry fruits in Rum now.. I know I am also a month late to do so but it is fine we still have two months for the fruits to get absorbed in rum.
Here comes the step by step instructions.
All the dry fruits mention below needs to be chopped same size as tutti fruity.

1. Cashew Nuts : 1 1/2 cups
2. Orange peels : 1  1/2  cups
3. Tutti fruity : 1 cup
4. Walnut : 1/2 cup
5. Black dates : 1 cup
6. Glazed cherries: 1/2 cup
7. Almonds : 1/2 cup
8. Golden raisin : 1 cup
9. Black raisin :1 cup

Place all the chopped fruits in bowl and add enough rum to cover all the dry fruits and let the rum level be around 2 inch above the dry fruits. Stir this mixture for the rum to reach at the bottom. Transfer this mixture in glass jar. I have store this mixture in steel box last year. You will need around two liter bottle to store this fruits. With this amount you can make approximately 6-8 kg of plum cake.

Many recipes calls for adding mix spice powder, caramel and orange zest along with all dry fruits but this is my way of making plum cake. I do not add anything apart from rum in dry fruits. You can leave the jar out or in the fridge. I keep it  out for year or more than that. It does not get spoiled. The  longer you soak the dry fruit tasty your cake will be.

Don't forget to finish this preparation before the Christmas special class of this year (around 1st week of December 2013) where we will be using them.

Happy Baking !!!!

**Note: I will be posting more photos tomorrow as I was short of rum today :(

Indian Cooking Workshop with Foreigners at Cook and Bake with Deepali

Dear friends 

You must be thinking why they've been no updates from me for so many months. Lots of things were happening and changing in  life. I was bit lazy in taking out time to write for the blog. But I have one event to share with you that I'm sure you'll love to know about. It's 2 months late but better late than never, huh?

I held an Indian cooking workshop  for some foreigners on 2nd October 2012.  When I was approached for this opportunity, I was initially nervous. I  worried about being formal to them,  creating the right formal environment in the classroom (which I am not really used to  with my regular class). All my students become part of  my friend circle  and I'm not very  formal with them. Now don’t think that I am taking you all for granted!

I was quite  happy and confident about the menu I had planned  as all the recipes were

tested and tried, and  big hits in my usual classes. 
When the day arrived, hubby dear was very helpful as usual, trying to calm me down by telling me  to just go ahead like I regularly do; that I'm  good and not to  treat my new students any differently  from my regulars. He did advice me to talk slowly and so on. To a large extent, he managed to calm me down.

Finally, the session started and  my experience turned out to be totally different from what I was expecting. All the students were very casual. They were very keen to talk about and explore  the various flavors of Indian spices and cooking.  Some of them were so curious about the spices that they tasted all the raw masalas including chilli powder and kasuri methi!

When I started frying pakoras they couldn't resist themselves.  None of them had the patience to wait for plates and spoons and the dip to get started. What a relief! I was back on track at what I do best. I explained the intricacies and  nuances of Indian cooking. I felt like I was addressing children since I had to to get into the minute details of our traditional foods and taste. 

When the aroma of the Hyderabadi Dum Biryani began escaping from the pot, you should have seen the reaction of the group. They  were drooling and oohing in anticipation.
At that moment, I knew that my goal as a teacher was achieved.
The day turned out to be one of the most remarkable days of my life. 
Here are a few glimpses of the workshop for you to browse.