Cucumber cake (or 'dhondas')

This is something which my mother has been making for us since our childhood and has been my favorite from that time. It may be made as a dessert but as kids we used to eat it as a kind of snack.It is a konkani/goan dish.

Ingredients :

• 1 Cucumber (the long and big one which generally has bigger seeds) 
• grated jaggery (roughly equivalent to the half the amount of grated cucumber)
• Rice rawa / idli rawa about the 3/4th as the grated cucumber. (even upma rawa can be used though it may not taste as good as rice rawa)
• salt (for taste, 1 pinch is generally enough)
• cashews and sliced almonds (for garnishing)
• ghee/unsalted butter (about 1 spoon)

Method :

• In a frying pan add 1 spoon of ghee/unsalted butter and  pour the rawa into it. Roast the rawa on medium heat till it turns light golden brown.
• Mix the grated cucumber and jaggery well and add a pinch of salt to the mixture.Add the roasted rawa to this mixture.
• Heat the mixture in a vessel (alternatively you can use the pressure cooker) till the jaggery all melts.
• Add the cashews and sliced almonds (you can also add some grated coconut if you like)
• In a baking pan apply a coat of ghee/unsalted butter and add the mixture to it . Add some more cashews and almonds as garnishing.
• Keep the baking pan in the oven (you can also use a normal microwave as it is not essential to grill this cake) and bake. Around 10 minutes time is generally sufficient. But, to be sure you can insert a knife or fork in the cake and see if it comes without anything sticking to it. This means that the cake is ready. Give it some time to cool off and your dessert is ready :)

Baked Vegetables

I am not a much fan of non-Indian dishes. But a friend of my mother-in-law had prepared this and i loved it so much that asked her to give me the recipe and prepared it. It turned out really well. So, thought of posting it here.

Ingredients :
  500ml toned milk
  3 tablespoon wheat flour
 1 cup mixed boiled vegetbles (cauliflower, potatoes, peas)
 1/2 cup boiled sweet corn
 1 green pepper/'mirch' (cut into very small pieces)
 1 onion (chopped)
 1 tablespoon of butter / vegetable oil
 1/4th tablespoon black pepper
 salt (as per taste)
 cheese (3 tablespoon)

Method :
Mix about 3 tablespoon of flour with milk and make a thick paste (mix well to avoid lumps).
Heat the butter/vegetable oil and fry the chopped onion in it (till the onion becomes translucent).
Add the green pepper to the fried onion. Mix the flour paste with remaining milk and add the mixture to the fried onion and peppers. Stir the mixture continuously till it becomes thick. Add 2 tablespoon of cheese and all the boiled vegetables to the thick mixture and mix it well. Add salt and black pepper and boil it.
 When the mixture starts boiling, pour it in a microwave safe container. Add cheese on the top. Grill for 10-15 minutes ( I grill till the cheese on top turns brownish )