Ara’yes- Crispy Mutton mince stuffed Pita

I have been sharing so many posts on desserts and cakes that I have actually started feeling guilty for doing so. It makes me feel so unhealthy especially because I am very particular about our daily eating habits, trying to make it as healthy as possible. I exercise daily and adopt portion control to satiate my sweet desires. In fact even the desserts I make are just for 2 portions, my daughter Vaanya and my husband Vishal. 

Since Baking is my prime love, I cannot help but keep experimenting some form of it in my tiny kitchen. This time I decided to try some Savoury baking. With Kolkata Food Bloggers ongoing event 'Bake Mania', I decided to experiment with an interesting recipe I came across while going through a book called 'The middle Eastern kitchen' by Rukmini Iyer. 

As I learnt from the book, Ara’yes is a simple and traditional Levantine recipe which has a crispy meat stuffed Pita bread. The traditional recipes call for the raw mince meat to be mixed with spices and then stuffing it in the Pita bread to be baked, grilled or toasted. The book, however, suggested to cook the mince meat first and then stuffing it. I followed the idea in the book of cooking the meat first. The basic recipe of the mince meat is the one that I keep making at home, a basic and homely mutton keema recipe. I made the Pita breads at home and kept them a little thin than usual because I wanted a more crispy Ara’yes. 

Vaanya, my daughter loved it more than anyone else. In fact, while I was taking pics I thought that she will not be interested in it but when she saw me taking a bite of it, she got inquisitive and after the first bite she demanded more of it. That obviously made me super happy and we ended up making a dinner meal out of it. I paired my Ara’yes with a hung curd dip to which I added chopped onions, tomatoes and fresh coriander leaves. 

Make it more spicier to suit your taste buds and enjoy this crispy meat filled sandwich. 

Recipe Source : Adapted from Rukmini Iyer's book 'The Middle Eastern Kitchen'
Meat filling

Ingredients :

• 300 gms Mutton mince
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped
• 1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tomato, grated
• salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tbsp refined oil

Whole Garam masala (Khada masala)

• 1" cinnamon stick
• 2 whole green cardamoms, slightly crushed
• 1 whole black cardamom
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 cloves
• 1-2 dry red chilli (de-seeded)
• 4 whole black peppercorns
• 1 tsp cumin seeds

Procedure : 

Wash the mutton mince and strain it to let the water drain out completely.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker and add the whole Garam masala (Khada masala). 

Now add the onions and cook on medium heat till they are brown in colour and nicely caramelized. 

Add the ginger garlic paste and cook till it leaves oil. 

Now add the mutton mince and stir it in well. 

It will leave some water. Keep cooking it on medium heat till the water evaporates. 

Cook till the mutton mince leaves oil. Now add the grated tomatoes and salt, turmeric powder and garam masala powder and cook for 5 more minutes. 

Add 1/2 cup water and close the lid of the pressure cooker. Cook for 2 whistles and then reduce the flame to low and cook for 15 minutes. 

Let steam escape naturally and if there is water in the mutton mince, reduce it on medium flame. 

Whole wheat Pita

Ingredients : Yields 4-5 pita breads

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• a pinch of sugar
• warm water for kneading (about 1/2 cup)

Procedure : 

Take flour, instant yeast, salt, sugar and olive oil in a bowl. Mix well.

Add warm water little by little and knead it to a dough using water as required. 

Take a greased bowl and put the dough in it. Cover it with a damp piece of muslin cloth and allow to rise for an hour or more or till it doubles in size. 

Heat a griddle or tawa.

Make 5-6" round pita bread from the dough and put on the griddle on low heat. Cook both sides and allow it to puff up by placing it on the heat. 

Alternately, bake the pita bread in a preheated oven (at 200 degree Celsius) for 10 minutes or till it puffs up. 

Cut them in halves. 

Ara’yes assembly : 

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

Grease an oven tray.

Take halved pita breads and stuff them with the mutton mince mixture.

Brush with butter or olive oil and sprinkle some salt on it. 

Place these on the baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes or till they become crispy. 

Serve with a dip made with hung curd, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes and chopped coriander leaves. 

This recipe is part of Kolkata Food Bloggers ongoing event called Bake Mania where our member Urmi Ghosh who blogs from Ume's Kitchen is the featured blogger of the week. 

Happy Savoury Baking
Amrita

Swiss Apple Roesti

Knowledge about food and food habits of specific regions intrigue me in a special way. My interest invariably lies in the understanding of the dessert of a particular region. The more I dig into it the more I realize that it such a vast area of interest, one which personally I am a big fan of. I keep hunting for dessert ideas from different countries and love to try them out in my humble kitchen. 
Swissotel, Kolkata had invited KFB for their Swiss National Day celebrations some time back. Celebration of such sorts are a great learning experience for us where we are exposed to authentic taste of the dishes and are educated about some traditional dishes from the region. We had the grand opportunity to have GM Mr Marco Saxer and Executive chef Mr Pranay Singh sit with us and talk about Swiss Food. Along with some other dishes discussed what enthralled me was the description of this dish called Swiss Apple Roesti. Mr Saxer was very particular about having this dessert on the menu and found a video on Youtube to help the chef make it. 
All of us were stunned by the simplicity and the flavours of this dessert. Crispy chunks of bread with apple pieces sauteed in French butter with a beautiful hint of cinnamon was truly a winner dessert for all of us. We were told that the French butter was specially imported for this dessert. It was served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and the dessert was drizzled with some vanilla sauce. 
I instantly knew that I just had to try this dessert at home. The high end French butter was replaced with the dairy white butter which is unsalted. Good quality red apples were bought for it especially and a loaf of brown bread was kept for 2 days to make it stale. The entire process takes hardly 5 minutes because all you need to do is throw in a large chunk of butter in the pan and get your bread crisped in it. Add in the chopped apples, sugar and cinnamon and you are done. 
The video is a must watch for the detailed and hilarious take on the traditional Swiss dessert. 
  

Recipe adapted from here : FX cuisine on Youtube

Ingredients : For 2 servings

• 1 apple
• 2 slices bread (stale) (I used brown bread)
• 50 gms white butter
• 2 tbsp powdered sugar(or more)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder(or less)
• handful of pomegranate kernels 

Procedure : 

Cut bread into bite sized squares.

Chop apples in bite size too after removing the seed and with the skin on.

Take butter in a pan and as it melts add the bread. Let it get crisp from both sides which can take 4-5 minutes.

Remove from heat and add the chopped apples and the powdered sugar. 

Mix in the cinnamon powder.

Sprinkle the pomegranate kernels on top and serve with vanilla ice cream. 

Happy Roesti Relishing

Amrita

Yakhni Pulao-Amma's recipe

Amma's recipes have always been a hit in our amateur kitchen. 

When I got married to Vishal, I had absolutely no knowledge or interest in cooking. My only experiments were in the oven where I would occasionally bake my Mum's cake recipe. The one that I love to call Comfort cake because that is one recipe I love to fall to which always yields the best and the most yummiest cake. 

Coming back to my non-cooking days, (you see I always get carried away when it comes to Baking) I was presented a handwritten register by my very sweet Amma (mother-in-law) who wrote down some selected recipes. That register has some simple and easy recipes which comes out exceedingly well. Amma had written a note of encouragement for me where she asked me to enjoy cooking and not be afraid of it as cooking is no rocket science. These lines have lived with me through all these years and encourage me to experiment and enjoy cooking/baking. 

Amma has such a treasure of simple, tried and tested recipes that often me and Vishal call her up for suggestions. Her simple instructions and easy to follow steps yield a winner recipe each time. So when we received a call from Zee Khana Khazana, Ab har koi chef, we simply called up Amma and asked her for a recipe with rice. Yakhni Pulao was thus experimented in our kitchen which, if I may say so, was lip smacking good in our maiden attempt.

We did enjoy 3-4 attempts of the recipe before we had to appear for the show and each time relished this simple and such flavourful dish.

Yakhni is basically a word for the flavourful stock that is prepared from meat which is then used to cook the rice. The usage of fennel seeds which is predominant in Kashmiri cuisine brings out an aromatic and delicious dish. The tender meat pieces along with the stock enriched rice makes a beautiful and delicious pair. 

Ingredients - Equal amount of rice and mutton is to be used.

• 500gms of Mutton (preferably chest portions having little fat or from front raan or combination of both)
• 500 gms of rice (Basmati rice)
• 1 inch ginger
• 7 garlic cloves
• 4 tbsp coriander seeds
• 3 tbsp of fennel seeds
• Onion 4 Medium 1 Finely diced and three sliced (to fry and garnish)
• Mint Leaves (to garnish)
• Ghee 4 tbsp
• Dalchini 1” (Cinnamon stick)
• Bay leaf (Tez patta) 2 medium size
• 5 green cardamoms
• Zeera 1 tsp
• 2 whole dry red chilies
• Salt to taste

Procedure

Wash mutton pieces well.

Soak rice in water for about half an hour.

In a pan fry the sliced onions and keep it aside on a paper napkin (to be used to garnish at the end)

In a pressure cooker take water little over 1 liter and put mutton pieces in. Put salt to taste (about 2-3tbsp)

Roughly crush and break garlic and ginger using a knife

Run Coriander seeds and fennel seeds in a mixer for three to four seconds to roughly break the seeds and release the flavor.

Mix the crushed Ginger & Garlic with the roughly blended coriander and fennel seeds and tie them in a muslin cloth.

Place the muslin cloth in the pressure cooker with mutton.

After one whistle over high flame simmer and let it cook for another 10-12 min.

Strain and retain the water.

Remove the muslin cloth.

In another pressure cooker put 4 tbsp of ghee and heat.

Put the combined Zeera, Bay Leaf, Daalchini, green cardamoms, dry red chilies for few seconds till they release their flavor.

Put finely diced onions and stir till the onions just about caramelizes.

Put in the mutton cooked in the pressure cooker earlier and mix gently for a couple of minutes.

Put in the rice which was soaked in water.

Gently fold the rice and the mutton pieces together.

Pour in the retained liquid from the pressure cooker cooked with mutton earlier. Ensure that the stock liquid is twice as much as the rice quantity.

Close the lid and after the first whistle simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

Let the pressure cooker rest till the remaining steam escapes in due time.

Serve in a dish of your choice and garnish with fried onions and mint leaves.

Happy indulging

Amrita

Mutton Pasanda-Amma's recipe

As a result of the unprecedented advancement in the information technology the availability of recipes and culinary information through the internet has brought about a new wave of food related interest, hobbies, readership and profession that could have never been imagined before. With a simple click of a mouse you have all the information about your food subject at your fingertips. The current generation has witnessed a new trend of 'foodology' through blogs, restaurant reviews, online courses etc. In fact, you can book a table in a restaurant through the internet through a simple click. It is hard to imagine our world today without the internet.

Our mothers and grand parents, however, never had the luxury of the internet world as we enjoy today. For them it was a painstaking effort, without any short cuts, to figure out and prepare dishes that have become more or less the signature dish of our families. They also didn't have the luxury of microwaves and other appliance to make cooking a little more convenient. It is majorly because of this that our mothers and grandparents are the true masters of the traditional cuisines and our source of inspiration. One secret ingredient was that all the dishes were made with a lot of love. 

Amrita and I have been so blessed to have the years of experience of our mother(s) at our disposal. We often spend a lot of time in the kitchen together which also strengthens our bonding. 

This simple mutton pasanda recipe has been handed down by Amma in Allahabad to my wonderful wife Amrita. Amma has also handed down to Amrita a big fat register filled with family recipes that she has personally handwritten herself. Its a priceless treasure filled with compilation of decades of tried and tested recipes.  In Amma's cooking there is always a sense of simplicity to everything genius she creates. We decided to give it a try at our Kolkata Food Bloggers 1st Birthday Party celebrations which was enjoyed by everyone.

           

Ingredients : Serves 2-3

• 1/2 kg Mutton Parcha from Raan (Ask your meat vendor to make parcha or thin strips from the meat. Ensure that there are no fat portions in the meat. Parcha is made by beating up the strip of meat)
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 50 gms thick curd
• 2 tbsp grated raw papaya
• 4 medium sized onions, sliced
• 1 tbsp besan/gram flour
• salt to taste

Masala:

• 3-4 laung/cloves
• 2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
• 2 dried red chillies, deseeded
• 1" piece of dalchini/cinnamon stick
• 4-5 golmirch/black peppercorn

Garnish:

• mint leaves 
• onion rings

Procedure : 

Dry roast all the ingredients under the masala section and grind them finely. 

Wash the mutton and marinate with curd, grated raw papaya, ginger garlic paste, salt and the ground masala. Keep it aside for 1-2 hours or as long as possible(even overnight).

Peel and cut the onion in half. Slice them in cross section as shown below. This helps the sliced onions to break up easily for frying. 

Heat oil in a karahi/deep pan and fry the sliced onions until their are golden brown. Drain on a paper napkin and keep aside.

Heat oil in the same vessel and add the marinated mutton. Cook for 5 minutes and then add the fried onions.

Cover and cook in medium heat for 15-20 minutes or till the meat is done. 

Dry roast besan in another pan and add to the mutton and mix well.

Garnish with onion rings and mint leaves.

Served best with plain rice or chapati/parantha.

Happy relishing

Vishal

Mini Mug Gingerbread house

As a child, I,  like many others was always fascinated with the witches house in Hansel and Gretel. I mean who will not fancy a house made of Gingerbread  and cakes with candies and chocolate all over. Having never tasted a Gingerbread cookie and a long hidden desire to put my hands on a gingerbread house, made me decide to try these adorable mini Gingerbread houses. These can perch on your mugs and look very cute. 

I added my own touch to these cookies by adding Nolen gur in the dough instead of normal jaggery. Not being a big fan of ginger myself, these cookies are not overpowering with the ginger taste (as I always thought). In fact, the spices along with jaggery and honey gives it a very unique flavour. 

Ideally the Gingerbread house calls for the use of Royal icing to join the pieces together. Having my own constraint of not wanting to use raw egg whites, I decide to try a basic icing where icing sugar is diluted to required consistency with some lemon juice and/or milk. The Gingerbread house required heaps of patience as the pieces were so fragile while joining and would fall apart. I had to join them again and again and finally said a short prayer and left them to dry. Thankfully they held themselves together finally. 

I also made some Gingerbread men with the leftover dough and decorated them with the same icing. 

Recipe source : Adapted from Taste.com.au

Ingredients : For 5 Mini gingerbread houses and 15 Gingerbread men

• 50 gm butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup jaggery, grated(I used Nolen gur)
• 1/2 egg(Beat one egg in a bowl and use half quantity) 
• 1 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tbsp ginger powder(I used saunth-dry ginger powder)
• 1/4 tbsp cinnamon powder
• 6-7 cloves, dry roasted and powdered
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 8-10 black pepper, ground
• 1 cardamom, powdered
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

Icing:

• 5-6 tbsp icing sugar
• few drops of lemon juice
• little milk for diluting

Procedure : 

Gingerbread dough:

Take jaggery and butter in a bowl and beat till pale and creamy. 

Mix in honey and egg.

Sift flour, ginger powder, all spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the bowl.

Knead dough using hands till it comes together smooth and soft. 

Wrap in a plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius.

Roll out dough 1/4 " thick and cut out desired shapes form it.

I used my Gingerbread man cutter and a template for the Gingerbread house.

Place on a butter paper/parchment lined baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes or till they brown well.

Allow to cool.

Icing:

Mix icing sugar with few drops of lemon juice and some milk to get a thick consistency good enough for piping. 

Fill a piping bag/Ziplock/plastic bag with this icing and snip off the end.

Make desired design on all the pieces.

Use some icing to stick colourful sprinkles on the cookies.

Leave to dry.

Use the same icing sugar as a glue to join pieces of the gingerbread house.

Note : 

• Cut out the template on a piece of thick paper/cardboard and use it to cut out shapes from the dough.
• Keep a check on the cookies while baking to prevent overbrowning.
• You can omit the egg and use some milk for kneading the dough. 
• The joining of Gingerbread house pieces require some patience and precision as the house can fall apart. After fixing the pieces let it dry completely before touching.

Sending this recipe to 'Kolkata Food Blogger's ongoing baking event 'Baking Palooza 2013

Happy Mini Gingerbread house enjoying
Amrita

Swedish Cinnamon rolls/Kanel Snegle

I have been out from Kolkata for almost two weeks now and have been enjoying an amazing and relaxing time in Allahabad. Vaanya is enjoying the most having found a friend in Tunnu, our kitten. Its a visual treat to see Vaanya and Tunnu play and enjoy each other's company. Vaanya teases her by pulling a piece of rope and Tunnu tries to catch it which she finally does by jumping on it. Tunnu loves to sneak upto Vaanya and play with her shoe. 

I have been enjoying doing nothing and spending some quality time with Vaanya and enjoying some amazing and yummy food made by Amma. With Christmas nearing I had a tough time gearing myself for some bakes and finally managed to do so by attempting these Swedish Cinnamon rolls which was part of our November 'We Knead to bake' Challenge. It came out exceedingly well with the amazing fragrance and flavour of Cinnamon and the beautiful hint of lemon. I shaped them like a Christmas tree for some fun holiday bake.

Recipe source : Aparna

Ingredients : makes 16-17 rolls

Starter:

• 3/4 cup warm milk
• 1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Dough:

• All starter
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 cardamoms, powdered
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1/2 cup sugar, powdered
• 45 gm butter, at room temperature

Filling:

• 55 gm butter, at room temperature
• 6 tbsp granulated sugar/brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/4 cup almonds, blanched, dried and coarsely powdered

Topping:

• milk for brushing
• granulated sugar for sprinkling

Procedure:

Mix all ingredients under starter into a sticky dough. Place in an large oiled bowl, loosely cover it and refrigerate overnight. 

The next day take it out and leave for 30 mins to come to room temperature. 
Tear the starter to large pieces and place in a bowl.
Sift flour, cardamom and salt and add to the starter.
Mix in lemon zest and sugar.
Now add butter and knead till you get a smooth and elastic dough.
Roll the dough to a rectangle roughly 20x12". 
Make filling by mixing butter, sugar and cinnamon powder.
Spread the filling all over the rolled dough.
Sprinkle the coarsely ground almonds all over.
Tightly roll the dough from the shorter end and cut into 16 equal pieces with a knife. 
Place them on a butter paper/parchment lined baking tray. I placed 11 pieces together in a tree shape and put the others on the sides. 
Let them rise for 10-15 mins.
Preheat oven to 200 degree Celsius.
Brush them with milk and sprinkle sugar on top.
Bake for 15 mins or till they brown well. 

Notes:

• You can use brown sugar for sprinkling on top for a better looking roll.
• The lemon zest adds an amazing flavour to the rolls, so do not consider omitting it. 
• Blanch almonds in boiling water for 2 minutes and remove the skin. Dry roast in a pan on medium heat. Cool and grind to get ground almonds.

Sending this recipe to Kolkata Food Blogger's ongoing baking event 'Baking Palooza 2013'

Happy Cinnamon rolls relishing
Amrita

Mummy ke Sauce Wale Chhole

Know your Kolkata Food Blogger's event comes to an end with a big bang as I proudly present a very learned and experienced blogger Indrani Dhar who blogs from Recipe Junction. I got the oppurtunity to meet her quite later and have known her as a busy Mother of three beautiful children who balances her real life and blog life with elan. Her blog is a reflection of the loving and caring person that she is with recipes that are tried, tested and approved by her family. 
I had the most difficult time trying to choose one single recipe as her blog is enriched with several interesting and yummy recipes. I finally chose to recreate her Punjabi Chhole recipe which can be viewed here
Coming from a Sikh family, Chhole has been staple to our diet along with Bhaturas and sliced onions. But today I wanted to share my mother's no fuss and very yum recipe which we lovingly call Sauce wale Chole. After the initial boiling of the chole/chickpeas, they are tempered with very simple ingredients and then are mixed with some tomato ketchup which gives the unique yummy flavor. 
I love to have them with hot puris and some tamarind chutney. That is my absolute favourite Savoury side!

Ingredients: Serves 2-3

• 300 gms Kabuli chana/White Chickpeas
• 1 Tej patta/Bay leaf
• 1" dalchini/cinnamon stick
• 2 laung/cloves
• 1 badi elaichi/black cardamom
• Salt to taste

Tempering :

• 1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped
• 2 medium sized tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp garam masala powder
• a pinch of turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp tomato ketchup

Garnish:

• Ginger julienne
• chopped Coriander leaves

Procedure :

Soak kabuli chana/chickpeas in water overnight.

Boil the kabuli chana in a pressure cooker with salt, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, black cardamom and cloves with water that should be 1" above the ingredients. 

After 1 whistle, reduce the flame to low and cook for 25 minutes.

Take oil in a pan for tempering and add cumin seeds. As they start browning, add the chopped onions. Cook till they turn brown and then add the chopped tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes till the oil starts separating. 

Add turmeric powder,red chilli powder and garam masala powder.

Now add the boiled chickpeas and stir well. 

Cook on high flame to dry the water. 

Add tomato ketchup and stir well.

Adjust seasoning. 

Garnish with ginger julienne and chopped coriander and serve with hot puris, tamarind chutney and sliced onions

 

Happy Sauce Wale Chhole enjoying

Amrita

Tres leches Cake-the Indian way

 

Daring Baker's challenge for this month was hosted by Inma from la Galletika who challenged us with a very popular Central and South American cake called Tres Leches (pronounced tres ley-chays) A Tres leches cake is a basic sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk- evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream/milk. It is a very light cake with air bubbles which comes from the beating of egg whites. This cake has no butter/oil and rises without the use of baking powder. This distinct texture is why it does not have a soggy consistency, despite being soaked in a mixture of three types of milk. Traditionally it is garnished with whipped cream and fresh fruits.

A Tres leces was on my list for a long time and I was really happy to see it as this month's challenge. The three milk concept sounded very Indian to me like the Rabri we use. I decided to make it myself and chose a fairly simple way to do so. I decided to opt the Indian way of garnishing it and did so with the use of edible silver sheets, chopped pista and rose petals, just as how we see it done on Indian sweets. The sponge cake was such a winner. The soaking part left me in doubts about the cake getting soggy but its surprising the way this cake holds it shape. 

The cake was declared a winner in terms of texture, taste and presentation by my family. A keeper recipe for sure and a must try for the coming festive season.

Ingredients : Serves 5-6. I halved the recipe and modified it

Sponge cake

• 2 eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup sugar, powdered
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

Three milk syrup (Tres leches)

• 5 cups milk, divided 2+2+1
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 small stick cinnamon
• 1 tsp rum (optional)

For Garnish :

• Edible Silver sheets/Silver Warq
• Red rose petals
• Chopped Pistachio

Procedure:

Three milk syrup(Tres leches)-homemade

Take milk in a thick bottomed pan and boil it. 

Remove 1 cup and keep aside. This is the boiled milk.

Let the remaining milk simmer on low heat for 20-25 mins till the quantity is reduced to half and water has evaporated from the milk. This is the evaporated milk.

Remove half the quantity of this evaporated milk and keep aside.

Add 2 tbsp sugar into the remaining milk and let it simmer for 10-15 mins till you see the colour changing to light brown. This is the condensed milk. 

Now add the evaporated milk and boiled milk to the pan with cinnamon and let it simmer for 4-5 mins. 
Allow to cool. Scoop out the cinnamon stick and add rum(optional)

Sponge cake

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius. Grease and line a 6x6" square pan. 

Take egg whites in a clean bowl and whip with an electrical beater for 3-5 mins till you get soft peaks. Now add sugar in batches and keep whipping till stiff peaks form(5 mins). 

Take egg yolks in another clean bowl and whip for 5 mins till they are pale coloured. I used the same electrical beater. Stir in vanilla essence. 

Pour egg yolks over the egg whites and very gently fold them in till just combined. Do not beat vigorously as that will remove all the air bubbles from the eggs.

Fold in flour little by little in the form of rain and gently incorporate in the batter till just combined. 

Pour batter in the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the middle come out clean.

Allow the cake to cool.

Poke all over the cake with a fork to make holes.

Pour the prepared three milk syrup all over the cake. I put my cake back in the same pan and poured the syrup for the cake to absorb. Take care to pour on the sides too. 

Refrigerate overnight (preferably) or for 2 hours. Do not worry the cake will not get soggy.

Slice and serve.
Traditionally garnished with a layer of whipped cream and fresh fruits, I did mine the Indian way and put a layer of edible silver sheet and sprinkled chopped pistachio and rose petals. 

My Darling daughter at help

Happy Tres leches cake eating

Amrita