Renus Kitchen

Call it Depression Cake or War Cake or Wacky Cake Depression cakes originated during the time of Great Depression when ingredients were in shortage. Our recent pandemic has created similar situation. Hence this recipe comes handy when you don’t have enough ingredients in your pantry. I was quite skeptical of the outcome as the recipe excluded oil and sugar.....and to my surprise the cake came out soft and perfectly moist. You will not believe it’s 0 oil cake!   On the sweetness side, I thought it wouldn't hurt to add some sugar to satisfy my sweet tooth !!  Ingredients All purpose flour - 1.5 cup Whole wheat flour - 0.5 cup Baking powder- 1 tsp Baking soda - 1 tsp Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp Nutmeg powder -1/4 tsp Salt - 1/2 tsp Date paste - 1/2 cup Brown sugar - 1/2 cup ( optional, but I recommend it as my bread didn’t turn as sweet as I would have liked) Milk - 1/2 cup Apple sauce - 1 cup Vinegar - 1 tsp Vanilla - 1/4 tsp Raisins - handful Method Da...

Ingredients Muthiya - see the recipe here Tomato - 2.5 Ginger - 1.5 inch Green chillies 1-2 Coriander powder - 2 tbsp Turmeric - 1 tsp Salt - to taste Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp Cumin - 1 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp Water -3-4 cups Method  Purée tomatoes, chilies and ginger Heat oil and add cumin seeds and mustard seeds and let it sizzle. Pour the tomato purée along with turmeric , coriander powder and salt Cook the tomato paste till it reduces to paste Add water and boil. Next add all the muthiyas and simmer on low heat Muthiyas will absorb some water Serve hot with rice

Ingredients  Besan (chickpea flour) - 1-25 cups Wheat flour - 1/2 cup Spinach - 2 cups , chopped Yogurt (optional) - 2 tbsp Ginger - 1.5 inches, crushed Salt - to taste Turmeric - 1 tsp Cumin seed - 1.5 tsp Sesame seeds (optional) - 1/4 cup Green chillies - 2 Water - enough to make pancake like batter Vegetable oil for shallow frying Method  Mix everything and pour the batter in a greased pan. Steam for 10 minutes in instant pot or 20 minutes in stove top steamer. You can also microwave it. Once steamed , let it completely cool and slice Shallow fry the slices Enjoy the muthiyas with chutney or make curry Note : make these muthiyas in bulk and freeze. Thaw it when you want to eat next. 

Ingredients  Corn meal - 1 3/4 cups All purpose flour - 1/4 cup Sugar - 3/4 cup Oil - 1/2 cup Baking powder - 3/4 tbsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Milk - 1 cup Egg - 1 Orange zest (optional) - 1 tsp Method  First grind the cornmeal to get finer flour and then proceed to next steps Pour rest of  the ingredients in a blending jar and pulse to mix all the ingredients. Remember, the batter will be very runny and it’s OK Pour the batter in a grease loaf pan and bake at 350 F for 40 minutes or until the toothpick inserted comes out clean Cool and slice with a spread of warm butter Loved the citrus burst to this bread. Notes  Original recipe called for 3 eggs, 1 cup sugar and 1 table spoon of baking powder. I reduced the amounts and the bread came out soft and perfect sweetness. Make it gluten free by replacing 1/4 cup of all purpose flour with corn meal

Ingredients Sprouted moth beans - 2 cup Rice - 1/2 cup Rolled oats - 1/2 cup Ginger - 1 inch Onion - 1/2 cup Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Green chilies - 2 Salt to taste Method Soak moth beans for 8 hours and then leave to sprout for another 8 hours. Soak rice for 2 hours the day you wantt to make the dosa Grind all the ingredients and make a smooth bather with pancake consistency  Cook dosa as usual and serve with peanut chutney