Super Moist Spiced Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cloves powder

1/2 teaspoon ginger powder

2 cups fine white sugar
4 eggs separated
1 cup vegetable oil
4 cups grated carrots or 500 gms
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp vanilla essence

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 C and prepare two 9" pans or one 11" pan
2. Beat together sugar and egg yolks till it is pale and drops in a ribbon form
3. Add vanilla, oil and carrots and stir till well combined.
4. Sift together, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda.
5. Stir dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
6. Beat egg whites separately with 2 TBS of sugar till soft peaks form.
7. Gently fold eggs whites into the cake batter till white traces of egg whites disappear but taking care not to overmix.
8. Stir in walnuts and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

Cream Cheese Icing:
8oz Package cream cheese
2 cups icing sugar
2 tbs butter

Blend together butter and cream cheese. Add sugar till icing reaches a stiff and dry state. Refrigerate icing a little bit to get a spreadable consistency or pour as is to get a dripping affect and then refrigerate (like i did in the picture).

Whole Spice Potato Pulao (Steamed Fragrant Rice)

This recipe does not use any powdered masala and hence is very healthy for anyone on a spice free diet. The whole spice add a very nice fragrance. Its a small serving for 2 people, you can double the recipe for more...

Ingredients:

1 Small Onion chopped
4 green cardamoms
10 black pepper corns
1 tsp cumin seeds
3-5 cloves
1 black cardamom
1 piece cinnamon
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 large potato sliced
1 medium tomato chopped
3.5 cups water
1 cup rice
1 green chili slitted
1/4 cup oil

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a pan and add the whole spices. Once they start spluttering add the onions and fry till transparent.
2. Add ginger and garlic paste and fry for a few minutes adding few drops of water till the raw smell disappears and the mixture is nice and fragrant.
3. Add potatoes and fry for 3 minutes
4. Add chopped tomato and fry over low heat till tomato juices dry off a bit.
5. Add water and green chili and bring to a boil. Add rice and let them cook over high heat till rice come up to the surface of water. Cover and let simmer over low heat for 10-15 minutes.
6. Serve as is or as a side to any kind of chicken entree.