My long time readers know that I usually post pictures of my kids birthday cakes around this time. This year I took up a lot and made a very ambitious plan for the party. We had the party at home, in our backyard with water balloons, huge bubbles, big balls, dart games, piñata and more. Ayaan has been a huge fan of the series Super Why for last one year. He watches the show whenever he gets screen time and he loves books because of that. So he decided that he wants a Super Why cake. Ishaan came home with a Pokémon card few months back and then had a craze for the cards as well as the show Pokémon – Indigo league on Netflix. So that was what he picked for the cake theme when I gave him few options.
I knew Ayaan would love chocolate cake. So I picked this moist chocolate cake with chocolate frosting for him. He loved it so much that he ate it for 4-5 days till he finished the last morsel of cake. It was loved by all the kids as I had guessed.
Ishaan asked for vanilla cake. I wanted to try out something different. I tried this Italian sponge cake . I have never tried a cake without baking soda or baking powder. So this was totally different. I was very skeptic but it turned out very soft and tasty. I added a layer of buttercream and a layer of mango jam in between two layers. All the grown ups absolutely loved this cake. It tasted a lot like the pastries we get in India. I did not have time to make the figures, so I used some from his collection.
I picked simple dishes for the dinner which did not take too long. Every one of them came out really good. In all it was a fun and successful party. Here was the menu.
Pineapple Salsa
Greek chickpeas salad
Paneer hara bhara kabab and mint chutney
Chicken hariyali kabab
Biryani and raita
Spicy vegetable noodles
Methi or fenugreek is one of the things I did not care much when I was a kid. But now it has become my most favorite green. I try to include it in curries, dal, pulavs. It gives a very nice aroma and taste to any dish. This methi paneer is one of my favorite things to make with these delicious greens. Cashew paste gives it a creaminess. My kids love it. I sometimes add almond paste instead of cashew. Marinating the paneer cubes in spices and frying them gives a great taste to paneer cubes. Pictorial: Add spices and a little salt to paneer pieces and leave it around for sometime.
Heat a little oil and fry the paneer pieces. Take them out. Heat oil, add cumin seeds. Then add onions and ginger-garlic paste. When they are translucent, add garam masala, coriander powder, cumin powder, chilli powder. Add tomatoes, salt and fry till tomatoes are mushy. Then add chopped methi leaves. Add the fried paneer and cook for 7-8mins. Soak cashews in a little hot water. Make a paste and add it to the curry. Cook for 4-5 mins. Serve hot.
Methi Paneer
Ingredients
- 2 cups paneer cubes
- 1 cup chopped methi fenugreek leaves
- 1/2 cup onions
- 1/2 cup tomatoes
- 1 tea spn ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tea spn chilli powder
- 1/2 tea spn garam masala
- 1/2 tea spn cumin powder
- 1/2 tea spn coriander powder
- A pinch turmeric
- 2 tbl spn cashews
- Oil
- Salt
Instructions
- Add 1/2 tea spn chilli powder, turmeric, salt to paneer pieces and keep aside for 15-20mins.
- Heat a little oil and fry paneer for sometime. Take them off the pan.
- Heat oil, add cumin seeds. Then add ginger-garlic paste, onions.
- When onions turn translucent, add garam masala, coriander powder, cumin powder, chilli powder and fry for few mins.
- Then add tomatoes and fry till they are mushy.
- Add methi leaves fry very well.
- Then add paneer, a little water and cook.
- Soak cashews in hot water. Make a smooth paste.
- Add the paste to curry and cook well.
- Serve hot with chapatis or rice.
