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Cottage cheese cake - Paneer Cake : Perfect tea-time treat

A trip to Madras is incomplete without a drive to Pondicherry. Once, we took up a homestay and stayed over for a couple of nights - walking around the lovely streets in the French quarter, peering into some bookshops, boutiques, incense and candle shops while we were there. During a peek into one su

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 litre milk white vinegar paneer , - to make . 1 tbsps
  • 1.5 cups atta .
  • 1 tsp baking powder .
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda .
  • 1 cup sugar seeds cardamoms , or slightly less , ground with from . 3
  • 4 tbsps milkmaid .
  • 1 tbsp vinegar .
  • 1/4 cup tutti frutti in any colours .
  • 1/4 cup milk (if required).

Instructions
 

  • Bring the milk to a boil, add the vinegar and stir till milk splits to give paneer and clear whey. Filter out paneer and save the whey.
  • Preheat oven at 180 C.
  • Line 2 square tins of 12 cmX12 cm with foil or a loaf tin. Grease the foil with some oil.
  • Sieve the flour with the baking soda and baking powder.
  • In a large bowl, mash the paneer well with the oil, milkmaid. Add 1 tbsp vinegar, sugar-cardamom mix to this and half the whey water.
  • Add the flour in batches into the whisked wet ingredients. Use the reserved whey water and extra milk if required to get a batter consistency.
  • Fold in most of the tutti frutti, reserving some to decorate on the top of the cake.
  • Divide the batter into the two square tins or a single loaf tin, sprinkle remaining tutti frutti on the top.
  • Bake for 30 minutes (in case of two small tins) or 45-50 minutes for loaf at 180 C reducing the temperature after 20 minutes to 160 or so in case of square tins to prevent excessive browning of the tops.
  • Remove, cool in the tin itself for 15 minutes and remove out with the foil. Slice and serve warm.

Notes

Food-shopping in Hyderabad.
Where to buy Tutti-Frutti - Branches of Heritage- Fresh, QMart-Banjara Hills, branches of Ratnadeep.
Disposable aluminium foil baking containers available at most supermarkets - eg. Balaji Grand Bazaar in Road.