SUGAR PALM FRUIT CAKE

 A SUNNY MORNING & I FEEL HOT!

This is the problem with my kinds, the bright Sun causes me discomfort; the rain makes me melancholic! I would again put the blame on our mother, she has shielded us from the rain, storm, sun even when we were adults! I lost confidence on the very self & became a pet of my own cosy home! I feel comfortable only within the warmth of my home! The reason why I wished to do something sitting in my own cosy corner! I just wanted the man to help me with ideas so I can earn decent sitting on my couch, he did not! I kept dreaming of making quality food videos, having lakhs of views on all of my social media handles & pay checks flowing in to my account! I tried with food delivery to the Bengali Homes in the island, I enjoyed it until it fetched me some regular income! The moment it became an irregular affair, I lost interest in it! Also it is difficult to handle weird behaviours of the clients! I thought the food delivery thing would be as simple as people ordering food & I delivering them, but the complications in between were disturbing for me! I am not the kind to understand anyone's psychology, then act accordingly! As compared to me, my brother's wife seems too desperate, how she handles a tense situation outdoor is commendable! Even the man's sister handles work & home, their parent's ailments pretty well! Once she asked me to settle some accounts with the hospital's admin their mother was admitted to, I got too nervous not knowing how to! I love flowers, never wished to become a soft, sensitive petal of it! If I could not upgrade myself from a good home cook to a good reel & video maker, who to blame for not getting that level of fame I wish to have? In the present day, if you cannot go with the trend, you are nobody! But I enjoy the exercise of sharing my blogposts all day given I am allowed to! Not in my wildest dream do I wish to break a rule!

I AM PRETTY OCCUPIED TODAY!

I would be cooking two sweets using mangoes! The season is gone, only the Mustafa Centre is selling a few varieties! I do not usually get mangoes from there, they do get a few varieties from India & Pakistan but they are stale! I prefer local shops' Thai varieties or buying from the Bangladeshi shops! How much I want regular supply of mango & Hilsa fish in our home! I made our son eat Hilsa regular, he did enjoy given I de-boned the pieces! He specifically loves Hilsa fish eggs! Now may be his food preferences changed! However, when mumma cooks & serves him homely desi food that he prefers, he does eat! That is the only hope I cling onto! If he does not marry an Indian Girl, would anything of the family legacy be carried forward? That I fear! There are exceptions, there keeps coming to my feed a Bengali [perhaps] Guy & his Italian spouse's funny reels, I enjoy watching how she eats roshogolla, sandesh, speaks our language! In this age of globalisation, this is not an issue at all, I do not know why I break my head thinking of these & who to give my saris & costume jewelries! I roam around alone all over the island, would sit & brood about all these! What else can an idle brain do? Yesterday was a Sunday, Cristine went off, the man is on tour; I walked to the Woodleigh Mall! Though the initial plan was to go to the desi area & have desi food, I tried the Marina Fish Burger meal at AW's All American Food, the bun had been pretty soft, the fish did not smell! I like curly fries more! I have never tasted Root Beer which comes with their meals, I preferred an Ayataka Tea instead! The prices there is more than in Burger King, but I would go there again for their waffle with ice-cream!

These are my simple joys of life, I would not remain such flexible when we go back to Kolkata, but we have to in few years! There life is different, commuting is not that easy! How  many times can you visit the same neighbourhood mall? I would be few years older by then, yet do not wish to lock myself in my home! Life should not be lived without activities, sitting all day unless we are 90+! 

WHAT IS THIS SUGAR PALM FRUIT CAKE?

We have always known it as Taal when ripe, Taal Shash when unripe, I required to know it's English name in the recent years! What I get is that it's common English name is Toddy / Sugar Palm, the unripe fruit is called Ice-Apple! Fritters made from the ripe fruit's pulp is the most common recipe among us Bengalis, also it's pudding! These days I see around various improvisation; "Taal er Luchi", "Taal er Cake", "Taal er Malpoa"! Off course, baking a cake with Sugar Palm extract is not my innovation, I might have come across it, cannot remember what the recipe was! I follow a simple recipe & measurements for my cakes, else I would fail to deliver decently! Sugar Palm / Toddy Palm / Taal / Taal Goda has it's own distinct flavour & taste; I added only the lemon zest to make this vegetarian cake;  SUGAR PALM FRUIT CAKE packed with natural flavours! It almost has the taste of the fritters, only the amount of oil used is less! But anyway, the traditionally made Toddy Palm sweet fritters is best to my taste buds! I am old school, though adaptive to an extent! Well, I am back from my walk, had this meal at a local 24/7 Muslim Eatery; a menu vada, a dal vadai, chilli-onion stuffed prata, sugar-free teh masala! They sell a variety of naan, prata, dosa, meat, egg, fish; idli in the morning perhaps!

INGREDIENTS :

RIPE SUGAR PALM FRUIT / TAAL : 1

BANANA : 1 OR 2 STANDARD SIZED

PLAIN YOGURT : 1 SMALL TEA CUP

REFINED FLOUR : 1 COFFEE MUG

BAKING SODA : 1/2 TSP

BAKING POWDER : 1 TSP

VINEGAR : 1 TBSP

SUGAR : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP [YOU MAY NEED MORE]

LEMON ZEST : 1 TBSP

OIL : 1/2 SMALL TEA CUP

PROCEDURE :

Sugar Palm is a fibrous fruit! We would wash it, remove the top & the skin! There are usually three segments! We would wet our right hand palm, take hold of one piece at a time & extract the pulp in this manner! We would wet our hands in between! Cristine did this tedious job for me!

We would mix together the refined flour, baking powder, baking soda!

In a blender, we would blend together the banana, toddy palm extract, sugar, oil, plain yogurt, add it to the flour mix!

We would beat it well & add the washed lemon zest, fold in well!

We would pre-heat the oven for 10 minutes at 180*C!

We would grease a cake tin with few drops of oil & pour the batter in it! We are to tap it lightly on the kitchen top!

We would put the cake tin inside, mine is a mini toaster oven, it took 50 minutes at 180*C for the cake to get baked to perfection!

Once done, we would let it cool & turn over onto a plate only to serve & have with chilled or hot beverages!