Basic butter cake

Basic butter cake

Ingredients 

1 cup butter

1.75 cups sugar - 

2 tsp vanilla extract

4 eggs

2 egg yolks (optional)

4 tablespoons sour cream (can be substituted with curd)

3/4 cup milk - add more if required.

2 + 1/2 cups of self rising flour (2 1/4 cups of flour, 1/4 corn starch, 2 teaspoon baking powder)

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup cocoa powder

pinch salt

If cocoa powder is not used, then reduce milk to 1/2 cup.

Procedure

Prepare pans - Cut parchment paper exactly the size of bottom of the pan. Grease whole pan (bottom + edges). Add parchment paper at the bottom. Grease the top of the paper. Then dust it with flour. 

Preheat the over at 350 C for 6 mins.

1. Sift self rising flour. Then take in another bowl as per measurement and sift again.
2. Sift sugar too. If you are using big granulated sugar, first grind it and then sift.
3. Add eggs, milk, vanilla extract together and hand whisk just enough to break the eggs. 
4. Put sifted self rising flour and salt on low speed of stand mixer. Add sifted sugar. Once incorporated add butter (cut 1 stick into 4 pieces). Keep it on for 2 mins for sandy consistency. Do not over blend to make it a paste. Add half of #3 while on low speed. Then increase the speed (6 on stand mixer) and put it for 2 mins.
5. Stop. scape the bowl. Add sour cream. And put it on low speed. Keep adding remaining half of #3. Add baking soda. 
6. Put it back on speed 6 and blend for 1 min.
7. Scrape the bowl, add cocoa powder and blend again for 1 min. Even if you are not adding cocoa powder, still blend it after scraping the bowl.

Pour mixture in prepared pans. For above mixture, use 2 rounds pans 9 inch in diameter and 3 to 4 inch in height. Never fill the pan more than half. That makes cake spill. 

Bake on 325 F for 50 mins. Depending on your oven power it could back anywhere betn 35 to 50 mins. So keep checking but DO NOT open the oven unless you are fairly sure that cake is baked. If you open the oven door in the middle of baking process, cake will sink and never rise again.

Upawas Cake By Minal

Colostrum 3/4 litre
Milk 3/4 cup
Sugar 1 and 1/4 cup
Pinch of cardemom powder
Panchamrut 1 tablespoon just put the curd a drop n not more than that
Ararot powder 1tspoon
Mix all things together till smooth texture
Keep in a container n keep in pressure cooker wid water
Remove the whistle
On medium flame cook for 5 to 7 min...check ...around in 10 min cake gets ready...let it cool in fridge for atleast 1 hour

Vishpala's Interview published in stock photography site called viewBug

My interview that was published on a stock photography site called viewBug
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Can you tell us about yourself and your background?

I am Engineer by profession and explorer at heart. I am part time techie, part time writer and part time photographer. I love to explore the world and equally love to share my experiences with world. My mind is always clicking the pictures that I pen in my articles. My camera is always at work taking beautiful pictures that are core to my articles. Together those make 'Speaking Lens’ - A tale of my unaccustomed photo journeys.

When did you first think about becoming a photographer?

Actually never thought of becoming a photographer, it just happened. I started taking interest in photography when I was in high school. But photography was a expensive hobby that time. It was the film era. So there was very little scope for trial and error. I didn’t have access to any dark room to do post processing. So it kinda halted there. But it was always at the back of my mind. And I picked up photography again after my graduation in digital era. Never looked back since then.

Where do you get your photographic inspiration from?

Inspiration that comes from within is the best inspiration and that is my main source of inspiration. But I do get inspired by looking at great photographs in print and digital media. I think all the photographers these days are blessed to have social media. Social media opens up a huge opportunity to look at great work done by many fellow photographers and get inspiration from them, learn from them. I think platforms dedicated to photography, like ViewBug, also present great opportunity to photographers to get inspiration from other’s work.

Do you have any influencers?

Yes, I think influencers play important role in developing photographer in you. To begin with I am greatly influenced by Ansel Adams. He is the biggest influencer to me as a landscape photographer. His work has a very special place in my heart. Besides that I am influenced by most of the National Geographic photographers, Marc Adamus, Michael Yamashita, Joel Sartore, Cory Richards, Jimmy Chin to name the few. I am also influenced by Tray Ratcliff’s unique style.

What is your favorite subject to shoot?

Landscapes! Landscapes talk to me. That little talk, which no one else can hear, helps me envision my photo before I shoot. So take it as landscapes with people, landscapes with wildlife, landscape with a small village in it and so on. And other are of interest is ‘Portraits’, mostly portraits minus people. I had hardly tried shooting portraits of people but I love to shoot portraits of flowers, animals and natural objects. Like portrait of iconic Half Dome in Yosemite National Park is one my favorite subjects to shoot.

What is your favorite gear to shoot with?

I am a Nikon and iPhone person. I have Nikon D810, a full frame and Nikon D7000, a cropped sensor. I am also a prime lens person. So I rarely go with zoom lenses. For landscapes I love my 14-24 mm Nikon wide angle lens for full frame (10-24mm for cropped one). I also shoot landscapes with 35mm and 50mm Nikon lenses. Next I have is 105mm specialty macro lens. It a fantastic lens to shoot closeups, wildflowers and for natural portraits too. I have Tamron 150-600mm telephoto for wildlife and or tight shots in landscapes. I also have Nikon 600mm super telephoto lens but I take that along only on exclusive wildlife shoots. On speciality side, I have Nikon 14mm fisheye lens to get ultra wide angle landscape and sometimes to add fun element of fisheye effect. I use natural density filters most of the times and UV filter almost all the times. I love my Manfrotto carbon tripod with ball head. 

I equally love shooting with my iPhone. It’s quick and easy to shoot and post process a bit while on the move. 

When you go in one of your travels, what do you take with you? Why?

I usually take all my gear with me when I travel. I believe in not leaving any lens behind! But when I have to hike or climb to shoot then i pick and choose the gear. I often times take only one camera body, wide angle lens, may be a 35mm or 50mm and all the filters. And tripod, of course. I don’t shoot handheld unless there is a pressing need to do so. I go by the rule of changing memory cards every day. So I pack lot of those along with at least 2 additional batteries. I also pack non-shooting accessories that complement my shooting stuff like flashlight, microfiber and remote shutter release.

How do you educate yourself to take better pictures?

I keep my eyes and brain open to see new things and to learn from those. I do not leave any chance of learning, whether I am at home or in the field. I regularly look at photos of all the great photographers I know of and that helps me educate myself. When it comes to the learning a specific technique or a tool, I usually read photography blogs or watch videos online. I also learn from National Geographic online courses. It is a great way to learn from the photographers who have captured many successful photos for years together. 

What it is you want to say with your photographs?

I want my photos to tell the story. I want my photographs to resonate to my viewers that they feel they are right there, in the photo, experiencing the moment. I want my photos to inspire people in different way. 

How do you actually get your photographs to do that?

Creativity is the key in photography. Photographer’s vision can make or break the photo. If I am sooting the subject from usual perspective, using ordinary angles and composition then I always need a surreal subject to grab my viewers attention. But if I get creative, think before I shoot, compose a photo with a story then a very ordinary subject can make an outstanding photo. That’s what I do when I photograph. I always envision my photo before I shoot. And unless my photo matches with my vision, I keep going back and shooting. 

B&W or color, what do you prefer and why?

Both. It really depends on what, when and how I am shooting. I started with color, like most of us do in the digital world. I got into black and white much later. Then I started reading Ansel Adams and got deeply interested in black and white. There wasn’t looking back later on. Now I days I post process almost all of my photos in color as well as black and white. On the other hand, I love shooting colors. I love shooting turquoise water, fiery red sky, subtle orange tinge at dawn, colorful trees of fall and fresh greenery of spring.

+ If you are using other social media channels, such as Instagram, Flickr, etc., and/or have a website, please provide us the links so we can promote your work!

www.speakinglens.com

http://instagram.com/speaking.lens/

http://www.facebook.com/Speaking.Lens.Photo.Journeys/

Vishpala's photography experience

I use Nikon D810 FX camera and variety of lenses ranging from ultra wide angle fisheye to super telephoto 800 mm lens. 

I always wanted to join photography school and learn it but full time/ part time/weekend learning or any other options were not feasible given I extensively used to travel for work. So I learned on my own. Watched YouTube videos, Tray Ratcliff has been one of my inspirations for his HDR technique. So I bought his video series on photography. Also bought National Geographic course - basic and advanced that comes with book and many video tutorials. And I still keep learning from various resources to hone/ enrich my skills. So in short, I am self taught. 

Looking at good photographs is also one of the most important aspects of being good photographer. Look everywhere on social media but Instagram is photography special. My current most fav photographer is Chris Burkard. 

One of my colleague in ThoughtWorks and I used to give photography lessons in British Library Pune in 2010/ 2011.  Then he moved out of Pune and I came here so we stopped. 

microwave-banana-cake-in-a-bowl

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/240891/microwave-banana-cake-in-a-bowl/

Green gram chutney

1 feastful green gram(5-6 spoons)
2 red chillies
2 small pods of unpeeled garlic
1 spoon grated fresh coconut
1 small spoon Tamrind paste
Salt

Preparation
Roast green gram on low flame till reddish colored
Slightly roast red chillies
Grind all ingredients together.

Alternatively we can use toor dal/ horse gram for this chutney

Wheat egg cake

250gm ata

250gm sugar powder or jaggery

250 gm any 1 veg( carrot bottle gaurd tomato orange apple or banana)

100 ml oil

100 gm butter

5 eggs

1n half tsp baking powder

Half tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla essence

Seieve ata , baking powder and baking soda ..twice

Beat eggs then add butter sugar powder and oil

Mix well and add 250 gm vegetable, add essence and sieved dry contents

Bake 170 -180 degree preheated for 35-40 mins

Tomatoes chutney

Tomato chutney recipe

Ingredients

10 small tomatoes/ 7 big tomatoes

1 onion

4 unpeeled garlic pods

1 cm cinnamon

1 cm ginger

1 cup fresh coconut

10 leaves of curry leaves

3 green chilies(as per liking)
Salt

Preparation

Saute all ingredients in 4 spoon of oil. Grind in mixie..add salt as per taste...do not add water..can refrigerate for 3-4 days

खजूराचा रस्सा

साहित्य - पाव किलो बिया काढलेला खजूर, चार-पाच मिरच्या, अर्धी वाटी ओल्या खोबऱ्याचा चव, थोडी चिंच, गूळ, मीठ, दाण्याचा कूट, कोथिंबीर, काजूचे तुकडे.

कृती - खजुराचे तुकडे करावेत. मिरच्या, ओल्या नारळाचा चव, कोथिंबीर, काजूचे तुकडे मिक्‍सरमध्ये घालून त्याची पेस्ट करावी. कढईत साजूक तूप घालून गॅसवर ठेवावी. त्यात खजुराचे तुकडे परतून घ्यावेत. त्यात तयार पेस्ट घालावी. त्यामध्ये सहा वाट्या पाणी घालून चिंच, गूळ, मीठ, दाण्याचा कूट घालून उकळी आणावी. 

रताळ्याचे वडे

साहित्य:- 
४ ते ५ रताळ्यांचा कीस, 
शुद्ध तुप, 
तळण्यापुरते तेल, 
चिमुटभर मीठ, 
२ मोठी वाटी उपवासाच्या भाजाणीचे पीठ 
१ ते दिड वाटी साखर, 
१ चमचा काजु, बदाम, वेलची पावडर 

कृती 
पातेल्यात मंद आचेवर तुप गरम करुन त्यात रताळ्याच किस परतावा. थोडा शिजत आला की त्यात साखर, काजु, बदाम, वेलची पावडर टाकुन चांगले खरपुस भाजुन घ्यावे. थोड थंड झाल्यावर रताळ्याचा किस, चिमुटभर मीठ उपवासाच्या भाजणीच्या पिठात मिक्स करुन चांगले मळुन घ्यावे. त्याचे छोटे छोटे वडे थापुन ते तेलात तळुन घ्यावेत.
सुचना:- जर गोड आवडत नसतील तर त्यात, हिरवी मिरचीची पेस्ट पण घालुन करत येतील.