Bring out the chef in you by trying out these easy recipes
It is important to remember that the goal of trying out new recipes is to have fun. The outcome doesn’t have to look pretty, the item just needs to be edible.
Cake in a cup
What it is: Just as the name suggests, this recipe involves baking a cake in a cup. The best thing about this recipe, and most of the recipes on this list, is that you can ‘bake’ this cake without an oven.
What you need for a chocolate cake in a cup
Ingredients
NB: The amount to use will depend on the size of the cup, these instructions are for a normal teacup
1 ½ spoonful of self-rising flour (You can use the normal flour and use a teaspoon of baking powder)
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 pinch of salt
1 ½ spoon of milk or water
½ spoon of vanilla essence
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil/coconut oil
4 pieces of chocolate
How to mix
Put the dry ingredients first (except the chocolate) all together in the cup and mix thoroughly. Then gradually add the wet ingredients until they are all smoothly mixed. Top it all off with the chocolate pieces.
How to cook
Pour some water into a sufuria, make sure the water covers at least three quarters the height of the cup.
Pour the cake mix into the cup (do not fill the cup) and cover the cup with aluminium foil. In the sufuria, place a kitchen towel at the base and place the cup with the cake mix on top. Cover the sufuria and steam for 20 minutes to 25 minutes.
Pan pizza
What it is: This refers to a pizza cooked in a pan. Usually, pizzas are cooked in an oven but with this recipe, you can use the same pan you use for chapos for a pizza instead.
What you need for a Spicy Margherita pizza
Ingredients
Base
1 cup of self-rising flour
1 tablespoon of salt
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
¾ cup of water
Sauce
1 large red onion, finely chopped
2tsp oil
1 grated clove of garlic
1 70gram pack of tomato paste
1tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
½ tsp chilli flakes
1tablespoon parmesan, grated
1 finely grated green capsicum
Topping
Grated mozzarella
A handful of washed dhania
How to cook
Sauce
Cook the sauce as you would a normal stew. In a small sufuria pour in the oil and add the finely chopped onions. Let the onions cook for a minute or two then add salt and grated garlic. Let the garlic brown before adding the tomato paste, pepper and chilli flakes. Allow the sauce to cook and thicken for a minute or two before adding the grated capsicum and parmesan. Let it cook for a minute as you stir before removing from heat.
Base
Consider this the same as making chapati dough. In a bowl, mix the flour and salt then add the oil and water until properly mixed. Knead the dough until smooth then using a rolling pin, flatten the dough until slightly thin (it will rise while cooking) and can fit into a pan.
Lightly heat the vegetable oil on a pan before placing the base on the pan. Cook the base for about 8 minutes on minimum heat. Then flip over the base and let it brown for a minute before flipping it back over.
Add the sauce generously to the top and add the mozzarella pieces on top. Put a lid on the pan for a minute to let the cheese on the top melt.
When done, sprinkle the dhania on top and enjoy.
Sweet potato fries
What it is: Instead of eating boiled sweet potatoes, you can put a spin to them by frying them. All you need to do is chop them into thin chip-like slices and fry them.
How to cook
With this recipe, you have two options, you can either boil the sweet potatoes before frying them (this makes the cutting into pieces easier as sweet potatoes are harder to cut and peel than normal potatoes) or you could brave it and just peel and chop after washing them. Once they’re chopped, cook them in hot oil till they begin to brown.
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