How good it was this evening to hear that load shedding has officially been suspended till further notice. There is a good side and a bad side.

The bad side I went a tad bit overboard buying everything that was rechargeable and in bulk. From a few rechargeable battery operated fans to about 30 rechargeable battery operated LED lights, yes there will be light even in the black outs.

My father was just telling us this morning over breakfast that he is tired of load shedding, it is time for an invertor and you know Indian mothers… what do you need an invertor for? Load shedding if almost over, don’t waste money and true as bob they announced load shedding was over.

To celebrate this announcement I decided to bake something. I haven’t baked in a while. Although I do have a load shedding schedule for the times of when the power should go off, our area has been cursed by that substation that keeps tripping. Can you imagine the nightmare of baking and just as it starts to rise the power gets cut. NIGHTMARE.

I came across this recipe in Anjum Anand’s cook book and I was intrigued it had a combination of a few different methods that I have used in various other cakes. For example the adding of bicarbonate of soda last and then the steaming, that screams dokra and then the list on ingredients that scream badjie pie.

When I plonked this on the table my parents were under the impression that this was badjie pie, because it looked like one, it smelt like one but there was a few differences, I told them that this was badjie pie that had plastic surgery. What can I say, I kill myself sometimes with my humour.

The verdict, my mother loved it, my father, well he had a coughing spasm after one bite and told me his not a bird that he has to eat pumpkin and sunflower seeds and then accused me of trying to kill him by telling him it’s a badjie pie and not informing him that he will be required to chew… I am confusing him and his stomach. It will teach him for laying down and eating and not sitting at the table like a normal person to eat.

Ingredients:

• 1 x cup semolina.
• ¼ x chick pea flour.
• 1 x tbsp. crushed flax seed.
• ½ x cup plain yoghurt.
• 1 x onion, finely chopped.
• 2 x tsp ginger garlic paste.
• ½ x cup frozen peas.
• 1 x chilli, finely chopped.
• 1 x tsp salt.
• ½ x tsp turmeric powder.
• 200ml x water.
• 1 x zucchini, grated.
• 3 ½ x Tbsp oil.
• 1 ½ x tsp mustard seeds.
• 1 ½ x tsp cumin seeds.
• Handful curry leaves
• 2 ½ x tbsp. sesame seeds.
• 1 x tbsp. pumpkin seeds.
• 1 x tbsp. sunflower seeds.
• ¼ x tsp bicarbonate of soda.

Method:

• In a bowl, mix together the semolina, chick pea flour, flax seed, yoghurt, onion, ginger garlic paste, peas, chilli, salt, turmeric and half the water.
• Cover and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
• Add in the zucchini and the remaining water and set aside.
• In a pan, heat the oil, mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
• Allow to mustard seeds to start popping.
• Add the curry leaves, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds to the pan.
• Stir and allow the sesame seeds to lightly brown.
• Pour about half of the mixture into the batter and give it a good stir.
• Set the reserving seed mixture aside.
• Add the bicarbonate of soda to the batter and stir.
• Pour into a greased square cake tin.
• Cover the top with foil and pop into a preheated oven.
• Bake at 180 degrees for 10 minutes.
• Remove the foil and evenly spread the remaining seed mixture over the top.
• Pop back into the oven and cook for a further 30 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean.
• Allow to cool completely in the tin before cutting into squares.