This was one of those dishes that confused my parents.

It looked like a badjie pie, it smelt like a badjie pie but it was not a badjie pie at all.

They were so upset with me, when I served them this cake because they kept telling me that I forgot the sweetcorn when it fact there is no sweetcorn here but again the badjie pie confusion held strong.

This recipe does require some prep beforehand,  the dhal mixture needs to be soaked for a couple of hours, then ground and allowed to stand overnight to ferment. I will tell you that this is the first time I have made an Indian dish that required time to ferment. Boy was there a lot of bubbles waiting for me in the morning, when I opened the container .

After my parents got their head around the fact that no much how many slices they ate they were never going to get sweetcorn they seemed to enjoy the cake, light and fluffy and moist but not overly wet like a badjie pie and just one bite and it crumbles in your mouth.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 x cup pea dhal.
• 1/3 x cup red lentils.
• 1/3 x cup yellow moongh dhal.
• 1 x cup rice.
• ¼ x cup plain yoghurt
• ¾ x cup zucchini, grated.
• A bunch of red spring onions, finely chopped.
• 1 x green chilli, finely chopped.
• 2 x tsp ginger grated.
• 1 x tbsp. sesame seeds.
• 2 x tsp lemon juice
• 1 x tsp sugar
• 1 x tsp turmeric powder
• 1 ¼ x tsp salt.
• ½ x tsp baking powder
• ½ x tsp bicarbonate of soda.
• 1 x tbsp. oil.
• For tempering – a few curry leaves, 3 tbsp sesame seeds and 2 x tsp mustard seeds with 2 x tsp oil.

Method:

• Soak pea dhal, red lentils, moongh dhal and rice in water for 4 hours.
• Drain and then blitz with ½ x cup water to form a smooth paste.
• Pour into a container, mix in the yoghurt, cover and leave over night.
• Add in zucchini, onions, chillie, ginger, sesame seeds, lemon juice, sugar, turmeric powder, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda, mix well to combine.
• Make the tempering by heating the oil adding the mustard seeds and waiting till they start to pop before add the sesame seeds and curry leaves.
• Pour half of the tempering into the batter and keep the rest aside.
• Give the batter a good stir and then pour into a greased baking dish.
• Pop into a preheated oven and bake at 180 degrees for 30 – 40 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and immediately pour over the remaining tempering.