Home.
Where we celebrate small victories
Laugh at mistakes
Love each other’s imperfections
Where bonds grow stronger

Home, a lovely feeling
Can be a chaos, a mess actually
Aspirations dwindle, yet, become strong
Heavy conversations take place on the kitchen counter with a sibling
Oh, the feeling of home…

When I think of home, I think of a few people who always make me feeling special, and accept me just the way I am. There’s no need to hustle and clarify. No one is judging with a telescope, pointing your flaws.

And the list includes Pooja, a neighbour of mine, who’s indeed a soul mate. I might meet her after months, but it always feels like we were never away. It’s such a bliss to catch up with her, and you almost feel like you’re home. And everything is great, again. Everything will be all right.

Last time I was in Surat, she called me to celebrate her Anniversary. Pooja brought a freshly baked cake from the kitchen, and you could see its hot air coming out. I enjoyed our quick meet, and the taste of the cake was in my mind for long! After a day or two, I had to ask the recipe of her cake. I was shy, but I still texted her. I didn’t want to miss out on this one.

And within minutes, she texted back the recipe. It was extremely simple, and I couldn’t believe the tiny list. When I came back to Gurugram, I tried it one busy morning, when we were planning to meet up a bunch of friends. There were so many lumps in my cake batter. I don’t have an electronic cake beater; so it didn’t help either. But, surprisingly, it turned out yum. Just like how Pooja bhabhi makes hers.

You know, as I’m turning older, I feel more attached to simple things. No frills, please. I like it plain, and that’s it. You can have 4 to 5 pieces of this cake, without feeling full. I can never do that with the fancy cakes. That’s the magic of this simple, homemade cake.

Make it this Sunday, and celebrate the little victory your family member or friend had this week. As that’s what matters.

Happy baking and happy bonding!

Recipe: Simple Whole-wheat Cake

Ingredients

2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup Malai (the layer of cream you see over boiled full-cream milk) – preferably room temperature, if you want to avoid lumps
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk powder
Milk, for consistency
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda

Method:

Mix the dry ingredients first, and then add the wet ones. Add milk slowly, to avoid a runny batter. Bake your cake for about 45 minutes at 180 degrees. If a toothpick comes out clean (when dipped in the middle of the cake), consider it ready. And, don’t forget to pre-heat your oven.

Note: The second time I made it, I added double the baking soda, and the cake was really fluffy. So, don’t go overboard with it, if you like a decent spongy cake. Also, you can taste the batter, if you want to adjust the sugar accordingly.

Wrote this post while listening to Sara Bareilles, hence this title (from the lyrics of her song, Good Yellow Brick Road).