Vegan Banana carrot cake

My relatives had come.I wanted to showcase my baking skills.And I had a  few ripe bananas as also carrots. So I thought of using bananas as also carrots to bake a cake. And I decided to use flax seed meal to make it vegan.

Ingredients : 1 3/4  cup whole wheat flour,1/4 cup maida, 1 cup fruit puree ( 3 medium ripe bananas mashed & pureed with two small carrots ) , 1 cup jaggery powder ( Patanjali brand ) ,1 tbsp flaxseed powder soaked in 4 tbsp water ( soaked  for 15 minutes ) , 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda,some chopped walnuts ( optional ) , 1/4 cup oil,1/2 tsp elaichi or cardamom powder ( optional ).

Method : Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade .

Mix all dry ingredients that is mix whole wheat flour, maida, baking powder & baking soda with a spoon or whisk many timers over .This is dry ingredient mix.Keep it aside.

Take the banAna carrot mix puree.Add jaggery powder .This will increase volume of the puree .Add oil & soaked flaxseed meal along with the soaked water.Mix all things nicely. This is the wet mix.

Make a well in the dry mix & pour the wet mix into the well.Mix the dry & wet mix. Add water. I had to add almost half a cup of water to the mix to make it into a cake batter. Mix some chopped walnuts into the cake batter.

Line a baking vessel with butter paper. Pour the cake batter into the baking vessel.Tap the vessel to get rid of air bubbles. Garnish with walnut pieces on top of cake batter. Bake in convection mode at 180 degrees centigrade for 45-50 minutes or till a toothpik inserted in cake comes out clean.

During last 10-15 minutes of baking in convection mode,put off oven.Cover top of cake with aluminium foil & then bake in convection mode for remaining 10-15 minutes at 180 degrees centigrade .This is to prevent cake top from getting burnt.

After the 50 minutes baking, I bake in microwave mode for 5 minutes.

Cool the cake for 30-45 minutes. Put it upside down on a plate.Gently remove the butter paper from the cake bottom & the sides. Straighten the cake on the plate. Cut into desired shapes & serve.

I forgot to mix in the elaichi powder in batter.So I sprinkled on top of cake batter & it got burnt.This cake turned out great. Banana was recognisable .Carrots couldn't be detected.It was soft as well.And had a gorgeous crust as well !!

Goda saaru

Goda saaru is a simple soup recipe from Karnataka.It is in fact a rasam with a twist. It does not contain any dal or lentil. It can be a good accompaniment to moong dal khicdi or rice with ghee. This is so especially, when we would like to have alight dinner & even when ware suffering from a bad throat.

The sourness in this rasam or saaru as it is called in Kannada comes from tamarind paste .I have used kokum in this recipe as kokum is a good replacement for tamarind except that it is less sour than tamarind.

Ingredients : 6-7 kokum pieces, 2-3 cups water, 1/2 tsp black pepper powder, 1 tbsp  tsp ghee, 1-2 byadgi mirchi broken into pieces, 2-3 sprigs of curry leaves, 1/2  tsp mustard,  1/2  tsp jeera, 1/4 tsp haldi, 1/4 tsp hing, 1 tbsp gur or jaggery, salt to taste.

Method : Take a pan .Heat it. Add ghee. After it melts, add mustard.After they pop up, add jeera. followed by  byadgi mirchi & curry leaves.Add pepper powder.Add hing & haldi & mix all nicely. Add 2-3 cups water.Add kokum pieces.Add jaggery ( grate jaggery if jaggery is very hard or add by breaking jaggery into smaller pieces ).Let all come to a boil.Let it boil for 5 minutes. Add salt. Mix nicely.Let it come to one more boil so that salt has mixed nicely. Put off gas. Serve goda saaru with monng dal khicdi or plain rice with ghee. Goda saaru can be drunk just like that to give relief top sore throat.

Tomato Gojju

One of the food blogs that I  follow is Saffron Trail by Nandita Iyer.She is  a doctor by profession. The other day, she had posted tomato gojju recipe.I was tempted top make it as shes stated that this recipe is from Karnataka.I did make the recipe after asking my mom for the recipe.

The recipe became possible as there were quite a few small ( lemon sized ) tomatoes in the refrigerator.

Ingredients : 5/6 tomatoes  chopped  roughly, 1 tbsp chickpea flour or besan 1 tbsp oil, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds,1/ 4 tsp fenugreek or methi seeds,   1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp hing, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1-2 byadgi mirchi broken into 2-3 pieces each, 1-2  green chillies chopped,  a few curry leaves, 1 tsp jaggery, optional : 1 tsp or less of sambar or rasam powder or any everyday curry powder ( being used for making daily vegetable ) , salt to taste.

Method : Heat oil in a kdahai.Add mustard seeds.After they splutter add methi seeds.After they pop up , add jeera.Next add curry leaves & byadgi mirchi followed by turmeric & hing.Add tomatoes & mix all ingredients in kadhai.Keep cooking on slow gas flame. After 10-15 minutes, tomatoes will become mushy.Take care that the tomatoes do not stick to kadhai bottom.Add salt  to taste.This will make tomatoes all the more mushy. Add jaggery. Mix nicely.After five minutes, add the curry powder or sambar or rasam powder or combination of all three powders . Mix. Take 1tbsp besan & mix it with little water & make apste with no lumps in it.Add it to tomato spice mix in the kadhai constantly mixing with the spoon as it is being added to the kadhai. Keep stirring the spoon in the kadhai till the besan paste has become one with the tomato spice mix.Add more water if consistency is too thick. Bring the mix to a boil Put off gas. Serve with rotis and or rice.


This is  very tangy dish.And very easy & quick dish to make.Besan is added to make it thick.In other versions, soaked chana dal- tur dal mix is ground with coconut to make the gojju thick in place of besan.

I added more curry leaves as I had many of them in stock. One can add more chillies and even more curry powder as per  taste.Or it can be without curry powder .Or it can be with curry powder & no green chillies. Instead red chilli powder can be used.

Date oats energy bars or cake ? !

I wanted to use date paste which has been in my freezer.I thought, why not try some energy bars. I googled & liked this recipe of banana oats bars.And yet,I felt, that it became a cake .Rather, I would love to, hear, what you, my readers, think about this recipe ? Is it a cake or an energy bar  ?  You decide & comment.

Ingredients : 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup atta or whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup jaggery sugar, 1/4 cup maida, 1/2 cup date paste ( 1/3  cup tightly dates which have been soaked in water can be pureed & 1/2 cup of this paste can be used),  1/4 cup apple sauce, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, a pinch of salt,1tbsp unpolished white seasame seeds or til,  1/4 cup toasted walnuts ( toasted them in microwave by breaking them into smaller bits & warming them on high power for 1 minutes...repeated this  5-6 times ), 2 tbsp oil , water to adjust batter consistency.

Method : Preheat oven to 180 degrees centigrade for 10 minutes.

Mix all dry ingredients ...that is mix atta, oats, maida, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon Mix all these with afork or whisk many times over so that al;l become one. Keep aside.

Mix all wet ingredients  that is date paste, oil & apple sauce.I had to sue mixer to mix all these as date paste is very thick & does not blend easily by spoon or whisk etc.Add jaggery sugar.Jaggery sugar is added to wet mix as it is quite moist & it will make fruit paste like applesauce exude water. All this helps in making batter easily.

Make well in dry mix & put in the wet mix. Mix nicely. Since the wet mix was insufficient to get a batter, I added water ( nearly 1/2 cup ) .Mix all nicely to get a batter.Add the roasted walnut bits into the batter mix nicely.Add 1/2 tbsp seasame seeds.

Take baking vessel & line it on the inside with butter paper. Pour the cake batter into the baking vessel on the butter paper. Sprinkle top of the batter thus et in the baking vessel with the remaining 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds. Bake in oven at 180 degrees for half an hour .Insert atoothpick to check if cake ids done. Otherwise bake for 5-10 minutes more.

As has become my habit, I bake in microwave mode for 10 minutes after the convection baking time is over for any cake or bread recipe. Put off oven.Let it cool./Cool cake outside for more than half an hour. Put it upside down on a plate. Remove the butter paper sticking to the bottom of cake .Cut into desired pieces & distribute to  your loved ones !

The cake or energy bars were delicious. All loved them. I used Quaker brand oats as it is.I did not powder them even a bit.The dater paste remained in lumps n it showed up when slices of the cake or energy bar was cut .That gave it a lovely shaded  texture as well !

Khandvi

Khandvi , a popular dish from Gujarat is something that just melts in the mouth. It can simply be gulped down. Its that tasty !

I made this today, under my mother's supervision & control.I had made it earlier sans her supervision.

Ingredients : 3/4 cup besan , 3 cups chaas ( yoghurt diluted with water ) , 2 tbsp oil, 1/4 tsp haldi, 1/4 tsp  hing,1/4 cup ( loosely packed ) cleaned &  chopped fresh coriander, 1/4 cup ( loosely packed ) fresh dessicated coconut, 2/3 finely chopped green chillies , 1 tsp grated ginger, a few curry leaves, 1tsp white unpolished til seeds, 1/2 tsp jeera,1/2 tsp mustard ,salt to taste.

Method : Mix the besan & chaas slowly in a vessel so that no lumps remain. .Add oil, grated ginger, chillies,haldi , hing, 1 tbsp oil & salt to taste. Mix all ingredients nicely.

Put this mixture into a kadhai & put it on gas stove. My mom told me ,gas stove must be on high flame. Start stirring with a spoon immediately as soon as the kadhai with the khandvi mix is on the gas. Keep stirring continuously till it starts thickening. Now, lower the faklme & cook on slow flame. Keep stirring till it gets real thick & starts sticking to sides.Cover the kadahai & let it cook for 4-5 minutes on low gas. Put off gas.Immediately , spread the khandvi mix on plates.4-5 plates were needed today to spread the cooked mixture. Spread over the whole plate in a very thin layer. Let all the plates cool. Take a knife & make vertical  strip cuts on the spread khandvi mix on the plates. Take one end of the cut strip & start rolling with hand till the other end of the strip gets rolled. Make similar rolls of the remaining strips from all the plates.

Take a small kadhai or vagar vessel & make vagar. Add oil.Heat it up.Add mustard.After they pop up add jeera.Add til seeds. Then add curry leaves. Put off gas.Pour this vagar mixture over the rolled strips.Mix the freshly chopped dhania & fresh dessicated coconut. Garnish with fresh dessicated coconut & dhania mix.

Serve. And watch it disappear in minutes !

Tip : I use powdered hing always in all dishes unless specified .

The rolls were not evenly spread out. Some rolls were thick strips.With practice, thin strips can be made. And remember, to spread the mix when it is hot on to the plate.That helps in spreading it thinly.

Step by step method can be seen at Veg recipes of India.That recipe is somewhat different though basics remain the same.

Jeera rice

I have made jeera rice earlier & it turned out mushy. This time around , I was determined to make a  a better version. I wanted to use the pressure cooker method. I have no patience trying to cook rice in an open pan.I checked a few recipes like Nithya's Nalabagam & Veg recipes of India.

And believe me, my version of jeera rice turned out real good though it can be made better next time.

Ingredients : 3/4 cup rice, 1/2 ts jeera, 2 cloves slightly crushed , 1-2 bay leaves, 1/2-1 inch cinnamon stick, 1tbsp ghee,

Method : In a vessel, heat ghee. Add bay leaves, crushed cloves, cinnamon stick & jeera or cumin. After they all get aromatic, add rice & mix all nicely.Roast for 2-3 minutes. Add salt Add 1 1/4 cup water. Pressure cook upto 2 whistles .Put off gas.After cooker cools, remove lid of pressure cooker. Jeera rice is ready ! This can be served with aloo matar or whole masoor or chhole or rajma or any other side dish of choice.

I think ,i need to add more cumin seeds. Next time around, I must improve on that.

Vegan Banana cake with peanut butter topping .

It was my birthday & I wanted to bake a cake. I had some ripe bananas ( 4 medium or maybe small ) & some leftover gulab jamun syrup. I decided to make a banana cake. I thought about using only baking powder & no baking soda .This was the way to keep colour of the cake non brown. I wanted to do some frosting & googled & got this peanut butter frosting idea.I used just peanut butter without any cream or sugar. I like the peanut butter taste .Moreover, I recycled leftover gulab jamun syrup into the cake recipe. Skipped using sugar other than the left over syrup.

Ingredients  : 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup maida, 4-5 small bananas ( not elaichi bananas ) , 1/2 cup gulab jamun syrup, 1 tbsp of assorted  sun dried  fruits like cranberries & blueberries ( optional )   1 tbsp oil,1-2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 tbsp sugar strand sprinkles( optional ) , 1.5 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp cardamom powder,a pinch of salt.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius.

Method : Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.

Mix the atta, maida, baking powder, cardamom powder , salt  with a fork or a whisk many times over till all get mixed nicely with one another. This is the dry mix .Keep aside.

Peel & mash the bananas into a pulp.Add oil & the leftover gulab jamun syrup.Mix all nicely. thsi is the wet mix.Keep   aside.

Make a well in the dry mix .Pour the wet mix into the well & start mixing with a whisk.Mix till no lumps remain.Add water drop by drop if the dough is too dry or has lumps in it. The dough must have no lumps. Add in the assorted sun dried berries. Alternatively , chopped walnuts or almonds or raisins can be added as well.

Line the inside of baking vessel with butter paper. Pour the cake dough into the lined baking vessel. Bake at 180 degrees centigrade for 40-45 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. I always bake it in microwave mode for five minutes after this 45 minutes baking just to make sure that no part of cake remains uncooked.

Initially, bake the cake by covering the cake with aluminium foil.Towards the end that is after 29-30 minutes of baking are over, put off oven.Remove the aluminum foil & bake the remaining 15 minutes. This is to prevent burning of cake top .Caketop may get burnt if left uncovered.The last 15 minutes of baking are done by uncovering top to ensure browning of cake .This browning gives a nice crust to the cake.After 45 minutes baking, bake in microwave mode for five minutes to prevent any part of cake from remaining cooked.

Let the cake remain in the oven. After fifteen minutes or more, take out cake & cool it outside for 35 -45 minutes. It must be at room temperature to add the peanut butter topping. Put the cake vessel upside down on to a plate. Remove the butter paper from the bottom. Now put the cake with the bottom side up on the plate.

Start smearing the cake top with peanut butter by a spoon or a butter knife.I spread a thin layer. Then tried to sprinkle some coloured sugar strands in a pattern on the cake. As I tried to sprinkle, the sugar strands , the sugar strands got powdered unevenly.This can be noticed in the snaps of the cake. Satisfied, I cut the cake into desired shapes. This is my first attempt at any topping on cake & I am proud of it !

The cake felt somewhat dry.My neighbour remarked that my cakes were getting better & better at each attempt. That's the best compliment I have received !

To improve, the moistness of cake, it would be advisable to add some more oil maybe half -1 tbsp more.Alternatively, add one more ripe peeled & mashed banana.