Eggless Chocolate Banana Marble Cake

Baking this cake can make a delightful family treat.It is soft, moist and infused with a beautifull blend of flavors that will simply burst their tastebuds asking for more.The advantage of this cake is there is no need to use eggs considering the moistness and texture of this cake.

Ingredients

• 2 cups All purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 ripe banana
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder

Procedure
Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.Grease the 9x5x3 inch loaf pan and keep aside. Sieve the dry ingredients all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and together 3 times.

Beat milk and sugar together till sugar dissolves.Add oil,yogurt,milk,mashed banana,vanilla extract and mix nicely.Combine with the above dry ingredients and mix nicely until all lumps dissappear.

Remove 1 cup plain batter into a bowl and mix cocoa powder to it nicely.Pour the spoonfull of cocolate batter followed by spoon full of plain batter and alternatively repeat the process for rest of batter now run a knife gently through the batter to get a nice swirl effect.

Bake for 60 minutes and test with a toothpick in the very center of the loaf to come out clean.Let it cool on a cooling rack, slice and enjoy.

Anytime Munch Rice Flake Mixture

Its summertime and the last place you want to be is the kitchen, kids are always demanding in these moments for a snack and there can be no better option to delight them with this light and crispy popular snack mixture.

Using microwave is a healthier option to prepare this snack without compromising on the taste

Ingredients

• 2 cups superfine rice flakes/chivda/atukalu/aval
• 1/4 cup peanuts
• 1/4 cup roasted dal
• 2 tbsp rice bran oil
• 3 springs of curry leaves
• 6-7 chopped green chillies
• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp cummin/jeera seeds
• 1/8 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp chat masala
• pinch of hing
• salt to taste

Procedure
Microwave the rice flakes stiring every one minute until it turns crispy in a microwave safe bowl for approximately 10 ten minutes. Keep an eagle eye else it may burn. Keep aside

Heat oil in a pan add cummin seeds,mustard seeds,hing and once it splutter add curry leaves, green chillies, peanuts and fry in a medium flame till peanuts roast properly.Then add the fried gram stir for 30 seconds and then the beaten rice, salt, turmeric, chilli powder , chat masala and stir until it blends completely

Let it cool and store it in a airtight jar to enjoy with a hot cup of tea anytime.

Delicious Eggless Thumbprint Jam Cookies

I have watching food food channel lately and it is so inspiring to watch Rakesh Sethi cook some wonderful recipes.Its been a long time I baked some cookies and this happens to be one of my favorite. These cookies have a mild crunch and would melt in your mouth.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup cooking butter
• 1/4 cup superfine sugar
• 1/4 cup maida / all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/4 cup of dry fruits mixture
• 2 tbsp jam of your choice (I used mixed fruit jam)

Procedure
Dry roast the almond, pistachio, cashewnut and make a rough grained powder.

Beat the jam with the spoon until it becomes a smooth consistency and keep aside

Beat the butter and superfine sugar (powered sugar) and mix the vanilla essence and milk to it,then add the all purpose flour and mix nicely with a spatula and then with your hands into a soft lump , cover the dough with a cling wrap and refridgerate for 10 min

Preheat the oven for 180 degrees

After 10 min divide the dough into small lemon size balls. Roll the balls on the dry fruit mixture  then remove and press softly and make a small thumbprint in the center and fill with 1/4 tsp jam and place on a greased metal tray

Bake them for 30 minutes until they begin to turn golden brown .

Enjoy your cookies

Note:

1. Keeping the dough in refridgerator makes the dough more firm to handle

2. Dont refridgerate for too long otherwise the dough will become too hard

3. You can more versatile by a any other jam of your choice, I used kissan mixed fruit jam

The Authentic Panchapuran Aloo Mooli Curry

This authentic dish is prepared in the northeast part of India. It is traditionally cooked with 5 spices, panchpuran simply means "five spices" in Bengali. In Bengali cuisine mustard oil is extensively used, the aroma of mustard oil complements the other flavors of this gravy really well .

Ingredients

• 2 cups diced radish(approx 5 to 6 medium size)
• 1 cup diced potatoes(approx 2 medium size potatos)
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup chopped tomato
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp saunf
• 1/2 tsp black jeera
• 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1/8 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garlic ginger paste
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 3 tbsp mustard oil (see the note)
• 1/2 tsp himalayan salt or salt to taste.

Cooking Procedure
Wash the radish and poatoes and peel them ,cut them into dices.

In the pressure cooker heat another tbsp oil , add cumin seeds,mustard seeds,fenugreek seeds,saunf and black jeera (panchapuran) , when these seeds splutter, add onion garlic ginger paste,turmeric powder and stir till light golden brown. Add tomatoes and cook till soft.

Add all remaining powders,sugar,salt and stir until oil begins to saturate out of gravy.Then add the radish chunks and potatoes and stir and blend the mixture with the veggies and fry for 5 mins.

Add one cup of water mix nicely and cover the lid ,pressure cook for three whistles.Once it cools open lid and switch on the flame again and bring it to a boil.Mash some potato chunks in the curry to make the gravy little thicker.Check the consistency if needed add a little water.

Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Note:
1.Normally panchapuran and potao combination is awesome and when it is cooked in mustard oil it become awesome but prefer ot add some veggie with potato.

2.To cook food with mustard oil,first heat oil until the mustard oil begins to smoke otherwise the mustard oil would smell and spoils the dish.

3.Cooking with mustard oil is purely optional, but I prefer to cook my gravies with mustard oil for the authentic flavor and healthy benefits.

4You can shallow fry radish and potatos lightly before adding it to gravy but i prefer the above method when i am really in jiffy.

5.You can replace the radish with cauliflower and it will also taste awesome.

Celebrate A Party with Homemade Waffle & Maple Syrup

Waffle is directly derived from the Dutch ’wafel’and with ancient origin tracing back to the neolithic age. A waffle is a batter-based or dough-based cake cooked in a waffle iron patterned to give a characteristic size, shape and surface impression.

Waffles are eaten throughout the world, particularly in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Scandinavia, and the United States.

My first experience with waffles was when I had it in the US and can never forget its wonderful crispy texture with the tasty maple syrup. Recently my SIL gifted me a waffle maker which are available in India too. It fired me up to prepare the waffles at home.

The perfect combination is to have waffles with a spoonful of maple syrup. In India maple syrup is expensive so I found a alternative recipe on the internet courtesy to Peggy on About.com which tasted as good.

So celebrate a waffle party with your family

Ingredients for Homemade Maple Syrup Substitute

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 teaspoon maple extract or vanilla extract

Preparation:
Place granulated sugar in a heavy skillet. Heat until the sugar melts and turns brown.

Meanwhile, place brown sugar into a heavy saucepan. Pour water over brown sugar and bring to a boil without stirring.

Add caramelized white sugar to the melted brown sugar in the saucepan. Simmer, stirring often, until syrup is thickened.

Remove from heat, and whisk in butter and maple or vanilla extract. 

Waffle Ingredients

• 1.5 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3 eggs seperated
• 3 tbsp butter melted
• 2.5 cup milk
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder

Seive the dry ingredients together and keep aside

Seperate the egg white and egg yolk, beat the egg yolk along with butter and milk till it blends

Mix the above dry ingredient to it and make a smooth paste.

Now beat the egg whites in a medium speed till small peaks form

Now add the egg white to the batter and fold it carefully with spatula until it gets incorporated. Dont fold too much

Heat the waffle maker and pour a scoop of batter in each segment and close it. Let it cook until the waffle maker gives the green indication or until it turns golden brown, it will take approximately 7-8 minutes per session

Note:
1. You can replace the butter with oil

2. Batter should be mildly flowy

3. You mix chocolate chips with the batter and make chocochip waffle.

Enticing and Refreshing Melon Melody

With the summer just around the corner in south india, it thought it would be a great idea to introduce you folks one of my favorite mocktails and provides a perfect balance of flavors that will refresh your body and mind.  

The original recipe was adopted from sanjeev kapoor.

I however provided a twist to the recipe and instead of using regular pineapple juice I used pineapple fruit based mogu mogu as it takes away all the strain of peeling and slicing a pineapple.

Mogu Mogu  is a  fruit juice based healthy drink that has come to India after making its presence felt in 40 other countries.Mogu Mogu is a totaly new, exciting drink. It consists of fruit Juice (25%) and Nata de Coco (25%) packed with soft, fruity, tasty Nata de Coco Gel bits which add fiber in the drink.

You will find mogu mogu in any of the "nuts and spices" store in chennai.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pineapple juice (Mogu Mogu)
• 1 cup water melon
• 1 cup musk melon
• 4-5 mint leaves
• 1/2 tsp stevia or 1 tbsp sugar
• 10 ice cubes

Procedure
Grind water melon, musk melon, mint leaves, stevia and the 10 cubes.

To it add the pineapple juice stir well and serve chilled.

Savory Patra For A Special Evening Snack

Patra is a popular snack in the western region of India. It is known as Aluchya Vadya in Marathi, Patra in Gujarati and Patrode in the Konkan region of India.It is similar to a japanese sushi but made with taro leaves and filled with delicious chickpea stuffing.

This recipe was prepared by my SIL when I visited her recently. It was a lovely snack and got to pack some of these for my hubby back in chennai.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chickpea flour
• 1/2 finely chopped onions
• 1 tbsp chopped green chillies
• 4 tbsp chopped coriander/cilantro
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp chopped garlic
• 2-3 tsp lemon juide
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• salt to taste

Procedure
Clean the leaves and mix all the ingredient and make a smooth thick paste and keep aside.

 

Reverse and flatten the taro leaves and remove the center vein lightly.

Take a lump of paste and spread evenly over the leaf, put another leaf on the top and continue the same with three leaves. 

Then roll the leaf from the pointed side until the other end and finally close the two ends and steam for 10 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once cooled cut them into one cm thick rolls and shallow fry with tsp oil until light golden brown and crispy.

Serve hot

Note:
1.This dish is a lovely side for steamed rice
2.You can store them in a freezer box for 2-3 months and fry when you need to.
3.You can also deep fry them if you want

Spiced and Flavorful Roasted Baby Potato

This simple and delicious recipe was shared by my SIL. It is a perfect appetizer. There is a interesting ingredient added to this dish that brings out a lot flavor, aroma and freshness ... fennel seeds or commonly known as saunf is the secret ingredient.

I am sure you would enjoy trying out this recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 kg baby potatos
• 1/4tsp cumin seeds(jeera)
• 1/4 tsp fennel seeds(saunf)
• 1 tbsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp dry mango powder(amchur powder)
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp oil

Procedure:
Boil the potatoes ,remove the skin and keep aside.Mix all the dry spice powders in a bowl and keep aside

Heat oil in a nonstick pan ,add cumin seeds,fennel seeds and once cumin splutters ,add the boiled potatoes and saute in high flame till it turn golden brown,then add all the dry ingredients,stir nicely until all the spices coat the baby potatoes and immediately switch off the flame

Serve immediately

Note:
1. It can also be served with rice and roti as a quick side.
2. In place of baby potatoes you can use normal potatoes, boiled and cut into big chunks.  
3. Make sure you dont fry the potatoes after adding the spices.

Protien Rich Soya Keema Paratha

I tend to make stuffed parathas very frequently as they are tasty and filling. This time I used soya granules for stuffing. It is tasty, filling and very healthy too.

I adopted this recipe from sanjeev kapoor. Hope you would enjoy it too
 
Ingredients for Stuffing

• 1 cup soya granules
• 1 small boiled potato
• 3 chopped green chillies
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 2 tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp chopped cilantro/coriander
• 1/2 tsp amchur powder
• 1 tsp oil
• salt to taste

Procedure:
Soak soya granules in hot water for 15 min ,then squeeze nicely and keep aside

Heat oil in a pan,add onion and fry,once its start becoming translucent add soya granuals and fry for 1 min in medium flame,to keep it moist add milk and stir a while ,then add mashed potato and mix nicely

Then add salt,amchur powder,green chillies and cilatro and mix nicely and switchoff the flame and shift the mixture to plate to cool.

Ingredients for paratha :

• 2 cups atta
• 1/4 tsp ajwain
• 1/2 tsp oil
• pinch of salt

Take flour,mix salt and ajwain to it then add three-fourth cup of warm water gradually, knead to make a smooth dough. And keep aside for 15 min.

Making the paratha

Break the dough in 6 equal portions,roll each portion in a ball and flatten it by pressing.

Place 1 1/2 table spoon of stuffing on it and enclose it.Seal the edges completely so that stuffing does not come out.

Flatten again, sprinkle a little flour and roll them with a rolling pin to approximately six-inch diameter.

Heat a frying pan(tawa), place paratha on it and cook on moderate heat for three minutes.

Turn it and pour half a tablespoon of oil, spread it on paratha and shallow fry over low heat.

Turn it and again pour half a tablespoon of oil on other side, cook on low heat till golden brown

Serve hot with pickle and curd
  

Soursop Smoothie a Natural Cancer Fighter

My mother survived cancer a couple of years back and it was very a painful experience for her and the family. Recently when I was at a local vegetable fruit store "Kovai Pazhamudhir Nilayam" Anna Nagar Shanti Colony, I was amazed to see the soursop fruit being sold as a natural cancer fighting fruit. It was expensive sold at 350 rs per kg but having known what cancer can do to the human spirit prevention is always better than cure.

The mineral content and substance in soursop is 10,000 times stronger in slowing the growth of cancer cells compared with adiamycin and chemotheraphy.And unlike chemotheraphy soursop selectively hunts down bad cells and not harm healthy cells  

This fruit is very rich in fiber and has a distinct sourness and sweetness combined. You can have it as it is too and I ate half of the pulp directly. It tasted much better after I had freezed it.

Before you enjoy this fruit it is also important to realize how cancer cells grow in the human body as it will help us effective measure to prevent it

1. Sugar is a cancer-feeder.
By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells.. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Stevia which I had posted  earlier .

2. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily and deep breathing like kapalabhati popularized by baba ramdev help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cell.

3. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment.   
Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to relax and enjoy life. Meditation is helpfull to de-stress.

Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour and contains only one mineral iodine. Table salt makes our  body  more acidic. A  better alternative would  be  himalayan salt.   
Source : Canceractive.com

A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics,growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer. A vegetarian diet keeps the body more alkaline.

After reading about the benefits of soursop I recommend to make it part of your diet .

So here is the recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup soursop pulp
• 1 cup milk
• 1.5 tsp sugar or 1/4 tsp stevia
• 7-8 ice cubes
• 1/2 tsp pistachio for garnish

Procedure:

Cut into half and scoop the pulp out and and remove the seeds.

In a blender make a smoothie with all the above ingredients. Pour it in a serving glass and garnish with the pistachios and serve immediately.

Note: 

1.Grinding the ice cubes with the soursop makes it a perfect chilled smoothie.

2. Soursop is best to select if it is turning lightly yellow and a little soft when pressed outside.

3. Adding nuts is optional however it gives a wonderful nutty texture to the smoothie

I shared this recipe with the Hearth & Soul blog hop