Vegan sooji Banana Cake

No maida is used in this cake and this made me to bake this cake. The result was really wonderful and great. Cake was moist and fluffy.

Don't roast the rava/Sooji as it will not absorb moisture after roasting. You can add elaichi powder too.

Ingredients:

Fine Sooji/Rava - 1 cup

Mashed banana - 1 cup

Oil - 1/4 cup

Water - 1/4 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Method:

1. If Sooji/Rava is not fine, grind it in mixie.

2. Add water and mix it sooji/Rava so that no lumps are formed.

3. I mashed the banana with baking powder and baking soda and I get a fluffy mixture.

4. Add oil and mix with banana well.

5. Add the Sooji/rava and mix well.

6. Rest it for 10 - 15 min so that Sooji will be soaked.

7. Bake it in preheated oven at 180 deg C for 30 - 35 min.

8. Remove when the cake is browned at top. Or else cake will become hard.

9. Cool and then serve.

Cheese Bundt cake

 I followed the recipe of suma and the link is here. Thank you suma for the cake recipe. It was the first time for me to bake a bundt cake. I prepared paneer(cottage cheese) in home itself. Also to the original recipe I added baking powder. I baked this bundt cake in a silicone pan.

I made this cake for new year as my sister arrived here. Cake was so soft with crumbleness on the top and she liked it so much.

For making paneer/ cottage cheese at home:

Milk - 1 litre

Lemon juice/ Vinegar - 1 tbsp

When the milk is about to froth, add lemon juice/ vinegar and let it be low flame for 2 min.
Cheese will get separated from the milk. Drain the whey water and let it to cool the cream for 10 min. Mash it nicely and use it in the cake. 

Vegan banana muffins

Actually i got this recipe while browsing the net from Harini's blog. Thanx harini for your wonderful recipe. I had  some ripen bananas today and so I decided to bake this muffins. I halved the recipe and I baked it today. I omitted nuts from the original recipe as my kid doesn't love to eat it. Muffins were quite fluffy and moist. My kid loved it a lot. Here comes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Maida - 1 cup

Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Oil - 1/4 cup + half of 1/4 cup

Water - 1/4 cup + half of 1/4 cup

Mashed Bananas - 2 cups ( I used poovan variety)

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Sieve the dry ingredients.

2. Mix thoroughly mashed bananas, oil, water and sugar.

3. Fold in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.

4. If the batter is thick add 2 to 3 tbsp of water. ( I used 2 tbsp).

5. Bake it in a preheated oven at 180 deg C for 20 - 25 min or until the skewer comes out clean.

6. Cool and then serve.

Carrot Rice

Today I made a jiffy carrot rice for my DH in 30 min. So I thought of sharing with you all the jiffy dish.

 
Here comes the recipe:

Ingredients:

Basmathi Rice - 1 cup

Grated carrot - 1 - 1 1/2 cups

Onion - 1 sliced thin

Red chillies - 4

Curry leaves - few

Garam masala - 1 tsp

Salt

To temper:

Oil - 1 tbsp

Cumin/Jeera - 2 tsp ( or else you can use powdered jeera)

Method:

1. Wash and soak basmathi rice for 20 min.

2. Heat a pressure cooker and temper with the given ingredients.

3. Add onions and fry till golden brown.

4. Add red chillies and curry leaves.

5. Add garam masala and fry till raw smell goes.

6. Add rice and water( for basmathi rice add water in the ratio 1:1 1/2). ( for ordinary rice 1:2).

7. Add salt

8. As it boils, Close the cooker and keep weight.

9. At once, simmer the flame and cook for 15 - 20 min.

10. Serve with any salad.

Green gram Dhal Sambhar/ Pasipayiru kuzhambhu

This green gram is also used for preparing sambhar in kongunadu kitchens. This gram can also be used for preparing vadai which i will post it later.

This is the picture of pasipayiru/ Green gram:

Here comes the recipe for kuzhambhu.

Ingredients:

Green gram - 1 cup

Tomatoes - 1

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt

Garlic - 10 flakes

To temper:

Sambar onions - 1/2 cup - chop it

Green chillies - 3 - slit into two

Curry leaves - few

Jeera - 1 tsp - crush it by placing in the palm of one hand and press it using the other hand to get a better flavor.

Dhaniya seeds - 2 tsp - do as such above

Method:

1. Wash and cook green gram in a mud pot adding water and garlic,tomatoes to it.

2. Add turmeric powder and salt and keep it aside.

3. In a kadai, heat oil and temper with the given ingredients.

4. Add crushed jeera and dhaniya seeds.

5. Remove and add it to the cooked gram dhal.

6. Keep this on low flame for 5 min and switch off the flame.

7. Using a blender/ "paruppu mathu" blend them well so that it mashes nicely. This is the image for "Paruppu mathu". This is the one used for blending all sambhars, masiyal/gotsu here in kongu people's kitchen. Here they will say as " kadanjathu" when they use this "mathu".

 8. Serve with rice, Chapathis and idlis.

Before blending well with " paruppu mathu".

 After blending well:

With rice and avarakkai poriyal:

Instant Payasam with left over rice

I got this recipe from my sister's mother in law. A great and quick recipe that can be prepared in 10 min. If you use normal white sugar, the taste will be different. Or else try with brown sugar. The rice must be used on the same day when you had cooked. Here comes the recipe.


Ingredients:

Left over cooked rice - 1 cup

Grated coconut - 1/3 cup

Jaggery/ Vellam - 1/2 - 3/4 cups - grated

Cashew - few

Raisins - few

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Milk/Water


Method:

1. Grind left over rice along with cocnut and jaggery coarsely or finely according to your taste.

2. In a pan, pour this paste and add if it is thick you can add milk or water to make a watery consistency.

3. Allow it to boil for 3 min.

4. Fry cashews and raisins in ghee and garnish.

Moong Dhal Sambhar with no veggies

This sambhar is very easy to prepare. People in kongunadu prepares this recipe when they want to make any urgent sambhar pat-a-pat as no veggies are needed. Also, kongunadu people use sambar onions and garlic as main ingredient in their dishes. Also they use mud pots in their cooking.
I too even cook in mud pots in gas stove as a part of healthier cooking.

Ingredients:

Moong dhal/ Masoor dhal - 1 cup

Tomatoes - 3 to 4 - chop fine

Sambhar powder - 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt

To temper:

Oil - 2 tbsp

Small onions - 1/2 cup - chop

Red chillies - 3

Curry leaves - few

Garlic - 15 flakes - crush it coarsely

Method:

1. If using mud pots, Make water to boil and add washed moong dhal and cook in lower flame for 15 - 20 min or until cooked.

2. If using pressure cooker, Add moong dhal along with turmeric powder and pressure cook for 2 whistles.

3. Add chopped tomatoes, Sambhar powder, Salt and turmeric powder and cook for 5 min. Switch off the flame

4. Heat oil in a kadai and temper with the ingredients.

5. Add the cooked dhal and cook in low flame for 5 min.

6. Garnish with coriander leaves.

7. Goes well with rice, idli. dosa

Variation:
a). Can add veggies like carrot, potato, drumstick, beans, avarakkai to this sambhar.

                        

Chettinad style potato kurma

I got this recipe from the website/forum Indusladies.com and the link is here. I tried this recipe yesterday night for dinner. Wooow.. It turned out delicious and yummy and my kid loved it a lot. Hereafter I am going to add this recipe regularly in my menu. Here comes the recipe for potato kurma.

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 5 or 6.

Onions - 2 - chop fine

Tomatoes - 2 - chop fine

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt

To temper:

Oil - 2 tbsp

Saunf/Sombhu - 1 tsp

Dry roast all and grind to a fine paste:

Cardamom - 1

Cinnamon - 1"

Cloves - 3

Saunf/Sombhu - 1 tsp

Garlic - 10 flakes

Ginger - 1"

Green chillies - 5 or 6

Grated coconut - 1 cup

Fried gram dhal/Pottukadalai - handful.

Method:

1. Wash and cook potatoes in a pressure cooker for 3 to 4 whistles.

2. Remove from the stove, peel the skin and smash it nicely.

3. Heat oil in a kadai and temper with the given ingredients.

4. Add onions and fry till golden brown.

5. Add tomatoes and cook it mashes well.

6. Add the ground paste along with water and cook for 2 min.

7. Add salt, turmeric powder and mashed potatoes.

8. Lower the flame and cook for 5 - 10 min.

9. Serve hot with idlis, paniyarams and dosas.

This is my first entry to events.

This kurma goes to Priya's veggie/ Fruit a month - Potato and hosted by Divya's Dil Se.

Okra/ Ladies finger Pepper fry

Inspired from here I tried this okra fry. Thanx lata for this wonderful fry. Woooow.. It came out very very crispy. I added pepper powder instead of red chilli powder. Also i have added curd and lemon juice to remove the stickiness that is present in ladies finger. Usually I add this while cooking in stove top too. Here comes my version of 100% microwave cooked okra pepper fry.


    













Ingredients:

Fresh Okra/ Ladies finger - 250 g

Pepper Powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt

Oil - 2 tsp

Curd - 1 tsp

Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp

To temper:

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Hing - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Wash ladies finger and wipe them dry completely.

2. Cut into desired size. I slices very thin.

3. Mix salt, 1 tsp oil, pepper powder, turmeric powder, curd and lemon juice with the ladies finger and mix it well.

4. Rest it for 5-10 minutes.

5. In a MW safe bowl/ Tupperware bowl, Add 1 tsp oil and MW HI for 30 sec.

6. Remove and add mustard seeds, MW HI for 1 min.

7. Add hing and MW HI for 1 min.

8. Add the okra mixture and and cook covered on MW HI for 6 - 7 min stirring in between once or twice.

9. Rest it for 5 min inside the MW.

10. If you want more crispy, add few more minutes in the MW.

11. Open and serve with curd rice..