Lemongrass and Coconut cake!

This cake is a riot of flavours with a lovely texture and a soothing aroma. It is a perfect dessert after any meal !  

Ingredients: 

• 4 lemongrass, base and tops trimmed, outer leaves removed but reserved for the syrup
• 250 g caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 200 g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
• 125 g desiccated coconut
• 125 g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Freshly whipped cream, to serve

For the syrup

• Reserved trimmings and outer leaves of the lemongrass
• 75 g caster sugar
• 75ml water

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter the sides of a cake tin and dust with flour, then line the base with a parchment paper. 
2. Thinly slice the lemongrass stalks into thin rounds , in a grinder put in the sliced stalks with the caster sugar and grind for a couple of minutes until the lemongrass is finely pureed
3. Add the eggs, butter and coconut and grind again until combined
4. Sift the flour and baking powder together and add to the jar, run the grinder again but very briefly just until the ingredients come together
5. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean

For the syrup

1. Chop the lemongrass trimmings, place them in a saucepan with the sugar and water and set over a high heat. Stir the mixture until the sugar is dissolved, then bring to the boil and boil for just 2 minutes before removing from the heat and leaving to infuse
2. Reheat the syrup when the cake is ready
3. Pierce holes all over the cake with a skewer and pour the hot syrup through a sieve all around the cake 
4. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream

P.S Recipe inspired by Rachel Allen

A Swedish Almond cake!

Tosca Tarte

This is one cake I fell in love with by just the look of it. I started to bake this as soon as I finished watching Rachel Allen's recipe on my t.v set. The crunch, the taste, the look....just perfect!

Ingredients: 

The cake-

• 3 eggs
• 150g caster sugar
• 150g plain flour + for dusting
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2tsp Vanilla extract
• 3tbsp milk
• 75g butter(melted) + for greasing

The toppings-

• 50g butter
• 100g almond flakes
• 50g caster sugar
• 2tsp plain flour
• 4tbsp cream
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 3tbsp milk

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease the can tin and dust it with flour. 
2. Whisk together the eggs and the sugar for 5-7 minutes or until mousse like with an electric stand mixer or a hand held mixer. Sift in the flour and baking powder and pour in the vanilla extract, milk and melted butter, then fold everything in until combined. 
3. Pour the mixture into the baking tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out moist and not completely clean. (The mixture needs another 10 minutes of cooking) 
4. Increase the heat to 200C
5. Before the 30-35 minutes are up, make the topping. Place the butter in a pan over medium heat, as the butter begins to melt ass the remaining ingredients except for the milk and bring to boil allowing the mixture to bubble for a minute and remove from the flame and add the milk and mix well. 
6. After the cake is baked for 30-35 minutes, remove from the oven and spoon the almond topping evenly and place it back for another 10-15 minutes or until the topping is golden
7. Let the cake cool in the tin for about 10-15 minutes
8. With a sharp knife loosen around the edges and slide the cake out of the tin on to a plate and slice it! Ready to taste. 

Whole wheat Nankhatai - Indian spiced cookie

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
• Caster Sugar - 1/4 cup 
• Butter - 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp
• Semolina - 1/3 cup
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
• Nutmeg powder - 1/2 tsp

Preparation:

1. Preheat your oven to 180C / 350F
2. Grind the semolina into a very fine powder and keep aside
3. Cream the butter by whisking it continuously
4. Gradually add sugar and continue to whisk until light and fluffy
5. Add cardamom and nutmeg powder and mix
6. Now add semolina and whisk well until all the ingredients have blended well
7. Finally fold in the flour to make a soft dough
8. Make small balls of the dough and slightly flatten them with your palm (to about 1/2 inch thickness)
9. Place them on a baking tray approximately 1 inch apart (The tray need not be greased since butter is a major ingredient in this preparation)
10. Bake for 18-20 minutes
11. Remove from oven and let it cool completely on a cooling rack

Makes approximately 20 nankhatai of 5 inch diameter.

Quick 5 minute oat dosas

                                                                              

Ingredients:

• Rolled oats - 1 cup
• Urad dal - 1/2 cup (slit black gram)
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Cooking soda - a pinch
• Water - ~2 cups or as needed to get the right consistency

Preparation:

1. Grind the oats and the Urad dal into a fine powder in a mixer
2. To the powdered mixture add salt and Cooking soda
3. Add water to the mixture and whisk thoroughly to make a fine paste with no lumps (consistency should be similar to the normal dosa batter)
4. Finally on a heated pan spread the mixture and roast it well to enjoy a crispy dosa (use ghee instead of oil to roast - it is yummy!)

A few chutney recipes  to go with it - Cabbage Chutney, bitter gourd chutney, Radish Chutney.

Pudina Chutney (Tangy mint sauce)

Tangy Mint Chutney!

Ingredients

Mint leaves - 1/3 cup
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Ginger - 1/4 tsp
Roasted cumin powder - 1 tsp
Dry mango powder - 1/2 tsp
Chat masala powder - 3/4 tsp
Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 2-3
Onion - 1, medium sized, diced
Salt - To taste

Preparation

In a bowl mix the yogurt, cumin powder, chat masala powder and dry mango powder, keep aside
In a blender put together fresh mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chillies, onion and ginger - grind the ingredients into a paste
Mix the green paste with the yogurt mixture until the two blend well together

Gujarati Namkeen Khandvi

Khandvi

Ingredients

• Gram flour (Besan) - 1 cup
• Yogurt - 1 cup
• Water - 2 cups
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Ginger - 1/4 tsp, grated
• Salt - 1/2 tsp, according to taste

Seasoning

• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Green chillies - 2-3 whole
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Coconut - 1 tbsp, freshly grated
• Asafoetida - a pinch
• Curry leaf - 1 sprig
• Coriander leaf - 1/8 cup, chopped

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, take the gram flour and yogurt and whisk well to get rid of all the lumps, add water as you mix
2. Add the salt, grated ginger, turmeric and mix well
3. Pour the mixture either in a microwave safe bowl and place in the microwave for 2 minutes - remove and stir. Repeat the same 4 times until you have microwaved the mixture for a total of 8 minutes
4. The mixture should snow look like a thick paste. Keep this aside.
5. Take 3 large plates, turn them over and grease (You could also grease and use your kitchen counter)
6. Take scoops of the mixture and spread it on the greased surface as thin as you can. Leave it to cool for about 10-15 minutes
7. When cool, cut into strips two inches wide and roll them tightly
8. Heat two tablespoons of oil for the seasoning and add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, whole green chillies and asafoetida in that order
9. When the seasoning splutters, pour it over the rolled pieces and finally sprinkle the freshly grated coconut and serve

(This dish is best served with tangy mint sauce / chutney )

Easy Halwa!

Papaya Halwa

Ingredient

• Papaya - 2 cups, 1 whole fruit ( grated or chopped into cubes)
• Sugar - 3-4 tbsp, depending on how sweet your fruit is
• Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
• Nuts(almond , cashew.,etc) - A fist full 
• Ghee - 2-3 tbsp 

Preparation

1. Heat a pan with ghee, on medium flame add the nuts and saute until partially golden brown 
2. Remove the nuts from the pan and keep aside 
3. In the same pan with the remaining ghee add your papaya and start to saute on low flame for 10-12 minutes
4. The fruit will change in color and  release juices as you continue, now mash the fruit with a potato masher (if cubes)
5. Continue to saute for another 10 minutes and you will notice a change in consistency of the fruit mixture
6. Here add sugar if you wish to and continue to cook
7. Finally once the entire mixture comes together and separates from the pan add cardamom powder and your nuts
8. Serve warm and enjoy!

Finger millet and Banana cake

Finger millet and Banana cake

Today was my daughter's 8th month birthday and I wanted to bake something for her which she could actually eat and enjoy herself too. If not a lot at least a couple of bites. She loves her bananas and her daily semi solid food is Ragi(Finger millet). I had eaten a lot of Ragi(Finger millet) biscuits and cookies, but cake!? Well well...here we go....

Ingredients 

• Finger millet (Instant Ragi flour - Huri Hittu) - 3/4 cup
• All purpose flour - 1/4 cup
• Banana - 2 , pureed (1 cup)
• Oil - 1/4 cup
• Sugar - 1/4 cup
• Yogurt - 3-4 tbsp
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - a pinch

Preparation 

1. Grease your baking tray and preheat the oven at 190 C /375 F
2. In a large mixing bowl sift the finger millet flour and baking powder
3. Add baking powder and cardamom powder to the millet flour mixture and mix well
4. In a separate bowl take the pureed banana mixture and add oil, yogurt and sugar, mix well till the sugar melts
5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well
6. Pour the batter into the greased baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes

Chutney !

Cabbage Chutney

Serves 2

Ingredients: 

• Cabbage : 2 cups, chopped
• Green chilli : 2-3, slit
• Coconut - 1 cup, freshly grated
• Coriander seeds : 1/3 tsp
• Curry leaves: 1 -2 sprig 
• Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp
• Salt - to taste
• Oil / Ghee - 1 tbsp
• Water - 1/4-1/2 cup

For Seasoning

• Urad dal - 1 tsp
• Channa dal - 1tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp 
• Oil/ Ghee - 1 tbsp
• Asafoetida - 1/8 tsp

Preparation:

1. In a pan cook the cabbage for 5-10 minutes in about 1/4 cup of water( you can add more if required) 
2. While the cabbage is cooking add the coriander seeds. Keep the mixture aside. 
3. In a blender, add coconut, cooked cabbage, tamarind pulp, salt and slit green chillies and grind them into a fine paste. 
4. Move this paste from the blender into a bowl and keep aside. 
5. In a pan, heat oil/ ghee for the seasoning and add channa dal, urad dal and mustard seeds, once the mustard seeds splutter add in the curry leaves and the asafoetida
6. The chutney is great with hot rice and ghee, dosa, idli and also rotis

Chutney again!

Bitter Gourd / Karele ki Chutney 

Ingredients : 

• Bitter gourd/ Karela (small) - 2-3
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Red chillies - 2-3
• Tamarind paste - 1 tbsp + 2 tsp
• Jaggery - 1 tbsp + 2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Coconut - 1/4 cup, freshly grated

For seasoning

• Ghee / Oil - 1-2 tbsp (ghee works best for me)
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Chana dal - 1 tsp
• Urad dal - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1 sprig
• Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Preparation:

1. Wash and chop roughly the bitter gourd lengthwise while removing all the seeds.
2. To the chopped bitter gourd add 1 tsp of turmeric and 1 tsp of salt mix and keep aside for 30 minutes. The bitter gourd would have......... , discard this water
3. With your hands squeeze the juice out of bitter gourd slices (This helps in reducing the bitter taste)
4. Blend together the bitter gourd, coconut, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, tamarind paste, red chillies and jaggery into a coarse paste by adding about 1/4 cup (or less) of water
5. In a pan take ghee for seasoning, add chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida.
6. As the seasoning splutters, add in the bitter gourd paste and mix well
7. Add 2-3 tbsp of water and again mix well. Cook the mixture for 10-15 minutes on medium flame
8. The mixture should now have a nice, smooth semi solid consistency
9. This chutney is great with hot rice and ghee, dosa, idli and even rotis!

Vegetarian Lasagna

Exotic Vegetable and Tofu Lasagna

Serves -2 

Ingredients

Vegetables - 2 cups (Bell peppers, broccoli, black olives, zucchini)  
Lasagna sheets - 6 small sheets  (Whole wheat recipe)
Olive oil - 1 1/2 tbsp
Tomatoes - 2
Onion - 2 (small - finely chopped)
Tomato puree - 100ml
Basil - Fist full
Garlic - 2-3 cloves
Cheddar cheese - 1/3 cup, grated ( Parmesan/ Ricotta would add more flavour)
Mozzarella cheese - 3/4 cup, grated
Tofu - 100 g, diced
Salt to taste
Mixed herbs seasoning - 1 1/2 tsp

The sauce

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven at 350F/180C 
2. In a pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil , toss all your vegetables and tofu with about 1/2 tsp of salt on medium flame for a couple of minutes until half done and keep aside
3. In a blender add garlic cloves, chopped tomatoes and salt and blend for just about 30 seconds to leave you with a little puree and a few chunks of tomato
4. In a separate pan, take 1/2 tbsp of olive oil and saute the onions to this add your blended mixture and cook. Once done add to this the mixed herbs and some salt (You could add your sauce to your vegetables or make separate layers)
5. In boiling water, cook your lasagna sheets. Fresh sheets cook in less than 4 minutes in boiling water
6. In your chosen pan, pour spoonful of your sauce and spread
7. On the sauce, layer your sheet, sprinkle cheddar cheese, vegetables and then your sauce. Repeat this with as many layers you want. End with a layer of the sheet and cover it with the sauce and a mix of the cheddar and mozzarella
8. Cover with an aluminium foil (well oiled, to avoid the cheese sticking) and bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese has melted. You can take off the aluminium sheet for the last 10 minutes to help the cheese brown. Once done let it stand for 10-15 minutes and then cut into pieces and serve

Lasagna Sheets

Whole wheat lasagna sheets!

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour- 2 cups
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Yogurt - 1/2 cup (Eggs - 02)
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Water, as needed

Preparation

• In a bowl mix the flour and salt
• Add yogurt in the flour mixture by making a well in the centre and mix well (If using eggs, in a separate bowl whisk your eggs with the olive oil and then  add to the flour by making a well in your flour)
• Knead the dough well till it is soft and fluffy for about 5-10 minutes and cover with a kitchen towel and keep aside for 15-20 minutes
• Now take small portions of the dough with a lot of dry flour on a clean surface and roll it with a rolling pin as thin as possible (close to the thickness of an uncooked papad) and cut into your desired shape

• Repeat this process until you have as many lasagna sheets as you want
• You can precook your lasagna sheets in boiling water for about a few minutes and freeze them in your refrigerator after placing a parchment paper in between the sheets (Fresh sheets will take just about 4 minutes to cook in boiling water)

Eggless cookies!

Eggless Whole Wheat Oat and Chocolate chip Cookies

Ingredients

• Rolled oats (Quick cooking) - 1 1/2 cups
• Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
• Wheat bran - 1/3 cup
• Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
• Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
• Sea salt - 1/3 tsp
• Unsalted butter/ margarine (softened) - 1/2 cup
• Sugar (preferably brown sugar) - 1 cup
• Yogurt - 3 tbsp
• Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
• Chocolate chips - 1 1/4 cup

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350 F
2. Mill the oats in a food processor (I used the rolled oats as is, as it gives a nice rich, crunchy texture to the cookies)
3. In a medium sized bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (the oats, wheat flour, bran, baking powder, soda and salt) and set aside
4. In a relatively larger bowl, cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar and then the yogurt and the vanilla extract one at a time, beating for a couple of minutes after each addition
5. Add the dry mixture to this and mix well to create the dough. Add in the chocolate chips and stir to combine well
6. Make dough balls (each with 2 tbsp of the dough - this makes quite large cookies, adjust the amount of dough depending on the size you want)
7. Grease a baking tray. Place 6-8 dough balls on the baking tray and flatten so that each one is not more than 0.5 cm thick (a rough measure). Make sure to leave sufficient space between them since each dough ball needs space to rise and expand as it bakes
8. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 14-18 minutes (based on how chewy vs. crispy you want them)
9. Voila, the cookies are ready! These cookies are great to munch as is of course, but they are also great with vanilla ice cream or in an "Oreo" shake.

Chutney! ;)

Radish Chutney

Ingredients
Radish grated - 1 Cup
Coriander seeds - 2 tsp
Chana dal (Bengal gram split and skinned) - 2 tsp
Urad dal (Black gram Split)- 2 tsp
Tamarind paste - 1 tsp
Dried Red chillies - 2-3 (for more spice you could add 4-5)
Fenugreek seeds - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric - a fat pinch
Oil - 1 tbsp
Salt - to taste

For Seasoning
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Chana dal - 1/4 tsp
Urad dal - 1/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 Sprig
Oil - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/4 tsp

Preparation

In a pan, heat 1/2 tsp of oil and add coriander seeds, urad dal, chana dal and fenugreek seeds. Saute until they turn golden brown and keep the contents aside on a separate plate.

Continue in the same pan, fry the red chillys for a couple of minutes and again keep aside on a separate plate.

Next add 1/2 tsp of oil and add the grated radish with turmeric powder. Saute on low flame for about 5-8 minutes till the raw fragrance of the radish disappears. ( If needed sprinkle a little water and saute for a few more minutes).

Grind the roasted coriander seeds mixture with the red chillies. Add 2 tbsp of water and salt, grind until you get a coarse paste. (Careful we do not want a smooth paste)

Mix this paste with the grated radish. (you could also grind your radish along, if you wish to)

Seasoning - Take a pan and add 1tsp of oil. Add channa dal, urad dal and mustard seeds and allow them to splutter then add curry leaves and asafoetida. Pour the seasoning into the chutney and mix well.

Hasty tasty cinnamon rolls!

No eggs and no yeast

Ingredients

The Dough

• All purpose flour - 1/2 cup ;more for rolling
• Whole wheat flour - 1/3 cup
• Cottage Cheese - 100 gm
• Buttermilk - 4tbsp
• Granulated Sugar - 5tbsp
• Unsalted butter - 2 tbsp, melted
• Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
• Baking powder - 2 tsp
• Table salt - 1/2tsp
• Baking soda - 1/4tsp

The Filling

• Unsalted butter - 1/3 tbsp, melted
• Brown SUgar - 2/3 cup
• Ground Cinnamon - 1 tsp
• Ground all spices - 1/4 tsp
• Nuts - 1/3cup

The glaze

• Confectioner's sugar - 2 tbsp
• Milk - 1 1/2 tbsp
• Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp

Preparation

Make the dough

Whisk together the cottage cheese, buttermilk, sugar, melted butter and Vanilla until smooth, about 5 minutes. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda and continue to whisk slowly until the dough clumps together. The dough will be soft and moist. 

Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it with floured hands for another 4-5minutes until smooth. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 8X6-inch rectangle. 

Pre heat the oven to 200 C/ 400F. Grease your muffin pan with butter.(you could also use your springform pan)

Making the filling

Brush the dough with melted butter, leaving a 1/4 -inch border unbuttered around the edges. In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and all spices. Sprinkle the mixture over the buttered area of the dough and pat gently into the surface. Sprinkle the nuts over the sugar mixture.

Starting at a long edge, roll up the dough. Pinch the seam end to seal and leave the ends open. 

With a sharp knife, cut the roll into 6-8 equal pieces. Set the pieces, cut side up, in the prepared pan. They should fill the pan however not to worry if there are small gaps. 

Bake until golden brown and firm to touch, 18-22 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Transfer the rolls to a serving plate. 

Make the glaze

In a bowl, mix confectioner's sugar, milk and vanilla to make a smooth glaze. It should have a thick but pourable consistency, you can add more milk if necessary. Drizzle the glaze over the rolls and let stand for 15 minutes before serving. 

The healthy wealthy cake!

Whole wheat Gulkand and dry fruits cake (Eggless) 

Prep time :20 minutes Bake time: 20-25 minutes Total time : 40-45 minutes

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour - 3/4 cup

Baking soda - 3/4 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp
Gulkand - 1/2 cup (a sweet preserve of rose petals)

Unsalted butter / Margarine - 100 g , room temperature

Yogurt - 1/3 cup

Almond extract - 1/2 tsp

Dry fruits - 1/2 cup

Brown sugar - 1/2 cup (if you desire)

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 190C/375F
2. Grease a small cake pan and line with parchment sheet (you could use cupcake moulds too!)
3. Mix together sifted whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt 
4. In a mixing bowl, vigorously whisk together the yogurt, butter and gulkand ( if you wish to, add powdered brown sugar into this mixture and whisk)
5. To this mixture almond extract and continue to whisk 
6. Next, add sifted whole wheat flour and mix well
7. Fold in the dry fruits
8. Fill in the greased cake pan up to two thirds and sprinkle a few dry fruits on top
9. Bake for about 24-28 minutes (16-18 minutes if cupcakes) . Do the clean toothpick check and remove when done
10. Let the cupcakes cool in the moulds for about 5 minutes and then on a cooling rack and allow them to cool for about 5 minutes

Whole Wheat Banana Walnut Cupcakes

Whole Wheat Banana Walnut Cupcakes

Prep time - 15-20 minutes Bake time - 20 minutes Total time - 35 - 40 minutes

Yield : 12 cupcakes

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour - 3/4 cup

Baking soda - 3/4 tsp

Bananas - 2, ripe

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Unsalted butter / Margarine - 100 g , room temperature

Egg - 1, room temperature

Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp

Walnuts - 1/3 cup

Brown sugar - 1/2 cup

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 190C/375F
2. Mix together sifted whole wheat flour, baking soda and salt 
3. Mash half a banana lightly and keep aside
4. In a mixing bowl, vigorously whisk together the rest of the bananas with sugar (till it becomes a smooth thick brown liquid)
5. To this mixture add egg, vanilla extract and butter and continue to whisk 
6. Next, add whole wheat flour and mix well
7. Fold in the mashed banana and walnuts
8. Fill in the greased cup cake moulds (or you could use liners instead) upto two thirds and sprinkle a few crushed walnuts, if desired
9. Bake for about 16-18 minutes. Do the clean toothpick check and remove when done
10. Let the cupcakes cool in the moulds for about 5 minutes and then on a cooling rack and allow them to cool for about 5 minutes

Whole wheat - Egg less Ginger cookies

Whole wheat - Egg less Ginger cookies!

My mum loves ginger biscuits and is always looking for them in almost every store we visit. For her, I decided to try baking these yummy biscuits today. 


Ingredients

Whole wheat - 1 cup
Ginger powder / dry ginger - 1 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp
Flax seeds powder - 1 tbsp
Butter - 1/4 cup, room temperature
Jaggery - 1/4 cup, melted
Brown Sugar - 1/4 cup
All purpose flour - 1 tsp

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, mix together whole wheat, ginger powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon powder, nutmeg powder and flax seeds powder
2. In another bowl mix together, butter, brown sugar and melted jaggery (This could be done on the stove to keep the liquid consistency of jaggery)
3. Now gradually, add the solids into the liquids and make a dough out of this mixture
4. Preheat your oven to 350F / 180C
5. Grease your cookie tray and line it with a parchment sheet
6. Sprinkle a little all purpose flour, roll the dough and cut desired shapes with a cookie cutter (you could also roll the mixture into small balls) and place them on the cookie tray
7. Place your cookie tray in your preheated oven and bake for 7 - 10 minutes
8. Allow the cookies to cool in the tray for 5 minutes
9. Transfer cookies to cooling rack to cool completely (about 10 minutes). The cookies should be crisp on the outside and soft on the inside with the ginger flavor the last note of the taste

Note : The biscuits might turn out less softer when jaggery is used.

Red velvet cupcakes

A dozen Red velvet cup cakes!

It is a relief to get this one right. We have read a dozen or more recipes, half a dozen attempts and now finally! A few recipes combined we have our yum dozen of red velvet cup cakes.


Yield - 1 dozen


Ingredients


Sugar - 1 cup
Vegetable oil - 100 ml (slightly less than 1/2 cup)
Egg, room temperature - 1
Buttermilk, room temperature - 1/2 cup
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
Red food coloring - 1 tbsp
Hot water - 1/4 cup
White vinegar - 1/2 tsp
All purpose flour - 1 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Unsweetened cocoa powder - 1 1/2 tbsp

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 180C 
2. In a large bowl mix together sugar and oil until well combined 
3. Beat in eggs until mixture is uniform in color 
4. Add in buttermilk, vanilla extract and food coloring 
5. Next add the hot water and distilled vinegar 
6. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Mix well. 
7. Now combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients 
8. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners 
9. Pour batter a little more than half 
10. Bake to 18-20 minutes or do the clean tooth pick test (tooth pick will cause lesser damage than a fork!) 
11. Allow cupcakes sit in pan for 5 minutes 
12. Place cupcakes on a cooling rack to cool completely 

The Breakfast Cake

Ingredients

• Quick cooking oats - 1/2 cup
• All purpose flour - 1/2 cup 
• Apple and Banana - 1 each, pureed
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Yogurt - 1/4 cup
• Vegetable oil/ melted margarine - 1/4 cup 
• Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
• Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
• Baking Soda - 1/8 tsp
• Handful of chocolate chips
• Salt a pinch

Preparation

1. Grease a rectangular baking tray with oil and preheat the oven to 190 C/ 200F
2. Grind the oats
3. Mix all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, powdered oats and salt in a bowl and mix well with a fork. 
4. To the fresh fruit puree, add yogurt and powdered sugar to make a thick batter
5. In a large bowl add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips into wet ingredients and mix lightly with a whisk to combine all the ingredients together.
6. Finally add the oil and mix well
7. Pour the batter in the greased baking tray and bake for 25-30 minutes

Recipe source: Sanjeeta K K

Crustless Eggless Vegetable Quiche

Ingredients 

• Onion (Big size) - 1
• Finely chopped red, green and yellow bell peppers - 1 of each
• Finely chopped broccoli (Small sized) - 1
• Zucchini (Small sized) -1
• Black Olives(sliced) - 15-20
• Nuts (cashew, walnuts, pecans, almonds) - 1/2 cup
• Garlic - 2-3 cloves
• Tofu - 350g
• Cheddar cheese - 2 tbsp
• Mozzarella cheese - 2 tbsp
• Cottage cheese crushed (optional, you could use additional tofu here) - 150g
• Mixed, dried herbs (rosemary, oregano, thyme, parsley, basil) - 1 tbsp
• All purpose flour - 1 tbsp
• Corn flour - 2 tbsp
• Baking powder (optional) - 1/4 tsp
• Milk - 1 cup
• Olive oil -1 tbsp
• Salt - 2 tsp (or to taste)

Preparation

1. Soak the nuts in about 1/2 cup of milk and set them aside for an hour
2. In a small bowl, whisk all purpose flour and 1/4 cup of milk and keep aside
3. Chop the Zucchini into thin circles and keep aside
4. Grease you quiche pan and keep aside
5. In a frying pan, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil and add onions and saute til they turn translucent
6. Add the broccoli and bell peppers and toss
7. Saute for a couple of minutes, then add 2 tsp of mixed herbs and salt and mix well
8. Cover and cook for a couple of minutes
9. Remove pan from flame, add the flour + milk mixture, mix and keep aside
10. Grind the nuts soaked in milk, garlic cloves and cornflour together, then add the tofu and grind again to form a soft paste
11. Add the rest of  the milk to this paste and mix to get a batter like consistency 
12. Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F
13. Mix 1/4 of this paste into the vegetable mixture and evenly spread this mixture on to your greased pan
14. Next lay successive layers of crushed cottage cheese, cheddar cheese and zucchini 
15. Mix the olives into remaining paste mix and pour evenly. Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese at the end.
16. Bake for about 30-40 minutes until the surface turns golden brown and the sides turn crisp
17. Allow the Quiche to cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes 
18. Cut into slices and serve (you could serve this with an acidic salad and a light soup to make a full, healthy and delicious meal out of this!)