Eggless Banana and Walnut Muffin

When I was searching a recipe for egg less version of banana and walnut muffins,I stumbled

upon this wonderful recipe of Saffron's.I just wanted to try i tout immediately.

The results were amazing...Soft,moist and fluffy muffins!!

Thanks a lot saffron!!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup - all purpose flour

4 ripe bananas mashed (i used only 3)

I had only 2 ripe bananas.But I had lots of apple sauce sitting in my pantry.

So i used 1/3 cup of applesauce to substitute for a banana.

In total 2 bananas + 1/3 cup of applesauce = 3 bananas

3/4 cup - sugar

1/3 cup - melted unsalted butter.

1 tsp - baking soda

1 tsp - baking powder

1/2 tsp - salt

small handful of walnuts;chopped.

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375 deg F

Line the muffin tray with paper liners or grease the tray withe a non-stick cooking spray.

First get the dry ingredients ready.Sift together the all purpose flour,baking soda,baking powder and salt.

Then prepare the wet ingredients.In a large bowl mix the mashed bananas,melted butter and sugar.

Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

Mix only to combine.

Now fold in the chopped walnuts.Save some for sprinkling on top of each muffin.

Fill upto 3/4 ths of each cup.

On top of each muffin just sprinkle some chopped walnuts.

Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes.Muffins are ready when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and top of the muffin is slightly brown in color.

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Bulghur wheat upma

Bulghur wheat is very nutritious and is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals.

This dish is healthy and wholesome and diabetic-friendly.

Ingredients:

1 cup - bulghur wheat

2 cups - water

1tsp - mustard seeds

1 tsp - split urad dal

1 tsp - channa dal

2 tbsp - oil

2 - green chillies

1 medium sized onion

1/2 cup vegetables - a combination of carrot,beans,peas(I used frozen vegetables)

salt - to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan.When the oil is hot,add mustard seeds.When they splutter add urad dal and channa dal.

When they become slightly brown add onions and green chillies.Wait till the onions become translucent.

Then add 2 cups of water and salt according to taste.When the water starts boiling add the bulghur wheat.

Simmer and stir for 2 minutes.Then close the pan with a lid and let it cook on slow fire.

In between keep on stirring once in a while.

When the bulghur wheat is cooked switch off the fire.

Serve with a pickle.

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Palmiers

Palmiers(palm-YAY) also called palm leaves or elephant ears cookie are made of puff pastry sheets sprinkled with sugar.These crispy,melt-in –the- mouth heart shaped cookies are just perfect with a hot cup of coffee.

These are similar to Britannia little hearts biscuits available in India.I never knew that these cookies are very simple to make until I stumbled upon this recipe in the epicurious website.

I made some variations.

Ingredients:

1 sheet – puff pastry (I used Pepperidge Farms brand)

1 cup – sugar

2tbsp – ghee

2 sheets – parchment paper

Method:

Thaw the puff pastry sheets for 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven at 400 degree F

In work surface sprinkle a little bit of flour.Roll the puff pastry to about 10 inches lengthwise.

Sprinkle the surface of the pastry with ½ cup of sugar.Now gently roll the sheet with a rolling pin.Then flip the pastry sheet.Now sprinkle the other side with ½ cup of sugar and roll the side gently.

Now mark(not cut) the center of the pastry sheet.

You will have 2 equal sides.Now start folding from the left side of the sheet into equal parts until you reach the center.

Then repeat the same procedure starting from the right side of the sheet.

Now you will have both the sides folded up to the center.

Finally fold both ends like you close a book.

Wrap the log in a plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hr.

Then cut the log into ½ inch pieces.Line a cookie sheet with the parchment paper.

Now dip the top of the pieces in water and then dip in sugar.

Smear a little bit of ghee on top of each palmier for rich flavour.

Arrange them on the the cookie sheet with the cut side down,1 inch apart.Bake for 5minutes and then check whether the bottom of the cookies are slightly brown.

Then turn over the cookies and bake for another 4 minutes till the top is slightly caramelized.Keep on checking the cookies because they are easily burnt.

Here is the picture of step-by-step procedure for making the palmiers

Iam sending this to Bindiya's LOVE-HEART SHAPED FOODS event

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Ribbon Pakoda

Ribbon pakoda is a popular tea-time snack which is very simple to make and it one of the diwali snacks.

You need to have a murukku press with a slide having a rectangle hole.


Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups - rice flour

1 cup - besan flour/gram flour

1 tbsp - melted butter

chilli powder - according to your spice level

salt - to taste

any vegetable oil - for deep frying

water - for kneading the dough


Method:

In a bowl add the rice flour,gram flour,salt,chillipowder,asafoetida and melted butter.Mix everything thoroughly.

Then add water little by little till it becomes a soft dough.

Heat the oil in a kadai.Put a small amount of dough into the murukku press.

When the oil is ready, squeeze the handles of the murukku press directly into the hot oil.

Move the murukku press in a circular motion.You can see the dough being formed like ribbons in a circle.Be careful in not overlapping the ribbons.

Keep on turning the sides of the pakoda so that both sides are cooked.

When the pakodas are golden brown and no more sizzling sound is heard ,you can take them out of the oil and drain them in a paper towel.

When completely cool,store them in an airtight container.

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Tiffin Sambar

Idli,Vada and Sambar combo is a staple breakfast of Tamilnadu.Tiffin Sambar is a good side dish for idli,dosa and the main ingredient is cooked and mashed toor dal.

If you have cooked toor dal leftover, this dish can be prepared in a jiffy.

Ingredients:

Roast the following ingredients in 2tsp cooking oil and powder it in a mixie.

1) 2tbsp - Channa dal

2)1 tsp - split urad dal

3)4tsp - coriander seeds

4)1/4 tsp - methi seeds

5)1/2 tsp - black pepper

6)1 tsp - cumin seeds

7)1/4 tsp - asafoetida powder

8)4 - dry red chillies(you can adjust according to your spice level)

9)a sprig of curry leaves

The other ingredients

1/2 cup - cooked and mashed toor dal.

1 tsp - mustard seeds

1 tsp - split urad dal

1 -medium sized onion

1 - small tomato

a small gooseberry sized tamarind soaked in water

cilantro leaves for garnishing

2tbsp - any cooking oil

Method:

Extract the juice of tamarind.You will need a cup of it.

In a pressure pan add 2 tbsp of oil.When the oil is heated up add the mustard seeds.

When the mustard seeds splutter,add the split urad dal.Wait till the urad dal becomes slightly brown in color.

Add the onions and a pinch of salt and saute.When the onions become translucent add the tomatoes.

Now add the powder and mix everything together.Then add the tamarind juice and the mashed dal along with the required amount of salt.

When it starts to boil close the lid of the pressure pan and cook for 1 whistle.

Garnish the sambar with chopped cilantro leaves.

Serve hot with mini idlis

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Puli pongal

This is a traditional Tamilnadu recipe."Puli" means tamarind in Tamil.The main ingredients are broken raw rice and tamarind.Unlike the usual pongal this dish will not be so mushy.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups - broken raw rice

small lemon size - tamarind(soaked in water)

1 tsp - mustard seeds

1 tsp - Channa dal

5 - dry red chillies

You can reduce the number of chillies according to your spice level.

1/4 tsp - asafoetida powder

1/2 tsp - turmeric powder

1/4 cup - gingelly/sesame oil

Don't substitute with any other oil because sesame oil adds a unique flavour to this dish.

a sprig of curry leaves

salt to taste

Method:

Puli pongal can be made either in a kadai or pressure cooker.I prefer to use a pressure cooker /pressure pan because it is a lot more easier.

Before you actually start making the dish,keep the tamarind juice ready measured up.For every cup of broken rice add 2 1/4 cups of tamarind juice.

Heat oil in a pressure pan.Add the mustard seeds.When it splutters add the channa dal.When the channa dal is lightly brown, add turmeric powder,asafoetida,dry red chillies and curry leaves.

Then add the tamarind juice.When it begins to boil,add the broken rice and the required amount of salt.

Close the lid of the pressure pan.Cook for 2 whistles.

After opening the pressure pan just mix everything together.

Serve with cut raw onions.

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Jam Drops

This is an eggless cookie recipe published in the book "Complete Cookies, Muffins & Cakes"
Published by Murdoch Books.I made some changes according to my taste.

Ingredients:

7 1/2 tbsp - unsalted softened (at room temperature)butter

1/3 cup - sugar

2tbsp - milk

1 tbsp - cardamom powder(The original recipe uses 1/2 tsp vanilla essence)

1cup - selfrising flour

I used all purpose flour.So I added 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 baking powder along with the all purpose flour.

1/3 cup - plain custard powder(I used bird's eye view brand)

1/3 cup - strawberry jam(you can use any other flavour if you like)

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degree F.

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy.

Add the milk and cardamom powder and mix well.

Add the sifted flour and custard powder and mix to form a soft dough.If you feel the dough is not soft enough you can add another tablespoon of milk.

Make small balls of the dough and place on the cookie sheet.

Make an indentation on each ball with your thumb.Fill each hole with a little bit of jam.

Bake for about 10 minutes.Cool on a wire rack and store in air tight containers.

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Crispy Thattai

Thattai is an ideal tea-time snack.It is little bit time consuming than any other snack.But the taste is worth all the effort and hardwork!!

It is usually a must on the list of snacks on Janmashtami.

Actually there are so many versions of this recipe.This one is my mom's.

Ingredients:

2 cups - rice flour(You can use store bought,but make sure it is fresh)

Slightly dry roast Urad dal in a pan.Powder it in a mixie.

1/4 cup - Urad dal /Black gram dal flour .

2tsp - chana dal

1 sprig - curry leaves(finely chopped)

1/4 tsp - asafoetida

2 tbsp - melted butter

chilli powder - to taste

salt - to taste

any oil - for frying

Method:

Soak the chana dal in water for 2 hours.Drain them completely and keep them aside.In a bowl mix the rice flour,urad dal flour,asafotida,salt,chilli powder,chopped curry leaves,drained chana dal.

Add the melted butter to the flour mixture and mix it well.Then add water little by little and keep on kneading till it becomes a stiff dough.Be careful in not adding too much of water.

Make small balls of the dough.In a well-oiled plastic sheet /ziploc bag pat the balls into thin discs.You can oil your hand if you feel the dough is sticky.Then with a fork prick all over the thattai because we don't want the thattai to puff up like a puri when frying.

Heat the oil in a deep kadai.When the oil is heated up, put a little bit of dough.If it rises up well and sizzles then the oil is ready for frying.If it settles down ,then the oil is not ready yet.

Fry 3 thattai at a time turning them over to ensure both sides are cooked.The thattais are ready to be taken out of oil when you dont hear any sizzling sound and when they attain light golden brown color.

Drain and cool them completely.Then store in an air-tight container.

Iam sending this to Smitha's Colors of Taste-Powders event.The theme for May 2009 is Rice flour.

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Spicy Fried Green Beans

I first tasted them in a chinese restaurant.It was so delicious that i could'nt stop eating them!!

Ever since then this dish has become a regular in our weekly menu.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:
1 lb - fresh green beans
2 cloves -garlic minced
2tbsps - stir fry sauce or substitute with soya sauce
4 tbsps - any cooking oil
chilli powder,salt - to taste
Method:
Wash the green beans .Chop the ends off and cut the beans into halves.Heat oil in a pan.When the oil is very hot add the beans and keep on stirring them in high heat for about 5 minutes.Then add the minced garlic ,salt and continue the stirring for another 5 minutes.By this time the beans would have started to brown.
Add the soya sauce/stir fry sauce and chilli powder and saute for about 1minute.Turn off the heat.
Serve with rasam sadham(rasam rice).

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Eggless Orange Cake

I have a passion for baking.I always search for eggless baking recipes.This eggless orange cake recipe was posted in a jewish food website.I wanted to try immediately because i had all the ingredients in my pantry.So I saved an errand to the store.Not to metion about the texture.It was soft and light and it tasted good.

This was my entry to Mythreyee's Paajaka's Baked sweets event.

Here is the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups - all-purpose flour

3/4 cup - granulated sugar

1 tsp - baking soda

1/2 tsp - baking powder

1 cup - orange juice(fresh juice or bottled)i used welch's brand

1/3 cup - vegetable oil(i used mazola corn oil)Any oil can be used.

1 tsp - grated orange zest(i omitted this since i ran out of oranges)

Method:

1. Grease an 8" round cake pan. Preheat oven to 350F(180C).

2. In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda and baking powder until well mixed.

3. Add the oil and orange zest.

4. Then pour in the orange juice.

5. Stir just enough to combine the ingredients..No need to beat the mixture..Cuz over-mixing will result in the cake not rising well.

6.Pour into the prepared pan immediately.

7.Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes or until a tester inserted in to the middle of the cake comes out clean and the cake is slightly golden brown in color on the top.

Icing

Powdered sugar can be sifted on the top of the cake when the cake is still warm.I skipped the icing part.

Enjoy with a hot cup of tea or coffee!!

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Hi
Welcome to my blog.In this blog you can find the recipes which are tried and tested out by me.Most of the recipes will be vegetarian with the exception of a few which contains eggs.
I hope you will find this blog interesting and worth visiting.
Please drop in anytime!!

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