A Quick Banana Cake

When your fruit basket is weighed down by a bunch of over ripe bananas that nobody in the family (including you) will touch, you know something HAS to be done to avoid the fruits from going straight to the bin. Well, that's exactly how this cake happened to happen in my kitchen. Otherwise I am not much of a baker and would never ever volunteer to bake a banana cake, of all things..... ;)

Ingredients :

Ripe Bananas - 3
Eggs -
Flour / Maida - 2 cups
Sugar - 3/4 cup
White Oil - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Vanilla Essence - 1 tbsp
Fresh Cream / malai - 3 tbsp
Cinnamon sticks - 2-3"
Broken Cashew - a handful
Salt - a pinch

Procdeure :
1. In a mixie jar, put the following and mix:
     a) peeled and chopped bananas
     b) eggs
     c) sugar
     d) fresh cream / malai
     e) oil
  Pour into a wok like vessel or mixing bowl.

2. In a container, pour the flour, baking powder, powdered cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Mix well.

3.Pour the dry mix into the wet one. Gently fold in to combine.

4. Add vanilla essence & cashew pieces. Fold in .

5. Pour the batter into a preheated and greased cake mould. The oven is to be preheated to 250 deg C for 8-   10 min.

6. Set the OTG in 'baking' mode, at temp 175-180 deg C for 45 minutes.

 

Insert a fork / toothpick into the cake and if it comes out clean, the banana cake is done.

Let it cool in the oven and then cut a thick slice ...the taste is mildly sweet with a hint of banana flavour.
Eat it just as it is . I had mine with chocolate sauce, garnished with roasted almonds! And despite being quite a banana hater, I loved the cake!!

This post is off to 
1) Sudeshna's Blog (COOK LIKE A BONG) ' s CHRISTMAS EVENT;  

2) Indrani's Blog Event SPOTLIGHT:HEALTHY BAKING which was originally announced here;

3) 'Fast & Quick Healthy Dishes - Guest hosted by Kalpana Sareesh of Life with Spices, on behalf of Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes

Pan(fried) Pseudo Pizza!!

It looks like a small sized pan pizza. Tastes quite like one....well, almost! But the difference doesnt make it any less tasty! Inspired by Indira Mukherjee, I have adapted to make it simpler and faster. This recipe suits me fine on the "Onno kichhu khaabo" (Something different from regular stuff!!) days.

Here goes the recipe :


Ingredients : yielded 4 nos. 1/2" thick 6" dia pseudo pizzas
All purpose Flour (Maida) & Milk in 1:1 ratio
Egg - 1 for 1 cup Maida:1cup milk (200ml cup)
Any Grated / finely chopped vegetables like carrot, bean, cabbage, capsicum, cauliflower/broccoli florets, babycorn etc
Garlic - 3-4 cloves - chopped
Salt
pepper
Chili flakes
Oregano & dried herbs-I used FabIndia's Chili-Oregano & Italian seasoning
Grated Mozzarella cheese - 1 bowl (200ml)
For topping -Boiled corn kernel /Chicken sausages/nuggets/mushroom/paneer cubes/soya chunks etc etc
Diced Onions - 1 medium

Procedure :

1. Mix Milk and Maida and add the egg, Salt & pepper Mix well with a hand blender. The batter is thick but of pouring consistency.

2. Add the chopped garlic and all the grated/chopped vegetables.

3. Keep the topping ready (the choice is yours...I used paneer cubes+diced onions on one occasion and chicken sausages+corn kernels+diced onions on another) stir fried or sauted.

4. A small pancake frying pan makes the base preparation a cake walk. Pour a ladle full of veggie mixed batter and spread it to cover the whole pan. Pour some more to increase the thickness of the base. Cook on minimum heat. While frying the base on gas stove top, keep the oven ready for next step by preheating oven (I used my OTG) at around 225-250 deg C.

5. Flip the pancake pizza or pseudo pizza base and let the other side cook.

6. Now on a flat ovenproof plate, place the (Pseudo) pizza base, arrange the toppings and sprinkle desired quantity of grated mozzarella. Sprinkle the italian seasoning and dried oregano and other herbs of choice.

 7.Place it in the preheated oven on Grill mode at 225-250 deg C for around 5-7 minutes or till the cheese melts and gets a golden colour!

Ready to serve!!

Penne Pasta with Roasted tomato sauce and vegetables, chicken nuggets

As the kids grow up , fussiness and tantrums are often on the rise. Variety is not an option anymore but a compulsion. Same similar food on consecutive days is a big no no...the whine is almost instantaneous. Family meals , especially dinners are often dictated by their likes and dislikes, at least to ensure the given meal is finished without much ado. I am sure most Moms would agree.  

In my home, the current rage being pasta, I take the opportunity to pack in as much of veggies  into a bowl full of pasta as I can.....

 

Ingredients :

1.Penne Pasta cooked 'al dente' as per pkt instructions - 250 gm
2.Blanched vegetables for stir fry - carrot, beans, baby corn, brocolli etc

3.Tomatoes cut into quarters - 8-10 medium sized

4.Chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces - 250 gm, marinated in ginger-garlic paste-lemon juice-White 5.Sesame seeds-3 tbsp

6.Pepper corns - crushed

7.fennel seed paste

8.Rock Salt

9. Pepper

10.Chilli flakes 

11.Basil - a handful

12.Garlic - finely chopped - 8-10 cloves

13. Dried Oregano

14. Italian seasoning

15. Grated cheddar cheese - 1 cup

16.Salt to taste

17. Butter/Olive Oil

Procedure :

Roast Tomato Sauce (inspired by Kalyn's recipe of slow roast tomato)
 
1. In a mortar pestle roughly grind 2 tbsp of fennel seeds with a few drops of water
2. Brush the baking tray with oil and preheat the oven (OTG) to 250 deg C
3. Smear the quartered tomatoes with the fennel paste, pepper powder, rock salt, dried oregano and drizzle EVOO.
4.Place on the baking tray cut side down.
5.Set the OTG in grill mode for about 25 minutes at 250 deg C. Keep and eye to ensure the tomatoes dont get charred.Continue till the skin of the tomatoes are wrinkled.
While the tomatoes were being grilled, I continued with the stir fried vegetables & chicken
6.In a pan/wok, take a tsp of EVOO. Add chopped garlic and basil leaves. lightly fry.
7. Add the roasted tomatoes and mash them.
8. Add water drained after boiling pasta mixed with a spoon of cornflour. Add 1/2 cup of grated cheese. Mix well

Stir fried Vegetables : 
1. Blanch the vegetables after cutting them into small equal sized pieces.
2. Dry roast white sesame seeds in the wok. Remove
3. Heat EVOO/Butter. Add crushed pepper corns, a dash of sugar.
4. Add the blanched vegetables and toss them around in high heat.
5. Add required salt, dried oregano and chili flakes
6. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds



Chicken nuggets

1. I used some previously marinated (ginger-garlic paste, salt, pepper, lemon juice) chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces.
2. Heat oil in a wok. And throw a bay leaf or two.
3. Pour the chicken pieces. Brown them on medium-high heat.

In a large bowl assemble the cooked (al-dente) penne pasta, stir fried-white sesame garnished vegetables and chicken nuggets along with the roast tomato sauce. Toss them around to mix well. Garnish with grated cheese.

Mixed Fried Rice

A simple, easy to make, yet versatile fried rice...ideal for fussy kids on a weeknight or for their lunch box.
And yes, we adults also wouldnt mind having this 'fast to cook; great to eat' main course!!

Any vegetable, meat, sausages, eggs, prawns may be used...it's just a simple stir fry followed by mixing with rice. Here's what I used....

Ingredients:
1. Onion -1 finely chopped
2. 2-3 garlic pods sliced/chopped
3. Capsicum - 1
4. Button Mushrooms- 1 pkt containg 10-12, sliced
5. sweet corn kernels - a handful
6. peas - a handful
7. brocolli - small
8. I had some left over roast chicken - roughly sliced/shredded. Any kind of meat/sausage would be great.
9. Rice - 2 cups
10. Butter/Oil
12. Cinnamon, Cloves, Cardamom & Bayleaf
13. Salt & Sugar to taste
14. Pepper  corns & ground  pepper

Procedure:
1. Make steamed rice and spread it under the fan to dry. A better option would be to use rice cooked the previous night. (The latter is ideal for me when I make the fr. rice to pack for lunch)
2. Dry roast the sliced mushrooms in a wok to dry up the water.
3. In a wok, heat 2 tbsp butter.
4. Add bay leaf, crushed peppercorns, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cardamom & Bayleaf and a pinch of sugar.
5. Add the chopped garlic & onions. Fry till golden  brown
6. Add the broccoli, followed by capsicum, dry roasted mushroom, boiled/thawed corn kernels & peas. Stir fry on high heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.
7. Add the shredded chicken followed by cooked rice. Sprinkle black pepper powder. Mix well.

The mixed fried rice is ready to eat......

Gujju (Methi) Thepla in Bong kitchen

Taught by a Gujju friend, love these Theplas!

Love them with mirchi achaar (green chilli pickle), and sometimes plain, with my evening cuppa! Best part they taste yummy even when not so fresh..

Ingredients:

Ata (wheat flour) - 250 gm or 2 cups

Curd - 1 cup

Methi (fenugreek) leaves- 1/2 cup
White til (sesame seeds) - 1 tbsp

Ajwain (carom seeds) - 1 tsp

Green chilli paste

Dhania (Coriander) powder - 1 tbsp

Jeera (Cumin) powder - 1/2 tsp

Haldi (Turmeric powder) - 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1-2 tsp

Oil - 2 tsp

Salt to taste

Procedure :

1. Knead all the ingredients together till you get a soft dough

2. Divide the soft dough into about 12-14 balls as in chapatis.

3. Roll out similar to a chapati.

4. On a tawa, smear some oil and cook both sides of the thepla.

5. Serve hot.

But, I like theplas kept overnight too....

Paneer Bhurji .... Scrambled Cottage Cheese

No excuses, justification, prelude or small talk!

Just some oft made recipes.....

A simple, nutritious as well as delicious breakfast or tiffin which can be used as a filling in a wrap or a sandwich, OR eaten just as it is, with toast!

And Rush, if you mash the paneer to a smooth consistency, grate the veggies instead of dicing them and eliminate the salt, there you are, a tasty treat for your little one!!!

Ingredients :

Paneer - 1 litre

Lemon - 1

Vegetables of your choice-(bell peppers, onions, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, corn kernels, baby corns etc) - diced.

I used Capsicum, tomato and onion - 1 each

Green chilli - chopped fine

Coriander leaves-also chopped fine.

Salt to taste

Pepper corns, freshly crushed for better flavour & aroma

Butter /olive oil/white oil- 1 tbsp

Procedure -

1. Curdle the milk with the lemon to make fresh homemade paneer / cottage cheese

2. Just strain the whey but dont hang it in a cheese cloth to make it firm. We want the paneer soft and moist

3. In a wok, heat the oil/melt the butter

4. Throw in the crushed pepper corns followed by the diced onions, tomatoes and other veggies.

5. Saute in high heat for a minute or two but retain the crunch

6. Add the scrambled paneer. Stir around for a minute or two. Add salt.

7. Garnish with the chopped green chillies and coriander leaves.

This recipe is off to 'Fast & Quick Healthy Dishes - Guest hosted by Kalpana Sareesh of Life with Spices, on behalf of Priya of Priya's Versatile Recipes

Dosa's cousin & a Dakshini Alu Dum

(Goala/Gola Ruti....Dokkhini Alur Dum Diye)

Goala/Gola (pronounced as in 'Goal' -'a') Ruti is a kind of instant Dosa or a Pancake sans the egg & the sweet taste.

In our home Goala ruti is a much made and much loved weekend breakfast / brunch. It's quick, can be had with a side dish, sauce or as it is. Any vegetable chopped fine (like carrot, cabbage, capsisum, etc etc) can add to its nutritive value.

Today to enhace it's south indian-ness, I paired it with an alu dum which had a Duxini touch to it!

So here goes the recipe :

Ingredients

For the Goala Ruti :

* Maida or All purpose Flour : Suji or Semolina in 1:1 ratio. I used 80gm each of Maida and suji which yielded around 9 Goala Rutis/Pancakes

* Milk - 2 - 3 cups

* Salt to taste

* Onions - finely chopped 1/2

* Carrot - Finely chopped 1.

* Coriander leaves - finely chopped

* Green chilies - chopped fine

* You can add ginger / garlic paste & sliced if you like....I DID NOT

* Water to add to the batter to make the consistency more liquid

For the Duxini Alu Dum:
* Potatoes - 8-10 or as many as you require

* Onions - 1 large size, quartered

* Tomatoes - 1 medium, diced

* Curry Patta - a bunch

* Urad Dal/Kolai Dal (White lentils) - 2 tsp

* Whole dry red chili - 1

* Mustard seeds/Shorshe - 1 tsp

* Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp

* Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp

* Sambhar Masala - 1/2 tsp

* Salt to taste

* Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp (+/- depending on heat tolerance)

Procedure

I first make the Alu Dum followed by the Goala Rutis

Duxini Alu Dum:

1. Boil the potatoes with their skin on. Afterward peel the skin off and cut each into 4 quarters.
2. In a wok, take oil and when hot, temper with whole dry red chili, mustard seeds, urad dal and curry leaves
3. Throw in the quartered onion and add a pinch of sugar. Fry till it turns pink and translucent.
4. Add the ginger paste followed by diced tomatoes.
5. Add the boiled and quartered potatoes.
6.Add the coriander powder, chili powder and salt
7. Toss them around to mix the masalas well.
8. Once the raw smell/taste of boiled potato is gone, sprinkle the sambhar masala

9. Mix around one more time...check for salt. Take the wok off the flame.
The Duxini Alu Dum is ready!

Goala Ruti :
1. Mix together the maida and suji in 1:1 ratio and pour milk to make a batter of dosa like
consistency. You can make the batter with ONLY milk or milk & water.
2. Add the chopped onions, grated carrot, finely chopped green chillies, chopped coriander leaves etc etc..
3. Add salt to taste.
4. Mix well.

5. Smear the non-stick tawa with 1/2 tsp of oil
6. With a hemispherical serving ladle, pour a glob of batter and spread it in a circle.

7. Fry one side on low flame. Flip it over and fry the other side.

8. Your Goala Ruti is ready to be savoured with the Alu Dum.

Hunger pangs and Frittata

Lunch skipped. No time to satiate my mid afternoon hunger pangs. Hallucinations of sinfully delicious cheese omelettes. Can you imagine my plight in office???? Even while driving back home, I was dreaming of the smell of eggs being fried, with my eyes wide open!!

The ravenous me attacked the fridge with full vigour and in a jiffy I had all I needed for a sinfully delicious stuffed omelette. The sausages sliced, onions & tomatoes ready (I always have some chopped onions & tomatoes in air tight containers for such emergencies!), cheese grated, eggs beaten and just as I was about to go ahead with the dish of my afternoon cravings, I changed my mind and what followed, culminated in a frittata !!



Ingredients :
Eggs - 2
Sausages - 3-4 (sliced)
Milk - 3-4 tbsp
Onions - 1 small - sliced
Tomatoes - diced - 1 small
Processed Cheese - 1 cube
crushed pepper - to taste
chopped green chilies - to taste / optional
chili flakes - to taste
Capsicum - 1 diced
Sweet corn kernels - a handful
Peas- a handful
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup chopped
butter/oil (I used butter!!!)
salt to taste

Procedure :

1. Beat two eggs. Add 3-4 tbsp of milk/milk cream and keep beating till fluffy. Add salt and pepper...beat some more. And keep aside

2. Switch on the oven at around 200 deg. F for 10-15 minutes, to preheat

3.In a frying pan, add some oil. Throw in the onions. Fry till light brown.

4. Fry the sausages with tomatoes and capsicum

5. Add the sweet corn kernels, peas and add the salt pepper, chili flakes & green chillies. Toss around once again in the pan.

6. With the spatula, spread the fried stuff evenly on the pan and pour the beaten egg+milk/cream mix. Tilt the pan to spread the egg evenly to cover all the veggies and sausages. Keep on low flame for the egg to set.

7. When the top is almost set (but not fully), sprinkle the grated cheese and continue to cook on stove top on low flame till the cheese starts to melt.

8. Transfer the pan (after removing the handle) to your preheated oven and cook on grill mode for 5 minutes. I like my cheesy fritatta tops soft, with the cheese melting in my mouth. If you like the top crispier and browned, keep it in the grill for some more time while monitoring it.

9. Garnish with chopped coriander.
Enjoy!!!!!

I ate like a glutton....had almost 3/4th and suddenly remembered my little baby who loves eggs!
Dinner was a cakewalk with the fritatta and was over even before I could spell it out!!!

This can make a wonderful breakfast or brunch and can be packed in kids' tiffin. It can be eaten as it is (as I did) or with bread roll/slices or mashed potatoes!

Note : I used all the sinfully high calorie stuff....like cheese, butter, milk cream etc etc....it was an indulgence I should not practise often!!! Using olive oil, low fat milk, crumbled ricotta cheese/paneer will definitely be a healthier and low calorie option!! But........

Nameless Delight!

(Baked Bread stuffed with the goodness of vegetables, chicken and anything & everything healthy and tasty)
A dish without a name!

So dear friends, the onus lies on you to find one for this dish, once you read about it!

When visiting a cousin, she'd made this delicious preparation.

With hardly any time to note down or even hear the recipe, all she could say was "make it like a Cake sans the sugar but plus some salt and add anything as filling to it"...

She'd made it with chicken...when I decided to try out this Cake sans the sugar, I decided to make it more wholesome, and added chicken and some veggies too....

So without much ado, here goes the recipe...

Ingredient :
A. For the filling
1. Boneless Chicken pieces - 150-200gms
2.Onion finely chopped - 1
3. Cardamom-2
4.cinnamon stick - 1 (1" piece)
5. Bay leaf
6. Ginger + Garlic paste - 1 tsp
7.Carrot - blanched
8 Beans - blanched
9. Baby corn - 4-5 sliced
10. Butter - 2tbsp
11. Crushed pepper - 1 tsp
12. Chilli powder - 1 tsp (optional)

B. For the batter :
1. Flour - 2 cups (about 200gm)
2. Eggs - 3
3. Oil - 1 cup
4. Baking powder - 1tbsp
5. Salt - to taste
6. Crushed pepper corn - 6-8
7. Roasted Garlic sliced - (5-6 cloves of garlic) ** (I roasted the garlic as given here)
8. Butter - 1 tsp
9. Milk - 1 cup

C.For the final tempering
1. Butter - 1-2 tbsp
2. Red Chilli - Roasted and ground into flakes - 1 tsp
3. Roasted Garlic sliced

Procedure :
A.Filling
1. Take ingredients Sl. No. 1-6 in 'B' of Ingredients and pressure cook.
2. Chop the blanched carrot and beans into small cubes
3. In a wok, take some butter and when hot, add the sliced babycorn.
4. Fry till golden.
5. Add the cubed carrot-beans and stir fry. Add some salt and pepper.
6. Lastly add the boiled boneless chicken pieces and again saute for 2-3 minutes.
Keep aside

B. Batter
1. Whip 3 eggs and keep aside
2. As in making a cake, mix the flour and the baking powder well.
3. In a bowl, mix the whipped eggs, oil
4. Now in a big mixing bowl, mix together the flour+baking powder, egg+oil, salt, crushed pepper. Beat the mixture well
5. Now add the stirfired chicken-carrot-bean-babycorn into the batter .
6. Add some sliced roasted garlic
7. Mix well.

Preheat the oven for 5 minutes.

After spraying oil in a baking container, pour the chicken-vegetable containing batter

Bake at 180 deg Celsius for 25 minutes.

Insert a knife and if it comes out clean, it's done....else bake for another 5-10 minutes

Now in a skillet heat 2 tbsp of butter, add some roasted and flaked red chillies, slices of roasted garlic.
Now pour this butter-chilli flakes-garlic combo on the baked dish (as in chhaunk) The baked goody is ready to be sliced and eaten with some sauce.

*It makes a great breakfast dish ...
I had it with a cup of tea and finished off the breakbast with some fruits (a bowl of Papaya & Banana).

And so this is my entry to "EFM Theme - Breakfast Series" hosted by SriLekha of ME and MY KITCHEN . The logo for the event is ...

* Being a breakfast dish, this is my entry to 'SHOW ME YOUR BREAKFAST' hosted by Divya Vikram of DIL SE. The logo for the event is..

* It makes a great item to be packed in lunch box for kids along with some fruits ...
The chicken in the recipe can be removed or replaced with any or many of the following :
paneer/mushroom/cauliflower florets/carrot/bean/baby corn/corn kernel etc.

I gave some fruits (mango cubed) and hey presto! A wholesome nutrituous snack/light lunch box was ready!
This is my entry to CFK:HEALTHY LUNCH BOXES hosted by NEHA of TASTY RECIPES. The event was started by Sharmi of Naivedyam

The logo of the event is .....