Eggless Banana Bread with Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butterchips

I have recently been practicing my hand at baking....something that I have never been very successful at! After a couple of attempts at baking simple cakes and cookies I have begun to gather a little confidence and even enjoyed experimenting with baking. This is one simple recipe using over ripe bananas to make this delicious bread.I found an easy and simple recipe to make this eggless banana bread and adapted it just a little bit.
Here it is.

Ingredients

4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups spelt flour or all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk/soy milk

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 pinch salt

(Optional ingredients)

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup peanut butter chips

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

Method

Preheat oven to 350ºF.  In a mixing bowl, combine mashed bananas with butter.  Add in milk, vanilla, and mix.  Add in sugar, baking soda, salt, and mix.  Add flour gradually and mix well. Add the chocolate and peanut butter chips (if using). Pour the mixture into a greased loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with sunflower seeds and a few chocolate and peanut  butter chips. Bake for 1 hour or until a wooden pick comes out clean.

Recipe adapted from here: http://australian.food.com/recipe/quick-and-easy-eggless-banana-bread-447487

Spicy Kung Pao Style Chinese Noodles and Tofu Stir Fry

 The smell of good food always make me hungry, especially of something like a stir fry from an Asian restaurant or the Indian-Chinese street food.  It is not easy to get that unique flavor of a restaurant style stir fry at home unless you have the professional tools for it like a large wok and gas stove with high flame. I recently tried a Black pepper tofu recipe from the wonderful cookbook Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. It was so good that I wanted to have more of those flavors. So I decided to make this noodle and vegetable dish by incorporating some of the flavors from that. I made it Kung Pao style which is usually a spicy stir fry with chilies and peanuts and bit of sweetness in it. Stir fry does need a little preparation and the cooking has to be done fast. The vegetables have to be chopped and kept ready, the noodles boiled and the spices and different sauces mixed and kept ready. I enjoyed making and eating this delicious and healthier Chinese take out at home.

Ingredients


4 blocks of medium firm tofu (19oz box)
1 fistful spaghetti
4 tablespoons stir fry sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 -2 teaspoons Sriracha sauce
2 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
sesame oil for cooking
cornflour for coating the tofu
1 cup broccoli florets
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
4-5 green onion
1 small red onion
black pepper
crushed red pepper
dry red chillies
10 medium garlic cloves finely chopped
2"ginger finely chopped
handful of broken cashews or roasted peanuts
salt to taste

Method

Preparation

1. Break the broccoli florets and wash them
2. Drop the florets in boiling water for about a minute and transfer to ice cold water to retain the color. Drain and keep aside
3. Boil the noodles. Drain and add a little sesame oil.
4. Dice the red and green bell peppers
5. Drain the tofu blocks
6. Cube the tofu and toss in cornflour
7. Finely chop the garlic and ginger
8. Mix the stir fry sauce, sriracha, vinegar, brown sugar, soy sauce and salt in a bowl 

Heat sesame oil in a non stick pan and slide the cornflour coated tofu cubes in it. Shallow fry till the tofu is golden brown on all sides. Drain on a paper towel. Add more oil if needed in the same pan and add thinly sliced red onions or shallots and cook till light brown. Now add the chopped ginger, garlic, cashews and dry red chilies. Cook for a minute and add sauce mix. Let it come to a boil and add the water and mix it well. Now mix in the fried tofu and the noodles. Finally add  the steamed broccoli and the diced peppers. Remove from heat and season with a lot of black pepper  and chopped spring onions. Serve hot.

Gujarati kadhi

Gujarati kadhi is much lighter and sweeter than the other type which is thicker in consistency and usually has pakode soaked in it (fried dumplings). Both are delicious! I like to sometimes just drink up the Gujarati kadhi like buttermilk. It is traditionally served with khichdi. But a dry vegetable like bhindi/okra or the traditional oondhiyu which is delicious mix of special vegetables and spices cooked together goes well with a bowl of piping hot kadhi.I made a dry cauliflower and potato vegetable to go along with plain boiled rice.

Ingredients

2 cups slightly sour yogurt

2  tablespoon gram flour (besan)

1"ginger, 2 small green chilies and 5-6curry leaves (made into a fine paste)

2 tablespoons sugar or powdered jaggery

3-4 cloves

1 teaspoon each mustard and cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon methi seeds 

1/2 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)

a pinch of turmeric powder

1 small stick of cinnamon (optional)

a few curry leaves

1-2 dry red chilies (optional)

salt to taste

few sprigs finely chopped cilantro

Method

Whisk the yogurt along with, gram flour, salt and sugar till it has no lumps and is completely smooth. I like to use a hand blender to make it smooth. Add the ginger, green chili and curry leaves paste and mix well. Heat oil and drop the mustard seeds, cumin, methi, cloves, curry leaves and cinnamon. Once the seeds sputter throw in the red chilies, asafoetida and turmeric powder. Keep the heat on low to medium and quickly pour the yogurt mix. Keep stirring continuously otherwise the yogurt might curdle. Bring it to a boil and add two and half cups of water. Boil on low heat for another 5-10 minutes.

PS: The kadhi can also be make by boiling the whisked yogurt with besan and the ginger paste first and tempering can be done later just before eating.

Pav bhaji burger

After I made these I was wondering why did I not think about this earlier? Pav bhaji is a delicious and popular street food in India made with potatoes, onions and spices. It is kind of a vegetarian sloppy joe...spicy and a little sloppy. It is served with a bun called pav which is slathered with butter. I came up with the idea of making a pav bhaji burger when I was left with a bag of mini hamburger buns. I had to use them so I decided to try out making vegetarian burger using the same spices and vegetables that are used in pav bhaji. I loved how delicious they turned out to be. Usually pav bhaji is eaten with raw onion with fresh lemon wedges and green chilies  To substitute that I made a crunchy salad with onions, red cabbage and roasted corn.

Ingredients

3 potatoes (boiled and mashed)

1 medium onion (finely chopped)

1 heaped tablespoon ginger garlic paste

1 cup mixed boiled or frozen vegetables (corn, green beans, peas, carrots)

1/4 cup diced cherry tomatoes

1/2 cup finely chopped bell peppers

2 teaspoons pav bhaji masala

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1 teaspoon dry mango powder (optional)

1 teaspoon black pepper powder

salt to taste

2 tablespoons oil (as required for cooking)

Corn flour (for dredging)

Method

Heat oil in a pan, add the chopped onions and saute for a few minutes. Then add the ginger and garlic paste and cook till the raw smell goes away (about 2-3 minutes). Add the pav bhaji masala, turmeric powder and chili powder. Meanwhile roughly grind the mixed boiled or frozen vegetables and add it to the pan. Mash the boiled potatoes and mix it in. Add salt according to taste and adjust seasonings. Finally add the finely chopped bell peppers and tomatoes. Sprinkle pepper and dry mango powder. 

Once the potato mix cools a little make small balls with the potatoes. Take some corn flour in a plate and dredge the potato balls in cornflour. Heat a skillet with oil and butter and shallow fry the potato balls on both sides till crispy and golden brown. Drain on a paper towel and place it in a burger bun with your favorite fixings. I made mine with some crispy fried onions seasoned with salt and pepper, spicy mango chutney and a side salad. 

Date and nut roll

There are many versions of this popular dessert made with dates and nuts. I tasted this at a friends place and absolutely loved it. So I requested her to share her recipe and she gladly did.
It looks elegant and can be considered healthier as compared to other desserts as it gets most of its sweetness from dates.  It has the nice crunch of nuts with a subtle flavor of vanilla. The condensed milk gives it the richness and makes it extra special. Once the hard work of chopping the dates and nuts is done it is quite easy to put it together.

Ingredients

Dates – 2 lbs  chopped into small pieces
Condensed milk – 1 can
1tsp vanilla essence
Nuts – Broken cashews, slivered almonds, chopped pistachios– 1 cup each
Grated dessicated coconut - to roll

 Method

Take a pan, add dates and stir on medium low flame.
Add vanilla essence, condensed milk and stir till it gets mushy and leaves sides of the pan.
Meanwhile, lightly roast all nut on stove or oven for 5 minutes.
Add chopped nuts to the date and condensed milk mix everything well.
Make a roll and roll it on the coconut flakes.
Put it in the foil and freeze it.
Remove and thaw in refrigerator overnight and cut in rounds.
You will get about 6-7 rolls and each roll can be cut into 10-15 pieces.

Okra/bhindi with roasted peanuts and sesame seeds

Here's a delicious way to prepare okra/bhindi with roasted and coarsely powdered peanuts and sesame seeds.


 

Ingredients

250 grams okra (sliced lengthwise)

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

2 tablespoons coriander and cumin powder

1 teaspoon garam masala

2 teaspoons chilli powder

2 teaspoons dry mango powder (amchur)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/4 cup roasted peanuts

2 heaped tablespoon roasted sesame seeds

1 tablespoon besan

chopped cilantro for garnish

salt to taste

Method

Roast the besan (chickpea flour) and grind the peanuts and roasted sesame seeds coarsely and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and drop the mustard seeds, once they start popping add the cumin seeds and asafoetida. Quickly slide in the sliced okra and stir. Keep stirring till the okra is not sticky anymore. This can take about 5-7 minutes. Now add the dry masalas and salt (turmeric, garam masala, red chili powder, dry mango powder, coriander and cumin powder). Sprinkle the roasted besan, sugar, ground peanuts and sesame seeds and mix well. It should coat the okra slices. If it looks too dry sprinkle a few drops of water. Cover and let it cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes. Just before serving garnish with cilantro leaves.

 

Dhaba style dal (Smoky whole green lentils)

Who doesn't like dhaba food? And for those who do not know what are dhabas....Dhabas are roadside restaurants found all over India.They serve mostly local and fresh food which is delicious. I especially love the dal that is cooked to perfection, flavored with onions, garlic and tomatoes, sometimes fresh cream is added to it and it  has a nice smokey flavor. Usually the dal that is used is urad and rajma (kidney beans). Here I have used whole green moong and tur dal.

I adapted the recipe from Taj Magazine *Taj vegetarian Fare.

Ingredients

1 cup green moong dal
1/4 cup toor dal
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
2 green chillies chopped
2 tomatoes chopped
2 teaspoon grated ginger and garlic
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/4 teaspoon clove powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 bay leaf
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
a few sprigs of cilantro for garnish
1 charcoal
1 tablespoon ghee

Method

Soak the moong dal overnight in water. Wash the toor dal and boil it along with the soaked moong and turmeric powder. It should not become too mushy. Heat oil in a separate pan and crackle the cumin seeds and curry leaves. Add the bay leaf and black cardamom and cook for a few seconds. Now add the chopped onion and green chillies. Cook till the onions get golden brown then add the ginger garlic paste. Stir for about a minute then add the garam masala,clove powder, salt and chopped tomatoes. Once the tomatoes start wilting pour the cooked dal, along with 3/4 cup of milk. Cover and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Now to give the smoke flavor, take melted ghee in a small bowl and place it on the surface of the cooked lentils. Take a piece of charcoal and light it on fire. Now carefully transfer in the the bowl of ghee. Immediately cover the pan. The smoke from ghee and hot coal will flavor the dal.

Once the smoke disappears. Take the bowl out of the pan and discard the coal and ghee. Garnish the dal with chopped cilantro and squeeze some lemon juice if desired. Serve with rice.