Eggless Wheat Cake (with Jaggery)

She looked sweet!
When I happened to see her first on the 'food fest' grounds a couple of months back, this girl was busy presenting her goodies on the plate. I watched her with a smile from some distance which she couldn't have possibly realised! Herself and me were among the 50 competitors who contested for the cooking contest arranged by the 'food fest' team.The ingredient for the day was 'wheat flour' (with which we were supposed to make something sweet!) Among the crowd of competitors she invariably stood out which would have probably caught my eyes!

I saw her working in a hurried way as she had to work with the toppings making it look perfect before we were asked to place the trays on the table for judgement. Since I was through with my wheat flour almond cookies, I walked up and offered help to this sweet girl who was already with her finishing touches.
I told her I would mind her handbags and things while she presents her plate on the table and she smiled and thanked me while hurrying off.

While we were waiting for the judge to arrive, we had a chat. She introduced herself as Namrata and talked about her native place. We talked as if we knew for ages.
After the judgement got over we exchanged what we made. She happily shared her wheat flour cake and chocolate bombs while I shared my cookies.

The cake as well as the chocolate bombs were simply irresistible!
I absolutely loved the cake which was moist and light with a different taste and much "Indianish".She said it was eggless and had jaggery instead of sugar!
I had always thought of a cake sweetened with jaggery and here I am with a perfect recipe!
I got excited and couldn't wait to grab the recipe from her!

Eggless Wheat Cake

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 200gms
Jaggery - 1 cup (grated and loosely filled)
Milk - 1 cup (plus a tablespoon if you feel the batter too thick before transferring to the pan)
Oil - 1/2 cup ( sunflower or rice bran oil)
Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Vanilla - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Sieve flour, soda and  baking powder twice or thrice to combine or whisk in a bowl. Add jaggery and combine gently. Now it's the turn for the milk and the vanilla and lastly the oil. Use a spatula and combine gently.
Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 minutes with temperature set to 180 deg C or until done while the skewer inserted comes out clean.

-->Namrata had used chocolate syrup and praline for topping the cake which went very well. If you wish to do the same, decrease the amount of jaggery to 3/4 cup.

-->Substitute milk with soy milk for a vegan version.


The result was announced later at night and for our pleasantest surprises we bagged the second and third prizes for the cookies and the choc bombs! :) :)

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Jam Tarts

The reason for postponing to make Sweet Punch's jam tarts to the last moment was solely because I felt my son would absolutely love it!  He loved the flavour of Kissan's mixed fruit jam as an infant and later as a teen enjoyed Britannia's Jim Jam or any such jam filled/centred biscuits.
Eventually I was planning to make these cuties last week when he was around for the holidays and unfortunately I was having a much hectic time around with Navarathri, family function and guests at home.
My son will be back home again in another week for the Diwali holidays and I am reserving his favourite munchies which I baked just a couple of hours back!

Jam Tarts

Makes 12
Adapted from Ria
Original source -The Thankam Philip Book of Baking


Ingredients:

Flour-115g
Butter-60g (chilled)
Baking powder-1/2 tsp
Water-4-5 drops
Jam

Method:

Mix flour and baking powder together.
Add the butter and rub it with your fingertips till it resembles breadcrumbs.
Line the tart tins and fill 2/3 of the tart with jam. I divided the dough into 6, since I'd halved the recipe and spread in each tart tin separately by rotating the tin and spreading the dough at the same time by gently pressing with both my thumbs from the centre towards the sides.
Bake at 180 degrees for 15 mins or till done.
De-mould when cooled. Be careful not to burn your fingers with the hot molten jam in the centre.

To be frank, I had my own seconds thoughts whether the tarts could be demoulded perfectly!
For the safer side an extra tsp of butter went into the flour which got transformed to a hard dough from the crumbly one.
The tart tins were buttered quite well and were placed on a flat tray on which I sieved flour, coating evenly every nook and corner, rather than dusting.
Thus my tarts were unmoulded easily and perfectly!

The mistake I did was probably filling the jam a little too much which was bubbling up and overflowing while baking, messing up the oven floor. The sticky dry jam on the sides of the tart tins didn't allow me to unmould, though the tarts were ready to come out :)

I am quite happy about the taste and will be trying out with different fillings!

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Tender Coconut Pudding

 The pictures of this recipe are Food Gawked and TasteSpotted.
 The recipe was also tagged by the Foodbuzz 


This pudding unties a bundle of sweet memories in me! I can hardly remember when and where exactly I tasted tender coconut pudding, first in my life, may be in one of the Christian weddings, but I had hugged the taste ever since it melted on my taste buds when I was a teen. It contains no eggs and this should be the reason why it was so simple and unbelievably comforting! Getting the recipe was not a big task coz this was a regular dessert in many of the Christian homes in Central Kerala. I jotted down the recipe then but I lost it in due course of time...

This is a recreation of the recipe from the basic mousse pudding where I had substituted the coconut and water. It was simple and hassle free... a 'no chance to go wrong' recipe. I had wanted to try this for the past two decades and believe me, it turned out perfect and left me absolutely excited in my very first attempt itself!

Tender Coconut Pudding (eggless)
yields 25 medium squares.(Serves 10.. coz no one can stop with two ;))

 Get ready with :

1 tin sweetened condensed milk = 400gms = 300ml   I used Amul Mithai Mate
*Sugar- 1/4 cup scant (not more than 6 tsps if you prefer less sweet)
China grass / agar agar- 10 gms
Thick (non fat preferable) milk -2 tins; measured in the condensed milk tin.
Tender coconut water- 1 tin
Tender coconut meat - 1/2 cup
(you may need 2 large Tender Coconuts for the water and the meat)


Step by step method: 



To begin with ,cut china grass into one inch long strips. Rinse and soak in hot tender coconut water for 1- 2 hours.




Let the coconut you scrape out be tender and transparent rather than the opaque whitish matured ones.




Boil milk, condensed milk and sugar together.




Once it boils, simmer just for a few seconds giving a stir in between.




Heat tender coconut water in which the china grass had been soaked and melt it bringing the coconut water to gentle boil. I could melt it within 2 minutes of gentle simmer. Too much of boiling destroys the natural texture and flavour of the coconut water. It is tough to melt down the grass strands completely. A few might remain at the bottom and you may strain and grind it in a mixie before combining with the milk mixture. I didn't do this and combined as it was..




which brought up after the mixing along with the fine tender coconut pieces. These strands are harmless and doesn't alter the texture and the taste of the pudding. When you mix the china grass solution and the milk mixture, let them both be of the same temperature; either warm or luke warm.
 So, after you mix it all together pour in a flat squarish  shallow glass container and not like what I did coz it will be difficult to unmould and slice into serving sizes.




Freeze for 5 minutes and then place it on the normal refrigerator compartment to chill for about 30-45 minutes until it is set. Do not over freeze or chill as it hardens the pudding.




I toppled the bowl gently and it moulded out pretty clean.




Umm.. not bad...




Slice into serving portions. Did I tell you, I halved the original recipe? Mine yielded 16 unequal portions.
You can also use ramekins or small individual bowls for setting the pudding. You need not unmould too.

You may serve the pudding as it is.Transferring into plates is not an easy job as they are soft 'flubbers' :)

The berries are fresh from my garden. My vegetable garden is going crazy these days and I have topped the fruits for a colour contrast and make it  look glamorous.

Another reason of these fruits getting into the dessert is because Raks insisted to have either fruits or veggies in them. ...and all I have is coconut :)...
Well,  Raks as you all know is an awesome blogger with a wonderful variety of recipes, a girl who never fails to encourage most of the bloggers around with her warm and sincere comments. She had been surprisingly regular in mine though I skipped visiting hers many a times. This dessert is specially made for her event, Celebrate Sweets September 2011 event coz she really deserves something sweet and very special! :)..


Note:

 The pudding tastes better, * less sweet. However you can check the sweet level before you freeze and can add more if you want to.
I had added no flavours like vanilla as it just tastes good without a flavouring. The mild natural flavour of tender coconut is irresistible!
You can enjoy the pudding topped with cut fruits, berries or even praline.
I like it as it is :)

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100 Yummy Diwali Sweet Recipes E-Book by Indus Ladies

Indus Ladies the largest  global online community for Indian women is a space where we discuss and share ideas about topics interesting to Indian Women. Discussions about cooking, family and relationships, kitchen and household, beauty and fashion, health, diet and fitness are a few to name. Thus the community undoubtedly paves way to long lasting friendships among the Indian ladies, globally!

They are compiling an E-book for this Diwali that features 100 irresistibly yummy sweet recipes. I deeply appreciate their wonderful idea and effort on compilation of the E-book related to the festival which will be beneficial to many readers, fans and followers!

I am glad to have contributed Godhumai Jira for the book. If you have an apt sweet recipe, do not hesitate to send over your entry before Oct 10th to the Indus Ladies and be a part of the family of the authors of the lovely E-book!

Cheers,
Bharathy 

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Mutton Stew

While the masala rich non vegetarian gravies top my list of favourites, this mildly spiced side dish, which has its origin from the Christian homes in my native place, goes last.

This was sent over by one of amma's friends in Kottayam while we were holidaying a couple of months back and I managed to get the recipe from her while clicking away the dish.

If you like soft juicy meat all drenched in rich coconut milk with a breezy flavour of spices, then this is for you!

Mutton Stew
You need:

1.  Mutton-1/2 kg
     Vinegar - 1-2 tsps
     Salt
     Stock water from the above cooked meat- 1 cup


2.   To be sautéed in order:

     Coconut Oil - 4 tbsps or 1/4 cup
     Cinnamon - a 1 inch piece
     Cardamom-  4no
     Cloves - 8 nos
     Whole black pepper corns-10-12 nos
     Big onion-   2 nos, sliced lengthwise
     Ginger -       a 1/2 " piece, julienned
     Garlic cloves- 5, julienned
     Green chillies-10-12 nos, slit lengthwise until 3/4th (do not slit apart completely)
     Curry leaves- 2 sprigs
     Potatoes-3 medium, peeled and cut into 12 cubes in total (each to 4 pcs)
     Maida / cornflour-1 tsp
     Thick Coconut Milk - 1 1/2 cups
     Salt- to taste


Method:


Pressure cook mutton with vinegar, salt and enough water (1 cup  +/-) so as to yield 1 cup of stock water after it gets cooked soft.

Heat oil in a pan, add cinnamon,cardamom, cloves, pepper in order and sauté onions till translucent along with ginger and garlic juliennes. Throw in green chillies followed by the curry leaves and sauté for a few more seconds. Pour in the stock water. While it boils add the potato cubes and cook until done. Transfer cooked mutton along with. Simmer for a few more minutes adding maida / cornflour (made a paste with a tbsp of water). Switch off and stir the thick coconut milk gently to combine.Do not boil the curry after this stage as the coconut milk tends to curdle.

Check salt and serve warm with Kerala Appams!


Note:


Always use tender meat which cooks well.You can substitute veal as well.
If  you end up with less than stock water than recquired, use water. If you have more of stock water, boil to evaporate the excess while cooking the vegetables (onion, chilles & potatoes).
Or else, add cornflour / maida a little more which would thicken the curry.
Remember, the stew thickens as it cools down.

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