Tuesday 20 May 2014

Coco-Dates Eggless Cake



Coco-Dates Eggless Cake
Coco-Dates Eggless Cake Pieces
Cake can be dessert by itself or can be used to make desserts like trifle. It can be served with a dollop of cream (sweet/sweet and sour) or with ice cream. Make custard/ jelly and pour it over cake and a yummy dessert is ready. Problem comes when somebody wants to enjoy all these yummy desserts bur is vegetarian or do not take eggs for some reason or the other. I today am writing this post so that all of you can enjoy cake and cake based desserts. Coco-dates eggless cake is delicious, nutritious and very easy to make. I have made this cake using vegetable oil (Least saturated fat) but if you want you can make it with butter. If made using butter the texture will change but then it will be having more fat content. I bake the cakes in OTG with only lower coil heating.

Preparation Time: 30-40 minutes
Baking time 40-45 minutes
Servings: 500 gm cake (Approx.)

Ingredients Required For Making Coco-Dates Eggless Cake:
  • Pre-heat the oven to 160 o C.
  • 100 gm All Purpose Flour (Maida)
  • 100 gm. Seed less dates
  • 75 gm. Sugar                 
  • 150 ml. Milk
  • 75 ml. Vegetable oil (I used sunflower oil)/75 gm. unsalted butter
  • 200 gm. Thick Fresh Curd (It should not be sour)
  • 30 gm. Coco Powder
  • 1 Small pinch of salt
  • 10-15 Almonds
  • 10-15 Cashew nuts
  • 5-6 Seedless dates
  • 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1/4Teaspoon Baking Soda (Cooking Soda)
Directions For Making Coco-Dates Eggless Cake:
  • Cut 100 gm. of seedless dates and soak them in 150 ml. of milk for 15-20 minutes.
  • Mix
    • Flour
    • salt
    • Baking powder
    • Cooking soda
    • Coco powder and mix well.
  • Sieve through a fine sieve three to four times to ensure proper mixing of all ingredients.
    • Cut Almonds
    • Cashew
    • Dates to pieces (Medium) and sprinkle flour on it to coat them with flour properly.
Nuts coated with flour
  • Make fine paste of soaked dated.
Paste of soaked dates and milk
  • Make fine powder of sugar.
  • Take oil/butter in a deep bowl and add sugar powder to it. Beat till sugar and oil mix to make uniform smooth mixture. If you are using butter then it should become fluffy (10 min. maximum)
  • Add flour mixture (dry ingredients mixture) 3-4 teaspoons at a time and mix with gentle hands.
  • When all flour mixture is added the batter will look thick and brittle.
Flour and cocopowder added to oil and sufar mixture
  • Add all paste of soaked dates and mix. Do not whisk too much. The batter will become thinner but not pourable.
After adding Dates-Milk Paste 
  • Add beaten smooth curd and mix without whisking. The cake batter will become pourable thick.
  • Add pieces of nuts and dates coated with flour and mix gently.
After adding Curd
Consistency of batter
  • Pour the batter in a pre-prepared (Greased/Butter pare lined) baking container.
  • Bake in a pre-heated oven at160 o C for 20 minutes. The cake batter will rise.
Cake After 20 minutes at 160 C
  • Increase the temperature to 180 o C and bake for another 20 minutes. The cake will become darker brown and the top layer will become firm. 
  • The time may vary from oven to oven so after 35 minutes of baking poke a dry stick through the center of the cake. if it comes out clean then the cake is baked else bake till the stick comes out clean. It will not take more than 40-45 minutes of baking.
Cake After 40 minutes
The stick comes out clean after 45 minutes
  • Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool on a rake.
  • Place a plate on the cooled baking dish with cake and turn the dish upside down on the plate.
  • Pat gently on the sides and top. The cake will come down on the plate.
  • Remove the baking dish.
  • Cake with bottoms up is sitting on the plate.
Flip side of the Cake
  • Turn the cake gently and cut to pieces.
Coco-Dates Eggless Cake
  • Do I have to tell what to do next!!! Grab some pieces and eat before your family finishes it offJ
Coco-Dates Eggless Cake Pieces
Tips:
  • Do not bake the cake with top coil heating only lower coil should be functional in square OTG. Round oven do not have this option as the heating coil is in the round rim.
  • For best results always sieve the flour-baking powder mixture four to five times minimum.
  • Curd should be fresh and thick. It should never be sour else the cake will have sour taste.
  • Always coat the nuts with flour to avoid them from settling at the bottom.
  • Always pre-heat the oven and prepare the baking dish before mixing the ingredients.
  • Use measuring spoons available in market domestically used spoons may vary in size cause havoc to the cake.
  • Either use toned milk or remove the cream settled at the top this will make cake healthier and least fatty.
  • Do not over do the salt part it is just to enhance the sweetness not to impart salty taste.
Suggested Variations:
  • Amounts of nuts can be increased to give more nutty and crunchy feel.
  • Do not increase the amount of dates. They impart sweetness and increasing the amount of Dates means increasing the sweetness of the cake.
  • If you like your cake more sweet increase the amount of sugar to 100 gm.
  • Oil can be replaced with butter.
  • Butter used should be white butter. I prefer using Nutrelite butter as it is having less saturated fat.

Thursday 8 May 2014

Shahi- Aloo-Tikki (Nutty Potato Patties)

Shahi- Aloo-Tikki
Aloo (Potatoes) are rich in minerals and starch. Due to high calorie content people try to avoid this fantastic vegetable. Potatoes are loaded with nutrients; it is the Oil/ butter /ghee which is added while cooking it (frying) which increases the fat and calorie content. Potatoes are added in almost every vegetable preparation in Kumaon (India). Potato patties are very popular in Northern part of India. In market you will find them cooked with lots of Ghee/oil. This recipe deals with this problem and allows the Tikki lovers to enjoy Aloo Tikki in shahi style.The chutnies (Indian Sauces) can be made in advance and kept in fridge. Green chutney can be stored for a week minimum in fridge and sweet tamarind cutney for more months together in freezer. Even if you micro it for thawing the taste will not spoil. I prefer curd made at home, but you can choose your curd either home made or marketed. Aloo tikki tastes heavenly when covered with liberal amount of thick curd.

Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Cooking Time: 40-45 minutes
Servings: 4-6 Shahi Aloo Tikki (Medium size)

Ingredients Required For Making Shahi Aloo Tikki:
  • 1/2 Kg. Medium size Potatoes
  • 10-15 Cashew nuts
  • 10-15 Raisins/Black Currant
  • 2-3 Green Chilies
  • 5-6 Sprigs of Fresh tender Cilantro
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Red Chili Powder
  • 5-10 ml. Ghee (Clarified butter)/Olive oil
  • 1/2 kg.Thick Curd (Minimum)
  • Sweet Tamarind Chutney (Sweet and sour sauce of Tamarind)
http://jyotsna-pant.blogspot.com/2011/10/sweet-tamarind-chutney.html
  • 2-3 Teaspoons Coriander seeds powder
  • 2-3 Teaspoon Chat masala (Optional)
Direction For Making Shahi Aloo Tikki:
  • Wash the potatoes and boil then till tender but not pulpy and overcooked.
  • Allow the boiled potatoes to cool
  • Wash and drain water from cilantro and cut the cilantro sprigs finely.
  • Remove small stalks attached to the raisins.
  • Cut green chilies finely.
  • Peel boiled potatoes and mash them nicely.
  • Add
    • Green chili pieces
    • Cilantro
    • Red chili powder
    • Salt
  • Mix nicely to have uniform mixture.
Aloo mixture for Tikki

Nuts for filling and Aloo mixture
  • Divide the mixture into 4-6 portions (Depends upon the size of patties you want).
  • Make round of one part and flatten it. 
  • Place in the center with 2-3 raisin and 2-3Cashew nut and close the patato mixture to make a ball.
Filling in the Potato mixture
  • Roll to make a ball again without putting too much pressure.
  • Flatten by pressing tenderly between palms to make a patty of 4-5 cm diameter.
Potato mixture filled with nuts
  • Repeat with all the parts of potato mixture. Heat a flat non-stick pan (Tawa). When the pan is hot sprinkle 10-15 drops of ghee /oil and spread with the help of spatula.
  • Place the prepared patties on the Tawa and bring the heat to medium.
Patties Cooking In Minimum ghee/oil
  • Do not cover.
  • Allow the patties to cook on one side first till they become golden brown.
  • Flip the patties sprinkle few drops of ghee/oil on the edges of pan/Tawa and allow the patties to cook on the other side also till golden brown.
  • Patties are ready to be served.
Shahi-Aloo-Tikki Ready to be Served
How to Serve Shahi-Aloo-Tikki:
  • Beat curd and add salt to taste and 2-3 teaspoons of sugar powder.
  • While the patties are on the hot pan before serving press the patties and cook for one minute on each side to make them crisper.
  • With the help of a broad knife or sharp spatula split the two golden halves exposing the center.
  • Pour thick beaten curd liberally over the split halves of tikki.
  • Top the curd with green chutney and sweet tamarind chutney.
  • Sprinkle pinch of coriander powder, red chili powder, chat masala and salt (As per taste).
  • Garnish with cilantro and serve.
Shahi-Aloo-Tikki


Tips:
  • Do not overcook potatoes else the tikki will not be crisp.
  • If the potatoes are too starchy and sticky then oil your palms while making the tikki.
  • Curd should not be sour and thin.
  • Make your own curd by adding 2 teaspoon of curd and two teaspoon sugar(To make the curd sweet) to milk at 40 o C and after thoroughly mixing keep it covered in a warm place for 6 -7 hrs. when temperature is 35-400C / 8-10 hrs. when the temperature is 25-300c.
  • Keep the curd once it is set firmly in fridge to avoid it from becoming too sour. Cold well set curd is best for tikki.
  • Flatten the tikki by pressing them with spatula if they are too thick so that they get cooked to the inner core.
  • Make the chutney in advance and store in fridge.
Suggested Variations:
  • Cashew can be cut to pieces and raisins can be cut before filling.
  • Any other nuts except groundnuts can be filled.
  • Green chili pieces can be filled along with the nuts.
  • Cottage cheese (Ricotta cheese) can be mashed along with the nuts for the filling.
  • Any cooking medium can be taken except mustard oil. But it tastes best with ghee (Clarified butter).

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