Eggless Banana Cake

January 26, 2012 — Chelvi S

I have always wanted to make eggless cake.  I found this eggless banana cake recipe from  http://www.egglesscooking.com.  I modified that recipe quite a bit for my taste.  I reduced the amount of sugar and replaced castor sugar with brown sugar.  I like the taste of brown sugar since it’s not too sharp.  I also added  lot of orange juice which gives a nice flavor in combination with bananas.  Following is the recipe.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar
  • 2  oz butter melted
  • Juice and grated rind of one orange
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup mashed banana
  • ¼ cup pureed dates
  • 2 oz walnuts chopped

Method:

  • Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Butter a 9x9x2 inch cake pan and set aside.
  • Sift flour and baking powder and set aside
  • To puree date, add about ¼ cup hot water to dates and leave aside for about 15 minutes
  • Puree dates in a blender
  • Make juice from orange and add enough hot water to make 1 ½ cups liquid.
  • Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy
  • Now add orange juice, vanilla extract, mashed banana, pureed dates and beat on low speed
  • Add the flour and beat mix well.
  • Now add chopped walnuts and mix until all the ingredients are mixed well
  • Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about one hour or until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
  • Cool on wire rack.
Posted in Cakes. Leave a Comment »

Avocado Sweet/Dessert

January 22, 2012 — Chelvi S

Avocados are not that common in Sri Lanka.  I came to know about this fruit only when I was a teenager.  Also this fruit is called “Butter Fruit” in Sri Lanka.  My uncle had a huge tree in house and when he gave us some of these fruits, we didn’t even know what to do with them.  So he said just add some sugar and eat as a dessert.  My mother added some milk and sugar.  When we ate this sweet for the first time, we all immediately liked it.  But some people add condensed milk to add extra sweetness and richness.  I feel like it becomes too sweet and the smell of condensed milk overrides the pleasant smell of Avocados.  So here is that very simple recipe:

Ingredients

  • 2 ripe avocados
  • About 4 – 5 teaspoons generous castor sugar
  • ¼ cup cold whole milk
  • Cashew nuts lightly toasted and broken into small pieces

Method

  • Cut avocados and scoop out the flesh
  • Mash it with a fork until it is almost like a paste (you can leave a  bit small pieces)
  • Add sugar and milk and beat/mix thoroughly.
  • Chill for about an hour or two
  • Equally divide the dessert into 4 bowls
  • Sprinkle with toasted cashew nuts
  • Serve cold.

Note: Try serving it with a scoop of ice-cream or just sprinkle a bit of chocolate syrup over the avocados.

Posted in Quick Dishes, Sweets. Leave a Comment »

Pizza Roll-Ups

January 16, 2012 — Chelvi S

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb frozen pizza dough
  • ¾ lb potatoes
  • 1 medium carrot shredded
  • ¼ cup green peas
  • ¼ cup chopped onion
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1-2 teaspoon canola oil
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon crushed red chili
  • Few curry leaves
  • Salt to taste

Method

  • Thaw dough according to package directions or lightly oil the dough and leave at room temperature for about 6 hours
  • Boil potatoes until three-quarter done
  • Drain and let cool.  Peel off the skin and chop them roughly into very small pieces
  • Heat oil in a skillet and add onion and sauté until lightly golden
  • Add cumin seeds and sauté for another 30 seconds
  • Add potatoes, carrots and green peas, chili powder and cook on low flame mixing thoroughly
  • If needed sprinkle little water at a time until vegetables are quite done
  • Add crushed red chili and curry leaves and cook for another minute
  • Let cool
  • Pre-heat oven to 375F
  • Take the thawed dough and place on a floured surface.
  • With a rolling pin spread the dough into square about 10 inch x 6 inch

  • Spread the cooked vegetable on the dough evenly leaving about 1 inch around the edge.
  • Roll the dough carefully and seal the edges

  • Snip off the excess dough from the ends and seal them firmly
  • Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes
  • To serve, cut them into thick slices.

Note:

Instead of rolling like this, you can also make buns – take the thawed dough and make small portions.  Make a well in the middle and add a spoon full of cooked vegetable and seal it to make a bun.  Bake as mentioned above.

 

Posted in Breads & Muffins. Leave a Comment »

Zucchini and Mushroom in Coconut Milk

January 10, 2012 — Chelvi S

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium zucchini
  • 6 oz sliced white mushroom
  • ½ cup red onion sliced
  • 1 green chili slit lengthwise
  • 2 teaspoons canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ½  teaspoon red chili powder
  • ¼ cup coconut milk

Method:

  • Slit zucchini lengthwise and cut diagonally into thin slices and set aside
  • Dry roast coriander and cumin seeds lightly and let cool.  Once cool grind to a fine powder
  • Add oil to a covered saucepan and sauté onion lightly golden
  • Add green chili and sauté for one more minute
  • Add ground coriander-cumin and chili powder to the saucepan and mix well.  Make sure the flame is set to very low.  Otherwise it will start smoking
  • Add zucchini, mushroom, and coconut milk and cook on medium flame for about 6-7 minutes.
  • If the curry starts drying out, sprinkle a little water – about 1 – 2 tablespoons.
  • Serve warm with rice or Rotis

Yields: 2-3 servings as a side dish.

Posted in Curries, Dry Curries (Fry), Side Dishes, Side Dishes. Leave a Comment »

Quinoa with Roasted Veggies

January 8, 2012 — Chelvi S

I like to roast vegetables instead of sauteing them on a stove top.  Especially with the cold weather and windows shut, sauteing in oil makes the whole house smell.  So this is one of the most easiest way to cook vegetables which is quite healthy and time consuming.  Once you put the vegetables in the oven, you don’t have to stand next to it.  So here is a quick version of Quinoa dish.

 

Ingredients:

  • ½ lb vegetables such as green beans, bell pepper, cauliflower, mushrooms.
  • ½ lb sweet potato
  • 5 red radishes
  • About 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons flax seed grounded
  • ½ teaspoons roasted cumin seeds
  • ¾ cup white quinoa
  • 1 ¼ cups water
  • Salt to taste

Method

  • Pre-heat oven to 400F
  • Slice bell pepper into thin slices.  Break the cauliflower into small florets.  Slice mushrooms into thick slices.  Chop green beans diagonally into 1 inch pieces
  • Cut sweet potatoes into about ½ inch cubes
  • Add all the vegetables to a cookie sheet with salt and sprinkle with olive oil and mix well
  • Bake for about 45 minutes
  • Let cool
  • To cook Quinoa: add quinoa to a skillet and roast lightly on medium flame.  About 5 minutes.
  • Stir water and salt to quinoa and bring to a rolling boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until all the water is absorbed.  About 10 minutes
  • Let cool.  Now mix vegetable with quinoa and season with salt and pepper
  • Serve with mango pickle.
  • Serves 2 as a main dish
Posted in Grains, Main Dishes, Quick Dishes. Leave a Comment »

Vegetable Rotis

January 3, 2012 — Chelvi S

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup shredded leeks + carrots
  • ½ cup chopped red onion
  • 1 green chili
  • 2 teaspoons canola oil
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Water to mix dough

Method:

  • Shred carrots and chop leeks into fine pieces
  • Chop green chilies into small pieces (rounds)

  • Add oil to a skillet and when hot add chopped onion and sauté until transparent.
  • Add carrot, leek, and green chili and sauté on low flame until cooked
  • Season with salt and let cool
  • to make the dough, mix flour salt and oil and add the cooked vegetables
  • add enough water to make the dough
  • transfer dough to a bowl and cover with a plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for about ½ hour.
  • To make the roti, divide dough into 10 portions.
  • Take a portion and place on a board and sprinkle a little flour and roll out with a rolling pin into thin rotis

  • Cook rotis on a skillet on both sides until done.
  • Serve warm with chickpea curry or any other curry

Variation:  You can add other vegetables like cauliflower, green beans etc.  But make sure you cut them into very fine pieces.

Posted in Break-fast, Dinner, Roti & Chappatis, Sri Lankan Tamil Cuisine. Tags: , , . Leave a Comment »

Spiced Pumpkin Cake

December 20, 2011 — Chelvi S

I got this recipe from the better homes and gardens website (http://www.bhg.com) and modified a little bit.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground pumpkin spice mix
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs at room temperature
  • 1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup castor sugar
  • ¾ cup canola oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts

Direction:

  • Pre heat oven to 350F.  Grease a 15x10x1 inch baking pan and set aside
  • Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin spice mix and set aside
  • In a medium bowl beat egg, sugar and vanilla extract.
  • Add oil, and pumpkin puree and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed
  • Add the flour mixture and beat until combined.
  • Stir in chopped walnuts
  • Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until a wooden tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean
  • Cool completely on a wire rack.

Note: I usually reduce the amount of sugar when I bake cookies, cake etc.  So if you would like it to be quite sweet, add extra 1/3 cup of sugar.

For a variation, add about ¼ cup of chocolate chips or raisins into the cake mix.

Posted in Cakes. Leave a Comment »

Quesadilla

November 15, 2011 — Chelvi S

Quesadilla is one of my favorite dishes. Quesadillas are normally corn or flour tortilla filled with veggies, meat and cheese and cooked on both sides until the cheese melts. You can use any vegetable combination you want in this dish. I like whole wheat since it is healthy. Also you can replace mozzarella cheese with any of your choice like shredded cheddar, mix of different cheese etc. Since the cooking time of tortilla is very short, vegetables must be cooked ahead before filling the quesadillas. Red onion gives a very strong flavor for this dish. Also mixing green and red/orange pepper gives a different flavor and a slight sweet taste.


Ingredients:

  • 4  (10 inch) whole wheat flour tortilla
  • ½ lb bell pepper (green + orange/red)
  • 6 oz button mushroom
  • ½ cup sliced red onion
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • ¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Method:

  • Slice bell peppers into thin strips.
  • Add oil to skillet and when hot, add peppers and onion and sauté until half cooked.
  • Add mushroom to the skillet and cook until vegetables are cooked but still crisp.
  • Divide vegetables into 2 portions.  Do the same with cheese.
  • Wipe the skillet clean with paper towel and spray a little oil
  • Add a tortilla to the skillet and sprinkle some cheese
  • Top with half of the cooked vegetables spreading evenly leaving about ½ inch at the ends.
  • Sprinkle with cheese on the top
  • Cover with the other tortilla and cook on low flame until cheese is melted
  • Turn over carefully and cook until cheese is melted on the other side
  • Place quesadilla on a cutting board and cut into wedges
  • Serve with guacamole or tomato salsa and sour cream
  • Makes 2 quesadilla

Variations: After adding filling vegetables to the tortilla you can add extra ingredients you like such as fresh chopped tomatoes, black olives, cilantro, corn etc.

Posted in Main Dishes, Sandwiches & Wraps. Leave a Comment »

Spicy Beet/Beetroot Curry

November 13, 2011 — Chelvi S

In Sri Lanka Beets are commonly called as Beetroot.  Fresh beets have an earthy flavor like no other vegetable.  They are very easy to cook and have a very distinct sweet taste.  Beets can be used in salads, as a side dish and boiled/steamed.  My mother used to make this spicy beet curry, and beet varai.  I used to run away whenever she cooked beet curry.  But I always loved the beet varai.  So last week when I bought a bunch of fresh beets, I thought of making this dish again.  It came out quite good but still I am not a fan of beet curry.  I added coconut milk which gives a distinct flavor to this dish – in combination of the earthy beet flavor.  If you are health conscious you can replace coconut milk with normal 2% milk or soy milk.  But I think you will be missing that distinct flavor.

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium beets/ ½ lb beets
  • ½ cup sliced onion
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 2 green chilies split lengthwise
  • ¾ cup water
  • 2 – 3 teaspoons chili powder (Sri Lankan Version)
  • 2 tablespoon thick coconut milk
  • Few curry leaves
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Peel and wash the beets
  • Cut them into thin cubes and set aside
  • Add oil to a covered saucepan and when hot add onion and sauté for about lightly golden
  • Add green chilies and sauté for another minutes in low flame
  • Now add beets and mix well and sauté in medium flame for about 5 minutes stirring often
  • Add water, chili powder, salt, coconut milk and bring to boil
  • Lower heat to medium and cover and cook for about 7- 8 minutes or the gravy becomes quite thick.
  • Add curry leaves and cook for another minutes.  At this point the curry should be thick and very little gravy.
  • Serve warm with rice
  • Serves about 3 as a side dish.


Posted in Curries, Dry Curries (Fry), Lunch, Side Dishes, Sri Lankan Tamil Cuisine. Leave a Comment »

Bruschetta

November 10, 2011 — Chelvi S

Bruschetta is a very simple dish to make.   It just starts with slices of baguette as a base and any toppings you wish.  Normally tomatoes are parboiled and peeled before making this dish. But when boiled and peeled, tomatoes have a tendency to become mushy and soggy.  So I thought of using fresh tomatoes with some sundried tomatoes which gives a very strong flavor.  But the options are endless.  You can use any topping as you wish.  See variations below.

Ingredients:

  • 5 slices of French bread/baguette
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large tomatoes on the vine
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 sundried tomatoes in oil
  • 5 – 6 pitted black olives chopped
  • Couple of fresh basil leaves
  • Salt to taste
  • Mozzarella cheese to sprinkle

Method

  • Brush olive oil to baguette and toast until lightly golden and set aside
  • Chop tomatoes into very small pieces, also chop the sun dried tomatoes into small pieces
  • In a bowl mix chopped tomato, minced garlic, sun dried tomato and salt.  Add about 2 or 3 drops of olive oil and mix thoroughly
  • Top each baguette with a spoonful of the tomato mixture and sprinkle with black olives and basil leaves
  • Sprinkle mozzarella cheese and broil at 450F for about a minute or until cheese is melted and start turning golden
  • Serve warm

Variations: Try using different herbs such as parsley.  Instead of just tomatoes try mixing white/navy beans with tomatoes as a topping or another variation can be using portabella mushrooms.  When using portabella mushroom, try sautéing with different spices such as ground coriander, cumin and paprika.

Posted in Quick Dishes, Sandwiches & Wraps, Side Dishes. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »
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