Eggless Tutti Frutti Cake
Baking is fun when you have the right recipe. I love to bake and to try new recipes. Eggless tutti frutti cake was my first dish to bake and till now when ever I bake it, I do it with the same excitement when I did it for the first time.
Who doesn’t like tutti fruttis, it might be kids or grown ups, everyone likes it. We can easily get them in stores or even you can make them at home. In this recipe I have used homemade tutti fruttis.
Here is a simple recipe to make eggless tutti frutti cake. Its a good recipe to start for the first time bakers.
Method :
- Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C. Grease and flour an 8″ loaf pan.
- Sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix a pinch of salt and keep aside.
- Combine sugar, condensed milk, melted butter and blend it until creamy consistency.
- Now add half of milk and half of flour mixture, mix it. Then add rest of the milk and flour mixture along with vanilla essence, mix it again until the flour is well combined.
- Now add tutti frutti, almonds, walnuts and gently fold it up and down (do not over mix it, to maintain the fluffiness in the batter).
- Transfer the cake batter to the greased pan and bake it for 50-55mins or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for 5mins, then transfer the cake to a wire rack. Slice it once its completely cools down.
Note :
- You can use any nuts of your choice or you can use only tutti frutti.
- I like my crust to be little bit more thick so I baked it for 60mins.
- This recipe can also be used to make plain vanilla cake by skipping tutti frutti and nuts.
Heerekai Chutney
Ridge Gourd is called as heerekai in kannada. Heerekai chutney is one of the most common dish made in South India. There are many versions of doing this chutney, here is a simple recipe which can be made within 15mins.
Method :
- Heat a pan with 1 tsp of oil, add groundnut and chopped green chilies.
- When groundnut are nicely roasted, add cubed heerekai and sauté until they are soft.
- Switch off the flame. Add salt, roasted sesame seeds powder, tamarind paste and coriander leaves.
- After 3-4mins when its slightly cool down, add it to a mixer jar and grind it to a course paste and transfer it to a serving bowl.
- In a tadka pan add 2 tsp of oil, when its hot enough add mustard seeds and when it starts popping add jeera, hing and curry leaves. Switch of the flame and add to the chutney.
Note :
- Sesame seeds can be added along with groundnut and roasted. I had roasted sesame seeds powder so i used it.
- Coriander leaves can be skipped.
- This chutney can be made with only heerekai sippe/peel.
- Lemon juice can be added instead of tamarind paste.
Masala Powder
Masala powder is a spice powder which is added to many palyas/curries in south india. It can also be used to make sambar. This is my mother-in-law’s recipe. We can make it and store in air tight container for almost a year, but its flavor will not be as strong when it gets older, so my MIL prepares it every 6 months or so.
Method :
- Heat a pan, add coriander seeds and roast them for 5mins or until there is nice aroma. Remove it to a plate/bowl.
- Add jeera/cumin seeds to the same pan and roast until they turn light brown. Remove it to another plate/bowl.
- Same way roast methi seeds and curry leaves separately.
- Now add cardamoms, cloves, bay leaves and star anise in the same pan, roast for 2mins.
- Add 1 tbsp of oil in the pan, add hing, grated dry coconut and roast it until golden brown.
- Take another pan(bigger pan is preferred, so that the ground spice powder can be added to it and easily mixed), add 3 tbsp of oil and heat it until hot. Switch off the flame and add red chili powder. Keep it aside to cool down.
- Now grind all the roasted ingredients separately and mix it in the oil, red chili powder mixture, also add 1 tsp of salt and mix well. Remove it in a air tight container and keep it in a dry place.
Note :
- Curry leaves can also be roasted along with coriander seeds.
Appi Payasa
For Making Payasa
Appi payasa is a sweet dish which is usually made during festivals/religious ceremonies in South India. Its a little time consuming dish but tastes very yummy.
Method :
- In a mixing bowl take chiroti rava/fine rava, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp oil and mix it slowly by adding water until you get firm dough. Cover it and let it rest for at least 2hrs.
- Add milk in a heavy bottom pan and let it boil on a medium flame until it reduces to 3/4th of its quantity.
- Meanwhile heat oil in a kadai and start making pooris by first kneading the dough for 2mins and dividing it into lemon sized balls.
- Take one ball of dough, apply some oil on it(so that it won’t stick to the surface) and roll it thin(like a thin chapati/tortilla) on a flat surface, cut it into triangles, as shown in the picture below and poke it with a fork(this helps it to remain flat during frying). Take each triangle at a time, fry till golden brown and remove it on a towel paper.
- When the fried pooris cool down slightly, make small pieces with your hands.
- When milk is reduced to 3/4th of its quantity, add the pieces of pooris to the milk and let it boil for 5 mins.
- Now add sugar and let it boil for some more time. Taste it, if necessary add more sugar and switch off the flame.
- Transfer it to a serving bowl and garnish it with your choice of dry fruits.
Note :
- If you are short of chiroti rava/fine rava then you can use maida.
- Make sure that the dough is firm, this will make the pooris crispy.
- Resting the dough will help it to get the elasticity which helps to handle it properly, so rest it as much as possible.
Kothu Parotta
If you have left over plain parottas and bored of eating it again, then Kothu Parotta is a good option. You can have it for breakfast, brunch or even for evening snacks. Can be served with cucumber raita or plain yogurt/curd.
Method :
- Heat oil in a kadai/pan. Add minced garlic and sliced onions, Sauté for 2mins.
- Add sliced capsicums and let it cook for another 2mins.
- Now add tomato ketchup, soya sauce, red chili powder and salt, mix well.
- Slice or crumble left over parotta and mix it in the onion capsicum mixture. Close a lid and let it cook for 3-4mins.
- Open the lid and sprinkle some chopped green onions. Mix well and switch off the flame. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and its ready to be served.
Bili Chitranna
Chitranna is a very popular rice dish in Karnataka. Its one of the quick and easy recipes to make and a good option for Lunch Box too. Its the most common rice delicacy made in any typical south Indian household.
Chitranna is lemon rice which can be made in yellow(by using turmeric) or white(no turmeric). Recipe below is all about white chitranna which is made with lots of grated coconut and onions.
Method :
- Pressure cook the rice by adding 2 cups of water and for 1 whistle. Once done open the lid and let it cool down.
- Heat a pan with oil. When hot enough add mustard seeds and when it starts popping add jeera, green chilies, curry leaves(optional) and channa dal.
- When channa dal turns slightly brown in color, add thinly sliced onions and sauté until onions are properly cooked.
- Take cooked rice in a mixing bowl, add cooked onions, grated coconut, salt, lemon juice and roasted cashews. Mix well, transfer it to a serving bowl and garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.
Kale Dal
Kale is one of the green vegetables which is very good for our health. Many people don’t like kale because of its taste(even i am one of them ;P ), but when combined with spicy and tangy ingredients it can be made tasty.
Here is a recipe of spicy, tangy and sour kale dal which can be served with rice and chapatis.
Preparations :
- Cook toor dal in a cooker/rice cooker and keep it ready for later use.
- Chop onions, garlic and kale.
Method :
- In a kadai add oil and heat it on medium flame.
- When hot enough add mustard seeds, when it starts popping add jeera, haldi, curry leaves, onions and garlic. Sauté until onions turn translucent.
- Then add chopped kale and let it cook for 2-3mins (or until kale gets cooked).
- Add salt, red chili powder, tamarind paste and cooked dal. Let it boil for 5mins.
- Transfer it to a serving bowl and serve hot with rice.
Note :
- Green chilies can be added instead of red chili powder.
- Grated green mango can be used instead of tamarind paste.
Shavige Payasa
Shavige payasa is one of the most common dish made during festivals in South India. Payasa/dessert is a must thing to do during festivals. There are different types of payasa but shavige payasa is one of the easy payasas to make.
Method :
- Add ghee to a pan and heat it. Add cashew pieces and raisins and roast them till they turn brown, remove the dry fruits to a separate bowl and use it later for garnishing.
- Now to the same pan(which is still left with some ghee) add vermicelli/shavige and roast till it turns brown in color.
- Meanwhile heat a heavy bottom pan, add milk and boil it till it reduces to 3/4th of its quantity(about half an hour or so).
- Add roasted shavige/vermicelli to the reduced milk and boil it for some more time, until it gets thick.
- Add sugar to it and cook for 5 more minutes and switch off the flame.
- Transfer it to a serving bowl and garnish with cardamom powder and roasted cashew and raisins which were kept aside.
Avocado Chapati
Avocado chapati is simple, easy to make, healthy choice. Especially for kids who don’t like avocados this is a good option to make them eat avocados. They will not even know it, as it does not change the taste of chapati. 😉
Method :
- Add wheat flour/atta, salt, 1/4th tsp oil and smashed avocado in a mixing bowl. Mix it by adding water little by little until it forms like a chapati dough(as shown in picture below). Knead the dough for some time. The longer you knead, more softer will be the chapatis.
- Let the dough rest for at least 10mins.
- Heat a skillet/pan on medium flame. Meanwhile take a small ball size dough, sprinkle some flour on a flat surface and roll it round, apply some oil and fold it (like a triangle) and roll it again until its thin like tortilla.
- Sprinkle some oil on a preheated skillet/pan and place the rolled chapati. Let it cook for 2mins or until you see small bubble on top of the chapati, then sprinkle some more oil on the top and flip it and cook for some more time(until it has small brown spots on it).
- When done cooking on both the side, remove it from the pan and serve hot with any palya/curry.
Note :
- Pulka can also be made using the same dough.
- It takes time to get round shape chapatis for the beginners so don’t loose hope and keep trying.:)
Sunflower Seeds HinDi
HinDi is a rustic North Karnataka Speciality. Its basically a spicy powder made with groundnuts or sunflower seeds or roasted channa dal or even with flax seeds. It is usually mixed with curd or ghee and eaten with chapatis, bhakri (jowar roti), idli or dosa.
It can be stored for 10-15 days. When ever you are short with time or bored of cooking, hinDi is a good option to eat with chapatis. At least one or two different types of hinDi are always there in our pantry. We love to eat it almost every day. 🙂
Ingredients
Method :
- Take sunflower seeds in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it for 5-6mins. Do stir it in between so that seeds are roasted evenly (this step is for raw sunflower seeds, if using roasted seeds then this step can be skipped).
- In a mixer jar add roasted sunflower seeds, roasted groundnuts, salt, red chili powder, garlic and oil and grind it to powder.
- Transfer it to a air tight container and store it in a dry place.
Note :
- Can be made without adding garlic.