40 minute Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes

It was Saturday morning and hubby dearest and my sister’s birthday. Both are currently turned off by big creamy cakes L. So I had all savoury items planned, but fate intervened and we had to change all our plans L . We could all just meet up for breakfast. No cake, no elaborate lunch menu… was enough to get me all upset (They were somehow fine L).  But I’m no quitter, so I decided whether they like it or not, I will go ahead and bake cake for them, only I baked tiny little cupcakes so it wasn’t too much cake but still there was something special. Luckily, both seemed to like it. I usually bake cakes for evenings or nights, when I have all the time in the world to take things slowly.  My first time baking for breakfast, and I had to be quick. So I made these simple 40 minute chocolate cupcakes with things easily available at hand. I hope you enjoy making these when you are starved for time.

40 minute Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes

Eggless chocolate cupcakes with choco chips baked in 40 minutes

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:          International
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Yield:              8

Ingredients:

3/4 cup Whole wheat flour (atta) / Plain flour (maida)
1/4 cup Cocoa powder
¾ tsp Baking powder
A pinch Baking soda
1/2 cup + 3 tsp of Sugar
1/2 cup Milk
1 Tbsp Vinegar
½ tsp Chocolate / Vanilla essence
1/4 cups Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Water
2 Tbsp Choco chips

Method:

• Sift the dry ingredients together i.e. the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda at least twice. I used whole wheat flour. This can be made with plain flour too.
• Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius
• Add the vinegar to the milk and set aside for 5 mins
• Add the oil and 0.5 cup sugar to the milk and whisk until the sugar has dissolved
• Add the chocolate / vanilla essence
• Add the dry ingredients and the water and whisk for 3-4 mins. Add more sugar if needed. I felt the 0.5 cups was not sufficient so I added the remaining 3 tsp. If you add sugar now, whisk for about 3-4 mins.
• Add the Choco chips and mix
• Line the cupcake tray with liners and spoon the mix into them.
• Bake for 20-22 mins until done. Mine took 22 mins.

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Kadle Bele Payasa | Chana Dal Payasam

Guysss !!! "100" H-U-N-D-R-E-D... This is my 100th post on OneTeaspoonOfLife...

My first milestone in my blogging journey. Ever since I reached the nervous 90's, I started thinking about what my 100th post should be. I asked for suggestions from family, but I was more confused than ever. I wanted it to be something sweet, something influenced by my roots and most of all, something I love.

Kadle Bele Payasa has been a favourite since childhood. And to top it, this was a part of the naivedyam (offering) to Lord Ganesha for Ganesh Chaturthi. I made it long back, but held on, on posting it, so I could make it my 100th. So blessed by Lord Ganesha, comes my 100th recipe on this blog for the simple, delicate and delicious Kadle Bele Payasa or Chana Dal Payasam.

Kadle Bele Payasa is a South Indian Kheer or pudding made using Chana Dal (Split Bengal Gram) and Rice. The dal and rice are cooked in coconut milk along with cardamom and jaggery.

The base of this payasa or kheer is the Chana Dal. The dal needs to be soaked for at least 2-3 hours to make cooking it easier. I pressure cooked it, but you can easily cook it in a deep saucepan. Usually, dal is cooked until it disintegrates and is mushy, but not in this case. The dal should be just cooked. It should still retain its shape and should still have a slight bite to it.

The other major ingredient here is the rice. And just like the chana dal, it needs to be just cooked. The rice grains should not be mushy. They should still have a bite to them.

Coconut is the soul of South India and also of this Kadle Bele Payasa. The Kadle Bele Payasa gets its creaminess from coconut. You can add coconut milk or finely ground coconut flesh. I sometimes add coconut milk and sometimes the ground coconut. The difference is not in taste, but in texture. Coconut milk gives it smooth creaminess while the ground coconut gives the payasa a coarse texture.

Jaggery is unrefined cane sugar. If you don't have access to jaggery, you can add palm sugar or brown sugar or any unrefined sugar. If you are using jaggery, I suggest using the darkest variety you get. Dark jaggery has the least amount of additives it in and has a richer taste.

No Indian sweet is complete without ground Cardamom. Just the fragrance of cardamom reminds me of dessert.

Dry fruits are totally optional for this Kadle Bele Payasa, but I don't know any dish where the addition of dry fruits has ruined it. Add them just chopped or fry them in ghee like I did. If you are vegan or want to make a vegan dessert, skip the ghee and just lightly toast the dry fruits. I added cashew nuts and raisins, you can add almonds as well.

If you are making this for Naivedyam or as an offering to god, refrain from tasting it. Follow the recipe and you should be good. Hold off on the jaggery if you are concerned it being too sweet while offering it in Naivedyam. You can heat a little water and dissolve jaggery in it and mix it to the payasa while eating.

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Modak - Modaks are traditional steamed Indian dumpling made from rice flour, coconut and jaggery. Served as an offering to Lord Ganesha in West and South India. 
• Coconut Laddoo - Instant Fudge balls made with coconut and condensed milk.
• Mavinahannu Seekarne - Maavina Hannu Seekarne or Aamras is a simple traditional dessert made with mango pulp and milk and flavored with cardamom.

Kadle bele payasa | Chana dal payasam

Kadle Bele Payasa or Chana Dal Payasam is a South Indian kheer or pudding made with rice, lentils and fresh coconut.

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:          South Indian
Prep Time:     2 Hours (Includes lentil soaking time)
Cook time:     60 minutes
Yield:              2-3 Servings

Ingredients:

0.5 cup Kadle bele / Chana dal
2-3 Tbsp Cooked rice
0.5 cup desiccated fresh Coconut or 1 cup Coconut Milk
0.5 cup Jaggery (grated or shaved)
1 tsp or 4 pods of Cardamom
8-10 Cashew nuts(Split) (Optional)
8-10 Kismis / Raisins(Optional)
1 Tbsp Ghee (Optional)
Water as required

Method:

Soak the kadle bele for 2-3 hours.
Pressure cook it with water until done. It should be cooked but not mushy. I cooked it in 2 cups of water for around 10 mins/ 2-3 whistles.
Pour the kadle bele along with 1 cup of the water it was cooked in, into a kadhai. Keep the flame low.
Add the cooked rice to it.
If using coconut milk, just pour it to the kadhai with the kadle bele and rice. If using fresh cococut, grind it with water until it is is fine and then add this to the kadhai.
Add the grated jaggery and cardamom and cook for 5-10 mins until the jaggery melts and mixes evenly. I suggest adding it by the spoonful until the sweetness is right for you. Add water as required. The consistency is usually on the thicker side.
In another small pan, heat the ghee and lightly fry the cashew nuts and raisins until the cashews are light brown and add this to the payasa. If you are vegan, toast the cashews lightly instead of frying in the ghee and add to the payasa.

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Steamed Modaks | Ukadiche Modak | Sihi Kadabu

Lord Ganesha's birthday aka Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with fervor and grandeur in Goa. People take a nice vacation from their hectic lives and move into their ancestral houses for a week usually. The entire family gets together to welcome Ganesha into their house and hearts. You can see colorful idols of Ganesha everywhere you turn. His throne is decorated with flowers and banana leaf. Everyone is dressed in their festive best.

And when everything is at its best, so is the Food. In India, every festival revolves around Food. Ganesh Chaturthi is no exception. While one may not make as many variety of sweets and snacks as one does for Diwali, there are a few that are made especially for beloved Ganesha only.

Modaks are considered to be Lord Ganesha's favorite sweet and a must on Ganesh Chaturthi.
Modaks are made in myriad different ways. Some deep fry it while some steam it. Sometimes the filling is of fresh coconut and jaggery, while sometimes it is dry coconut and sugar. I have also seen a recipe where it is filled with chocolate. Sometimes all this is skipped and modaks are just modak shaped pedas.

In our culture, we do not deep fry modaks. My grand mother was totally against deep frying anything on Ganesh chaturthi so we always made the steamed version stuffed with fresh coconut and jaggery. And this is the version I absolutely LOVE.
Steamed Modaks or Ukadiche Modak or Sihi Kadabu have the outer layer made of a rice flour dough and a stuffing of fresh coconut, jaggery (unrefined sugar) and cardamom powder.

To make the outer layer of rice flour, the rice flour is added to boiling water and mixed until it forms a stiff dough. Getting the consistency of the dough right is probably the toughest part of making the Modak. If the dough isn't made properly, there are chances that the modaks will split while steaming, which, believe me isn't really as disastrous as it sounds. They still taste great and means just some more modaks for the Cook. Hurray!!

The filling is made by cooking together grated fresh coconut and jaggery. In this recipe, the jaggery cannot be replaced with refined sugar, as it just will not live up to the taste and texture of the modak. The mixture is cooked until it the water almost evaporates. Cooking it beyond that will cause the jaggery to crystallize and the filling will become one big hard lump.

These days there are moulds available to shape the modaks after filling them. Unfortunately, as you can see in the pictures, I wasn't aware of it until I'd finished making them, hence very amateurish looking modaks in my house this year. But who is worried about the looks when they tasted SO delicious.

If you are making this for Naivedyam for Lord Ganesha, please do not taste anything and follow the recipe and your instincts and it will turn out great.

If you liked this, you may also like:

• Khova Peda - Simple peda made from milk solids and sugar.
• Kaju Katli - Fudge or Barfi made from cashewnuts and sugar. A favorite in every household.
• Coconut Laddoo - A simple laddoo made from coconut powder and condensed milk in under 1 hour.
• Kadle Bele Payasa - Kheer made with rice, chana dal and coconut

Steamed Modaks | Kadabu | Sweet Dumplings

Modaks are traditional steamed Indian dumpling made from rice flour, coconut and jaggery. Served as an offering to Lord Ganesha in West and South India. 

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:          Indian
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     60 minutes
Yield:              9

Ingredients:

0.75 cup Coconut
0.5 cup Jaggery
1 tsp Cardamom
0.75 cup Rice flour
1.5 cups Water
1 tsp Ghee or Oil
0.25 tsp Salt

Method:

In a kadhai, mix the coconut and jaggery and cook on low flame. Keep stirring the mixture to avoid burning. Cook until the mixture is almost dry. Do not overcook as then the jaggery will harden. Add the cardamom powder and keep aside to cool.
In another pan, bring 1 cup of water to a  rolling boil. Add the salt and the ghee and remove it from the heat.
Add rice flour by the spoonful and keep stirring to avoid forming lumps.
Add more water if needed. The dough should be slightly stiff yet malleable.
Keep the pan back on the stove and keep the flame low.
Keep stirring until the whole dough becomes one mass. It will start sticking to the spoon/ spatula. It took me around 5 mins. Take a small marble sized piece of dough and press it using  your thumb and index finger, it should not break into pieces. Nor should it stick to your hand. If the consistency or the texture is not correct, the modaks may split while cooking. If it is your first time, do not fret over a few split ones.
Allow this to cool for some time.
While it is still warm, take a small ball of flour and flatten it. Place a small ball of the filling inside it and use your hands and stretch the flour to cover the filling.
Shape the modaks accordingly.
Steam the modaks in a steamer for around 8-10 mins. I used an idli steamer, you can use a cooker without the whistle.

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Almond Chocolate Brownie (Eggless)

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE and more LOVE these Eggless Almond Chocolate Brownies. They are chocolate-y (Oh ya!) to the core and they have crunchy Almonds, what's not to love?

I'm definitely a chocoholic at heart, soul, fingers and toes. I've never been able to resist a good piece of chocolate. Dark, Milk, White, I'm game for any type of chocolate. All that talk of chocolate is enough to make me wanna crave one this instant. I wonder how people save their chocolate for later. As for me, if I know there is a chocolate around the house, I can think of at least 10 reasons why it should be in my mouth and not on the shelf.

I'm also totally NUTS about nuts. I'm always stocked with Almonds, Cashew nuts, Pistachios, and sometimes Walnuts. They are the best in-between-meals snacks I can think of. I carry a handful in my bag all the time to munch on in the bus.

They say chocolate is good for you, they say nuts are good for you, I say these Almond Chocolate Brownies are really good for you. May not be calorie wise but spirit wise, big Thumbs up!! Nothing like an awesome brownie to raise your spirits and make you feel like you are flying high up in the sky.

Everyone has their favorite brownie recipe. This recipe is mine. These Eggless Almond Chocolate Brownies have become a birthday regular for me. I've made it twice in a row now and I'm still amazed how something so easy to make can be so wonderful in taste. 

One would think Brownies are for kids, but I feel the older I get, the more I want them. 

This recipe makes cakey brownies that are not sickly sweet. The semi sweet dark chocolate (my favorite kind of chocolate) gives this Brownie that slight bitter darkness and not making it sickly sweet. I'm not really a fudgy sweet brownie kinda girl. 

This recipe is eggless aka vegetarian, however, it is not vegan. The condensed milk replaces the eggs as the wet ingredient. If you can find vegan sweetened condensed milk, then you can make these brownies vegan. To make these brownies, I recommend buying good quality cooking chocolate. If you cannot find it, you can use any dark chocolate bar that has more than 50% chocolate (70% is better). 

I've used wholewheat flour in the brownie, you may replace it with all purpose flour or maida.

Remember not to aerate the batter too much, else, you will end up with a chocolate cake and not a brownie. Also, do not over mix the batter, you will get a tough brownie. 

If you liked this, you may also like:

• 40 minute Eggless Chocolate Cupcakes - Super quick eggless cupcakes.
• Almond Cookies - Almond cookies made with 75% wholewheat flour.

Almond Chocolate Brownie (Eggless)

Eggless chocolate and almond brownies

Recipe Type:  Dessert
Cuisine:          International
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     60 minutes
Yield:              9

Ingredients:

1.25 cups Whole Wheat Flour(appx. 160gms)
2 Tbsp Corn Flour
1.5 tsp Baking Powder
0.5 tsp Baking Soda
150 gms semi sweet Dark Chocolate
2 Tbsp Powdered Sugar / Icing Sugar
0.5 tin Milk Maid
50gms Unsalted Butter
0.5 cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
10-12 Almonds

Method:

Sift together the whole wheat flour, corn flour, baking powder and baking soda at least twice
In a pan, put in the dark chocolate, broken into pieces and until the chocolate melts.
Add 0.25 cups of  milk to improve the consistency. Stir well to get a smooth sauce and keep aside to cool.
Cream together the butter and the sugar in a bowl. Whisk it for around 3-4 mins.
Add the milkmaid, vanilla essence and the dark chocolate and mix well until combined.
Add the flour in parts and mix well.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.
Grease a shallow square pan and dust it with flour.
Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle chopped almonds over it.
Bake for 45-50 mins.
Serve with chocolate sauce, ice cream or with Love.

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Kashi halwa / Ashgourd halwa

My mom really liked Kashi halwa and it was her wish that we jointly make it when she was over at my place. So the below recipe was the first for both of us. Turned out very good I must say but the quantity was too little for me :D I could have eaten the whole thing alone...

Ingredients:

Ash gourd / Petha/ Boodhi kumbalkai/ White pumpkin - 3 cups (peeled, deseeded, grated and squeezed)
Sugar - 1.5 cups
Ghee - 4-5 tbsp.
Elaichi / Cardamom - 3
Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp.
Raisins / Kismis - 1 tbsp.


Method:

Peel the pumpkin, deseed it and grate it
Squeeze out as much water as you can. Save the water for later, do not throw it out.
Heat 1 tbsp. of ghee in a pan and lightly fry the cashew and the raisins until slightly brown
Remove from ghee and keep aside
Add 2 more tbsp. of ghee and fry the pumpkin in it until the raw smell of the pumpkin disappears
Transfer the pumpkin to a cooker, add 1/4 cup of the pumpkin water and pressure cook for 3 whistles or until soft
Transfer this back to the kadhai and cook until the water evaporates and the pumpkin is soft
Add 1 cup sugar and cook until the sugar is dissolved and the halwa thickens. Add the remaining sugar if needed.
Add the crushed cardamom and the dry fruits
Add the remaining ghee and serve

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Mango Cheesecake (Eggless)

Every time I watch that episode from Friends when Chandler and Rachel steal their neighbour’s cheesecake and eat it, I feel like  getting my own. I finally decided to try making one at home. Since it is May and mangoes are abundant, it was an easy choice to make Mango cheesecake. I searched the net for an easy eggless recipe and ended up on this one from Divinetaste. I modified it a little to suit my tin size. I used a 7” loose bottomed cake tin that took me a day to find in Bangalore. I searched high and low for it or for a springform cake tin. Ended up getting it at Ibcablr. Don’t be mistaken, these are available in most places like Hypercity, MK Ahmed, Nilgiris (Brigade road) etc. it was the size I wanted that was missing.

Biscuit base

Ingredients:

Curd – ½ litre (500 ml)

Paneer – 200 gms

Mangoes – 3

China grass –10 gms

Water – 1 cup

Powdered sugar – 1.5 cups

Vanilla essence – 1 tsp

Butter (unsalted) – 6 tbsp

Digestive biscuits – 8 to 10

Lime juice – 1 tbsp

Method:

Biscuit base:

Crush the digestive biscuits and mix with softened butter until it is evenly mixed. You should be able to hold the mixture in a closed fist and it should not crumble. Add less butter if it achieves the same result.

Spread this on the base of the loose bottomed cake tin or the spring form cake tin and press until it is tight.

Refrigerate for 1-1.5 hrs.

Cheese filling:

8-10 hours prior to making the cheesecake, pour it in a strainer with a bowl underneath it and leave it in the fridge. You can achieve the same results by hanging the curd in a muslin cloth as well.

I made paneer from about 1 L of milk, you can use store bought paneer too. In the mixer, add the paneer and the hung curd and mix until there are no lumps.

Soak the china grass in water for 10 mins.

Peel and puree 2 mangoes.

Heat the china grass until it dissolves in water. Simultaneously heat the mango puree. Do not allow either of the two to boil.

Once the china grass is dissolved, pour it into the mango puree.

Add this mix to the cheese mix.

Add vanilla and sugar. I suggest adding sugar little by little until the desired sweetness is achieved.

Pour this over the biscuit base and refrigerate for half an hour.

Mango glaze:

Peel and puree 1 mango.

Add the lime juice and 1 tbsp of water. Add around 1 tbsp sugar and heat for 5 mins. Keep stirring and do not let it burn. Add more sugar if required.

Pour this over the cheese filling.

Refrigerate for 5-6 hours.

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Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake

I wanted to try this for very long... I've made eggless chocolate cakes but never vanilla. Generally, eggless cakes use condensed milk like Milkmaid to replace the egg, but i did not have Milkmaid at home but I did have curd :)... Below is a very easy recipe for eggless sponge cake using curd. Don't worry about the curd, it does not show up in the taste at all....

Ingredients:

Maida /All purpose flour - 1 cup
Thick curd / Yogurt - 3/4 cup (I used home made curd, but I'm sure Nestle and Britannia will do)
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Unsalted butter - 1/2 cup  (You can use vegetable oil in case you don't have butter)
Baking powder 1 tsp
Baking soda 1/2 tsp
Vanilla essence 1 tsp

Method:

Sift the flour 2-3 times and keep aside.
Add the sugar to the curd and mix until the sugar dissolves.
Add baking soda and baking powder to the curd and keep aside for 5 minutes until the mixture foams.
Baking soda reacts with the curd to produce the bubbles.
Add vanilla essence and melted butter to the curd and mix well.
Add the flour little by little to the curd and keep mixing.
I use an electric hand mixer, so this reduces all my work :)
Preheat the Oven to 220 degree celcius.
Once all the flour is mixed with the curd and enough air is incorporated into the mixture, grease a cake tin and dust it with flour.
Pour the cake mixture into the greased tin.
Bake for 10 minutes at 220 deg. Lower the temperature to 180 deg and bake for another 20-30 mins.
Prick the cake with a toothpick to check if it is cooked after about 20 mins at 180 degrees, if the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done.
Be sure to prick the pick in the centre of the cake and make sure the toothpick goes all the way to the bottom to ensure the cake is cooked all the way through.

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