Semolina Banana Cake (eggless)

This is one of the most easiest eggless cake to make. Ideally, it should be called "No fuss  No Mess" Cake !. Its very simple to make as all the ingredients are almost always available in all homes and according to me a healthy one too, as it contains no maida, no baking powder and no butter !! This cake will not rise so there is no anxiety at all and this is best suited for a small oven as it will take only 15-20 mins to bake. The taste is simply delicious. However if baked in a loaf tin which I did this time, it takes a longer time to bake.

Just removed from the oven

Sliced cake

Ingredients:

Semolina (Fine sooji)	1 cup
Sugar	¾ cup
Milk	1 cup
Bananas (Robusta or Chiquita)	2-3
Cardamom  powder	½ tsp
Mixed chopped nuts	2 tbsps
Raisins	1 tbsp
Saffron/Kesar	A few strands
Ghee (clarified butter)	About 2tsps

Method:

1. Roast semolina in 1tsp of ghee till light brown.
2. Crush the saffron in a tsp of warm milk and keep aside.
3. Peel the bananas and puree it in the blender. Then add to it sugar, milk and the roasted and cooled semolina and run the blender for a few seconds.
4. Mix in the nuts, raisins, cardamom powder and the saffron into it.
5. Pour this batter into a greased (with 1 tsp of ghee) loaf tin.
6. Bake in the (preheated) oven at 170 degrees centigrade for 35-40 mins.
7. Cool it on a wire rack and cut into slices.

Preparation time: 30 mins
Baking time  :      40mins
Makes : 20 slices

Note :

If the cake is baked in a square or round cake tin instead of a loaf tin, then the baking time will be reduced to 15 to 20 mins only.

Naan-Katai (Indian cookies)

This is my first post after Diwali, you will notice that my blog has got a face-lift. The feed back that I got from time to time from some of you has compelled me to make these changes. My son-in-law was kind enough to help me with these changes. I have changed the colour of the background; I have added a search box wherein you can type the title of any of my recipes to find them quickly and finally buttons for easy and quick sharing on facebook and twitter. Looking forward to more constructive criticism and feed back from you all.

And now that Diwali is over, I am sure all of you have had your fill of Diwali sweets. But as they say, if one has a sweet tooth, one just needs an excuse to have them more! Diwali or no Diwali ! So here is my first Diwali sweet recipe. This one is very easy to prepare and very tasty too. You will just love it. Try it out and see for yourself.

Ingredients:

1 cup - Sifted maida (all purpose flour) or self raising flour
1 tsp -  Baking powder
½ cup - Sifted gram four
½ cup - powdered sugar
½ cup - Ghee (clarified butter)
2tsps - Cardamom powder (freshly ground)
½ tsp - Cinnamon powder (freshly ground)

Garnish:
1tsp - Cardamom powder
1tbsp - Powdered Pistachio nuts


Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Centigrade.
2. Combine all the above ingredients (except garnish) in a bowl and knead it well with your hand for 10 minutes.
3. Then divide this into 32 small balls. Roll each ball between two palms till they are smooth (no cracks should appear) and slightly flatten them with your thumb in the cente. Place them on the greased baking tray with an inch space between each.
4. Press a little garnish on top of each flattened ball. Bake on middle rack for 20 minutes.
5. Cool on wire rack.
6. When cooled, store it in an air-tight container.

Preparation time: 20 mins

Baking time       : 20 mins

Note:

• If self-raising flour is used, then omit baking powder.
• It is advisable to sift both the flours together with baking powder (if added) before combining with all the other ingredients.
• Will last for a month if stored in an air-tight container.