Eggless Banana Nut Muffin

Its been a long time since I baked a muffin. I have been baking this eggless version of the simple banana muffin for quite sometime now, but I got to get the pictures only this time. Flax seeds are an excellent substitute for egg in baking recipes especially turns out well with Muffins or Quick bread recipes. 
Basic recipe for this muffin is from Saffron Hut.

Ingredients:
3 large ripe bananas
1/3 cup butter, at room temperature
1 and 1/2 cup Flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 tblsp Flax seeds + 3tblsp Water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts


Method:
Preheat the Oven to 375F
Soak the Flax meal with the 3 tblsp of water, allow it to sit for 10 min.
Roast the walnuts slightly in a dry pan and then chop coarsely.
Peel and mash the bananas using the back of a fork in a small bowl.
Combine the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat till they become creamy.
Sift the Flour, baking powder and baking soda together in a separate bowl.


To the butter and sugar mixture add the flax meal mixture and vanilla extract and beat well to combine.
Now add the flour mixture in batches and mix gently to combine, until no visible streaks of flour left. Its okay if  the mixture is a little lumpy.
Fold in the mashed banana and the chopped walnuts.
Spoon the mixture into the muffin pans lined with paper cups.
Bake for 15-18 mins.


Make 12 Muffins.

Wish You all a very happy and relaxing long weekend:)

Tomato Rice Noodles With Egg

Hope you all had a great Mother's day weekend. I sure did. I made this tomato rice noodles on Saturday morning to kick start the weekend. Its easy to make just like any regular noodles, except that this is made of rice and not maida/flour. You can skip the eggs if you don't use it, I added them to make it interesting for the kid. Quite a filling dish for a weekend brunch.

Ingredients;
3 cups of cooked noodles.
1 medium onion.
2-3 medium tomatoes
1 tsp chilli powder
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp urad dhal
2 eggs

Method:
Cook the noodles as per package instructions.
Wash noodles in the strainer with cold water to remove the starch if any.
In a wide pan, add 2 tblsp of oil.
Add the mustard and urad dhal when the oil is hot.
When the mustard pops add the chopped onion and fry till translucent
Now add the tomatoes and fry till the tomatoes get mushy.
Add the chilli powder and salt and fry till the pulp releases oil.
If not using egg, add the cooked noodles and stir well to combine.
If using egg, move the tomato gravy to a corner of the pan, and break open the eggs on the other side.
Allow them to set for a couple of seconds and then scarmble then till they are cooked.
Now mix the scrambled eggs along with the tomato gravy and then add the cooked noodles.
Mix in the noodles, till they are nicely coated with the tomato gravy, occasionally breaking the long strands of the noodles with the back of the ladle.
Keep in low flame uncovered for 2 mins and the switch of the stove.

Note:
I used Chinese rice noodles/Rice Vermicelli (Mie Hoen) -thin ones for making this. But we can also use the Indian rice sevai packets  like MTR for making this dish.
We can also adding some frozen peas or corn to this to make it more colorful.

Fish Curry/Salmon Curry with Coconut.

I feel that Salmon doesn't pair up well with the South Indian fish Kulambhu. I usually make a simple salmon curry with tomato paste which I have blogged here or bake the fish like I mentioned here.But this delicious curry is my recent favorite and as salmon is loaded with Omega 3 fatty acids I make it at-least once a week now.

Ingredients:
Salmon Fillets -4 (I used frozen)
1 medium onion chopped
1 medium tomato chopped
2 tblsp chopped garlic
1 tblsp chopped ginger
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp fennel/sombhu seeds
few curry leaves

To grind
3 tblsp shredded cococut
1 tblsp whole black pepper seeds
1 tblsp jeera/cumin seeds

Method:
In a wide pan, add 2 tblsp of olive oil.
To the hot oil  add the fennel seeds and curry leaves.
Now add the chopped onion, garlic and ginger, fry till the onion is browned.
Add the chopped tomatoes, salt and turmeric. Fry till the tomatoes turns mushy.
Add the chilli and the coriander powder, fry till the oil is released from the tomatoes.
Now add 1/2 cup of water, mix well and bring it to a boil. Add the fish gently , reduce the heat to medium and close with a lid.
After 5 mins open the lid and gently turn over the fish. Again close and cook for another 3 mins.
Meanwhile grind the coconut, pepper and jeera and add the paste to the gravy along with 1/2 cup of water.
Mix gently and cook till it comes to a boil. Add chopped coriander leaves and switch off the stove.

Note:
The gravy should be slightly thick and not very thin.
Do not over cook the fish, else it will turn rubbery.
If you want to avoid coconut, substitute with 3 tblsp of Dhalia /pottukadalai. Fry the chutney dhal in a pan without oil for 2 mins and then grind with pepper and jeera.

Collard Greens Thanni Saaru

'Thanni Saaru' is a soup like curry, made predominantly with greens and coconut milk. The slightly bitter tasting greens like drumstick leaves, Manathakali keerai, or Agathi keerai are used for this saaru.
 I experimented this dish with the fresh bunch of collard greens. Traditionally it is made with freshly made coconut milk (thin and the thicker version), but I used the coconut milk from the can. This is a great way to use collard greens apart from the porial/stir fry.

Ingredients:
3 cups chopped collard greens
1 cup coconut milk from the can
1 cup water
2 green chillies(slit) / red chillies
1 clove garlic, sliced thin
1 medium onion chopped
1 medium tomato chopped
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp fenugreek/methi seeds(optional)
1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds.


Method:


Wash the Collard greens and remove the center stalk from the leaf. Roll the leaf and chop finely.
Add 2 tsp of oil in a sauce pan.
When the oil is hot add mustard seeds, methi and jeera.
When the mustard pops, add the onion, garlic green chillies and fry till translucent.
Now add the tomatoes and cook till mushy Add the collard greens, and salt.
Add the water, cover and cook in medium heat for atleast 10 minutes. 
Once the greens are cooked, add the coconut milk and give it a stir.
Bring it just to a boil. Switch off just when it becomes frothy. 
Do not over boil or it will become curdled.


Enjoy with hot steamed rice.

A Baby Shower Cake | Buggy Cake

I made a baby shower cake for a friend of mine past weekend. This cake has a long story to share. I baked the cake the day before the get together and decided to decorate it late night after the kid goes to sleep. So as per plan started decorating the cake and it came pretty good . When its all done, I tried to lift it up to place the cake in the fridge, and all of a sudden I dropped it. :(  . My heart was broken completely that I could'nt think of anything else for the next half an hour. After that I did some clean up, luckily the cake was not broken, just the icing got messed up, and the wheels in the cake were broken. I manage to make two more wheels from the left over cake and somehow finished the cake again by 5.30 in the morning with  whatever left over Icing I had.

So what do u think of this Cake which got a complete makeover:(..believe me the first version came out really good..:)..But I am glad I could pull it through :)

How I made the Cake:

I baked   1 - 9 inch round  vanilla cake , and 2 -  8 inch chocolate cakes.
Cut out the shape of the buggy from the 9 inch vanilla cake. I carved the handle out of the cut out piece.
Cut two 3 inch circles out of the  8 inch chocolate cakes.

Icing used - Betty Crocker  whipped vanilla Icing for the buggy, chocolate frosting for the wheels and handle.