Vegan, Gluten Free, Sugar Free Chocolate Cake

I recently made two cakes to share at a potluck where several folks had allergies or diet restrictions. The first cake was a banana ragi cake (which will be shared in a separate post) and this chocolate cake.

This cake is very versatile and ingredients can be swapped as provided in the ingredients list below to make it free of a specific allergen or all of them.

This cake is vegan, gluten free, nuts free and sugar free. It is delicious. The ragi and buckwheat with chocolate do give the cake a slightly earthy smell, however you can use wholewheat flour for a cake that only smells of chocolate, if you do not need it to be gluten free.

Ingredients

Cake

1 1/2 cup buckwheat flour or nachni satva (ragi malt) or ragi flour (finger millet) or wholewheat flour (if there is no need to be gluten free)
3/4 to 1 cup date paste- adjust based on sweetness of dates. (12 large mejdool dates, cooked with water in the microwave and puréed). If you do not have dates, then you can use 1 cup sugar.
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp vinegar (white or apple cider)
1/3 cup olive oil (not extra virgin) or any oil that you use for cooking
1 cup cold water

Icing

1 cup chocolate chips (dark chocolate if you want it to be dairy free)

6 tbsp water

Method

Cake

Butter a baking pan (8/9 inch round) and pre heat the oven to 350 F.

Mix dry ingredients together thoroughly. Whisk them or sieve if necessary. The baking soda must be well dispersed through.

Mix wet ingredients together and whisk them together till well mixed.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk together till completely mixed. You will see the baking soda starting to react with the vinegar.

Immediately pour into the baking pan and bake at 350 for about 30 min. Use a toothpick or a knife to check if completely cooked. Pierce the cake in the center and if the toothpick/knife comes out clean, the cake is completely baked.

Icing

Mix the chocolate chips and water together and microwave for 30 seconds intervals (about 1-2 mins) till all the chocolate chips melt and then whisk it well till it looks shiny. Then pour it over your cake.

Tips

Work with the batter quickly. The baking soda and vinegar reaction makes the cake spongy. So put it in the over immediately after mixing the wet and dry ingredients. If you want the cake to be sweeter, then drizzle the cake with honey or maple syrup after it has been baked.

Tomato Saar - Tomato Soup, the Maharashtrian way

Tomato soup seasoned with cumin in ghee tempering is called tomato saar in marathi. This is a favorite at home. To make it creamier I add coconut milk to the tomato soup and it elevates the taste. I am sure there are many versions of tomato saar, and we love this version of tomato saar.

Ingredients 

1 tsp ghee 
5-6 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/2 onion, coarsely choppes
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 inch of ginger
1 cup water 
1/2 cup coconut milk
Salt to taste
1-2 tsps of sugar (depending on how tart the tomatoes are)
For the tadka
1 tbsp ghee 
1 tsp cumin seeds
1-2 pinches of asafoetida/hing 
10 curry leaves
1-2 green chilies

Method

Heat a tsp of ghee in a pressure cooker and then add the ginger garlic and onions. Stir fry for two mins till the onion is slightly transparent. Add the tomatoes, fry for a minute and then add the water and pressure cook for 1-2 whistles or 5-7 mins in the electric cooker.

Once the pressure releases, add the coconut milk and purée this mixture. Pour it back into your cooker. Taste and then add the salt and sugar. In a small pan, heat ghee and then add the cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add the hing, chilies and curry leaves. Let these fry for a min or two and then pour this tadka into the prepared soup. Bring it to a boil. At this time you can adjust the consistency by adding water or letting it boil till it is thicker, based on your preference.

Tips

You can vary the amount of coconut milk or skip it if you want.

Easy Gluten Free, Vegan, Sugar Free Banana Bread

I recently made two cakes to share at a potluck where several folks had allergies or diet restrictions. This cake is vegan, gluten free, nuts free, and sugar free. It is possibly the easiest cake recipe that you have come across. It is delicious however and a great way to get kids to eat finger millet/ragi. You can substitute ragi with buckwheat or whole wheat flour. You can also use the batter to make banana pan cakes.

Ingredients

5 over ripe bananas (the riper the better - the skin should be starting to blacken)

1 banana cut into thin slices for garnishing (optional)
1 1/2 cup ragi flour/buckwheat flour
1/2 cup olive oil (not extra virgin) or use any other oil that you use for cooking
1/2 tsp cardamom powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder

Method

Butter a baking pan and preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Put all the ingredients except the baking soda and powder and puree in a blender. 

Then to this puree add the baking powder and soda and pulse a few times till it is mixed well.

Pour this into the prepared pan and bake at 350 for about 50 min. Check with toothpick or knife if completely cooked. Pierce the center of the cake and if it is completely cooked, the toothpick or knife will come out clean.

Tips

The cake is not very sweet and you can add sugar or date puree if you want it sweeter. Taste the batter. Else, drizzle the cake with honey or maple syrup after it has been baked.

Hariyali Chicken

I ate this after almost 30 years. I have been craving these flavors for almost 3 decades and finally found the recipe which my taste buds remembered. A recipe was shared on a food group that I am part of and I thought I would give it a try.  I made some modifications to suit my needs and it turned out to be delicious. This recipe is a keeper!

Ingredients

1 chicken breast

4 green chilies

10 mint leaves

fist full of cilantro

2 tsp oil

salt to taste

1/2 tsp jeera powder

1/2 tsp dhania powde

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup of greek fat free yogurt 

lemon juice (optional. if the yogurt is tart, the juice is not necessary) 

Method

Cooked the cilantro and mint leaves in 2 tsp of oil and puréed them. Then added 1/2 tsp each of jeera, dhania, garlic and 1/4 cup of Greek fat free yogurt. This is the marinade. Taste this and then add salt. I didn't add turmeric. Made cuts into the breast so that the marinade goes through and marinated the breast for 24 hours in the fridge.
(There was enough marinade to also marinate paneer and vegetables in separate containers)

In a pan, added a tsp of oil and heated the pan. Meanwhile cut the breast into bite sized pieces. And then added the chicken pieces to the pan along with the marinade. Turned the pieces to cook them externally and then covered the pan for a few minutes. Cook till the chicken pieces look cooked (also check temperature with a thermometer for 165F) and turned off the heat immediately. Since it is chicken breast, turn off the heat as soon as the chicken is cooked. If you crisp it up or brown it like it would in a grill, it will become tough. Turned out tender and juicy.

Tips

You can also grill this. If so, then use chicken thighs as they will not dry out as quickly as the chicken breast.

Gluten Free Pizza Base, using lentils and beans

I had soaked various dals and rice and had fermented the batter. I make idlis with this batter often and remembered a chana and mung dal pizza post shared by Mr Sikand on a food group and decided to use the same principle to make this mixed dal pizza base.

Ingredients 
1 cup each of idli rice, tur dal, urad dal, mung dal, chana dal - soak for a few hours and grind it to make a thick batter (idli consistency)Ferment overnight.
1 cup of batter makes one crust, for thinner crispier crust, 1/2 cup batter will work well. 
This is for a 9x5 bread loaf pan 1 tsp ginger chilli paste (optional. I added the ginger to aid in digestion of the dals)
salt to taste
1/4 tsp Eno/fruit salt- optional - if batter is not well fermented use Eno.1 tbsp water (dissolve the Eno in the water before adding to batter and mixing so that it spreads evenly) 
butter to grease the pan
ready made pizza sauce or Marinara sauce
shredded cheese

Method 
Mix together the batter, ginger chilli paste and salt. Grease the pan well with butter. Pour the batter in the pan and bake at 350F for about 20 mins. Test with a toothpick or skewer and if it comes out clean, it is baked. At this stage I removed it from the pan and flipped it over and browned the top side which had remained cream during the cooking. I browned one crust in the oven and another crust on the tava. The tava was much faster. Now spread the marinara/pizza sauce and top with shredded cheese and put it back in the oven and bake till the cheese has melted. 

Tips
We loved the taste and I will be making it often and I will try out different toppings. I think it will taste great if I make a sauce with Indian seasonings. I didn't need to use the Eno as the batter was well ferment and rose well as it baked. 

Sev Khamani

This is usually made with chana dal batter and is delicious.  I had made a mixed dal batter earlier in the week and had been making different things from it- idli, dosa, pizza base. So, I decided to use it to make sev khamani and it turned out great. No one realized that they were eating the same batter that had been used to make dosa the previous night! And it is a protein rich, delicious item which can be served stand alone and will make a complete meal. Or you can serve it as an item on a chaat menu. This is also a gluten free dish.

Ingredients

1 cup each of idli rice, tur dal, urad dal, mung dal, chana dal - soak for a few hours and grind it to make a thick batter (idli consistency)
Ferment overnight.

For the khamani
3 cups of the fermented batter
1/4 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste

For seasoning
3 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp jeera
1/8 tsp hing
6-7 large garlic cloves, finely minced
2 tsps sugar, adjust to taste
Juice of 1 lime, adjust to taste
Thin besan sev (one used for bhel)

Method

Grease a bowl with some oil and pour the batter in. Add the salt and turmeric and stir well. Then steam cook it for 20 mins, till it sets (like dhokla or idli). Remove the bowl, let it cool a bit and the break up the cooked batter with the help of a spatula. If it is warm it will be soft and clumpy and won't separate into small pieces but that's ok.

In a large saucepan, heat up the oil and and the mustard and jeera seeds. Once you hear them crackle, add the hing and the garlic. Sauté the garlic for a minute or two and then add the cooked batter pieces and mix well with the seasoning. Now cook this on a low medium heat till the mixture starts to dry up a little and starts separating into smaller pieces instead of being stuck together in large clumps. Since the batter is already cooked, this just provides the texture. Before turning off the heat, add the sugar and lime juice and mix well and turn off the heat. The taste should be sweet and sour and garlicky.

And as it cools down the batter will stiffen and provide the right shev khamani texture.

Now pour this into your serving platter and sprinkle the besan sev liberally on it. Garnish with cilantro. If available add pomegranate seeds as a garnish.

Tips

You can make a different combination of dals and try the recipe.

Upside Down Fresh Fig Cake

We have had a great fig harvest his year. Other han enjoying the figs straight off the tree, I have been using them in various desserts. I made a fig crostata (recipe on the blog), fig icecream, fig danish braid.  Then I thought an upside down cake would be delightful. The result of the experiment was delicious!! 

Ingredients 

10 ripe fresh figs, cut into eighths or small pieces

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp sugar

1 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup milk

Method

Butter a baking pan and cover the base with parchment paper.

Preheat the often to 350F.

In a saucepan, heat the butter. Once it melts, add the figs and sugar and give it a stir. Cover with a lid and let it cook for a couple of mins and then stir again. Cook covered for 5-10 mins, stirring frequently, till the figs release their juices and soften and start to caramelize.

Pour this into the baking pan and spread in a layer on the parchment paper.

Sift or whisk the flour, salt and baking powder so they are mixed well and the baking powder is evenly distributed.

Whisk together the butter and sugar. Once the mixture stars looking fluffy like icing, add one egg at a time and mix these in. Then, add the vanilla essence. Next fold one third of the flour into the batter, followed by half the milk. Alternate between the flour and milk incorporated into the batter using the folding motion.

This is a thick batter. Now pour or scoop this over the fig layer. Use a flat spatula to spread it out. Then bang the pan on the counter a couple of times to remove any large air bubbles. 

Bake for about 30 mins (check at 20 mins). Use  a toothpick or knife to check for doneness. Pierce the cake in the center. If the knife/toothpick is clean, the cake is done. 

Let the cake cool for a few mins in the pan and then invert it onto cooling rack. Peel off the parchment paper.  The cake doesn't need to be inverted again as the fig layer comes on top of the cake. Cut after the cake cools.

Tips

Let the figs caramelize. When you start cooking them it may seem that there isn't much moisture of they are not getting sweet, so cook with the lid on and let them stew in their juices. Figs become very sweet once they release their sugar which converts into a delicious syrup. Do not add more sugar unless you are using figs which are under ripe.
If you do not have fresh figs, you can use dried figs too. Soak them for a few hours to rehydrate. Once they are plump cut them into small pieces and follow the recipe.