Wholewheat Coconut and cashew muffins made in virgin coconut oil

My little girl has started playschool and with that has also started the endless bouts of cold, cough, infections and what not! Today she was going to school after a break necessitated by an ear infection. "I want cake in my snack box", she demanded late yesterday evening. I had run out of vanilla, extra virgin olive oil (my subsititute for butter), and over ripe bananas (my substitute for eggs). But like any true blue mallu, my refrigerator was stocked with fresh grated coconut and as bonus, my pantry had a huge bottle of virgin coconut oil. So, this recipe was born:


Caster sugar - 1/2 cup (if you dont have caster sugar , just run your regular sugar in the mixie to powder it)
Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup + dessert spoonfull
Fresh grated coconut - 3 dessertspoons (about 30 gms)
Unroasted cashewnuts - 10 Nos
Baking powder - 1/2 teaspoon (I use aluminium free)
Virgin coconut oil - 1/4 cup
Egg - 1 large
Cardamom - 4-5 pods



Place the sugar, coconut, and cashews in the chutney jar of your mixie or the coffee grinder and pulse a few times to powder together. Add the egg, cardamom seeds, and oil and whisk again. Using a flat ladle mix together the baking powder and flour. Pour in the wet mixture and fold in well. Add a few drops of water if necessary to form a thick cake batter. Preheat oven to 200° for 10 minutes. Pour batter into cupcake moulds and bake till a tooth pick poked in the centre comes out clear. I have a basic OTG and it took me 40 minutes at 150° to get the muffins done.

Update on the previous fund drive post

A heartfelt thank you to all of you who cared enough to do you bit for the Vaidehi ashram for destitute girls (Refer my previous post). Mr. Somesh from Hyderabad won the raffle prize I had sponsored. Congrats Mr.Somesh, if you are reading this.
Click here for the fund drive update.

Eggless whole wheat pound cake and Giveaway for a valid cause

"We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give" - W.Churchill.

Before we get on with the recipe of Whole wheat pound cake, I want to share something with you. My fellow food blogger, Siri, is on a remarkable, warm hearted mission. She has started a fund drive to benefit Vaidehi Ashram for Destitute Girls, Hyderabad. The ashram, at present, houses 108 girls (3 to 22 years) each of whom is either an orphan or has a single parent unable to take care of her. Do take the time to read on for every little act of kindness holds in it the potential to make someone’s life a little better.



Participating in the fund drive is fun too because it comes with 40 different sponsored raffle prizes. Contributing to the drive automatically entitles you to select from this list of wonderful goodies.

I’ve sponsored a raffle prize in the form of a Sanjeev Kapoor cookery book set of 5.



So, are you willing to extend a helping hand? If yes, then here is how,

1.Click on the 'Chip in' button below.(It will take a few seconds to load.)

1 Raffle Ticket = $10 or Rs.500



2.Contribute: Via Paypal or credit card. You can donate any amount. Each $10 (Rs.500) donation will get you one raffle ticket towards a raffle prize of your choice.
Click here to view the list of raffle prizes.

3. Once you have completed the donation process and you get the payment confirmation,please forward it to info.siri@gmail.com, clearly specifying which raffle prize(s) you are interested in. Within 24 hours, your name and contributed amount will be added to the 'Fund Drive Supporters List'.
4. The fund drive ends on Feb 25th and a random drawing by the Ashram kids will determine the winners on 27th Feb 2012. You will be notified of the same on the said day.

If you'd like to choose my raffle prize, remember the code, RF 9. I will be shipping it to anywhere in India, with postage paid. Even if you reside outside India, you can always opt to have your gift mailed to a shipping address of a friend/relative in India and collect it later.

Please visit Siri's post on the Ashram so that you are doubly sure that you are indeed contributing to a valid cause.Click here.

Thank you for your patient hearing and here is the scrumptious recipe for you...

Whole wheat flour - 2 cups
Sweetened condensed milk - 1 tin (400 gms approx)
Soft brown sugar - 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup for crust
Ripe banana puree - 1 cup (3 medium bananas)
Vanilla extract - 1 teaspoon + 1/4 teaspoon for the crust (I use powder)
Unsalted butter - 200 gms
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Soda bi carbonate - 1/2 teaspoon
Almonds - 20 Nos

Whisk the condensed milk and 1/2 cup brown sugar, in a mixer bowl or blender, till the sugar has completely dissolved and you get a smooth mixture. Addin the banana puree and the butter,at room tempreture, to the mixture and whisk everything together. Pour into a wide mixing bowl and add in the wheat flour, vanilla, baking powder, and soda bi carbonate.

For the crumbly crust

Coarsely grind the almonds and brown sugar together in a mixer jar, along with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Preheat oven at 250° for 10 minutes. Line a baking tray with baking parchment. pour in the batter. Evenly sprinkle the almond - brown sugar crumble on top. Bake at 150° for 40 minutes. Insert a tooth pick or fork to check if done.

Pineapple salad with Rice crackers

Bought a pineapple to make 'Pachadi' for Onam. But, the fruit insisted on staying unripe on 'D-day'. So, had to skip pachadi. Another 3-4 days, and it turned just the right shade of yellow. My hubby is a little finicky when it comes to eating fruits that have a slightly sour edge. When I tasted this pineapple with its marked 'tanginess', i was sure he was going to avoid it. So, ended up making a salad out of it and he liked it too (don't ask me why he din't notice the tang in the salad. Like most hubbies, he has his own eccentric notions on food )

Pineapple - 1
Small onions (shallots/scallions) - 6 Nos
Green chillies - 3 Nos
Lemon juice - juice of one medium sized juicy lemon
Coriander leaves (cilantro) - a handful
Salt to taste
Demerara (unrefined sugar) - 1/2 teaspoon
Apple cider vinegar - 1 teaspoon (optional)

Peel and chop pineapple into tiny cubes. Cut onions into roundels. Mince green chilles. Rinse coriander leaves and chop fine.
Whisk together the lemon juice, chopped green chillies, salt and demerara with a tiny splash of apple cider (optional).
Toss everything together with the dressing, cover with cling , and chill for atleast half an hour before use.
I've served the salad with Chinese Seaweed flavoured rice crackers. Take each cracker, place a teaspoonful of salad and pop in. Yummm!!!You can choose your own accompaniment to the salad or just dive in straight into the salad.

Falafel with garlic labenah dip and salad

Just after our betrothal, my husband got posted to Beirut, Lebanon.So, our first home after marriage was the mediterranean country. The native population speak arabic and french, very few knew English. Born with a very dominant social streak, I cannot survive without friends...but the language was a barrier, initially!

We lived in a serviced apartment which sent in a native lady to clean the place. Within days, we became friends..if that was ever possible between two people with a wide age difference, different backgrounds, and who virtually did not understand a single word the other one spoke! She introduced me to mediterranean cuisine... Where she couldnt explain the ingredients to me...she wrote down the names of items I should buy at the supermarket in Arabic. I just took it to the nearby mart and got the sales assistants to read the slip and get me stuff. At home , my friend demonstarated hummus, falafel, and a few other very yummy recipes. The falafel recipe I give is hers modified a bit with the help of other recipes I found on the internet.

Falafel is made of chick peas,a great source of protein, zinc, and folates.Parsley, which is thrown in a good measure, is a treasure trove of vitamins, C, K, A, potassium and fiber.
Protein content in 100 gms of chickpeas - 10 g (approx)

White chickpeas (kabuli channa) - 1 cup
Chopped onions - 1 cup
Chopped parsley - 150 gms
Chopped cilantro (coriander leaves) - 50 gms
Pepper powder - 10gms
Chopped garlic - 5 gms (about 3 cloves)
Wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Good quality oil for deep frying

Soak the chickpeas overnight and pressure cook for five whistles. Drain. Mash them up in a food processor. As they granulate, add all the other ingredients except wheat flour. Add the wheat flour last, little by little, and knead with hand into a dough. Shape little lemon sized balls out of the dough and slightly flatten them with palm.
Heat oil in a skillet. Add the balls. Fry till all sides turn a choclatey brown.
For garnish
Finely sliced cucumber - 2
Salt to taste

For Garlic labenah dip
Hung curd - 200 ml
Crushed garlic - 1 clove
Freshly squeezed lemon juice - 20 ml
Salt to taste

To make 'hung curd' place a large pored sieve over a deep vessal. Drape a thin muslin cloth over it. Now pour the yoghurt through this, cover with lid, and leave for 4-5 hours for the water to completely drain out.

Blend all ingredients together to make a smooth dip.

Serve hot falafel with cucumber salad and garlic labenah dip.
PS: Add only sufficient wheat flour to bind the dough. Too much can spoil the taste.

Bread bajji

Bread - 8 slices
Besan ( kadala maavu/chick pea flour) - 1 cup
Rice flour - 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida (kayam) - 1/4 teaspoon
Cumin (jeera) 1/2 teaspoon
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying
Mix the besan, rice flour, chilli powder, asafoetida, jeera, and salt together. Add water to make a loose batter. Cut the bread slices into two. Dip each piece into the batter and make sure that batter gets coated evenly over the bread slices.
Heat oil and gently place each batter coated bread piece in. Fry till golden brown on all sides.
Serve hot with ketchup.

Paruppu vada

Kadala paruppu (broken chick pea lentils) - 1 cup

Sambhar paruppu (yellow lentils/toor dhal) - 1/4 cup

Small onions (shallots/scallions)- 4 nos

Green chillies - 4 Nos

Ginger - 5 gms (1 medium sized piece)

Fennel (perunjeerakam/saunf) - 1 teaspoon

Red chillie powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Powdered Asafoetida (kayam) - 1/4 teaspoon

Curry leaves - 4-5 sprigs

Salt to taste

Soak both the lentil varieties seperately for an hour. Add in the small onions, green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, and fennel to the drained kadala paruppu and grind in a mixer without adding water. Remove and place in a bowl. Add the chillie powder, asafoetida, salt, and the toor dhal to the ground mixture and knead well.

Heat 1/4 litre of vegetable oil in a deep skillet.

Wet your palms and grease them with vegetable oil. Take a lemon sized bit of the dough and place on one palm. Slightly flatten out the ball using the fingers of the other hand. Drop the vadas gently into the oil. Fry till evenly golden brown on all sides.

PS: Alternate the flame to medium and high to maintain the oil temperature and also to ensure that the vadas are cooked inside too.

Peanut (kadalai) sundal

Raw peanuts (kadalai/kadala) without the shell - 100 gms
Raw mango - 1
Fresh grated coconut - 10 gms
Green chillies - 3 Nos
Garlic - 2 cloves
Curry leaves and mustard for seasoning

Soak the peanuts overnight. Drain and pressure cook for 4 whistles. Heat a little oil and crackle mustard seeds. Add chopped green chillies, curry leaves and chopped garlic. Add the boiled peanuts and salt to taste.
Grate the raw mangoes. Add to the peanut mixture along with the grated coconut. Toss everything together.