Chocolate Banana Swirl Cake

This wonderful cake can be made with little effort. If you like bananas, this is a cake you'll definitely love - it's very banana-y. I didn't bother frosting it but decided to create some swirls on the surface of the batter instead for a pretty finish. I baked this late one night and took it in to work the next day - it disappeared pretty quickly.

My cake was inspired by this recipe from Week Of Menus. I made a few changes to come up with a slightly healthier alternative.

Here's what needs to be done:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-inch cake pan.

In a bowl, mix together these dry ingredients-

• 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt

In another bowl, beat together:

• 5 Tbsp softened butter
• 2 oz melted semi-sweet chocolate chips
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed well
• ¾ cup yogurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp rum extract

Combine the dry and wet ingredients together. Mix well. The batter will be a relatively thick one.

Add 2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter and mix again.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Melt 2 ounces of white chocolate. Drop small blobs of the melted chocolate all over the surface of the batter and run a toothpick through it to create beautiful swirls.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out relatively clean.

Cool, slice and serve.

Notes: I was a little disappointed that I could not taste the rum or vanilla flavors in the cake. I could not even taste the chocolate in the cake though I'd added almost 6 ounces of it in addition to the cocoa powder. The banana flavor had overpowered all of the other flavors in the cake. Next time, I'd like to try adding some coffee to the cake for a different taste.

I'm sending this over to Deeba for the Fruit in Baking edition of the Monthly Mingle event that she's hosting.

Peach Chutney

A few months back, we'd gone peach picking at one of the local orchards and I came back with a whole lot of peaches. I used a couple of peaches to make this chutney. I'd bookmarked a recipe for methamba, a sweet and savory mango relish that I'd seen on Vaishali's Happy Burp, a long time back but never thought of making the relish when mangoes were still in season. I substituted the mango in the recipe with peaches and made a few other changes. In the end, I was not too disappointed with the way the recipe turned out.

Ingredients:

2 large ripe peaches, peeled and chopped

1/2 tsp grated ginger

2 green chillies, finely chopped

Red pepper flakes

2 tsp sugar or jaggery (adjust according to taste)

Salt

1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice

For seasoning:

1- 2 Tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

A pinch of asafoetida

A tiny pinch of fenugreek powder(too much of this will make the chutney bitter)

Method:

Heat oil in a pan and add temper it with mustard seeds, asafoetida and fenugreek powder.

Add ginger, green chillies and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

Stir in the peaches followed by the sugar/jaggery and salt and cook on medium heat till the peach pieces disintegrate and release their juices.

Add some vinegar or lemon juice for tartness at the end.

This chutney would go well with parathas and is great on toast too.

Zucchini Fritters

I made these zucchini cakes following the recipe on Ree's blog, The Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients:

(for 10 small cakes/fritters)

4 small (or 2 large) zucchini, grated
1/2 grated onion
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Red pepper flakes
1/4- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
Oil for pan-frying

Method:

Sprinkle the grated zucchini with salt and set aside while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.

In a large bowl, mix together the grated onion, garlic powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, bread crumbs, egg and flour.

Squeeze out the excess liquid from the zucchini and add it the rest of the batter. Mix well to combine.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Use just enough oil to coat the bottom of the skillet.

When the oil is hot enough, drop small mounds of the zucchini mixture into the skillet and flatten slightly. Shallow fry until the cakes are crisp and golden brown on one side, about 3-4 minutes. I was able to fry 3-4 cakes at a time. Flip and cook the other side similarly. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Drain on paper towels. Serve hot with the dipping sauce of your choice. We had ours with this tasty ranch dip.

Spicy Macaroni and Cheese with Vegetables

Every now and then, when I'm in the mood for something rich and comforting, I make some macaroni and cheese.

I like to add vegetables to my macaroni and cheese. The contents of my refrigerator usually determine what vegetables go into the casserole. This time I added corn, chopped up red bell peppers and a few cauliflower florets. I then spiced up the vegetables with red pepper flakes and nutmeg while cooking.

The basic recipe I use is this one.

Surali Wadi

I make Suralichi Wadi, a popular Maharashtrian snack, also called Khandvi in Gujarat, very often following this recipe from One Hot Stove . Over time, I’ve made a couple of minor changes to the original recipe.

Here’s what I do:
I cook the besan-buttermilk mixture on the stove top- I’d used the microwave for this the very first time, but I find that the stovetop method works better for me.

I like to add a few finely chopped green chillies (or red chilli flakes), some ginger paste and a handful of finely chopped coriander leaves to the mixture while it’s cooking.

I spread the cooked mixture on a few sheets of aluminum foil - makes clean-up so very easy!

In a saucepan, mix together 1 cup chickpea flour (besan), 1 ½ cups buttermilk, chopped green chillies, ginger paste, chopped coriander leaves, salt and a pinch of turmeric. Whisk together to get a smooth and lump-free mixture. Cook on low heat whisking constantly to keep it smooth. The mixture will thicken as it cooks. Cook till done (this usually takes me 5-10 minutes).

Quickly spread the cooked mixture as thinly and evenly as possible on a flat surface. I find that a spatula works really well for spreading.

While the mixture’s cooling, prepare the tempering. Heat oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds and asafoetida. Pour the tempering all over the surface and also sprinkle grated coconut and fresh coriander leaves.

Cut into thin strips and roll.

Happy Diwali

Vankaya Kothimira Vepudu (Eggplant and Coriander Stir-fry)

This is a recipe from Sailu's Kitchen that is now a regular in mine.

Ingredients:
6-7 small Indian eggplants, diced

To grind to a paste:
1 small bunch of coriander leaves (I used the stalks as well)
1-2 garlic cloves
1 tiny piece of ginger
2-3 green chillies

For tempering:

2 Tbsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
A pinch of asafoetida
5-7 curry leaves

Method:

Heat oil in a pan and temper it with mustard seeds, urad dal, asafoetida and curry leaves.

Add the eggplant pieces and cook well.

Stir in the ground paste (coriander leaves, ginger, garlic, green chillies) and cook for some more time. Serve hot with rice.

Crustless Quiche With Spinach And Mushrooms

This is my second time making a quiche. My very first quiche was one with a potato crust. This time around I decided to go crust-free by following this recipe on Joy The Baker's blog.

Ingredients:

For cooking in a pan:

2 Tbsp oil
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cups chopped mushrooms
3 cups chopped spinach
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper

For the custard:
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk (I used 2 %)
2 wedges of The Laughing Cow cheese(I used this one)

Salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch pie dish with some oil.

Heat oil in a large skillet, over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, followed by the red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Next, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until all the liquid released evaporates. Add spinach and cook, stirring, just until spinach wilts. Let the mixture cool slightly.

Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper until smooth. Stir in the cheese. Spread the vegetable mixture in an even layer in the pie dish. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetable mixture.

Bake at 375 F for 35 to 40 minutes, until the quiche is slightly puffed and golden brown on top.

Cut into wedges and serve.