Eggless Indian Mithai Mini Muffins (and a major milestone)

This evening, the sun will go down for the last time in 2013. As far as this blog is concerned, 2013 will go down as the year with the least posts. And I hope to keep it that way. 

When Sig resumed the project 365, I was very tempted to join in. My attempt to do the same in 2010 got derailed for a bunch of reasons. This year, if there’s one thing I have taken to completion, it would be this project. A smartphone, good connectivity and an abundance of subjects resulted in my ability to stick with the project till the end.

On the cooking front, I also signed up for baking 12 breads this year with Aparna. I baked two breads with the group. I did everything with the third “bread”, except post it on the blog. Several things happened in the next three months. Some good, and some not so good. Moments of immense happiness were followed by moments of immeasurable grief. And many plans were derailed. But as I type this, I know that this, too, shall pass.

2013: The year in which

• We rang in the new year in the company of friends, as always.
• We took A to India for the first time.
• We celebrated my parents’ 50^th anniversary.
• We traveled, on work and for fun.
• We made full use of our Annual membership to USS.
• I attended a cookie decoration class.
• I signed up for a cake decoration class.
• A and I baked and cooked together.
• We were able to spend a lot of time with friends.
• We shall welcome the New Year in the company of friends.

I shall be thankful for what I have, and understand that what wasn’t mine, was probably not meant to be. One of the things I will be eternally thankful for is this blog and everything it has given me. If I may say so myself, I am a much better cook today than I was 7 years ago. My interest and enthusiasm for all things food related have not waned, but have, in fact, grown. Today, I am equally at ease making vegetable pies or bisi bele bhat, ricotta cakes or ribbon pakoda. And while S has been a major pillar of support by being the one who appreciates as well as criticizes, I need to acknowledge all of you too. Fellow bloggers and readers have taught me so much and have been so instrumental in expanding my repertoire.

This post is monumental. It is my last post for 2013. It is posted on the last day of 2013. And it is the 600^th post on The Singing Chef. I have always said that this blog grew much bigger than I’d ever intended for it to. I’ve caught myself going back to it for inspiration every so often. And it will always be a part of me. And I will always be grateful for that one hot afternoon in May, in sunny and dry Gurgaon, when on an unexpected holiday I started this blog on a whim. From not expecting to put up any photos, to getting an SLR just so I can take better pictures, to ditching everything and clicking photographs with my phone, it has been one heck of a ride. I remember how eagerly I participated in blog events, how excited I was when I got a blogger award and how I even went shopping for pretty plates and bowls just so I could take pictures for the blog. Now, I just take a photo of my plate (the hand me down melamine ones we eat in) before I eat and use that for the blog. At least, that is the intention.

In attempting to keep up with tradition, I leave you with a sweet recipe. One that has been a super duper hit in my family and friends’ circle. While I have yet to master Indian mithai, I have been rather successful in recreating the same flavours through my first love: baking.

1 cup Flour

1 ½ tsp Baking Powder

½ cup Sugar

a Pinch Salt

¼ cup Butter

¼ cup Ricotta Cheese

½ cup Milk

2 tsp Milk Masala Powder (I use Everest)

A few strands of Saffron

Sift all the dry ingredients together.

Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare the mini muffin pans by lining them with paper muffin cases.

In a bowl, beat the ricotta cheese with the butter and sugar. Add the milk gradually. When the mixture is well blended, add the sifted dry ingredients and mix until just well blended. Add the saffron and the milk masala powder.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cases. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

This recipe beats slaving over the stove to make the perfect Indian mithai. No more worrying about one thread or two thread consistency, no need to stir until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Just mix, bake and get ready to eat a melt-in-your-mouth piece of goodness.

Make these, pop one in your mouth and reminisce the year that just went by. Dwell on the good, count your blessings, and surround yourself with friends and family. May 2014 take you one step closer to whatever your goals are. Thank you for following this space. Thank you for missing me. Thank you for helping bring this blog back on track. Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year!

Jam Tartlets

 

I woke up last morning thinking, "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late!"

 

I was running very late for a tea party. One whose deadline had been extended partly at my request. Could I blame it on jetlag? Could I blame it on two festivals that are very important to me that I absolutely had to prepare for? Could I simply say I forgot? No.

I knew I had to do something about it. I just didn't know what.

'I'm sure I'll take you with pleasure!' the Queen said.

'Twopence a week, and jam every other day.'
Alice couldn't help laughing, as she said,

'I don't want you to hire ME - and I don't care for jam.'
'It's very good jam,' said the Queen.
'Well, I don't want any TO-DAY, at any rate.'
'You couldn't have it if you DID want it,' the Queen said.

'The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday - but never jam to-day.'
'It MUST come sometimes to "jam to-day,"' Alice objected.
'No, it can't,' said the Queen.

'It's jam every OTHER day: to-day isn't any OTHER day, you know.'
'I don't understand you,' said Alice. 'It's dreadfully confusing!'

 

Have I confused you enough? There was a time when I thought about mad people in third person. Now I know enough to talk about them in first person.

 

“Do you think I've gone round the bend?"
"I'm afraid so. You're mad, bonkers, completely off your head. 

But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”

 

Alice, oops Anita, invited us to a Mad Tea Party. I had attended a couple of these in the past. Just around the time when I realized that, I, like everyone else, was a bit mad. But what would I do at a tea party? I, the one that doesn't even drink tea that much.

 

“Take some more tea," the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly.
"I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone, "so I can't take more."
"You mean you can't take less," said the Hatter: "it's very easy to take more than nothing."
"Nobody asked your opinion," said Alice.” 

 

 

The writing was everywhere. I simply had to attend this tea party and since today is not just any other day, I decided to make jam tartlets.

 

For the pastry:

1/2 cup Flour
1/2 cup Wheat Flour
1/3 cup Butter

2-3 tbsp Ice Cold Water
1/2 tsp Salt


Place the flours, salt and butter in a bowl and mix together till the mixture resembles small peas. Gradually add the water and knead gently till it forms a dough. (Do not knead as you would for chapati/poori dough.) Roll out the dough and stamp out circles.


For the filling:

3 tbsp Jam

To proceed:

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.

Prepare a mini muffin pan by greasing it a little. I used a non stick mini mufifn pan.

Place the pastry circles in the muffin moulds. Spoon 1/2 tsp of jam into each mould. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow the tartlets to cool a bit.

 

Sit down with a cup of tea or coffee, serve yourself some tarts and have yourself a party. Remember:

 

“Yes, that's it! Said the Hatter with a sigh, it's always tea time.”

Eggless Chocolate Cake

For birthdays, when I have no idea what to gift the person, I try and take a home made cake along. Oftentimes, there is a dietary restriction thanks to allergies or cultural beliefs. Earlier, I would hunt for recipes that would fit the needs of the person, but these days, I find myself more open to experimenting even in baking. This eggless chocolate cake came together very quickly. I used ricotta cheese as an egg substitute. I had meant to use silken tofu, but I realized that I had run out of it. A tip I learnt from the Food Network was to add some instant coffee to enhance the chocolatey flavour of cakes. I tried that too and I must say it worked very well.

1 cup Flour

2 1/2 tbsp Cocoa Powder
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Instant Coffee Powder
1/2 cup Sugar
a Pinch Salt
1/4 cup Oil
1/4 cup Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 tsp Vanilla
 

Prepare an 10" ring or 8" round cake tin by greasing and flouring it.

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).

Beat the ricotta, oil, milk, sugar and vanilla together. Sift the remaining dry ingredients together and add them to the liquid mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Cool on a wire rack and cut into slices. Enjoy with a cup of coffee or tea. This is a perfect eggless chocolate cake and the recipe is a keeper.

Banana Ricotta Cake (Eggless)

A few years ago I hadn't even tasted a banana cake. Now I have lost count of the number of times I have baked it. I have taken orders for it and have also tried out multiple versions of it. And I am now back with one more. These days, we consume our bananas in a smoothie every morning. Plus baby A loves eating bananas. So, I am very rarely left with bananas that are over ripe, let alone blackened. I deliberately kept a few bananas aside to make this loaf. (There is no limit to one's craziness, I suppose!)

 

 

1 cup Flour
¾ cup Wheat Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
¼ tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
¾ cup Jaggery, grated
3-4 Bananas (overripe), peeled

1/3 cup Oil
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
Oil and flour for lining and dusting


Heat the oven to 350F. Grease and dust a loaf tin.

Sift the dry ingredients together.

Combine the bananas, ricotta cheese, oil and jaggery in a bowl. Using an electric mixer, blend all these to a rough paste. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and add the toasted walnuts. Mix well and pour into the prepared cake tin. Bake for 35-40 minutes (or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean). Cool on a rack for a few minutes.

Cut into slices and serve. This cake doesn't keep very well beyond the second day. I hope you won't need to keep it for two days!

Eggless Butter Cookies

I have always loved this time of the year. It sort of marks the beginning of the festival season for me.  Janmashtami or Sri Krishna Jayanti is one of the more important festivals in my family. Now that I have a little Krishna of my own, it becomes even more important.

As always, there was some confusion about the dates. I just picked a date that was convenient to me and celebrated the festival. I have never tried making any traditional sweets. I was tempted to try the 7-cup cake, but better sense prevailed. I like the story of little Krishna loving butter and ghee, but I give my story a modern twist. I have believed that if Krishna lived in this day and age, he'd probably have liked chocolate and cookies just as much. So while Krishna must have had his fair share of seedai and murukku from the other households, my naivedyam this year was a plate of eggless butter cookies.

¾ cup(generous) Flour
1/8 tsp Baking Soda
¼ cup Powdered Sugar
1/3 cup Butter

1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.

Melt the butter. Cream the sugar and the melted butter until well blended.

Sift the flour with the baking soda. Add this to the sugar-butter mixture. Add the vanilla essence. Make a dough and divide into small balls. Flatten each ball onto a cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Srijayanti is celebrated in my father's side of the family today. So, I am not late in wishing you all a very Happy Krishna Jayanti.