Blueberry Banana Tea Cakes

I have never come to dislike anything as much as I did with blueberrires off late. I think it was a thing of overdose. A good tin of canned blueberries were miserably used in every possible dessert to an extent that even the name of it would want me to shun it some time now. True that I had over worked with them, having used them in cakes, ice-creams, fro-yo, milkshakes. And if I had to say, even our breakfast with morning cereals were not spared.

Blueberries cost a bomb here and are not easily available in fresh. Before the tinned one was close to it's expiry I thought I should put them to best use. On the other hand, I could see my husband had too much of that flavor. He begged me not to use that last bit from that can, humbly requesting to discard even if it costed a lot. Had it not been for him, we would have probably ended up with some homemade blueberry jam for our breakfast.... very soon! He holds me culprit for this dislike.

Then, there was a time when Blueberry Muffins were my favorite take-aways from coffee shops and malls only because they were a rarity of kinds, but these days they no longer get a second glance from me, forget their purchase.

This cake is a twist in a tale. My husband isn't much of a sweet tooth. And if there's something he will ask for, then it has to be either a sinful chocolate cake or that rustic banana bread, both of which I can see him binge.

So when he refrained me from going on another blueberry spree, my only rescue was to pair it with bananas. He had been insisting on a banana bread for a long time and I decided he should be in a surprise this time :). Pleasant or not? It was for him to decide :D.

Blueberry Banana Tea Cakes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 ripe bananas (I chose yelakki bananas)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
A tsp of vanilla extract
Handful fresh/frozen blueberries

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Sieve together all purpose flour, wheat flour, baking powder and baking soda. Keep aside. Using a mixie, blend together the bananas with milk, sugar and vanilla extract. To this add melted butter. Finally toss the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Transfer the batter into a well greased cake tin or glass cake pan. Dot the top of the cake with fresh or frozen blueberries. I used tinned frozen blueberries here. Bake for 35-40 mins or till done. Test using a skewer or toothpick.

I generally use sweet Yelakki bananas in my cakes. That's the kind of banana we like for our regular helpings too. I am not particularly fond of Cavendish or the long bananas we get in markets. I balanced between the wheat flour and all purpose flour that gave my cake a nice nutty taste, yet did not steal away the flavors from it. The cake had a lovely texture with speckles from banana veins all over making it truly rustic.

I felt like a kid that day. Before I let the cake cool down, I enthusiastically cut my tea cakes in all sizes and shapes. I first cut them to triangles, then thought I needed them in squares, a few were cut into rectangles and few diamonds too ;) You can see I was a little too impatient for the cake to cool down. Surprisingly, blueberries and bananas made a great combo. Whatever shape it was cut into, it tasted great. They were absolute tea time treats.

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Honey Ice-cream

My mom celebrated her birthday last month and I had every reason to bake a cake, especially when it's for her. I made plans, that too elaborate and I was determined it had to work well, secretly. Wanted to bake an Eggless Blueberry Gateau and chalked out timetable such that things would fall in place.

It wasn't probably the best day for me. Somethings just don't work right, that too when you are super excited to the pinnacle about it. Two days in advance to the D-day, I took time off in the evening to bake the cake. I chased my husband to buy some fresh cream and he was out on the hunt for what would sound a meaningless, clueless ingredient to him. Meanwhile, I baked an eggless sponge using the recipe for condensed milk. My baby sat in the pram silently looking at me as I shoved the cake to oven, let it bake there and skipped around setting up things for the frosting. The cake baked to perfection and it rose beautifully. I flattened the tops, sliced the center, moistened them with the syrup and let them sit on the stand to work artistically later. Things seemed positive till then.

I put myself back to relaxed mode, turned on the music, sipping tea and waiting patiently for my husband to be back with my dedicated ingredient. Clock ticked away and three hours later, he was back. I eagerly looked into the bag, hoping a liter pack would pop out. 'No fresh cream anywhere in town' he announced! The impulsive me almost blurted out the cry. "Yeah! I hunted the entire town. It's nowhere. There's a vendor issue they say." he confronted. I was broken. To him, it was more simpler to order an eggless cake from our dedicated Chef Bakers outlet. He comforted wondering why I should go through all this trouble of making a cake when we get the same fancy stuff outside. It may have sounded the simplest solution to anyone then :) The cake I baked was pretty massive. I had sliced it across, moistened it well, even spread the blueberry compote. I felt a sudden gush through my spine as my plans went topsy-turvy. I felt totally at loss.

The recipe I bring today is nowhere related to the cake I wished to prepare. But it's surprising how things do not work at times despite planning. A well prepared me had least thought that it was just not my day that evening, while this honey ice cream made out of no fore thought turned out to be one of the best flavors, something I least expected considering I was making it only to wipe off the last few spoons from the bottle!

Honey Ice-cream

INGREDIENTS

5 tbsp honey
200 ml low fat milk cream
100 ml milk
1 tbsp cornflour

DIRECTIONS

Prepare a thick custard by heating a mixture of 100 ml milk and a tablespoon of cornflour. Heat it till the mix thickens and coats well on the back of a spoon. Refrigerate till needed.

Whip cold cream along with honey and the prepared custard till it's all well combined. Taste your ice-cream at this stage. Add more honey if preferred. Transfer to a freezer proof bowl and freeze it for an hour till it just begins to set. Once it's almost set on the edges, remove and churn it briefly. Repeat a couple of times. This helps ice-cream to be creamy. After the final churn, freeze till it's completely set.

The ice-cream is simple to make and uses everyday ingredients available in every home. You can skip the cream and make a gelato too. My husband is not a honey lover, but the moment he tasted a spoon of this ice-cream, all he said was "Wow!". And it's the flavor from honey that makes it rich and delicious. Top it with nuts and they will only make it more decadent. Roasted almonds make the best pair for these and that reminds me of my favorite Baskin Robin's Honey and Roasted Almond ice-cream. Probably my next project, yeah?

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Ganesh Chaturthi: Nippattu and Masala Shenga (Spiced Peanuts)

I am very fond of Ganesha, the God of wisdom and prosperity and invoke him everyday. I believe in God, the strength prayers bring and the rituals performed for well being of our family and society. They bestow peace to my mind, an orientation in life which is of utmost importance for a healthy life.

This year Ganesha brought bounty happiness to our home and family. This Chaturthi had to be special for all of us. I fondly love to call my little one as Bal Ganesh and of course with due respect to my Lord, she has been named after him. She's prosperity for us, just as her name suggests. For the festival, our entire family came together for prayers and offerings, followed by a good spread of lunch and we felt pretty well soaked in the festive disposition.

A day before the festival, my mom and me came together to make both sweets and savories for the festival. While Modaka, Shankarpali and Tambittu were sweets made to offer our Ganesha, for savories we had Nippattus and Masala Shenga. Masala Shenga/Peanuts were not exactly for the offerings, but surely to serve the guests who came over to greet us.

Nippattu

INGREDIENTS

2 cups rice flour
1 cup maida (all purpose flour)
1/2 cup besan (chickpea flour)
1 tsp hing (asafoetida powder)
2 green chillies
3 strings chopped curry leaves
2 tbsp coarsely ground peanuts
2 tbsp hurigadale (roasted bengal gram)
2 tbsp chilli powder
2 tsp white sesame seeds
Salt to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil
Water to knead
Oil for deep frying

DIRECTIONS

Mix in all the flours, i.e. the rice flour, maida and besan. Add the hing, green chillies, finely chopped curry leaves, coarsely ground peanuts, roasted bengal gram, chilli powder, sesame seeds and salt to taste. Drizzle about 2 tbsp of oil. Using water little by little, knead gently into a soft dough.

Pinch lemon sized balls from the dough and roll out on an oiled surface. You can either use a granite stone or use a butter paper to pat the nippattu. An inverted and oiled steel plate will also do.

Heat oil in a fry pan. Gently drop the rolled nippattu and fry them on a medium low flame till they turn golden brown. Remove them and drain on a kitchen paper. Store them in air tight containers and they are good to go for a month long, well if you can resist not eating them so long!

Masala Shenga (Spiced Peanuts)

INGREDIENTS

For the Spice mix

1 cup gram flour (besan)
1/2 cup rice flour
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli powder
Salt to taste

Other Ingredients:

3 cups roasted peanuts
Water as needed to bind the spices and flour
Oil to fry

DIRECTIONS

Mix all the spice mix ingredients mentioned above together in a large bowl. Add water in small quantities to the spices and flour. The quantity should be sufficient to ensure the spices coat the peanuts uniformly.

Heat the oil in a kadhai or fry pan on medium heat. Oil your hands a little as it will help in dropping the peanuts into the oil. Drop the peanuts in batches ensuring they are separated while frying. Fry the peanuts till they cook evenly and turn golden brown in color. Drain the peanuts on a kitchen paper to absorb the extra oil. Spread them out and allow them to cool down to room temperature.

Store the Masala Peanuts in an air-tight container and these are good for a month long. Again, these go very well as tea-time snack. Pack it up for travel treats or picnic munch-ons.

Both these spicy treats make great travel accompaniments and are excellent tea time snacks. Nipattu is another traditional dish from Karnataka cuisine and is commonly served as a snack in many Karnataka households. So the next time you have guests at home, greet them with these spicy Nippattus and Masala peanuts. Be promised, these spicy treats are sure to let their taste-buds lingering with it's spices.

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Ganesh Chaturthi: Shankarpali and Tambittu to offer my Ganapati

Wishing all my readers a very Happy Ganesh Chaturthi. Even before I have recovered from the heavy feasting we had on Krishna Janmasthami, we already have Ganesh Chaturthi here. More festivals to follow and I am looking forward to them eagerly. Festive season is here again and with good things happening in our life this year, I am all the more determined to celebrate our festivals with grandeur.

Ganesh Chaturthi is THE festival I never miss to celebrate. The festival marks the birth of Lord Ganesha. Just like many, Ganesha happens to be my favorite God too. Our childhood did revolve around listening to mythological stories woven beautifully by my paternal grandma during our bed-time.

Larger than life-like clay models of Lord Ganesha have been making rounds in market, weeks before the festival. That's good enough an hint that the festival is just round the corner. Public celebrations of the festival, tableau and processions are hugely popular with streets laced with rice bulbs, music and heavily decorated pandals that host the God for 10 odd days.

Lord Ganesh is often associated with food and is known for his fondness for sweets like modaks, laddus, karjikai and savories like chakklis, kadabu and kodbale. Every Chaturthi, we have a ritual at home of waking up early for the bath, followed by puja. An array of dishes, both sweet and savory made at home by my mom a day before the festival are offered to Lord Ganesha on this day. The celebration goes on for 11 days, hence the sweets and savories are made in large quantities so that can last long. Like every year, Modaks will be made to offer the Lord this year too. Apart from this, we have Shankarpali, Nippattu, Huri Shenga, Tambittu and Panchakajjaya to offer our Ganesha this year. Fortunately, I have my mom close by, so it's been a combined effort. I shall share the recipes for Shankarpali and Tambittu today. Nippattu shall be on another post.

Shankarpali

INGREDIENTS

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup ghee
Pinch of salt
Oil or Ghee for deep-frying

DIRECTIONS

Mix the milk, sugar and ghee in a kadhai and heat to a boil. When it is warm enough to touch add the salt followed by flour and stir well. Add the flour till it comes to a kneading consistency, good enough to form a soft dough.

Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough flat to a centimeter thick. Using a pizza-cutter cut into diamond shapes. Deep fry them in hot oil/ghee till they turn golden brown. Fry on medium low heat. High heat will result in dark brown crust on the outsides and under cooked beneath. Remove and drain on a kitchen paper.

The amount of sugar mentioned above is the right amount of sweetness we like. If you prefer it more sweeter, you may increase the amount of sugar as per your taste. The amount of flour mentioned above is an approximate number. While preparing the Shankarpalis, add in flour till it comes together to form a soft dough.

Spicy version of Shankarpali can also be made by replacing sugar with 2-3 teaspoons of chilli powder and omitting the cardamom powder. Shankarpali is a popular sweet all across the country. It's called Shakkarpare in the north while it's Shankarpali in the south. The names may differ, but the recipe is almost similar. It's pretty popular in Maharashtra and Karnataka and is often made on festivals in large quantities to offer the Lord and distribute among family and friends.

Tambittu

INGREDIENTS

1 cup rice flour
1/4 cup hurigadale hittu (roasted bengal gram powder)
1/4 cup coarsely ground roasted peanuts
1 1/2 cup grated dry coconut
1 cup grated jaggery
1/4 cup ghee (clarified butter)
2 tsp sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS

Dry roast rice in a hot pan till it turns golden. Allow it cool. Grind it with roasted chickpeas to a fine powder.

Dry roast the grated dry coconut and sesame seeds till brown and set aside.

Take ghee in a fry pan/kadai and heat it till it's hot (not smoking). Dissolve the grated jaggery in hot ghee and stir well till the jaggery melts completely and the liquid just comes to a boil.

Mix together the coarsely powdered peanuts, sesame seeds and grated coconut. Add this to the boiling jaggery ghee mixture. Add the rice and roasted chickpea powder and keep stirring till the mixture becomes like a dough to make balls. Mix well to prevent the formation of lumps. Switch off the stove. Close and keep till it cools down. Grease your hands and roll balls to make tambittu.

A little tedious it may sound, but isn't that effort required to impress your God? Tambittu is a traditional sweet dish commonly made in Karnataka household, often made to offer God during festivals. Again, these laddus stay well for a couple of weeks, so store them well in air-tight containers and they are good to go for your evening chai. You can see above we made a big batch to go for a few days.

As everyone celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi today with religious fervour, here's me wishing our Ganapati a very Happy Birthday. May Lord Ganesha shower you with success in all your endeavours. Hope this Ganesh Chaturthi brings home all the happiness, prosperity & fortune.

Jai Shri Siddhi Vinayaka

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