Eggless Banana Muffins (Eggless Banana Nut Muffins)

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I know many of you might get surprised when I say I dont like bananas in their true form. The only disguise of banana I can have is in the form of milkshakes but after trying these banana muffins I changed my mind :) I found the url while googling for banana muffins and I instantly tried it by halfing the measurements and it came out soo good.

Eggless Banana Muffins Recipe - Ingredients

Recipe Reference : Paajaka

• Flour - 3/4 cup (100 gms)
• Banana - 2 big sized (I used moris yellow variety like the ones in the pics)
• Oil - 1/4 cup (60 ml) - You can replace with butter too
• Granulated Sugar - 1/4 cup(55 gms) + 2 tbsp
• Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
• Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
• Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Walnut - 2 tbsp finely chopped

Method:

1. Sieve maida, baking soda and baking powder atleast twice, keep aside.
2. Peel the skin of the banana and mash them well (I grinded it to a smooth paste). Add oil, vanilla essence and mix well. Fold in sugar and mix well until sugar completely dissolves.
3. Add sieved maida , baking powder-soda mixture and mix well until a creamy mixture is formed. Add the chopped walnuts, reserve little for topping.
4. Preaheat oven to 190 deg C. Meanwhile spoon the mixture in the muffin tray till 3/4th, , add in the remaining walnuts and bake it for 20-27mins. Check in after 25mins and bake accordingly.

My Notes:

• I have tried with the same measurement with 1/8 cup of oil and 1/8 cup of milk instead of full 1/4 cup oil and the muffins texture and tastewise there was no much of difference.
• You can use any type of banana, I used Moris yellow variety. Adjust sugar according to the banana variety you choose.
• The muffins raise up well in the first 15mins of baking itself. For the above mentioned measurement I got 5 medium sized muffins.
• It is very soft and fluffy and keeps well for 2 days.
• Dont skip adding nuts the crunchiness is too good with the banana flavour.

When I tried it for the first time the top was cracked, though I took these set of pics, I thought I have gone wrong somewhere so didnt mean to post it. Once when I saw banana muffins in a famous english bakery here the top was fully cracked, also after discussing with friends I made up mind that I had not gone wrong anywhere. And now me and hubby who are so aversed to banana enjoy these muffins to the core.

My hubby tasted these muffins and just loved it that he wanted another batch the next day itself :) Its kind of addictive the vanilla essence with the banana flavour tastes out of the world. Though vanilla essence is not given in the orginal recipe we liked the blend of flavours so I recommend adding it.

As usual my texture showing technique ;)

My only plight while baking muffins is the muffin liners as the ones I had were too small for the muffin tray I own so this time I didnt use liners at all. Now finally I've found one that fits my tray though not so colorful and fancy. Wait for my other muffin posts to see them in action :)

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Cabbage Paratha

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Does just changing the visibility settings for picasa albums change the urls for the images leading it to broken urls?! OMG I faced a really challenging task of reverting back all the urls(for almost 230 posts) again for each post, spent around 5 full long hours yest evening to fix up this as I cudnt see the site with broken images. Has anyone faced this issue?! If please let me know how you solved the issue.

Packing dinner for hubby is a mind puzzling task thats when I started trying different types of parathas as they are sure to keep well for a long period of time. As cabbage is his fav veggie, with no doubt he loved the parathas. I cant even stand the slightest raw smell of the veggie, but he loves eating raw cabbage. Still I sauted the cabbage till raw smell leaves just for my sake :)

Cabbage Paratha Recipe

Makes around 8-10 parathas

Ingredients:

• Cabbage - 3/4 cup (grated/chopped finely)
• Wheat flour - 1.5 cups
• Garam Masala powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - a generous pinch
• Coriander Leaves - 1 tbsp finely chopped
• Oil - as required
• Salt - as required

Method:

1. Heat a pan, add 1/2 tsp oil add the cabbage and saute well until it shrinks and raw smell leaves

2. Then in a bowl add wheat flour, salt, garam masala powder, chilli powder and turmeric powder, coriander leaves, and sauted cabbage mix well and add water little by little and knead to a soft dough.Leave it aside for 15-30mins.

3. Divide the dough into equal portions and then make small lemon sized balls and roll them into slightly thin parathas or as shown below as square parathas.

4. Heat tawa add the rolled parathas add oil, cook on both sides until golden brown spots appear.

Serve hot with pickles or curd.

To be frank I am comfortable in getting the square shape better than the circles :) Hope that looks squares to u all too :)

My Notes:

• Sauting cabbage is purely optional but I recommend doing it as however finely grated it gives a raw smell when added without sauting.
• You can add ghee to cook the parathas for kids. You can also make it stuffed and roll it like we do for aloo parathas. But I prefer this as its messfree :)
• Cabbage will also leave water so be very careful in adding water, so add little by little.
• You can skip garam masala and also add a tsp of sambar powder.
• Folding and rolling the paratha in square shape makes the paratha very soft.

This is sure a easy way to make kids eat veggies as when folden in parathas it not only makes the parathas soft but tasty too.

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Mango Lassi Recipe - How to make mango lassi

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Mango Lassi - Fresh juicy manges blended with thick yogurt....who can say no to it?!The first thing I did this summer was to list down the mango recipes to try as I missed it last year and seeing so many recipes in the blogsphere made me to regret later. So this time I was well planned and now contented to clear off most of the items in my to try list except for mango tarts and mango icecream :) So most probably this will be my last mango recipe for this summer.For more mango recipes that I experimented this summer check here

Mango Lassi Recipe
Makes 2 cups

Ingredients:

• Mangoes chopped - 1 cup
• Thick Curd(Yogurt) - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 1 tbsp
• Water - 1/4 cup
• Icecubes - 2 to 3 cubes crushed (I didnt add as my mangoes were already chilled)
• Chopped nuts - for garnish (optional)

Method:

1. Add mango pieces, yogurt, sugar, water, icecubes in a mixer/blender. If using a mixer then use the whip option to and whip it until smooth.
2. Adjust water accordingly to the thickenss of the lassi. Check for sweetness and add more if you want.
3. Serve chilled and garnish with nuts.

My Notes :

• If your mangoes are of juicy variety the lassi would be thicker. If you prefer a thinner consistency of mango lassi
• Adjust water and icecubes accordingly.
• Adding honey will also give a good taste to the lassi

Have I told you before I love clicking drinks/beverages....I feel totally comfortable clicking drinks and beverages than the rotis, rice and parathas. And I was very much tempted while clicking this yummy mango lassi that soon after clicking I finished off 1 cup of lassi in no time :)

I used Banganapalli variety, you can use any variety neelam will be apt for this lassi. You can garnish with either chopped nuts or fresh mint leaves. In my case, Mint leaves were already over so had to go with nuts. Anything with mangoes can it go wrong?! No way enjoy this yummy drink!

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Pav Bhaji - Pav Bhaji Masala Recipe

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I was craving for Pav Bhaji last weekend......So went to a near by bakery just to eat this chat and unfortunately Pav bhaji was not there on that particular day the reason being Pav buns were out of stock so came back home disappointed. The next day I got pav buns(I had vada pavs in mind too as I wanted to click stepwise :)) and pav bhaji was ready at home for the next day breakfast :)

Pav Bhaji Recipe - Ingredients

Serves 2

• Pav buns - 2
• Potatoes - 2 chopped roughly
• Beans - 8  chopped roughly
• Carrot - 2 chopped roughly
• Tomatoes - 2 chopped finely
• Peas - 1/4 cup
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Pav bhaji masala powder - 1 tbsp
• Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
• Cooking oil - 1 tsp
• Butter - 2 tbsp
• Onions - 1 chopped finely
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp for garnish
• Lemon Juice - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste

Method :

1.Chop the veggies roughly. Pressure cook all the veggies till soft(say 4-5 whistles).Drain water and reserve the stock.Then mash it well with a laddle. Set aside.

2.Heat oil and 1 butter in a pan, saute the onion(reserve some for garnishing too), add ginger garlic paste and fry till slightly browned. 

3.Add tomatoes and saute till mushy and raw smell leaves. Now add capsicum and saute for 2mins.Add turmeric and red chilli powder,required salt and mix.

4.Then add the mashed veggies and combine.Add pav bhaji masala powder and mix well. Now add the reserved stock water.

5.Allow it to boil(adjust salt at this stage) and let it cook in sim till it becomes slightly thick. Add lemon juice and coriander leaves and switch off.

6.Toast the buns with remaining 1tbsp butter. Serve the toasted pav buns with bhaji . Garnish onions and sprinkle few drops of lemon. Always serve hot!

My Notes:

• You can also veggies like beans and cauliflower.
• If you dont get pav buns, go ahead with normal milk buns or butter buns
• Chopped tomatoes can be added too. Dont skip chopped onions and coriander leaves while serving.
• The bhaji goes well with toasted bread too.
• Dont skip butter as its the main ingredients which makes this chat tastier.

Yummy homemade pav bhaji is ready in minutes. Once ur veggies are boiled and kept ready pav bhaji can be done in a jiffy. Whenever its chat outside I go blindly with either pav bhaji or dahi puri, they are my fav anytime and in my case the craving never ends for chat atleast when it comes to pav bhaji and dahi puri.

This requires no additional chat chutneys so that was another convincing thing that made me go ahead to make this at home :)

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Raw Mango Rice / Maanga Sadam Recipe

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I am taking a off tomorrow so my weekend starts from tomorrow itself :) Its a great relief actually as I've planned few pending works to be completed this weekend and now having 3 days in hand I've to utilise it.This time not much on the cooking front for sharmis passions so my drafts should speak for few more weeks :) When I saw this recipe from a tamil magazine I instantly wanted to try, as it looked flavourful and tempting. And it didnt disappoint me at all, yummy tangy rice ready.

Raw Mango Rice / Maanga Sadam Recipe:

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• Cooked Rice - 1.5 cups

To be ground to a paste:

• Raw mango (skin peeled and grated) - 1 cup
• Coconut - 4 tbsp
• Red Chillies - 2

To temper:

• Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp
• Channa dal - 1 tsp
• Urad dal - 1 tsp
• Peanuts - 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Dry red chillies, broken - 1
• Hing(Perungayam) - a generous pinch
• Turmeric powder - a pinch (optional)

Method:

1. First grind the ingredients under 'to grind' without adding water to a slightly coarse paste. Keep aside
2. Now heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds let it crackle. Now add channa dal , urad dal and turmeric powder, perungayam. When the dals turns slightly browned, now add dry red chillies and peanuts. Roast until the peanuts turn slightly browned.
3. Now add the ground paste and saute until the moisture leaves. Add salt and keep sauting until it collects to thick pulp when oil oozes out slighlty with a shine in the texture it may take 5-7 mins. This is the correct stage. Switch off.
4. Take cooked rice and add this paste to it and mix well until it is coated well. Check and add salt only if required. Serve with chips or papad.

My Notes:

• Do not add water while grinding as raw mango will leave water by itself.
• Grinding it to a smooth or a coarse paste is upto ur choice.
• Add little water while adding the thooku to the tempered paste to make it a little runny in consistency if you feel difficult to mix it with rice

This is sure a easy variety rice which is quick fix for lunch. Potato chips or papad is a nice combination for manga sadam. There are lot of ways this manga sadam can be done but recently I found this recipe suiting to our family taste so this is going to be my keeper :)

Have a nice happening weekend and see you all on Monday.....!

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Eggless Vanilla Pudding Recipe | Easy custard pudding

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This post is specially dedicated to hubby not only that he likes this pudding. But for all those pains he took to get me these coloured ramkeins. When nithi told me about these cute colored ramkeins she got, I was way too tempted when I saw them in her space. We searched many shops in CBE, spent around 3 hrs of searching only to reach home with disappointment. When hubby went to Chennai on a days trip, he found 2 colors that I have used in these pics and the next time found 3 other colors too... Yayy I was so happy.Now u know the reason why I use those ramkeins often?! :)

Check out nithis beautiful version of vanilla caramel pudding with eggs

Also check out my easy eggless chocolate pudding that I posted sometime back

Hubby is not a regular reader of sharmispassions and am not even sure whether he will read this post but I never forget to force him to see my clicks and read the comments I receive... ;) But I should say he is my best critic and a great supporter for this space.He is mittus caretaker most of the times when I am busy clicking pics even when the photoshoot takes upto an hr attimes.

I hate shopping alone even when it comes to food props so all my shopping is accompanied by him. Now he even suggests better props than me :) Aah I have spoken so much now let me stop and get onto the recipe :O

Eggless Vanilla Pudding Recipe:

Recipe Source : JellyBelly

Makes 3 small ramkein cups

Ingredients:

• Milk - 1 cup
• Sugar - 1/4 cup
• Custard powder(Vanilla flavored) - 1.5 tbsp
• Butter - 1/2 tbsp

Method:

1. In a bowl mix sugar, custard powder and little cold milk(say 2 tbsp). Mix well until sugar dissolves completely and it forms a thick paste without any lumps. Keep aside.

2. Heat the milk in a nonstick pan in medium flame until bubbles form at the sides. Now add the custard powder sugar paste to the milk and start stirring.

3. After the mixture is added, keep in low flame and keep stirring, take care to avoid lumps forming. Add butter and keep stirring until the mixture is thick enough, if you scrap with a spoon it should be come easily without sticking.

4. At this stage switch off and pour in serving bowls. Allow it to cool for 15mins then refrigerate it for atleast 30mins to an hr for the pudding to set well.

5. Serve chilled in the serving bowls or scrap the ends slightly with a knife and invert the bowls to get a well set pudding. Garnish with chopped nuts, I garnished with some leftover butterscotch chips :)

My Notes:

• If you dont have custard powder substitute with 1.5 tbsp cornflour and 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• I used my coloured set of ramkeins as serving bowls. You can use any small bowl so that while inverting its easier.
• You can use the same ingredients with coco powder and chocolate scrappings to make a delicious eggless chocolate pudding. Garnish with choco chips or some grated chocolate.
• Its easy with less ingredients and the ingredients are easy to get in our pantries.
• The consistency is very important for the pudding to set well. It shouldnt be runny when you pour with a spoon it should be thick enough.
• Getting the right consistency without the lumps formed is the trick here.But believe me, if I get it right for the first time then anyone can sure get it right :) So trust me and go ahead!

I was really not sure whether the pudding will set well enough to tilt so I took all the pics even before inverting. Finally inverted and was awed to see the pudding set so well with these easy ingredients. Then I cudnt resist myself from clicking those as well :)

It was creamy yummy with a apt pudding consistency. You can use this recipe as a base and come out with many flavoured pudding ideas as I am doing now.

Other pudding ideas with the same recipe as base:

• Chocolate Pudding
• Butterscotch pudding
• Mango pudding
• Strawberry pudding

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Veg Seekh Kebabs / Moong Dhal Kababs in Oven - Step by Step Recipe | Kebab Starters

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I havent tasted veg kebabs in restaurants but wanted to give a try at home. We all loved the outcome of the tasty homemade kebabs. I was not satisified with the kebabs pics but had to go with these as I have no time in hand to make it and click again.I was so tired taking the stepwise pics with no leftout energy to click the main pics - Now that justifies the not so good pics he he :)

Veg Seekh Kebabs Recipe:
Makes around 10-12 kebabs

Ingredients:

• Moong dal - 1 cup
• Boiled Potato - 1
• carrot - 1 grated
• Onion - 1 chopped finely
• Capsicum - 1 chopped finely
• Chilli powder - 2 tsp
• Garam masala powder - 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Chaat masala - 1/2 tsp
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Oil - for brushing

Method:
Pressure cook moong dhal until mushy for about 3-4 whistles. Smash it well and add potatoes, ginger garlic paste, chat masala, garam masala , chilli and turmeric powder and mix well.

Heat a tsp of oil in a nonstick pan and add the mixture, keep stirring until the dhal starts turning to golden brown in color.

Add all the veggies : carrot , onion and capsicum, required salt and mix well. Preheat the oven to 220 deg C for 10mins. Meanwhile take a skewer and a lemon sized ball from the dough. Stick along the skewer vertically as shown in the pic.

Seal it well so that it doesnt open. Dont make the kebabs thick make a thin layer along the skewers for it cook well inside. Brush oil generously on the kebabs and bake them for 20 to 25mins or until the kebabs turn browned. Turn in between after 15mins to the other side.

Serve hot with green chutney or tomato sauce accompanied with sliced raw onions, tomato and lemon.

My Notes:

• Make sure to make only a thin layer along the skewers else the inside will not get cooked. I made this mistake for the first test batch of 2 kebabs and made it thin in all other kebabs.
• The kebabs are crispy on the outside and soft inside.
• The above mentioned quantity makes around 10-12 kebabs.
• The mode should be in bake, dont change it to grill as the outcome will be different.
• You can also add bread while adding potatoes.

The kebabs can be deep fried also for those of you who dont own a oven. Make the kebabs as per the same method as above and deep fry them until golden brown.

This is sure a healthy and tasty veg starter that can be easily prepared at home.

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Orange Mocktail

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I usually browse for new beverages/juices and this one caught my eye one fine day. The tangy taste of orange combined with lime with a hint of soda...hmm it was so refreshing!! When I googled to find more about mocktail I found it easy to understand mocktail as non-alcoholic cocktail :)

Ingredients:
Makes 1 cup

• Orange Juice - 1 Cup
• Lemon Juice - 1/4 Cup
• Sugar - 2 tbsp (or adjust according to your taste)
• Water - 1/4 Cup
• Soda - 1/4 cup(optional)

Method:

1. Filter the juice alone from oranges.
2. Combine all the ingredients and stir well.

My Notes:

• If you want add crushed ice before serving
• Also garnish with freshly cut oranges
• I used demerera sugar for coating the rim of the glass, you can use normal white sugar also

For coating the serving glass with sugar :

• For presenting the serving glass coated with sugar.
• Take a small plate, spread athin layer of sugar over it.
• Dip the rim of the glass with orange juice, or any citrus juice then turn over the glass and rotate it in the sugar evenly.

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