Eggless Blueberry Muffins

I like making muffins as it takes less time and effort to prepare them.After my successful attempt in making Banana muffins I wanted to try other flavours and combinations and I have started with Blueberry muffins.The muffins turned out soft and tasty. 

Ingredients:

All purpose flour	¾ cup
Baking powder	½ tsp
Baking soda	½ tsp
Sugar	¼ cup+2 tblspoons
Oil(I used sunflower oil)	¼ cup
Yoghurt	¼ cup
Milk	2 tblsp
Blueberries	¼ cup
Vanilla essence	½ tsp

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 ºC.
• Wash and dry the blueberries with paper towels and toss them with 1 tsp flour.
• Sift the Flour,baking powder and baking soda once and keep aside.
• In a bowl take the yoghurt,add sugar and whisk till sugar is dissolved,add oil,milk and vanilla and mix well.
• Add the sifted dry ingredients to this mixture and mix till its only just combined. Don't beat it as it will end in hard muffins.
• Drop the batter evenly in the muffin pan lined with liners and bake at 180ºC for 20-25 mins or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
• Once done bring the pan out of the oven and allow to cool for 5 mins and slowly take the muffins out.

Note:

• I used fresh blueberries in this recipe .You can also use frozen berries.
• Keep an eye on the muffins after 18 mins.
• I got 6 standard size muffins for the above quantity.

Linking to Bake Fest hosted by FOODOMANIA.

Lamingtons

        I made these cute Lamingtons for the Baking Eggless Group by Gayathri for this month.She gave the option of either chocolate lamingtons or lemon lamingtons and I chose the chocolate one.This Australian delight is basically a small square of sponge cake that is dipped in a sweet chocolate icing and then rolled in desiccated coconut. 
        Though there are many versions of how it got its name, I find this one interesting.The maid for Lord Lamington (eighth governor of Queensland) accidently dropped a sponge cake in some melted chocolate. To avoid the sponge cake becoming messy, they added coconut.The result was this delicious new invention, named after Lord Lamington.
       Coming to the recipe the challenge is to make the eggless sponge cake. Though I have tried some versions of eggless cake using condensed milk,yoghurt etc , I wanted to try something different this time and I adapted my eggless sponge cake from here and I got a soft,spongy cake.I followed the recipe for chocolate icing from The joy of baking and I halved it as I made a small cake. I felt the dessicated coconut is the highlight of this cake which transforms this cake to a yummy treat.

Ingredients:

 Eggless sponge cake:

All Purpose flour	1 cup
Corn flour	1 tblsp
Powdered sugar	3/4 cup
Butter	50 gms
Milk/Evaporated milk	1/3 cup
Baking powder	3/4 tsp
Baking soda	1/4 tsp
Vanilla essence	1 tsp
Aerated soda (I used plain soda )	100 ml approximately
Egg replacer  :       1 tblsp water+1/2 tblsp oil+1/4 tsp baking powder

Chocolate icing:

Icing sugar	2 cups
Cocoa powder	1 ½ tblsp
Butter	1 1/2 tblsp
Milk	¼ cup

Coating:
1 1/2 cups dessicated coconut.

Method:

For the Cake:

• Preheat oven to 180 ºC.Grease a baking pan with butter and dust with flour.
• Sift Flour,baking powder,baking soda twice and keep aside.
• Cream butter and sugar well till light and fluffy.Add the evaporated milk or milk,vanilla essence and beat well with a whisk.Take the ingredients for the egg replacer in a small bowl and whisk well.Add this to the butter-sugar mixture and beat well.
• Add the flour and mix once.Now add the aerated soda little by little and mix with a whisk.No need to beat it vigorously.Just gentle mixing is enough.Add Soda till you get thick flowing consistency of the batter which forms ribbon like pattern when poured.
• Pour the batter in the greased pan and bake at 180 ºC for 20-25 mins or till toothpick inserted in the center comes clean.If You feel the top is browning fast ,cover loosely with an aluminium foil after 15 mins and bake.
• Once done cool in a rack ,cut into desired size squares.

For the icing:

• Place the icing sugar, cocoa powder, butter and milk in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir the mixture well till it becomes smooth and is of pouring consistency.Allow it to cool down to room temperature. I kept it in the fridge for some time to speed up the process.

Assembling the Cake:

• Take the dessicated coconut in a plate.   
• Take a piece of the cake ,dip it in the chocolate icing and shake once so that excess icing drips and immediately roll it in the dessicated coconut.
• Allow it to set for some time and enjoy.   

Note:

• I have only given the approximate amount of aerated soda used. 
• Increase or decrease the cocoa powder in the icing to your preference.
• The icing may thicken after some time. If it becomes very thick,again keep it on top of simmering water to get the right consistency.
• Allow the cake to cool completely before dipping it in the icing.If you feel the cake is not firm try refrigerating it for sometime before dipping.

Vegetable Pulao

This is a simple Vegetable pulao with mild spices that can be prepared very quickly.This also serves as a nice lunch box recipe.I prefer to cook this in a kadai or a pan rather than pressure cooking. 

Ingredients:

Basmati rice	1 cup
Water(adjust according to the rice you are using)	1 3/4 cups
Vegetables cut into small cubes(I have used carrots,beans and peas)	Handful each
Onion sliced finely	1
Green chilli	1 -2
Oil	3 tsp
Cashew,Kismis(golden raisins) fried in ghee ,chopped coriander leaves	As needed
Salt	As needed

Spices:

Cardamom	2
Cinnamon	1 small piece
Cloves	2
Bay leaf	1
Cumin seeds(Jeera)	½ tsp

 
Method:

• Take a kadai or pressure pan ,add oil and all the spices and fry them.Add the slit green chillies,onions and fry till onions turn slight golden in colour.Add the vegetables and fry for 2 mins.
• Wash the rice and add it followed by water and the salt. Keep in high flame and once it comes to a boil reduce the flame to the lowest,cover and cook for 15 mins.
• Check after 10 mins once and mix gently once so that it wont stick to the bottom and cook covered till done.Once done add the fried cashews and kismis and chopped coriander leaves and serve with raita or any vegetable gravy of your choice.

Note:

• You can add 1/2 tsp Ginger-garlic paste after frying the spices.
• You can use frozen vegetables instead of fresh ones .
• Add little green chilli paste in place of slit green chilli or try it with little chilli powder instead of green chilli especially when preparing for kids.

Aloo Palak Paratha

I usually make Aloo paratha and this time I had some spinach leaves(Palak) and made Aloo palak Paratha.The Parathas came out tasty with the added nutrition of spinach. I like stuffed parathas as there is no need to prepare side dish .All you need is a simple raitha or pickle.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour	1 ½ cups
Salt	As needed
Water	As needed
Oil	2 tsp + for frying the parathas
For the stuffing
Spinach leaves chopped finely	1 cup
Potato boiled and mashed	2 nos
Cumin seeds	½ tsp
Chilli powder	As needed
Garam masala powder	½ tsp
Salt	As needed

Method:

                       

• Take Whole wheat flour,salt in a bowl.Add water as needed to prepare a soft dough similar to chapathi/roti dough.Smear 2 tsp oil ,cover and keep aside for 15-30 mins.
• For the filling ,heat 2 tsp oil in a pan.Add cumin seeds followed by the chopped spinach.Add a pinch of salt and sugar and cook for 2 mins till the leaves wilt and reduce in volume.
• Add the mashed potatoes,Chilli powder,Garam masala powder,salt and mix well.Cook in medium flame for 3-4 mins till everything is mixed well.Allow to cool.
• Take a big lime sized ball of the dough and roll to a small circle.keep the stuffing inside and cover all the sides as shown in the picture above and roll to a circle.
• Heat a tawa and cook the paratha on both sides using oil till golden spots appear on both the sides.Serve with Raitha /Yoghurt or Pickle of your choice.