Banana - Wheat - Rava - Gulkand Cake

Banana - Wheat - Rava Gulkand Cake is the special cake prepared for my dear hubby's Birthday. We had planned for family lunch get-together.

The cake has come out very nicely with excellent flavour of home made healthy Gulkand, soft and fluffy. No egg is used here and it is very simple.
It is always a pleasure to prepare some special dish for people who are near to your heart.
I have used wheat flour ( Ashirvaad ), chiroti rava /thin variety of semolina, banana, gulkand which is done using organic jaggery, normally jaggery, curd, milk, cooking soda and baking powder.
Let us see the recipe now :

Things needed :

Wheat flour : 1 1/2 Cup
Chiroti Rava / Thin variety of semolina : 1/2 Cup
Curd : 1/2 Cup
Milk : 1/2 Cup
Jaggery : 1/2 Cup
Well ripe banana : 1 ( Small  Elakki banana).
Baking soda : 1/4 Teaspoon ( Two pinches)
Baking powder : 1 Teaspoon
Butter : 2 Tablespoons
Gulkand : 2 Teaspoons ( Optional)
Salt : A pinch

Method :

1. Sieve wheat flour, chiroti rava, salt,baking powder and cooking soda. ( 2 to 3 times.)

 2. Put curd, milk, butter and jaggery, banana to a mixi jar . Grind it nicely till it starts to get small bubbles. /Use egg beater and mix all the ingredients nicely.
3. Add two tablespoons of gulkand/any essence of your choice. Grind for another 2 minutes.

4. Remove from the mixi jar to a big bowl.

5. Add sieved wheat, rava, baking powder, salt and cooking soda.
6. Mix all the ingredients nicely. Move your hand on one direction while mixing the batter.

7. Heat the oven for 5 minutes.
8. Sprinkle some wheat flour in the baking tray.
9. Put ready cake mixture to the tray and tap the tray. Let the cake batter spread it equally.

10. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes with 180 degree celsius.

11. Take out the cake and keep it on the oven for 5 minutes.

12. Cut and serve or decorate once it is cooled.

Note :

Egg is not used in this Banana - Wheat  - Rava - Gulkand Cake. Use of jaggery and the rest of the ingredients are healthy ingredients.  You can use sugar instead of jaggey. Use of curd has turned the cake very soft and fluffy. Use less cooking soda. I have topped dates and they look like as if they have burnt. No they haven't burnt. Brown and black baked dates taste awesome. I do not like topping the cake with sugar and butter. So I left it as it is. Instead of butter you can use ghee or normal cooking oil. But butter taste the best. Add only very little butter. It gives nice aroma and is healthy too. You can use egg beater or any other modern equipment to mix, instead of grinding. I like it because you will not have that energy. I have added some dates on the top. (Optional).
Time : 40 Minutes. ( All included , sieving, mixing, grinding and baking.
Serves : 8 to 10.
Some pictures of family gathering .  Birthday Boy Mr. Jayarama Somayaji and His family ..

Bottle Gorud-Banana Sweet Rava Rotti.

We are sweet people. (we do love to have some sweet taste in our food ). I am saying this here I am preparing Bottle Gourd Banana Rava Sweet Rotti. Is not that I am saying this for this purpose, we udupians /Karnataka's southern part, prepare food that is bit sweet. Whether it is a curry or solid food there are varieties of food that have sweet taste with them.

Adding jaggery to the curry or any edible is one of the healthy point to note. Spice adds acidity and jaggery helps to reduce the acidity. Such a wonderful quality that jaggery has. They are good for quenching thirst, adding iron content to our body, helping to reduce the acidity in the food.
We visited Cambodia last December and I got two small tins of Palm Jaggery on the way to the capital city of Cambodia Phnom Penn. Lots of Palm trees in that country and preparing Jaggery from Palm fruit in traditional way.
Let us see some benefits of using PALM JAGGERY in our diet.
Palm Jaggery is an excellent substitute for white sugar. It is healthy and natural sweetener. It is the most beneficial and nutrient rich variety of raw jaggery. It is prepared from palm tree extract and is loaded with minerals and vitamins. It is loaded with medicinal properties.
Palm Jaggery is rich in iron, increases hemoglobin level when you eat regularly. It is good for treating anemia. It is a rich source of magnesium and regulates the nervous system. It is rich source of antioxidant, calcium,potassium and phosphorus. It is good remedy for constipation and helps in easy digestion. It is a good energy booster.
Let us see the recipe now :

Things Needed :

Bananas : 2 ( Small size)
Milk : 1/2 Cup
Rava/Semolina : 2 Cups
Bottle gourd : 1 Bowl ( 1/2 of 1 bottle gourd medium size)
Palm Jaggery : 2 to 3 Tablespoons
Salt : A little
Coconut : 1 Cup
Ondelaga leaves : 1 Handful ( Optional)
Oil : 3 to 4 Tablespoons

Method :

1. Wash bottle gourd and peel off the outer layer. Grate it and keep it aside.

2. Peel off banana skin and smash banana in 1/2 cup of milk. Add palm jaggery and mix it well.

3. Grate coconut and keep it aside. Wash Ondelaga / Gotu kola leaves and cut it into thin pieces.
4. Take a big bowl and put, cut ondelaga leaves, rava/semolina, salt, grated bottle gourd, coconut and banana - jaggery mix.

5. Mix all the ingredients nicely. Add water if required and mix it nicely. Let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
6. Keep a dosa pan on the fire and heat. Add a teaspoon of oil and spread it nicely around the pan.

7. Wet your hands with water and take a handful of rotti batter and spread it slowly on the hot tava. Let the flame be very low while you spreading the batter.

8. Add 1/2 teaspoon of oil on the top and cook on medium heat. ( You can use your spatula to spread the batter evenly, once you put oil on the top). cook for a minute.
9.Turn the other side and cook for another 2 minutes.

10. Now the bottle gourd - banana Rava sweet rotti is ready to serve.
11. Serve with your choice of side dish.  Add a teaspoon of ghee on the top and serve.

12. Repeat the same with remaining batter and prepare Sweet Rava rotti.

Note :

Use of Ondelaga leaves is purely optional. Use of palm jaggery is good for health. You can use normal jaggery instead. Use of milk and banana adds taste to rotti. Use of ghee instead of oil to cook rotti is optional. More / Less jaggery is optional. Use of bottle gourd is good for health. Use of medium rava is better. ( I used medium sized rava).
 Time : 30 Minutes.
Serves : 2 to 3 .

Little Millet / Saame & Moong Dal Sweet Pongal

                          Little Millete/Saame & Moong Dal Sweet Pongal

Ready to serve Little Millete/Saame & Moong Dal Sweet Pongal

Little Millet/Saame is one of the healthy millet and millets are on the healthy wave these days. Though it is said even in those days may be thousands of years ago in India people used to only millets as their daily food not rice. Millets  are grown easily and they do not need much water either.
I have prepared Little millet Huggi and of course it is one of the easy dish that you can cook when you are expecting some guest. No one can say no to this yummy dish I know.
I have used Moong dal, little millet, jaggery, ghee, cardamom and some dry fruits. The fresh coconut adds to the taste.
Little millet is full of fiber and gluten free. It is easy to digest and keeps you full for a long time. It is good for diabetic patient and helps to maintain the blood sugar level.
Let us see the recipe now :

Things Needed :

Little millet : 1 Cup
Moong dal : 1/2 Cup
Jaggery : 1/2 Cup
Fresh grated coconut : 1/2 Cup
Cardamom : 3 to 4 pods
Salt : A pinch
Ghee : 2 to 3 Tablespoons
Milk : 1/2 cup

Method :

1. Wash and cook little millet and moong dal. Add 1/2 cup of milk while cooking.
( 1 Cup little millet : 2 cups of water + 1/2 cup of moong dal : 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup milk. All together 3 cups ).

2. Now keep jaggery in a pan and put some water. Let it melt completely. Sieve this jaggery water and keep the clean jaggery water aside.

3. Keep  a big bowl on the fire and put cleaned jaggery and cooked little millet with moong dal. Add a tablespoon of ghee, so that it does not get burnt at the bottom.
4. Mix all the ingredients nicely. Add salt. Let it turn bit thick. (Let it be on low flame).
5. Mix it well and let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Powder cardamom and add it.

6. Grate coconut and add it.

7. Keep a small pan on the fire and put remaining ghee. Fry dry nuts in it. ( Raisins, cashews).

8. Shift the ready Little Millet/Saame & Moong dal Sweet pongal to a serving dish.
9. Put fried nuts and serve hot Little Millet/Saame & Moong dal Sweet Pongal.

Note :

Adding milk while cooking adds to the taste. Add milk along with water. It is better to cook in pressure cooker because it turns soft and nice. Or you might feel the millet grain bit hard. Adding less or more jaggery is optional. Adding more/less ghee is optional. You can add one or two cloves along with cardamoms. It gives nice aroma and good for digestion.
Time : 30 Minutes.
Serves : 4 to 5 .