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 .

Avalakki Spicy Huggi

Avalakki/Aval/ Poha/Flattened Rice is good for health and easy to digest, quick to prepare. Here is Avalakki Spicy Huggi/Pongal that we can prepare for breakfast/brunch/snack or dinner.

It is very close to kichidi ( mixed with dal), very good for all age group. Kichidi is normally prepared for dinner so that it is very soothing and healthy. This Avalakki Spicy Huggi is bit thick and is loaded with spices and little ghee which helps to be full for a long time and it can be eaten for breakfast/brunch. It is always better to have this Avalakki Spicy Huggi in the mornings, so that it is easy to digest. I have used avalakki, moong dal, green chilly, ginger, pepper and coconut.
Let us see the recipe now.

Things needed :

To Cook :
Thick Avalakki : 2 Cups
Moong dal : 1/2 Cup
To Add :
Green chilly : 2 to 3
Black Pepper pods : 5 to 6
Ginger : 1 Tablespoon (Grated)
Turmeric powder : A pinch
 Salt : As required
Coconut : 1/2 Cup
Lemon : 1 Teaspoon
Coriander leaves : 2 to 3 Tablespoons
To Season :
Ghee : 2 to 3 Tablespoons
Jeera /Cumin seeds : 1 Teaspoon

Curry leaves : 8 to 9 leaves

Method :

1. Wash and drain water from avalakki. Wash and squeeze out lemon extract and keep it aside.
2. Wash and cut green chilly into big pieces, peel off outer layer of ginger and wash it again. Grate it and keep it aside.
3. Take a big bowl, add washed avalakki, cut green chilly,  grated ginger and required salt.
4. Mix all the ingredients with avalakki and keep it aside.

5.Grate coconut and keep it aside. Crush pepper pods and add it to avalakki.
6.Wash moong dal and drain all the water and keep it aside.

7. Keep a big pan and add a tablespoon of ghee. Add jeera/ingh and  2 to 3 pepper pods. ( Whole).
8. Add ingh/Asafoetida and let jeera turn little brown. Fry. nicely.

9. Add washed and drained moong dal and fry for 2 minutes. ( On medium flame).
10. Add a glass of water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Be careful it may over flow. ( Better keep a big pan).
11. See that moong dal turns soft. Mix it well. Add washed avalakki,  Grated ginger and crushed pepper.

12. Mix it well and let it cook on low flame for 2 to 3 minutes. Let all the moisture disappear.

13. Mix it again and add grated fresh coconut, Lemon juice. Add remaining ghee. Mix it well again. Add cut coriander leaves.

14. Shift the Ready Avalakki Spicy Huggi to a serving bowl. Serve with your choice of side dish or a cup of curd.

Note :

Dry roasting moong dal helps the dal to evenly. ( Will not be over cooked ). Adding slit green chilly gives nice aroma to Huggi. You can use more/less of green chilly. Use of pepper pods adds aroma to Huggi and it helps the food to digest properly. Adding more less coconut is optional. Adding more/less ghee is optional. Thick avalakki must be used to get good consistency.
Time : 15 Minutes.
Serves : 3 to 4