Eggless Gulab Jamun Cake

Okay, you’ve read the name of the recipe, and I need to tell you at the very onset; no Gulab Jamuns were harmed in making this cake… coz, none were used. *evil grin*

I have known apprehensive souls go ‘urgh' at the mention of this name. I sent them a piece of this cake, and they asked me for the recipe. Yup, that’s how good this cake turns out… every single time. I have baked this one so many times, I’ve actually lost count of how many cakes I’ve baked.

I saw this recipe on Saee Koranne – Khandekar’s Instagram profile and I just had to try it. I hadn’t baked a cake in over three decades, and not in a million years had I ever thought I’d restart my ‘cake’ journey with this eggless beaut. Best decision, ever!

The cake crumb is dense and moist, quite like a semolina mawa cake. The base and the sides get baked to deep shades of brown every time, resulting in a gorgeous lightly-chewy exterior. This cake does not have too much of a ‘rise’ so please do not fret about that. Just know it’ll turn out really well.

This recipe belongs to Saee. I haven’t changed the recipe at all. All I’ve done is convert the ingredients down to the last gram. Also, the bake time of her oven differed from mine. Other than that, I have made no changes at all. Follow the recipe to the T and you’ll bake a superb cake each and every time! Saee, heartfelt thanks for this gem!❤️

Ingredients (Dry):

1 cup / 100 grams Gulab Jamun Mix (I used Chitale brand)
½ cup / 80 grams fine semolina (Barik Rawa)
½ cup / 85 grams powdered sugar
1 teaspoon / 4 grams baking powder
2 teaspoons / 6 grams Everest Milk Masala
8 -10 strands of saffron, lightly crushed

Ingredients (Wet):

1 cup / 200 grams fresh yogurt / dahi (not sour, not sweet – just bland/pheeka) - smoothened
100 grams packet salted butter, melt and cool to room temperature
14 - 15 tablespoons milk
A little extra butter to grease and line the cake tin

Ingredients (Garnish - Optional):

10 almonds, sliced/slivered
10 pistachios, sliced/slivered

Method:

1. Grease with butter and line an 8-inch cake tin with parchment paper.
   
   
   
   
   
2. Preheat the oven to 150 deg Celsius.
3. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Add the smoothened dahi, milk, and mix.
   
   
   
   
   
5. Add the cool melted butter and mix the batter until the butter is well incorporated into the batter. 
   
   
   
   
   
6. This will give you a thickish batter.
   
   
   
   
7. Pour the batter into the cake tin.
8. Sprinkle the slivered nuts at the inner perimeter of the cake tin.
   
   
   
   
   
9. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 to 50 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
10. When done, bring out the cake and allow it to cool a bit.
    
    
    
    
    
11. Remove it from the cake tin and allow it to cool completely. Voila, done!
    
    
    

Chef Notes:

1. Preferably, procure the Chitale Gulab Jamun Mix. I’ve used that every single time and never had a problem with it. In case you don’t have access to it, of course, any Gulab Jamun Mix will work. Please note this Gulab Jamun Mix is in powder form. It is not a paste. Just clarifying. 
2. My oven takes about 40 – 45 minutes to bake this cake. The temperature setting of your oven may differ, so do keep a keen eye on your cake after the 30-to-35-minute mark.
3. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
   
   Some more photographs:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Banana Oats Appe

Have you ever bought a cooking equipment and been petrified to use it because you’re new to it? That is precisely what happened to me coz I’ve had the appe pan for over five years and I’ve been petrified to use it… until a couple of weeks ago when I saw a post on Instagram, by Monalisa Mehotra. She’d made Banana Oats Appe and they looked so stunning, I just had to make them. Monalisa, heartfelt thanks for the recipe. 😊 Also, your recipe helped me get over my ‘appe pan fear’ 🙈 hence, truly, THANK YOU! ❤️

While the original recipe idea is Monalisa’s, I’ve added tiny touches and specific instructions to ensure the recipe does not go wrong. I never post a recipe unless I perfect it and I will always pen a detailed recipe to ensure it works just as beautifully in your kitchen as it does in mine. With the tiny changes I incorporated, I’ve now made this recipe thrice and I promise you, it’s perfect! I am writing the recipe exactly (proportions, extra ingredients, timings, et al) as made by me. Follow the recipe to a T and you shall have a bowlful of delicious Appe(s). I would say, these are very similar to banana fritters, just sans the excess oil as fritters are usually deep fried. Makes for a perfect evening, tea-time snack. 😊

Ingredients:

½ cup oats flour
1 tablespoon rice flour
2 over-ripe bananas
2½ tablespoon jaggery powder or grated jaggery
2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
A pinch of cinnamon
A good of pinch salt
½ cup milk (room temperature)
½ teaspoon baking powder
Oil for the Appe pan

Method:

1. In a pan or a wok, stirring constantly, roast the oats flour on extremely low heat until a lovely aroma reaches your olfactory senses. Remove into a bowl and keep aside.
   
   
   
   
   
2. In the same pan/wok, stirring all the time, roast the rice flour on the lowest flame possible. When well roasted, remove the rice flour into the same bowl in which you have emptied the roasted oats flour. (The same rule of patience applies to this flour too. It will get done way fast, though, as the quantity is very little.) 
   
   
   
   
   
3. In the same pan/wok, now add the desiccated coconut and on very low flame, stirring all the time, roast it until the coconut gets a tad crisp. The desiccated coconut may turn one shade darker, which is quite alright. When roasted, empty the contents into a bowl, keep aside and allow to cool a bit.
   
   
   
   
   
4. Add cinnamon powder and salt to the roasted flours.
   
   
   
   
5. Using your fingertips, crush the roasted desiccated coconut as finely as possible. 
6. Add the crushed coconut to the dry flour mix.
   
   
   
   
   
7. Peel and mash the bananas as smoothly as possible. 
   
8. Add 1½ tablespoon jaggery powder to the mashed bananas and mix it well. It will melt quite fast as it’s in powder (or grated) form.
9. Add the banana-jaggery mixture to the dry roasted flours and give it a mix. 
   
   
   
   
10. Add the milk and mix to form a smooth batter. Taste the batter and add the remain 1 tablespoon jaggery powder if you prefer a sweeter batter (I did). Mix the batter until the jaggery is well blended into the batter.
    
    
    
    
11. Allow the batter to rest for 10 minutes.
    
    
    
    
    
12. Just a minute before making the Appe, sprinkle baking powder and give it a GENTLE mix.
    
    
    
    
    
13. Heat an Appe pan. Into each indentation add half teaspoon of oil and when the oil is hot, lower the flame. 
    
    
    
    
    
14. Depending on the size of the appe indentations, spoon batter into each one. Cover and on LOW HEAT cook the appe for 2 minutes (yes, i marked time) on one side. 
    
    
    
    
    
15. After the 2-minute mark, flip each appe to cook the other side. Use a teaspoon or a fork to flip the appe. 
16. After flipping the appe, add a few extra drops of oil into each indentation if you so wish (I did). Cover and cook the other side, on LOW HEAT for 2 minutes.
17. Remove the appe into a bowl. Continue making appe until all the batter is used up. 
    
    
    

Chef Notes:

1. I used the Bagrry’s brand of oats flour. Pick up any brand available in your vicinity.
2. When roasting the oats flour and the rice flour I urge you NOT to be in a hurry. Roast both the flours very patiently, on low flame. The flours are to be well roasted to ensure the appe do not taste raw. A beautiful ‘roast aroma’ will reach your olfactory senses when the flour is well roasted. 
3. Preferably, do not allow the flours to change colour but… don’t fret too much if they go one teeny-tiny shade darker. Teeny-tiny, truly does mean just that. Do NOT allow them to go dark. Also, remember, the rice flour will roast faster as the quantity is small.
4. Ideally, mash the bananas with a fork, in a plate instead of a bowl for a smooth mash. I say this because I’ve seen people (in videos) struggling to mash them in a bowl. (Just a question of common sense, sometimes… not very common *evil grin*)
5. Please use over-ripe bananas. Just ripened ones or slightly raw ones will not lend the desired soft texture (within) or the sweetness.
6. The desiccated coconut crisps up a wee bit hence, once cool, crush it with your fingers. There is no right, or wrong, size here so crush them as much as possible and continue with the recipe.
7. I used 2½ tablespoons jaggery powder. You may add jaggery powder a little at a time and achieve the sweetness as desired by you. The quantity of jaggery powder will also depend on how sweet the over-ripe bananas are. 
8. This quantity of batter yields 18 regular size appe. Please don’t ask me to measure the indentations of the appe pan. *heavy sigh*
9. Ideally, keep serving the appe as soon as you bring them out of the appe pan. The only downside to doing this is, there may not be any left for you coz they get polished off in a frikkin’ jiffy. I should know, I barely get to eat three. Sigh!
10. Add half teaspoon oil into each indentation to ensure the appe cooks well. Yes, these are healthy appe but if you are too stingy with oil, you will be left holding an appe that tastes dry. By the way, how do I know?? I merely brushed the appe indentations with oil the first time I made these babies. They popped out quite dry. Now, you don’t want that, do ya? I think not! 😝 Posting a pic of the 'less-oil' version. If you don't mind this texture, then you may merely brush the pan with oil.
    
    
    
    
    
11. Some GK… The Appe pan is also known as Paniyaram pan and the Dutch call it an Aebleskiver pan. 
12. I recommend you remember the direction in which you fill the appe pan and begin flipping the appe in the same direction. This is to ensure the appe are evenly cooked. 
13. As mentioned at the onset, the original recipe belongs Monalisa Mehrotra. This version of the recipe and the photographs, though, belong to my blog, Kenzy’s Kitchen Korner. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes, and/or my photographs, on any blogsite or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
    
    Some more photographs:

Rice Flour

Desiccated Coconut

Milk

The Less-Oil Version

Murmura Ladoo (Mamra Na Ladoo)

I’d seen a post, of these ladoos, on a food forum at Facebook and I’d been yearning to make these. It brought back a memory of mum’s masi making these ladoos for her. Yes, mum loves Murmura Ladoos. While I did read the recipe posted at the food forum, I check out many recipes online and finally homed in on a You Tube recipe by Bharatz Kitchen. These babies turned out super!

Ingredients:

3 cups (57 grams – cup filled to the brim) murmura / puffed rice / mamra

1 cup (200 to 210 grams) jaggery

1 tablespoon clarified butter

Extras To Keep Ready:

A tiny bowl filled with room temperature water (for jaggery check)

A bowl of cool water to dip your hands

2 plates or thalis

Method:

1.    Roast the murmura on medium heat, stirring continuously, in a nonstick pan or a large wok. Do not allow the murmura to burn or catch colour.

2.    When all the murmura are hot to touch and well roasted (randomly pick up two-three murmura and break each into two, if you hear a ‘snap’, they’re well roasted)

3.    Remove the murmura onto a plate and keep aside.

4.    Put same the wok/pan back on low flame. Add clarified butter.

5.    When the clarified butter melts, add jaggery and allow it to melt. Keep stirring it continuously, preferable with a flat wooden spoon.

6.    When the jaggery has melted completely, cook it until it begins to turn one shade darker.

7.    Take a drop of jaggery and drop it into the tiny bowl of water.

8.    Fish out the jaggery from the bowl and if it has held its shape without disintegrating the consistency of jaggery is perfect.

9.    Shut off the stove and QUICKLY but CAREFULLY add the murmura to the molten jaggery.

10. Mix the murmura and jaggery in a way that the jaggery evenly coats the murmuras.

11. Transfer contents of the wok onto a plate.

12. Dip your hands in cool water, take a portion of the murmura-jaggery mixture and quickly roll it into a ball, place it onto the other plate. The size of the ladoo is entirely up to you.

13. Keep dipping your hands in water and continue making murmura-jaggery ladoos until all the mixture is used up.

14. This quantity gave me 18 ladoos, the size of large lemons.

Chef Notes:

1.    We wanted hard ladoos hence cooked the jaggery to one shade darker, after it had melted. If you prefer ladoos a tad softer and chewier, as soon as you realize the jaggery is molten and melted, add the murmuras and continue with the rest of the recipe as mentioned. For softer and chewier ladoos, do NOT allow the jaggery to go a shade darker. Also, for softer ladoos, you may omit the jaggery-drop water check.

2.    Yes, you may use powdered jaggery instead of regular jaggery cubes.

3.    Please keep both the bowls of water and the plates ready as you do NOT want to run around at the last minute.

4.    Once the mixture is taken off the stove it is scalding hot but solidifies very rapidly. That is precisely why from Point No 9 to 13 you need to work very quickly. You also need to be very careful as the mixture is hot and that is why we use the bowl of cool water to dip our hands. I’m told some people also coat their hands with ghee. How well that works, I really have no clue.

5.    Even after having dipped your hands in cool water, you will be going, “ouch ouch” at times, while handling the hot mixture. Come on, be brave, I could do it, so can you. *evil grin*

6.    Preferably, use a nonstick vessel if you are giving this a try for the first time. Also, post-cooking, it’s way easier to clean.

7.    There can be many variations and additions to this ladoo. Please note, I have made the absolute basic, no-frills recipe.

8.    There is an easy way out if you are scared of handling the hot mixture. Lightly grease a thali with clarified butter, pour in the hot murmura-jaggery mixture, press the mixture into the thali and spread it evenly. The spread should be, approximately, an inch thick. Quickly make square or diamond shaped cuts into the mixture with a knife as you would when making chikki. This will make it easier to break the murmura pieces after it solidifies. Voila! Instead of ladoos, you’ve made murmura chikki. Now that I’ve given you an easy way out, there’s no excuse for you not to make this, eh? 😉

9.    You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes, and/or my photographs, on any blogsite or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

Some more photographs:

 

 

Bread Pudding

Traditional Bread Butter Pudding is fine, but every once in a while, I like to take a recipe a tad further and put my own twist on it. Also, this one has absolutely no butter, but it's so decadent you're not going the miss the butter at all. This is my way of making Bread Pudding. It is not the traditional dry style of bread pudding; the one served with a custard sauce. I like my Bread Pudding soft from within and, crisp and chewy from the top. The texture of this is such, one does not need any custard sauce to go with it. This version is neither dry and nor is it totally mushy. I promise you, though, you’ll love the final outcome. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1-liter full fat milk

24 heaped teaspoons granulated sugar

5 slices of stale white bread,

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8^th teaspoon nutmeg powder

1/8^th teaspoon cardamom powder

Half a handful of mixed nuts (pistachios, almonds, cashew nuts) – optional

Method: 

1.    If you are using mixed nuts for garnish, chop into slivers and keep aside.

2.    Cut the crusts off the bread slices and cut the slices into pieces. Keep aside.

3.    Heat milk in a large vessel.

4.    Add sugar to sweeten.

5.    When the sugar melts, remove from the vessel from the stove and allow the milk to cool to room temperature.

6.    Break eggs into a bowl, add vanilla extract and the cardamom and nutmeg powders.

7.    Beat eggs well but not too frothy. I merely use a hand rotor to whisk.

8.    Add the beaten eggs to the cool, sweetened milk and give it a good whisk to ensure the milk and eggs are well incorporated.

9.    Add approximately three chopped slices of bread to the milk and whisk. The break should soak and break down in the milk.

10. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C for about ten minutes.

11. Empty the milk-egg-bread mixture into a baking tray.

12. Scatter the remaining bread pieces onto the top of the milk and allow them to ‘float and soak’ for 10-15 minutes. Do not squash these into the milk.

13. Put the baking tray into the middle slot of the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

14. At the 30-minute mark, slide out the tray and sprinkle the slivers nuts, if using. If you aren’t using the nuts for garnish, ignore point number 14.

15. Continue baking for 30 more minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

16. If you prefer a nice, slightly crisp, chewy top, switch off the main oven and switch on the broiler mode (top grill that lends heat from above) and continue baking until the bread pudding achieves the colour you desire.

17. Remove tray from the oven and allow to cool. This can be served at room temperature and you can also keep it in the fridge for 4 to 5 hours and serve it cold.

Chef Notes:

1.    I used normal, stale sliced white bread but if you have baguettes or croissants, please feel free to use them. Mostly any kinda bread works... No, no not sourdough or rye, please. Thodi apni bhi akkal lagao. 🤦‍♀️ Please note, stale bread works beautifully for this dish so if you have leftover stale bread, just go with that.

2.    The reason I whisk up a few slices into the milk is because it lends a lovely creamy texture to the pudding. The dry kinda bread pudding is so not my thing.

3.    Also, the reason I add remaining pieces of bread to ‘float and soak’ is because they turn beautifully crisp and chewy because of the limited soaking and the sugar content. This way the bread pudding is neither dry nor is it totally mushy. The soft texture within and the crusty-chewy texture on top is a sheer pleasure to the palate.

4.    The sugar content is mentioned exactly as used by me. Feel free to adjust it to suit your palate but, ALWAYS keep the milk on the sweeter side coz you will be adding eggs and bread to it. Do consider the added eggs and bread when you sweeten the milk, or you’ll be left holding a bland pudding.

5.    Always add vanilla extract to the eggs when whisking them for desserts. It helps eliminate the egg-y odour in the dessert.   

6.    You can avoid the slivered nuts and merely opt for the chewy bread texture if you so desire. I did add them coz I’m a Bawi; we love eggs, bacon, cheese and nuts and not necessarily in that order. 😊 I did make a second batch without garnishing it with nuts to show you the crisp, chewy texture.

7.    Just to clarify, the black specks you see in the milk (process photos on the blog) is not dirt. It’s the cardamom-nutmeg powder. *cheeky grin*

8.    When baking bread pudding, do not fill the baking tray right till the top. Ensure the bread pudding mix is filled to three-fourth tray level only. This is because bread pudding tends to rise when baked and you do not want an overflowing or dripping tray in your oven.

9. When in lazy mode, I sometimes cover the baking tray (from outside) with tall aluminum foil on all four sides of the baking tray so as to prevent oven wall splatters. Saves me an enormous amount of time from having to scrub the oven clean after the bake. Once the milk is in semi-set mode, I snip off the tall foil and proceed with sprinkling the slivered almonds. Easy-peasy! 😉
10. I have mentioned the oven timings according to my oven. Oven settings differ, hence, once a knife comes out clean, proceed to turn on the broiler and brown the bread pudding from top. This will ensure the pudding you make does not burn.
11. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

Some More Photographs: