Eggless & Low Fat Mayonnaise

                                                

Eggless & Low Fat Mayonnaise 

Mayonnaise, often abbreviated as mayo, is a thick, creamy sauce often used as a condiment. Mayonnaise varies in color, but is often white, cream, or pale yellow. It may range in texture. In countries influenced by French culture, mustard is also a common ingredient. In Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, olive oil is used as the oil & mustard is never included.

Ingredients 

1 cup hung curd
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp white vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
¼ tsp black/white pepper powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp herbs of your choice

Method

Mix hung curd with all the ingredients & whisk for 2-3 minutes. Eggless Mayonnaise is ready. Keep refrigerated. It can keep fresh for 4-5 days.

Tips

* Hung curd should be completely without water.

* Use salt, sugar & vinegar according to your taste.

* You can add as many herbs you like to. I used dry mixed herbs.

* Olive oil in original recipe was 3 tbsp but I don't think you need that much. 

* If you find it little more thick, just add little milk.

* You can replace vinegar with lemon juice. 

* Adding half a spoon of mustard powder or paste is a good option too for a different taste.

* Don't throw away the whey extracted from curd, use it in gravies or to knead dough. 

* Mayonnaise can be used on sandwiches, as a base for dressings, as a dip, or as a base for salad dressings or sauces.

Blackberry Upside Down Cake

                                

Blackberry Upside Down Cake

Plump, deep-colored blackberries are a delightful treat. Saw some at Crawford market & thought I should make the most of them whilst they're in season. So here is the simple Upside Down cake. Saw this recipe on net (sorry for not noting down the link) but it was with egg, so turned it into eggless by using curds instead. Cake turned out to be super moist & very very yummy :)

Ingredients (8 servings)
1 1/2 cup fresh blackberries
2 tsp + 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup curds or yogurt 
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp grated lemon peel
1/2 cup buttermilk (see tips)

Method
Preheat oven to 200 C. 

Grease the baking pan with butter & Dust with flour.

Sprinkle 1 tsp of sugar in pan & shake to distribute evenly. 

Arrange blackberries in a single layer in cake pan. 

Sprinkle another 1 tsp sugar on berries.

Place pan with blackberries in oven for 5 minutes to thoroughly warm the berries.
Mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt in a bowl. 

Beat together butter & remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl until light & fluffy. 

Add vanilla, lemon peel & curds. Mix until just incorporated. 

Add buttermilk & flour alternately, ending with flour & fold.

Spoon batter evenly over berries & all the way to the edge of the pan, smoothing the surface.

Bake in middle of oven for about 30 minutes, until top is golden or till a tester comes out clean. 

Run a thin knife around edge of pan, then invert a large plate over pan & using pot holders to hold plate & pan together tightly, flip cake onto plate. 

Serve cake warm or cool, either with whipped cream or with Vanilla ice-cream or enjoy just like that.

Tips 

* You can easily use more blackberries in same recipe.

* You can use fresh or frozen blackberries (subsitute equal amounts of either).

* Omit salt in recipe if your butter is salted.

* You can avoid lemon peel or can use orange peel instead.

* If you feel batter needs more liquid then add a tbsp of milk. (Make sure milk is added before ending with flour).

* 1/2 cup sugar is enough for batter if you like your cake less sweet otherwise just add 1 tbsp more. (You can sprinkle powdered sugar on the ready cake too later on).

* Buttermilk - 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar

                       Let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes.

                       Stir before using.

Butter less Chocolate Cake

                                             

  

My younger son's b'day was in December & my in laws were visiting us. They don't take butter so I wanted to bake a cake which is eggless & butter less, along with super soft texture. Saw this recipe on veganbaking.net & tried it. Cake came out really well. I baked it in a Bundt pan & so my kids named it Doughnut Cake :)

Ingredients 

For Cake

1 1/4 cup plane flour (maida or APF) 

1 cup sugar 

⅓ cup cocoa powder 

3/4 tsp baking soda 

Pinch of salt 

1 cup warm water (milk/soy milk/coffee) 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

⅓ cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

1 tsp white or apple cider vinegar 

For Glaze

2 tbsp dark chocolate 

1 tbsp heavy cream

For Cake

Preheat oven to 175 C. 

Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda & salt. Keep aside.

Mix together sugar, vanilla extract & vegetable oil.

Gradually add water & flour alternately & keep folding. 

Just before ending with flour, add vinegar & fold well.

Pour in the greased & dusted Bundt Pan & bake for 30 minutes. 

Cool on a cooling rack. 

For Glaze

Melt the cream on slow flame, taking care not to burn it.

Put the flame off & add chocolate to it & let it melt.

Pour the glaze onto cake & decorate with sprinklers.

Let it cool for an hour.

Tips

* I reduced the amount of baking soda from 1 tsp to 3/4 tsp.

* Instead of water I used milk in cake.

* Even without butter the glaze was shiny.

* You can use any shape of pan to bake this cake.

Gond ki Panjeeri

                                                  

Gond or Dink or Tragacanth gum, is an “edible gum”, a resin that is extracted from the bark of the axle-wood tree. It is available in crystal form as pearly yellowish translucent pieces of varying sizes especially meant for eating after being cooked. Gond is normally prepared for pregnant ladies as it strengthens back bone & also for nursing mother as it is supposed to help in lactation. Gond Panjeeri is made on Janmashtami in north India. This recipe is high in calories but very yummy too, so you can have it in moderation. 

Ingredients
3 tbsp Gond/edible gum/dink (small pieces)
1 cup grated dry coconut
1/2 cup chopped Almonds
1/3 cup Water melon seeds

1 cup chopped Makhane/lotus seeds
2 cups Sugar
1 1/4 cups Water
1 tsp Green cardamom powder

2 tbsp desi ghee (clarified butter) for frying

Method

Grease the tray & keep aside.

Fry gond in ghee, in small batches.

It will fluff & become almost transparent when it is done. (these would swell 4-5 times their original size).

Fry makhanas till crisp on slow heat, keep aside.

Dry roast the seeds.

Chop the almonds & dry roast them.

Roast the dry coconut carefully as it burns easily.

Take a pan and add water, sugar & cardamom powder & cook till it reaches one string consistency.

Turn off the heat & mix all the dry fruits in it & transfer quickly to the greased tray.

Let it cool & cut into square or diamond shape pieces.

Ideally it should be 2" thick, leave it to set for about 3-4 hrs.

Store it in a airtight box.

Tips

* You can roast Gond in microwave - 

Take microwave safe plate & sprinkle the gond in it.

Keep the plate in microwave for approx 2 minutes.

After every 30 sec stir the Gond.

Take care as it burn fast.

* If you feel that after frying Gond pieces are big, you can grind it in mixer.

* Gond should be well fried & in small batches as it needs space to increase in size, under fried Gond will stick to your teeth.

* Other nuts & seeds can also be roasted in microwave.

* You can add dates, raisins, prunes etc also.

Note – It has both cooling and heat producing effects . In summer, after soaking in water it it becomes fluffy and soft . Consuming it in this form in summer helps to cool our body. In winter we use it after frying & grinding . It can be added to many sweets.  It generates heat in the body.