Choco Banana Walnut Loaf

I have been wanting to post this recipe for about a week, immediately after I baked it, but sometimes time and sometimes your inner soul just don't tune well and thus was this delay. I baked this 'first ever loaf' of mine on the last Tuesday when I was expecting some guests for lunch. Along with these cake delights was my first time attempted home-made pizza and then some braided breads on choice. Everything turned out olympian and I was in such an ecstatic mood. I thought to post it the very next day but had some corporate sessions to take over and thus had to sit back for a while. Now before my daughter wakes up from her fairy-tale sleep, I need to complete this and vroooom....publish it! :)

CHOCO BANANA WALNUT LOAF:

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Baking Time: 25-35 minutes 

Makes one big loaf that can be gulped down the throat in less than a day! ;)

Info Meter:

• Walnuts are rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (about 72%) like oleic acid and an excellent source of all important omega-3 essential fatty acids like linoleic acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) and arachidonic acids. Regular intake of walnuts in the diet helps to lower total as well as LDL or “bad cholesterol” and increases HDL or “good cholesterol” levels in the blood.
• Eating just as much as 25 g each day provides about 90% of RDI (recommended daily intake) of omega-3 fatty acids. Research studies have suggested that n-3 fatty acids by their virtue of anti-inflammatory action help to lower the risk of blood pressure, coronary artery disease, strokes and breast, colon and prostate cancers.
• Store walnuts in your refrigerator for up to 6 months or in your freezer for up to one year, and away from foods with strong odors (e.g. fish, cabbage, onions). Nuts can absorb the flavors of other foods.  Heat causes the fat in walnuts to change structure, which creates off odors and flavors. Fresh walnuts smell mildly nutty and taste sweet.
• Walnuts are the oldest tree food known to man, dating back to 7000 B.C. The Romans called walnuts Juglans regia, “Jupiter’s royal acorn.

Ingredients:

1. APF/ Maida: 2 and 1/2 cups

2. Sugar: 2 and 1/4 cups

3. Banana: 1 (robust)

4. Cocoa Powder: 1/2 cup

5. Butter: 3/4 cup

6. Eggs: 3

7. Warm Milk: 1/4 cup

8. Baking Powder: 1 and 1/2 tsp

9. Baking Soda: 1/2 tsp

10. Vanilla Essence: a few drops

11. Chopped Walnuts: A handful

12. Salt: a pinch

13. Butter/oil for greasing or cooking spray

Method:

1. Take the Maida/APF, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix them well.  Divide this mixture into two equal parts.
2. Take the first part and sift it with cocoa powder. Keep the second part as it is and sift it separately.
3. Grease and dust the loaf tin and keep it aside.
4. Pre-heat the oven on 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes.
5. Take the butter and beat sugar with it till it goes light and fluffy. Do not melt the butter, rather keep it at room temperature.
6. Beat the eggs separately and blend them well with the sugar butter mix.
7. Peel off the banana and pulp/blend it to a fine puree. 
8. Now divide the sugar-butter-egg mix into two equal parts.
9. Take the first part and  fold in the cocoa-flour, applying the cut and fold method. 
10. Make sure you get a ribbon consistency while folding it. If you find the batter thick, adjust it with addition of milk.
11. Now take the second part of the sugar-egg-butter mix and add banana pulp, vanilla essence to it followed by the folding in of second part of the flour/maida without cocoa powder in it.
12. Chop the walnuts, coat them in maida and mix them gently with both the batters separately.
13. Now transfer the banana mix/batter into the greased loaf tin followed by pouring in the cocoa mix/batter over it gently.  
14. Now run a fork gently into the batter in a wave fashion, slightly blending the two different batters. This will help give a marble look/ wave pattern to the loaf.
15. Now bake this on 180 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
16. Check the loaf after 30 minutes by seeing if the cake edges have left the corners; if so, then insert a tooth-pick at the center and see if it comes out clean. When this happens, your loaf is ready.
17. Take the tin out and let it cool for 10-15 minutes. Once it has cooled down, invert the loaf on a plate, making sure it doesn't break.
18. Slice it smooth and enjoy just like that.

Suggestions:

1. Always cut and fold the mixture in a single direction. Cutting and Folding is nothing but mixing the cake in a circular fashion (like how you make a circle) and then cutting this circle into half and again circling. 
2. Do not invert the loaf before it cools down else it would break. Mine was too soft and spongy and I actually couldn't wait to slice it.
3. Do not over-bake else the chocolate will burn, and the cake will become hard, too.
4. It can be stored for 2 days in a cling wrap that doesn't allow it to turn hard even in the refrigerator. Do not keep it outside for long.
5. Walnuts can be replaced with the nuts of your choice. 
6. You can adjust sugar as per your taste. You can add some extra sugar to the cocoa mix as well.
7. If you wish, you could mix the cocoa and banana together and have a uniform loaf. 

This loaf takes off to:

My event: Cooking Made Easy With Chocolates/Cocoa

Bake Fest started by Vardhini guest hosted by Archana  

Show Me Your Dessert  by Pari Cash

 Dish it out hosted by Foodomania

Lilliputian Egg-less Banana Mini Muffins

A brand new muffin tray, a decent loaf tin, a bonnie pizza dish, and a comely bundt/tart springform.... wooooh, I feel I'm a billionaire today, in fact better than one.  I have been starving for these baking weapons for a long time, and now the wait is so sunnily over.

I remember the first time I had muffins, and I definitely being a student not interested in strange things like cooking (hehe...my mom used to say that your hubby will always repent on choosing a girl like you who doesn't know cooking... :P), never thought that one day I would bake these by myself. Cakes are almost on fingers these days, but this unending wait for a muffin mold had been killing me for a while, and as soon as it landed in my kitchen, I had to be sure that I do justice to it right then. Since I could not manage to find a desirable muffin tray, I finally fell over this 'Mini Muffin Tray'. The outcome was cute, really cute. For this first attempt, I wanted to go egg-less, and then had some bananas screaming at me to get used, so ended up making these Egg-less Banana Mini Muffins'. I had no vanilla essence, so thought of keeping it natural and added some cardamom powder for the real flavor and aroma. My muffin baskets/liners were not fitting into these mini molds, so I had to grease the tray and use directly, but the tiny-miny cuppy cakes popped out easily because of the non-stick coating, and they reminded me so much of the "meetha pakoda/gulgule' aka 'mandazi (as called in Kenya) with the only exception being the maida instead of aata, and then this baking rather than deep frying. They were soft, really soft, and equally spongy, too. Though they did not puff much on the top, but they tasted wow!! My 18 months old doll grabbed 2 of them and they were down her throat in 5 minutes, which was a proof that they were really good (she's too finicky about taste and food stuffs). The next time I'll be baking them with whole wheat flour and jaggery, to exterminate the 'refined' concept.

Presenting the Lilliputian Egg-less Banana Muffins:

EGG-LESS BANANA MINI MUFFINS

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Baking Time: 10-15 minutes

Makes 12 Mini Muffins

Ingredients:

1. All Purpose Flour/ Maida: 1/2 a cup

2. Powdered sugar: 1/4 cup

3. Ripe Banana: 1 small

4. Salt: a pinch

5. Baking Powder: 1/2 tsp

6. Baking Soda: 1/4 tsp

7. Butter: 1 tbs

8. Milk: 2 tbs

9. Yogurt: 2 tbs

10. Cardamom Powder: a pinch or 2 drops of vanilla essence

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes and line/grease the muffin tray.
2. Take butter (at room temperature) in a bowl and beat it with sugar till it becomes soft and fluffy.
3. Pour in the yogurt and beat well.
4. Add in the pulsed banana/banana pulp and cardamom powder/ essence; give a stir.
5. Sieve the flour, baking powder, soda and salt thrice. 
6. Fold in this dry mixture to the wet ingredients and fold gently.
7. Add milk gradually and mix. Avoid over-mixing or the muffins will turn up hard. The mixture should have a ribbon consistency, and it should look aerated and fluffy. 
8. Spoon it in the muffin pits keeping them 2/3 full. Do not over-fill, since they will puff up on baking, and the batter will pour out.
9. Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on your oven (mine took 14 minutes exact) till a tooth-pick inserted comes out clean. Also they'll look done when their top goes light golden and the sides brownish golden.
10. Transfer the tray on a wire rack and let it cool for 5 minutes.
11. Amazingly, you need not use any knife to scrape the edges of the muffins; they will easily pop out when you hold them up slightly.
12. Store in an air tight container or consume warm; mine got finished in just 10 minutes. :)

Suggestions:

1. In place of banana, you may add any fruit pulp or keep it simple without any fruits.
2. Baking soda and baking powder can be replaced with 1/2 tsp Eno Fruit Salt.
3. These muffins will not have a highly puffed up top due to the absence of eggs, but the sponge will still be there.
4. You can top them with jam, cream or chocolate if you don't like them plain.
5. Don't over-mix the batter; don't over-bake either. 

The recipe takes off to:

Bake Fest by Vardhini hosted by Kalyani,
  Midweek Fiesta at Food Corner,

I'm The Star by  Veg Food and Me, 

Comfort Food by Daily Cuppa,

Any One Can Cook by Ayeesha

Plantain Kebab (Kacchhe Kele Ke Kebab)

'Greens', the word is on demand and huge calls for it in terms of events in this blogosphere. A week back, my hubby got a big bunch of raw bananas/plantains saying that they'll ripe in a day or two and we can enjoy their sweeter, riper version, though I certainly had a doubt almost eating my brain up that how come these plantains will ripen that early!! I was no wrong as for two passing days, they remained as green as they were, and I finally decided to float on some kebabs with them. I had never tried any kebabs or cutlets with them by then, so it was a perfect launch of something new from me. I made them in two batches, one grilled, and the other shallow pan-fried. My hubby fell for the grilled ones more while I somehow relished the pan-fried ones at an edge. The basic recipe was the same for both, just the cooking method varied, and this eventually lifted my brain for an event that I'll announce shortly. 

PLANTAIN KEBAB/ KACCHHE KELE KE KEBAB

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Baking/Cooking Time: 10-20 minutes

Makes 6 kebabs

Ingredients:

1. Plantain/ Raw Banana: 2

2. Onion: 1 (finely chopped)

3. Garlic pods: 2 or Ginger garlic paste: 1/2 tbs

4. Green Chilly: 1 (finely chopped) - optional

5. Fresh Coriander leaves: 1/4 cup

6. Cumin seeds: 1/4 tsp

7. Garam Masala: 1/2 tsp (optional)

8. Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp

9. Red Chilli Powder: 1/2 tsp

10. Coriander Powder: 2 tsp

11. Salt to taste

12. Oil: 1 tbs + for frying

Method:

1. Boil the plantain/raw bananas in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles on medium to low flame (exactly like boiling potatoes).
2. Peel off  the outer hard skin after they have cooled down. It's even easier than peeling off potatoes. 
3. Take the inner pulp in a bowl and mash it well.
4. Now take a pan and add 1 tbs oil to it. Once hot, add in cumin seeds and wait till they splutter.
5. Immediately throw in the chopped onions and saute till they go golden brown. 
6. Now add all the spices and give a quick stir.
7. Add in mashed plantain and bring everything together. Cook for 2-3 minutes till it's all well mixed.
8. At last, add the chopped coriander leaves and divide the dough in 6 equal parts. If you find it too hot to handle, let it cool down a bit.
9. Make flat discs with it and keep them aside.
10. If you plan to bake/grill them, pre-heat an oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes and line a baking tray with parchment paper or keep the grilling tray greased and ready.
11. Transfer the discs to the oven and grill for 10-20 minutes till they are browned and golden.
12. When choosing to shallow pan-fry, take a pan and add 2 tbs oil to it. Once hot, line up the discs and fry on medium heat till golden brown. Flip them over and fry on the other side as well.
13. Take the kebabs on a plate and serve with green chutney or mint dip. You could also sprinkle some chat masala over them and gulp straightaway without any toppings or dip.

 

Suggestions:

1. If you do not get plantains, you can use raw bananas, but make sure the bananas are not ripe at all. We need only raw ones/ plantains.
2. You can also add 2 boiled potatoes to the mix to change the flavor. I somehow find plantains a bit pungent in taste, so potatoes could add in some flavor.
3. The spices are all at your choice. I omitted garam masala because I personally don't like to merge it much in my meals owing to the heat it produces. But yes, Kebabs indeed taste better with garam masala. :)
4. Deep frying is also an open option, making it oily and calorie loaded, though most of us don't prefer this sinful guilt. If deep frying, add 1 tbs of corn flour for better binding. 

 The recipe flies off to:

Kabab Mela  at Cooking 4 all Seasons, Gimme Green by Rosh,

Holi Hai at My Cook Book, Bake Fest by Vardhini hosted by Kalyani,
 Cooking Concepts: Vegan Diet by Srav's,

EP Series: Herbs and Spices  by Erivum Puliyum, Holi Fest at Kalyani's space,

Sumee's Bon Vivant: Savory Items, ABC Series: Fruit Fiesta by Ramya,

Comfort Food by Daily Cuppa, Lets Cook: Greens by Radhika
Spotlight- Colorful Holi  initiated by Indrani and hosted by Chandrani,
 Color n Sweet - Holi Fest by Preeti,
I'm The Star by  Veg Food and Me, Hot and Spicy Treats at Food Corner