Sugarfree Date-Banana Bread/ Muffin

A couple of weeks back, I decided to cut sugar out of my diet for "sometime". And then without warning, I was subject to carpet bombing of the most sinful desserts imaginable. Turning away from temptation requires far greater will power than I possess, and yet, I am too stubborn to admit defeat. "Necessity is the mother of Invention", they say, so I tinkered around with a basic vegan banana bread, and came up with this sugar-free version which tasted just as good as a more conventional muffin/ cupcake would.

4 bananas
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
⅔ cup coconut oil
3/4 cups dates
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
A few drops vanilla essence

Method:
Soak the dates in water, bring to a boil, and let it soak for about 10 minutes. Remove the seeds, discard the excess water, and blend the dates in a mixer.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Add bananas to the date puree, and blend till smooth.
Add coconut oil and vanilla essence and blend till well mixed.
Sieve flour, baking soda and baking powder a few times.
Fold the flour into the puree, making sure it is well mixed.
Grease the molds with coconut oil, pour the batter, and bake for 25 minutes (or till done)

*- I was skeptical, so made a really small amount of batter. The recipe I have written out doubles all the ingredients. That would also ensure that the cake is a bit taller, because more batter will go into each of the molds.

Chocolate spread, without sugar

I didn't think too much before deciding to give up sugar for awhile, but gradually, the doubts started emerging. Prime among which was- how on earth can I manage without Nutella? I turned to Google, and got dozens of hits. Most of the recipes I couldn't even think of since they required ingredients I only encounter in vegan recipe blogs. Almost all required hazlenuts, which are not available in India. But going through all of them, certain common features emerged, and I threw them all into the mixer, and came up with this.
It is definitely not Nutella, but it is pretty good, and will at least keep the cravings at bay.

Though I didn't realize it then, while writing down the recipe, I found that it is a five ingredient wonder!

1 cup almonds *
10 dates
3 tbsp cocoa
3 tbsp coconut oil#
A pinch of salt

Method:
Dry roast the almonds for a few minutes, and while it is still hot, put it in the mixer, and blend for 3-4 minutes (blend for a minute, check, then blend again- do it till you get a creamy consistency).
Deseed the dates and add them to the almonds. Add the cocoa powder and salt, and pulse for 1 minute
Add the coconut oil, and pulse for another 2 minutes, or till the spread is creamy.
Spread it on toast, and enter a sugarfree heaven.

* hazlenuts are recommended, but you work with what you have
# there are many other oils that are recommended, but we don't get any of them in India. Coconut oil adds a new dimension to the spread, but one that goes well with it.

Date walnut cake

I always thought eggless cakes were an oxymoron, then I started making a few of my own, and reluctantly agreed that they could be done. But as I surf the internet, I find so very many varieties of eggless cakes, I am absolutely floored.
This recipe came because I wasn't able to access my own tried and tested recipe for an eggless cake, so took the help of google to find something to accompany our Sunday tea. Came out better than I expected, and am definitely making it again.

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour/atta
½ cup all purpose flour/maida
½ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup sugar
1 cup milk
¾ cup water
1 cup seedless dates
½ cup walnuts
2 tbsp flax seeds
2 tbsp melon seeds
2 tsp instant coffee powder
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt


Method
Chop the dates and walnuts and keep aside.
Heat the milk and switch off the flame, add the coffee powder and stir. Add the dates,and allow it to soak for 20 minutes
Seive the whole wheat flours and all purpose flour with salt, baking soda and baking powder.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C/392 F.
Add sugar, soaked dates with milk, oil and water to the sieved flour, and mix well, till well aerated.
Add the chopped walnuts, flax seeds and melon seeds to the batter and mix well.
Pour the batter into the cupcake liners.
Bake for 20-25 minutes till a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Alternately, pour the batter into ceramic/ glass cups, and cook for 60 seconds on the microwave

Meethi imli chutney

For someone who loves imli chutney as much as I do, it is rather surprising that I've never attempted to make imli chutney till now. It is not that the store bought imli chutney is good- far from it- it is perhaps just that I have never felt the need for it till now.
But with Punjabi dahi bhallas on the menu, I couldn't really do without imli chutney, could I? Considering the recipe is of my own invention, I think it turned out pretty good.

1/3 cup dates cut lengthwise
2 tbsp tamarind concentrate
1 tablespoon raisins
3 tbsp jaggary
1/2 tsp Sonth/ Dry ginger powder
1/2 tsp saunf
1/2 tsp jeera
1 tsp red chilli powder
3/4 cup water
 

Method
Boil the water, add the chopped dates, and simmer for about 10 minutes till the dates are really soft and can be mashed.

Meanwhile, roast the saunf and the jeera separately, powder coarsely and keep aside.

Add jaggery and tamarind concentrate, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt, red chili powder, roasted cumin seeds powder, sonf powder and dry ginger powder.
Cool, grind till smooth. Pour it back into the pot, add the raisins and give it one final boil.

Date sponge cake

It started out intending to be an upside down date cake, but while assembling the ingredients changed its' mind and became a plain date cake instead. Another made using my mother's never fail recipe.
Happy Birthday, Mumsie

Sift together -
100 gms maida
1 tsp baking powder
three or four times till well aerated and keep aside.

Cut about 10-12 dates into quarters, roll in the flour mixture and keep aside.

Whisk 2 eggs and keep aside.

In a mixing bowl, mix-
100 gms butter
100 gms sugar
few drops vanilla essence
taking care t.hat you always stir the spoon in the same direction. Do it till the two are well mixed and creamy.

Add a bit of the flour and some beaten egg to the mixture, and mix till creamy. Keep doing it till all the flour and eggs are mixed. Mix the batter a bit more- the more you mix, the fluffier your cake will be.

Throw in the dates, and stir for some more time.

Grease or line a baking dish. Bake in recommended settings of microwave oven (or as you would a regular cake in an OTG). You will know the cake is done when you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

Remove it from the oven, and let it cool before cutting and storing in a cake tin. Can be stored without refrigeration for 2 days, but I don't take a chance on that.