Healthy 10 Minute Banana Bread

I hate bananas to eat it like as a fruit. I am seeing this bananas on my kitchen counter for about a week, and they are not being touched by anyone...so sad. I know it is very good for health with full protein, but don't why I don't like it. Shoj likes bananas a lot (especially the small varieties, but not this green ones) but I did stop him from eating it cos I wanted to try to eat it by making some healthy recipe. Anush used to eat a lot when he was young, but now as he ate too much of it...he also does not like it. So for sure I need to hide this banana in a recipe so that Anush will also love to eat it and will be a good and healthy change for my husband.

I started searching in google for some simple, healthy recipe. I didn't wanna use lot of butter (as usually butter is used a lot in this recipe to make it more rich). I wanted to use butter less for two reasons - 1. To keep it simple and healthy, 2. Reason being that I didn't have much butter left at home... he he he.

The bread recipe was from the site The Fresh Loaf, I should say it was wonderful very easy just took exactly to put all the things together and it was so moist and very tasty. I did add some walnuts and golden raisins to make it healthily rich. :-)

You know what this recipe owner has another recipe for banana bread and called it as "Better Banana Bread"

Some goof facts about Banana:

Every part of a Banana tree is edible:

Banana - can be eaten as a fruit and can be used in cooking in both raw and ripe forms.

Flower - Banana hearts are used as a vegetable in South Asian and South Asian Cuisine, either raw or steamed with dips or cooked in soups and curries.

Leaves - Especially in the South Indian states in every occasion the food must be served in a banana leaf and as a part of the food a banana is served. Steamed with dishes they impart a subtle sweet flavor. They often serve as a wrapping for grilling food. The leaves contain the juices, protect food from burning and add a subtle flavor.

Health Benefits:

Along with other fruits and vegetables, consumption of bananas may be associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer and in women, breast cancer and renal call carcinoma

Bananas contain moderate amounts of vitamin b6, vitamin C, Maganese and potassium, possibly contributing to electrolyte balance.

In India, juice is extracted from the corm and used as a home remedy for jaundice, sometimes with the addition of honey, and for kidney stones.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

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Wet Ingredients:

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1/2 stick (4-5 tablespoons) butter, softened
2 eggs
2 or 3 very ripe bananas
2/3 cup sugar

Dry Ingredients:

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1 1/3 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Note: You can use any nuts of your choice (about 1/2 cup) - I used golden raisins in the batter with dry ingredients and walnuts in the bottom after greasing the loaf pan.

Method:

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1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.

2. Mash the bananas with fork or masher.

Wet Ingredients

3. Mix both the wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately and mix it together.

4. Grease the loaf pan with butter and flour, add the crushed walnuts (optional) and then pour the batter and bake it for about 30 mins for small loafs or 50 mins for normal sized loaf.

Note: I used only half of this measurements to make a medium sized loaf pan, so it took me exact 30 mins to bake. Now I am sure I will bake more of it and definitely will try the "Better Banana Bread" recipe too...cos it's yummy and I think a better way to eat banana ;-)  (I am sorry to those who love bananas!!).

Kadalaekai Parishe (Groundnut Festival) Event Round Up

KADALAEKAI PARISHE @ Chitra Amma's Kitchen

EVENT ROUND UP

Here is the roundup of the Kadalaekai Parishe Blog Event. We received few entries via blogs as well as Facebook! A big big thanks to all our participants! Check them out below, but only after listening to this song, which can be described as ‘a vintage namma Bengaluru’ song by S. Janaki! It is from a 1970 Rajkumar and Kalpana starrer – Karulina Kare!

Now for the entries....
We had very varied entries and some novel ideas as well! Check out the array below! Yummy!
Kadalekai Parishe Entries!

A spicy Peanut Chat by Chitra, from the Chitranna Blog.

A heart warming Shenga Holige by Lakshmi, from Taste of Mysore.

A very exotic set of Peanut Butter Marble Cookies by Sayantani, from A Homemakers Dairy.

A yummy vazhaikakai kadalaiikai kootu by Vidya, from The Black Ladle.

An easy Peanut Chutney by Sunitha, from Sunitha's Kitchen.

A crunchy plate of Groundnut Pakodas by Ramya, from ramyaskitchen.

A delicious and sinful looking batch of Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge by Priya, from Priya's Easy n Tasy Recipes.

An interesting Avalakki Bisibele Bath by Veena, from her blog Delishun.

Tara sent two entries. Here is her healthy Peanutbutter Noodle Salad and a yummy bowl of Kung Pao Tofu with Peanuts, from her blog Finishing with Cilantro.

We received the following 3 recipes on our Facebook Page.

Vidya has sent us her chutney recipe.
Simple Peanut Chutney (Dip).
Ingredients: Peanuts(1cup), 1 big onion chopped, 4 large Dry Red Chillis, 1 Tbs. Tamarind Paste. Salt.
Method: Dry roast peanuts till the skin pops and the nuts are slightly coloured. Set aside to cool. Heat 2 spoons oil in wok, add chopped onions and chillis with a very small pinch of sugar and fry till reddish. Put in blender along with peanuts , tamarind and salt .Grind into thick, pasty chutney. ( with a dash of water if needed) . Sprinkle a garnish of splutted mustard seeds and karipatta ( bayleaves)

A very delicious and classic sambhar recipe from Krithika Ram.

Brinjal and Peanut Samhar

Ingredients: 1 cup tur dhal, 1/4 cup peanuts, tender brinjals 4 slit into 4, tamarind extract-1/4 cup, dry red chillies-4 nos, green chilly-2, coconut grated-1/4 cup, corriander seeds-1tbsp
fenugreek seeds-1/4 tsp, channa dhal-1/tbsp, sambar powder-1/2 tbsp, jaggery-1tsp, oil-1tbsp
mustard-1/2tsp, asafoetida-1/4tsp, turmeric powder-1/2tsp, salt to taste, curry leaves to garnish.
Method: Pressure cook the peanuts and toor dhal till done. Dry roast the corriander, fenugreek,channa dhal,red and green chilly,and finally the coconut. Grind to a fine paste and keep aside. Heat the oil in a deep pan, and add 1/2tsp mustard seeds and the asafoetida.
Add the slit brinjals and saute for a few mins till tender. Now pour the tamarind extract and allow to boil. Add the cooked dhal and peanuts, sambar powder,ground paste and 1/2 cup water, allow to simmer and then add salt to taste and some jaggery. Garnish with fresh curry leaves and serve hot with rice and pappadoms.


Here is Krithika Ram’s second recipe! A delicious podi like this in your kitchen, is so so handy, not only as an accompaniment for various tiffins, but you can just have with rice and ghee when you don’t feel like cooking!
Peanut Chutney Powder
Ingredients: peanuts-1 cup, channna dhal-1/2 cup, urad dhal-1/2 cup, dessicated coconut-1/4 cup, sesame seeds-1tbsp, dry red chilly-15 nos, small piece of tamarind, curry leaves-1 tbsp, asafoetida-1/2 tsp, salt to taste, jaggery-1tsp, garlic-3 flakes.

Method: Dry roast all ingredients, except the salt and jaggery. Allow to cool, and then grind to a coarse consistency. Finally add the salt to taste, jaggery and further grind the contents, not making it too fine in texture. Store in an airtight container. This can be used as an accompaniment to idli/dosas/as a topping on podi dosas with sesame oil. Make sure you only make a small batch, to retain its freshness, or the fat in the nuts can go rancid.

Here is our own entry for the event - Occhi Kadalaikai!

Few of our older posts on peanuts are Raja’s Special and Kharada Kadalaekai.

Happy munching!

Orange Chocolate Cupcake ~ Eggless,Butterless & Healthy

I have a special liking towards the citrus flavor. With gorgeous oranges in season, I was looking for an orange cupcake recipe and I stumbled upon the chocolate orange cake at Baking Bites and an orange muffins at Verstaile Kitchen. Both the recipes were eggless and  I needn't have to make it eggless to suit my taste.  I have adapted the baking bites' recipe  taking few hints from Versatile Kitchen. Orange and chocolate complement each other so well and you will experience the combo flavor with the first bite.



You need

•  Wheat flour - 1 1/2 cup
• Coco powder - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Baking powder - 1 tspn
• Cooking soda -1/2 tspn
• Salt - 1/4 tspn
• Fresh Orange juice - 3/4 cup
• Vegetable oil - 1/3 cup
• Vanilla essence - 1 tspn
• Orange zest - 1 tblspn (I used candied orange peel)

Method

Sieve dry ingredients - wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, cooking soda and salt. I always measure the dry ingredients to a plastic container which has a tight lid. I shake the container vigorously with the lid on and proceed. A bit lazy to take out the sieve and the cleaning that comes after.

Mix orange juice, sugar, oil and vanilla essence. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mix and finally stir in the orange zest.

Grease the muffin mould and fill to 2/3 in each hole.  Bake in a preheated oven at 170 C for 25 minutes.

This will yield 12 medium sized muffins. My muffin tray can hold only 9 and I baked the remaining batter in microwave.

For the frosting

• Butter - 2 tblspn
• Powdered sugar - 1 1/2 cups
• Orange Juice - 1 tblspn

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy and add the orange juice. Adjust the juice quantity to suit the consistency required. Pipe it on the cooled muffins and enjoy the orange flavored chocolate delight. I know my frosting has not come out well. The cupcake on its own is not very sweet. Hence the frosting did enhance the taste. I have baked it twice and both times, the cakes have vanished pretty fast.

To bake in the microwave

Scoop a heaped tablespoon of the batter into greased MW cups and bake for a minute. Leave it for 3 minutes and enjoy your cake.

If your baking a single cake, do add a teaspoon of milk  or orange juice to thin the batter. This will ensure a

moist cake. I tried baking in individual cups and haven't baked a single cake.

While the cup cakes were getting baked in the OTG, I could enjoy a quick treat with the MW cake.

Update: I am sending the healthy cake to Priya's Fast  Food Not Fat Food event