Category: Recipes

Chicken porcupine kabob

You hear all the time that kids are fussy eaters and you got to try all kinds of tricks to get them to eat good stuff. I must say I got lucky, both my kids never troubled me with eating, they eat anything & everything I make for them( may be barring ‘indian bitter melon).

I also see and hear that the kids want to eat junk and throw tantrums if they don’t get any. I have seen kids eat chicken nuggets everyday. Again, I can not complain here, my kids don’t eat junk at all, in fact if you open my pantry, you will not find any chips, cookies with vegetable shortening. Instead of eating something that is processed and full of preservative, excess salt and sugar, my family eats dry fruits, dehydrated fruits & veggies, nuts…I am very thankful for that.

As you can see, my pantry is loaded with nuts, dry fruits, healthy indian style popped lotus seeds etc. I have a designated place for everything so they find it easily. Most of my containers are clear and labeled.

So back to the making food for kids. I feel that if you make it fun, the kids enjoy and might try different things.

Today’s recipe is one such fun recipe. It is tasty, healthy and easy to make.

Chicken porcupine kabob

It is a very simple recipe and if you have all the ingredients, you can make it in under 30 mins.

Ingredients

3/4 lb ground chicken ( I use a combination of breast & thighs)

1/2 onion chopped really fine

1-2 cloves of garlic crushed

1/2 inch Ginger, chopped or grated

1 green chill finely chopped

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp cumin powder

3/4 tsp coriander powder

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

1 tbsp chopped mint

1 tsp chaat masala

Others

1/2 cup basmati rice plus 1tsp salt, soaked for 1 hour

1 tbsp oil

Method

Drain the soaked rice. Take it on a plate.

Start boiling the water to steam out Kabob.

Mix all the ingredient for kabob very well.

Take the oil in a bowl.

Make small balls from the chicken mixture. Dip it briefly in the oil, and roll in the rice grains.

Arrange them on the steamer dish.

Steam for 5-7 mins depending on the size of the chicken ball.

Take out one and check if the chicken is cooked through.

Edit

As you can see the rice is steamed and pluffs up nicely.

You can serve these with spicy mint chutney or a sweet and sour tamarind chutney or tomato ketch up.

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Tags chicken, gluten-free, healthy

Breakfast

Swiss Muesli- easy and healthy breakfast

Post author By Anagha
Post date April 11, 2015
No Comments on Swiss Muesli- easy and healthy breakfast

Simple, healthy, easy to make, tastes yummy and you can make so many variations, how many times can you say that about a recipe? This recipe definitely one such recipe.

When we say Muesli, I used to think of the boxed cereal you get in the supermarket. When I went to London for work I stayed at a hotel where there was a tiny spread of food for breakfast, and in that tiny spread there was a large white bowl filled with what seems like a tasteless gooey pudding. It did not look appetizing at all. My motto is try different foods, if you dont like it don’t eat it again, so I decided to try this pudding as well.

I must tell you that I have not been fooled by the looks of a dish ever as I did that day. I fell in love with this dish. It was fresh, healthy and so tasty.

I started reading about it and found out that this is also a type of Muesli, called ‘Bircher/Scandinavian/Swiss Muesli. Unlike its american cousin which is eaten out of the box with milk, this European baby is made with fresh fruit and yogurt.

I love the fact that it can be made ahead, in fact it tastes better when left overnight, which means you have a yummy breakfast that can be made the night before. Can you imagine not having to worry about breakfast as you are rushing to get out the door in the morning?

I also like that it is made with very healthy ingredients like oats, fresh fruits, nuts, milk & yogurt, it is a perfect combination of Carbs with a lot of fibre, protein from the dairy, vitamins from the fruit & healthy fats from the nuts.

It is amazing how many combinations you can make, which also allows me to incorporate all the seasonal, local produce.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup rolled oats

1 cup low-fat Yogurt

1 cup milk ( take any kind you like)

2 apples grated

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/4 cup golden resins

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Method:

Combine all the ingredients in a large glass or plastic container

Mix well.

Serve ideally the next morning, I feel that the flavors blend really well.

If it is too thick, add milk to get the desired consistency.

Tags breakfast, healthy

Appetizer Chicken Fusion Uncategorized

BIRYANCINIS- Biryani goes to Italy

Post author By Anagha
Post date March 23, 2015
No Comments on BIRYANCINIS- Biryani goes to Italy

I love watching Master Chef India. On that a couple of weeks ago someone had made arancinis with an Indian flavor. I remembered my experiment from two years ago a and thought I would blog it today.

Here is my post from a couple of years ago.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/euphoric.delights/permalink/616844488354528/

Arancinis are fried rice balls that are stuffed with cheese, originated in Sicily. I ate Arancinis in a famous restaurant in New York. Since then I have been meaning to put Indian tadka on it.

So here is my attempt of ‘BIRYANCINIS’

Cover

Ingredients

2 cups of rice

3.5 cups of water ( that is how much I use)

2 green cardamom

2 brown cardamom

2 inch stick of cinnamon

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp black pepper corn

1/4 tsp cloves

Few thread of saffron soaked in 1 tbsp milk

Chopped mint and cilantro

1 egg

Method :

Soak rice in cold water for atleast 45 mins.

Boil water with all the whole garam masala like Cinnamon, clove, cardamom, bay leaf.

Add soaked rice and cook until done. When it is almost ready add saffron.

After it was cool add chopped cilantro n mint. Add the egg and mix.

Stuffing

1/2 onion chopped

1 lb minced chicken

Chopped mint

1 green chili chopped fine

Powdered garam masala containing cardamom, shahee jeera,mace powder

1/3 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

1/2 bread crumbs seasoned with dry mint & paprika

Sauté chopped onions till caramelized.

Add chopped green chili, garam masala powder.Add minced chicken and cook. Add a lot of chopped mint.

When cooled, add the shredded pepper jack cheese( enough to bind) .

Make balls of the cooked rice with chicken mixture in the centre.

Dip the balls in beaten egg white( we had only used yolk for the filling), roll in bread crumbs. Deep fry in oil( next time will try it in appam pan).

Serve with cilantro raita as a dip.

Tags arancinis, biryani, chicken

dessert Fusion

Shrikhand and Sicily

Today is ‘Gudhi Padwa‘, it is the New Year for us. We believe that today is the day when Lord Brahma began the creation of the world. This day people start new ventures, buy new things even buy new homes. People from Iran also celebrate their new year, Nowruz today. I guess because it is based on Lunar Calendar and we also follow Lunar Calendar in India.

I always find it fascinating that my mother tongue Marathi has so many words from Persian language. It was also interesting to know that the community I belong to, traces some of its genes way back to Iran. I love learning about such connection and then observing the similarities in foods, rituals etc.

My work took me to Sicily a couple of years ago and needless to say I loved it. I was in Catania which has a very rustic cute downtown. Cobblestone streets, open cafe, small pastry shops- it was amazing. This is where I tried the famous Sicilian Cannoli.

I loved that contrast of Crisp, flaky pastry filled with creamy, fluffy Ricotta cheese with a crunch of chopped pistachios.

Cannoli comes from Siciliy but originated probably from Iran. There is a Iranian Pastry which sounds very similar to Cannoli, ‘ Qanawat’, I thought it was very interesting.

Going back to my new year story, I decided to celebrate Gudhi Padwa and Navroj this year with a desert which is a fusion of ‘Shrikhand & Qanawat’.

Presenting –

Cannoli filled with Shrikhand

Shrikhand

Ingredients

64 oz yogurt ( I prefer whole milk yogurt for this recipe)

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 Tsp salt

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp Saffron

Method

Hang the yogurt the night before you plan to make it. You can keep it outside or in the fridge.

Take the saffron and warm it gently. Crush it and mix with 1 tbsp of milk.

Take the thickened yogurt and mix in sugar, salt, spices and mix well.

Your Shrikhand is ready.

Cannoli Shells

The cannoli shell recipe is based on Mario Batali’s recipe. It is very simple and easy.

Ingredients:

2 cups All purpose flour

1 1/2 tbsp cold unsalted butter

1 tbsp sugar

1 egg yolk

1/2 cup white wine

1 egg white optional

Method

Cannoli Shells-

Cut butter in small pieces.

Mix flour & sugar. Take butter and cut into the flour till it resembles grains of sand.

Add egg yolk and mix a little.

Add the wine and mix it very lightly barely till the dough comes together.

Now take a plastic wrap and put the dough in the wrap and keep it in the fridge for an hour.

Making the cannolis

If you check any recipes for cannoli you will see that it needs Cannoli molds. Since I don’t have the molds, I decided to make my own.

My son who also loves cooking had an idea. He went to the hardware store and got a 1″ inch pipe and got it cut in 5″ pieces, and there we had our cannoli molds.

Heat oil in a pan. Make sure there is enough oil that the dough with the pipe is submerged.

Take the dough out is the fridge and knead very lightly. Roll it out very thin.

Use a bowl to cut a circle.

Take the cannoli mold and wrap the rolled out circle around it. Make sure there is some overlap and use water or egg white to seal that overlap in place.

Also, flare out the ends so it is easy to take out the mold after the pastry is cooled.

Fry in the oil till golden brown.

Let it cool and then take the mold out gently.

You can make the cannoli shells ahead but fill them up when you are ready to serve.

Filling the shells

Take a pastry bag or a plastic bag and fill with the Shrikhand. Use a big star tip and fill up the shells from either sides.

Take chopped pistachios and dip both ends of the cannoli.

Enjoy your Shrikhand Canoli & Happy New Year!

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Tags Cannoli, dessert, Sicily, Yogurt

Appetizer Fish Mexican

Ceviche – a healthy, flavorful way to eat fish

Post author By Anagha
Post date March 20, 2015
2 Comments on Ceviche – a healthy, flavorful way to eat fish

Tilapia Ceviche

The weather is warmer and the family wants to eat fresh fruits, lighter meals. It is not easy to cook something which is fresh, healthy and tasty. And of course it has to be easy to make.
One such dish is Ceviche.

The first time I ate Ceviche in Cabo San Lucas. We were on our annual vacation. All of us are big foodies so invariably the first thing we do when we go to a new place is to find out good food joints. When we asked the person who cleaned our room what her favorite place to eat was, she told us about this small place near the beach. We got out of the resort, took a local bus and reached this small village. There was this cobble stone street that went all the way to the beach. The village center was a church and around that there were many vendors selling various things. We also had the best fish tacos there.
We found the small shop that lady had recommended, that is where I are Ceviche the first time.
Let me tell you, I am not a fish lover rather I eat only select kind of fish. So for someone like me the idea of eating raw( it does get cooked in the acid) was pretty tough to try. But am I glad I did. That fish was perfectly cooked and marinated in the lime juice and paired very beautifully with crunchy cucumbers, onion, creamy avocado and with a kick from Serrano pepper.
It was a perfect warm weather snack.

So here is my take on Ceviche.

Ingredients:

2 tilapia fillet, chopped in small pieces
1 cup lime juice

1/4 onion finely chopped 2 Persian cucumbers chopped fine(you can also use equivalent English cucumber)
1 Serrano pepper chopped fine
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tomato chopped ( don’t take the seeds)
Salt to taste

It is important to chop the vegetables in a uniform fashion, it looks pretty and you get a sample of all in one bite.

Method:

Mix the lime juice and tilapia pieces. Make sure you use a shallow container so that all pieces are covered in the lime juice. Sometimes I like to use orange juice in addition to the limes you use. Here I have used a blood orange that has given nice pink hue to the fish.
Let it sit for at least 45 minutes in the fridge. Then you take it out, the fish would look white, very opaque. This is the sign that the fish is cooked in the acid.

Drain the fish in the colander.

While the fish is in the fridge, chop all the vegetables and mix them in a bowl together. Add salt to taste.
Add the drained fish to the vegetable mixture and mix everything well but with the light hand. You don’t want the fish or the avocado to break and become mushy.

It has a very fresh crisp taste and goes really well with crostinis, pita chips, tortilla chips or even in lettuce cups. I serve it in empty avocado shells, it makes for a great presentation.

Tags healthy, quick, Raw, tasty, tilapia

Condiments Jam & Preserves Pickles & Chutneys Rajasthani Uncategorized

Lehsun-mirch ki chutney

If you observe food from any particular region, you can start learning a lot about the people, the weather, the produce available etc. It is very evident in the various cuisines from across India.

One such cuisine is the cuisine of Rajasthan.

I am in love with everything about this place . This land is known for its sand dunes, colorful dresses, camels and palaces. It is the western state of India, the dessert state, water is very scarce here and fresh fruits and vegetables are not readily available all the time, so a lot of the dishes from this region use ingredients that are available easily. Things like lentils, grain flours, dried chilies, dried vegetables and milk products.

2015/03/img_1035.jpg

I have been to Rajasthan a few times and fell in love again with its people and food. I have learnt a few recipes on my visits and would be sharing them here.

Today’s recipe- Chili Garlic Chutney

I love spicy food. Today’s recipe is easy and can be made very easily, most of the ingredients should be available in your pantry. It is one of those dishes that can perk up any dull meal or add a bit of spice to it. 2015/03/img_2445.jpg

Ingredients:

10-15 Red Chilies

6-8 fresh garlic cloves

2 tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder

1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds

2 tbsp Oil

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp tamarind pulp( optional)

Method:

Some people also add onions, I feel that they make the chutney sweet so I don’t add it.
Soak dry red chilies in warm water for 1 hour.

In a blender grind the garlic & soaked chilies with little water.

Heat oil in pan, add mustard seeds. When they splatter, add the cumin seeds. Add fenugreek seeds and fry for 10 secs. Add the red chili powder. Add the chili garlic paste. cook till you see oil separating,mix salt & sugar and mix well. Add tamarind pulp to taste.

Chutney is ready, serve it with any Indian meal.

Note:

I mix it with greek yogurt and use it as a dip for fresh vegetables.

I also mix it with a little bit of butter and use it as a spread for sandwiches.

Tags Indian, spicy, vegan

Chicken Curry Maharashtrian Masala (Spice Mix)

Kolhapuri chicken- A fiery treat

Post author By Anagha
Post date March 9, 2015
2 Comments on Kolhapuri chicken- A fiery treat

Kolhapuri chicken rassa- a fiery treat that you can not stop eating.

2015/03/img_2435.jpg

I like to eat it with Jowar Bhakri, raw onion and raw methi & white butter ( makhhan).
Recipe:
2 chicken breast- chopped
1/2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1/4 tsp lime juice
4 tbsp Kolhapuri masala
2 tbsp Bedgi chili powder.
Oil
1 medium onion chopped

Method
Mix ginger garlic paste, salt and lime juice with chicken and keep aside for at least an hour.

Take oil in the pan. Saute finely chopped onions till they are brown.

Add the red chili powder. Add the marinated chicken and cook for 30 sec. Add the masala paste and saute more. Add salt to taste.
Add hot water to get the consistency you desire. Cover and cook for a few mins.
This actually works better with the mutton but since my husband prefers chicken, I make it more often

Tags chicken curry, Indian, no dairy, spicy

bread Italian

Focaccia with fennel seeds

Post author By Anagha
Post date February 11, 2015
No Comments on Focaccia with fennel seeds

I love this time of the year, after a long winter when you start seeing flowers blossoming on the bare tree branches, you see birds busy building nests and the mercury starts going up. So this is the time when I am again motivated to cook a few dishes that need fermentation. In India the weather is always warm and you dont have to think if your batter will ferment or not, or if your bread will rise or not, but here one has to plan. It can be quite frustrating when you plan to make Dosa ( Indian crepe made from ground rice & lentil batter) and the batter does not ferment or when you are trying to make Yogurt and it does not set because you forgot to keep it in the oven and so on.

So as soon as I found out that it is going to be warm I decided to make my favorite Focaccia. I lvoe Focaccia especially when it is topped with sea salt and some fragrant herbs. I like it plain just out of the oven or with some nice vinegar. I love fruity vinegars like Fig Vinegar. There is a shop in the Ferry Building and they have some amazing varieties of Olive oils & Vinegars. I love their Meyer Lemon loive oil with Fig Balsamic…I could eat a whole loaf of bread with that.

Coming back to focaccia, as you may know I like making things from scratch, I feel it makes me appreciate what I am eating more and appreciate all the efforts when someone makes it for me. I like to bake breads but it does not come naturally. Growing up in India, most of the breads are made without any yeast and don’t require any proofing, so I started baking breads when I came to California.

This is a very simple recipe but needs patience. There may be a shorter way to make this but I like the way this turns out so I don’t mind spending the time. It is funny where I got this recipe. I had gone to London for work and it was frigid cold. I still remember that I went out to grab a bite and I thought my fingers are going to fall off, it was that cold. Anyway, since it was cold I was in my hotel room watching TV. A cooking show came on and how can I forget, it was an Italian Chef. I did not understand what he was saying but he was so cute that I decided to watch the program any way. He had made this focaccia and to my surprise at the end of the show they shared the recipe in English..I have made this recipe quite a few times with variations of toppings and each time it comes out good.

Focaccia with fennel seeds & caramelized onions

Ingredients:

2 cups of bread flour ( I have made it with regular flour and it is not bad)

1/2 cup Semolina ( Rava/Sooji)

1tsp salt

1 packet Regular Yeast

3/4 cup water at 75F

1/4 cup olive oil

Method:

Mix all the dry ingredients.

Add half of the olive oil, add water and knead a soft dough. Knead for 5 mins, this is absolutely critical for the gluten to develop.

First Rise: Oil a large bowl and out the ball of dough in it. Cover and keep in a warm place to rise for 45 mins.

Second rise: After 45 mins, take out the dough on a board and flatten it out. Make a sort of envelope and out it back in the bowl for another 45 mins

Third Rise: After 45 mins, take the dough and place it in the skillet or baking tray you plan to bake it in. Let it rise again for 45 mins

Fourth Rise: You will see that the dough is again doubled. Using the fingers poke holes in eat and spread it around to the edges of the skillet. Spread a couple of tsp of olive oil to keep the dough moist. Let it rise for another 45 mins.

Bake: Now take a toothpick and pierce the dough in a few places to release the air. Brush more oilve oil on top. Sprinkle with sea salt & herbs, I used Fennel seeds, crushed red pepper.

Bake it at 500F for 15-18 mins until it is golden brown

Tags bread, egg less, focaccia, vegan, vegetarian

dessert French Uncategorized

Tricky little temperamental Treat

Post author By Anagha
Post date January 29, 2015
No Comments on Tricky little temperamental Treat

French Macarons

I had never seen a Stand Mixer until a few years ago. Always wanted to buy one since I saw it but could not justify the investment …until today, I bought my first KitchenAid..

Growing up in India I did not know much about baking. For one, we did not have any oven or any stand mixer at home. Mom made cakes on the stove top in this contraption and creamed the butter & sugar patiently with just her hands. I always love the cakes she makes but now I appreciate even more knowing how much effort went into it. When I came to the US I tasted so many yummy baked good and I started baking as well. The first time I tasted Macaroons, I did not care much more it. I personally don’t like coconut & chocolate together. Every time my daughter asked me to make Macroons, I kind of made excuses since I thought she was referring to Coconut Macaroon.

Then last year, Whole Foods opened near where we live and I got to see and taste French Macron for the first time, and let me tell you I fell in love with it. Every time we go grocery shopping to Whole Foods, we coem back with a pack of macrons. They are yummy but expensive and I never felt like I ate to my hearts content.

So I decide to try and make Macrons at home. Usually I am good at following instructions and recipes, so I figured I can make macarons as long as I have the recipe and ingredients. Boy was I wrong, I failed miserably…not one, two, more like 6 times. I had almost given up…but then I remembered that I had a set a birthday goal for my self. Yeah, like people set New Years resolutions, I make Birthday resolutions. On every birthday I set a few goals and try to complete them before the next birthday. So going back to Macrons, making them is one such goal I made last year and just could not give up.

I tried the seventh time… and very proud to say it worked. And that is how that KitchenAid came into my life..

French Macarons- a delicate temperamental cookie..but worth every min spent on it.

Macrons have very simple ingredients and looks very deceivingly easy looking, but the trick is in following all the steps and tips. I watched many you tube videos, read many recipes and then finally settled on this one..

Ingredients:

Cookie:

7 oz Confectioner ( powder) sugar

4 oz Almond flour/meal

4 oz Egg whites at room temp

3.5 oz granulated sugar

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp gel color of your choice

Filing

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

4 cups Confectioner ( powder) sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp lemon zest

1 tbsp milk

Method

A. For cookies:

Part 1- Dry mixture

Sift the almond flour and the confectioner sugar at least 4-5 times. This makes the batter light and also ensures that there are no lumps in the batter.

Part 2- Meringue

Making meringue- Take the egg whites and start beating them on a low-medium speed until it foams
Add granulated sugar slowly. Once all the sugar is added, add the cream of tartar.
Kepp checking in between and make sure you stir in between so make ensure that there is no liquid egg white remaining at the bottom of the bowl.

Scrape down the sides, add the food color
Beat on high till you get a soft peak.
It is not done if you get a beak, when you left the whisk out of the egg mixture.

Part 3- Mix the ingredients

Mix 1/3 of the almond flour mixture in the egg mixture.
Using the folding action mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.
When the dry flour is sort of mixed, add the next 1/3 and continue
THIS IS IMPORTANT- DO NOT UNDER MIX OR OVER MIX. THIS PICTURE SHOWS YOU EXAMPLES.
When you can see a ribbon falling from your spoon, your batter is ready

Part 4- Piping and baking the cookies

Draw circle on the paper. These will act as a template for piping your cookies.
Out that template on the baking sheet.
Line your baking tray with parchment paper, on top of the template
Fill the mixture in a pastry bag and using a #2 round tip, pipe the cookies on the parchment paper

Make sure you keep the tip almost buried in the mixture so you don’t get a point on the cookie- if you get a point it will look funny and the point will burn during baking

Part 5- Drying of the cookies

Heat the oven to 325 F.
Take the tray with the piped cookies and tap really firmly on the counter. This will ensure that the air trapped is released

Let the tray sit on the counter until the cookies have a skin on top and are dry to touch. Depending on the weather it could take from 20-30 mins
I write the time on it so I know when I can check.
Now your cookies are ready to go in.

Part 6: Baking

Make sure that the oven temperature is right.
Bake th cookies for 10-15 min
Turn half way to ensure even baking
Check if the cookies are done- when you gently try to move the top and it kind of wiggles and slides, the cookies are not done.

Watch carefully though since they go from not done to done very quickly

Part 7: Cooling

I know it is tempting to eat them right away
Wait for 3-4 minutes to take the cookies off the baking tray
Let them cool completely before you fill them up.

B. For Filling

Beat the butter until creamy
Add the powdered sugar a little at a time.
Add the color, lemon juice and zest and beat the mixture until light and fluffy.

There are 7 key points to remember, I have listed them here and have mentioned again along the way.

Measure your ingredient- I recommend weighing them instead of measuring in a cup
Sieve the almond meal & Suagr
Beat your egg white just till soft peak stage
Don’t over or under mix the Egg & Almond mixture
Make sure the air is tapped out before you bake the macrons
Make sure they dry out before you bake
Make sure the oven temp is right

Tags almond flour, cookie, dessert, gluten-free, meringue

Cakes Not sure

Apricot Almond cardamom cake

Post author By Anagha
Post date January 22, 2015
16 Comments on Apricot Almond cardamom cake

Apricot-almond cake

My daughter is always looking for something to eat after school, she is picky… But in a good way..the snack have to be healthy, no soda, no chips, not processed food, should be easy to eat…

I am happy because she is making smart and wise choices and I want to support that anyway I can. So I ensure that there are good snack options available, nuts, fruits, dehydrated vegetables, dehydrated fruits etc.

Todays post is one such recipe which is very healthy and yet tasty. Today I added a touch of cardamom to this cake and I feel it complimented the almond flavor so well. Made from whole wheat flour, no butter, no sugar and no eggs…I don’t mind if she eats an extra piece

Apricot Almond cake

It has very delicate flavor and goes well as a desert with a dollop of whipped cream. It can be easily made vegan which I like, I can make it when I have friends who eat dairy-free, or don’t eat processed sugars.

Ingredients:

Apricot cake ingredients

18-20 Dried apricots
1 1/4 cups milk ( you can also use Almond milk to make a Vegan version)

Note: You may need to adjust the milk qty based on how dry the apricots are. The batter should be not runny but not overly clumpy or sticky either.

2-3 tsp sugar( optional, I do not add since the apricots here are sweet)
1 cup flour( I take 1/2 atta & 1/2 un bleached flour, all atta recipe makes it dense)
1/2 cup oil
1 tea spn baking soda
1 tbl spn almonds(or more if you are crazy about nuts like me)

1/8 tsp cardamom powder

Method:
Soak the apricots(save 2-3 to be chopped &added to the batter) in warm milk (3-4 hours is enough for the dates we get here)

Remove the seeds if not using seedless. Blend them to a smooth paste along with the milk in which it is soaked in.

Add oil and mix.

Add cardamom powder
Sieve together flour and baking soda. Add the flour one spoon at a time and mix slowly.

Taste and if needed add sugar. Add the nuts and mix.

Preheat the oven at 350F. Bake the cake in a greased oven dish for 35-40min

You are ready to dive into guilt free treat

Depending on the color of the apricots your cake might be orange or brown, so dont worry so much about the color as long as the cake tastes good. As you can see, two different colors I got since the apricots were of different colors.

Dark apricots:

Light Apricots

Apricot cake

Note:

I also make a Date-Walnut cake with similar recipe and it tastes just as yummy

Tags almond, apricot, butter less, cardamom, dairy free, sugar-less, vegan