Eggless vanilla sponge cake recipe was in my try list for long time. Usually eggless sponge cake is prepared using condensed milk, curd and butter. But this egg free vanilla cake recipe is without condensed milk and curd. This recipe uses fresh cream and milk instead. I had planned to try this cake recipe during Christmas. But I was forced to make it yesterday. I had a packet of fresh cream which was about to expire and I wanted to use it without wasting. When I was thinking of what to do with it, two recipes flashed in my mind.
One was methi mutter malai and the other one was cake using fresh cream. I made both and somehow I finished the whole packet on the same day. For this cake, I google searched and got this recipe from Parita’s blog. I followed that recipe to the ‘T’ but I followed an easy method to make the cake batter. The result was awesome.The cake came out very soft and spongy. Raksha loved it to the core and she finished all the cake herself in two days. We got only one piece to taste.
Check out this link if you wish to try the same using pressure cooker.You can just follow the same method.Hope u will get it right. Try and let me know how it turned out for you.
Eggless vanilla sponge cake recipe
Easy to make eggless vanilla flavoured sponge cake recipe using fresh cream. Kids would be pleased with this cake recipe :)
All purpose flour /Maida - 1 1/3 cup ( 1 + 1/3 CUP)
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Cooking soda/ baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Milk – 3/4 cup
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
HOW TO MAKE EGGLESS VANILLA SPONGE CAKE - METHOD
In a big mixie jar, take the sugar and powder it nicely. Add fresh cream to it and beat twice or thrice to make a smooth paste OR take a bowl and beat the sugar & cream with a hand whisk. To this add the maida mixture as mentioned below. Do not beat the batter, mix gently. Follow this method if you don't want to use mixie.
Then add the maida, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla essence and beat twice. U’ll get a thick paste. Wipe the sides. Now add the milk and run the mixie in low speed. Do not over beat the mixture. U’ll get the batter in flowing consistency like a ribbon.
Grease a baking pan with oil & sprinkle maida all over the pan and pour the cake batter. Pat the bottom of pan to break the air bubbles.
Pre heat the oven at 180c or 10 minutes in convection mode. Keep the baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes and bake in convection mode at 180 c.Please keep an eye after 25 minutes and check with a toothpick. Check with a skewer/toothpick or knife for doneness. If it comes out clean,cake is done.
Cool completely. Run the knife through the sides of the pan and then invert it on a plate. Cake will come out easily.
Cut into pieces.Serve n Enjoy !
Note
I am unable to say the shelf life of this cake because it got over by two days.
If you don’t want to use mixie, you can mix the powdered sugar and fresh cream together in a bowl to make a smooth paste. In another bowl, mix maida, baking powder, soda and add this to the fresh cream mixture in one direction. Add essence and milk. Make a batter and proceed as above.
Preheating is essential.Use Convection mode at 180c.
Kathirikai poriyal recipe is one of my favourite poriyal recipes. I love to have this South Indian style brinjal curry with hot sambar sadam and more kuzhambu.This is my mil’s version. Before marriage , I used to enjoy my mom’skathirikai podi curry with rasam. But this is a very easy & flavourful poriyal in Tamil nadu style. We make potato poriyal using the same method which I’ll post soon.
Kathirikai poriyal recipe
Flavourful Brinjal curry recipe - A best side dish for sambar and curd rice!
Cut brinjal into two vertically. Again cut this into two cubes. Soak in water till use to prevent color change.
Cook brinjal adding the required water, salt , tamarind extract and sambar powder. Make sure the brinjal is not over cooked. It should retain its shape. After the brinjal is cooked well, remove and drain the excess water. U can use this water for making sambar. (I usually pressure cook the brinjal along with dal by keeping it in a separate bowl inside the cooker. I keep it after the cooker starts steaming so that by the time it whistles, brinjal will be cooked properly without losing its shape).
In the mean time, grind the grated coconut in the mixie without adding water. Then add the cubed big onions and jeera. Run the mixie twice so that onions will be coarsely ground. Do not over grind to make a paste. This is most important for this poriyal to give a nice flavour.
Now mix this paste with the cooked brinjal. Add turmeric powder and pinched curry leaves. In a kadai, heat oil and temper all the ingredients given under”to temper”.
Add the brinjal mixture and mix it well. Make sure brinjal doesn’t break. Simmer the flame and allow it to roast in oil till all the moisture leaves it. It gives a nice masala smell. Takes nearly 10-12 mins in low flame to get ready. Flip every now and then to avoid burning in the bottom.
Enjoy !
Note
U can replace brinjal by pumpkin or potato and make this poriyal.
Make sure masala coats the brinjal well. Leave the masala in low flame for 10-15 minutes to get a nice flavour.
Maa vilakku / Rice flour Lamp in English is an edible lamp made using rice flour, jaggery, honey and ghee. Maavilakku is a must and should neivedyam recipe in all our households for Karthigai deepam and Aadi month to offer Amman. My mom and mil makes different naivedyam recipes to God for karthigai deepam but offering maavilakku maavu is a common practice for both of them. Not only for Karthigai deepam , we make it during tamil month Aadi, Thai and Purattasi sani. Actually maavilakku maavu has to be made by mixing jaggery with home made processed wet rice flour.
My MIL follows this procedure. But my mom makes it very simple using store bought rice flour. It can be done in minutes. Though I follow my MIL’s procedure, I thought of sharing my mom’s easy version with simple decoration in my blog. I have shared some tips and tricks from my mom to make a perfectly shaped maavilakku without losing its shape. For people who are not able to soak and grind the raw rice, this version would be useful. Do try this easy maavilakku maavu recipe with step by step pictures and video. Let me know your feedback.
I wish you all a very happy karthigai deepam, enjoy the festival of lights.
Store bought rice flour/ arisi maavu/ idiyappam flour - 1/2 cup
Grated jaggery – 1/2 cup
Ghee – 2 to 3 tbsp (6 tsp, unmelted,thick ghee)
Honey - 1/2 tbsp ( 1.5 tsp)
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
To make lamp
Thread/thirinool - 1 no
Ghee - 2 tsp(melted)
Kumkum and turmeric - little
METHOD
Take the rice flour and grated jaggery in a mixie jar. Pulse it 3-4 times. Do not grind continuously. But make sure, they are mixed well without any lumps. ( I got this tip from sharmi’s blog, thank you sharmi .) As the rice flour is dry, it will absorb all the water from jaggery.
Remove in a plate. Make a dent and add the thick, unmelted ghee.(The key here is if you use melted ghee, you can shape it easily but later on as the ghee hardens, maavilakku will also become hard. So if you use unmelted ghee, maavilakku will stay soft without losing its shape and taste). Initially add 1 tbsp and mix well. Again add 1/2 tbsp more, mix well. Add 1.5 tsp honey and mix well. Try to make a ball. Roll it tight between two hands. If it cracks, seal it with fingers. As you roll tight, jaggery will melt because of the heat of your hands and it will make a smooth ball.
Make a smooth ball without cracks. Make a small dent in the center using your pointer finger for pouring ghee. Seal with fingers if any crack appears.( I used overall 2 tbsp unmelted ghee)
Apply turmeric and kumkum on all the sides. Put the thread and lit the lamp. Keep a flower nearby and offer to God.
Note
Maavilakku stays good for a week in room temperature. I have seen people keeping it for months by freezing it. When you freeze the dough, bring it to room temperature before u consume.
My mom never use water or milk to make the dough as it reduces the shelf life. But if you are concerned about adding ghee OR if you can consume it immediately, you can add water or milk to make the dough.
You can add more honey if you want to reduce ghee. But reduce the quantity of jaggery accordingly.
Using unmelted, paste like ghee is more important for maavilakku to hold its shape for long time.
If you add more jaggery, it may leave water and maa vilakku will lose its shape.
For making home made wet rice flour, wash and soak the raw rice/maavu arisi for 30 minutes. Drain the water and spread it on a paper for few minutes. Remove and powder it nicely. Sieve the flour and proceed as mentioned above.
To see the step by step pictures, please click this link. Remember if you are using homemade rice flour, quantity of jaggery and ghee used would be less.
Enjoy maavilakku with chopped coconut pieces. Tastes heavenly !
In Tamil nadu, Pori urundai is a must try recipe for Karthigai deepam. Last year I posted Pori urundai recipe with poha/aval for karthigai deepam. This year I wanted to make pori urundai using puffed rice. We call it as arisi pori in Tamil.
As I don’t get nel pori here, I used arisi pori / Puffed rice. Procedure for making pori urundai is similar. It may be aval , nel or arisi. So I wanted to share this recipe in my space with step by step pictures and a video. Hope it will be useful for beginners.
As my MIL usually says, the ratio of pori and jaggery is 8:1 based on the sweetness of jaggery. You can follow 6:1 too. I follow the same every year and it comes out very well. Over to recipe with a picture and my latest video recipe !
Pori urundai recipe for Karthigai deepam
Pori urundai recipe using arisi pori/puffed rice for karthigai deepam
Dry roast sesame seeds in a kadai till it crackles.
Measure 3 cups of puffed rice ( 4 cups for less sweet) and take in a bowl. Add the roasted sesame seeds to it. Chop coconut into small pieces. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a pan. Roast coconut pieces till it turns golden in color. Add to the measured puffed rice.
In a wide kadai , take the grated jaggery. Add water to it. Make sure jaggery should be immersed completely. I used 1/4 cup of water for 1/2 cup of jaggery. Measure the puffed rice and keep it ready. Keep ready a small plate with water. Melt the jaggery completely and strain it to remove impurities. No need to boil the syrup. After straining the syrup, wash the kadai and then heat it again adding the strained syrup.
Boil the syrup till it becomes frothy and thick. Take the syrup in the ladle and drop it. The syrup will drop slowly and the last drop will make a string. This is an indication of reaching the correct consistency. At this time , simmer the flame and pour little syrup in a plate of water. Try to gather all the syrup and remove it. It will be non-sticky and you’ll be able to make a ball but firm in shape. Ball should hold its shape but not too hard. It is called as uruttu padham in Tamil. This is the right stage. Switch off the flame.
Suppose if you miss this stage, add little water to the syrup and boil again. Check the consistency and proceed. ( some people make hard ball consistency too. i.e you should make a ball and if you drop the ball in a plate, it should make a tung sound. But you should roll the balls as soon as you mix with the syrup because syrup will thicken very quickly).
Add the puffed rice mixture along with roasted sesame seeds, coconut pieces, fried gram dal immediately. Mix well. All should be done within few seconds. Take care.
Mix the puffed rice well in the syrup till the bottom of kadai. All the puffed rice should be coated well with the syrup. Grease your hands with rice flour or ghee and make balls tightly when the mixture is slightly warm. If the mixture cools down, you can't shape it. So do it fast. U’ll be able to make a perfect round.
If you are a beginner, you cannot handle the heat of balls. So make balls roughly and arrange in a plate. Then roll it tightly when the mixture becomes warm. I usually follow this for aval pori urundai.
If the mixture cools down before making balls, heat the kadai slightly in low flame. The syrup will melt and helps you to make balls. Make round balls. Give a setting time of 10 minutes and enjoy ! U can store these balls and use it for 2 weeks. If the mixture cools down, you can't shape it. So do it fast.
Note
Jaggery consistency is very important here. Please have a look after the jaggery syrup becomes frothy. It takes hardly 2-3 minutes in high flame to reach the consistency.
Make balls when the mixture is with bearable heat. When it cools down, you can’t make it. So you have to reheat again in low flame for few seconds.
Adding coconut bits, sesame seeds and fried gram dal are optional. I have seen my neighbours making pori urundai without all these. But we add sesame seeds for sure as we keep it for neivedyam.
Wish you all a very happy karthigai deepam. Enjoy the festival of lights with pori urundai!
Thirukarthigai/Karthigai deepam falls every year on full moon day of Karthigai, tamil month. Karthigai deepam 2020 ie this year it is on 29(Sunday), November. Generally, kozhukattai is prepared for Ganesh chaturthi. U may wonder why am I posting this kozhukattai recipe for Karthigai deepam festival. In my native place(Tirunelveli ), people used to make this kozhukattai without salt on Karthigai. They make plates and lamps (agal vilakku) using this kozhukattai dough and light it along with the other lamps. The number of plates and lamps should be equal to the number of family members. Usually our people says, it is very auspicious to make this lamp on karthigai deepam for the well-being of family members.
My friend’s mom told that they keep this lamp by praying God to bless their family with health, wealth and peace. My mom also used to do this every year. Not only this lamp, mom makes finger shaped kozhukattai with the remaining dough and offer to God along with pori urundai , appam and maavilakku. As it is salt-less, we used to have this kozhukattai adding lots of grated coconut. We call this as “Neer kozhukattai, uppilla kozhukattai etc.
My MIL also makes this kozhukattai for avvaiyar viratham/Chevvai pillayar viratham. This kozhukattai recipe is known to all of you. But keeping this dough lamp may be new to some of you. So I wanted to share with u all :)..This year, I am going to make this dough deepam/diya for the well-being of my family. Friends, do make this for your family too and get the blessings of God :).Use ghee for lighting the lamp. After the lamp goes off, eat it as prasadam along with jaggery and grated coconut !
The dough making method I have shared here is not the authentic one. Usually my mom used to make this kozhukattai dough adding plain, cold water to the rice flour and she cooks the kozhukattai in an open pan in boiling water for few minutes.
By doing this way, kozhukattai comes out little hard and chewy. Sometimes kozhukattai may dissolve in water if the dough consistency is not correct. So my mom suggested me to follow our usual kozhukattai dough(with video) method. Thanks to my sister’s SIL Mrs.Thangam for telling this recipe with correct water measurement. Kozhukattai came out very well and soft.. Please adjust the water quantity by keeping this as reference. Do not add all the water at once. Keep adding slowly to make a perfect non sticky dough.
kozhukattai Recipe
Kozhukattai recipe for karthigai deepam.
Cuisine: South IndianCategory: Festival recipesServes: 3
Idiyappam flour / Rice flour - 1 cup (You can use homemade or store bought idiyappam flour)
Water - 1.25 to 1.5 cups (Water quantity varies based on rice flour )
Gingely oil - 1 tsp
METHOD
In a wide bowl, take the rice flour. In a vessel , take the required quantity of water and add a tsp of gingely oil.
Let the water boil for 2-3 minutes. Add this water to the rice flour by mixing with a ladle. Rice flour gets half cooked by the heat of this water and increases in quantity. After the dough becomes slightly warm , knead it to make a soft , non-sticky dough.
Make plates an lamps as per the number of family members. For making plate , take a big lemon sized ball, pat it on a sheet. Seal the cracks if any. For lamp , take a small lemon sized ball. Press it in the center and make a dent to pour ghee/oil. Narrow down one edge of the ball and make like a lamp. Hope this picture helps you..
Arrange them in a greased idli plate. Keep the plate only after the water starts to roll boil. Steam it for 7-8 minutes. Deepam is ready. Remove the lamps from the plate after it becomes warm , else it may break.
Make finger shaped kozhukattai or small balls using the remaining dough, steam it for 6-8 minutes. Remove.
While lighting the lamps in the evening, put ghee for this rice flour lamp and light it, Once its turned off,u can have it with grated or chopped coconut pieces. As it is without salt, you should have this rice flour lamp with either grated coconut or grated jaggery.
Note
Do not add all the boiling water to the rice flour at once. Please add little by little by mixing with the ladle simultaneously. By this way , you can find the rice flour getting cooked and make a non-sticky dough.
Knead the dough well for few minutes to make a crack free lamps and plates. Grease your hands with oil whenever necessary..
Do not steam for long time. Keep the idli plate only after the water in the idli pot starts boiling..
Serve this kozhukattai adding lots of grated coconut. As it is salt-less, you have to eat it this way :)
This is my first attempt in clicking a lamp at night, is it looking good or at least ok ? ;)
Manathakkali keerai, Black night shade in English has amazing health benefits. It is a good remedy for mouth & stomach ulcers especially. I try to include manathakkali vathal/sundakkai vathal in my cooking at least once in a week. I got this vathal kuzhambu recipe from my Tamil brahmin friend Sumi.. This is a no onion,no garlic recipe & it can be made in minutes.
This recipe is apt for bachelor’s & working women to finish off their cooking quickly in busy mornings. The best thing about this recipe is it has no cutting part. No need to cut any vegetables, onion, garlic as I do for my normalkara kuzhambu recipe. All the ingredients used in this recipe are readily available in our pantry. I have tried this recipe many times in my kitchen. Raksha and Sendhil like this kuzhambu a lot. All credits goes to you Sumi. Sumi is my school friend.
After so many years, we met each other via facebook. She used to see my recipes and shared some of her authentic brahmin style recipes as well.Thank you so much Sumi for sharing your yummy recipes with me. I am planning to post them one by one in my space. So friends , if you r looking for an easy to make, quick vathakuzhambu recipe, here it is! Do try and leave ur feedback if you try it. I have updated this recipe with a video below. Please check it.
Click this link if you are interested to know the amazing health benefits.
Manathakkali vathal kuzhambu recipe - Tamil Brahmin style
Simple , easy to make , tamil brahmin style manathakkali vathal kuzhambu recipe.U can try this with sundakkai vatral/turkey berry , cluster beans vatral too..
Cuisine: IndianCategory: LunchYields: 2
Prep Time: 5 MinsCook Time: 15 MinsTotal Time: 20 Mins
Soak tamarind in a cup of warm water for sometime & take the extract. Make 2 cups of extract in total. In a small bowl ,take the rice flour & dissolve it with little water without lumps. Set aside.
In a kadai, heat oil. Temper all the ingredients given above in the same order. Add manathakkali vathal and saute till it changes in color with a nice smell..
Now add the sambar powder, saute for half a second and immediately add the tamarind extract, salt & turmeric powder.
Allow it to boil for 5 minutes till the raw smell of tamarind goes off. Add jaggery , mix well while boiling.Add diluted rice flour and boil for another 5 minutes till gravy thickens.. Boil till you get the desired consistency.
Switch off the flame..
Note
Avoid adding rice flour if you don't like. But you should add less tamarind or more sambar powder accordingly. Otherwise gravy may taste tangy.
U can replace manthakkali vathal with sundakkai vathal , cluster beans vathal etc.
If you want , you can fry finely chopped onions and garlic pieces while tempering to make it more flavorful.
Enjoy mixing with plain rice with papad and kootu as side dish !
Easy to make eggless vanilla flavoured sponge cake recipe using fresh cream. Kids would be pleased with this cake recipe :) 
