Sharjah Shake- An Authentic Kerala Smoothie...

Sharjah shake is not a drink from Sharjah but it is one of the favorite drinks of my native state Kerala, India. It is a drink loved by almost all Keralites. Sharjah shake is originated from Calicut in Kerala. Whenever I visit my home town, I make sure I don't miss this shake and will have frequently. We love this shake a lot. In Kerala, almost every juice shop,  this is available. Now more new flavors and ingredients are added to this shake but I like the simple, original one which has a malt flavor. A perfect drink among guests and family.

For a simple Sharjah shake the key ingredients are ripe bananas, horlicks/boost, nuts that is combined to a perfect, delicious, tasty Sharjah shake. This just takes less than 10 minutes and will be a super hit. As bananas are the base of this drink, this will be thick and sweet. It is quite filling. If we want we can add a scoop of vanilla ice cream, here I didn't as I wanted it plain. I am warning you this is very ADDICTIVE!!!! As Ramadan fasting is going on, we like to drink different juices while breaking the fast and so this is one among and will always love this.

To get the authentic milk shake parlor version, freeze the milk and break into chunks and blend with other ingredients. There are countless variations in the making of this shake, but this is mine and very flexible. Please try this and let me know.
Ingredients:

1. Frozen Milk- 2 Cups
2. Ripe Bananas- 1 large/ 2 small
3. Horlicks/ Boost- 2 tbsp
4. Sugar- 1 tbsp(optional)
5. Cashew nuts- 4 nos

Method:

• Blend together all the ingredients and pour in a tall glass top it with roasted cashew nuts and vanilla ice cream.

Kerala Unniappam

Unniappam is a popular traditional snack in Kerala. Unni means “small” and appam means “rice cake”. This dish is made of almost all the houses in Kerala. These unniappams will be liked by all. I like to call these “cuteness overloaded” appams. They are so soft and scrumptious that you will end up eating a whole lot.

This is prepared using rice, jaggery, and banana. Traditionally this is made using clarified butter.

We can also add some roasted coconut pieces in the batter but I like it this way.

From so long I badly wanted to try this dish, but without the pan it was impossible. This time when

my in-laws came from India they bought the pan and I made them for the first time, which came out super yummy and soft.

These unniappams can be made using raw rice, but as I didn’t have so much of patience to soak the rice, I used rice flour. This is an oily dish, but once in awhile, it is fine to have these delicious and traditional snacks. Hope you will also try this dish and let me know.

Ingredients:

1. Banana- 1 no
2. Rice Flour- 2 Cups
3. Jaggery- 1 ½ Cups
4. Cardamom powder - 1 Tsp
5. Dry Ginger Powder- 1 Tsp
6. Baking Soda- ½ tsp
7. Oil- for frying
8. Water- ¼ Cup

Method:

1. Grind the bananas to a nice paste. Melt the jaggery using little water over a medium heat. When the jaggery completely melts, strain and keep this aside.
2. Drop the rice flour along with the melted jaggery into the ground banana and give it a nice blend.
3. Add little water till they form a pouring consistency.
4. Transfer this to a bowl. In this add the cardamom powder, dry ginger powder, and baking soda. Give it a nice stir. Keep this batter for about 3- 4 hours.
5. If you find the batter too runny just add little rice flour and if the batter is thick add little water.
6. Heat the non-stick unniappam pan. Pour 1 tbsp of oil in all the rounds. Drop a small ladle full of batter into each round and let it fry for sometime. After about 5-7 minutes, flip it to the other side and let it fry until golden brown.
7. Once they are done, remove them using fork onto a kitchen towel. Repeat with the remaining batter and enjoy delicious unniappams.

Healthy Banana and Mixed Berries smoothie

My dear friend introduced me to this smoothie, who herself is a big smoothie lover. She would always tell about different varieties of smoothies which she makes at home for her family. One day when I was in her house, I asked for the recipe and generously she made a big batch of this smoothie and whatever she told about the smoothie is completely true. It is a very filling, healthy, appetizing, flavorful and simply mind blowing. While adding the frozen berries, banana and spinach the smoothie will be thick, just add enough amount of water or milk.

There are lots of variations in making smoothies, like for kids we can add milk, for adults, who are health conscious can make this smoothie by adding water. Instead of regular milk, you can also add almond milk, by making the almond milk at home. I will share the recipe some other time.

This makes more healthy by adding dates instead of sugar. If you want your smoothie sweeter, you can increase the number of dates. This is so filling that you can have this instead of breakfast or lunch. I made this for lunch after my workout and it is very filling and healthy. There are much more different smoothie recipes which she gave and you can see all the recipes in my future posts. For now, enjoy an amazingly delicious healthy smoothie and stay fit...

Ingredients:

1. Banana- 1 no
2. Apple- ½ no
3. Frozen Mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries)- ½ Cup
4. Dates- 5 nos
5. Chia Seeds- 1 tbsp
6. Flax Seeds- 1 tbsp
7. Spinach- ½ Cup
8. Water- ¼ Cup

Method:

1. Combine all the ingredients except chia seeds in a blender until smooth with the required amount of water.
2. Soak the chia seeds in little water for about 10 minutes.
3. Pour the smoothie into a serving glass and garnish with the soaked chia seeds and enjoy a healthy smoothie. (You can add the chia seeds in the smoothie and blend everything together).

Banana Oats Loaf cake and some childhood memories…...

I thought about this banana oats loaf cake is when my husband bought two big packs of old fashioned oats. I didn’t know what to do with the huge packs. My daughter told me to try making varity of dishes with oats. From then on in my house every other day it will be either oats dosa or  oats upma and so on.

One day I thought of preparing a cake with these oats and there were ripe bananas and within an hour an amazing loaf cake was ready. My kids enjoyed them thoroughly.

I was thinking, when we were kids, making a cake was like a dream come true. We used to have a round electric oven, which is used on special occasions to make a basic vanilla sponge cake which we eagerly waited for. My dad used to prepare yummy desserts like kheer, gulab jamun, ice creams, vanilla cake. We used to wait for sunday as that is when he prepares all these varity of desserts and me and my brothers are his assistants. My mom will be free from cooking on sundays. Feeling nostalgic. And not to forget my dad’s famous fluffy omelette, now also whenever we demand he prepares with so much love and effection.Now I am missing it very badly :( I will post that one day in my blog.

Now we will get whatever we want within minutes, either we can buy it or make it at home.  This loaf cake is one such appetizing dessert which will be cherished by all.

Just try this delicious, healthy cake and let me know.

Ingredients:

1. Banana- 2 nos
2. Oats- 1 Cup
3. All Purpose Flour/ Maida 1 Cup
4. Sugar- ¾ Cup
5. Vanilla essence- 1 tsp
6. Raisins- ½ Cup
7. Butter- ½ Cup
8. Eggs- 2 nos
9. Milk- ¼ Cup
10. Cinnamon Powder- ½ tsp

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream the butter and sugar, till pale and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla essence and beat well with a blender.
3. Meanwhile mash the bananas, cinnamon powder and add this to the above mixture.
4. Fold the flour alternating with the milk and mix well. Add raisins. Dust the raisins with 1 tbsp of flour and add to the cake batter or else they will sink to the bottom.
5. Grease a loaf pan with butter and dust with flour. Pour the batter in the greased cake pan and bake for about 40- 50 minutes or a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Banana dates Milkshake

A perfect filling drink for iftar. Dates are good source of energy, have a rich source of protein, fiber and also rich in vitamins. Since they have natural sweetness, no need of adding sugar in the milkshake, which is good for health.

For iftar I have made this and just with a glass full of this amazing drink, you will feel energized, refresh and rejuvenate your body and no need of having anything else. Nowadays for iftar I am making fresh juices out of orange, apple and so on. Now this has become our favorite drink. Just try this out and let me know…..

Ingredients:

1. Banana- 1 no
2. Dates- 6-7 nos
3. Mixed Nuts( Cashew,Almonds and pistachios)- few
4. Bournvita- 1 tbsp
5. Milk- ½ Cup
6. Water- ½ Cup

Method:

1. In a blender, process the dates along with milk at high speed till it becomes smooth.
2. Add the remaining ingredients to the blender and blend it to a fine smooth puree.
3. Pour into serving glass and garnish with chopped dates and nuts.

Eggless Banana Almond Cake Loaf- 4th Blog Anniversary….

The festive season has begun and Christmas is around the corner. I think everyone will be busy in baking goodies, plum cakes, ginger breads and so on. In my busy schedule nowadays, my little one insisted me to bake a cake as its been a while I made something interesting. So one day I started my bake-athon and made egg less banana almond cake, chocolate cupcakes, strawberry cupcakes, salt cookies and corn flake cookies. By the end of the day, I was too tired but happy to see the end result.

I love banana flavored cakes and so whenever there are ripe bananas, I will try to make the delicious banana bread which I had posted earlier. I stumbled upon this egg less version, when I was searching for some other recipe. From so long I was thinking of trying something without egg and got this amazing recipe. My parents love this cake along with their evening tea.

One more thing, last month was my blogs 4th anniversary !!

I could not post anything at that time because of my busy days and nights with my new born.

So here I am, raising a toast on my blog’s birthday and to celebrate this festive season, posting this amazingly delicious, soft and moist cake. Read, try, and enjoy …

Excuse me for not uploading the sliced cake picture, as it got over  within minutes of  slicing.. :)

Ingredients:

1. Bananas- 2 nos
2. Wheat Flour- 1 ½ Cups
3. Baking powder- 1 tsp
4. Sugar- ¾ Cup
5. Oil- ⅔ Cup
6. Vanilla Essence- 1 tsp
7. Almonds (crushed)- ½ Cup

Method:

1. Mash the bananas using fork till smooth paste and keep this aside.
2. Sieve the wheat flour and baking powder.Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Mix sugar, oil and vanilla essence using a hand mixer till the sugar is dissolved.
3. In this add the sieved flour and fold gently little by little, till everything is mixed well. Add the crushed almonds into the cake batter. I have sprinkled chocolate pieces on top.
4. Pour this in a greased cake tin and bake in a preheated oven for about 20- 30 minutes till the tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
5. When cooled slice the cake and serve.

Banana Bread

Everyone in my house are big fans of this banana cake. Whenever there are ripe bananas in my kitchen, I try to make these easy, yummy, fabulous and flavor-filled banana cakes. This is a no-fail recipe and you can play around with the ingredients without affecting the results.

Sweet, ripe bananas are the key to making great banana bread. In this recipe I have added a tsp of cinnamon powder i.e to enhance the taste and flavor of the bread.

The end result will be a soft, moist, melt-in-the-mouth banana bread within minutes. This can be served with some whipped cream or frost the bread with buttercream icing.

Ingredients:

1. Banana- 1 nos
2. Maida- 1 Cup
3. Baking Powder- 1 tsp
4. Eggs- 2 nos
5. Vanilla Essence- 1 tsp
6. Butter- ¼ Cup
7. Sugar- ¾ Cup
8. Cinnamon Powder- 1 tsp
9. Pistachios- ½ Cup

Method:

1. Mash the banana and keep this aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
3. Beat the eggs and vanilla essence till it becomes fluffy. Cream the butter and sugar till they turn light and creamy.
4. In this butter sugar mixture add the egg mixture and beat well.
5. Sieve the flour, cinnamon powder and baking powder thrice and fold this little by little in the above mixture. Fold gently till the flour gets over. At last add the mashed bananas and fold in to the batter.
6. Add the crushed pistachios, mix and pour this in a greased bread pan. Bake for about 20- 30 minutes or till a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Banana Loaf cake

This time again it is a cake recipe. I made this so many times, but this is the first time I am posting this recipe coz this time I managed to take photos before it got over :-).

This is one of my favorites, as I like the unique banana flavor and the soft texture. The ripe bananas are mashed and added in the batter and when it is done, it is cut into slices. This cake is best served warm with a slight spread of butter. In this cake, we can add any of the nuts we want. This is a perfect tea time cake and kids will also love this to have them after coming back from school.

Ingredients:

1. Butter- ½ cup
2. Sugar- ¾ cup
3. Vanilla Essence- 1tsp
4. Egg-1no
5. Bananas- 2 nos
6. All purpose flour / Maida- 1 ½ cup
7. Milk- ¼ cup

Method:

1. Mix the butter and sugar well in a bowl till it becomes creamy and pale in colour. In this add the vanilla essence and egg and mix well.
2. Mash the bananas and add them in the above mixture and mix well with a spoon without any lumps.
3. Add the all purpose flour and milk alternately till everything is well incorporated.
4. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Pour the prepared batter in a greased loaf pan and bake for about 40 min or till an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
5. When it is done cool on a wire rack and decorate on top as required.

I am sending this to Bake Fest