Grain Free, Egg free Chocolate Cupcakes

Have you baked with almond flour, if not you have to try. They are so simple than the other grain based flours and quite healthy and tasty. These grain, gluten, egg, refined sugar free cupcakes are so simple to make, definitely a healthy alternate to store bought cupcakes and are yet tasty too. Do try and baking these cupcakes and and let me know, how you liked it.

Preparation Time - 10 Minutes
Baking Time - About 20 Minutes
Makes - Around 15 Mini Cupcakes

Ingredients

Blanched Almond flour - 1 1/2 Cups (I used honeyville)
Melted butter or Coconut Oil - 1/4 Cup
Baking powder - 1 Tsp
Arrow root powder or Tapioca starch - 2 Tbsp
Cocoa powder - 1/4 Cup
Salt - 1/4 Tsp
Xantham gum - 1/8 Tsp
Coconut Nectar/Honey/Maple Syrup - 1/3 Cup
Coconut Milk/Regular Whole Milk - 1/2 Cup

Method

1) In a bowl add all the dry ingredients almond flour, baking powder, salt, tapioca starch, cocoa powder and xantham gum and mix well.

2) To this dry ingredients add all the wet ingredients maple syrup, milk, melted butter and stir well.

3) Preheat the baking oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

4) Line a mini cupcake pan, line them with paper baking cups. Spoon the ingredients into the baking cups and bake for around 20 minutes till a tooth pick inserted in the center of the cup cake comes out clean.

Note - I have made this numerous times, with coconut nectar, honey, maple syrup as a sweetener. Used coconut milk, cow's milk, tapioca or arrow root starch, coconut oil, melted butter and it always comes out clean. This is a no fail recipe and this time when I baked I added 1/4 tsp of baking soda and 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar and I think it had risen little bit more than usual and was much more spongier too.

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Cauliflower & Peas in Coconut Sauce(Cauliflower Pattani Kootu)

Kootu is a traditional Tamil comfort food which can be done in a jiffy. Vegetables, lentils and coconut with some spices are the base for this easy and delicious food. A perfect complete balanced food with veggies, lentils and coconut is served traditionally with cooked rice and rasam(spiced soup). I served this with some hot pepper rasam and cooked quinoa. Believe me quinoa tastes great with lot of traditional Indian side dishes like sambar, rasam etc than adding to salads. There are lot of ways this kootu is done and in my family itself it is done in so many ways, either by adding cooked dal, grinding raw dal or with the addition of tamarind juice. Whatever way it is the end result is sure healthy and very tasty.

Preparation Time – 10 Minutes

Cooking Time – 20-30 Minutes

Serves – 4

Ingredients

Cauliflower – 1 medium sized(Cut out the florets from the thick stem and wash and keep it aside)

Frozen green peas – 1/2 Cup (Thawed)

Sambar powder – 1 Tsp or to taste

Turmeric powder – 1/2 Tsp

Salt – 1 Tsp or to taste

Raw Thoor dal – 2 Tbsp

Coconut pieces – Taken from 1 half

Rice flour – 1 Tsp

Tempering

Coconut oil – 1 Tsp

Mustard seeds – 1/2 Tsp

Split Urad dal – 1 Tbsp

Curry leaves – few optional

Method

1) Put the cauliflower florets, peas, salt, turmeric powder, sambar powder in a thick bottomed pan and add around 1/3 cup of water at the bottom.

2) Cover and cook till slightly tender, the more you cook the more nutrients will be lost. So cook till desired time.

3) Grind the Thoor dal, coconut pieces, rice flour in to  a fine paste and add it to the cooked cauliflower and simmer for 2-3 minutes and switch off.

4) Warm the coconut oil and then add mustard seeds. Once the seeds stop spluttering add urad dal and cook till slightly brown and then add the curry leaves and transfer it to the cauliflower, coconut kootu.

5) Serve hot with some spicy rasam and cooked main course of your choice.





Note – There are three different recipes I follow for this kootu, ver 1 veggies, tamarind juice,  cooked dal and roasted spices+coconut ver 2 – cooked dal, coconut, rice flour, sambar powder ver 3 – coconut, dry red chili, rice flour, cumin sees and raw uncooked dal. But this one is a combination of ver 2 and 3 because just at the time of adding the cooked dal I realized that  I had ran out of the same.



Events

Sending this to Vardhini’s Healing foods – Cauliflower an event started by Siri.

Sending this to Kaveri’s Kerala Kitchen Event an event started by Ria and Rose.

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Ragi(Finger Millet), Green Mung, Black Chick Pea Cutlet

A grain free, gluten free,  a super diet for people with diabetes, carb & weight watchers, easily digestible can be given for kids and even infants. Apart from all these very filling,  tastes very good, very versatile and very inexpensive. Can any food fall on these categories? Ragi or Finger Millet is the one that would fit all these description. This seed used as a grain is extremely nutritious one. Instead of just Ragi, I have combined Green Mung Flour and Black Chick Pea flour to make this as a well balanced dish with complex carbohydrate and protein. I make this often either by adding chopped raw onions and green chili or by combining mixed vegetables. The simple cutlet just with onion and green chili tastes absolutely great when compared to the latter.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - 30 Minutes

Serves - 4



Ingredients



Ragi Flour - 12 oz ( 1 + 1/2 Cup)

Green Mung Flour - 4 oz (1/2 Cup)

Kala Chana Flour - 4 oz (1/2 Cup)

Salt -1 Tsp or to taste

Coconut Oil - 2 Tbsp

Water - 30 oz (1 1/2 times the flour)



Chopped Raw onions  - 1 Cup

Chopped Green Chilies - 2 or to taste

Chopped Ginger - 1 inch piece



or



Combination of finely chopped and sauteed vegetables with salt -1 Cup(Carrots, Bell Peppers, Beets, Onions etc)



Method



1) Combine the Ragi flour, kala channa, green mung flour and keep it aside.



2) Heat a wide mouthed pan with water and once it starts boiling, add the salt and the combined flours.



3) Simmer and keep stirring thoroughly  till you a form a thick dough.



4) Set this aside to cool down, once the dough is cool enough to handle with hand, add the chopped onions, green chili, ginger pieces or the sauteed vegetables.



5) Grease your hands and combine the vegetables to make a well formed dough. You should be able to make a ball out of the dough and flatten it with your palm. If the dough is too thick and dry add little bit more of warm water.



6) Heat an Iron griddle and make patties out of this dough and cook on both sides by adding little bit of coconut oil and serve hot with some Onion Pickle.

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