Chocolate Banana Cake with Marshmallow Fondant (Christmas Special)

I was waiting for a right choice to post this recipe, as I always love the banana bread, this is another version of it but we mix some chocolate here. As today being Christmas, I thought of making a cake which doesn’t need a beater or electric mixer as anyone can make it, as it involves just the mixing and its purely optional for you. And for the very first time at Minu’s kitchen I am posting a cake with a fondant. I always have wondered on some of the Christmas cakes how they make such a perfect fondant, with some funky stuff on it. One of my experimental fondants I have done after a very long time is this. When I say fondant, you can prepare it in many types or you can get it as readymade in many grocery stores in the baking area, but its little expensive; instead you could prepare it at home as it is very simple and easy to make. The variety is the Marshmallow fondant; you can buy these marsh mallows at any grocery stores. They are little cute spongy isn’t it! :) .

 

Making a fondant is similar how you make dough for any snacks, the consistency should be correct else you cannot work with it. After you make it, you can mix it with any desired food color however make sure to use a branded food color to taste better and gives you a great look as well. I used the Americolor which are really rich and nice. Look at the snowman it’s very easy to make with the fondant and you can make it to any form and use to the cake. It was real fun to play with that but it takes time if you are doing it for the first time.

I did some frosting as well for the cake as part of decorating the cake however everything is optional and your choice, as if you need just the cake or the cake with fondant / frosting or both. The same colors I used for the icing as well. After you make it just put it inside the refrigerator for about 20 minutes to get that consistency, also an important factor while you make fondant cakes is, always choose cakes which is easy and simple as it may take much time to decorate, in that case the chocolate banana cake is the best choice…and that will be the best Christmas cake. I wish all my readers a Merry Christmas
 

To Make Marshmallow Fondant:

• Marshmallows- 1 Lbs
• Powdered Sugar- 2 Lbs
• Water- 2 Tspn

Method:

• Sprinkle the water to the marsh mallows and heat it in microwave for 1 minute, at this time all the marshmallows will dissolve, stir continues with a rubber spatula without any lumps in it.
• Add the powdered sugar and kneed with hand until the dough is formed.
• After its done wrap with a cover or in a Ziploc and store it in refrigerator.

 

For the Rich Creamy Frosting (If you wish to make):

Ingredients:

• Butter at room temperature- ¾ Cup
• Vanilla Extract- 1 Tspn
• Icing Sugar- 2 Cups

 

Method:

• Beat the butter and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.
• Add the sugar and beat again at high speed. If icing is too thick, add milk 1 teaspoon at a time, to desired consistency.
• Makes 2 1/2 cups

To Make the Chocolate Banana Cake:

Initial Requirements:

• Temperature:350 Degrees F(177 Degree C)
• Time:35- 40 Minutes
• Pan Used: A 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pan

Ingredients:

• All-purpose flour- 2 Cups
• Sugar- 2 1/2 cups
• Cocoa powder or melted Choco chips- 1 Cup
• Baking Powder- 2 Tspn
• Baking soda- 2 Tspn
• Mashed Bananas (Ripe)- 1 ¼ Cup
• Vanilla extract – 2 Tspn
• Warm water- 1 ¼ Cup
• Milk- 1 Cup
• Any Oil- 1 Cup
• Salt- ¼ Tspn

 

Method:

• In a bowl, sift the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together and keep aside.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs on high speed for about 1 minute and add the mashed bananas, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract and beat again for about a minute(beating is purely optional, you can just stir or whisk if you don’t have a beater/electric mixer)
• Now add the sifted flour to the egg mixture and combine well with a rubber spatula.
• Pour the batter to the cake pan and bake until a toothpick inserted at the middle comes out clean.

To decorate the cake:

• Make a sheet out of the fondant by a rolling pin and spread that to cover the cake.
• You could use the remaining fondant to form as any shape and affix to the cake.
• With the frosting made you could decorate it at the bottom of the cake like the way I did.

Karimeen Masala Stuffed Fish Fry

Researchers worldwide have discovered that eating fish regularly may reduce the risk of diseases ranging from childhood asthma to prostate cancer as it is low in fat, high in protein and an excellent source of omega 3 fatty acids. From my childhood I have used to it as my mom everyday prepares fish, that’s the food culture followed by many keralites. It’s been a while that I was thinking to post a unique fish recipe apart from the usual curry or the fry and I ended up in this. This is the first time I made it and believe me my BF and I just loved it and posting it in my blog for my readers. If you are a fish lover I bet you gonna fall in love with this recipe as it gives a nice spicy taste packed with roasted masala.

To prepare this, you may need a whole small fish I prefer karemeen if you don’t get this in the place you live then you could prefer tilapia or pomfret fish. You can also try this with any other small fishes but those fishes will give you the exact taste. Normally many of ladies don’t prefer to eat fishes with mercury as it’s not good for health, same with me as well. I always prefer for tilapia as its rich in proteins and good for health too. Let’s go with the making, the vital part in this is after you spread the fish with the masala let it remain for at least 1 hour, then only the fish will get blended with the masala.
 

To Grind:

• Red chilies- 8 Nos
• Small Onions- 6 Nos
• Coriander Powder- 1 Tspn
• Garlic- 5 Nos
• Black pepper seeds- 2 Tspn
• Coriander Seeds- ½ Tspn
• Fennel Seeds powder- ½ Tspn
• Cumin seeds- 1 Tspn
• Mustard seeds-1 Tspn
• Turmeric powder- ¼ Tspn
• Lemon juice- 1 Tspn

For Gravy:

• Onion- 1 Medium
• Ginger – 1 small piece(finely chopped)
• Curry Leaves- Few
• Coconut Oil- 4 Tspn
• Green chilies- 3 Nos
• Egg -1 (egg white)

 

Method:

• Grind all the ingredients under to grind and separate it by two half’s.
• Spread the one half of the masala to the fish and marinate for at least 1 hour.
• After 1 hour, just roughly pour the egg white to the fish and shallow fry the fish in the coconut oil.
• Flip both sides, and transfer to paper towel to set dry.
• In the same pan, with the same fried oil, throw the curry leaves,onion, ginger and green chilies and saute well.
• After the onion becomes translucent, add the other half of the masala and saute well until the masala smell goes off from it.
• Pack the fish pieces with the masala on both the sides and spread completely to it.
• Add few more curry leaves on top and serve hot.

 

Tips:

"Adjust the red chilies and green chilies as per your spice level.

If you don’t want to add egg white to the fish you can leave it as its optional.

Use only coconut oil to give you the best result.

Be sure not to break the fish while packing it with masala."

Kozhikaal / Tapioca Fritters - A Pure Vegetarian Snack!!!

I know you may get confused by the title. Let me make it clear, it’s a 100% vegetarian snack which got the name as “Kozhikaal” just because of its appearance. If you are from Thalassery I don’t want to say much as I am very sure that would have known and tasted it. Yes, this is an authentic Kerala recipe from the region of Thalasseri. You can find this if you go to any beach sides there. Thalassery is not just the hub of spices but also different Malabar recipes, I would say if you want to taste the right Malabar authentic dishes this is a right place for you.

One among those recipes is the kozhikaal, I know anyone will think that it’s made out of chicken legs; however it’s a very easy snack which is prepared out of tapioca. It’s a same recipe like the banana fritters but there are little more ingredients to add in it. For the making, slice the tapioca as thin for about 5 cm lengths. It tastes absolutely great when served with hot tea in a rainy evening!! :) Here you go with the making of it from the Paris of Kerala- Thalasseri recipe :)
 

Ingredients:

• Tapioca- 1 Medium size( sliced as thin pieces)
• Besan Powder- 5 Tspn
• Fine Rice powder- 3 Tspn
• Asafetida powder- 1 ½ Tspn
• Kashmiri Chilli Powder- 2 Tspn
• Green chilies sliced- 1
• Onion- 1 medium finely chopped
• Curry Leaves- Few
• Cumin Seeds- ½ Tspn
• Salt- As needed
• Coconut Oil- To Fry

Method:

• Make a thick batter out of all the ingredients.
• Grab 3-4 slices of tapioca pieces together, dip into the batter and fry it until it turns crispy.
• Transfer to a paper towel and serve hot.

Tips:

"You can add cumin as powder as well as it gives you an extra taste.

Adjust the chili powder as per your spice level."

Kinnathappam

Kinnathappam is very popular traditional sweet cake widely prepared in North Malabar especially in Kannur. Kinnam refers to a shallow copper or steel vessel in malayalam. It’s one of a mouthwatering recipe as it is prepared out of rice grounded with coconut milk with mix of ghee and sugar gives you a ultimate treat for your taste buds. This is the first time I prepared it and it turned out so tasty. It may look tedious but it’s very simple to make and serve. The traditional way of making a Kinnathappam is in a uruli or a bronze vessel. But unfortunately I don’t have any of these here with me. I tried with the round baking tray. So if you have any of those then you are good to do.

Some may not use egg in it, but the version I made has egg in it, which gives you an extra taste and it makes the Appam spongier as well. You can grind the rice in mixie/blender however if you do it in grinder it gives you the best result.It is one of a favorite dish which is often made in Malabar families. This has two different versions one with a jaggery and other with sugar, The one I presented here is the sugar kinnathappam. I am very excited to present you all this unique Malabar recipe for my readers hope you all try and like it too.
 

Ingredients:

• Raw Rice- 1 Cup
• Sugar- 1 1/2 Cup
• Coconut Milk-Thick Milk (Onnaam Paal)- 2 Cups
• Crushed cardamom- few
• Cumin seeds- 1 Tspn
• Egg- 1
• Ghee- 2-3 Tspn.

Method:

• Soak the raw rice for atleast 5 hours and grind it to fine paste adding 1 cup of coconut milk and keep it separate.
• In a blender, add egg,sugar and another 1 cup of coconut milk and blend it well.
• Add the blended egg mixture to the rice paste and mix well.
• Add the crushed cardamom and pour it to the pan.After pouring to the pan sprinkle the cumin seeds to it and keep it in steamer (use idly cooker if you have) for 20 minutes.
• Check after 20 minutes by pricking a toothpick at the center to it, if it comes out clean then its done. After it set cool transfer to a plate.

Tips:

"While grinding the rice, do not pour the coconut milk all at once; instead add it in regular intervals.

Steaming time may differ, hence check at regularly while its steaming."

 

Nadan Egg Curry

Eggs are always a common ingredient with any food, the way you mke it makes the difference, especially when comes to egg curry,there are lot other ways to do egg curry, however the kerala egg curry gives you a unique taste and look,though I gave the egg curry in my Appam and mutta curry post that was a different version which is plain and easy.

This kerala egg curry is a different version which has green peas and coconut milk in it,rest of the ingredients remains same. This egg curry goes well with Appam, parotta,puttu and even with dosa too. This is a nadan (traditional) egg curry which is prepared with the spices and gives a flavored taste. Very easy to make and I bet anyone will fall in love with this recipe, no more words to say; here you go with the making!
 

Ingredients:

• Baked Eggs- 4
• Onion- 1 Sliced
• Tomato-1 sliced
• Green Chilies- 3 Nos
• Thick Coconut Milk(Onnaam Paal-1st Milk)- 1 Cup
• Green Peas- Half Cup
• Coriander Powder- 1 Tspn
• Chili Powder- 1 Tspn
• Turmeric Powder- ¼ Tspn
• Mustard Seeds- ¼ Tspn
• Curry Leaves- Few
• Coconut Oil- 3 Tspn
• Cinnamon- 1 small stick
• Cloves- 3
• Bay Leaves- 1 small leaf
• Salt- To Taste

Method:

• In a pan, pour oil add the spices and the mustard seeds, curry leaves when it splits up add the onions and sauté until it becomes translucent.
• Add the tomatoes, green chilies and sauté well. Now add the green peas too and sauté again.
• Add all the powders in the ingredients and sauté well until the masala smell goes from it.
• Add the coconut milk and let it boil for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the baked eggs and let it boil till you get the required gravy.

 

Tips:

"You can add tomato puree too instead of adding tomatoes which gives you extra taste.

Add the spice powders s per your spicy level."

Chicken Fried Rice

I was about to post this last week, but was busy with our Thanksgiving celebrations. I know this is a very common recipe and most of us know to prepare but I bet getting the right taste is the biggest challenge, many does it in different ways, the one which I have tried is making the masala separate and then mixing it up with the rice, which is easiest method and tastiest as well. It’s my BF’s favorite recipe of mine, and never gets bored out of it, even if I cook for more than twice a week :)

You could add the desired meat in this, however the egg should be used, meat anything like chicken, shrimp it’s your choice and same for vegetables with your choices like beans, carrot, cauliflower. I added the same but with red and green capsicums to add some colors to it. It’s good to serve with tomato ketchup for kids, as they love the fried rice and the noodles varieties, or with any chicken curry which you can find it with my ghee rice combination. Here you go with the making ENJOY!! :) And this is for you Shanmu :) (My best buddy who was asking me to post this from several days)
 

Ingredients:

• Basmati Rice Cooked- 1 Cup
• Chicken pieces cooked (pressure cooker it for 2 whistles)- half cup
• Eggs- 2
• Carrot- 1 sliced thinly
• Onion- 1 Large
• Green chilies- few
• Spring Onions- a bunch
• Beans- 3 sliced
• Red and green capsicums- 1 sliced thinly
• Soya sauce- 1 Tspn
• Vinegar- 1 Tspn
• Pepper Crushed powder- 2 Tspn
• Salt- To Taste
• Curry Leaves- Few
• Oil- 2 Tspn

Method:

• Separate the chicken pieces to small pieces and remove the bones if you cooked with bones and keep separate.
• Bake the vegetables separately and keep aside.(Use microwave oven for 10 minutes to boil the veggies) and keep separate.
• In a separate pan, pour oil, add curry leaves, and when it cracks up add the ginger garlic paste, onions, green chilies and spring onions and sauté well.
• After the onion gets cooked well, add the eggs and sauté continuously without burning it at the bottom, sauté until you get a proper dried scrambled egg.
• Add the soya sauce, vinegar and pepper powder with salt and sauté again.
• After the masala smell goes off, add the baked chicken pieces and sauté again.
• Now mix well the prepared masala to the cooked rice. Add salt if required.

Tips:

"Add the required salt when you adding the sauces for the perfect taste.

Adjust the pepper powder as per your spice level.

After adding egg you should stir continuously else it may get burnt at the bottom."