Besan banana cakes GF EF NF

 This was my first time using aquafaba in a recipe and I'm REALLY impressed.  I didn't even have to open a chickpea tin to get it!  I boiled some organic chickpea pasta (for a different recipe), then reduced the pasta water till there was only about 1 mug full left, let it cool and later whisked it till it became foamy on top.  I mostly use the foam for this recipe, not much of the water itself.  Other people might prefer to get their aquafaba by using the water from a can of chickpeas, or even the water from other tins of beans (such as black eyed beans), though I haven't tried that.  If you're vegan and okay with nuts, then you can use coconut oil instead of ghee as I did adapt this from a vegan recipe.

The taste and texture of this was good enough that you couldn't tell from the taste that there's no gluten or egg in it.  As I used ripe bananas on the turn, it hardly needs any sugar at all.  In fact, I think I would've got away with putting 1tsp or no added sugar at all cos I think it tastes okay plain- but dad prefers it sweeter, which was why I put a little jam in some of them.  This can be made into a loaf cake (the original recipe was of a loaf cake which I adapted).  The potential for variations of this recipe are endless.  I think some might like to add poppy seeds or grapefruit curd or lemon drizzle to the recipe- though I think it tastes fine even if it's plain as it is.

Gluten free

Egg free

Nut free

Vegetarian

9-10 tbsp gram flour (besan)

3tbsp ghee, melted

2 ripe bananas

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp sugar

Aquafaba as needed

Pinch of salt

Jam (optional)

- In a bowl, whisk the chickpea water until it gets a thick foam layer on top

- In a larger separate bowl, put in the gram flour, baking powder, sugar and salt

- mash the bananas and add them along with the ghee to the dry ingredients and stir

- Spoon 4 tbsp of the aquafaba foam into the dry ingredients bowl, then fold it in so it's just combined

- Spoon the mixture into cake cases till they are half full (or 2/3 full if you don't intend to stuff it with jam or anything in the middle).

- (Optional step): If you'd like a sweeter cake, you can add 1/3teaspoon of jam, then top with another spoonful of the mixture

- Preheat the oven to 170Celcius and bake for 20 mins

- Serve with tea

Namkeen lassi (salty yoghurt shake) GF EF NF

 Very refreshing in the hot weather.  I used to prefer sweet lassi when I was younger but as my BP dropped dramatically during the heatwave- I not only needed this but enjoyed it.  Salt preferences can vary as I thought it tasted fine with 0.5tsp (cooking) salt per (2.5 glasses) batch but mum preferred 1tsp.

Gluten free

Egg Free

Nut Free

Ingredients:

6-8tbsp plain yoghurt (I used greek here)

2.5 tall glasses water

1 level teaspoon salt (or to taste)

- In a blender (or lassi making pot/madaani) put the yogurt, salt and half a glass of water and blend so that they're properly mixed

- Add the remaining water and blend again until it develops a foamy layer on top, then serve- perfect for a hot summer's day

Kaara (turmeric milk)

My dad found this drink helped to alleviate his back pain.  I should add that what I say should not be taken as medical advice- merely an anecdote regarding the fact that we found this remedy helpful for alleviating pain.

This is not suitable for nut allergy sufferers as we do put crushed nuts into it.  If you're vegan or lactose intolerant, then you could try this remedy using a plant based milk such as almond milk or hemp milk instead.

Ingredients:

1 mug milk

1/2 teaspoon ghee

1/3 teaspoon turmeric

1/3 teaspoon poppy seeds (optional)

1/2 teaspoon honey

1/4 teaspoon ginger

a pinch of black pepper

a pinch of cinnamon (optional)

3 strands of saffron (optional)

2 or 3 crushed nuts of your choice (I used walnuts and almonds but you can use pistachio or whatever your prefer)

Method:

- Put the ghee in a pan that's on low to medium heat, then stir all the other ingredients except the milk and honey to lightly toast them for a minute or two

- Add the honey and milk and bring it to the boil and it's ready to serve (or you can strain it before serving if you prefer)

Banana pancakes (GF) (EF) (SF) (NF) (V)

Ramadan mubarak!  I have adverse reactions to eggs and nuts as well as gluten.  So finding such an easy recipe that meets those requirements and happens to taste nice is like striking gold!  It's still subtley sweet even without any sugar which matters to me as I'm prediabetic.  I used butter but if you want the recipe to be vegan, just use coconut oil or other suitable oil for shallow frying.  The banana I used was ripe (though hardly had any brown spots) and about 5-6 inches long to give an idea of proportions- it just shouldn't be a green or under ripe banana.  Extra ingredients can be added to this such as chocolate chips, raisins or maple syrup but I had these plain and consider that to be unnecessary.  This recipe makes roughly 6 scotch size pancakes

Gluten Free

Egg Free

Sugar Free

Nut Free

Vegetarian

2/3 cup besan (gram flour)

1 banana

A little butter for frying

Water

- In a blender, mix the gram flour, banana and enough water to make it into a batter that's the consistency of slightly runny custard (Optional: at this point you can add cinnamon or maple syrup to the batter)

- In a non stick pan on a medium heat, dab a little butter in different parts of the pan, then pour ladles/spoons of batter, I use roughly one third of a teaspoon of butter/ghee per pancake (Optional: at this point you can add currants, raisins, chocolate chips, or other flavours of your choice)

- When the bottom of the pancake is cooked, it stops being runny and doesn't stick so at that point flip it over and cook the other side for a minute

- Repeat the second and third steps until you run out of batter and serve plain for breakfast (maybe even consider it for sehri) with a cup of tea, or alternatively it can be served with maple syrup or nutella

Mango lassi (and blueberry) lollies (GF) (NF) (EF) (V)

Long time no post. Actually my health problems have made it more difficult for me to cook anything so I have to rely more on others to cook and try out new gluten free recipes for me- then I'm reluctant to post about them cos it feels inauthentic to post about something I didn't make myself. This recipe was so easy though, that I did make it myself.

This recipe made about 6 iced lollies and the mangoes have to be those amazing Pakistani mangoes in season as I haven't tasted anything else that quite measures up. It tastes good without the blueberries but with them, they add a nice contrast to the sweetness.  If you don't have stevia, you can use 2 teaspoons of muscavado or icing sugar in this recipe (instead of one teaspoon stated below).  Made these for Eid as the weather has been hot recently and it turned out really well.  I'm sure it's possible to make these look prettier by layering the white yogurt mixture and the turmeric coloured yellow mixture to give it a marbled effect- but I didn't have the energy to do that. (post edited in 2023 to add improvements to original recipe).

 

Gluten Free 

Nut Free 

Egg Free 

Vegetarian 

1 ripe Pakistani mango, peeled and chopped into small pieces 

20 blueberries (optional)

6-7 dessert spoons plain greek or natural yogurt (not set) 

1 level teaspoon muscavado or icing sugar 

100ml double cream 

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

A pinch of saffron 

4 drops stevia 

- Add turmeric and saffron to the cream, then heat in a pan or microwave and then set aside to cool 

- In a blender, pour in the saffron cream, add stevia and half of the mango and blend

- Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl and add the saffron cream mixture 

- Pour the mixture into lolly moulds, ensuring that there's enough mango and blueberries in each one and enough yogurt mixture to fill them, then add the tops and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours or overnight 

- Once the lollies are frozen and ready to serve, you may have to run the lolly mould under a hot tap so that it's easier to remove the lolly from the mould and then it's ready to serve

Tomato soup with garlic bread (GF) (NF) (V)

Ramadan Mubarak. This is such a simple recipe and it led me to realise how much sugar is added to tinned soups which is so unnecessary. Maybe you'd think of buying a ready made baguette from the supermarket as "cheating" but admit it, most of you probably get ready made frozen garlic bread from the supermarket anyway... and yes, I have noticed that the freezer section does sell ready made gluten free garlic bread, but admittedly I think the manufacturer was a bit stingy when it came to how much garlic and butter to put in, so I prefer to make it like this. I saw a soup recipe a lot like this one on TV, but this recipe is how I prefer my garlic bread more along these lines.

Whatever baguette you buy, check the label to ensure it conforms to your dietary requirements in case you're looking for something egg free or to suit other allergies or intolerances. If you want the recipe to be dairy free; the soup itself is vegan so just look for a dairy free baguette and grind the garlic into some olive or rapeseed oil instead of butter. This recipe is based on the baguette being roughly 12 inches long.


Gluten Free
Nut Free
Vegetarian

400g tin san Marzano tomatoes
1 finely chopped shallot
a handful of roughly chopped basil
1 ready made gluten free baguette
60g butter (preferably left at room temperature for an hour)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
a little salt and ground black pepper to taste

- Preheat the oven to 180 celcius or gas mark 5

- In a food processor or with a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic, mix in the butter, oregano, salt and up to half of the olive oil and mix together

- With a knife, every 2-3cm make cut marks into the baguette that go 3/4 deep (ie cut most of the way through but not all the way through), then stuff each of those cut gaps with the garlic butter mixture, then place on a baking tray and bake for about 10-15 minutes by which time the butter should melt and the baguette should be golden brown

- Meanwhile put the remaining olive oil in a pan on medium heat, then add the shallot; you want to cook the shallot for about a minute till it is softened, but not changing colour as we don't want it to turn brown

- Add the tinned tomatoes and most of the basil (reserve one sprig for serving at the end) and simmer for 2-3 minutes, then blitz the soup using a blender or stick blender (if using a blender, you have to remove the middle part of the lid and cover it with a tea-towel for this bit), add salt and black pepper to taste and stir

- Serve the soup in a soup bowl with the remaining sprig of basil on top (optional: you can also drizzle a little olive or basil infused oil over the soup at this point) and serve the garlic bread on the side

Cheat's tiramisu (GF) (V)

This is hardly even a recipe as it's so easy to make, but it looks quite impressive. The key is to serve it in small glass dishes, ideally glass espresso cups. I don't have an espresso maker at home so I cheat by using instant coffee, but if you do have espresso to hand, ideally this should be made with it. There are two types of amaretti available in the shops: one is crunchy like a biscuit and the other is soft almost like a cake. I make this using the soft amaretti but you can use the crunchy biscuits if you prefer. Depending on how sweet you want the tiramisu to be, you can mix a little sugar or two drops of stevia into the coffee to offset its bitterness. This recipe serves two small portions.



Gluten Free
Vegetarian

4-5 dessert spoons mascarpone
3 amaretti biscuits
2-3 teaspoons grated dark chocolate (or mini chocolate chips)
a few tablespoons of cold prepared coffee (preferably espresso)

- In a glass espresso cup, place one amaretti biscuit, then break a second amaretti in half and place it on top of it (repeat each of these steps with a 2nd cup to make the 2nd portion)

- Pour 2-3 dessert spoons of coffee over the amaretti in order to moisten and just about cover it

- Spoon roughly 2 teaspoons of mascarpone over the amaretti to form a layer over it (I spoon the mascarpone as it is, but you can whip the mascarpone beforehand with a little milk or single cream to make it less dense and easier to spoon over), then sprinkle some of the dark chocolate over it (this adds texture and colour)

- Spoon another 2-3 teaspoons of mascarpone (this should fill the cup) and then smooth the top a little with the back of the spoon

- To serve, either sprinkle a little cocoa powder on top or a little more grated chocolate, then place the espresso cup with a teaspoon in a saucer and serve