Banana Apple Walnut Cake (Vegan Of Course)

Howdy Kittens!

So today we have a no fail cake. This the go-to cake I make that usually garners generic but consistent responses such as, 'this is pretty good', ' I like this cake, rheea', 'nice cake'.

Of course all bakers dream of more nuanced replies, but it will have to do for now.

This is a tea cake that goes hella good with coffee/ tea and makes you feel like you are eating something vaguely healthy. Not really, but still.

I made a version for this last week for a dinner party and it was a winer item. Although I had omitted the apples in that one (you can too, just add another banana instead)

Here's What You Need

2 cups flour
1 banana
1 red apple
1/3rd cup oil ( I used olive)
1/2 cup soya mylk (or any other plant-based mylk like coconut, cashew or almond)
3/4th cup brown sugar (use white if you don't have it, but I recommend brown)
A pinch of salt
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
2 tablespoons cinnamon powder
3/4th cup broken walnuts
1 teaspoon baking soda
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
3/4th cup desiccated coconut (optional)



How to Make

First peel, core, and cut you apple into pieces. Blend into applesauce using your blender. Add some water to it so it blends well.

Fresh Applesauce

In a large bowl pour your apple sauce, oil, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in. Give it a good stir. Now add your banana in and start to mash it up real good. Once it's integrated well into the mix add your soya (or plant-based mylk) as well. Stir it up.

Pre-mashed banana

Using a sieve pour in your 2 cups of flour, baking powder, and soda. Add the coconut if you are using it and the walnuts. Blend well. It should be a thick but pourable batter. If it's too dry add a few tablespoons more of soya mylk until you have a nice cake batter consistency.

Let it look like this, kk?

Pre-heat oven to 180c. Pour batter into a loaf tin. Pop that baby in for 35-40 min. Check with a toothpick or knife to see if it's done in the middle. This cake takes a little more time to bake, so start doing check after 30 minutes or so.

Parchment Paper, so worth it cats

Let it cool. If you were smart you used parchment paper to line the loaf tin. After 30 min or so take out the cake. If you didn't use parchment paper, make sure you grease the pan well and then loosen the sides with a knife before popping the cake out.  Slice them up and offer it to people you like.

YAY! Where's the coffee?

Till then. Keep it kind. Keep it real.

Vegan Maple Syrup Cookies ( with a dash of almond flour)

Yo Peacocks !

So my mother just came in from Denver this morning. She visits Bangalore every 6 months to see me. This time she brought me a bunch of vegan swag. Vegan breakfast bars, plant-based protein powder, nutritional yeast, and even vegan mac & cheese boxes. I know, vegan hipster to the epic hilt. But the one glorious thing I really wanted was maple syrup. Because it's just way too expensive here.

So of course I am going to be annoying and tell you how to make maple syrup cookies fully knowing that it's really too much money to spend on a cookie ingredient. But, the thing is you can still make these cookies with quarter the amount of maple syrup (for the flavour) and use sugar for the rest. That way you can make good economy with your maple syrup.

flour, almond flour, and that liquid gold

Since I got a bunch of maple from the land of plenty, I went all out and made these cookies with zero sugar and 100% maple syrup.


These are super simple to make and taste so good. I have used 3/4th cup of almond flour (added to  the regular flour) for some extra yum-num and texture. Crispy on the outside and moist inside. Just a solid cookie.

Here's what you need

2 cups flour
3/4th cup almond flour (just blend almonds in a blender and sieve)
1 cup maple syrup (or use 3/4th cup powdered sugar +1/4 cup maple syrup)
1/3 rd cup oil/neutral oil like sunflower
1/4th cup coconut mylk (or any other plant-based mylk)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vinegar (optional, but for extra moistness)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla essence


Make it

Sieve your flour, almond flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder into a large bowl. Gently mix.

Flour, Almond Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, salt + Excitement to make this dope!

In another bowl mix your oil, coconut mylk,  vanilla, vinegar (if you are using it),  and maple syrup. It will look like crap, but trust, k?

It's not a looker. But trust. Coconut mylk, maple syrup, vanilla, oil

Now slowly pour your wet mixture into your dry mix and keep mixing. You have to get a dough going (it can be a bit sticky). Now knead that dough with your hands.

Pop it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. After that roll out into long tubes and cut circles of dough with a knife.

Cut the cookie dough

Preheat oven to 180c. Place your cookies on a greased pan or on parchment paper. Add any decoration like sprinkles, crushed almond or a dash of powdered sugar.

All ready for that oven

Pop those babies in for 12-15 minutes. Depending on the size of your oven  you might have to do 2 batches.

Let them cool for a few minutes. Now share. Best had with black coffee. But that's biased advice because I think in genereal, life goes best with black coffee.

Till  next time, keep it kind and keep it real!

Mighty Vegan Veggie Fox Millet Pulav ( Demolish your Veggie Quota)

So Many Veggies. So Many Feelings

This is for real my 6th post in January, and the damn month is not even over. I am on a blog binge, and it's likely to end at some random time you least expect it. So make merry with my sort-of-amazing vegan recipes now.

Remember how I am supposed to be off rice (and all other shitty carbs and sugary sweet things?) Yeah, so it's fox millet time. Shilpa, our friend, (and founder of Jus'Amazin, plant based treats) brought in some millet salad today, and told us she makes pulav/biriyani with it too. Aha, what a great slip of tongue, had she any idea I would go right to it and make some the very same night?

So I thought, let's get a crap ton of veggies in while we're at it. Because, you know us vegans don't get enough protein (there is plenty protein in vegetables, FYI)

So all you need is your standard masalas, some fox millet (easy to get these days in a bunch of stores), and all the veggies you can find in your fridge. It's nice and spicy, and I added mint and coconut too for a little bit of a south-indian twist.

Here's What You Need

1 cup fox millet

1 green pepper (capsicum)

1 onion

2 tomatoes

1 carrot

1 cup chopped spinach 

1/2 cup frozen or fresh peas

small punch of mint leaves

small bunch of cilantro (dhanya)

3 green chilies (less if you're a wimp)

6 pods of garlic

2 inches of fresh ginger

1 packet of your favorite ready-made biryani masala (I used Shaan bombay biryani)

1/2 cup fresh or dried coconut

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon chili powder

6-8 pepper corns

2 pinches of mustard seeds

salt to taste

1/2 cup coconut milk

cooking oil

How to Make

Like hell I was going to experiment combining the masala and fox millet in one pot the very first time I used millet. So we did things separately to avoid an  epic fail. 

First you gotta add your cup of fox millet to about 11/2 cups of water and open cook it. You might need a little more water after the first 10 minutes of cooking. You'll need to cook it for about 20 min. 

Cooking them millets

Blend your ginger and garlic with a little water to make a paste. Now blend half the cilantro with your chilies and mint and make a green paste. Chop all the rest of your veggies.

In a pot, add two table spoons of oil. Add mustard seeds and peppercorns and then the fresh ginger-garlic paste. Now add your onions and fry for a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes, stir, then pour the green paste over it and mix. Now is a good time to add your packet of biryani masala, chili powder, turmeric, and salt. Mix it all up. Add the rest of your veggies (peppers, carrots, peas, spinach, or whatever you decided you want to use) and mix. Add your coconut milk and fresh/dried coconut. It should be a nice thick spicy gravy with veggies. Add a little bit of water and keep letting it cook. 

Once your millet is ready, spoon it into the gravy mixture and mix well. Let it all be in one pot now on low flame for 3-4 minutes. Serve in a bowls with some vegan peanut curd or sneak in some chips or something crunchy with it ( I won't tell)

Dinner is done!

Now go tell your veggie quota for the day what's up. 

That's right! You ate all you veggies. And it was delicious. 

Till next time!