Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cupcakes-Eggless Cake Recipes

Eggless Recipes (especially cakes) have become more of a hobby to me now. Back in the day, I didn't care much whether a cake I baked was eggless or not, but as I was telling a friend recently, a LOT of you bake eggless and each time I post a cake recipe, I immediately get the question "how can I make this cake eggless?" so I started making both versions, and soon, exclusively looking for eggless cake recipes.

There are various methods of making a cake (or cupcake) eggless and I have tried quite a few of them already.

Vegan mango cake
Eggless chocolate cake using bananas
Chocolate sponge cake using vinegar
Eggless vanilla sponge cake using yogurt
Vegan chocolate muffins

There are a few more but the ones above are probably the most successful ones.

So anyway, coming back to using avocados in a chocolate cake. Let me be honest. The idea didn't appeal to me one bit. Although I knew avocados have a pretty neutral flavour and they are beautifully buttery, I still couldn't quite bring myself to do it for a while. Then I bought 2 avocados from the market (at a ridiculously high price, I must add) and forgot about them. They ripened to a mush and I panicked. Guacamole was the obvious answer but I decided to take the plunge and make this vegan chocolate cake recipe from Joy the Baker, but make them into cupcakes.

Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cupcakes

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Makes 10 cupcakes
Adapted from: Joy the Baker

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of all-purpose flour (maida)
3 tbsp of cocoa powder
1/4 tsp of salt
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
1 cup of sugar
2 tbsp of vegetable oil
1/4 cup of chopped avocado (I used one small avocado which was a bit more than 1/4 cup)
1 cup of water
1 tbsp of white vinegar
1 tsp of vanilla extract

How to Make Chocolate Avocado Cupcakes:

0. Pre-heat oven to 350F / 180 C. Line or grease a cupcake tray and set aside.

1. Chop up the avocado and add to a blender or food processor.

Top off with the oil, water, vanilla, vinegar, and the sugar.

2. Blend well until the avocados get pureed completely.

3. Mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. Well, ideally you should sift them together so please do that and don't be like me.

4. Tip the wet ingredients into the dry.

5. Gently whisk together until you see no traces of the dry mixture in the batter.

6. Pour into the lined cupcake tray about 3/4 of the way.

7. Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 30 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a cupcake comes out with dry crumbs. The top may crack a bit, that's totally fine.

I felt like the cupcakes weren't too sweet on their own so I whipped up some lemon-flavoured buttercream to frost the chocolate avocado cupcakes. The m measurements are rough since I don't follow a standard recipe for frosting.

Recipe for Basic Buttercream Frosting (Not Vegan): Beat together - 1 cup of icing sugar + 1/4 cup of softened butter + 1/2 tsp vanilla + 1 tsp lemon zest until stiff. If the frosting is too dry, add some milk (by the drops) or butter and if it's too runny, add more icing sugar.

Pipe on to the cupcakes once they are completely cooled. I also added some finely grated chocolate over it to make it look prettier :)

These cupcakes are a bit on the dense and spongy side but absolutely delicious, especially when paired with the frosting. See what I mean?



You can also make this into a cake in which case this quantity will give you one 8" cake.

Note: I use Valrhona Cocoa Powder for all my baking, which explains the deep colour of my cupcakes. Use any cocoa powder you have in hand, but you may not get the deep brown colour you see here.

Poricha Kuzhambu | Poricha Kozhambu Recipe

Poricha Kuzhambu is a phrase that entered my vocabulary post-marriage (just like Paruppu Usili, actually). It's this wonderful mash-up of a vegetable, cooked toor dal, roasted spices, and fresh coconut. Everything in that list is perfect, so the final dish can be nothing but, right?

Right! My MIL made Poricha Kuzhambu with peas the last time she was here and I loved it. She mentioned then that the most popular vegetable that goes into poricha kuzhambu is podalanga / snake gourd so I tried it with that and loved it! Since I like my kuzhambu a bit on the spicier side, I added a tad more of pepper and red chillies but you can adjust it to your liking.

Poricha Kuzhambu-Poricha Kuzhambu Recipe

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 2-4
Recipe source: Mom-in-law

Ingredients for Poricha Kuzhambu:
1 small podalangai (snake gourd, padavalanga)
1/3 cup of toor dal (tuvar dal, pigeon peas)
1/2 cup of grated coconut
3 tsp of urad dal
1 tsp of whole black peppercorns
1/2 tsp of jeera (cumin) seeds
2 dried red chillies
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1 generous pinch of hing (asafoetida, perungaayam)
1 tbsp + 1 tsp of oil
1 strand of curry leaves
1/4 tsp of black mustard seeds
Salt to taste

How to Make Pudalangai Poricha Kuzhambu:

1. Grate the peel off the snake gourd, halve it, deseed it, and cut into small cubes.

2. Pressure cook the toor dal with enough water until soft. Mash well and set aside.

3. Heat the 1 tsp oil and add the red chillies, jeera, pepper, urad dal, and hing until the urad dal turns golden brown and the red chillies glisten. Set aside to cool.

4. Meanwhile, add the podalangai pieces to a pan along with curry leaves and turmeric powder, and add enough water to just cover it. Bring to boil and cook until the podalangai is soft (about 5-6 mins).

5. Grind the roasted spices along with the coconut to a smooth paste, adding enough water.

Add this to the cooked podalangai mixture and stir well. Add the mashed toor dal and salt and mix again. If the kuzhambu is too thick, add some more water and bring to boil. If too watery, increase heat and cook until the right consistency is reached. Turn off the flame.

6. Heat the 1 tbsp oil and add the mustard seeds. When they begin to pop, dunk the entire thing into the kuzhambu. Still well.

Serve hot with white rice and any dry side dish of your choice. Since this is a coconut-based kuzhambu, a mezhukkupuratti or stir-fry will go well with it.

What's your favourite South Indian Kuzhambu Recipe?

Kothu Roti - Egg Kothu Chapathi Recipe - Quick Indian Snacks

Kothu chapathi is my answer to a kothu parotta craving on a boring Saturday evening when you don't feel like going anywhere near a stove, let alone cook up something. While you do need to go near a stove and even use it for about 10 minutes to make this kothu roti, it's well worth your time.

Most kothu roti recipes I have seen have a mix of vegetables or use a list of spices which I am sure add to the flavour and taste of the dish but I wanted a quick snack using what I had in hand and this simple kothu chapathi recipe hit the spot.

There are many variations to this but I doubt if you will see a simpler kothu roti recipe anywhere!

So, are you ready to make some piping hot kothu roti that gets done in 10 mins?

Kothu Roti-Egg Kothu Chapathi Recipe

Preparation time: 3 minutes
Cooking time: 7 minutes
Serves 2-4

Ingredients for Kothu Roti:
6 roti / chapathi
1 arge onion, sliced thin
4-6 dried red chillies
2 eggs
1 tsp of minced garlic
A few curry leaves
1 tbsp of oil
Salt to taste

How to Make Kothu Roti (Kothi Chapathi):

0. Stack the rotis and cut into half. Cut each half into quarters and then chop those into thin long strips. You can cut them up further into smaller pieces, it's up to you.

1. Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions.

2. When it begins to brown (about 2 mins), add the red chillies torn into halves, curry leaves, and minced garlic. Fry for another 3 mins.

3. Break and add the 2 eggs.

4. Gently scramble without breaking the egg pieces too small. Cook for about 3o seconds until the eggs are cooked yet soft. Add salt and mix well.

5. Add the rot / chapathi strips to this.

6. Mix well and cook for another 1-2 mins until the rotis are heated through and the mixture looks combined and happy.

That's it! Eat piping hot with a fork with a cup of tea or coffee.

Cooking with leftovers is so much fun especially when boring rotis / chapatis turn into something so delicious!

Bhindi Masala Recipe-Okra Masala-How to make Bhindi Masala

Bhindi is one of those vegetables I reach out to if there's very little other option to cook with and Bhindi Masala is probably the last resort recipe I cook using bhindi.

That said, it's easy, it's versatile, and it's not so bad if you can get rid of some of the sliminess of okra (see tips below on how to get rid of the sliminess of okra).

A basic tip I have for cooking with bhindi is to keep the spices simple. Bhindi has a pretty great natural flavour and if you add too much of anything else to it, that ruins it. I don't even add onions to my bhindi masala although I don't necessarily think onions will spoil the flavour of the okra.

Sidenote: Some of my favourite Indian-style Okra recipes: Bhindi Aviyal | Dahi Bhindi Masala | Aloo Bhindi Dry Sabzi | Bhindi Fry | Bhindi Masala with Besan

If I am making a dish with bhindi, I make sure the pulusu / kuzhambu is an attractive one so I paired this with the methi keerai mor kuzhambu from Cooking with Pedatha. Yum!

Bhindi Masala-Bhindi Masala Recipe-Okra Masala

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 2-4

Ingredients for Bhindi Masala:
12 of bhindi (okra, vendakkai)
1 tbsp of oil
1/4 tsp of black mustard seeds
1/2 tsp of split urad dal (ulutham paruppu)
1 tsp of channa dal (kadala paruppu)
1 tsp of red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tsp of ginger garlic paste (optional)
1/2 tsp of cumin powder (jeera powder)
A pinch of hing (asafoetida, perungaayam)
A few curry leaves
Salt to taste

How to Make Bhindi Masala:

1. Wash and prep the okra for cooking - see tips below on how to remove slime from okra.

2. Heat the oil and add the mustard seeds and the urad dal and channa dal. When the mustard starts to pop and the dals turn golden brown, add the okra pieces. Still well until the oil coats the okra pieces.

3. Add the turmeric, hing, chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, curry leaves, and jeera powder. Mix well and stir-fry on medium-high heat until the okra gets cooked soft. This will take about 5 mins. If the okra starts to burn, sprinkle some water very sparingly, and continue to stir and fry.

4. Add salt, mix well, and remove from fire. Serve hot with rice and some pulusu / kozhambu.

Pro tip: How to get rid of the slime (stickiness) of okra?

There are a few things to keep in mind.

- First is the preparation of okra before cooking. Wash the okra and pat dry completely with a dry kitchen towel or paper napkins. Let them sit for a while and lose all moisture outside before you cut in. Slice into thin pieces, as think as you can go.

- If you are frying it, then that takes care of the slime. If you are making a gravy or sabzi with bhindi, make sure the heat is turned on higher than normal and you cook by stirring the okra constantly.

- Adding besan or plain flour or corn flour also absorbs the stickiness quite a bit.

Does anyone have additional tips for removing slime from okra / bhindi?