Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get hold of a delicious vegan cake? As vegan cakes lack eggs, butter and milk to create that soft pillowy texture of the regular cakes, finding one which is delicious and soft is not easy. Many a times, I have bought vegan cakes and brownies but only to get home to a dry crumbly one which is not worthy of its name at all. So I decided to attempt to make one of my own albeit trepiditiously. I'm more of a cook not so much of a baker.

I came across this following recipe in veggie desserts and it turned out quite good. My vegan girls loved it and it didn't last long in the fridge! The ganache was totally lick-worthy but I felt the cake itself could use more sugar and moisture as it was a little dry. The following recipe yieds a 6x3 inch high cake which can be cut into 10 reasonably sized slices. 

Ingredients 
Cake Batter 
300ml (1 and 1/4 cups) unsweeteened dairy free milk - soy milk, almond milk)
1 tbsp lemon juice 
150 gm (2/3 cup) vegan butter or margarine
3 tbsp golden syrup/maple syrup
2 tsp instant coffee granules

2 and 1/4 cups (275gm) plain flour
1 cup ( 225gm) caster sugar
4 tbsps unsweetened cocoa
2tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Chocolate Ganache
1/3 cup (75gm) vegan butter 
1 and 2/3 cups icing sugar
4 tbsps unsweetened cocoa 
2 tbsps water 

Method
1) First, preheat the oven to 180 deg C or 350 F. Lightly grease 2 round baking pans of 6x3 dimensions.
2) Get a small bowl and mix the lemon juice into the dairy free milk. Set aside to curdle into buttermilk consistency.   

3) Next, get a small pot and melt the vegan butter on low heat. Add the coffee granules and golden syrup. Stir till mixed well, switch off fire and let it cool 

4) Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl.

5) Now, mix in the coffee butter mixture and the curdled dairy free milk into this sieved flour mix. Mix well but don't over mix. 

6) Your batter should be of slightly thick consistency.  

7) Pour the batter into the 2 prepared baking tins and bake in the oven for 30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely. 

8) For the ganache, whisk all the ingredients in a bowl.

9) Slice off the top layer of one of the cakes so that the ganache can be applied evenly onto a flat cake. Start icing the top of the sliced cake. Sandwich with the other cake and spread the icing over the top of the cake. Freeze it for 30 mins to an hour to set the ganache.  

10) Serve with a hot cup of plain tea to enjoy it to the fullest.

Baby Eggplants in Tangy Tomato Gravy was a hit in my Diwali gatherings in Oct and Nov last year. It is my mom's quintessential dish and I must say it is quite a flavourful one After receiving several requests for her recipe, I decided to post it here. I have tried to make it numerous times but without success. Today's version, however, seemed close to what my mom churns out for us whenever we request for our gatherings and celebrations. Choose baby eggplants as they can be fried whole and they present well but other types of eggplants can also be used as well. If you are using other types of eggplants, please note that they should be cut into 2 inches. I have used coconut milk to give the gravy its thickness and also to keep it vegan but you can substitute with cooking cream.

Ingredients (serves 4 as a side dish)
500gm baby eggplants
​2bsp canola oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1 large tomato, cut into medium sized chunks
1 sprig curry leaves
1 tsp chilli powder

Tamarind Tomato Mix
1 tsp tamarind paste dissolved in 2 cups of water
1 tsp coriander powder
3/4 (three quarters ) tsp cumin powder
1/2 (half) tsp black pepper powder
1/2 (half) tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp salt (or to your preference)
1 tsp brown sugar

2 tbsps coconut milk
coriander leaves for garnishing
​

Method
1) Wash and cut the eggplants but not all the way through so it still remains intact at the stem. Soak in salted water for 10 mins. Then, drain away and rinse twice in plain water. This is to remove any bitterness present in the eggplants.

2) Prepare the tamarind tomato mix while the egglants are soaking. Dissolve 1 tsp of tamarind paste in 2 cups of water. Throw away any seeds and skin residue and only keep the tamarind solution. In this solution, add all the masala powders, tomato chunks, salt and sugar.  

3) Deep fry the eggplants. This is not very healthy but I'm posting a very authentic recipe to show how it was orginally done. Please do try shallow frying or airfrying. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside. 

4) Take a skillet or a flat pan and heat 2 tbsp canola oil. Fry the onion and curry leaves for 2-3 minutes. Add in 1 tsp chilli powder and be careful it doesn't burn. 

5) At this point, add in the tamarind tomato mix and let the mix boil for 5- 10mins till the liquid is half in quantity.

6) Once the liquid has reduced in quantity, add in 2 tbsps coconut milk and stir. Followed by the fried eggplants. Its important you don't stir the eggplants too much as we are keeping them whole. Stirring them too much will dissolve them into the gravy.

7) Serve warm garnished with coriander leaves. Goes particularly well with Vegetable Korma and plain basmati rice.