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Recipe & Food Styling | Eggless Mango Semolina Squares

10 June 2015 2 Comments

healthy mango semolina eggless cake

It has been 7 years already, the kind of euphoria that Lite Bite is creating, year after year is beyond words.

Lately I have been so wrapped up in constant outdoor photo-shoots and family commitments that this online baby is completely neglected.

But then, it never ceases to surprise me any less. Lite Bite is listed in the ‘Indian Top Blog’ List‘ of 2015  yet again….Lite Bite was already on the list of Top food bloggers on rediff and Awesomecuisine in 2013-14…some good online karmas I suppose 🙂

Hmm…on a happy note, here is a snippet of one another fun-filled and exciting photo-shoot I wish to share.

The shoot was for a popular fast food joint – Bombaysthan, formerly known as Haji Ali in Chennai. I was teamed with very supportive and dedicated photographer, Janeesh with whom I had already worked earlier and was quite comfortable from the word go.

I had visited Haji Ali in T.Nagar many times before I took this assignment and really enjoyed digging into their tall glass of creamy Falooda, fresh fruit creams and cheesy vegetable sandwiches.

The shoot was finalized after a couple of meets with the owner at his restaurant, where we decided the dishes to be shot and the props to be used for individual photographs.

healthy mango semolina eggless cake

The venue of the shoot was at their Besant Nagar branch and I got this (above) wonderful workstation with three large tables to set up my props and start  my day with.

healthy mango semolina eggless cake, food styling

Oh..yes, there were many testing and tasting of the dishes during the shoot….

healthy mango semolina eggless cake, food styling

The supportive staff pampered us with uninterrupted fresh fruit juices and delicious snacks to keep us going….

And here are a few of my favorite shots from our photo-shoot which Janeesh readily agreed to share with me;

healthy mango semolina eggless cake, food styling

Pic courtesy: Bombaysthan and Janeesh

Janeesh got a perfect spot to shoot this picture….

healthy mango semolina eggless cake, food styling

Pic courtesy: Bombaysthan and Janeesh

This shot took a longer time to assemble…we wanted the cream and the fruits to show in separate layers rather than getting lost into each other….and that is where some of my styling tricks came handy 😉

healthy mango semolina eggless cake, food styling

Pic courtesy: Bombaysthan and  Janeesh

Pizza was the last shot of the day as it needed to be properly garnished and perfectly baked before shooting…

I had a wonderful time shooting with Janeesh, thanks to the supportive staff who helped me out in cooking the dishes as I wanted it to be.

Mango Semolina Squares

When celebration is an act of expressing appreciation…

Here is a small treat I shared with my family few days back, to celebrate my son’s hard-work in his 10th board. He scored 98% and was extremely happy with his efforts. Not that marks or exams ever bothered me to judge my children, but if it makes them happy….what better than something sweet to  celebrate…and I baked these Mango semolina squares for him.

I had a good fortune of growing up in a city (Udaipur) which showcased some of the finest mangoes in India.

Dasheri, Badami, Kesar, Langra, Kalmi, Totapuri, gola, Neelam, Safeda, Sinduri, Alphonso….. Yes, living in Udaipur, we were spoiled for choice.

When everyday summer-time menu would boast of recipes such as Aam ras-puri , mango curries, Aam panna (mango cooler), Aam papad (mango leather) or Phirni (dessert) to say the least.

Mango semolina square is one such recipe which mom used to make during summer season. She would even freeze mango puree and use it during off season.

She would add equal parts of semolina and wholewheat flour into fresh mango pulp, a little of cardamon and jaggery, chopped nuts, a pinch of baking powder and cook the batter on a tawa or pan. Her squares looked more like thick and fluffy mango parathas than spongy cakes.

I tried to convert those fluffy parathas into spongy baked goodies by adding honey, yogurt and amaranth in it. You can cook the same batter on griddle to make small pancakes or a large flat cake.

I have used a large fully ripe Alphonso mango to get a lovely colour and natural sweetness in the recipe.

healthy mango semolina eggless cake

Ingredients:

(12-15 small squares)

  • 1 cup semolina
  • 1 cup mango pulp
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 2 tbsp yogurt
  • 2 tbsp. honey
  • 2 tsp. Amaranth seeds (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • Handful of chopped Nuts

healthy mango semolina eggless cake

Method: Preheat the oven at 190°C and grease a shallow rectangular baking tray.

Coarsely chop the nuts. I used a mix of almonds and cashew nuts in the recipe.

Peel and scoop out the pulp from the mango and mash it using a fork or ladle.

Combine semolina (rawa or suji), honey, baking powder, cardamom powder (elaichi), chopped nuts in a large bowl.

Take another bowl and pour oil, yogurt and mango pulp in it and combine well.

Add semolina mixture into the bowl of wet ingredients and keep folding the batter with a fork.

healthy mango semolina eggless cake

Pour the batter in the greased baking tray, sprinkle amaranth seeds (chawli) over the top and bake it for 20-25 minutes or till the top turns light brown in colour.

As the batter is spread thinly on the baking tray, time taken to bake the batter is slightly lesser than that of a cake.

healthy mango semolina eggless cake

Take out the tray from the oven and let it cool completely before slicing the Mango semolina squares.

Notes;

  1. Use normal white sugar or palm sugar if you don’t have honey.
  2. Amaranth seeds are optional in this recipe, it gives a wonderful crunch to the semolina cake recipe.
  3. Roast the semolina slightly before adding to the batter for better results.

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2 Comments »

  • Aysha said:

    Can i replace mango with pumpkin puree..? If yes, then how much sugar should i add to this? Pls reply

  • sanjeeta kk said:

    @Ayasha, yes you can, just check and adjust the sweetness accordingly.

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