50 recipes that use bicarbonate of soda, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Peanut butter cookies, takes 25 minutes. It is most often cooked with butter, sugar and milk.
Run out of bicarbonate of soda? Baking powder, three times the amount.
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Mathia are thin, crisp, slightly sweet and peppery wafers made from mathia flour, a mix of ground husked moong and urad dal. They are a classic Gujarati Diwali snack. The dough is pounded until pale, rolled very thin between plastic sheets and fried one at a time. They are fragile, so store them gently. To make mathia flour, finely grind 4 parts husked green gram lentils with 1 part husked black gram lentils.
The blacker the bananas, the better the loaf. This one is mixed in a single bowl with melted butter and a little brown sugar, so it's soft, deeply banana-y and keeps well for days.
Thin squares of paneer sandwiched with a fresh coriander, mint and chilli filling, dipped in a spiced gram-flour batter and fried until golden. Soft inside and crisp outside. Serve hot with chilli sauce, ketchup or chutney.
Thin pancakes folded around a spiced paneer and vegetable filling, baked in a garlicky tomato sauce under cheese and capsicum. Serve hot with green and mint chutneys.
Sanchar papdi are thin diamonds of rice, gram and urad flour dough that blister and bubble as they fry, then get a dusting of sugar, chilli and sanchar (black salt). They are crisp, light and tangy, and a lovely tea-time snack. Pounding the dough until pale makes them extra crisp.
Patta gathia are flat, ribbon-like strips of gram flour dough, rolled paper-thin under the palm on a wooden board and fried until crisp. Black pepper and ajwain give them their flavour. They are a classic Gujarati tea-time snack and are great with fried chillies and papaya sambharo.
Papdi atta (papdi no lot) is a soft, steamed rice-flour dough cooked in water seasoned with cumin, ajwain, sesame, cinnamon and cloves, then shaped into little rounds and steamed until tender. It's a much-loved Gujarati snack, eaten hot with a drizzle of raw oil and khichi sambhar masala.
Small mushroom caps are filled with a garlicky, spicy breadcrumb and onion paste, dipped in a three-flour batter and fried until golden. They are crisp outside and juicy inside. Serve them hot with chilli sauce.
Golden fried paneer cubes layered with a creamy, nutmeg-scented spinach sauce and a garlicky tomato gravy, then baked under cheese. Serve hot with naan or bread.
Lilva-style kachori: small crisp pastry balls filled with crushed green peas, potato and coconut, sweet, sour and spicy with sugar, lemon, ginger and chilli. They're a Gujarati winter favourite. Serve hot with red and green chutneys. The filling also makes a stuffing for stuffed buns.
An Indian twist on spaghetti and meatballs: soft paneer kofta, fried until golden, served on buttered spaghetti with a sweet and tangy tomato gravy and a sprinkle of cheese. Children love it.
Classic crunchy ginger biscuits made with golden syrup and plenty of ground ginger. Good for dunking in tea, and they keep for weeks in an air-tight tin.
Big, crunchy cookies made with jumbo porridge oats and desiccated coconut, then rolled in more oats and coconut before baking. Wholesome and filling, perfect for lunchboxes.
Wholesome, lightly sweet biscuits with wheat bran flakes, wholewheat flour and chopped dates, warmed with nutmeg. A good mid-morning snack.
A Gujarati favourite: tender valore (Indian flat beans) cooked in a sweet, sour and spicy tomato masala with ajwain, then mixed with crisp fried methi muthia, little dumplings of wheat and gram flour full of fresh fenugreek. The muthia soak up the gravy beautifully. Serve hot with chapaties.
The great Gujarati winter feast: papdi, fresh pigeon peas, baby potatoes, suran, sweet potato, small brinjals and ripe bananas, slit and stuffed with a green masala of fresh green garlic, coriander and coconut, slow-cooked with fried fenugreek muthia. It's cooked gently under a plate of water so the vegetables steam in their own juices. This makes a big pot for 20; serve hot with chapaties or puri.
Chewy-crisp cookies made with crunchy peanut butter, honey and condensed milk, with rice crisps for crunch and roasted peanuts on top. No creaming needed: everything is melted together.
Buttery cookies with chopped pistachios, crushed rice bubbles, coconut and a hint of chocolate, each topped with more pistachio. Crunchy outside and tender inside.
Crunchy, wholesome biscuits made with crushed Weetabix (wheat biscuit cereal), coconut and mixed nuts, rich with fresh cream and rolled in more cereal and pistachio. If the dough is too firm, add 1–2 tbsp milk.
Chewy brown-sugar cookies loaded with roasted macadamia nuts, white chocolate chunks, oats and coconut. A bakery favourite that is easy to make at home.
Hearty wholemeal cookies with rolled oats, mixed nuts and coconut. Pressed with a fork and baked until brown, they are a wholesome tea-time biscuit.
Bhatura are big, soft, puffy fried breads made from a curd-leavened dough. This version has fresh coriander, fenugreek and tomato in the dough. Serve them straight from the pan with channa paneer masala or a curry of your choice. For masala bhatura, add chopped green chillies, coriander, onion and garam masala to the dough.
A quicker bhatura that needs no long rising: soaked bread and yogurt with a pinch of bicarbonate make the dough soft and puffy, and wholemeal flour and fresh fenugreek add flavour. Deep fried until golden, they're ideal with channa paneer masala.
Uttapam are thick South Indian pancakes made from a fermented rice and urad dal batter mixed with onion, green chilli, coconut and coriander. They're topped with a sprinkle of chilli and cumin, covered and cooked until crisp underneath. Serve hot with sambhar and mint coconut chutney.
Small, crisp squares of brown-sugar butter dough mixed with crunchy home-made almond praline, then topped with cinnamon and more praline. A lovely biscuit for festive tins. Like all biscuits, they feel soft in the oven and crisp up as they cool.
Crisp, golden finger biscuits flavoured with aniseed, made in the book with a biscuit press (No. 4 disc) to give long ridged strips. Without a press, shape small ovals and mark them with a fork.
A big batch of crunchy cookies with rolled oats, coconut, chopped almonds and chunks of cooking chocolate. For a change, use cashew nuts instead of almonds.
Rustic, crunchy cookies made with wholewheat flour, porridge oats, brown sugar and fresh coconut, with a gentle aniseed note from fennel seeds. Not too sweet, so they are good with a cup of tea or masala chai, and they keep well in a tin.
Golden butter biscuits flavoured the Indian way with saffron and coarsely ground cardamom, each topped with flaked almonds. Light and crisp, they are lovely for Diwali tins and with tea. For plain biscuits leave out the flavourings, or add 1 tsp vanilla essence instead to make vanilla biscuits.
A big batch of party biscuits: a buttery dough with mixed nuts, chocolate pieces, cherries and coconut, bound with coco-pine juice (mixed coconut and pineapple juice). The dough is shaped into rolls, chilled and sliced thin, so you can bake as many as you need. Leftover coconut milk can be frozen in ice-cube trays and used whenever required.
Rich, crunchy biscuits made with equal weights of flour, sugar, butter, cashews and desiccated coconut. Simple to make and very more-ish with tea or coffee.
Melt-in-the-mouth biscuits made with semolina and coconut, each pressed into a mix of shredded pistachio and almond. Similar to nankhatai, and very easy: everything goes into one bowl.
Plain, crisp, old-fashioned biscuits flavoured with custard powder, the kind that fill a big tin. Shape them as thin ovals with a fork, or roll and cut rounds and prick holes in them. For a change, swap the custard powder for 5 tsp ground ginger and 1½ tsp ground cardamom, or use wholemeal wheat flour instead of plain flour.
Short, crumbly crescent biscuits flavoured with instant coffee and ground walnuts, rolled in caster sugar while still warm. Lovely with an after-dinner coffee and at festive times.
Wholemeal pastry sweetened only with honey, sandwiching a thick filling of dates, lemon and mixed nuts. Glazed with milk and sprinkled with sugar, it is like a home-made fig roll in slice form.
A quick baked oat bar with coconut and a touch of cocoa and golden syrup, pressed thin and cut while warm. Crisp, buttery and very easy.
An eggless coffee sponge made with condensed milk, split and soaked in a cocoa, coffee and brandy glaze, then filled and covered with vanilla whipped cream, flaked almonds and grated chocolate. A grand party cake; use brandy essence instead of brandy for an alcohol-free version.
A moist, oil-based carrot cake spiced with cinnamon and full of chopped nuts and mixed peel. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. For a change, use 2 cups drained, chopped tinned pineapple instead of the peel. Contains egg.
An eggless carrot cake made with condensed milk and oil, with chopped cashews, mixed peel and cinnamon. Moist and lightly spiced; serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped fresh cream.
A small, moist chocolate cake made without eggs, using condensed milk and fresh orange juice and rind for a lovely chocolate-orange flavour. Serve with chocolate sauce.
The book's basic eggless sponge, made with condensed milk and melted butter in one bowl. Sandwich it with jam and top with coconut, ice it any way you like, or use it for the Pinacolada cake. For a coconut cake, add 100 g desiccated coconut to the mixture.
A dark, moist eggless chocolate sponge, split and moistened with orange juice, filled and covered with whipped fresh cream, and finished with halved strawberries and grated chocolate. A show-stopping birthday cake.
An eggless, dark and spicy fruit loaf flavoured with cocoa, cinnamon and black treacle, with mixed nuts and dried fruit. It is brushed with brandy while warm and dusted with icing sugar. Serve in slices with fresh cream. Leave out the sherry and brandy for an alcohol-free loaf.
A simple, eggless fruit cake made with condensed milk, packed with mixed nuts, dried fruit and cherries and warmed with ginger and cinnamon. The book says it can be used as a wedding cake.
A homely eggless cake made with crushed Weetabix (wheat biscuit cereal), chopped apple, cashews and cinnamon, bound with condensed milk. Serve warm with ice cream.
These gulab jambu are made with milk powder, grated carrot and a creamy semolina mixture, fried slowly until golden and soaked overnight in syrup so they're soft and juicy all the way through. The carrot gives them a lovely colour and gentle sweetness. Serve them halved, decorated with nuts and rose petals, with fresh cream.
A homely baked pudding of julienned cooking apples tossed with breadcrumbs and cinnamon, topped with a buttery almond mixture and baked until golden. The apples turn soft and tangy under a crisp, nutty crust. Serve it warm with ice cream or custard sauce.
Crisp, buttery half-moon pastries filled with chopped apricots, pears, figs, cherries and almonds soaked in honey with a little cardamom and cinnamon. They're sweet, fruity and lightly spiced. Serve them hot with ice cream, or cold with tea; the recipe makes about 36 small pastries.
Crumbly, buttery biscuit dough is rolled out, spread with a soft date filling flavoured with cinnamon and lemon, rolled into logs, sliced and baked into pretty pinwheels. They make a big batch of 50 and keep well in an airtight tin. Serve with tea, or with ice cream as a dessert.
The fasting-day gulab jambu: soft balls of mawa (khoya) and mashed potato bound with cassava flour, scented with saffron and cardamom, fried slowly to a deep golden brown and soaked in cardamom syrup with pistachios and almonds. Soak them for 3–4 hours so they turn juicy all the way through. Makes 35 small jambu.
