Sattu ( Horse gram flour)banana muffins
A staple from North India, Sattu was originally made of roasted gram flour but has now evolved to include other nutritious flours like barley, wheat etc. Sattu is a perfect blend of balanced nutrients and is prepared in one of the healthiest cooking methods i.e roasting. In this method, the nutrient value is retained and the shelf life of the ingredients is increased.Its high fibre content makes it healthy for the intestines.Having a low glycemic index, is good for diabetics as well. Sattu has cooling properties.
How did I think of making a Sattu cake?? My younger daughter, who has recently turned very health conscious, was thinking of healthy dessert options and asked me if we could substitute refined flour with sattu and bake a cake.I told her ,one can try.She looked up the net and found a sattu cake recipe using curd, cream ( Malai) and jaggery.This meant someone had already tried & it would be possible to make a sattu cake. That was half the battle won.So i decided to experiment by partial substitution of wheat flour in my banana muffin recipe with sattu. I altered the amount of baking powder as I was slightly skeptical about the cake rising well. The experiment was successful and a great hit.So here we are...
Ingredients:
Ripe Bananas -3 small /2 large
Egg -1
Oil-3/4 cup
Baking soda-1 tsf
Milk- 1/2 cup
Chana Sattu-1 cup
Whole wheat atta-1/2 cup
Brown Sugar-3/4 cup ( I used the Dhampur sugar which is non sticky as opposed to solar which is sticky.If using sticky one, 1/2 cup should suffice)
Baking powder- 2 tsf
Cinnamon powder-1 tsf
Method:
1.Heat milk.Add baking soda.
2.Mash bananas.
3.Add all the ingredients except the egg.Mix gently & wait for this mixture,which has hot milk in it,to cool down and then add the egg.Mix until just combined.
4.Fill well greased muffin pans 1/2 to 3/4 th with batter.
5.Bake at 200ยบ C for 15 to 20 mins.
Variation:
1.Try adding walnuts , raisins, peel, candied fruit, chocolate chips etc.
2.You can use 1 & a 1/2 cup whole wheat flour instead of a combination of sattu & whole wheat flour.
