Eggless lemon cake with gondhoraj lebu. Whole wheat flour cake flavoured with kaffir lime.
A delicious and aromatic cake made with whole wheat flour, soybean flour and gondhoraj lebu or lime. For more lemon taste you can also spread lemon glaze on the cake.
What is gondhoraj lebu or lime? Oblong shaped green colored and aromatic lime normally used to make dal chawal flavourful. And often used in some fish dishes. You can use it in any dish to get strong lemon flavour.
For all that its aroma and flavour send most Bengalis into paroxysms of joy, the “gondhoraj lebu” or lime does not even have a Wikipedia entry, the ultimate indicator of 21st century relevance.
Call it lime, lemon or lebu, use any spelling of gondhoraj (aroma king), but the internet cache will be woefully small.
The Thais have their kaffir lime and the Caribbeans have key limes. The Chinese have many — from the Canton lime to the misleadingly named Meyer. Do we Indians have one we can call unequivocally our own?
Yes indeed — the gondhoraj. Restaurateur Anjan Chatterjee says the gondhoraj is actually a ‘Rangpur’ lime, the name harking back to its origin in east Bengal, where its heady aroma hangs in the air. The Rangpur is a cross between a lime and a mandarin orange; call it Bengali romanticism, but the gondhoraj does seem to be more than a mere hybrid.
It is too oblong and somewhat hard to be summarily and nonchalantly squished by hand anyway. Cut into longish quarters with the thick green rind intact, it has to be gently pressed to extract but a few drops of actual juice and plentiful bits of aromatic pulp. That minuscule quantity has traditionally been enough to pep up the dullest daal or the most insipid vegetables, on a sweltering summer day.
Sending this post to A to Z challenge, a challenge initiated on Facebook Group, created by Jolly and Vidya.
Wherein a group of bloggers come together and we choose key ingredients alphabetically to cook and post a dish every alternate month. This month’s Alphabet is letter L. And my contribution is this lemon cake with gondhoraj lebu.
Here are some of my earlier posts for this group. Click on the name below for recipe.
2. Corn cottage cheese stir fry
4. Eggs in poppy seeds and tomato gravy
7. Hazelnut honey chocolate mango smoothie
9. Kidney beans or rajma spinach Kabab
I have used whole wheat flour and soybean flour but you can use all purpose flour or maida or any flour of your choice. Soybean flour will make your cake super soft. Recipe is very simple. You don’t need much ingredients to make this eggless aromatic cake. I have used bundt pan. You can use round, square or any cake pan. Even you can make cupcakes with this batter. For more lemon flavour and taste spread some lemon glaze on the cake.
Recipe
Whole wheat flour or atta – 1 cup
Soybean flour – 1/2 cup
Powdered sugar – 3/4 cup
Baking powder – 1 teaspoon
Baking soda – 1/2 teaspoon
Gondhoraj lebu zest – 1 teaspoon
Gondhoraj lebu or lemon juice – 1&1/2 tablespoon
Milk – 1 cup
Oil – 1/4 cup
For glaze
Lemon juice – 1 tablespoon
Powdered sugar – 1/4 cup
Lemon zest – 1/2 teaspoon
Method
1. Preheat the oven at 180°.
2. Grease a baking pan with oil and dust with little flour.
3. Mix gondhoraj lebu or lime juice in 1 cup milk and keep aside. Milk should be in room temperature.
4. In a bowl sieve whole wheat flour, soybean flour, baking powder and soda.
5. In a large bowl whisk oil, powdered sugar, lemon juice mixed milk and lemon zest.
6. Add sieved flour gradually. Mix well and make a smooth lump free batter.
7. Pour the batter into greased and flour dusted baking pan. Tap the pan on your kitchen counter to remove air bubbles.
8. Bake in preheated oven at 180° for 35 – 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Insert a toothpick in center of the cake to check. Let the cake cool down before slicing.
9. Spreading glaze is optional. For lemon glaze whisk lemon juice, powdered sugar and lemon zest. Whisk till smooth.
13. Spread lemon glaze over the cake when completely cool.
14. Slice and serve.
Enjoy the heavenly taste.
Notes
1. If you don’t have gondhoraj lebu, you can use normal lemon to make this cake.
2. You can also use chopped dry fruits if you want.
3. All purpose flour or any flour can be used instead of whole wheat flour and soybean flour.
4. You can use round, square or any cake pan of your choice.
If you tried my recipe, you can share your food pictures with me in the social network sites by using hashtag, #batterupwithsujata
I would love to see your creations.
I would love to hear from you. Please share your thoughts and suggestions in comment.
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