Healthy jowar flour cake: a maida-free recipe to bake at home

When hunger strikes in the evening, most people pick up something spicy or sweet from the market. Cake is among children's top favourites. Cakes in all kinds of flavours are available in shops, but instead of buying one each time, a healthy and tasty cake can be made at home. Jowar (sorghum) flour makes this easy.

Eating foods made with refined flour (maida) often raises the chance of digestive trouble, so maida should be kept to a minimum in the diet. Once problems such as indigestion and obesity set in, health suffers. This is why adding jowar flour to the diet is advised. Eating jowar helps keep weight under control, and blood sugar does not rise quickly.

Now the ingredients. The cake needs jowar flour, rice flour, cornflour, vanilla custard powder, milk powder, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt. It also needs melted unsalted butter, oil, condensed milk, powdered sugar, thick fresh curd, full-fat milk, vanilla essence and tutti-frutti.

First, put all the dry ingredients, that is, the jowar flour, rice flour, cornflour, custard powder, milk powder, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda and salt, into a sieve and sift them.

Then take the melted butter and oil in a large bowl. Add the condensed milk, powdered sugar, thick curd and vanilla essence. Whisk well with a hand whisk, breaking up any lumps.

When this is smooth, add the sifted dry ingredients a little at a time and keep folding gently. If needed, a little milk can be added to the mixture bit by bit. This gives a smooth cake batter.

Add tutti-frutti to the batter and fold in gently. Then grease a square cake tin with a little butter, pour in the mixture and decorate the top with tutti-frutti.

Place the cake in a preheated oven or cooker to bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The easy, healthy and tasty jowar flour cake is then ready. It is also good for children's tiffin.