Mawa cake is a moist, dense, decadent and delicious Indian cake. It is not overly sweet and makes for a perfect accompaniment along with your tea or coffee!
Hi guys! Hope everyone is doing great! I’m back after an unexpected mini hiatus. I’ve missed blogging but I also feel super refreshed after the little break. Another break is not very far off but this time I’ll definitely be scheduling some posts.
Mawa cake is amongst the popular Indian cake recipes , an absolute must-have on the menu of every Irani/Parsi cafe/bakery. It is dense, moist and buttery.
- WHAT IS MAWA?
- HOW TO MAKE MAWA CAKE?
- ENJOYED THIS MAWA CAKE? HERE ARE SOME INDIAN CAKE RECIPES FOR YOU TO TRY
- STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE INDIAN MAWA CAKE
- HOW TO MAKE MAWA CAKE?
- Mawa Cake | How To Make Mawa Cake
WHAT IS MAWA?
For the uninitiated, mawa is nothing but milk solids, left behind by heating the milk on low heat for hours until all the moisture is evaporated. This resultant dough left behind is mawa or khoya or khoa- milk solids which are used practically for most Indian sweets and savory dishes like the basic white gravy in Punjabi cuisine.
I’ve shared a few Indian sweet recipes using mawa powder in my earlier posts, like this kesar (saffron) peda , mango mawa burfi , and chocolate mawa peda . In terms of savory dishes, I’ve used little milk mawa powder to make this delicious methi matar malai paneer .
HOW TO MAKE MAWA CAKE?
This is a pretty simple and basic cake recipe , infused with mawa, flavored with cardamom or nutmeg and topped with nuts, usually cashew nuts & almonds. This is super rich and also so addictive at the same time. It’s not difficult to sight patrons feasting on some mawa cake or a plate of bun maska along with a cup of chai at these dwindling, old world charm Irani cafes.
Even the mawa cakes at Merwans in Andheri, a Mumbai suburb and B. Merwan in Grant Road, sells like hotcakes. A trip to Mumbai would be incomplete without having a mawa cake from one of these famous cafes/stores.
We had an Irani cafe next to our college, St. Xavier’s in Mumbai, and so a trip to this cafe would inevitably happen every now and then 😀 Oh the bread pudding and baked custard was to die for too! So so good!
You know how some things are outrageously downright delicious and they don’t make the best-photographed food? In my opinion, this mawa cake fits that category. It may look ordinary, but let me tell you, it is one of the best cakes you will ever have! It requires no frosting, is best eaten as is 🙂 So good that you won’t mind eating it for breakfast or dessert, perfect with tea or coffee 😀
So how do you go about making one of the best tea time cakes ever? I simply added mawa to my basic, fail-proof vanilla cake , to yield a delicious mawa cake. Worked like a charm and taste just like the Parsi mawa cakes. Everyone at home attests to this!
Truth be told, I can happily buy dozens of mawa cupcakes from these bakeries. There are none where I live, but thanks to that adversity I learnt to bake my own mawa cake, which I can make and relish anytime!
This recipe is for mawa cake with eggs.
I’ve experimented with countless eggless versions using yogurt and heavy cream. Whilst the cake tasted phenomenal and just like the ones with eggs, the cake sank a little every single time. Not a lot, but yes a little.
I don’t like to share recipes that I’m not happy with or aren’t foolproof. So the eggless version would just have to wait for a little longer probably. My next experiment would be to try it with condensed milk in lieu of eggs!
Honestly, if you don’t mind the little bit of cake sinking, then please go ahead and bake this cake, there’s no compromise on taste at all. Simply substitute the eggs with 1/2 cup non-sour yogurt.
One of the eggless versions, using yogurt.
Turn on the oven, gather these ingredients and let’s get baking, folks! This is the best mawa cake recipe, bakery style and I’m sure you will fall in love with it too 🙂
ENJOYED THIS MAWA CAKE? HERE ARE SOME INDIAN CAKE RECIPES FOR YOU TO TRY
- Egg-free Orange cupcakes
- Eggless Mango semolina cupcakes
- Baath cake (Goan coconut and semolina cake)
- Tutti frutti loaf cake
- Eggless Mango loaf cake
- Eggless Marble cake
- Rava Cake
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE INDIAN MAWA CAKE
1.Preheat the oven to 350 F, position a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease an 8-inch cake tin / 9 x 5 loaf pan with little butter and dust with flour to coat the pan, or you may use parchment paper.
2.In a medium mixing bowl, sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda and cardamom powder. Add salt, whisk the dry ingredients until well combined. Set aside. Also, grate the mawa and set aside.
3.In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, scraping down in between, should take about 2-3 minutes. Or you can use an electric hand mixer/beater.
4.Add grated mawa, continue beating on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
5.Add in the eggs next, one at a time, continue beating on medium-high speed.
6.Now reduce to the lowest possible speed. Alternately add the dry ingredients and milk, starting with flour and ending with flour. ( DO NOT OVER MIX ).
7.Transfer the batter to the prepared baking tin, sprinkle the slivered pistachios on top of the batter.
8.Bake in the middle rack, for about 40 – 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Do not overbake or else you will end up with a dry cake. Cool the cake on a rack in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove from the tin and cool on the rack completely.
NOTE
Update- A reader, Shahin, tried this recipe by substituting mawa with 100 grams of milk powder, and she says it was just as good as the regular mawa cake. So if you have a hard time finding mawa you can use milk powder.
HOW TO MAKE MAWA CAKE?
Mawa Cake | How To Make Mawa Cake
Ingredients1x2x3x
Measuring cup used, 1 Cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml, make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled 214 grams
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp elaichi powder (green cardamom powder)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter 113 grams
- 1 cup fine granulated sugar or castor sugar, 210 grams
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup grated or crumbled mawa 100 grams
- 1/2 cup milk 125 ml
- 3 tbsp slivered pistachios or any other nuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, position a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease an 8-inch cake tin / 9 x 5 loaf pan with little butter and dust with flour to coat the pan, or you may use parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda and cardamom powder. Add salt, whisk the dry ingredients until well combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, scraping down in between, should take about 2-3 minutes. Or you can use an electric hand mixer/beater.
- Add grated mawa, continue beating on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the eggs next, one at a time, continue beating on medium-high speed.
- Now reduce to the lowest possible speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and milk, starting with flour and ending with flour. (DO NOT OVER MIX).
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking tin, sprinkle the slivered pistachios on top of the batter.
- Bake in the middle rack, for about 40 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Do not overbake or else you will end up with a dry cake. Cool the cake on a rack in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove from the tin and coo
Notes
I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to share your feedback with photos and suggestions to me at aromaticessence77@gmail.com
You can also follow me on :
Facebook @ Aromaticessence
Pinterest @ Aromatic Essence
Instagram @ aromatic_essence77
Twitter @ freda_dias
Regards,
Freda
Mawa Cake | How To Make Mawa Cake
Ingredients
Measuring cup used, 1 Cup = 250 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml, make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.
- 1.5 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled 214 grams
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp elaichi powder (green cardamom powder)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup butter 113 grams
- 1 cup fine granulated sugar or castor sugar, 210 grams
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup grated or crumbled mawa 100 grams
- 1/2 cup milk 125 ml
- 3 tbsp slivered pistachios or any other nuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, position a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease an 8-inch cake tin / 9 x 5 loaf pan with little butter and dust with flour to coat the pan, or you may use parchment paper.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sieve flour, baking powder and baking soda and cardamom powder. Add salt, whisk the dry ingredients until well combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, scraping down in between, should take about 2-3 minutes. Or you can use an electric hand mixer/beater.
- Add grated mawa, continue beating on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the eggs next, one at a time, continue beating on medium-high speed.
- Now reduce to the lowest possible speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and milk, starting with flour and ending with flour. (DO NOT OVER MIX).
- Transfer the batter to the prepared baking tin, sprinkle the slivered pistachios on top of the batter.
- Bake in the middle rack, for about 40 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Do not overbake or else you will end up with a dry cake. Cool the cake on a rack in the tin for 15 minutes, then remove from the tin and coo
Notes
Paneer Nazakat, a beautiful dish from the Hyderabadi cuisine is rich, delicious and as pretty as a picture. Nazakat is an Urdu word which means softness, mildness or elegance. And this Paneer Nazakat is just that.
Cubes of paneer are stuffed with a mildly spiced dried fruit mixture. These pan-fried paneer cubes are served over a bed of a thick, creamy and tantalizing, nutty, brown onion- tomato sauce or gravy as it is known in India. Two words- Exotic & delicious!
So I have never really had an opportunity to have this at a restaurant, coz more often than not I end up ordering either paneer makhani , shahi paneer or malai kofta when it comes to ordering anything with paneer. These are our absolute favorites amongst paneer dishes. I had been meaning to try this ever since I saw it on a TV show by one of my favorite chefs, Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi .
The long list of ingredients may seem intimidating, but I promise that the efforts are well worth the deliciousness of the dish! This is perfect for a party or a special occasion. Skip the makhani and its likes next time and try this paneez nazakat for a change 🙂
- STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE PANEER NAZAKAT
- HOW TO MAKE PANEER NAZAKAT?
- Paneer Nazakat Recipe
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE PANEER NAZAKAT
FOR THE STUFFING
1.Scoop out little paneer from the center of each cube. Transfer the scooped out paneer to a bowl, set aside.
2.Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add finely chopped green chillies and ginger, sauté until the ginger is fragrant. Add raisins and chopped cashew nuts, sauté another 30 seconds.
3.Add this mixture to crumbled paneer along with Kashmiri red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and green cardamom powder. Mix well.
4.Stuff this mixture in scooped out paneer cubes. Place a cashew nut on top, and sprinkle some red chili powder on top. (I skipped the red chilli powder). Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan, shallow fry the paneer cubes until heated through. Transfer to a plate and set aside. (Fry the paneer just before you serve the dish or else it will turn hard).
FOR THE GRAVY
1.Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadai, add whole spices, sauté on medium-low heat until aromatic.
2.Add ginger garlic paste, sauté over medium heat until fragrant.
3.Add tomato purée, mix well and cook on medium heat until oil oozes from the sides.
4.Add slit green chillies, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder & shahi paneer masala. Sauté on medium heat for another 1-2 minutes.
5.Lower the heat, add yogurt and cashew nut paste, salt and sugar, mix well and sauté for 2-3 mins on medium heat.
6.Add browned onion paste, sauté another 30 seconds.
7.Add 1/4 cup cream, cardamom powder, and kewra water. Mix well. For a silky smooth texture strain the gravy.
8.Transfer the gravy to a serving platter, place the paneer cubes over the gravy. Garnish with remaining 1 tsp cream. Serve hot along with some flatbread.
NOTE
1.To make the brown onion paste grind 1/3 cup of birista (golden brown fried onions) with little water to a smooth paste. To expedite the process, I used store-bought brown onions.
HOW TO MAKE PANEER NAZAKAT?
Paneer Nazakat Recipe
Ingredients1x2x3x
Measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml, 1tsp = 5 ml
- 225 grams paneer/Indian cottage cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes
For the paneer stuffing
- 2 green chillies, finely chopped
- 1 tsp finely chopped ginger
- 1 tbsp raisins
- 1 tbsp chopped cashew nuts
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder, plus more for sprinkling,
- Salt, to taste
- A pinch of green cardamom powder
- 9 whole cashew nuts
For the gravy
- 2-3 tbsp Oil
- Whole spices (2 Bay leaves, 3-4 Green cardamoms, 2 Black cardamoms, 1/2 inch Cinnamon, 2-3 Cloves)
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1 cup tomato purée
- 2 green chillies
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp shahi paneer masala
- 20 cashew nuts soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, ground to a smooth paste using little water
- 2 tbsp yogurt
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp sugar adjust as per tartness of the tomatoes
- 3 tbsp Browned onion paste*
- 1/4 cup + 1 tsp Fresh cream/ heavy whipping cream
- A pinch of Green cardamom powder
- 1/2 tsp kewra water, skip if you don’t have
Instructions
For the stuffing
- Scoop out little paneer from the center of each cube. Transfer the scooped out paneer to a bowl, set aside.
- Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add finely chopped green chillies and ginger, sauté until the ginger is fragrant. Add raisins and chopped cashew nuts, sauté another 30 seconds.
- Add this mixture to crumbled paneer along with Kashmiri red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and green cardamom powder. Mix well.
- Stuff this mixture in scooped out paneer cubes. Place a cashew nut on top, and sprinkle some red chili powder on top. (I skipped the red chilli powder). Heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan, shallow fry the paneer cubes until heated through. Transfer to a plate and set aside. (Fry the paneer just before you serve the dish or else it will turn hard).
For the gravy
- Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadai, add whole spices, sauté on medium-low heat until aromatic.
- Add ginger garlic paste, sauté over medium heat until fragrant.
- Add tomato purée, mix well and cook on medium heat until oil oozes from the sides.
- Add slit green chillies, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder & shahi paneer masala. Sauté on medium heat for another 1-2 minutes.
- Lower the heat, add yogurt and cashew nut paste, salt and sugar, mix well and sauté for 2-3 mins on medium heat.
- Add browned onion paste, sauté another 30 seconds.
- Add 1/4 cup cream, cardamom powder, and kewra water. Mix well. For a silky smooth texture strain the gravy.
- Transfer the gravy to a serving platter, place the paneer cubes over the gravy. Garnish with remaining 1 tsp cream. Serve hot along with some flatbread.
Notes
- To make the brown onion paste grind 1/3 cup of birista (golden brown fried onions) with little water to a smooth paste. To expedite the process, I used store-bought brown onions.
I would love to hear from you, please feel free to share your feedback with photos and suggestions to me at aromaticessence77@gmail.com
You can also follow me on :
Regards,
Freda
