Indian Cardamom Mawa Cake

Mawa Cakes – Soft and Buttery Cardamom infused khoya cup cakes inspired from Mumbai Iranian Cafe Grant Road’s B. Merwan Cafe – B. Merwan & Co.

Mawa cakes are a very popular item sold in Iranian cafes / bakeries in Mumbai. There is one place thats iconic to Mawa cakes. Its Mumbai Grant Road’s B. Merwan Cafe – B. Merwan & Co. There is a lot of nostalgia surrounding mawa cakes for the mumbaikars.

These mawa cakes are soft and buttery cakes infused with cardamom that are rolled in a wax paper. Mawa/Mava or Khoya is nothing but thickened milk solids that’s obtained by heating milk in an open pan for a long time. It has a special place in a lot of Indian Desserts / Sweets.

Parsi chef Cyrus Todiwala says “In the early 1900s our milk was not pasteurized, neither was refrigeration available. Milk had to be boiled over and over again to stop it from going off in our heat and humidity. This boiling created an automatic mawa and by the end of the day they would have a lot of it. The Irani owner experimented with it by adding it to a cake and created one of the most significant tea time cakes Bombay has ever known.” – reproduced from “Table for One – How the Bombay cupcake survived”

Pic Courtesy : midday

Here is my version of Mawa cakes. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit / 200 degrees Celsius. Take a bowl and add in half a cup each of melted warm ghee (clarified butter) and milk. Add in quarter cup of oil.

Add in 3 eggs and 2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix well with a whisk to combine. Set aside.

Measure all the ingredients listed under dry ingredients except sugar in a separate bowl. Sift all the dry ingredients together on a sieve. Sieving helps in mixing the ingredients uniformly.

I used store bought mawa / khoya for this recipe. Sieve or crumble the store bought khoya and set aside. I have mentioned in the notes section as to how to make mawa / khoya from scratch. Please refer to it if you cannot source khoya. Home made khoya will be like a thick paste. Sieving would not be possible with home made khoya.

Mix the dry ingredients including sugar, mawa and the wet ingredients to combine.

Scoop the batter in muffin tins and bake for 22-26 minutes. Wait for the cakes to brown on the edges. Check with a tooth pick to see if the cakes are done. A toothpick inserted in the center should come clean. For baking pans, use this link.

Serve warm with tea or coffee.

Dry Ingredients

• 220 grams All purpose flour (maida)
• 30 grams store bought custard powder
• 250 grams sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder

Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 cup ( 100 grams ) Clarified butter or Ghee
• 1/4 cup Vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 Eggs
• 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Other Ingredients

• 200 grams mava / khoya (refer notes)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit / 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Take a bowl and add in half a cup each of melted warm ghee or clarified butter and milk. Add in the oil.
3. Add in 3 eggs and 2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix well with a whisk to combine. set aside.
4. Measure all the ingredients listed under dry ingredients except sugar in a separate bowl. Sift all the dry ingredients together on a sieve. set aside.
5. Sieve the store bought khoya and set aside.
6. Mix the dry ingredients, sugar, mawa and the wet ingredients to combine.
7. Scoop the batter in muffin tins and bake for 22-26 minutes. Wait for the cakes to brown on the edges. Check with a tooth pick to see if the cakes are done. A toothpick inserted in the center should come clean.
8. Serve warm with tea or coffee.

Notes

For the mava: 2 cans evaporated milk 1 cup ( 250ml ) heavy cream

Heat the evaporated milk and cream in a heavy pan preferably non stick pan on medium flame for 30-40 minutes stirring constantly until the mixture is grainy and the color of the mixture is slightly brown. Please stir continuously else the mixture will scorch to the bottom. The final consistency should be like a thick pudding. Let it cool to room temperature.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Category: Baking
• Cuisine: Cakes, Desserts

Dry Ingredients

• 220 grams All purpose flour (maida)
• 30 grams store bought custard powder
• 250 grams sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder

Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 cup ( 100 grams ) Clarified butter or Ghee
• 1/4 cup Vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 Eggs
• 2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Other Ingredients

• 200 grams mava / khoya (refer notes)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit / 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Take a bowl and add in half a cup each of melted warm ghee or clarified butter and milk. Add in the oil.
3. Add in 3 eggs and 2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix well with a whisk to combine. set aside.
4. Measure all the ingredients listed under dry ingredients except sugar in a separate bowl. Sift all the dry ingredients together on a sieve. set aside.
5. Sieve the store bought khoya and set aside.
6. Mix the dry ingredients, sugar, mawa and the wet ingredients to combine.
7. Scoop the batter in muffin tins and bake for 22-26 minutes. Wait for the cakes to brown on the edges. Check with a tooth pick to see if the cakes are done. A toothpick inserted in the center should come clean.
8. Serve warm with tea or coffee.

Notes

For the mava: 2 cans evaporated milk 1 cup ( 250ml ) heavy cream

Heat the evaporated milk and cream in a heavy pan preferably non stick pan on medium flame for 30-40 minutes stirring constantly until the mixture is grainy and the color of the mixture is slightly brown. Please stir continuously else the mixture will scorch to the bottom. The final consistency should be like a thick pudding. Let it cool to room temperature.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Category: Baking
• Cuisine: Cakes, Desserts

Find it online : https://www.kannammacooks.com/mawa-cakes/

Recipe for Chettinad Kari / Kozhi Kurma. Chicken Kuruma. Made with coconut. Tamilnadu style Chicken Korma. Serve with idli, dosai, aappam or chapati.

Here is the link to buy the chettinad cookbook by Meyyammai Murugappan and Visalakshi Ramaswamy. The Chettinad Cookbook (First Edition, 2014)

Here is the recipe to do a wonderful Chettinad Chicken Kurma. We need to make a fried paste out of fennel seeds, poppy seeds, bengal gram, green chillies, ginger, garlic, coconut and cashewnuts.

Take a heavy pan and add in 2 tablespoons of oil. Add in all the ingredients for the kurma masala paste at once. Fry till the coconut is browned and the mixture becomes very fragrant. Remove from heat and let it cool. Grind to a smooth paste in a blender. Add upto 2 cups of water while grinding the masala. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add in the bay leaf and cinnamon. Add in the onions and fry till the onions are soft.

Add in the chicken and fry for two minutes. Add in the tomatoes and the ground masala. Add in the salt too. Add 1 cup of boiling water to the pan.

Cover the pan and let it cook in low flame for 30 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes once to avoid scorching at the bottom. Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

Serve with idli , dosai, aappam or chapati.

For the Kurma Masala Paste

• 2 tablespoon Peanut Oil
• 100 grams Fresh Shredded Coconut ( half a big coconut)
• 2 teaspoon Fennel seeds (Sombu)
• 1 teaspoon Poppy Seeds (Khuskhus)
• 2 teaspoon Roasted Bengal Gram Dal (Pottu kadalai)
• 12 Green Chilllies
• 5 Cashewnuts
• 1 inch Ginger
• 10 cloves Garlic

Other Ingredients

• 2 teaspoon Peanut Oil
• 2 small pieces Cinnamon
• 1 Bay leaf
• 2 Onions, finely chopped
• 3 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 5 - 6 sprigs coriander leaves
• 500 grams Chicken with bone

For the Kurma Masala Paste

1. Take a heavy pan and add in 2 tablespoons of oil. Add in all the ingredients for the kurma masala paste at once. Fry till the coconut is browned and the mixture becomes very fragrant. Remove from heat and let it cool. Grind to a smooth paste in a blender. Add upto 2 cups of water while grinding the masala. Set aside.

For the Kurma

1. Heat oil in a pan and add in the bay leaf and cinnamon. Add in the onions and fry till the onions are soft.
2. Add in the chicken and fry for two minutes. Add in the tomatoes and the ground masala. Add in the salt too. Add 1 cup of boiling water to the pan.
3. Cover the pan and let it cook in low flame for 30 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes once to avoid scorching at the bottom. Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
4. Serve with idli, dosai, aappam or chapati.

• Author: Kannamma - Suguna Vinodh
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins
• Category: Gravy, Side dish
• Cuisine: Tamilnadu, Chettinad, South Indian