cucumber cake recipe – this eggless cucumber cake is a traditional recipe from the goan belt and is called as tavsali. in this recipe the cake is steamed instead of baking it.
generally we use yellow cucumber, but the recipe can be even made with regular cucumber or the long dark green cucumbers. apart from cucumber, sooji/rava (semolina), jaggery and coconut is added.
thus making this dish very nutritious. my mom shared this recipe with me and even got the long yellow cucumbers for the same. from the regular cucumber, i also prepare this cucumber raita recipe.
the cake has a dominant taste of cucumber which sort of overpowers everything… even the jaggery and coconut. its not overtly sweet but has a light sweetness. though you can adjust the quantity of jaggery. the texture is light, moist and soft as most steamed cakes have.
very easy to make steamed cucumber cake and only grating the cucumber takes some time. after the cucumber is grated, you just need to mix everything.
then pour in a greased pan. then steam the batter for 30 to 40 mins. for steaming, you can use your electric cooker, pressure cooker or any steamer. while steaming turmeric leaves or banana leaves can be used. since i did not have any, i have greased the pan with coconut oil. you can also grease the pan with ghee.
serve the cucumber cake plain or accompanied with some ghee or milk. makes for a light, healthy dessert for kids as well as adults. you can also refrigerate and just warm them in the microwave before serving.
if you are looking for more eggless cakes then do check:
cucumber cake
INGREDIENTS FOR cucumber cake
- 1.5 cups rava (semolina or sooji)
- 1.5 cups organic powdered jaggery
- 4-5 green cardamoms (choti elaichi)
- ¾ cup grated fresh coconut
- 2 cups grated cucumber, tightly packed - regular or yellow cucumber - approx 1 large yellow cucumber
- ¼ teaspoon cumin powder (jeera powder)
- 2 to 3 tablespoon cashews, chopped (optional)
- ½ teaspoon coconut oil for greasing the pan
HOW TO MAKE cucumber cake
preparation to make cucumber cake
- roast the rava/sooji/semolina till fragrant. keep aside.
- take the cardamoms in a mortar-pestle and powder them.
- discard the peels and keep the cardamom powder aside
- rinse and peel the yellow cucumber. slice the cucumber and remove the seeds. if using regular cucumber, then no need to remove the seeds.
- grate the cucumber and keep aside.
- a lot of the cucumber juice will be collected in the bowl or in the plate. just add this juice to the batter.
making cucumber cake batter
- in a mixing bowl, take the roasted semolina.
- mix in the grated cucumber along with its juice, grated coconut, chopped cashews and add the powdered jaggery.
- add the cardamom powder and cumin powder.
- mix the batter very well without any lumps.
- the batter has a medium consistency and is neither too thick nor thin.
- depending on the consistency of the batter you can add a few tbsp of milk or coconut milk.
- i did not need to add any milk as the batter had a medium consistency.
cooking cucumber cake
- heat about 3 to 3.5 cups water in a steamer or electric cooker or pressure cooker.
- grease the pan with coconut oil. pour the batter in the pan.
- place the pan in the steamer, electric cooker or pressure cooker.
- cover the steamer or electric cooker with its lid. if using pressure cooker, then remove the vent weight (whistle) from the lid and then tightly cover the cooker with its lid.
- steam for 30 to 40 minutes until a knife inserted comes out clean.
- when the cucumber cake become warm or is cooled completely, then slice and serve them.
Yellow cucumber means Mangalore cucumber?
no rita. it is not mangalore cucumber but a large variety of cucumber having a yellow skin.
Steamed on last week, baked one in the oven two days ago (it’s that time of the year again). Oven temperature was 180°C, the cake was in the oven for 45 minutes.
thanks for the inputs philippe.
Thanks for sharing this wonderfully different recipe Dassana! I prepared this using ripe white cucumbers. Though the cake was delicious, the seeds did not give a pleasant taste and are better removed. Also, adding some milk and ghee to the mixture imparts more aroma and softness.
Looking forward to the next creation inspired by your recipes!
welcome hamsa. ripe cucumber will have more tougher seeds than unripe ones. so it is better to remove them. definitely adding ghee or milk will make the cucumber cake more rich and soft. thanks again.
This recipe tastes very good. Used dark green cucumber, the one that is available all season and really the cucumber taste empowers all the other flavours. I applied ghee all around at the top and it gave an amazing fragrance to the recipe. Thank you Ma’am for this wonderful recipe.
pleased to know this uttam thankyou so much 🙂 and you are always welcome.
Such a wonderful recipe and it tasted AWESOME 🙂 🙂 And I must say your blog is fantastic and clicks are artistic !!!!!
pleased to know this Sandhya thankyou so much for your kind words 🙂
Hiiii Amit,
I just wanted to ask can we bake this batter by keeping it in a loaf pan and if we r using wet jaggery what should be the quantity?
nishu, yes you can bake also. but do’t bake for a long period of time. about jaggery you have to add and then check the taste.
what should be the temperature of the oven and the baking time ?
bake at 180 degrees celsius. time you will have to see as i cannot tell you exactly how much time it will take.
Hi Dassana, Tavsali recipe looks great ! I’m planning on trying this next week. Just curious about one thing…are these yellow cucumbers the same as southekayi or mangalore cucumber???
thanks radhika. these are not mangalore cucumber. you can make with regular cucumber.
Hi Dasaana,
Am still learning the art of cooking and I love ur blog .and the photographs . So I tried this recipe and everyone loved it. My parents were amazed that cake could be made out of cucumber And had a fun time playing , guess the ingredient game !! No one came up with cucumber ( by looking at it ) So all thanks to u !! We had a lot of fun with this recipe.
welcome neethi. good to know your experience. keep on trying more recipes and soon you will become good in cooking. thanks for sharing positive feedback on recipes and photographs.
Thanks!
welcome urmi
Hi Dassana…for steaming in the pressure cooker, I have to cover the container with the cake batter, right?
urmi, which container? the container in which we cook dal and rice?
you have to put the cake batter in the round container of the cooker… in which we cook dal and rice. grease the container.
Thanks for your reply,Dassana…what I meant was if I put the cake batter into a separate container and place in a pressure cooker with some water, should I cover the container with the cake or leave it open?
welcome urmi. no need to cover the container. because anyways you are covering the cooker with the lid.
Hi,
This is a great recipe I am going to try it right away!. Also is there an alternative to powdered Jaggery.
neha, you can add sugar
Hi dassana
Try it with boil rice. Soak it for 1 or 2 hrs n later grind it with water but not too fine n other procedure is same
thanks emtiyaz for your suggestion. will help the other readers too.
happy to look out this conner….superb
thanks thila
Hi,can I omit sooji to make it gluten free or pls tell me any substitute. I love to try it for my son
i would suggest you to use amaranth/rajgira grains or barnyard millet/sama ke chawal or vari. just roast them lightly before adding to the grated cucumber.
Can I make this recipe in a Microwave oven
you can but i am not sure about the timing part. one has to be careful so that the cake does not dry out too much. better to steam.
Yes, I know this receipe very well. My mother use to make this occasionally at the time of Nag Panchami.
It is not Tavsali. The coarrect word is Tavshi (Tavsi).
Devyani
some folks call it tavsali and some taushe or tavshi.
Hi.. i tried this cake yesterday.. it was so nice and very easy to make too.. thanks a lot for this healthy recipe. Even my 2 yr old loved it.
welcome subhashree
All the recipes are superb & healthy !!!! Thanks for sharing
welcome shubhangi
Noorin Hie dassana, can I use this cucumber for this recepi?
replied to you on fb msg.
Lovely cake .Loved ur step by step pics.very clear instructions as well.
Looks super soft and tempting.. great recipe!! 🙂
thanks chandana
That is a very unique recipe and method. This cake has captured my imagination and I have got to try it soon…very soon indeed. Thanks alot for sharing my friend 🙂