Badam Phirni

Every once in a while , the sweet cravings kick in . Sometimes you have the privilege of time and leisure to indulge in it. Or sometimes a quick stroll down 2 blocks brings you to a street with 3 Mithai Stores ( Yayyyyyy) . But sometimes a lovely sweet treat is just at hand. You have soaked some rice for dinner and are in the kitchen for another 15 minutes. All you need is to sneak out a bit of the soaked rice and get to work. This simple yet delectable sweet is so easy to make.

B for Badam Phirni.
1 litre milk
1/4 cup raw rice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
12 pieces almonds , blanched and coarsely crushed.
1 pinch of kesar

Wash and soak the rice for an hour. Then drain and
allow to dry slightly. Using 1/2 cup water grind the
rice to a coarse paste. In a heavy bottomed pan ,
Bring the milk to a boil. Add the wet rice paste to the milk ,
lower heat and cook for about 15 minutes , stirring frequently
so that the rice doesnt form lumps ans stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add sugar and cardamom powder . Cook till the rice is soft and mushy.
Add the crushed almonds , and take off the heat.

Crush or soak the kesar in 2 spoons of hot milk. Add to the phirni.
Serve hot or cold .

P.S: I have been rescued once at a dinner party , where till 6.30 I had not figured out what I was going to serve for pudding. A nick into the soaking rice , came up with a cupful , ground and into some boiling milk. Voila. There was a dessert , just around the corner!

Custard Apple Ice Cream

Festivals are my favourite time of the year. The family gathers, the house is buzzing. Titters, whispers, whining, guffaws, screeching.....all such welcome sounds. Yet the  one time silence is good is when everyone gathers at the dinner table.  All of us are certified sugar monsters. However satisfying the meal may have been, without dessert , its never enough. New desserts are expected and I mange to throw a surprise every once in a while. That this particular dish to make was so easy, took me by surprise. And this one is EASY. literally 1-2 3 easy . Here goes

1 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 cups double cream or cream from boiled milk ( its devon cream/ clotted cream)
3 cups Custard apple pulp

Put the custard apple pulp through the blender , just giving it a couple of quick whisks , so that the pulp is still coarse. Mix in the cream and the condensed milk. Freeze overnight. READY!!

Macaroons

Those Lovely , light-as-air , delightfully crunchy Macaroons. As french as they come. Macaroons are delightful on their own or as a base for ice cream, pastry , or wicked chocolate fantasies.

They look inviting and simple and trust me , they really ARE simple to make . All you need is patience and a little practise. There are many methods to make Macaroons , here is the simplest

2 egg whites, 1/2 cup powdered and sifted sugar, 1 tsp essence ( vanilla ), about 15 almonds finely powdered.

Start by heating the oven to 180 Deg C for 45 mins.

Place the egg whites in a deep bowl , with electric whisk, beat the egg whites till soft peaks form. Slowly add the powdered sugar ( a tablespoon at a time) . Take a basin in which you can place the bowl of egg whites, in a way that the bowl comfortably sits on top of the basin . Heat water in the basin, but do not allow to boil. Place the bowl on the basin and whisk till the mixture thickens.Take off the basin and add the powdered almonds and essence ( I have put in orange)  .Further whisk the batter till cool.

Take a greased tray and place spoonfuls of batter on it.


Place in the hot oven and switch off the oven.
 Let the macaroons remain in the oven till it cools completely.

Check the top for crispness. When completely cooled, place in an airtight container.



This is the basic Macaroon. More variations and recipes will follow.

Manngane

Saraswat cooking is light except for the liberal use of coconuts.Most Saraswats are found in the coastal belt of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala.Due to the abundance of coconuts , they have based their cuisine on coconuts. Coconut grated, dessicated , ground or the milk extracted from grated coconut.The richness it adds to gravies and the delicate flavour, is unmatched. Most of their sweets are coconut based. The delicate steamed Patolio, Modaks,Steamed Rice Semiyan in coconut milk, Sweet Potato Kheer and Manngane or Madgane.This is a rare sweet , but nutritious light and very different. The next time you want a dessert that is talked about try this.

1 cup Chana dal/ Bengal gram/ split chick peas ,1 cup grated jaggery,1/4 cup fresh coconut sliced and chopped into small pieces, 1 1/2 cups grated coconu,1 pinch cardamom powder,2 tbsps cashewnut pieces, 1 tbsp raisins, a pinch of salt

 Soak the chana dal in 2 cups of water for an hour, drain .Heat a tbsp of ghee,fry the channa dal, coconut pieces and raisins. Keep the cashews and  raisins aside, add 1/4 cup water to the fried chana dal and cover and cook the dal till soft but whole.Soak the grated coconut in 1 cup warm water.Grind it and squeeze the milk of the coconut.To the cooked dal and coconut pieces , add the jaggery and fried cashews. Keep on medium heat for 2-3 mins or so. Add the coconut milk and then the salt ,cardamom powder and raisins.Serve hot or cold.

Patoli

Nagpanchami is celebrated by Hindus with enthusiasm. The month of Shravan brings much needed respite from the heat and dust. The cooling showers of Shravan come with its special days. Hariyali Teej, Nagpanchami, Raksha Bandhan. Indians associate all happy occasions and festivals with special food. So is the case with Nagpanchami. The saraswats have special sweets called Patoli. They are stuffed rice pancakes  steamed in turmeric leaves.While the pancakes are plain the stuffing within is sweet and deliciousThe turemeric leaves give it a distinct yet exotic fragrance. Next time you are looking for an different dessert, why not try this

2 cups rice flour
2 1/2 cups hot water
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp ghee
5 green turmeric leaves ( available with your green grocer)

Filling
1 1/2  cup grated/ dessicated fresh coconut
3/4 cup grated jaggery
4 green cardamoms crushed

   In a pan , melt the jaggery. add cardamom powder and coconut.cook till well mixed and a little dry.
Heat the water, add salt and ghee.sift the rice flour. As teh water comes to a boil, take off the heat and slowly stir in the rice flour, taking care to mix it well , with no lumps.cover the dough and leave to cool.Similarly cool the filling. Meanwhile wash and wipe the turmeric leaves.Cut each into 2. Smear a little oil on each leaf. Divide the rice dough into 10 balls and the filling into 10 equal portions.Place a ball of dough in the middle of each leaf and pat it so as to form a thin flat pancake. Place the filling on one half of the pancake , taking care to leave a thing edge around the filling, empty. Fold the leaf at the spine so that each pancake is a closed crescent.lightly press the edges. Prepare all the patolis in this way.

Prepare a steamer . Oil the sieve well and place the folded patolis comfortably apart , so as to not squash them. Steam them for 10 mins.
Remove and steam the next batch.
These patolis can be eaten hot or at room temperature. These are best eaten on the same day as the outer layer tends to dry out.

Rice Kheer

Rice Kheer is the first solid food fed to a child in India.Around 6 months of age is when a child would start eating solids.There would be a rite-of-passage , Annaprashan or Ushtavan. The rice kheer was the first solid a baby was intriduced to and usually remains a favourite right into adulthood even though their palates have been corrupted by all kinds of junk foods . The home made rice kheer is a surefire way to lift up anyones spirit.

Its easy to make and can be made with cooked rice or from scratch. I prefer to let you in on the shortcut and the shorter cut.

Short: 1 cup cooked rice, 1 litre milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 cardamoms crushed, raisins, chopped nuts.Boil the milk , add sugar. As the sugar dissolves, add the cardamoms, raisins and rice. Cook on a slow flame till the milk reduces to half. Keep scraping off the creamy deposits on the edges of the pan and put it back into the milk.Garnish with nuts and serve hot or cold.

Shorter: 1 cup cooked rice, 1 litre milk, 1/4 cup sugar,1 cup sweetened evaporated / condensed milk, 2 cardamoms crushed, raisins, chopped nuts.Boil the milk , add sugar. As the sugar dissolves, add the cardamoms, raisins and rice. Cook on a slow flame for 5 minutes. Add the evaporated milk bring to a boil. Cook further for 5 mins .Keep scraping off the creamy deposits on the edges of the pan and put it back into the milk.Garnish with nuts and serve hot or cold.