Click apples, Musical's goody bag and Bhutanese red rice kheer

Apples: are my entry for Jai and Bee's lovely Click event: and this month's theme is 'Au Natural'.

One fine day when I entered my apartment lobby, I got a wift of the most aromatic masala and thought to myself, "Gosh these neighbour bachelor boys are cooking up a storm today....why dont they use their exhaust fans when cooking and not make us so hungry". As I turned to check my mailbox, I saw a big yellow bag and as I approched the bag and opened it I realised it was a parcel for me and it was smelling of lovely garam masala. I chuckled when I saw it was from Musical with all these goodies inside.

Here I'm showing everybody the lovely things that came out of the goody bag that Musical sent me from her cool punjabi kitchen!! There's Bhutanese red rice, of which Ive already made payasam which turned out yummy and pink from the colour of the rice. And there is a packet of Beluge Lentils that Ive never used and would love to experiment with. The garam masala is so aromatic that Ive kept it for special dishes like rajma and chole!!. The long peppers are new to me and Musical advised me to use in Raita's and salads. And many bars of yummy organic chocloate of which Ive finished a couple already.

If I had waited any longer there would be none for the picture as I'm just about to use the dark choc slabs to make some brownies this evening. Thank you musy for a lovely welcome goody bag!!!! I dont have the picture of the yummy pink kheer because it got devoured before I could find time to take a picture, but I will give you the recipe for sure!!!

Bhutanese Red rice kheer

1/2 cup Bhutanese Red rice
1 L milk (I used 750mls and added 250 mls later, and I used 2% organic milk)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
a handful of roughly chopped cashew nuts

Method:
1. Wash rice thoroughly and soak overnight.
2. Drain the rice and throw it in a pot with 750ml milk and bring to a boil.
3. Simmer on medium-low heat until the rice has swelled and cooked and the milk has reduced to two thirds.
4. Add the 250mls milk, sugar , cardamom powder and simmer on low for 15-20 mins more.
5. Garnish with the chopped cashews and server warm or cool and chill in fridge, whichever you prefer!

The colour of this kheer will be a lovely pink! Thanks again Musy....

Seb aur Gaajar ka Murabba (Apple Preserve and Carrot Preserve)

Why is it that as we grow up, one by one, we start liking, in fact relishing, those very foods and dishes that we detested when we were younger? I remember I used to hate ginger when I was a child, I used to hate the chilliness and tingling sensation felt on the tongue, but now ginger in a dish just ranks it so much higher to other dishes... and I love Injipuli (ginger chutney) to bits. There was a time I used to hate cabbage and cauliflower, ooh I used to stay far away from them, but now... I loooove to have my cabbage thoran and coleslaw; and one of my favourite things is to have chilli gobhi dry(cauliflower). I wouldnt mind even plain gobhi aloo like the one musical made a while back. I remember I used to hate green pepper once but now cant live without it in my salad and on my pizza and sometimes in my pasta... All this makes me think I shud now try all the things I used to hate to eat before, maybe I'll like them!!

Why I'm going on like this is because recently I was given a plate of 'Seb ka Murrabba' (Apple Preserve) by my mum. Its good for me in the winter months she says (knowing that I had an cholecysectomy operation recently and should be having good and nutritous things to eat). I made a big pout since I didnt like the stuff (or so I thought) and hadn't eaten it for years, and hesitatingly put a piece in my mouth.

WOW, it was like the flood gates of a huge dam of yummy fruity syrup had been opened up in my mouth.

"huggle muggle duggle" I said to her with my mouth full.
"WHAT??" she said.
"This is so yummy, how do you make this mum?"

She told me and I was stunned beyond words at how easy it was to make and how yummy it was tasting! I couldnt figure one bit why I had disliked it before. My mum says traditionally murrabbas are typical winter preserves and very good for healing and for example 'Gaajar ka Murabba' (Carrot Preserve) is said to be good for improving eyesight. Also Murrabbas are said to have a warming effect (Taasir) on the body so they are good to have in the winter months. The best murraba to have is said to be 'Aamla ka Murabba', but we've never seen fresh Aamla here in Africa and I promised I would have it on my next trip to India. Murabbas should be had only two to three pieces at a time with a handful of blanched and peeled almonds. That is so probably because they are so sweet and satisfying that you can't have more than that in one sitting. So mum made whole bottles full of carrot and apple murrabbas for me and I relished them all through my sick leave and recovery time. To my surprise I did recover whithin a couple of weeks, and what beats me is how can a syrup cooked fruit and veggie help so much to heal? I couldnt understand it from the scientific point of view.. Like, why shouldn't I have raw apples and carrots? Does anybody know? And what else do you know about murrabas and syrup fruit preserves? Any information would be so welcome. Enough rambling and now and onto the recipe!

Seb ka Murraba (Apple Preserve)

Like all cooking with apple the best to use is Granny Smith apples (the green and slightly tangy ones)

1 kg - Apples
1 and 1/2 kg - sugar
5gms - citric acid (preservant)
750mls (3 cups) - water

Peel and deseeed the apples. Keep them in a bowl of water as you peel others so that they dont discolour. Quarter the apples.

Combine in a pot the sugar, citric acid and water to make a syrup. When the syrup comes to a rolling boil, put in the apples. Boil for 10 minutes.

Cool and bottle with blanched, peeled almonds.

Gaajar ka murraba (Carrot Preserve)

1 kg - Carrots
1/2 kg - sugar
5gms - citric acid (preservant)
250mls (1 cup) - water

Peel and chop the carrots into bite size chunks.

Use the sugar and water to make a syrup. When the syrup comes to a rolling boil, add the carrots. Boil for 20 minutes.

Cool down and refridgerate in the same pot. Repeat the procedure the next day at the same time (boiling for another 20 minutes). Repeat one more time the third day.

Cool and bottle with blanched, peeled almonds.