Soul Food: Milk

So much for hosting a fancy schmancy event as Flower Power Jihva, and I fail to find any edible flower petals where I live. I would have loved to find hibiscus petals or rose petals, but instead found lots of specialised food stores nearby that didnt stock them. I couldve ordered some online, but instead found a bottle of 'Arq-e-gulab' at the local Indian greengrocer that I thought would suffice for the event. Arq-e-gulab sounds fancy but really is rose extract that is prepared by distilling high quality fresh Rose petals.. When I smelt it first I wanted to combine it with something milky.

On our speciality store hunt, we were recommended by a friend to check out Connecticut's famous 'Stew Leonards'. I fell in love with the store the minute I stepped into it, its like the largest farmers' and dairy market I've ever seen. And they claim it themselves as 'Ripley's believe it or not.. World's Largest Dairy store'. Amongst the yummiest chocolate milk, fresh mozarella cheese, and orange flavoured yoghurt, I found a nice big tub of fresh ricotta. Now probably an Indian or an Italian would know the special taste of fresh ricotta. And then I chanced upon this lovely recipe; perfect I thought. Baked rasmalai, how cool is that? To me it tasted like an offspring of rasgulla and kalakand; which nevertheless was lipsmacking yummy.

This goes as my entry to Flower Power Jihva!

Ingredients for rasmalai:

15 oz Whole Milk Ricotta Cheese
¼ cup Sugar
2 tsp Arq-e-gulab (rose water)

For the syrup

1 cup Sugar
One pint (473ml) part skim Half and Half Milk
One pint 2% fat milk
A pinch of saffron
¼ tsp crushed cardamom seeds
2 tsp Arq-e-gulab (rose water)

To make the syrup or Ras

Boil the half and half , milk, sugar, saffron, crushed cardamom and rose water by bringing to a boil and simmering over low heat for 30 - 40 minutes.

To make the pieces

Mix ¼ cup of sugar and rose water with the Ricotta cheese by using a spatula or hand mixer. Spread on a oven safe dish, use a muffin pan if you want a round shape or into a big pan from which you can cut out squares(like I did). Spread evenly in the pan.

Bake at 325 degrees for 45- 50 minutes or until it sets or until it turns light brown on the edges. Check by inserting a toothpick or knife to see if it comes out clean. If so, then its ready to come out of the oven.

Remove from oven, cool at room temperature. Cut out shapes (square or diamond) and place them in a flat serving bowl. Pour over the milky sauce over the squares and let them sit immersed for about an hour. Decorate with saffron and serve.

This goes as my entry to Flower Power Jihva!

I love fasting on karva chauth despite it being a grueling day of controlling your hunger and thirst, and not because it’s the most fanciest custom that bollywood has to show in their movies nowadays. But fasting like this is when one gets to really appreciate the food we eat and the water we drink daily.

Mostly I feel more thirsty than hungry. But somehow it feels good to fast on the day. Its not just 'fast for your husband's long life' as is mostly portrayed, its also about celebrating your wedded life and marriage.

The day started for me at 3:30am, when I got up to eat my sargi and to drink all the water I could before sunrise. ‘Sargi’ is just the (punjabi) name given to the delicious vermicelli kheer (see recipe below) eaten in the morning.

According to traditional custom, a married woman takes the 'sargi', which is prepared specially for the ocassion by the mother-in-law, and leaves on the previous day to go to her mother’s house. In the wee hours of the morning she eats it with her mother and other aunts that have gathered there. The fast begins at twilight, and women fast from food and water.

When the day starts, the women folk spend decorating themselves with henna and getting dressed up in their wedding apparels, and pretty much look like brides. In today’s times they go shopping, they especially buy decorated bangles and sometimes spend the afternoon at the movies!

Around late afternoon, ranging between 3pm to 6pm (depends on the individual family custom), the daughter-in-law arrives with her mother and her aunts at her in-laws place. Here all the ladies, including that of the neighbourhood gather to perform the ‘poiya mansna’ ceremony. They get into a circle and rotate their pooja thalis whilst singing traditional songs.

Ive always heard the one that Ive shown below, “kudiye karwada....”. Here in Africa, we gather mostly at the local temple hall and do this ceremony. Then one of the elder lady tells us the ‘katha’, the story behind the fast. The hardcore ‘pindi’ punjabi (village accent) becomes a foreign language to me and I’m lost after a few lines into the story!

I just enjoy the whole ceremony of seeing so many women all dressed up. Its like seeing all your friends, aunts, and all women as brides all on the same day! We admire each other’s jewellery, mehndi and wedding gowns etc. :D

A lot of woman take their first sip of water after this ceremony, and have some form of liquid to relieve themselves. They have food only after the moon comes out. Some (really dedicated wives) wait with thirsty throats up until the time the moon comes out.

I had a big glass of water at 4:30 pm and then another glass of juice. From then the wait starts…for the moon to come out. In India, I have heard from my mum that the moon comes out around 8:00pm. Then all the women rush outside and offer obeisances to the moon and see the moon through a seive (I have no idea, why all this is done so). Thereafter they break their fasts.

And because some of us are in the southern hemisphere… we waited till 10:30pm and there was no sign of the moon… After another gruelling, half an hour…the moon was sighted at 11:00pm and we finally broke our fasts and had food. By then I wasn’t even hungry, but nevertheless ate to replenish the energy I had lost! My malayalee husband still doesn’t get why I need to do all this… I know I do it for the fun of it!

"Karva Chauth Day falls on the 4th day of the Kartik month every year. On this day it is customary for the wife to fast the whole day. She does not drink water either. She paints her hands and feet with henna, dresses generally in red apparel ...

On Karva Chauth day, which is observed in North India, tens of millions of women keep a fast, .... Only after seeing the moon do the women break their day-long fast in the evening/night. Normally women go out of their houses and on their roof tops to see if the moon is up yet.

Here is the song sung by punjabi women, while they exchange thalis seven times.

Veero Kudiye Karwada...., Sarv Suhagan Karwada...,

Aye Katti Naya Teri Naa, Kumbh Chrakhra Feri Naa,

Aar Pair payeen Naa, Ruthda maniyen Naa, Suthra Jagayeen Naa,

Ve Veero Kuriye Karwara,Ve Sarv Suhagan Karwara....... "

picture and text:http://www.karwachauth.com

Karva chauth ki sargi

What you need:

- 250 gm wheat vermicelli
- 50 gm ghee (can completely zero the ghee, if you want to make it fat free)
- 1 Lt full cream milk (can easily use 2% reduced or even skim milk to make it ‘lighter’)
- 200 gms sugar (again, this amount gives the kheer a mild sweetness, up or own the amount to suit your palate). Here sugar can also be substituted for brown sugar or jaggery for more flavour.
- A few pods whole elaichi
- Saffron strands
- Chopped nuts of your choice ( I did not put any in this version)

What you need to do:

1.) In a large pot roast the vermicelli in the ghee. The vermicelli can be dry roasted too (without any ghee for a low fat version). Stir frequently to allow equal roasting.

2.) Add the milk and elaichi pods and bring to the boil. When boiling, reduce gas to a simmer and cook for a further 10-12 minutes. The vermicelli will swell in size and soak up the milk.

3.) Switch off the gas and decorate with saffron and nuts. The kheer (pudding) can be had warm and or can be cooled down and refridgerated and served chilled.

We (mum and I) had it cold in the morning, drank lotsa water and went back to sleep!