Rosy Ricotta Rasmalai

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!

Amazing bean brownies for click

These bean brownies go to jugalbandi for their click beans event.

yes... brownies made from beans... reactions to this statement are of two types. The first is 'Eww...bean brownies, no way?!!!", and the second type of reaction is 'wow...bean brownies, really? I'm glad mine was of the second type, otherwise I would have never tried this recipe.
Just like the comments to the post where I found this recipe, at 101cookbooks.com, Most people commenting on the post were amazed and some were disgusted at the thought that brownies could be made with beans. Heidi's blog 101cookbooks showcases her amazing rustic, down to earth, healthy recipes, and I love her site for that.

If you like chocolaty goodness that is gudgy fudgy and yummy then you cant miss this recipe!! I was excited too that I could make my son's favourite brownies and he would be taking in more proteins than carbohydrates. Ive made this with kala chana/kadala and this time tried them with beans. The one with kadala had more texture to it as opposed to the beans but both were real chocolate goodness! Next I'm going to try them with chickpeas. This is how I tweaked Heidi's recipe:

- 1 and 1/2 cups boiled beans (you can use tinned too, I boil extra rajma, chole, kadala and keep a cup aside)

- 3 eggs

- 1 cup maple syrup (I'm telling you this brings an amazing flavour to the brownies)

- 4 ounces chocolate (I used 3ounces dark chocolate and 1 ounce normal bar chocolate... the leftover stash from Musicals goody bag)

- 1 stick/4 ounces butter (I used salted here)

- 1/2 cup cashew nuts (coz i couldnt find walnuts in the house)

I ommited coffee powder which Heidi puts in her recipe... see here.

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and grease two 20cm X 20cm (or equivalent size baking pans).

2. Blend/puree the beans to a smooth paste. Use a couple of tbsp of milk to run the blender more smoothly. It should not be lumpy. Roughly chop the cashew nuts.

3. Melt the chocolate in the microwave on high for around 2 minutes or on gas over boiling water. When the chocolate is nearly melted, add the butter and stir togethor.

4. In a large bowl beat the eggs till they are light and fluffy.

5. Add the maple syrup into the beaten eggs and keep beating.

6. Add the melted butter and chocolate into the eggs and syrup mixture.

7. Add the beans puree and cashew nuts and combine togethor.

8. Pour in the greased baking pans to a thickness of not more than 2cm.

9. Bake for about 45 - 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

10. Cool in the pan before cutting into squares. Refridgerate.

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....

Edible diyas for Diwali... yeah...eat them!

Happy Diwali !!!!!!!

I would like to wish all my readers a very happy Deepavali…. Wishing everyone lots of happiness, joy and prosperity.

Diwali is the festival of lights, the celebration of good over evil…light over darkness. Deepavali as it is also called ....means a row of lamps. These lamps are usually made with clay and some women at home make them with ‘aata’ or roti dough.

When I saw the recipe for these edible coconut diyas, I fell in love with them and promised to make them on diwali….here is the recipe. I used orange food colour to give them that earthen clay hue.

The recipe doesn’t fill the diyas with anything, so I put in a small dollop of soft sweet khoya as symbolic ghee with a sliver of almond for the wick.

I also decorated them with ‘hundreds and thousands’ - tiny coloured sugar balls. I tried decorating them with silver vark, but it got messy....

So here's wishing all my readers all the happiness in the world.... my advise is ....make lots of sweets, share them with all your family and friends, eat them too and have a joyous time!

This is going to Vee of Past Present and Me for the wonderful event JFI special series: The festive series...

This is also going to Meeta's Monthly Mingle for Traditional Feasts.

Karva chauth di sargi: Early morning vermicelli pudding

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!

This is going to Vee of Past Present and Me for the wonderful event JFI special series: The festive series...

Peanut ladoos for navratri, contribute for Feed-a-hungry-child and a meme

These ladoos are so easy and are great for kids to learn and make.

But first I want to put in a plea to keep contributing to ‘feed a hungry child’ as there are still a few days left for the fund raising drive. Even though the fund-drive goal of raising 3, 360 dollars has been crossed, we can contribute more to feed more mouths.

(FHC): feedahungrychild.org is a not-for-profit charitable organization formed in a collaborative effort of the like-minded people from all around the world. It aims to replace the empty plates of the underprivileged children and replace them with ones of food. While FAHC addresses the holistic needs of each children it supports, it believes illiteracy, malnutrition, and other concerns can only be addressed when hunger is appeased.

Join the fight against global poverty…. Help feed children one by one…

Please chip-in and contribute here, or here or go to the FHC website...

And now onto the easy-peasy laddoo recipe:

What you need:

- 350 gm peanut butter (crunchy – if you want bits of nut, smooth – if you want a smooth texture)
- 250 gm khoya (make a semi-hard dough with full cream milk powder and milk and microwave it for 10 minutes on low, cool and grate finely)
- 200gm brown icing sugar (can use normal icing sugar too, and reduce the amount if you find it too sweet)
- 1 tsp elaichi (cardamom) powder
(This amount made 50 ladoos of 2.5 cm diameter (average size for a ladoo) )

What you need to do:
1.) Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl thoroughly. Shape into round ladoos.

Tips:
-Use splashes of milk to moisten a dry mixture, that is becoming to difficult to combine.
- If the mixture is too wet and gooey (which it will hardly be), you can use dry dessicated coconut to make the mixture pliable.

Verdict: These ladoos look and taste exactly like besan (gram flour) laddoos in texture and 90% in taste, so they are great for when fasting from grains. You just get a peanutty taste instead. Also, there is no ‘extra’ ghee I added this time and they tasted great; the only fat comes from the peanut butter. Plus, I looooved making them because of how easy they were to make. They are really good for kids to make too.

See how I made them last year for Navratri, the recipe is pretty much the same, except I didn’t put ghee this time.

This is going to Vee of Past Present and Me for the wonderful event JFI special series: The festive series...

This is also going to Viji of Vcuisine for the wonderful event RCI Tamil Festive Series...

Now for my first meme that Sweet Sig tagged me for:

4 Places I’ve lived:

- Kisumu, Kenya
- New Delhi, India
- Selebi- Phikwe, Botswana
- Gaborone, Botswana

4 Jobs I’ve had / (wish I could have)

- Computer Technician Attachee / Interior Decorator
- Systems Analyst Junior / Coolest restaurant-in-town owner and chef
- Assistant Computer Lecturer (in parallel with 2) / Flower Bouquet Designer(I’m gonna do this when I’m old and grey anyway)
- Computer Engineer / Pencil, Pastel and Oil Painter

4 Favorite places I’ve holidayed:

1. Venice – I was in awe of all the canals dotted with the beautiful houses, the islands and the awesome Italian food. And people, Venice is sinking… hope the engineers can save it in the nick of time.
2. Vienna – Oh this city is truly musical, the opera we went to was to-die-for… and they played all the famous classical numbers especially my fav ..Mozart… there was even a Pavarotti look a like with a ballerina…sigh….
3. Cape Town – was amazing… with all the history and unique flora and fauna, vineyards and wine….Robin island where Mandela spent 26 (?) years.
4. Pongundam near Kottayam – This is a huge rubber plantation… my sin-in-law’s in-law’s place. It was breath-taking and beautiful. And my SIL’s MIL made such yummy food for us…

4 Favorite foods

1. Homemade corn pizza (with bits of paneer)
2. Pasta Recco – at our fav Italian restaurant, I don’t even bother looking at their menu…
3. Chilli Gobhi Dry - Also at out fav south Indian restaurant…. I’m trying really hard (with the help of my mum) to recreate this dish at home… and when I told this to a fellow blogger friend, she loved it too… will post it soon
4. Tie between Appam-stew and Onam sadya(incl parip payasam) – Coz after consuming both relishes, it induces a zombie reaction in the body, where we drift towards the next closest place to lie down and drift into slumber land.

4 Places I’d rather be

- On a looooong drive with M (hubby) where we talk and talk and talk.
- Playing with my son, and going to see the bho-bhos (dogs)
- Touring the world
- Doing something creatively fun (painting, cooking, crafty things).

4 bloggers I like to tag

Wanted to tag Musy, and Lakshmi(Yum), but they’ve already done this meme…

- Manisha
- Bee
- Arun
- Viji

Please take it up only if you wish to...

Sweet Pedas for Sweet Krishna

Shri Krishna Janamashtami also known as Krishna Jayanti, Shri Jayanti and Gokulashtami amongst many names. It is the most revered festival in our house.

Janmashtami, (as it is casually known) is one of the most popular festivals of Hindus which celebrates the birth of their beloved God, Sri Krishna. Detailed story of Janmashtami or Lord Krishna's birth has been narrated in Puranas. Please read here for details.

Sri Krishna was born in the month of Sravana more than 5000 years ago. According to some scholars, Krishna was born on Wednesday, the eighth day (Ashtami) of the second fortnight in Sravana month in the year of Visvavasu around 3227 BC, also known as Dwapur Yug. He lived for 125 years and his departure was the onset of the current corrupt age known as Kaliyug (that we are in right now). Source: here

Shri Krishna has uncountable names and forms that devotees pray to. In Kerala Krishna is prayed in the form of Guruwayurappan.

The word Guruvayurappan, meaning Lord of Guruvayur, comes from the words Guru referring to Brihaspati, the Guru of the Devas, Vayu, the God of Wind and Appan, meaning father or Lord in Malayalam. Since Guru (Brahaspati) and Vayu Deva is said to have installed Lord Krishna's statue, the name Guruvayurappan was given to the lord. Although many temples of Guruvayurappan exist, the oldest and most famous of them all is located in the town of Guruvayur, Kerala, India.

Guruwayoorappan pic source

Lord Krishna at Guruvayur, a city located in Trichur district in Kerala, India, is worshipped as Lord Guruvayurappan. It is believed that the idol of Lord Guruvayurappan was worshipped by Vasudeva, father of Lord Krishna and represents the full manifestation of Lord Maha Vishnu. The idol is made of a stone called "Patala Anjanam" or black bismuth and is in the standing pose with 4 arms carrying the shanku (conch), the chakra (discus), the gada (mace) and padma (lotus). Guruvayur is also hailed as "Bhooloka Sri Vaikuntham" where the Lord reveals himself to his devotees in the same majestic form in which he welcomes them in Vaikuntha, his celestial abode. Source: Wikipedia

See the beatiful oil lamps that are lit around the temple ay Guruwayoor here

Since Krishna loves sweets things made of milk and milk products, so a post on his favourite ‘pedas’ was inevitable on Soul Food. This is also a very easy recipe, as its made in the microwave. This Krishna prashad is a regular at Ramayan poojas and Janamashtami at our house.

What you need:

- 4 cups full cream milk powder
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups milk (full cream)
- 2 tsp elaichi (cardamom) powder
- a few tsp ghee to combine the pedas

What you need to do:

1. Dissolve the sugar and elaichi powder in the milk to make a syrup. Microwave it until the sugar dissolves.

2. Use the syrup to combine the milk powder to make a very soft dough. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. Use a knife and spoon to cut into the dough to see if it has changed colour. It should slightly darken( go from cream colour to light caramel). The mixture will also get drier as you go along.

3. Microwave for another 4 minutes and check again, if the dough has cooked or not. If it has not, microwave it further in 2 rounds of 2 minutes, checking to see if the peda mixture is cooked. At the end of these rounds, it would definitely have been cooked through.

4. Let it cool until it is warm enough to handle by hand. Grate it finely with a grater. Use ghee in your hands and shape into pedas and keep for bhog. If the mixture is too wet, dry dessicated coconut can be added to firm them up. If the mixture is too dry, you can add splashes of milk to soften the mixture.

The pedas can be decorated with silver vark. Put pedas for bhog on Krishna Janmashtami and then feast on them later! This makes about 25 – 30 pedas.

1. This is going to Latha of The 'yum' blog for her lovely festival series: Janamashtami.

2. This is also going to Srivalli of Cooking for all seasons: as a gracious late entry for her lovely microwave event.

Gudpara

Using Gud (Jaggery) instead of regular sugar for the syrup in this recipe takes these lovely paras to another level. This recipe is from one of my fav bhabhi, whose an ace gudpara maker. These can be stored in an airtight container for a month or two and is yummy in the winter months. The saunf also gives them a lovely flavour. I usually pop a couple in my mouth after lunch, which satisfies my sweet tooth and the saunf leaves a great taste in the mouth till the evening... this goes amazing with a hot cup of tea too... pure winter indulgence at its best!!

what you need:
- 500gms maida (all purpose flour)
- 1/3 cup (150ml) ghee/oil
- water to knead the dough
- oil for deep frying

for the syrup
- 250gms gud (jaggery)
- 1 cup water
- 2 tbsp saunf (fennel seeds)
- 1 tsp elaichi powder

1. Combine the ghee into the flour to resemble dry breadcrumbs. Add little water to get a fairly hard dough (not too hard). Knead thoroughly to make the dough smooth.

2. Divide the dough into two. With the first half, roll it out to about 1/2 cm thickness. Using a knife cut out strips of size (1cm X 3-4cm). Deep fry the strips and and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat with the second half of the dough.

3. Combine the gud, water, saunf and elaichi to make a thick syrup. Boil the syrup until it reaches 2 string consistency (Cool a drop of syrup on a plate and stretch between two fingers to see approximately two strings). Basically it should be thick and should be solifying at the edges.

4. Quickly add the paras (the strips) into the syrup to coat them evenly and spread them onto a tray to solidify. When cool, store in an airtight container. Eat whenever you like :), makes about a kilo of gudpara.

Another entry for the RCI-punjab to Richa of As dear as Salt, conceived by Lakshmik of Veggie Cuisine.

Trifle Green with avacado and kiwifruit

I love to make trifle for dessert when a small group of people are coming over or for a special treat. Its so easy to assemble and proves to be a hit with everybody. Usually I stick to a colour theme, and throw in fruits of the same colour. Sometimes seasonal fruits determine the colour of the trifle! Like when mangoes are in season, its Trifle yellow, and for peaches it Trifle orange and Trifle Pink with strawberries, and when there's no fruit around, then its chocolate all the way!! This time I decided to try green with avacado and kiwi specially for Meeta. It turned out yum, hope she likes it too!!!

what you need:

- 500gms of any sponge or madiera cake
- custard (vanilla) made out of 750ml of milk
- roughly chopped fresh fruit (here I used kiwi, pear and peach)
- 1 packet (50g) prepared fruit jelly (I've used green here)
- 250ml fresh cream
- 50gms icing sugar
- 1 ripe avacado peeled
- (preferrably) a nice glass trifle bowl or any glass bowl.

The amount of the ingredients above can be varied as some people would prefer more fruit as opposed to more custard or cake.

But the amount of ingredients above makes for around 20 people (when this is served for dessert!).

what you need to do:


Place, slices of cake at the bottom of the bowl. Pour in some milk to soften the sponge. Here you could easily use fruit juice, cream or liquor to soak the the cake slices.

Cover with a layer of custard. Custard can be prepared in advance (overnight) and used here. When preparing the custard, it can be coloured (with a few drops of green in our case) to go with the fruits too. I dont tend to use unnecessary artificial colouring so Ive just left it a creamy colour.

Throw in a layer of chopped fresh fruit. Really, we can put in any fruits here. Cover the fruits with a layer of fruit jelly. (Jelly usually has gelatin and vegetarians and can use the non-gelatin based fruit jelly that are made of agar-agar).

Repeat the layers of cake, custard, fruit and jelly. The thickness of the layers should be in relation to the height of the trifle bowl so that they all fit in. For example if the bowl has a short height, then put in thinner layers of everything.


For the top layer blend togethor the fresh cream, icing sugar and the avacado to get a lovely green fresh cream icing. The blending of cream with the sugar and avacado will thicken the cream in the process. Come to think of it, it would be great to ice a cake with this too.





Top the bowl with the yummy blend. Add in buttons of cherries, and serve chilled.


I'm taking this over to Meeta's big birthday bang, hope she likes this surprise and I get the bowl back licked clean!!!

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.

Peanut Ladoo

I usually make this during navratri... they can be made on any occasion really and they are so easy to make...

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup peanut butter (crunchy)
3/4 cup icing Sugar (can put 1 cup if you want more sweet)
1 cup khoya (grated finely)
1/2 cup dessicated coconut
5 tbsp ghee (enough to moisten the peanut mixture)


Add all the ingredients (ghee, peanut butter, sugar, coconut and khoya) in a wok on medium flame and combine everthing togethor until mixed well and sugar has melted. The mixture should not get runny. When it cools down a bit but still very warm, make round balls.

Can decorate with silver vark, or a little bit of coconut or have just like that.