Madhur Jaffrey's Flavours of India - Gujarat
This recipe is from Gujarat, a state of desert and semi-desert which runs along India's upper west coast. If there is haute cuisine for vegetarians, it can be found here. The region's traditional dishes are an amazing combination of flavours and textures, all based on sound nutritional principles, with delicious surprises like this version of a sponge roll; the outside is sweetened coconut and the inside is pistachios. Serve slices of the roll with fresh lychees for a traditional finish to an Indian meal.
For the Coconut Casing:
To make the filling: put the pistachios into the container of a clean coffee grinder. Grind to a coarse powder. Put the ground pistachios, sugar, poppy seeds and milk into a bowl. Mix to a paste. Put aside.
To make the coconut casing: put the sugar into a small heavy-bottomed pan. Add 4 tablespoons of water. Stir and bring to a simmer. Cook over a medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes until the syrup forms a single thread when a little is dropped from a spoon into a cup of cold water. Remove from the heat. Add the coconut and cardamom. Mix well. Add the condensed milk. Stir to mix.
Lay a 23 cm piece of cling film on your work surface. While the coconut paste is still warm, roll it into a thick 9 inch sausage. Put the coconut sausage horizontally on to the centre piece of cling film and flatten it to form a rectangle about 9 cm wide.
Roll the pistachio paste into a separate sausage of the same length. Put the rolled pistachio sausage on the coconut rectangle, slightly below the centre, a little closer to your end. With the aid of the cling film, fold the coconut paste over the pistachio paste. Press down on the cling film to firm up the roll. Now continue rolling, being careful to keep the cling film on the outside of the roll, until you have a slim "Swiss Roll". Press down evenly on the cling film to get a neat roll. Let the roll cool and harden a bit. Remove the cling film and cut crossways into 1 cm thick slices.
Cardamom is the vanilla of India, used in most desserts and sweetmeats. If you can't find whole pods, substitute powdered ground seeds which are more readily available. Only white poppy seeds are used in India, usually to thicken sauces.
Look for unsweetened desiccated coconut in health food stores.
Copyright of the British Broadcasting Corporation
Make the chena with the milk and lemon juice according to the directions in the preceding recipe with this difference. Hang up the milk curds for 2 hours instead of 1/2 hour. Knead thoroughly. Make a ball and set it aside. Put the 3 cups of sugar, 6 cups of water, and the cardamom pods in a deep 9 1/2 to 10 inch skillet or saute pan. Bring to a fast simmer over a medium flame. Once the sugar has dissolved completely, turn the heat to low and let the syrup simmer gently for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat.
Flatten the ball of chhena and add the semolina as well as the rose essence to it. Knead for 5 minutes, making sure the semolina and rose essence are well mixed in. Now make 20 crack-free balls, rolling each with just a little pressure between the palms of your two hands.
Bring the syrup to a simmer over a medium flame. Drop the balls into the syrup. Bring to a simmer again. Adjust the heat so the syrup simmers gently for 5 minutes. During this period, move the balls around and turn them over occasionally, using a very gentle touch. Make sure you do not damage the balls. Turn the heat up and bring the syrup to what might be described as a furious simmer. The syrup should look like a mass of tiny moving bubbles, but it should never boil over. Sprinkle the balls with 2 tablespoons of water, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. During this period, the balls should swell up.
Uncover, sprinkle the balls with another 2 tablespoons of water, cover and cook, simmering furiously for another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the balls to an empty bowl. ( the syrup can now be discarded. ) Pour the half and half over the balls and let them soak in it for 3 hours.
Take the balls gently out of the half and half with a slotted spoon and put them in another bowl. Pour the half and half into a skillet or saucepan and boil it down until you have about 2 cups left. Turn off the heat. Crush the cardamom seeds finely in a mortar and mince the pistachios. Add the crushed cardamom, the minced pistachios, and the one tablespoon of sugar to the reduced half and half. Pour this half and half over the chhena balls. Allow to cool. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and serve cold, as a dessert along with the creamy sauce.
from Madhur Jaffrey's World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking
Recipe By : Long Clawson Dairy Ltd, Melton Mowbray, Leicester, England
Serving Size : 4
Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Cheesecake , Desserts
Amount | Measure | Ingredient -- Preparation Method |
---|---|---|
9 | ounces | paneer -- blended until smooth |
1 | can | condensed milk, sweetened |
1/2 | pint | double cream |
2 | lemons | |
8 | ounces | digestive biscuits -- crushed |
3 | ounces | butter |
An old favorite to enjoy in a new way.
Melt the butter over a low heat and stir in the biscuit crumbs. Press into a large loose-bottomed flan tin and refrigeate. Blend paneer until smooth,
Ingredients:
Notes on Ingredients:
Rava is the Gujarati word for semolina, which Indian groceries sell by its more common name of sooji. Cream of Wheat (regular- not instant) will do in a pinch.
Brands of rose water vary in nature and quality. Indian rose water tends to have a peculiar undertone. I would stick with the Middle-Eastern or French brands because they have a truer rose note, and be sure you get the culinary rather than the cosmetic kind.
Edible silver foil is sold in Indian groceries. For gold, you may have to go to a framer and gilder, where you can buy booklets of leaves of pure gold. Many Indians believe in the fortifying power of ingested precious metals. Actually their benefit, if any, is in the mind's eye.
Starting with basic Rava, wait until the mixture cools slightly and tip into the bowl of a food processor with about unblanched almonds. Process until the mixture smooths out and the almonds are finely chopped. Add cardamom seeds crushed in a mortar and a splash of rose water.
Whip heavy cream to soft peaks and fold into lukewarm or room-temperature Rava. Pour into a serving bowl (silver if you like) and refrigerate until you want to produce dessert.
Garnish with as much edible silver or gold foil as you are moved to use, a strewing of chopped pistachios, a light grating of nutmeg, and at the very last moment a scatter of dewy rose petals (unsprayed, of course).
Rava is usually served on its own, but at Navroz we like it with strawberries, at other times with raspberries, sliced mangoes or blood oranges. Serves 10 to 12.
Uploaded by Lon Hall, 1992
New layout by Uwe Molzahn, 1994
serves 6
Wash the rice and boil in the water over medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes, until the rice is one quarter done. Drain in a colander.
In a saucepan, bring the milk and cardamom pods to a boil over medium heat. Add the rice and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, until the rice is soft and the milk is very thick. Stir occasionally at first and then constantly when the milk begins to thicken, to prevent the ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add the sugar, almonds, ground cardamom, and nutmeg and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat and set aside. Remove the cardamom pods from the pudding and sprinkle with the rose water.
Serve warm or chilled in dessert bowls.
from Feast of India by Rani
Keywords: Pudding, dessert, Indian
Ingredients:
Preparation:
Mix sugar, cornmeal and seasonings. Add to scalded milk and molasses and cook slowly (stirring) about 5 minutes.
Pour into a greased baking dish and dot with butter. Bake 1 hour at 300d. Add remaining cup milk and continue to cook 2 hours longer. Serve with butter, cream or ice cream.
In Indian, this nuclear fusion fruit salad is sold from sidewalk stands as a cooling snack on hot days. Serve with milder main dishes to assure survival to dessert.
*include 2 oranges and 2 slightly underripe bananas. Be sure to use 3-4 more types of fruit, such as apple, pear, nectarine, honeydew melon, plums, guava, mango, pitted cherries, pineapple, kiwi, seedless grapes.
Peel and seed oranges and chop in coarse chunks (about 1 1/2 inches). Peel bananas, chop then in 1-inch lengths and add to the oranges. Peel and seed such fruits as apples and melons and chop in 1 1/2-inch chunks. Place all fruit in a large serving bowl and mix in lemon juice. Mix all the spices in a separate bowl, pour over the fruit and mix well with your hands. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 1 hour. Makes 6 servings.
One of India's most delicious and nutritious desserts.
Add 1 can of water to the condensed milk and bring to a boil. Add carrots and cook over low heat for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add butter gradually and cook until fat begins to separate. Add the almonds and raisins and saffron that has been dissolved in the lime juice. This dessert may be served hot or cold.
Rice pudding prepared with milk is more common in Bengal, but this coconut milk version, which is quicker to make, has a fragrant, sweet aroma. Since coconut has an affinity with fish, I often serve this dish after a seafood meal. Try as is, or arrange slices of fresh ripe papayas, bananas, or mangoes around the pudding.
This dessert is best enjoyed soon after it is made. If allowed to sit for several hours, it will become dry. If that happens, add a little milk (or coconut milk), reheat, and serve.
Note: You can substitute a mixture of 1/2 cup coconut milk and 3/4 cup whole or 2% low fat milk
Garnish: chopped raw pistachios
6 servings
from The Healthy Cuisine of India by Bharti Kirchner
These milky-white ovals, floating in a clear sweet sauce, are irresistible.
For the dumplings:
For the syrup:
Flavoring: dash of rosewater (optional)
Makes about 20 cham-chams.
from The Healthy Cuisine of India by Bharti Kirchner
Ingredients
Preparation
Mix top four ingredients together and cook on low heat till dry and crumbly. Add last three ingredients and blend while still warm.
Ingredients
Preparation
Ingredients
Procedure
Notes
This recipe is a translation from 'samaithu paar', a cookbook in Tamil.
Contributor
Sridhar. sridhar@asuvax.eas.asu.edu
Serves 10
Lightly grease a medium size shallow baking pan or cookie sheet. In a large saucepan, bring the milk and oil to a boil over medium heat. Stir in the sugar and add the grated coconut and cardamom, stirring constantly for 6-8 minutes, until the coconut becomes thick and glazed. Remove from the heat and pour into the baking pan. Cool, cut into squares, and serve.
From Feast of India by Rani.
Categories: Desert
Calories per serving: 210
Number of Servings: 3
Fat grams per serving: 10g
Approx. Cook Time:
Cholesterol per serving: 15
Marks:
Ingredients
Directions
Line a colander with double thickness of cheesecloth. Spoon the yogurt into the cloth, gather up corners, tie with string and hang to drip dry for at least 15 hours. (In summer do this in fridge.) Yields about 1 3/4 cups yogurt cheese
Place saffron threads in small pan and toast over low heat until brittle. Cool and crush with a rolling pin.
Transfer yogurt cheese to a bowl. Add the saffron, sour cream sugar and cardamon. Mix thoroughly with the back of a spoon. (May be made up to 4 days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.)
To serve, scoop into sundae dishes or goblets. Top with fruit of choice and garnish with almonds.
Serves 2 or 3 midgets.
from Yamuna Devi
The dough for this dish takes only minutes to assemble, but the balls must be fried under carefully controlled temperatures. Some recipes call for more flour, but the less flour in the dough the better the qulaity of the gulab jamun. This recipe takes time and attention
Makes 24 gulab jamuns.
This is a delicious, refreshing, and easy-to-make drink for hot summer days.
Ingredients (6 12-oz drinks)
Procedure
Notes
Canned mango pulp is available in Indian and Latin American grocery stores. The "mango nectar" that is widely available in American grocery stores does not have nearly enough mangoes per unit volume to make this drink. If you are lucky enough to be able to get fresh mangoes, you can use the flesh of one ripe mango for about 1 cup of the mango pulp; if you do that, increase the amount of sugar to 2 Tbsp per batch, as canned mango pulp always has added sugar. You can make interesting variations on this recipe by using plain yogurt for some or all of the milk, and by adding a tart counterbalance to the mangoes, such as shredded kiwi fruit.
Rating
Difficulty: trivial.
Time: 3 minutes.
Precision: no need to measure ingredients.
Contributor
Ratna Sarkar
Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, Palo Alto CA
c/o JLH.Vivek@SU-Sierra.ARPA
Ingredients:
Method:
Soak rice for 24 hours and then dry it on a flat plate with the rice evenly spread in a single layer. Drying can be done by putting the rice in front of a fan or just leave it as it is on a table till it is completely dried. The dried rice should be dry roasted slightly in a pan to remove any traces of water. This rice should be finely powdered in a blender.
Syrup should be made by mixing 2 cups of water and 2 cups of Brown sugar and then boiled to a level where it is neither too sticky nor too diluted (THEEGA PAAKAM should be fine). Now with the syrup still on the stove set to low flame, the rice powder should be added slowly to this syrup by mixing it evenly till it becomes a paste. Now this paste should be set aside and small round balls the size of a lemon should be made and then should be patted in the poppy seeds container and pressed flatly. These should be fried in oil heated to a medium high flame until brown. These browned aresalu should be pressed to drain excess oil.
Now they should be ready to eat.
P.S: You may not get these done perfectly on your first attempt but by the second or third time you should be all set to become Master of Aresalu. So I suggest you try in small quantity during the trials.