Mango parfait

Using up the last mangoes of the season, to fix a wretched day

Lets just say today needed fixing. When you spend a Saturday glued to your computer, in an office chair, it needs fixing. So I decided Id welcome the rains, by saying goodbye to the summer, by finishing up the last of the mangoes. Iv discovered theese glorious Goan mangoes and enjoyed them thoroughly this summer. So there!

I basically followed the Strawberry Parfait recipe, just replacing strawberries with chopped fresh mangoes, that were so sweet they didnt need added sugar! Anand tried this a few days ago with fresh peaches thrown in, and he said it was divine (for those of you who like to pair interesting flavours). However, today I had no time to go look for peaches. I needed comforting, and I needed it quickly.

So Im not going to elaborate the recipe all over again. Just leaving you with some pictures. Try this one, quick! Before the mangoes say goodbye for the year!

Strawberry yoghurt parfait

Anushruti's Strawberry Parfait, except I didnt make it in "tall glasses" parfait style

The weekend began well with a bright watercolor painting session at the beach, which set the mood perfectly for the rest of the weekend. I love it when something spectacularly joyful happens right at the start of the weekend, because it then feels like no matter what the rest of the weekend is like, I'll still feel happy, satisfied and content. It was such pure joy to be painting again :)

On the way home, still on my watercolor high we stopped by at the market, and I saw some bright and juicy looking strawberries that just looked like they were asking to be bought. Nothing like fresh fruit in dessert. I couldnt have made the weekend better than by using Anushruti's recipe for Strawberry Parfait.

Now parfait is technically made in individual servings in tall glasses. But when I finally got down to making it in the evening, after a day of painting and cleaning up the house and watching Rio in between, we got an impromptu call from Ravi, inviting us to yet another BBQ experiment at his place. Going by the success of Ravi's last BBQ party, it was hard to turn the invitation down!

Last time, I planned a day ahead and took some tandoori chicken along. So considering I didnt have any meat to contribute this time around, I decided to take dessert instead. And thats how the individual servings were swapped for one big bowl. Also, given that I was suddenly now racing against time, I skipped a few ingredients, which I dont think altered the recipe too much (apologies, Anu!) but I intend to try this out again and get it down, pat!

For those who want the "original" recipe, check out Anushruti's most divine blog. For those who want to see what I did, read one..

What I used:
2 small cartons of strawberries
100 ml fresh cream
1 big carton Nestle yoghurt, hung for about an hour
1 + 2 tablespoons of sugar
150-200 gms digestive biscuits crumbled/powdered
2 tablespoons butter

What I did:
First, chop us all the strawberries into small bits. Add in 1 tablespoon sugar, mix well and allow to rest.

Powder the digestive biscuits. While Anushruti does this by putting the whole lot in a ziploc bag and pounding them, in the absence of ziploc bags, I simply put them in a big bowl and crushed them by hand. Add in 2 tablespoons of butter and mix well.

In a large mixing bowl, add the hung curd, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 100 ml fresh cream and whip well.

Thats pretty much all the preparation this dessert requires! Thats another reason it was such a joy. It was done before I knew it. Now to assemble it.

Spoon some cream+yoghurt into a bowl and spread evenly. Next add on a layer of biscuits. Follow this up by a layer of sugared strawberries. And repeat, until you reach the top of the bowl.

End with a layer of biscuits. I also added some chopped walnuts right on top, just for that extra crunch.

Chill until you're ready to dig in.
Done!

Strawberry souffle

A simple-to-make dessert with wonderful results

It all started with the office cook-out. A tradition that features new joinees cooking for the rest of the office. Yes, the whole freaking office. All 50 of them. So as luck would have it, my turn came. And with it, I was clubbed with 3 fresh-out-of-college boys, who dont cook. I consider myself a novice. I can barely cook for more than 3 people, with confidence. And here I was, with the daunting task of cooking for 50 very hungry people, with very high expectations. That, and the will to generally rag the new joinees.

So the menu was decided. We wanted to keep it simple. Chicken curry, paneer butter masala, jeera rice and green salad. And just as an add-on, I thought Id experiment with a quick-fix idea for souffle, that my super efficient and pro-cook friend Praerna had shared with me a while ago. Shes my ultimate recipe-yellow-pages, and comes to my rescue in my moments of doubt about quantities, recipes, what-to-make-moments and generally anytime I need some home-maker-kind-of-support. And for that I am SO grateful :)

I knew Id have to probably quadruple the quantities, but Id have to make it at home and let it set overnight. When the night in question arrived however, I was faced with a huge power cut and resorted to spending the evening in the office. The "evening" ended at 10 pm. So of course making dessert was out of question, and it promptly got dropped off the menu. But to address my thwarted intention to make souffle, I decided I should make some for myself and the husband this weekend. VC likes fruity desserts (I know that sounds very UNmanly, but he does! And theres no other way to say it!), so this sounded perfect. Besides its simple and so easy-sounding that is would be a crime NOT to try it!

Here's what you need (for about 8 servings):
1 packet jelly, in any flavour you like. I used strawberry, but Praerna tells me it tastes lovely in orange.
1 big box of curd. I used Nestle, but any of the other packaged store-bought curds will do.
200 ml fresh cream

Here's what you need to do:
Prepare the jelly in advance, and set it fully. This takes a few hours. Since I planned the previous night I let it set overnight.

Hang the curd in a muslin cloth for at least 5-6 hours. Again, I left it overnight, and I have to say this gave me a wonderful result. The curd had lost all its water and reduced to less than half its quantity. Which is exactly how you want it to be.

When the jelly is fully set, grab a whisk and break it up, till its nice and scrambled into tiny bits.

Next, add the hung curd and mix it together. If youre using a balloon whisk and dealing with possible CTS like I think I am, this can be quite laborious and takes longer than if you use an electric hand mixer.

When the curd and jelly are slightly mixed up, add in the cream. All 200 ml of it, and continue to whisk, till its nice and smooth.

My souffle turned from a deep magenta pink to a lovely soft and smooth light pink. At this point, simply stick a finger in to this gorgeous velvety mixture, lick it, and taste for sweetness. I added a leeeeetle bit of powdered sugar, because I felt it needed it.

Stick the bowl back in to the fridge and let it set.

Done!

Chocolate Custard

Happiness is in a bowl of chocolate

Recently, Curry Spice's wonderful blog was featured in the Grazia magazine, in a feature on food bloggers! Like I said on my other blog, following a bunch of blogs has created a sort of inner circle for me. And being a part of this little blogosphere is a bit like knowing a group of people and having something in common with each of the authors. Despite the fact that you have probably never met so many of them, you cant help but feel a connection. Perhaps because of the common interests, passions, quirks and even writing styles. Its but natural to share in another's happiness and moment of glory. So when I read about it on her blog, I was truly happy for her, and to see that a blog I follow and frequently look up is going places. In that very same article, Curry Spice lists some of the top food blogs and their authors featured in the article. Thats how I stumbled on Anushruti's blog: Divine Taste!

I was randomly surfing through the pages of her blog, and I recognized several recipes that are close to/exactly like the kind of food/cuisine I have back home. Radish Huli, Beetroot Sasive, Tambli! Tempted and lured on, I ventured deeper, and suddenly found this truly divine sounding recipe for an eggless Chocolate Custard. Whats better: it looked easy, uncomplicated, hassle-free and most importantly, I had everything I needed.

I used her recipe down to the T, so Im not going to pen it down here since Anushruti has done that in the most organized fashion (refer link above). But I did enjoy the process, so here are snapshots of my version of Anushruti's Chocolate Custard.
Milk, cream, chocolate..you cant go wrong.


This is what happens when you try and make your custard and shoot it too. Next time, Im going to force the husband to stick around.








Clearly, I could do with a lit bit of finesse in the kitchen. But at least spill-overs like that make good pictures. And present opportunities to lick the sides of the bowl too.



Done!

Laddoos

Diwali happiness + nostalgia = a first attempt at laddoos

Perhaps our first feelings of being "away" from home were felt day before yesterday. Like Iv said before, thats when we realized that Diwali is right around the corner, and yet nothing in our immediate vicinity screamed "Diwali!" like it would, had we been in Bangalore. I suddenly identified with what NRIs must feel like, miles away from their homes, families and their roots (I hate using this word in this context, because I think it has become so cliché and overused) during the time of festivals. When one is back home, one tends to just take it for granted. Things just happen and we are a part of events and happenings almost as if by default. But this is our first time away. I made a conscious choice to stay in Goa during Diwali this year, even though I had the option of going home to celebrate it, because I wanted to bring a bright and beautiful Diwali into our very first home together.

But as Diwali drew closer, I realized its not easy to feel festive with just the 2 of us. Half the fun of festivals like Diwali is about being with family, meeting one another, exchanging sweets and the rest. However, I still want to make this Diwali, our first Diwali in our own home, as special as possible. And the closest and fondest association I have with the festival, is of course the sweets! So here's a basic laddoo recipe that I tried for the very first time today.

What you need (for about 18 smallish laddoos)
2 cups of atta (wheat flour)
1/2 cup ghee and oil
1 and 1/4 cup powdered sugar
A pinch of elaichi powder

What you need to do
Roast the atta in a pan on a low flame until it turns nice and brown and begins to smell wonderful. So wonderful that you'll wonder how atta could smell so divine. Add in the ghee+oil mixture. This will cause some lumps, even them out and continue to roast. The fragrance only keeps getting better and makes you want to ditch making laddoos and eat the mixture as it is. I wish pictures could capture smells, then you would know exactly what I mean.



Next, add in the elaichi powder. This is optional. Some people dont like the flavour, so its alright to omit. Continue to roast, all the while on a low flame. When you cant bear to enjoy the fragrance any more, turn the flame off. After about 2 minutes, add in the powdered sugar. and mix thoroughly.

Allow this powdered mixture to cool just enough so you can get your hands in and begin the laddoo making. Once cooled, turning powder to solid spheres is virtually impossible. So this part does call for some palm-scalding and some pain-threshold testing. Being my first time making laddoos, it took going through about 4-5 misshapen ones before I got the hang of it. 16 uneven, fingerprinted spheres later, I was done!



The fragrance brought back memories of Diwali at home and Shantamma (my cook back home) making the very same laddoos. However, this morning I asked my mommy-in-law or help with her version of the recipe, because in true Sindhi style theyre richer, more ghee-laden and therefore VERY yummy. See for yourself!