There is not a captain, lieutenant, brigadier, general, admiral, air marshal or cadet in the Indian Armed Forces who has not tasted Tipsay Pudding. Every graduate from the National Defence Academy (NDA) has been served this iconic pudding on special occasions. While the Academy has made this pudding its own, Tipsy Pudding is a variation of the traditional Trifle Pudding. A rich, cold pudding, a layered melange of sponge cake soaked in sherry, brandy or rum and smoothered with jelly, custard and cream, it is the quintessential English desert. However, jelly being a controversial ingredient, has been dropped at the NDA. But Tipsy Pudding doesn't need it and the cadets don't miss it.
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
The Cake
250 gm sponge cake
4 tsp rum or sherry
1 cup lime juice
1 cup fruit juice
50 gm raisins
50 gm cashewnuts, chopped
50 gm walnuts, chopped
The Custard
5 egg yolks
2 cups milk
1/4 tsp oil
4 tsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Garnish
1 cup mixed crystallized fruits, chopped
1 cup mixed nuts
Hint: 40 mins; Serves 4-6; vanilla ice cream
METHOD
Slice the sponge cake into two layers.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl well till the white and yolk form a consistent liquid. Now, pour it into a blender. Add the milk solids, sugar, cardamom powder and a pinch of yellow food colouring. Blend this mixture till it turns smooth.
Pour the two tbsp of ghee or oil into the mixture and blend well. Now, pour 11/2 cups of ghee or oil in a pan. Once the oil or ghee is heated, pour the egg and milk blend. Cook well by stirring continuously, till the oil begins to separate and a grainy texture is formed. Then add coarsely chopped almonds and pistachios. Mix them well into the mixture and cook for a minute or two. Transfer the halwa to a tray and garnish with silver foil.
Serve warm.
CROISSANT PUDDING
This is essentially a classic bread-and-butter pudding, but instead of using bread slices, the recipe uses butter croissants. The classic bread pudding found its origins among those who did not want to waste stale bread, but put it to good use instead. According to me, bread-and-butter pudding is comfort food and there is no pudding I like better. The key to a good pudding, however, lies in the custard. Custard can go terribly wrong; it can be thin, lumpy or smell strongly of egg. I shudder at the very thought of it.
If well-made, Crossiant Pudding tastes heavenly with either creme anglaise, whipped cream or any vanilla-based sauce. Oh, I miss my grandmom!
Every state in India has its own variety of pickles. Some preserved in groundnut oil, some in mustard oil, others in vinegar or just brine. But the king in my books is the Parsi Lagan nu Achar. It's called an achar, but it is a pickle-cum-jam-cum-chutney, rich with meva (dry fruits). It's as though this pickle has preserved the Persian origins with its carrots, raisins, apricots, dates, ginger, dried bora berries, jaggery, malt vinegar, sugarcane vinegar, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom and more.
METHOD
Combine carrots, sugar, jaggery and vinegar in a large saucepan. Mix and cook on a low flame until the carrots turn soft. Stir in ginger, garlic and salt. Cook until the mixture gets sticky. Now mix dates, red chillies, raisins and apricots. Bring to a boil on low flame.
Mix in chilli powder, black pepper and garam masala. Cool and store in a glass container and refrigerate. It lasts for a week or so.
PATHARE PRABHU CHUTNEY
Hint: 25 mins; Serves 4-8 ; puran poli and a maharashtrian meal
PANCHAMRUT DRINK
I just made this up. Well, nor really. I'm no master chef to be dreaming up recipes, but I can transform the existing ones. In most Maharastrian homes, when you perform a Satyanarayan Puja, an offering of five foods. Pinch is "five" in Sanskrit and amrut is "nectar". At the end of the puja, a spoonful of this mixture is offered as prashad. As a kid, I loved it so much, that a spoonful of this mixture is offered as prashad. As a kid, I loved it so much, that a spoonful just wasn't enough. So, I tried making a glassful and created a refreshing, tasty beverage, best had chilled.
Hint: 25 mins; Serves 4 ; serve chilled
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
The Cake
250 gm sponge cake
4 tsp rum or sherry
1 cup lime juice
1 cup fruit juice
50 gm raisins
50 gm cashewnuts, chopped
50 gm walnuts, chopped
The Custard
5 egg yolks
2 cups milk
1/4 tsp oil
4 tsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Garnish
1 cup mixed crystallized fruits, chopped
1 cup mixed nuts
Hint: 40 mins; Serves 4-6; vanilla ice cream
METHOD
Slice the sponge cake into two layers.
Place the first layer on the serving dish, ensuring it fits the dish well. Mix half the rum/sherry, lime juice and fruit juice.
Sprinkle the remaining onto the sponge layer, such that the cake soaks the liquids well. Mix half the raisins and walnuts and spread over the sponge. Repeat the process while adding the second layer to
the sponge cake.
In a pan, beat the egg yolks and sugar and mix well. Now add the milk. Mix well. In a large pan, boil water. Now place the egg mixture over this pan and stir gently and continuously. Whisky until the custard is thickened. Do not boil or else it will curdle. Now mix in vanilla essence and keep whisking until cool.
Pour the custard over the sponge cake and decorate with crystallized fruits and nuts.
VANILLA SHEERMAL
Sheermal is best described as a flaming orange, subdy sweet, layered paratha. It's such a popular bread in Luknow, that they've named a street after it - Sheermal -wale Galli. A thick mist of flour engulfs you as you stroll into this old part of Luknow. The aroma of fresh baking momentarily deodorizes the mustiness of this ancient eatery. And lo and behold, in the foreground of underground tandoors, you spot piles of flat cane baskets with sunset-coloured, mildly sweet parathas. Sheermals are being sold by the dozens for patrons to eat with their home-cooked kevda (pandamus flower essence), flavoured quormas, saalans (types of curry) and galavatis ( a type of kebab). My poison is more vanilla. It adds that little something to make me smile.
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
3 cups refined wheat flour (maida)
1 cup whole fat milk
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup ghee
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Salt to taste
A few strands of saffron, soaked in 2 tbsp milk
You will also need. A heavy iron pan, griddle or tava.
Hint: 5 hrs; Serves 4; cold rabri
METHOD
In a large bowl, sift together flour and salt. Sprinkle in the sugar and pour the melted ghee. Pouring milk a little at a time, knead it into soft dough. Cover it with a moist cloth and set aside for two hours.
Knead the dough again and set aside for another two hours. Knead again and divide into seven parts. In a small bowl, rub saffron strands in milk and add vanilla essence.
Heat an inverted heavy iron pan on the stove-up. Turn on the second flame alongside. Roll out the dough into thick round parathas. Prick it all over with a fork.
Slap it onto the inverted pan and bake till brown. Shift the paratha to the open flame. Flip it a few times until it is cooked.
Shift the sheermal back onto the inverted pan. Then, using your fingers, splash with saffron milk and vanilla essence mix. Leave it for a minute or so. Remove and serve warm.
ANDAY KA HALWA
I first came across Anday ka Halwa tucked away at the bottom of a dessert menu, overshadowed by Sheer Khurma, Seviyan and Kheer at a restaurant called A1 Amir, at Ghitorni Chowk in Delhi. I then grasped that this was a traditional dessert, popular for over centuries in Muslim-ruled states, like Hyderabad. But like most traditional delicacies, one cannot really attribute its nativity to just one place. At first, just the thought of making a halwa out of eggs may sound preposterous and vile. But I guarantee that once it is done, the halwa tastes absolutely divine without the slightest hint of an eggy flavour.
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
6 eggs
500 gm khoya (condensated milk or mawa)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup almonds and pistachios, finely crushed
6 green cardamoms, ground
11/2 cup ghee or oil
A pinch of yellow food colouring or saffron
2 tbsp ghee or oil (for blending)
Silver foil for garnish
Hint: 15 mins; Serves 4; paratha, puri or chapati
METHOD
INGREDIENTS
3 cups refined wheat flour (maida)
1 cup whole fat milk
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup ghee
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Salt to taste
A few strands of saffron, soaked in 2 tbsp milk
You will also need. A heavy iron pan, griddle or tava.
Hint: 5 hrs; Serves 4; cold rabri
METHOD
In a large bowl, sift together flour and salt. Sprinkle in the sugar and pour the melted ghee. Pouring milk a little at a time, knead it into soft dough. Cover it with a moist cloth and set aside for two hours.
Knead the dough again and set aside for another two hours. Knead again and divide into seven parts. In a small bowl, rub saffron strands in milk and add vanilla essence.
Heat an inverted heavy iron pan on the stove-up. Turn on the second flame alongside. Roll out the dough into thick round parathas. Prick it all over with a fork.
Slap it onto the inverted pan and bake till brown. Shift the paratha to the open flame. Flip it a few times until it is cooked.
Shift the sheermal back onto the inverted pan. Then, using your fingers, splash with saffron milk and vanilla essence mix. Leave it for a minute or so. Remove and serve warm.
ANDAY KA HALWA
I first came across Anday ka Halwa tucked away at the bottom of a dessert menu, overshadowed by Sheer Khurma, Seviyan and Kheer at a restaurant called A1 Amir, at Ghitorni Chowk in Delhi. I then grasped that this was a traditional dessert, popular for over centuries in Muslim-ruled states, like Hyderabad. But like most traditional delicacies, one cannot really attribute its nativity to just one place. At first, just the thought of making a halwa out of eggs may sound preposterous and vile. But I guarantee that once it is done, the halwa tastes absolutely divine without the slightest hint of an eggy flavour.
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
6 eggs
500 gm khoya (condensated milk or mawa)
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup almonds and pistachios, finely crushed
6 green cardamoms, ground
11/2 cup ghee or oil
A pinch of yellow food colouring or saffron
2 tbsp ghee or oil (for blending)
Silver foil for garnish
Hint: 15 mins; Serves 4; paratha, puri or chapati
METHOD
Pour the two tbsp of ghee or oil into the mixture and blend well. Now, pour 11/2 cups of ghee or oil in a pan. Once the oil or ghee is heated, pour the egg and milk blend. Cook well by stirring continuously, till the oil begins to separate and a grainy texture is formed. Then add coarsely chopped almonds and pistachios. Mix them well into the mixture and cook for a minute or two. Transfer the halwa to a tray and garnish with silver foil.
Serve warm.
CROISSANT PUDDING
This is essentially a classic bread-and-butter pudding, but instead of using bread slices, the recipe uses butter croissants. The classic bread pudding found its origins among those who did not want to waste stale bread, but put it to good use instead. According to me, bread-and-butter pudding is comfort food and there is no pudding I like better. The key to a good pudding, however, lies in the custard. Custard can go terribly wrong; it can be thin, lumpy or smell strongly of egg. I shudder at the very thought of it.
If well-made, Crossiant Pudding tastes heavenly with either creme anglaise, whipped cream or any vanilla-based sauce. Oh, I miss my grandmom!
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
4 butter or plain croissants
2 eggs
3 tbsp butter
2 cups milk
3 tbsp almonds, sliced
1 cup sugar
A pinch of salt
Hint: 60 mins; Serves 4-6; creme anglaise or vanilla custard
METHOD
Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, milk and salt until well blended. Add the croissants and coat them well in the mixture. Let the croissants sit for
INGREDIENTS
4 butter or plain croissants
2 eggs
3 tbsp butter
2 cups milk
3 tbsp almonds, sliced
1 cup sugar
A pinch of salt
Hint: 60 mins; Serves 4-6; creme anglaise or vanilla custard
METHOD
Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, milk and salt until well blended. Add the croissants and coat them well in the mixture. Let the croissants sit for
about ten minutes, so that they absorb some of the liquid.
Grease a baking dish with butter. Pour the egg and croissant mixture into the baking dish. Garnish with almonds. Bake for 40-50 minutes. To check if it is done, prick with a fork. If the fork comes out clean, it is done. Cool and serve.
SIDES
In any western table setting, there is always a smaller quarter place, used for salad or bread or what they call a 'side'. In India, however, be it a wedge of lemon, a plump green chilli or our prodigious array of achars and chutneys, we like our sides right there is the main plate. They revitalize the flavours of the food and wake up our sluggish tastebuds.
CHUTNEY
When dining at any Indian restaurant , chutney and achar (pickle) normally arrive at your table before the starters and main course, possibly with some sliced onion and roasted papad. The pickle is either made of lime or mixed vegetables and the chutney is invariably green with mint and coriander. If the restaurant is posh, then the green chutney will be beaten through with yoghurt and spices. Impatient for the meal, I proceeded with my attack. While the chutney and pickle are accompaniments, I often
make a whole meal out of them, mixing the papad with chutney, dipping the papad in the pickle, sprinkling pepper on the onion rings and squeezing lime on everything. By the time the meal has arrived, I have this satiated look on my face.
We just love our chutneys, and we have dozens of varieties. Our chutneys and pickles can be raw or cooked, thin or chunky, firm or mushy and can be made of pretty much anything - fruit or vegetables or both.
On a road trip from Delhi to Chandigarh one fine morning, I got my lesson on pickles. On nearing Panipat, I stopped at a dhaba (roadside eatery) for breakfast and there was a pickle shop. I had never seen so many pickle jars before. There were over a 100 homemade varieties - mango, lemon, ginger, chilli, carrot, mushroom, nandru, red-chilli-green-chilli stuffed, pancharanga (5 ingredients), awla (Indian gooseberry), bamboo shoot, sweet or sour, spicy or mild - you name it, they pickled it.
On the other end of the spectrum is a homestay in Madikeri, Coorg. The Coorgi ladies are proud of their variety of pickles. Mutton, chicken, pork, bamboo shoot, lime, date, bitter lime, garlic, red pepper in salt, fish, picquin chilli in salt or dry mango pickle, they have it all.
Every state in India has its own variety of pickles. Some preserved in groundnut oil, some in mustard oil, others in vinegar or just brine. But the king in my books is the Parsi Lagan nu Achar. It's called an achar, but it is a pickle-cum-jam-cum-chutney, rich with meva (dry fruits). It's as though this pickle has preserved the Persian origins with its carrots, raisins, apricots, dates, ginger, dried bora berries, jaggery, malt vinegar, sugarcane vinegar, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom and more.
GINGER GARLIC CHUTNEY
Hint: 25 mins; Serves 4-6; just about anything
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1 cup freshly grated account
2 tbsp fried Bengal gram (chana dal)
4 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 piece fresh ginger
2 green chillies
2 red chillies
1 small ball of tamarind
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
A pinch asafoetida powder
1 tsp oil
1 tsp salt
A few curry leaves
METHOD
Put all the ingredients, except mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves, in a mixer. Add water and grind to a thick paste. In a small pan, add oil. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves. Let them splutter. Temper the paste with it. Shift the chutney to a glass bowl or jar.
Hint: 25 mins; Serves 4-6; just about anything
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1 cup freshly grated account
2 tbsp fried Bengal gram (chana dal)
4 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 piece fresh ginger
2 green chillies
2 red chillies
1 small ball of tamarind
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
A pinch asafoetida powder
1 tsp oil
1 tsp salt
A few curry leaves
METHOD
Put all the ingredients, except mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves, in a mixer. Add water and grind to a thick paste. In a small pan, add oil. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves. Let them splutter. Temper the paste with it. Shift the chutney to a glass bowl or jar.
Eat fresh.
PEAR CHUTNEY
Hint: 30 mins; Serves 4-8 ; chapati and a south Indian meal
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1 ripe pear
2-3 one-inch fresh ginger pieces
4-5 red chillies
1 tbsp Bengal gram (chana dal)
1 tbsp split while gram dal (urad dal)
Paste of a small ball of tamarind
A pinch of asafoetida
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste
METHOD
Peel the skin from the pear and cut it into small pieces. Peel the ginger and cut in into small pieces as well. In a kadai or wok, heat the oil. When it is not, add Bengal gram, asafoetida and urad dal.
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1 ripe pear
2-3 one-inch fresh ginger pieces
4-5 red chillies
1 tbsp Bengal gram (chana dal)
1 tbsp split while gram dal (urad dal)
Paste of a small ball of tamarind
A pinch of asafoetida
2 tsp oil
Salt to taste
METHOD
Peel the skin from the pear and cut it into small pieces. Peel the ginger and cut in into small pieces as well. In a kadai or wok, heat the oil. When it is not, add Bengal gram, asafoetida and urad dal.
Fry till they turn golden-brown. Then, add tamarind paste and fry for a few seconds.
Now, add the ginger pieces and fry for a few seconds. Mix in the red chillies and fry for another few seconds. Finally, add and fry pear pieces for a few more seconds. Take it off the flame and keep aside to cool. Sprinkle some salt and mix well. In a mixer, grind it to a coarse paste.
Store in a glass container.
LAGAN NU ACHAAR
Hint: 60 mins; Serves 4-8 ; a parsi meal, briyani or hot roti
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1 kg carrots, grated
150 gm seedless raisins
150 gm dried apricots
150 gm dried dates, chopped
25 gm dried ginger, sliced
25 gm dried garlic, sliced
1 kg sugar
1/4 kg jaggery
1/2 bottle sugarcane vinegar
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp black pepper powder
2 tbsp garam masala
Salt to taste
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1 kg carrots, grated
150 gm seedless raisins
150 gm dried apricots
150 gm dried dates, chopped
25 gm dried ginger, sliced
25 gm dried garlic, sliced
1 kg sugar
1/4 kg jaggery
1/2 bottle sugarcane vinegar
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp black pepper powder
2 tbsp garam masala
Salt to taste
METHOD
Combine carrots, sugar, jaggery and vinegar in a large saucepan. Mix and cook on a low flame until the carrots turn soft. Stir in ginger, garlic and salt. Cook until the mixture gets sticky. Now mix dates, red chillies, raisins and apricots. Bring to a boil on low flame.
Mix in chilli powder, black pepper and garam masala. Cool and store in a glass container and refrigerate. It lasts for a week or so.
PATHARE PRABHU CHUTNEY
Hint: 25 mins; Serves 4-8 ; puran poli and a maharashtrian meal
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp Pathare Prabhu sambar masala
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
3 tbsp roasted peanut powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 tbsp jaggery
3 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp cashewnuts
3 tbsp peanuts
2 tbsp fresh coconut slices
2 green chillies, chopped
A pinch of asafoetida
A few curry leaves
METHOD
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and asafoetida. When mustard seeds start popping, add cumin seeds, curry leaves, green chillies and fresh coconut slices. Cook until slightly coloured. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, Pathare Prabhu sambar masala and fry well. Add peanuts, cashewnuts and raisins. Saute till they get a nice colour. Add 11/2 cups of water and salt. Add jaggery when cashewnuts are soft. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until nuts become tender. Mix roasted peanut powder. Then, cook for about 3-4 minutes on low heat.
INGREDIENTS
1 tbsp Pathare Prabhu sambar masala
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
3 tbsp roasted peanut powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 tbsp jaggery
3 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp cashewnuts
3 tbsp peanuts
2 tbsp fresh coconut slices
2 green chillies, chopped
A pinch of asafoetida
A few curry leaves
METHOD
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and asafoetida. When mustard seeds start popping, add cumin seeds, curry leaves, green chillies and fresh coconut slices. Cook until slightly coloured. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, Pathare Prabhu sambar masala and fry well. Add peanuts, cashewnuts and raisins. Saute till they get a nice colour. Add 11/2 cups of water and salt. Add jaggery when cashewnuts are soft. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until nuts become tender. Mix roasted peanut powder. Then, cook for about 3-4 minutes on low heat.
PANCHAMRUT DRINK
I just made this up. Well, nor really. I'm no master chef to be dreaming up recipes, but I can transform the existing ones. In most Maharastrian homes, when you perform a Satyanarayan Puja, an offering of five foods. Pinch is "five" in Sanskrit and amrut is "nectar". At the end of the puja, a spoonful of this mixture is offered as prashad. As a kid, I loved it so much, that a spoonful of this mixture is offered as prashad. As a kid, I loved it so much, that a spoonful just wasn't enough. So, I tried making a glassful and created a refreshing, tasty beverage, best had chilled.
Hint: 25 mins; Serves 4 ; serve chilled
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
21/2 cup freshly whisked plain yoghurt
1 cup cold milk
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp honey
3-4 tulsi leaves
METHOD
In a large bowl, take whisked plain yoghurt and add milk, sugar and honey. Whisk all the ingredients well with a spoon. Now add the tulsi leaves. Mix in a blender till you get a smooth paste. Serve cold.
INGREDIENTS
21/2 cup freshly whisked plain yoghurt
1 cup cold milk
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp honey
3-4 tulsi leaves
METHOD
In a large bowl, take whisked plain yoghurt and add milk, sugar and honey. Whisk all the ingredients well with a spoon. Now add the tulsi leaves. Mix in a blender till you get a smooth paste. Serve cold.
No comments:
Post a Comment