Nolen Gurer Payesh (Plam date Jaggery rice pudding)

Nolen Gurer Payesh 

(Plam date Jaggery rice pudding) 

Poush Sankranti is the festival of harvest.

Now I had initially decided to learn how to make fried 'Pithe' from my grandmother but then somehow I couldn't get over the idea of smooth creamy rice pudding or payesh as we call it.

To be fair one who has not tasted 'Noel gur' (Date palm jaggery) would not understand that delightful taste which all of Bengal can't get enough of during the winter season. To be fair these days much like everything else on offer this winter's delight is available much before autumn sets in but if you ask the pros they still advice you to use it when its supposed to be used, which is during the chill of the winter season from somewhere in mid December.

Now coming back to the Festival of harvest when it comes to harvest I cannot but have fond memories of acres of rice paddy which we own in Burdwan. My family had moved to the big city more than a century ago and we are what one would call essentially city dwellers living in the heart of the metropolitan city of Calcutta but we come from a district known for its beautiful variety of rice, Burdwan.

As a child my parents would take me to our village every 15 days and it would get me far from the madding crowd. I distinctly remember the voice of that lonely bird while I sat on the roof reading Malory Towers while the entire village and the fields beyond it lay in front of my eyes. I could see them from our roof and then I would set out with my father for a walk through the paddy fields.

I was essentially a free bird in the village. In the city I was sequestered in our home but every time we visited the village I could play all around the village and I had friends from every nook and cranny of our village.

What I remember most about my village were these huge storage of rice. Everybody in the village grew rice as did my family and they still do thanks to some loyal and honest help from some good people and every woman of every household would be bent over this fire made from wood and brick and stir a huge pot to make puffed rice.

As a result I almost make an instant connection with rice when I think of harvest.

I am sharing a classic recipe for Rice pudding made with Date Palm jaggery . To me the rice pudding should neither be too thick nor too thin and should have this creamy consistency. Usually people add raisins and cashew nuts to rice pudding but when I use Palm date Jaggery I refrain from using anything else so that the taste kind of remains classic.

This recipe has been passed down by my ant's mother and I was lucky enough to get hold of it. What is essential is the timing.

Makes about 6 servings :-

1 litre of full cream milk
3/4th tsp melted clarified butter or butter
1 handful rice which comes to about 1.5 tbsp heaped washed short grained rice
Palm date jaggery as per requirement (I needed about a little more than 1 handful of crumbled jaggery)
1 green cardamom
1 large bay leaf

Wash the rice thoroughly and then take a heavy bottomed pan and add the rice and milk and clarified butter with the bay leaf and crushed green cardamom and bring to a boil while stirring the pan constantly and then lower heat to the lowest possible temperature and let it simmer.

Stir the pot every 7 minutes so that the consistency remains smooth and the milk doesn't get stuck to the bottom of the pan.

After 30 minutes you would see the rice boiling well. keep stirring every 2 minutes and check at 50 minutes and dd the jaggery and keep stirring for another 3 minutes to 5 minutes and switch off the flame and let it cool down.


Chill and enjoy this winter delicacy

Important tips :-

1. Never ever add the jaggery before the rice is fully cooked else the rice will remain raw 
2. The addition of clarified butter keeps the consistency to a smooth creamy one 
3. It is essential that you use short grained rice. 

This is part of :-

Kolkata Food Bloggers' ongoign event 'Poush Sankranti Specials'

Pancakes (The Fluffy Version)

Pancakes (The Fluffy Version) 

Lately this tiredness encompasses me all the time. Actually the reason is because I desperately needed some rest in between a lot of Market Research work and truth be told its not that I didn't get one or 2 days in between projects to rest well but then I realized that I cook with so much enthusiasm on days when I don't have to work that the stress and tiredness is just increasing.

The month of December was super packed. Bidding farewell to Bombay was not just emotional but tiring due to the endless packing  topped with non stop projects.

No sooner had I landed in Calcutta I decided there must be celebrations and so we had a small Lunch where the lovely Pritha from Guilt Free got this fabulous Bacon and Pea Rice. For my part I made a Brioche Rustica following La Cucina's (the book)  recipe and a Fish in Wine sauce with a Caramel Fruit Cake which got satisfactory response. Then came the Bake Sale organized by Kolkata Food Bloggers and I am very happy to share with you the fabulous news that most of my products got sold out within the first few hours itself and I donated the money from my personal Sale for the Cats and Dogs of The City of Joy. I should have known that handling a Bake Sale and non stop work pressure would get too much too handle but cooking is like an addiction which I simply can't put a stop to. I did try and share recipes but I will be honest about the fact that most recipes have been left out this festive season.

Now today its a New Year. Quite frankly I am not much of a believer of a new start just because the year changes. You see its just a day where deadlines still remain, problems are still to be taken care of and your tiredness prevails but with all the hopeful messages on my Facebook Wall I guess I got a bit inspired and decided that I must start the new year with something nice.

Now Pancakes come in many shapes, sizes and forms. I have previously made these fabulous German Pancakes which were thin and slathered with chocolate and a perfect delight and so this time it was time for my old friend, the Fluffy pancakes.

To be fair I have made this kind of Fluffy Pancake after almost 2 years and I must say that having finally found a recipe which suits me perfectly I hope 2015 is just as good. I did put some techniques which I have learnt over the years to good use and the result was fluffy , airy light and tender pancakes

Recipe adapted from All recipes :-

The original recipe promises 12 pancakes but in reality it yielded about 9 pancakes which is good enough

Serves 3 to 4 people

1.5 cups of flour
1 level  tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp white granulated sugar
50gm to 60gm melted butter
1.4 cups of milk
1 large egg
Butter to lightly grease  the pan


Sift the baking powder and flour together and add the sugar. In a separate bowl whisk the egg till its pale and fluffy and add the milk bit by bit whisking it well. Now add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture bit by bit folding it in rather than whisking it and in the end add the melted butter and just fold it in gently and let the batter rest for 10 minutes to 15 minutes.

Grease a skillet and put a ladle of butter letting the bubbles form on one side before flipping it over gently and cooking it till its well set. Enjoy these airy tender and light pancakes soaked in honey or Maple syrup or even Molasses .

Tips

1. The folding in of the flour gives you extra fluffy pancakes because you don't knock down the air bubbles.
2. Resting the batter gives a smoother batter 
3. You have to adjust the heat from medium to low so that the pancakes are golden with a light brown edge. 

Cheesecake Ice-cream with Confiture de Lait

Cheesecake Ice-cream with Confiture de Lait 

I love Cheesecake made with Cream Cheese. Its creamy and delicious but then again till now all the Cheesecake that I have made were baked and contained eggs. I was in a real fix when I came over to Bombay for a few months since I neither have an oven in this temporary house nor does my other half eat eggs and once one has had the baked cheesecake the unbaked ones seem incomplete . I was reluctantly thinking of making eggless bakeless cheesecake when the idea of a Cheesecake Icecream came to my mind.

Truth be told a lot of people indirectly contributed to this dessert. Some months back Nazneem, a lovely lady had posted about Dulce De Leche on a food group and it immediately caught my attention. This was back in September and then there was one festival after the other which meant that I was busy making traditional Indian desserts such as the Bengali Cootage Cheese Jalebi, Bengali Gulab Jamun called Pantua, Kalakand, Malai Chomchom etc , the recipe for all which you would find in this blog's Dessert section.

Confiture de Lait 

Anyway coming back to the recipe I made my own Confiture de Lait aka Dulce De leche which in simple English is called Milk Jam. Its a creamy reduced caramelized milk.

Many people take a can of condensed milk and steams it till its caramelized but I for one like getting to the bottom of a recipe and more importantly I am not too fond of shelved packaged fresh food and when you make your own Milk Jam you can add a bit of Vanilla which gives it an amazing flavour .

I was in love with Confiture de Lait but the surprise was when my Cheesecake Ice-cream which turned out smooth creamy and amazingly rich and all this was made using a non-electric hand held whisk. This frozen delight had no ice-crystals at all.

This is a 2 day procedure and completely worth it.

So here is the recipe

Makes 3 to 4 serving

For the Confiture de Lait

1 litre whole milk
500gm sugar
1 tsp vanilla beans
1 tsp butter

For the Cheesecake Ice-cream

226gm aka 1 packet of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
200ml of cream
1 tbsp vinegar
2/3rd cup sugar
1/2 cup water Few drops of lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla beans

On the first day simply mix the vinegar with the cream and let the sour cream form for 24 hours at room temperature.

The Sour Cream after 24 hours of fermentation 

Now start with the Confiture De Lait. Remember that you would probably have a lot more confiture de lait topping than required but its delicious and makes for a lip-smacking spread on buttered toast or as a dip for apples etc.

The Final Confiture de Lait 

Take a heavy bottomed deep pan and add the milk, sugar , butter and vanilla and put it on the lowest flame possible and keep stirring every  7 minutes for the next 45 minutes. Make sure you use a broad spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. Once the colour turns beige which takes about 1.5 hours from the start you must keep stirring it continuously to avoid burning the Confiture de Lait. Once done if the result looks grainy don'y worry about it. Just wait for it to cool down and blend it well and you have smooth creamy caramelized milk jam aka Confiture de Lait. Once cool put it in the refrigerator.

The next day bring the Cream cheese to room temperature . Just keep it at room temperature for an hour or so. I live in India and it takes very little time to soften the cream cheese but in case you stay in a cold country it might take you a bit of time. Instructions are provided in the pack on how to soften cream cheese. By now your sour cream would have thickened and ready to be used.

Make the sugar syrup by combining the 2/3rd cup sugar and water and add the lemon juice to prevent crystallization and then simply let it cool down.

Whisk the cream cheese, sour cream , vanilla beans with the sugar syrup. Add the syrup bit by bit and keep tasting so that you get the perfect amount of sweetness for your taste buds . Chill it for 2 hours in the refrigerator and then whisk it again and transfer to an air-tight container and freeze for 4 hours and serve delicious creamy smooth Cheesecake Ice-cream and top it with the Confiture de lait.

Important tips :-

1. The butter added to the Confiture de Lait keeps the milk as smooth as possible 
2. In my experience sugar syrup leads to a smoother consistency 
3. The lemon juice added to the sugar syrup when making it prevents crystallization 
4. Bring the Confiture de Lait to room temperature before serving. You should let it come to room temperature, 1 hour before serving. 

Payesh/ Bengali Kheer/ Payasam

Payesh/ Bengali Kheer/ Payasam

One of the most basic Indian desserts is the Rice Pudding. It goes by many many names be it Payesh in Bengali, Kheer in Hindi, Payasam in tamil and telegu, payasa in Kannada or Khiri in Oriya.

Its an easy basic recipe indeed yet perfecting it is really an art.

To be fair I am fortunate enough to have an aunt like my Mimi who can perfect each and every Bengali recipe. Now the problem is once you have had the perfect dish or to be politically correct lets say its perfect for me then it is difficult to enjoy any other variations which falls short of being perfect. As a result throughout my childhood and adulthood the only place I would relish this decadent creamy dessert was at my Mimi's (even my grandmother's kheer pales in comparison to my Mimi's) till the day I asked her to teach me how to make it.

The best part about Mimi as a teacher is that she tries and explains each step and gives me the reasons wherever possible.  This one is neither too thick so that the creaminess is overshadowed by the rice clotted together and nor is it too liquid in nature. Its just right.

This is one of the desserts I have made again and again and again from a very long time and so here goes a simple easy recipe which I have tried to keep as precise and detailed as possible

Recipe :

Makes about 4 to 5 servings

Cups used hold 220ml liquid

1 litre full fat milk (you cannot use toned milk else it will most definitely compromise the taste)
1 handful of . rice washed thoroughly (it comes to about 1/4th cup of rice ) { This rice is short grained and sometimes it is sold as kheer rice in many places, it is called Atop Chal or Gobindobhog chal in Bengali)
1 handful of sugar + 2 tbsp sugar but you must change the amount of sugar as per taste
2 green cardamom
1 large bay leaf
50gm broken cashew nuts
Fat pinch of saffron soaked in milk
1 tsp ghee

Bring the milk to a boil in a deep bottomed pan and the ghee , green cardamom and bay leaf  . Adding the ghee keeps the dessert extra smooth.

Now reduce the heat to the lowest possible temperature and add the washed rice and simmer it. Use a wide spatula to stir the mixture every 10 minutes for the next 45 minutes make sure the bottom of the pan does not burn.

Add the cashew nuts after 45 minutes.

After 50 minutes of simmering it with frequent stirring check the rice . It would have been cooked by now and will be of a melt in the mouth consistency. Now add the sugar . You must not add sugar before the rice is fully cooked else the rice remains uncooked.

You must stir continuously for the next 10 minutes to 15 minutes to prevent the dessert from sticking to the bottom and getting ruined. After 10 minutes add the soaked saffron and simmer while stirring continuously for another 2 minutes and switch off the gas.

Let it cool down and chill it for 3 hours to 4 hours and serve after giving the dessert a good stir. You must stir before serving because a thick cream will form on top which must be mixed well with the desert for the creamy smooth consistency.

Enjoy this classic delicacy

Tip

1. During the winters we get a special jaggery called 'Nolen Gur' in Bengal which is palm date jaggery and we repalce the sugar with the jaggery and it gives a divine taste. 
2. Many people love adding raisins to the dish. If you wish to do so add it when you are adding the cashew nuts. 
3. You can replace the cashew nuts with blanched  pistachios or blanched and chopped almonds. 

Leek and Cheese Quiche

Leek and Cheese Quiche

When I have friends over I usually feel that I am not serving enough food. So when I called over Pritha (who has this lovely blog 'Guilt-Free ' )  for some Brioche au Chocolat  and Cafe Frappe I was at a complete loss as to the savoury items which must be served for a tea party.

It was mostly because I was too lazy to visit New Market (one of the biggest market in Calcutta which stocks up a lot of ingredients) and due to the encephalitis scare we are all avoiding Porky items. That is a big drawback for me because when you have ham and cheese and a bit of bacon anyone can make a fabulous dish but with no porky items I was a bit confused. What added to that confusion was the absence of my internet but I had Camembert at home and having made quiche and tarts before I decided that I would just take a shot and create a recipe .

Once you make tarts and quiche shells you get an idea about the ingredients ratio etc and so its not too problematic to make a tart shell. I knew exactly what I wanted. I wanted a flaky crust with a cheese filling.

So here goes the recipe :-

For the shell

150gm flour
100gm chilled butter
1 egg yolk
Pinch of salt

For the filling :-

125gm Camembert cheese
50gm butter
1 to 1.5 tbsp flour
250ml to 300ml whole milk
Pinch of nutmeg powder
Salt as per taste
Half a finely  chopped leek

Start by cutting the butter in little cubes and using your hands to quickly mix it with the flour. When it feels gritty add the yolk and salt and quickly form a dough and refrigerate for 2 hours. When rolling it out do it over a clean floured work surface and gently place it on the buttered tart pan. Do not worry if it breaks a little just press the broken bits to the tart pan to form a smooth shell, it will come out as a single shell once you bake it.

Preheat oven to 200C and bake the tart shell for 25 minutes to 35 minutes.

Saute the leek in butter and when softened keep it aside. In the meanwhile make your bechamel base by melting the butter and adding the flour and creating a roux by stirring continuously and taking care not to burn it and slowly add the milk bit by bit and the nutmeg and salt while whisking and let it come to a slow boil and simmer for 2 minutes to create a smooth sauce whisking throughout the process.

Once the tart shell is baked let it cool down for 15 minutes and add the bechamel sauce and top with the sauteed leek and sliced cheese and add on top and bake for 15 minutes to 20 minutes.

Note : This is an extremely heavy dish mostly suitable for cold weather

Chocolate Cake (Felicity Cloake)

Chocolate Cake (Felicity Cloake) 

Over the years I have baked many a chocolate cake yet I still kept searching for one which would have the perfect fluffy soft texture and then one day I realized I should search for Felicity Cloake's version of the perfect chocolate cake. Here let me say that I firmly believe that there cannot be one perfect chocolate cake for everyone. Some like it fudge like, some like it extra airy but for me ah for that read along my friends. 

The lady in question, Ms Cloake  tries out different recipes by many a maestro and gives you the pros and cons of each recipe and finally shares the recipe for one which she deems is perfect for her taste buds. She says this cake is 'Not a torte, not a mousse, but a cake which actually tastes of chocolate: fluffy and light enough to eat at tea time, rich enough to serve with a dollop of creme fraiche for dessert'

Now there is a particular reason why I trust this lady. I tried her perfect recipe for Mousse au Chocolat and I must say there is no looking back for me. It was just perfect,  rich yet light and delicious and so quite naturally I knew this description of the chocolate cake would not fail me.

 I tried a simple frosting of tempered chocolate in-between and some chocolate to cover the cake. I would not go as far as to say it is perfect but it is pretty good.

Recipe adapted from Felicity Cloake

The cups used hold 250ml of liquid

50gm dark chocolate
50gm chocolate chips
250gm of all purpose flour (1.5 cups)
250gm of Brown sugar (3/4th cup)
250gm of Unsalted Butter
250ml of milk
100gm of cocoa powder (3/4th)
2 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
Pinch of salt

Extra flour and butter to prepare pan

For the frosting

100gm dark chocolate tempered properly to create a silky melted chocolate

Prepare your two cake tins ( 8inch) by buttering it and then dusting it with flour. (An 8 inch pan would do)

Start by sifting the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder .

Now Cream your butter and sugar till its fluffy and add the eggs one by one and the salt and whisk till its a creamy fluffy affair.

Preheat the oven to 180C at this point . Slowly fold in the sifted dried ingredients and then add the melted chocolate and fold it in . Add the milk bit by bit and fold that in as well. Finally add the chocolate chips.

Divide the batter in two equal halves and pour the batter into the cake pans and tap the pan and then wet your hands and lightly smoothen the top and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes to 35 minutes .

Once baked insert a toothpick in the middle and if it comes out clean its done.

Let the cake cool down in the pan for 15 minutes and then run a palate knife around the edges and invert it on a rack and cool it.

Only when the cake is completely cool can you now move on to frosting.

Simply temper the chocolate over a double boiler and cut the cake in half and spread the chocolate. Sandwich the cake together cover the cake with chocolate and serve it as it is for tea or add a dollop of whipped cream and make it a delicious dessert.

Important tips :-

1. Once you are down with adding the whisk you must not use the whisk because the crumb of a cake largely depends on the technique of folding in the dry ingredients else you end up with a dense cake. The idea is to not knock off any air bubbles even though the cake is batter based and so it uses baking powder.  
2. Once you have poured the batter in wet your hands and smoothen the top and which leads to an even top baked cake. Do not firmly press your hands on the batter just gently press it. 
3. Always allow the cake to completely cool down before slicing it to apply frosting else your cake will break. 
4. In case you use a bigger cake tin you must increase the amount of batter. If you double the recipe use a 9 inch cake pan. 
5. In case you use salted butter then leave out the extra salt 

Date almond shake

Date almond shake 

250ml to 300ml chilled  toned milk
5 dates (I used seedless ones)
15 almonds with skin
1 tsp honey (optional)

So dates have a very bad name of packing you with calories so that eating a lot of dates apparently leaves you without a date but the truth is each date has a mere 23 kcalories and they get their bad name because 70% of a date is sugar but its packed with iron and other nutrients and having 5 of these against refined sugar is much more healthy and it energizes you and so beginning your day with it isn't such a bad idea .

So simply chill the milk and use the almonds with skin (the skin has vital vitamins) , dates and honey if you like it extra sweet and add a bit of milk and blend away to make a smooth paste and keep adding the mild bit by bit to make a smooth date shake and enjoy. Adding a bowl of fruits and a water poached egg with the date shake makes it a perfectly healthy start for the day :)

Parmesan poached fish

Parmesan poached fish 

If you really are passionate about culinary topics you tend to pick up little tips here and there and from everywhere. It was on a lazy afternoon when I was watching TLC that I came across this fabulously simple Spanish dish for fish. Now TLC usually doesn't repeat the recipes in writing so I quickly noted down that all that one needed was a slab of fish which was poached in milk with fresh Parsley. Cut to May and it was on a happy Summer's morning when Calcutta had cooled down a teeny weeny bit from 40 C to 30 C after a 2 minute shower the previous night I was ready to stock my refrigerator in the morning. I have been wanting to have fish for the longest time and so I marched to the market and bought a nice bhetki out of which my fisherman sliced and made thick fillets. I immediately knew what I wanted courtesy TLC's Spanish fish recipe, sicne my fresh parsley had wrinkled up in this terrible heat I decided I would make my own dish. Back at home after a bit of cleaning of the home I was pretty hungry and so I wanted lunch. Well here is a recipe which takes 15 minutes and yields a fantastic dish indeed

Serves 1

100gm fish
230ml of milk (I used skimmed milk)
3 tbsp  Parmesan which has been freshly grated
1/2 tsp Freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
1/2 an onion thinly sliced
1.5 large potato
Salt as per taste
1 tsp finely chopped cilantro

I will tell you what I did. So I popped the two large potatoes in the micorwave at 900W for 12 minutes and while it cooked I brought 230ml of milk to a boil and added some salt , the freshly curshed pepper and simply added my fish along with thinly sliced onions and thinly sliced garlic , poached it for 4 minutes on each side and then I took out the fish and switched off the gas stove. I peeled my potatoes and then sliced it in thin circular pieces, some crumbled but that's how it should have been in my mind. The idea was to have potatoes which weren't perfectly sliced but with a crumbly yet some whole circular pieces. I switched on the gas stove with the pan of milk and added the potatoes and brought it to a boil and simmered for 50 seconds and then drained it and put it on a plate and added the fish on top while the milk kept on simmering . I used 1.5 potatoes and reserved the rest since I knew I wouldn't be able to finish the entire bit. Now I added the grated Parmesan and Cilantro  to the simmering milk and whisked well to create a smooth thick sauce and topped my fish dish with the sauce and garnished with some cilantro. It was cheesy yet light and perfect for the summers yet it filled the stomach.

Rose Parfait

Rose Parfait 

The truth is that, once you have had the superior variety of a dish its hard to go back to the other varieties even if you have grown up with the second non perfect variant. It started when I had put a spoonful of the glorious Movenpick ice-cream in my mouth. Smooth, silky decadent I was in 9th heaven if there is such a place and then I noticed that it had a little red symbol beside some flavours. I went back home and gathered as much information as possible about ice-creams over the internet and was surprised to know that eggs are a staple ingredient of most European ice-creams.

Ever since that time I  have made the most decadent of silky ice-creams thanks to the rich texture provided by this one simple ingredient but then again my grandmother is allergic to eggs which is sad, so she misses out on most desserts I make and I honestly feel bad. So when I bought a litre of double cream. I decided that I would use half of it for a decadent chocolate flavoured silky indulgence with eggs and a rose flavoured variant without eggs.

You see rose is something which has fascinated me from my childhood. My grandmother's huge roses in our garden which has been there for over 40 years has this sweet aroma which cheers me up instantly and then again there is something about this beautiful flower. And not only does it aesthetically please me but the flavouring in food makes me happy and so when I tasted this amazing rose flavoured ice-cream at Taj Bengal I was intrigued , fascinated and wanted to try my hands on it.

To be fair most Persian recipes , for those who do not know this delicacy that we all enjoy actually originated in Persia and there it is known as Bastani and most of the Iranian recipes have the full richness of eggs, so I basically developed this recipe but I have to admit that it did have ice-crystals even though I whippe dit every 1 hour for 6 hours while it was being frozen but then again on these days when the weather becomes unbearable it sure does taste deligthful and with my cosuin brother helping himself to a second scoop and declaring the flavoru to be 'perfect' I have to say I am calling it my rose parfait, the French invented this word which in the culinary sense means frozen .

What you need for 7 to 8 scoops

500ml whole milk
500ml double dairy cream
15gm of dried rose
Sugar as per taste ( I needed a total of 5 tbsp)
2 tsp rosewater
2 tbsp rose syrup
2 tbsp corn-flour
3 green cardamom

Start by making your rose syrup. Simply use the edible petals from 2 roses and steep it in 1 cup of boiled water covered for 5 minutes. Now bring this water to a boil with a little more than half the amount of sugar and when thickened add a drop of lemon or two so that crystals do not form. Dry roast your dried rose and then grind it smooth.

Now begin with the parfait by first taking 4 tbsp milk and makign a smooth paste with the cornflour and leaving it aside and then thickening the milk with the ground dried rose .Mid-way while reducing the milk add the sugar and seeds from 3 green cardamom and then add the cornflour paste. Reduce to 1/3rd of the original amount . Strain it well.

Once the milk has been reduced let it cool down completely and in the meantime whip the double cream to soft peaks. Be careful when using double cream , I use a non electrical whisk and even I have over whipped double cream at times where it becomes watery to the stage of making butter. Whip the reduced milk and add the rose water and rose syrup and then  fold in the cream and freeze in an air-tight container. Whip it after 1 hour when its half frozen and do this 6 times every hour and then let it get frozen for 4 hours or better overnight. Enjoy this frozen treat

Mishti Doi / Sweetened Curd

Mishti Doi / Sweetened Curd 

The truth is sometimes we have the ideas in our head but until and unless we get 'proof of the pudding' from someone else we are too afraid to take up the challenge. You see I have always made thick curd at home. My trick, well its simple I thicken the milk a bit and strain it to remove all that unwanted layers of cream which does interfere with the curd's smoothness. I have often thought of adding sugar or jaggery to the curd while setting it but then backed out because I was not sure. Now there are a lot of recipes for the typical Bengali sweetened curd out there but most of them require you to bake it and that is perfectly logical but somehow I have a mental blockage. You see having been born and brought up in Calcutta I literally grew up with numerous sweetmeat shops around me and baking curd is not an option followed by any sweet shop in Calcutta and then I came across Swati Burman's recipe which simply used sugar and then set it like one would with normal curd. Simple enough for me. I did reduce the quantity of milk and what I ultimately had after overnight setting and 4 hours of chilling is thick luscious sweetened curd. I do use those big hot pots which keeps food warm.

Serves 5 to 6

Recipe Courtsey : Swati Burman from Ranna-Bati

So this is what I  required :-

1 litre of full fat milk
1 tbsp of store bought thick curd . In Calcutta I relied upon my local famous sweetshop which makes curd thick enough for one to confuse it with clotted cream
4 tbsp sugar , now the original recipe did call for 4 tbsp sugar for 2.5 litres of milk but that seemed a tad too less for me and so I did increase the amount of sugar
2 tsp clarified butter

So you begin by reducing the milk to half its quantity on low heat after you have added the clarified milk before you begin reducing. Please check notes. I took 35 minutes. Add the sugar after 15 minutes of reducing the milk. Now use a spoon and cream the curd in the bowl in which you are setting the curd.  I usually use a stainless steel bowl. You can only use the milk when it reaches a lukewarm stage, slowly add the milk bit by bit after straining it and keep mixing well with a whisk or spoon. I used a spoon, then cover with a steel lid and put it in a warm place. I put it in my hot pot and let it set over-night. In the morning it was a pot of thick luscious curd. I chilled it well and served it.

To be fair I did buy some of Bengal's famous 'Mishti doi' sweetened curd to just compare and found that the sweet shops use some more sweetener but the amount of sugar I used worked perfectly for me.

Note :Using the clarified butter does ensure that your milk does not stick to the bottom of the pan. I have heard that Earthen pots help you set the curd well. Since I have not used an earthen pot I cannot confirm this bit of information but to be fair all sweet shops in Bengal does serve the curd in earthen bowls.

Milk Bread

Milk Bread 

My father has always maintained that no other bread tastes as good as the humble milk bread. While I do not accept his thoughts on bread because I love whole wheat bread and some other breads as well on a hot summer's day I make a batch of milk loaves for my father who loves fresh soft milk bread with copious amount of butter spread on it and sugar sprinkled on it. And it becomes a heavenly  treat with fresh cream on top

The truth is that, once you start making bread it is only through your experience that you come to know of certain important aspects which no recipe talks about.

 

For instance the first time I had baked a bread I had thoroughly searched the internet for recipes and most of them scared me until I stumbled upon Dan Lepard's artisan bread. It was well explained and my bread had come out perfect, yet after my experience with a couple of other breads it was only practice which made me realize that while the success of a bread baked at home depends largely on the right recipe so does some other factors. So, most people face a problem of the bread not rising but did you know that is bread is proofed beyond requirement it will rise and then start expanding but you need not worry because there is a solution. You simply punch it down knead and let it rise :)

Milk bread is one of the easiest breads one can bake and the ingredients are very easily available and stocked by most homes and so it usually saves you the trouble of going out to gather ingredients.

Here is what you need for the recipe :-

For the recipe I followed Dan Lepard's recipe to the tee but cut the recipe down to suit my requirements

312 gm all purpose flour + a little extra for kneading
1 tsp instant yeast
50ml cold water
188 ml warm milk
38 gm salted butter
13g castor sugar or honey (I had used honey)
Extra butter for greasing and kneading
1 tsp salt
Though not mentioned in Lepard's recipe I used extra milk to brush the tops before baking

Start by bringing the milk to a boil and letting it cool down to a lukewarm stage when you add the cold water and the yeast. Remember that the liquid must not be of a high temperature else it shall kill the yeast.

Next mix the flour, castor sugar or honey, salt and then melt butter and pour in in the dough. Use your clean hands to knead. Remember it will be sticky but you must not add extra flour else your bread will come out hard. keep kneading the sticky dough for 10 minutes and then let it rest for 10 minutes covered with a wet cloth. After 10 minutes grease your hands with butter and knead it till it forms a super soft dough and let it rise for the next 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Before the final rise 

Here is the tricky part. Dan Lepard works in a cold country and I stay in a tropical one , so my bread was done in 50 minutes and then I punched it down and added flour to knead it and shape it. I  divided it in three balls and shaped them like sausages by rolling them and placed them side by side. I covered it with the cloth and let it rise for the next 20 minutes.

Ready to be baked 

Now preheat the oven to 180 C and bake for 40 minutes to 50 minutes in a well greased tray or a loaf pan. Do not forget to brush the dough with milk before baking it for a beautiful brown yet soft crust else your crust will blacken.

It is important to let the bread cool completely before slicing it up. It takes a bit of practice to get it out of the tray. Simply use a blunt knife to gently but firmly bring it out after 10 minutes and cool on a wire rack.

P.S. When baking the bread always use a tray of boiled water beneath the rack on which the bread is beign baked. This keeps the bread moist while it is baking.

Enjoy the soft slices buttered well . Indulgence is a luxurious necessity. In the end my father might have shown his mock anger and said, 'The daughter is doing nothing but baking . Why don't you open a  bakery?' but his chewing on the buttered slice of milk bread said otherwise . Now I can happily go off to sleep and wake up to a delicious breakfast :)

Creme Caramel

Creme Caramel 

Classics can never go out of style. 

Made in OTG 

A friend of mine kept saying throughout college that a successful dish is 60% dependent on the recipe and 40% on the person cooking it. This is quite apt for this classic dish.

This is one dish which I have made time and again for almost a decade since my teenage years. It was the very first dessert I had ever made and I have made this steamed in a pressure cooker, baked it in the convection oven and recently I made it in the OTG as well and the time and temperature has varied for each oven. 

If I go by Larousse Gastronomique's recipe it calls for the creme caramel to be steam baked at 190C for 40 minutes. BBC suggests 150C for 30 minutes and so on and so forth. To be fair in the convection mode what worked best was preheating the oven and baking at 180C for 40 minutes but for the OTG while I did preheat it at 180C but after baking it at 180C for 10 minutes when I saw the brown spots forming I lowered the temperature to 160C and baked it for another 20 minutes. Chilled it overnight and the result was a creamy delightful dessert. To be fair it tasted even better after 24 hours of chilling so I suggest that you plan ahead for this classic dessert. 

Here I must confess that I did use some mini ramekins hence the quick baking. Perhaps if I had used 6 ramekins the time would differ so you have to know your oven, keep in mind the size of your ramekin and then set the time but I must say try baking for a longer period at a lower temperature and it gives a fantastic creamy texture. 

Serves 6 to 8 depending on the size of the ramekins used. 

500ml 100% full fat milk (you cannot compromise on the full fat milk else you will not get the creaminess) 

3 large eggs + yolk from 1 egg 

40gm castor sugar 
1/4th scraped vanilla seeds from vanilla pods 

For the caramel 

150gm castor sugar 

A few drops of lemon juice 

2 tbsp water 

Butter for greasing the ramekins 

Start by greasing the moulds with butter.What you do is very simple bring the milk to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes to thicken it a bit. This thickening does help in yielding extra silky texture.

While its simmering take the sugar in a pan and on medium to low heat melt it and let it become golden brown and swirl the pan and add the lemon juice and the water and till it simmer till you get a lovely dark amber colour and use it in your buttered  moulds and let it cool down.   

Let it cool down to a lukewarm stage where you can easily put your finger in the milk and feel the warmth without getting burnt. Whisk the yolk well and add the sugar and then add the eggs one by one whisking well to create a smooth texture and then slowly add the milk after straining it bit by bit and add the vanilla beans . 

Preheat the oven to 180C for 15 minutes . Pour the mixture in the ramekins and then place the ramekins on a tray and fill the tray and fill the tray with  boiling water so that it reaches half the height of the ramekins. Bake for 10 minutes and lower temperature to 160C and bake for another 15 minutes to 20 minutes. 

Let the creme caramel cool down to room temperature and chill it for 24 hours. When you want to de mould it run a blunt knife after dipping it in hot water and wiping it and carefully shake it off on the serving plate. 

Patishapta

Nolen Gurer Patishapta
(Bengali crepes with Date Jaggery)

Lost traditions , Date Jaggery and  Bengali Crepes (Patishaptas)

So what you take for granted at one point becomes necessarily important on the road of life. So my year started in this clean coastal town of Vizag at my mother-in-law's. Lazy days, a beautiful view of the sea right from the balcony, morning walks made easy with a wonderful rule of no traffic on the road right adjacent to RK beach. "Rotte" (a fluffy crispy idli) for breakfast made by my adorable mother-in-law who adores me and spends her time writing science books while I engage in dinner.

Without internet connection I was happily immersed in Anna Karenina , morning walks, lazy mornings enjoying rottes, making rajma or chole or something else in the evening when  I suddenly heard my husband speak about sankranti. True it was spoken in a language completely alien to me and other then the word sankranti I did not understand a word but that itself opened my inner window to all those years till last year when my grandmother would churn out these Bengali sweet delights on Sankranti, the festival celebrating harvest. Since back home my doctor father still kept our Rice business alive I am even close to this beautiful festival and images of white "pithas"  (stuffed sweet treats which are steamed) and browned "pithas" (stuffed sweets which are fried but my favourite are these pancakes or crepes with stuffing. Now there is no hard and fast rule to what one uses as stuffing but for me these treats with Bengal's other reason for joy during the winters, the fabled "Nolen Gur" Palm date jaggery is blasphemy itself. That typical delightful taste is exotic and delicious.

So in a land far away with reminiscence of my grandmother using the bell. Well here is what would happen , my mother's method of teaching was what legends are made of. So every evening from 6 to 10 it would be war with my mother's shrill voice and my voice which would range from squeaky to whiny. In-between my grandmother would provide these amazing comic reliefs by suddenly pressing the bell. Well when you stay in an old house which is multistoried it is essential to adopt some method of communication other than the most natural way unless you are happy having screamed and sounding like a croaking frog. So just when my mother was ready to throw a book at me ting tong came the sound and during this time of the year it would essentially mean a plateful of pithas and patishaptas.

I decided on the crepes because it is easy and being far away from home and my mother-in-law having just moved from Ranchi and having three huge chunks of date jaggery had me craving for these Bengali crepes doused in liquid date jaggery. I was superbly satisfied with the results when my lovely grandfather-in-law (my mother-in-law's) husband asked for a second helping and could not stop praising these "amazing sweet dosas"

So for this recipe you basically need a little bit of hard work but its all worth it. I have used the date jaggery with homemade reduced milk and grated coconut as a filling which made it the most wonderful delight.

Start by making the reduced milk for which you need :

1 litre full cream milk
1 teaspoonful of ghee
2 green cardamom
1 big bay and 1 small bay leaf

Bring the milk with the ghee and spices to boil and simmer for 1 hour 45 minutes. Now the usage of ghee (clarified butter) gives the reduced milk an amazing smoothness and besides that it ensures that the milk doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Now if you are planning to make the dish during the evening I suggest starting in the morning hours. Say 11 a.m.to keep everything ready because making the reduced milk takes some time say about 1 hour 45 minutes and one very important point to note is that one must use low flame and must keep stirring from time to time and after 1.5 hours one must stir continuously.

For the filling one needs:

3/4th of the reduced milk
3 cups (250ml) of grated coconut
2 tbsp ghee
1 green cardamom
Grated Jaggery as per taste

Start by gentle heating the ghee and sauteing the coconut with the cardamom and add the reduced milk and slowly add the grated jaggery. Now for the jaggery keep adding a bit and stirring and taste  and add more if required. When the content becomes pudding like and everything mixes well and the educed milk si well incorporated you are done. Now remember once you are done with cooking the cooked coocnut will anyways dry up a bit more so keep it a bit soft.



For the crepes or pancakes one needs

1 cup all purpose flour'
Half a cup semolina
Half a cup rice flour
Ghee

Mix everything with 1.5 cups water but when mixing mix bit by bit so that no lumps are formed. Spread it on a  girdle as you would make crepes but thin ones turn and immediately add the stuffing and fold from both sides and serve drizzled with liquid jaggery or the saved reduced milk.

Orange milk pudding "Kheer Komla"

Hopped up on oranges

So what does one do when one can imagine different tastes and act accordingly. In simple words its called craving but it leans towards crazy when one literally dreams about something till one gets one's hands on it in the kitchen. With the weekend approaching determined was I to bake again to make something again. While the usual flavours of coffee , chocolate and caramel did nothing for me, the though of oranges cheered me up to no end. From then on it was all about oranges.

I was tasting spongy cakes with the tanginess of oranges, milk puddings with oranges and so when my dearest of friends confirmed that she would pay me a visit I was literally hopped up on oranges. of course oranges in India has a different meaning altogether at least in Calcutta. During my childhood days  Nagpur oranges were literally looked down upon and there was only one variety which was acceptable ,the ones from the Queen of hill stations or so they say, Darjeeling, sweet sweet like sugar they say,  it would be available only for about 1 or 2 months and like all good things disappear just when you thought they were the best treats of the world. Anyways things have changed in all these years and today while we still eagerly wait for those delectable treats the vast majority of supplies is from Nagpur.

So there was I was dreaming of sweet decadent milk pudding with little bits of oranges whose segments have all been removed. I was simultaneously dreaming of spongy soft cakes and so in my dearest friend A's honour I made not one but two desserts. This post is for the Orange milk pudding or "Kheer Komla" as is popularly known in this lush green state nestled in the Eastern part of India.


Interestingly this milk pudding though has its origin deep seated in the Eastern part of a tropical country has the pure "sahebi" foreign taste , well lets just say it is as European as custard because this only requires one to make a thick reduce milk stirrign it constantly without a break for the last 30 minutes which reminded me of Pip in the opening chapter when he was required to stir the pudding before Christmas . Well with my uncanny resemblance to Pip's activity I stirred away and was rewarded with smooth, oh so smooth creamy milk pudding. Now most people chill the pudding and add orange segments and chill it again but that leads to a slightly watery desert due to the water form the fruit. So the trick is to chill the fruit and pudding separately and then just before serving making a layer of orange segments fully deseeded skinned and all and milk pudding or well you can perhaps even call it milk fudge. There are variants of this recipe whcih adds cardamom or bay leaf but as a puritan I do not add anything else because it comes in between the sweet love makign of orange, milk pudding and your mouth.

Requirements

1 litre of whole milk plus 200ml as extra in case the pudding becomes too thick (You cannot use any skimmed milk for this)
4 oranges
I handful of sugar
1 tablespoonful of clarified butter or unsalted butter

Start by bringing the milk and clarified butter (this helps in getting a very smooth pudding and prevents the milk form sticking to the sides to some extent) to a boil and then simmering it . This is a long drawn process but requires your attention nonetheless. In the beginning keep stirring from time to time, say every 7 to 10 minutes to prevent the formation of the layer of cream . It takes at least 1 hour to 1.5 hours.

In the meantime de-seed, skin and make sure you get all that white protective layer of the oranges to leave you with the pure orange segments alone.

Your real work starts in the last 20 to 30 minutes when you have to keep stirring constantly without a break, alright say 30 second breaks every 5 minutes for the smoothest of the smooth "kheers" milk pudding / milk fudge. The consistency should be like a flowing batter. So I will share what happened with me. I did do ti perfectly, started at 8:30 and by 10 it was quite thick and finished off at 10:09 a.m. but when I chilled it it became too thick and so I simply brought the 200ml of milk to a boil with 2 tsp sugar or a bit more and then whisked that in with the pudding to make sure the consistency is right. Remember that the pudding will thicken on its own when it is being chilled in the refrigerator.  Now many people set their pudding for 2 to 3 hours and then add the oranges and set it for sometime. There is a little problem with that method since the watery oranges makes the dish watery. The real trick is to chill the orange segments as well and then right before serving take the bowl and layer alternatively with pudding and orange segments and there you have , delicious orangy milk pudding.