The Burst of a Pomegranate on Yogurt in a Salad Story

Pomegranate, Baby Gherkin, Roasted Potato, Croutons, Rocket salad with Pistachio nuts in a Yogurt dressing…a nutritious Healthy Salad you can carry to your workplace

I feel salads are one of the most interesting playground of fresh flavors n it is full of surprises, every bite can be a little different, every flavor mixing with each other- a kick from this, a citrus note from that, a burst of sweetness all of a sudden, a gentle heat from somewhere, a touch of tanginess…it is a celebration of flavors. A well made salad is also a success story of the creator and a sign of how well the person understands the play of flavors, their chemistry and their combination. 

The reason why I adore salads is because I can be creative with them; it’s a great playground for me, trying n testing with new ingredients, sometimes humble ingredients and sometimes rare ones. For a lot of people salad means compromising on taste, the truth is far from it, a great salad is not only nutritious in leaps n bounds but it is a great carrier of flavors, unlike cooking where every ingredient exchange flavors under heat, mostly in a salad they are the freshest flavors n when you are making a salad you are letting the exchange happen for a short time in the bowl and mostly when you bite into it.

The more I play with salads the more excited I become, often I create salads which are total disasters and no one else can eat that but me, so I have to eat them anyways, but  I have found so much joy in them that those failures don’t dampen my spirit at all. Once in a while I also come up with recipes that win everybody n those recipes spread from friend to friend- the important thing is to have fun, to enjoy the process.

Now from a nutritional point of view salads come in all shades, some are not so healthy while some are very healthy and everything in between. A well balanced salad can replace your main course in the lunchtime or at the time of dinner, a good balance of protein, carbohydrate and fat. The salad recipe I give you today is healthy, nutritious and bursting with flavors.

In this exciting salad I have got pomegranate, that’s what makes it very exciting for me, the little ruby jewels that burst under your teeth n the explosion of juices, sweet n sour. Unlike a traditional vinaigrette with oil n vinegar, this salad has a yogurt dressing and yogurt is my soul food and so healthy. And then we have the baby gherkins in brine, they are so tasty on their own- little sweet, little sour with a hint of pungency, and they combine so well with the roasted crispy chunky potatoes. The potatoes are the only ingredient here that is pre-cooked and they provide an amazing flavor and a sense of fullness to the dish. The pistachios are another jewel and it works in a subtle way, it gives a mouth feel that is unique and delicious. The rocket leaves gives a strong edge to this salad, the leaves are peppery and pungent, and so they tend to come out stronger in taste, so I used them moderately here. We have crouton in this dish, the bread is pan friend in a little oil and it improved the flavor of the bread n provides a crunchy texture. When you finish assembling the salad spread a thread of honey over it and it gets that slight sweet honey flavor mixed with the yogurt, it’s mouth-watering.

What I give to you is a great base, many things can be added to it, poached chicken, shredded meat or a boiled egg or a fried fish, lettuce can be added to increase the green, a bit of sprouts will be exciting in this salad, so it is up to you what you feel like adding, experiment with it, in the meantime I will take you to the recipe.

For The Recipe: You will need

Serves - 2

For the Salad:

Pomegranate- ½ medium, cut into chunks n seeded

Yogurt- 3 heaped tbsp, whisked till smooth

Honey- 1 tbsp

Potato chunks- made from 2 medium potatoes

Baby Gherkins- 4/5, sliced lengthwise or in rounds

The brine in which the gherkins are stored- ½ tbsp

Rocket leaves- 2 medium bunches, washed n trimmed

Cucumber- ½ medium, peeled or unpeeled n cut into rounds of 1 cm thickness

Pistachio- 12/14, slightly roasted n crushed

White bread/ sourdough bread- 1 slice, roasted or pan fried to make crouton

Black pepper- to taste

Salt- to taste

Pink rock salt – 2 pinches

For the Crispy Potato Chunks:

Potato- 2 medium, washed well

Rosemary- ¼ tbsp, dry

Nigella/kalonji seeds-1/4 tsp

Red chili powder- ¼ tbsp

Garlic- 1 medium clove, made into a paste

Sugar- a pinch

salt-to taste

Soy sauce- ½ tsp

Red onion- sliced lengthwise into thick strips

Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp

Pre-heat your oven to 180 Celsius /356 Fahrenheit

1. Put the potatoes on a board and with a small knife put incisions all over them, then place them in water in a deep bowl with their skin on and place it on medium heat, in about 10-12 minutes the potatoes will be half done, soft but rigid, it will take 10/12/ 14 minutes for that,  given that you begin with cold water, so keep an eye, when they are half done, remove from heat and drain the water and place them in cold water, when you can handle them cut them in ¼ inch chunks.

In the roasting pan place the minced garlic with all the other ingredients except the onion and mix well, then coat the potato chunks with this mixture well, place them in the oven for 40 minutes. After 20 minutes turn the potato chunks on the other side with a fork and add the onions, then give another 20 /25 minutes until the chunks becomes crispy. Take them off the oven and let it cool.

2. Take the white bread and coat it a little oil lightly on both sides, then place on a frying pan and keep on a low heat for 8/10 min, flip it over through half the time, you want it to be medium brown n crispy on the outside. When done cut it into rectangles with a sharp knife. Alternatively you can crisp up the bread in the oven at 180 with a tbsp of oil to coat them or skip the oil completely, they will take about 10 minutes, keep an eye on them.

3. In a mixing bowl place the rocket leaves, cucumber slices, the gherkins, half of the chunky potatoes with the onion slices, the pomegranate seeds, then whisk the yogurt with honey and the brine until smooth, add to the ingredients in the bowl and coat with the yogurt, then add salt, rock salt n black pepper, after that scatter the roasted n crushed pistachios all over and then the croutons and rest half of the potatoes and serve immediately, if you are serving it later, don’t add the croutons n rest half of the potatoes n the pistachios, they will get soggy, add when you are ready to eat.

You are done and now it is time to taste, n it is going to be an explosion of flavors in your mouth, its bold n its addictive, I love the moment when the pomegranate jewels burst in each bite, so very delicious, share it with your loved ones, pack yourself this as lunch for work or afternoon snacks and modify as you wish. Bon Appétit.

The Flavor of Holi on my plate- A Refreshing sinful new Taste in sweet

A Fantastic New Recipe for Holi- Coconut Mawa Kismis Khasta Kachori in Orange Coconut Milk Rabri sauce with Golden Spun Sugar  

As the spring vanishes into the waves of summer, the colors of Holi still remind you: it is still spring in the air. Today is Dol aka Holi and outside my home groups of children have gone crazy with colors, I hear their animated voices, their faces completely turned into color palettes, walking with their friends with color balloons n pichkari n perhaps coloring everyone who is coming their way-including the dogs perhaps-well that’s Holi my friends. 

Tomorrow is also Holi, today is celebrated as Dol amongst the Bengali people as today is gonna be the full moon night-Dol Purnima, Purnima means the full moon. I tell you these groups of children won’t settle anytime soon before 2 in the afternoon when their mothers will finally reach their end of patience- and why would they settle! It is so much fun putting colors over others and it comes once in a year where you have the freedom to go crazy with colors with your whole bunch of friends and that group increases as you put colors on strangers. I know what they have in their stock of colors-they have powdered colors of yellow, green, red, pink, violet, orange, they have water balloons filled with colored waters and apart from that they have a special color-which is the craziest one because when they put it on you it won’t get washed away easily until 4/5 days which is totally insane, if your face has been painted with that stupid color which is either deep purple pretending to be black or a horrible shade of green, you are like wasted for the next 4 days, but that’s also the crazy fun for the children who want to do it, so they like to carry the after marks.

The flavors are different in adults, the same spirit as with the children minus the innocence. One thing that is very popular is the use of Bhang- which is an edible thing made from the leaves n buds of Cannabis and it is the official drink of Holi and I tell you it makes people go crazy. It kinda frees up your mind, releases your anxiety and therefore you can enjoy more. With an overdose a lot of different things can happen in the level of craziness- like some people starts laughing like mad cows and they can’t stop until hours, while some starts crying and they can’t stop raining, while some women keeps on chopping all the vegetables she can lay her hands on and still thinks it’s not enough while a man can’t ride on a train in the station because the minute gap between the train n the station seems like a feet long gap…the list is really impressive.

So now I will talk about food, Holi is famous for fun, tough it is religious in its basic structure, that structure is munched away with the crispy snacks, sweets. A lot of different things are popular in Holi-the emphasis is more on bite foods, snacks – so crispy sweets n savory things make the air smell delicious, Gujiya is very popular which is a crispy friend dumpling filled with coconut n milk solids..Chicken is also popular but mostly in the dinnertime.

I love a ‘Mawa kachori’ – a crispy dumpling filled with concentrated milk solids mixed with powdered almonds/ cashew nuts/pistachios with cardamom, it is deep fried in vegetable oil or ghee, then it is soaked in a thick sugar syrup just so that it gets a coating n shine, and that crazy good to eat. So in my version of Holi sweet I wanted to play with it n push the flavors.

So in my version I have introduced the flavors of dry coconut n fresh coconut together, and the flavors of raisins/kismis and khoya/mawa- the use of raisins give that intense rich sweet flavor of the dry grapes with a slight tang to balance all that sweetness and the coconut takes it to a whole different level.

A very refreshing milk sauce provides flavor n moisture for the crispy dry kachoris, the milk is reduced to one third by simmering it slowly- so it almost reaches ‘Rabri’ but not quite, to that I added the fresh aroma of oranges in the form of orange zest and it makes the whole milk sauce sing. Finally I added coconut milk to that sauce to give a subtle depth of flavor and it’s really nice.

The golden embrace from the spun sugar makes it look unbelievable- the superfine caramel threads shine n glisten in the sun hugging the kachori and it makes it look so very special-a golden hug. When we bite into it we get the crispy sweet warm kachori, the chilled milk sauce and the crunchy subtle caramel- oh my god- it is really good an experience to eat that n you have take my word for it. 

I think you should make it so here is the recipe.

For The Recipe: you will need

For the Mawa Kismis Coconut Kachori:

Makes 6/7

For the shell:

All purpose flour- 200 gm

Ghee- 2 tbsp+ vegetable oil-1 tbsp (it can be total ghee or oil also)

Salt- a pinch

Water- close to ¾ Th cup, it varies

Vegetable oil to deep fry- 5 cups

For the stuffing:

Mawa/Khoya- 100 gm

Dry coconut- 1/2 a small dry coconut, cut into strips n brown skin removed, then almost powdered in a blender

Fresh coconut-1/4 Th fresh coconut flesh grated, then blended till smooth in blender

Kismis- 50 gm, soaked in water for 1 hour, then blended till coarse smooth

Sugar- 1 tbsp, powdered

For the Orange Coconut milk Rabri Sauce:

Milk- 500 ml, full-fat, simmered in medium low flame till 1/3 rd remains

Orange zest/peel- ½ orange

Coconut milk- obtained from ¼ fresh coconut, if using from cans use ½ cup

Sugar- 3-4tbsp

Salt- a pinch

For the Sugar Syrup to coat:

Sugar- 100 gm

Water- 50 gm

Green cardamom- 1 crushed slightly

For the spun sugar:

Sugar- 3 tbsp

Palette knife is needed to prepare the fine threads

1.  First let’s make the milk sauce, take full-fat milk  in a heavy bottom wide vessel/kadai/wok and make it come to a boil, then reduce heat n simmer, with a metal spatula or big spoon scratch the sides n bottom of the wok so that nothing sticks to the bottom n side, incorporate the scratched milk solids into the sauce, scratch every 2 minutes, reduce until one third remains in the wok which will take about 25-30 minutes, it is important to use a wide open wok and not a narrow saucepan because in that evaporating the milk will take much longer.

Grate fresh coconut, make 1/3 cup water come to a boil, then soak the coconut in that water for 10 minutes, after 10 minutes pick up and press the coconut as hard as you can to squeeze out as much milk as you can.

When the milk has been reduced to one third add the coconut milk and the orange zest or strips of orange peel cut really thin with a sharp knife which has no white parts, and simmer for 5 minutes, then add sugar, then take it off the heat, when it attains room temp. Chill it in the freeze for an hour.

2. We will make the crispy pastry now, add the ghee n oil to the flour, add the salt and distribute the fat by rubbing with your hands into the flour until the whole things goes lumpy  which will take about 2 minutes, after that add a little water and make the dough come together, add a little more n do the same, add a little more until the dough comfortably comes together, not a tight dough but softer than that, so as the dough just comes together add another 1 tbsp/2 tbsp little more,  because we want the dough to be slightly softer than that, then knead the dough for 2 minutes n it will just begin to go smooth, stop at this point, we don’t want to knead the dough any more , we don’t want to develop the gluten anymore, so cover the dough n rest for 15/20 minutes.

3. In a frying pan on low heat add the mawa and crumble it with your hands, give it 4 minutes on low heat and it will start to get slight brown color, stir the mawa in between, when the mawa has slightly brown bits, add the kismis paste and stir for 1 minute, then add the fresh coconut n give it 1 minute, then add the dry coconut powder and mix well, give it 2 minutes on low heat, the mixture will be slightly wet at this stage, only slightly wet, that’s fine, when this will cool it will dry more, take it off the heat on a plate and let it cool, when cooled add the powdered sugar to make it a little more sweet, don’t make it very sweet, the mixture is already sweet from mawa, kismis, coconut , so add a little sugar about 1 tbsp or less to increase the sweetness.

4. Get back to the dough and divide the dough into 7 equal balls, take one ball n place on a flat surface n press it with your palm to flatten it slightly, pick up n flatten it again in another direction, then pick up and make a depression in the middle with your thumb , then go on expanding that depression as you turn the dough around within your fingers and increasing the depth of the depression as you rotate, we want to give it the shape of a small cup shape where it will hold the stuffing, so when the depression has a diameter of 2/2 ½ inches, take 1 ½ tbsp of the stuffing and slightly press it in that depression , then bring the opposite two sides of the dough cup together n seal them by pressing, then do the same to one side to bring the ends together, then on the other side, then hold all the edges together to completely cover the stuffing and press gently , then rotate to seal  it well, then press the sealed point lightly on the dumpling itself, then place the sealed side down on the flat surface and press gently to flatten it a bit. Prepare all the dumplings like this.

5. Heat the 5 cups of oil in a deep wok to medium hot, the oil should not be very hot but only slightly hot, when you place a little ball of dough in the oil it should drown n begins to sizzle after some 6/7 seconds, the kachoris need to fried at a low temperature to get them crispy and it will take 10 minutes for the whole process, when the oil is ready, take one kachori and place it on your palm then by the side of your other palm flatten it gently, pick, rotate n press again all around, work gently and flatten n increase the size of the kachori gently, you can also pick n press all around within your fingers, the final kachori will have a diameter of 3 to 3 ½ inches, drop the kachori gently one by one, at one time you will be able to fry about 3 /4 kachoris.

The kachori will drown first in the oil, in a minute it will start to float up on the surface, give each side about 5 minute, with a slotted spoon brush the top sides with the hot oil gently as the kachori floats up in the oil, we want each side to be light brown, so when one side is light brown, flip n let the other side attain the same, then drain on a plate. Finish all the kachoris like this.

6. For the sugar syrup, place the sugar n water n cardamom  in a wok and let the sugar dissolve, then bring it to a boil n boil it until it gets to a consistency like honey, which will take about 8-10 minutes, when you place a drop of the syrup on a plate n then you taste it between your fingers it will form one string, it is ready, switch off the flame, place the fried kachoris into the syrup and coat on both sides, then drain n place them on a plate.

7. For making the spun sugar we need to make caramel, so take 3 tbsp of sugar n same amount of water and let it come to a boil n reach caramel stage, we want dark caramel, so when it reaches dark caramel remove from heat and dip the tip of the palette knife into that, drip off the first few drops and flick it quickly over a plate and you will see long hair like caramel thread are forming, flick it really fast.

In each plate place some orange coconut milk rabri sauce; place a kachori on it, then with the spatula produce the spun sugar to coat each plate completely with that. When the caramel solidifies, you again take that back to heat to liquefy, then come back n work quickly with the spatula, flick fast to coat the kachoris on the plate, then pick up all the threads by hand and shape them the way you want. 

Oh my god…you did it…its ready…. they look stunning, don’t they just look so cool? And now after all this hard work achieving this beauty, it is time to taste, with a spoon break one kachori, take some sauce with the kachori and taste it…

Bon appétit. Subho Dol Yatra n Happy Holi.

The Magic of a refilled Egg… Exquisite Egg Supremo

Hard boiled eggs deviled with Black Sesame, Red Onion, Coriander leaves, Tomato, Green chili, Egg yolk and Lime served on garlic bread- this is how snacks become more fun than main course

 So may it be afternoon, or evening or let’s say any time of the day, if you have the time to boil some eggs, this dish is almost there on your plate, and it screams healthy. There is such a need for recipes in our lives that is a balance of health n taste n this recipe exactly fits in there. Now according to me egg is the most versatile ingredient in the kitchen, thousand of things can be created out of it, starting from a simple omelette to a poached egg to French toast to a salad to a soufflé to cake n mousse to an ice cream…it’s a real long list. So when I say the magic of egg, it all starts with cracking an egg- before or after cooking.

Egg is a real wonder food, a powerhouse of nutrition- like if I have to compare it metaphorically it is the superman in the world of food or should I say superwomen! But you get it. Eggs have all the essential amino acids that we need which means it is bursting with protein n choline n vitamins n minerals….what more you can possibly ask for? Think about it.

I am in utter love with eggs right from the beginning, a simple omelette can make me feel all right in a bad day, it still thrills me…god knows why? Right from my childhood I have been eating eggs as egg curry- combined with tomatoes, potatoes, aubergine, onion and then fried egg with sunny side up and omelette, dumplings, egg rolls, egg-noodles, in ice creams and cakes and now after all these years I have eggs as scrambled eggs, soufflé, crème brulee, floating island, sauce hollandaise, pan cakes, soufflé omelette- I don’t think I can actually remember all of them now.

 I developed this recipe in the Foodush kitchen as part of our menu in Gurgaon, a wonderful kitchen and it was loved and wanted by everyone who tasted it. I bring together elements like roasted black sesame seed, lots of fresh coriander leaves, red onion, tomatoes, green chili in this recipe, the eggs are hard boiled, then separated, after that I mixed the egg yolk with pan fried red onion, green chilies, coriander leaves, roasted black sesame seed, finishing off with freshly tossed tomato chunks and freshly squeezed lime juice. After I devil the egg whites with this mixture I make them sit on a round piece of garlic bread topped with a crispy lettuce with a dollop of mayo mixed with mustard.

 If you want to make it very healthy skip the bread and the mayo, eat the eggs just like that or wrap each egg half with a crispy lettuce n eat up. Another option will be to mix a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil with the egg yolk mixture, it will boost them with the fresh olive flavor and make it more smooth n wet.

Now it is time for the recipe.

For The Recipe:  you will need

Eggs-3, hard boiled n yolk separated

Red onion-1 medium, chopped

Fresh coriander leaves n stalks- 7 tbsp, finely chopped

Black pepper- ½ tsp

Black sesame seed- 2 tbsp heaped

Green chili- 2 finely sliced

Butter- 1 tbsp+ ½ tbsp

Vegetable oil-1 tbsp

Tomato- 1 ripe, chopped into squares

Salt

Pink rock salt- 2 pinch

Lime- 1 medium

For serving on bread:

Garlic bread- 6 roundish slices, 1 bread for one half of egg

Lettuce (Green Leaf/ Iceberg) – 6 medium leafs, washed n kept in cold water for half an hour

Mayo- 6 tbsp mixed with 3 tbsp tomato ketchup

Mustard paste/sauce- 1 tbsp

Black pepper- to taste

1. Begin by placing the eggs in a small deep saucepan and cover them with water, then put them on low flame, let the water come to a boil which will take about 10 min on low heat, you can increase the flame after 4 minutes so that the water come to a quick boil, as the water comes to a boil, switch off the heat and leave the eggs in the water for 7 minutes. At the end of time drain them and cool them with new batches of cold water. When cold peel them, slice them lengthwise and carefully take out the yolks keeping the egg white shell intact.

2. Place a frying pan on medium low heat and add the black sesame seeds, shake the pan as you roast them on a low heat, they will take about 3-4 minutes, shake them every 30 sec, when done take them off the pan.

3. Place the same frying pan on medium heat and place 1 tbsp butter n 1 tsp oil in it, as the butter melts add the chopped red onion along with the green chili and chopped coriander stalks and half of the leaves, reduce the flame to low n soften them slowly over a time of 5-7 minutes, we just want to soften them, so don’t brown them, take the pan off the heat in between if heat is high in your hob, when the onions have softened, season with black pepper, salt, pinch of pink rock salt and add the chopped tomato n half of the remaining coriander leaves. Mix well and give it 2 minutes, after that put the flame off, add the remaining coriander leaves and remaining butter and mix.

4. Put the egg yolks and all the contents from the frying pan together onto a plate and add the roasted black sesame seed and begin smashing the egg yolks with the back of a fork, mix all of them until it is well mixed, now squeeze half of the lime juice in the mixture n mix, taste, if you feel you need more add the other half, I normally squeeze a whole lime into the mixture so that it is on the tangy side. Finally taste and adjust the salt. Then make small balls from the mixture by rolling onto your palm and place each ball onto each egg white shells to refill them.

5. Mix the mayo with the tomato ketchup and mustard sauce/paste and freshly ground black pepper, then shake off excess water from the lettuce leaves, pat dry, place a little dollop of mayo onto each bread slice, smear it over the surface, then place one lettuce leaf over each bread slice, place another dollop of mustard mayo on top of lettuce. Then carefully place each half of egg white shell onto each bread slice and we are ready to serve.

So there it is, egg-supremo is all ready for you, deviled eggs with the goodness of eggs, black sesame, coriander leaves n lime. Share them with everyone around you and see what a crowd pleaser it is, enjoy every bite of it slowly, so now I am gonna say Bon appétit.

The shade of the color purple in my plate in the sweetest way

Purple Carrot Rice Pudding: with the sweet flavor of the carrots n their wonderful color with Clove, Cardamom, Rice, Screw pine water n Milk with Almond Praline

Carrots n winter goes hand in hand, during the winter the carrots come out from down the earth as if it’s magic and what a beautiful surprise it is! Anyone who has grown carrots in his garden, he will cherish the moments when he/she pulls out the first carrot of the season-a wonderful sight. The seasonal carrots always taste different n better than those we get all year around, so this winter which is now, a week ago I was wandering in the local vegetable market and what a colorful sight it is: shades of red, yellow, green, purple, orange, crème yellow n then I found out the purple carrots! My very first ones!

Interestingly just that week before I had tasted black carrot ice cream by the great chef Gagan Anand , the ice cream was covered with carrot powder and pistachios, after that I was so keen to find the black or purple carrots n I got them where I was not even expecting them to be, life surprises you. When you get your hands on some purple carrot, grab them, their flavor is very similar to the red ones, but their color is what will influence you, inspire you like a beautiful landscape inspires an artist. Let it make you go all purple.

As I sat n thought what should I prepare with them, I had two things hanging in my mind,  Gajrela /Gajar ka Halwa which is a  concentrated carrot fudge and I thought of Kheer with chawal- a rice pudding n I realized I wanted  both of them and I wanted to lift them up with a touch of aromatic spice but only so much so that you can taste the wonderful carrot with all their glory n color.

So I grated the carrot and my chopping board was washed with a purple wave, I simmered the grated carrot with milk and I knew what was coming! But it overwhelmed me… just a wonderful lavender color appeared in the saucepan, so vivid n inspiring that I wanted to dip my hand in it, smell it, paint with it. So I simmered them on a slow heat until the carrots softened, then went inside the soaked rice-basmati in this case and cooked until the rice fluffed and drank all the lavender milk by themselves, then it was time for the spices to take them to a new height and I sweetened them with white sugar, so when the consistency was relatively thick I took it off the heat n add the screw pine water which is kewra water. Then once it cools a little, put them in a blender and blend them only to a coarse consistency, not completely smooth but at a stage before that when it is still slightly coarse, after that when it comes to a normal temperature you have to chill it for at least 4 hours, it will be well chilled n set in that time n it will taste so much better in that temperature.

I served them with an almond praline, you can just serve them with toasted almond flakes and pistachio and it will be wonderful, I always love praline so I will find a reason to make them.  So finally when it is chilled the flavors will be much settled and you can shape them with your spoon and present them beautifully or just don’t bother, sprinkle the praline pieces or toasted almond n pistachio or cashew nut. When you will taste them you will notice it will remind you of Phirni-a great Indian rice pudding where the rice is blended coarsely at the end of cooking, when I had my bite it reminded me of gajar ka halwa n phirni n kheer all at the same time. I think you should give them a try, so here is the recipe for you.

For The Recipe: You will need

For the Carrot Rice Pudding:

Purple carrot- 2 medium

Basmati Rice-1/2 cup

Milk (full fat) - 2 cups

Single cream /double cream- 1/2 cup

Ghee/clarified butter-1 tbsp

Sugar- about 4/5 tbsp, adjust with your taste

Salt-a pinch

Clove- 1

Green Cardamom-1 or 2

Kewra water/screw pine water-1 tsp

For the Praline:

Sugar- 5 tbsp

Water -5 tbsp

Almond- 7/8 sliced, chopped

1. Begin by soaking the rice in water for 30minutes, then start peeling the carrot, then grate them on the bigger side of the grater, then place them in a heavy bottom sauce pan with the ghee and on a low heat toss them for 2 minutes, then add the milk and keep it on a slow flame, add the cardamom n clove,  let the milk come to a simmering point like this and give it 7/10 minutes on a low flame until the carrots soften n cooked, stir in between. After that add the rice and stir them in, from now on give about 15 minutes on low flame until the rice is cooked, stir every 3 minutes so that nothing catches the bottom of the pan, if you are not using a heavy bottom saucepan you have to be more careful, stir every 2 minutes. When the rice is soft you will see the whole consistency has thickened because the rice has absorbed most of the milk, at this point add the sugar, adjust, add more if you like more sweet or less, add a pinch of salt, then add the cream and give it one more minute, then take it off the heat and add the kewra water, stir it in, let the whole thing cool down slightly so that we can blend it.

2. When the temperature has cooled down a bit, put the whole thing in a blender and blend to a almost smooth consistency but not completely smooth, a little coarse within smooth is what we want, semi coarse, semi smooth. Once that is achieved put them in little serving bowls or one big bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 4/5 hours until well chilled. One great option if you can place them into terracotta earthen pots and chill them, it will add another extraordinary flavor dimension.

3. Let’s make the praline; in a saucepan add the sugar and equal quantity of water, put it on high heat n shake the pan until the sugar melts but don’t stir with a spoon. So shake the pan at times and soon the whole bubbling syrup with start to get golden and then deep golden reaching dark brown, add the chopped almond and then pour the whole thing on a smooth marble top or smooth surface. As soon as it cools down it will set, it will take 3/5 minutes, then take them off the surface with a knife in chunks. 

4.  After 4 hours when it is well chilled, spoon the mixture onto a plate into beautiful shapes and place the praline pieces on top of them along with some toasted almond or just sprinkle the toasted almond on the bowl itself and get ready with your spoon.

So now it is ready, you know the thing about sweet things, they absolutely need to be shared, especially when you have made something so beautiful with such a beautiful lavender color, share it with your loved ones and let them love you a little more. Dig in and tell me, isn’t it so good! , the flavor of the carrot, the creaminess, the hint of clove n cardamom, in every spoon, yummy. Guess what! Bon appétit.