Phirni - a rice dessert

hi everybody,

I prepared Phirni and was determined to post it today itself. As always, the photo session was a very hurry one. I thought i could convert the video into photo.  I couldn't. So you may have to click on it to view.

Phirni is a thickened rice dessert with a nutty flavour from the almonds and pistachios.


 


the recipe

Milk - 300 ml
Rice flour (Idiyappam flour) - 3 tsp or 3tbsp raw rice soaked & ground to paste
Sugar - 3 heaped tbsp + extra if u need
Rose essence - 2 drops or Rose water - 1 tsp
Cardamom - 3
Pistachios and Almonds - 15 each slivered
Rose petals - optional
Water - 3 - 5 tbsp

the method

Make a paste by mixing the rice flour and water. Heat milk in low flame and add the rice paste and mix well. Stir continuously in low flame till the rice flour is fully incorporated with milk. Taste it. When milk turns to a thickened consistency, like a condensed milk, add sugar, cardamom powder and rose essence. Continue stirring. Taste it. If you need more sugar add it. Add 3/4th of the slivered nuts and stir and taste it to check whether the rice flour is fully cooked. Turn off heat. Continue stirring to prevent the formation of lumps. When warm, spoon the phirni into pudding / dessert bowls. Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours. Take it out of the refrigerator and garnish with remaining nuts and rose petals.

This is a very simple recipe. Make sure you keep all the ingredients and serving bowls ready before you start the preparation.

I'll try to upload a photo soon (instead of this video).

cheers

roshan

Wattalappam - Srilankan Coconut Cream Custard






Wattalappam is a Srilankan dessert prepared using coconut milk & jaggery which is a regional take on the basic milk-egg custard. The sugar that gives sweetness to the traditional custard is replaced by jaggery / palm sugar that gives a nice concoction like flavor. Wattalappam is spiced with nutmeg instead of the usual vanilla.  

I have been reading  Wattalappam recipes from various sources for quite a number of years but the number of eggs made me dizzy.  All the recipes I  have come across for the pass 4 or 5 years have had 10 eggs. I came to know about Wattalappam from a television program in which also, the person adds 10 eggs.  

I knew i had to find an alternative by adding some thickening agent. Then I decided to reduce the liquid content so that I would require only lesser number of eggs. Finally I reworked everything and came up with this recipe which has just two eggs.


You can serve 8 -10 people moderately or just 8 scrumptiously or just four generously…

I prepared one bowl  full (in picture) plus 4 ramekin sized cups. Serve Wattalappam with fruits or nuts to make it more filling. We had it plain.


The old recipes I read had only nutmeg as a spice. Recently I saw the addition of more different types of spices like, cardamom, cinnamon or a combination. I guess nutmeg is traditional ingredient and so i have added only nutmeg. The custard is very good, wobbly, velvety and had a melt in the mouth consistency.


the recipe

eggs - 2
jaggery - 200 gms
cream - 100 mil
hot milk - 100 ml
coconut - half of a medium sized one
nutmeg - 1/3 of  a whole nut

I coated the bowl with jaggery so that it is easy to get it out once it is chilled and it is more sweet with that extra syrup.

Step: 1 - Extract the coconut milk - Grate the coconut or cut the coconut into chunks and put it in a mixer jar and run it for few seconds. Pour the hot milk. Grind the coconut till soft. Pour it through a sieve and extract coconut milk. Keep it aside. (do not add more water)

Step: 2 - Melt the jaggery with 1 tbsp water and strain it to get rid of any impurities.

Step: 3 - Pour the coconut milk into the melted jaggery and mix quickly. If it tends to form lumps, heat it in low flame till the jaggery melts.

Step: 4 - Lightly beat the eggs in a bowl.

Step:5 - Pour a 2 tablespoons of the coconut-jaggery mix into the eggs to temper the eggs. Tempering means stabilizing the temperature otherwise the eggs will curdle. Once it is mixed pour the egg mix into the coconut-jaggery mix and stir well.

Step: 6 - Grate the nutmeg into the custard.

Step: 7 - Strain the whole mix.

Pour into a bowl coated with jaggery and steam it for 20 - 25 minutes. Make sure half of the bowl is immersed in water.

 Let it cool at room temperature. Chill it in the refrigerator for an hour or more and serve. Steaming time differs with quantity.

This pudding can also be baked by placing it in a water bath ( by placing the wattalappam bowl on another bowl half filled with hot water).

enjoy!


A compilation of James Bond Title / Theme music & other JB musings



I know this is a food blog… but I wanted to put some thoughts over here today….which is a spur of moment thought…but it did take some time to find out the original  youtube links without advertisements.

I searched for the hashtag #JamesBond  on Twitter today for an official purpose and saw the theme song for Skyfall by Adele ( in Mashable) that was trending (http://mashable.com/2012/10/04/adele-skyfall-james-bond-theme-video/). 

I listened to it and I just couldn’t stop listening to it and also went to Adele’s website (http://home.adele.tv/).  The reason may be because the lyrics were readable and something like a singalong.


It is the 50th Anniversary of James Bond movies today and I am a fan of many JB guys especially Pierce Brosnan, in JB as well as other movies like Mamma Mia. I have wondered what the zodiac of these guys are. A short research result concluded not the same.Anyways if you would like to hear the title / theme of other James Bond movies from 1962 onwards a compilation is here.


Another way to Die – Quantum of Solace 

You Know My Name   -   Casino Royale

Die Another Day – Die Another Day

The World Is Not Enough - The World Is Not Enough

Tomorrow Never Dies - Tomorrow Never Dies

GoldenEye – GoldenEye

Licence to Kill - Licence to Kill

The Living Daylights

A View To a Kill - A View To a Kill

All Time High


For Your Eyes Only

Moonraker

The Spy Who Loved Me

The Man with the Golden Gun

Live and Let Die 

Diamonds Are Forever

On Her Majesty's Secret Service

You Only Live Twice

Thunderball

Goldfinger

From Russia With Love

Dr.No


Just another crazy day …..

cheers

Clam Fry - Kakka Irachi Varuthathu


The backwaters of Kochi are a rich source of tasty fish, prawns and clams. Some of these tasty creatures  are specific to the backwaters of Kochi that extends to Alleppey, Kollam and Kumarakom. To name a few are pearlspot (Karimeen), mullet (Kanambu and Thirutha), mud crabs, prawns and these tasty clams.

All these are also a part of the 'Gods own country' tag. Uunfortunately these are facing a hard time because of the unscrupulous or rather unthoughtful developments that are clogged around Kochi. It seems some tourists choose Kochi or Alleppey just to eat the Karimeen which is turned into a mild fish moilee to suit their palette.

A major part of the backwaters was sold for real estate development when the Goshree Bridge was commissioned. The filling of backwaters continues without giving a thought on the environmental disasters that can ensue. 

The latest development strategy is Emerging Kerala. I did not really delve into the details, but just know that days after the announcement we are also going through hours of loadshedding (no power supply). The sun is shining quite well these days. So I think it is a coincidental indication that we should switch to Solar Power and save the earth ourselves.

Sorry for getting intp the contemporary news......coming back to the clams....these are collected by professional clam collectors by diving into the backwaters. They boil it and the shells are removed before it reaches the commercial place - the markets and individual sellers. 

Eating clams from hotels may not be a very good idea because it requires good cleaning. You can see a black portion of it in the fresh ones which is dirt. You should pinch it off or use a fish scissor to cut it off.

Recipe for Clam Fry (sometimes clams are mistaken for mussels)

Fresh Clams – 300 gms approx (if you are using canned clams use just 225 – 250 gms)

Ingredients to boil the clams
Ginger – ½ inch piece sliced into juliennes
Turmeric – ½ tsp
Green chilly – 2 nos
Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Garlic – 4 cloves (optional)
Salt to taste

Ingredients to fry (this is not a deep fry)

Oil – 3-4 tbsp  (coconut or vegetable oil)
Onion – 2, julienned
Garlic – 6 cloves, chopped
Curry leaves, again – 1 or 2 sprigs (you can remove the curry leaves from the boiled clams)

powders
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Chilly powder – ½ , ¾ or 1 tsp depending on your taste
Pepper powder – ½ tsp

Salt to taste

The method

Clean the clams first by washing it in hot water twice and then by removing the dark / dirt as mentioned in the last paragraph above. Once done, rinse in cold water twice to get rid of any dirt sticking to the clams.

Place it in a heavy bottom pan or clay pot with water covering just half of the clams. Add all the ingredients to boil, and cook in medium heat for about 15 minutes or until it turns soft. There should be only about 2-3 tbsp water once the clams are cooked.

Heat oil in a wide, heavy bottom pan or cast iron skillet and add the onion and garlic. Stir it till it is translucent. Add the curry leaves and powders and stir for few seconds. Add the boiled clams and turn to high heat. Keep stir till the water evaporates from the clams. When water is almost fully evaporated from the clams cover the pan with a lid. The clams will give a bursting sound inside and turn firm. This is the consistency. Turn to low flame and carefully open the lid and stir so that all the clams get high heat and explode. Continue this till all clams turn hard as you see in the picture. Serve with rice. You won’t need anything else to have this.

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Mail me to roshanscucina@gmail.com to clarify any doubts before trying a recipe..

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Simple Flavourful Semiya Payasam (without condensed milk)


All the luxuries in life need not be reaally luxurious. I just wanted to say that you can enjoy gourmet food without the oomph ingredient which in this recipe is the condensed milk. 

We were not at home this Onam and i just couldn't manage myself without preparing a payasam, though i had few varieties of payasam during the Onam celebrations at my office. Coming to condensed milk, it is not an ingredient which i usually store. Because it cannot be stored for more than a day especially if the can  has been opened once. There is one thing you need to be careful with the tin. In our violent urge to lick the last bit of condensed milk left in the tin it is usual that we try to wipe it with our finger. But if the rim / seal of the tin extents out even a little bit, it is very likely that we get injured. Well, i have got injured that way and got a deep wound in my pointing finger. 

This was a quickfix Vermicelli payasam which i prepared after returning from office (bcoz) i couldnt wait till the next weekend. The sun was setting and i tried to get the last bit of sunlight and there you can see the shadow of our window in the photograph.

The recipe is simple. Preparation & Cooking time - 20 minutes. Serves four sumptuously.

ingredients

Use the same cup to measure the ingredients - the right proportion yields best results

Vermicelli / Semiya - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Milk - 3 cup (2 1/2 + 1/2)
Water - 1/3 cup
Cashewnutes - a handful
Raisins - 3-4 tbsp
Cardamom - 6-8 medium sized, peeled
Ghee - 1 1/2 tbsp




the method

Heat a sauce pan in medium heat and add ghee. Fry the cashewnuts and raisins and keep it aside. To the remaining ghee add the vermicelli and stir till the vermicelli starts to turn golden brown.

Add water and half cup milk and let the semiya cook (about 7 minutes). Stir continuously to avoid the mixture from forming a layer on top. Cook in medium heat continuously.

Semiya / Vermicelli is a kind of pasta. The normal cooking time for all types of pasta is 9 minutes. Vermicelli is stirred in ghee to make it non stick and to prevent it from turning mushy.

When the vermicelli has been cooking for seven minutes add the remaining milk. Continue stirring. You can keep your eye off to grab other ingredient. That much time the payasam can hold without you :-)

I like to powder the cardamom with sugar bcoz i dont store cardamom in powder form. Put the sugar and cardamom in a mixie jar. I mentioned flavorful in the name for a reason. When you powder the sugar and cardamom you can add few fried nuts also to bring in that added flavour. Put it in the mixie for, say, 5 - 8 seconds. Add the sugar to the semiya mixture. Stir well and let it boil for 1 or 2 minutes. Add the friend cashew nuts and raisins. Serve at room temperature.

The Semiya Payasam has a not so thick not so runny consistency.

Belated Onam Wishes!

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