Muhallabiyah with mango coulis | Meatless Monday|Lebanese milk pudding with mango topping

I'm back after a short vacation. Can't believe that it's been 2 weeks since I posted but now I'm here with a quick and easy dessert .

About a month or so one of my collage mate told me about this dessert. Since then , I was chickening out with this. Now when my other friend Garima chose Lebanese cuisine for this month's theme for ChefsAcrossBoundaries , an initiative from few bloggers to experiment and expand our culinary knowledge,I decided this is the best time to try Muhallabiya.

This is a simple and common milk based pudding in Middle East, The basic Muhallabiyah  is almost like a plain canvas where you add more colors and textures. I've added rose water to enhance the flavor and pistachios for some texture and of course mangoes for color and taste.

After the first tasting session, I know I've a winner and this will be my new choice for the upcoming pot luck.

Ingredients

Whole milk ................................. 4 cups
Rice flour .................................... 6 tbsp
Sugar .......................................... 6 tbsp
Rose water .................................. 1 tbsp
Mango ........................................ 1, fully ripen, peeled and cubed
Honey........................................... 1 tsp (optional)
Water ........................................... 2 tbsp
Pistachios.................................... for garnish

Method

• In a heavy bottom pan , take 3 cup of milk and sugar and bring this to a slow boil.
• Meanwhile , mix rice flour with the remaining 1 cup milk , without lumps.
• When the milk  is about to boil , stir in the rice flour, milk mixture and mix with a whisk intermittently.
• Once the milk mixture reaches the pudding consistency , add in the rose water and mix well.
• Pour in serving cup and allow it to cool and refrigerate.
• Meanwhile , blend mango pieces , honey and water.
• Pour this over the prepared pudding cups.

Note:

You can use orange blossom water instead of rose water to make some variations.
If you forget to stir well after adding rice flour , you might end up with some lumps.

Strawberry Rose Duo Kulfi

Finally , some bright and sunny days are here. Feeling liberated throwing out winter gears. When I landed up here during peak winter , my friends used to tell me about winter depression, it didn't make any sense to me. But over these years  I could realize what they meant.Though life remained the same  during winter I could figure out something is missing. That missing part was the social interaction , coming out and meeting friends and brisk walk around the community and breathing fresh air .....makes a whole lot of difference.After all man is  a social animal .... right ?

I've started my morning walks and evenings are fun filled with chit chats with friends and I feel like  life is back now. So why not a celebration ? To start off with I'm bringing this Strawberry Rose Duo Kulfi.

This is a part of our tiny team of bloggers monthly challenge.This month we ended up with frozen treats and I thought why not a kulfi ....

Kulfi is Indian version of ice  cream. Simple and luscious with cream and other natural flavors.I can still remember , back in my native , night around 8 pm we can hear the bell of local kulfi wala and we kids would wait for that bell and assemble and the wait to taste the cool kulfi by sitting on the street side broken bench chatting and enjoying along with friends is an experience of its kind. To top it off , we would pair with friends and pick up a flavor each day and endless chatting ...

There are many varieties of kulfi you can think about . Malai kulfi , Kesar Pista , Mango ,  Coconut are my favorites. This time I settled on something new that's when this duo striked my mind.I'm telling you this is a labor of love.

I'm not exaggerating , the creamy and luscious malai( cream of milk) along with  texture of  crushed strawberry and the color and flavor from rose .. my writing can't suffice the taste.

Ingredients

Whole Milk ................................................  7 cups
Strawberry .................................................. 1.5 cups
Sugar ........................................................... 3 + 3 tbsp
Rose Syrup ................................................. 1 tsp
Rose water .................................................. 1.5 tbsp

Method

• Heat milk in a heavy bottomed pan over medium flame. When you see the cream forming on the top , collect them in a separate bowl.
• Keep doing the same until you see no more cream formation on the top and the milk has reduced to 1/3 by volume. Now add 3 tbsp sugar , the collected cream and set aside.It took almost 1.30 hrs for me.
• Mean while wash and hull the strawberry and dice them.
• In a separate pan cook strawberry with 3 tbsp sugar until you see a jelly texture.
• Once the strawberry mixture cools off , add this along with rose syrup and rose water to the reduced milk and mix well.
• Pour it into molds and freeze for a minimum of 5 hrs. 

You want to know what my friends Dolphia , Jyothi , Subha , Anjana , Garima  and Madhuri have got to give more brain freezing ideas for this month.

And  Jil Jil Jigarthanda  - another chill and cool dessert for this summer.
Falafal with roasted bell pepper thahini for summer snack or party ideas.


Note 

• You can skip the rose syrup and rose water if you can't find them.
• Feel free to add some chopped nuts and try your hand with other fruit flavors.

Curried Kale with Red lentils

"This looks very fresh and that too, let's get it .No I doubt if we'll be able to use it as we've picked quite a lot this time and I've no idea about cooking it.No worries we will find a way to use it ". This is a very common conversation between me and my DH while we do our groceries.He would try to convince me by all means . I'm very choosy when it comes to veggies and greens.

After bringing them from the store , it becomes my responsibility to go with my trial and error method and some common sense to come up with a recipe. This has become my routine since I landed here in US.From Phoi leaves to dandelions, I've tried many and some are special success with some very bitter experiences.One such good success is this kale.

While I clean and prep the leaves, i'm unwinding some good old memories.My mom uses this age old gadget called Aruvamanai , a iron based gadget for chopping vegetables. She would sit on the floor with a foot slightly folded to keep the gadget in control.She would spread a thin plastic mat just below the gadget and start chopping the keerai (green leaves) as fine as she could and immediately clean the gadget . I wonder how precise she cuts the vegetables , without even looking at them as her eyes will be around us.I bet she wouldn't trade that as it that  has become a part of her life. On the other hand, I learned the basic chopping and prepping from my dad , so I'm more used to chopping board and knife.But I do have one such aruvamanai here with me which I bought from NJ and try to use it as and when I could.There is more of an emotional bonding between me and the gadget now.

As I told you , I used my food processor to chop my greens and the recipe is simple and versatile and I would proudly call this as my recipe.

Ingredients

Kale ............................. 1 bunch / 4 cups washed and chopped finely
Masoor dal .................. 1/2 a cup / red lentils
Garlic ................. ...........5 cloves( 2 full and 3 finely sliced)
Turmeric ........................ 1/4 tsp
curry powder .................. a generous pinch
Red chile Powder ........ 1/4 tsp
Salt ................................. to taste
Lemon juice ..................... 1 tsp
Ghee/clarified butter ........ 1.5 tbsp, divided
Mustard seeds ................. 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds ................... 1/2 tsp
Dry Red chilli ....................... 1 , broken into pieces.


Method

• Wash and soak the dal for 15 minutes.
• Pressure cook dal with kale , 2 cloves of garlic , turmeric and 2 cups of water upto 2 whistles / alternately cook the mentioned ingredients in a soup pot until the dal / lentill is cooked well to a mushy consistency.
• On a separate pan , heat  little ghee and add mustard , cumin and broken red chillies.
• Once mustard crackles , turn off the heat and add curry powder and red chilli powder, mix quickly and pour over the dal / lentil mixture.
• Now add salt and lemon juice and cook the dal / lentil and kale mixture for 5 more minutes in simmer.
• Now in a small pan , heat remaining ghee and fry the sliced garlic until golden and pour over the kale.

Enjoy over a bed of steaming rice with a dollop of ghee or as an accompaniment to Roti.

Notes:

• You can use any seasonal greens in the place of kale.
• Soaking the dal reduces the cooking time.
• Make a bit thinner version and enjoy as a soup.

Garlic rasam | The Comfort food and a Salute to my Grandma

After a long tiring day / after  a long trip / after recovering from being sick what both body and mind would aim for is a warm , soothing and comforting food that can bring back  the most needed energy in you. People from every country and region will have their choice of comfort food.For me , it is rasam. Piping hot Garlic rasam , bowl of rice , potato stir fry and papad ..... bliss ! check here for what Dolphia has to say about her comfort food.

Whenever I hear the term garlic rasam ,  all I can think of is my maternal grandma . She is one amazing lady who cooks with ease for 50 + people everyday. I would be amazed with the speed she preps the veggies, her eye balling the measurements and her techniques. Whenever she makes fresh pickles and some of our favorites, she would immediately pack them in a box (thooku chatti in tamil) and walk all the way to our house at her late 60's and on touching the box, we would feel the heat. Imagine how fast she would have walked to reach us that quick !

Later, when I started my career, I used to visit her often and enjoy the food  she makes especially the rasam. It would look like she is just throwing in some ingredients into a pot , if you observe her cooking from a distance but it would be unbelievable to taste.This post is a dedication to my grandma .

The fresh rasam powder is very mandate and everything else is just from the pantry. Now some steaming moments for you.

Ingredients

Fresh Rasam Powder ................................... 1 tsp
Garlic ......................................................... 1 full bulb( minimum of 10 cloves)
tamarind ....................................................  2 marble sized
Toor dal ................................................... 2 tbsp
Tomato  .................................................. 1/4 cup chopped
Curry leaves .............................................. few
Coriander leaves ........................................ few
Turmeric ................................................. 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida / Hing ...................................... a pinch
Salt .......................................................... to taste
Ghee ........................................................ 1tsp
Mustard .................................................... 1/2 tsp
Cumin ...................................................... 1/2 tsp

Method 

• Soak tamarind in warm water for 15 minutes and extract the juice with a cup of water.
• Pressure cook toor dal , tomato , 6 cloves of garlic with a pinch of turmeric and a cup of water till done . The dal has to be completely mashed.
•  Once the pressure is off , transfer the content into a deep pan / kadai . Add the tamarind water , rasam powder , turmeric , hing , salt , roughly chopped curry leaves and coriander leaves , and gently crushed garlic cloves (5)and 2 cups of water.
• Now place the kadai on stove with a medium heat. 
• The mixture has to boil slowly.
• In about 15 to 20 minutes, you will notice bubbling froth on the top . Turn off the heat.
• Heat another small kadai with ghee . once hot add mustard and cumin , once that crackles pour this tempering on top of the rasam and cover with a lid for  minutes.

Enjoy over a bed of steaming rice, potato stirfry and papad or as a warm thin soup.
Tou might want to try Apple rasam , Pineapple rasam , lemon rasam and pepper rasam .

Note

• Ghee is important to get the authentic taste.
• Be generous with fresh curry leaves and coriander.
• Do not rush and cook in high flame, this leads to alight bitter taste.