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Recipe: Festive Desserts And Daily Rituals – Rabdi

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Milk plays a very central role in most communities in India. This is evident when it comes to cuisine, where dairy ingredients like ghee, paneer (known as cottage cheese in the West) and milk itself are crucial components of many dishes. Milk also has religious significance, such as in Hinduism wherein idols of deities are bathed in milk and then offered specially-prepared sweets which often contain the same. In South India, where I live, other than Deepavali or Diwali the big festival is Pongal, when milk is boiled and allowed to spill over the pot as a sign of abundance, a good harvest and new beginnings. Milk therefore can be considered auspicious or even sacred. With Diwali just days away, a milk sweet is thus a must on this blog. This year, I have chosen to share with you the recipe for rabdi. Rabdi is essentially a form of thickened milk, not to be confused with condensed milk.

In the past, I have mentioned various kinds of kheers on this blog, including orange kheer, sitaphal kheer and rose-coconut kheer. Rabdi is a similar dish, and you may also hear it being called by the name rabri. It is also difficult to differentiate between rabdi and basundi. There is a vast array of milk-based desserts in the subcontinent, and sometimes they may resemble each other in look, preparation or taste.

As you may know, over the last few years I’ve increasingly taken a vegan approach to my diet, and many recipes I’ve shared here attest to the same. Being vegan in India is certainly a bit of a challenge because dairy is a big part of our cuisine, as mentioned before. We also have certain conditioned ideas about the importance of it, such as how children are forced to drink milk as it is believed to give them good health and strength, or even how drinking chai is a kind of milestone. I remember how when I first got married and started drinking chai, I started to feel like “Now, I am an adult”. All this aside, my personal struggle is not with milk, ghee, paneer or milk sweets at all but with yoghurt. I just can’t seem to give that up. Anyhow, more on that later, as I continue on my adventures on the vegan path.

For now, since I still consume dairy, I’m going to do so by reflecting on what it means on a day like Diwali, when it is such a big part of our food and our rituals.

Actually, it is important in my family on more than just a festive occasion such as Diwali, but every day. You see, I grew up with a precious statue of Balagopal, the baby version of Lord Krishna. This statue has been in my family for generations. He was gifted to my great-grandmother by a priest, then looked after by my grandfather, then my parents, and now my 91-year old father. My father has found it difficult to keep up with the seva, or rituals, and I imagine that I will welcome Balagopal in my own home in due time.

We have elaborate customs to worship him, which must be performed throughout the day. He must be treated like a child of the home: he must be bathed, fed, dressed, sung to, played with, and put to bed – until the following morning, when it must all be done all over again. There are seasonal rituals too. In summer, he is given water in a tiny pot and cooled with a tiny khus khus (vetiver) fan. In winters, he is dressed in warming velvet and fragranced with attar.

To me, these rituals are an exemplary way to follow traditions that inculcate discipline, respect, humility and generosity, as well as a daily practice of celebration and joy. I am sure that when he does come to my home, his welcome will be a very big affair. I am waiting to receive him. I have taken the advice of elders in the family who tell me that I should do the best seva I can, but that I cannot miss a day. He can never be abandoned or ignored, just like my child.

I am a big believer in “to each their own”. People look at or don’t look at God, do or don’t have spiritual leanings, and come from different religions with their own systems. They are all valid to me. For myself, I see Balagopal as an important legacy, one I want to continue for the sake of both of my elders and my children.

Now, the sweetest part of all this: Balagopal loves milk, according to the myths. So he is often offered a milk-based treat, such as rabdi. So it is sure to be among my offerings to him. It can also be among your own festive delights. Both these thoughts give me joy.

Rabdi

(Serves: 4)

 

2 litres milk

1 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon saffron strands

¼ teaspoon cardamom powder

 

In a heavy-bottomed pot, boil the milk on a low flame. Keep stirring to make sure it does not stick at the bottom of the pot. Do this until the milk has reduced to almost half the quantity. This will take about an hour.

When the milk is noticeably thick, add the sugar and saffron. Continue to stir constantly. Finally, add the cardamom powder. Stir and take the pot off the flame.

Cover with a lid and allow to cool until it has reached room temperature. Then, refrigerate.

Rabdi can be eaten either cold or warm, and I hope it will bring some sweetness to your festivities this year. In many communities, these go on for about a week, with something special eaten every day. If you’re looking for more recipes to make your Diwali delicious, do explore my blog archives. Let me point you toward the recipes for laapsi, chevdo and sweet ghugras to begin with. Enjoy!

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Recipe: Melony & Lemony – Watermelon Sorbet

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I bought an ice cream maker recently, very enthusiastically. It has churned out all kinds of delicious flavours since then, like vanilla-lavender, vegan coconut-rose and even a Belgian chocolate. What I had not attempted yet was a sorbet, but it still being the peak of summer put that temptation for this light, refreshing, ice-cool dessert into my mind. Many of the recipes I researched looked pretty simple, so I decided to give it a shot. The star ingredient I decided on was the super-hydrating watermelon. There is plenty on the market at present, and a watermelon sorbet seemed just perfect for this sweltering season.

Luckily for me, in addition to the sweet and nutritious watermelon, my friend Garima gifted me a bag full of Meyer lemons too, and these found their place here too. You may remember that they featured in this lemon poppy cake. I don’t know if she was already aware that I adore Meyer lemons, but the fact that they were available here in Chennai was a happy surprise to me. I did not want to waste a single one. I prepared an utterly delicious lemon curd one day, and when the craving for a sorbet came, I realised that a dash of lemon would be ideal to enhance it too.

The recipe I am providing below has the necessary details both for those of you who have ice cream makers and for those of you who will just use moulds and freezers. The method is very straightforward and easy to follow. Feel free to play around with the flavours, replacing watermelon with another fruit, such as mango for instance. As you read earlier, I’ve been quite adventurous when it comes to ice creams and will surely experiment with different sorbet combinations too. For now, this watermelon sorbet with a little bit of Meyer lemon juice has my heart.

It reminds me so much of when I was growing up, when a parlour called Joy Ice Cream was one of the very popular spots in the city. It was also one of the few ice cream parlours that existed here for a long time. They had raspberry and mango popsicles, which sorbets call to mind. When I served this dish for the first time, it transported me right back to those days. To those years, I should say… When I was small, we would go there as a family for a treat after dinner sometimes. Later, once I entered adulthood, it continued to be a space of camaraderie too.

In fact, the first place that my husband and I went to after being introduced was to Joy Ice Cream. Not long after, as a newly-married woman, it was a place where I would go to meet my friends. We were all young, and had mostly just gotten married, and we would exchange experiences and stories about our lives and our learnings. It was a place where stories and sweetness were shared, and new friends were made. This watermelon sorbet carries all those memories for me.

Now of course, Joy Ice Cream doesn’t exist, and dozens of brands and flavours are available at the click of a button on many apps. A frozen treat is always a delight, but making one myself makes me feel connected to those simpler times. There’s just something special about this watermelon sorbet, as I hope you’ll see…

Watermelon Sorbet

(Yield: 6 popsicles)

 

1 litre watermelon juice

250 grams sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

A tiny pinch of salt

 

In a clean pan, add the sugar, salt and ¼ of the watermelon juice. Place on a medium flame and stir until the sugar dissolves.

Remove from the stove and add the remaining watermelon juice. Stir well, then pop the mixture in the freezer until chilled, but not frozen.

If you have a machine: take the mixture out of the freezer, put it in the ice cream maker and follow the machine’s instructions. If you do not have a machine: pour the chilled mixture directly into the popsicle moulds and leave the tray to set in the freezer.

To serve, rinse the popsicle moulds for a few seconds under tap water and they will release easily. It goes without saying that this sorbet needs to be served immediately after it has set.

I’ve shared many desserts on this blog over the last five and a half years, but this is the very first time that a sorbet has made an appearance, so it’s quite exciting for me. I hope you’ll enjoy this melony, lemony and most lovely dessert, and that it brings back to you happy memories and helps you make more of them too!

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Recipe: Still Nuts For Coconuts – Coconut Cupcakes

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There is an abundance – maybe even an overdose! – of coconuts in my garden, as I have shared many times before. There are so many recipes on this blog that attest to this. From coconut oil (which I’ve made this year too, making use of the intense summer sun) to coconut pudding to coconut stew to coconut podi to rose-coconut kheer… and the list goes on. As much as we love the ingredient at home, we sometimes have so much of it that we don’t know what to do with it. Coconut milk is especially crucial to utilise soon, as it can go bad quickly. The need to use up a big, fresh batch, especially given the effort of straining it, was what gave me the idea for today’s post: coconut cupcakes.

But really, far from just being a way to make sure that an ingredient doesn’t spoil, these cupcakes are quite a treat in and of themselves. A note for my vegan readers: while yummy coconut milk is used in lieu of dairy, this is not an eggless recipe. For you, I recommend that you check out my vegan lavender cake recipe. If you’ve had some practice with baking, you should be able to put the two recipes together and tweak as needed so that you can prepare this coconut cupcake the vegan way.

If you are a first-time baker, I would suggest that you familiarise yourself with this recipe for citrus bundt cake first, which has an introductory guide for beginners. Assuming that you have the basics in place, here are a few more simple tips as general reminders.

Firstly, a pretty simple one: prepare the trays and line them while the oven is preheating to save time later.

Now, for some serious techniques and tricks… I’ve heard many people complain that the cupcake liner opens up during the baking process. I bake pretty much daily, especially for re:store orders, so I have confidence that mine won’t. Perhaps that confidence aka positive thinking goes a long way, but I feel that way in the first place because I’ve mastered the secret: too much butter or fat is what causes the liner to open up. Be careful about following quantities in a recipe to a tee, and this won’t happen.

As for that dome that forms on top of cupcakes sometimes, this can be avoided if you fill only 2⁄3 of the liner with batter.

To go back to the subject of ingredients: ensure that they are all at room temperature when you start, so that they bake evenly.

Even though you only ice a cupcake after it has completely cooled, I’ve found that it makes sense to prepare the icing while the trays are in the oven. The secret to smooth, silky icing relies on two things: you must sift the icing sugar first (do this for cocoa powder too, for other baked goods that have it). and you must beat the butter until it’s fluffy. These two factors – sifting and beating properly – make all the difference in the final texture of the icing.

Before we move on to the recipe and method for these coconut cupcakes, I want to invite you to check out and follow my Instagram, if you haven’t already. I’ve recently started sharing reels, in order to keep up with the latest trends on the platform. I have even attended a class to learn how to do this. While I’m confident with photography and the camera, the process for videos is very different. I hope you like the reels I’ve been sharing, including one of this recipe. Please give me your suggestions on how to make them better, and as always, do drop me a comment if you enjoyed this recipe or any other. I love hearing from you!

Coconut Cupcakes

(Yield: One dozen)

 

Cupcake

175 grams flour

120 grams unsalted butter (room temperature)

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

190 grams granulated sugar

120 ml coconut milk

½ cup shredded coconut

 

Butter Frosting

4-5 cups icing sugar (sifted)

1 cup unsalted butter

A pinch of salt

Fresh cream (as required)

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 160°. Line a cupcake pan with liners. Set aside.

Sift the dry ingredients (the salt, flour and baking powder) and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, add the butter and beat it until it is light and fluffy. Then, add the sugar and beat again. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, making sure the mixture has been well beaten for about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition.

Add the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients one by one alternately, mixing only until combined.

Finally, add the shredded coconut to the batter, and use a spatula to bring all the ingredients together.

Using a scoop, divide the batter into the liners. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove gently onto a wire rack.

To prepare the butter icing, beat the butter and the salt well with an electric blender. Add half the icing sugar and beat again, then add the remainder. When using the electric blender, ensure the sugar doesn’t fly out of the bowl.

Add the cream, in your preferred quantity, and ensure that the butter cream is at a consistency that is thick enough to pipe.

Pipe the icing onto the cupcakes, and garnish as you’d like before serving. Then, all the work of baking and icing done, there is nought to do but to enjoy watching these delicious coconut cupcakes disappear – which they do quite quickly in my home, and most likely in yours too – and make sure that you grab one for yourself before they do!

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Recipe: Something Sweet In My Luggage – Banana Chocolate Loaf

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I shared a banana bread recipe with you a few years ago, which I hope you enjoyed. I encourage you to try it out too, if you have not already. I more recently began experimenting with a chocolate-banana combination, and this new version of deliciousness is what I’d like to share with you today. This banana chocolate loaf is not just an upgrade, but an entirely new recipe. As I’ve shared before, especially in this post, baking is a science, so please do go through the ingredients and method step by step when you prepare it, even if you are familiar with my earlier banana bread.

My first trial for this recipe didn’t include chocolate at all. The thought process behind it was that as I am not a fan of raw bananas, but appreciate the fruit’s amazing nutritional qualities, baking it into another cake was a fun way to incorporate it into my diet. After all, Indian meals often end with a banana, eaten for its digestive benefits, so why not end with a banana cake?

Keeping the health quotient in mind, as I have introduced chocolate into this cake, I have been mindful about its sugar quotient. I have chosen to use dark chocolate pellets, which are less sweet. I have also used brown sugar in a reduced quantity since the flavour of the banana already imparts the dish with natural sweetness. You may wish to substitute the same with jaggery powder, if you prefer. You will notice that this one also has a special ingredient, something that gives it a different zing from the earlier banana cake recipe.

I absolutely must have something to munch on along with my tea or coffee in the late afternoons, and this banana chocolate cake or my date cake (a favourite among re:store clients too) are what I find myself reaching out for often lately.

In fact, one of the best things about this banana chocolate loaf is that it packs and travels very well, which means I’ve gotten my fix of it even when I’ve not been at home. Recently, I made a trip with a dear childhood friend, and this treat was our companion for the first few days. Even though we were seeing each other after a long time, we picked up where we left off with ease. That’s how it usually is with childhood friends, isn’t it? You just catch up, and the happy memories from decades ago flood back afresh, and renew the bond quickly. The same thing happens with food, too. That’s why it is said that food is emotional: it helps one express and relive one’s memories, attachments and experiences.

I baked and carried this beautiful banana chocolate loaf with me on that holiday with my childhood friend. We travelled everywhere by train and by road, and enjoyed bites of this cake in the English countryside whenever we stopped to take in the scenery. Our afternoon tea in charming little villages had the requisite freshly-made traditional scones and clotted cream, of course, and I hope to master the recipe for that sometime. But my banana chocolate loaf was also present, loving parcelled and equally lovingly shared, and to me it was just as delicious as our authentic holiday treats.

Banana Chocolate Loaf

(Yield: 9 inch loaf)

 

175 grams maida

20 grams cocoa powder (unsweetened)

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

120 grams butter

1¼ cups very ripe bananas (mashed)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1⁄3 cup yoghurt and cream (mixed)

½ cup chocolate chips

¼ cup broken walnuts (for garnishing)

Preheat the oven at 160°-170° and grease and dust a 9-inch loaf pan.

In a bowl, sift the dry ingredients well. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat the butter and sugar well, scraping down sides and making sure they’re all mixed well. Now, add the eggs one by one and continue beating. Next, add the mashed bananas and vanilla extract and beat slightly.

Now, add the cream and yoghurt mixture and beat again. Next, add the dry ingredients as well as some of the walnuts and all the chocolate chips. Fold over lightly.

Pour the batter into the loaf tin and sprinkle the remaining walnuts on top.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Rest the loaf in the tin for 10-15 minutes. Then, upturn and remove from the tin. Allow to cool.

Your banana chocolate loaf is now ready to be sliced and served. I do hope you’ll enjoy this recipe, and that you’ll make some special memories with it just like my friend and I did on our travels recently. Whenever I share cake recipes, it’s so that more people can enjoy the pleasure of baking, and I encourage you to try them out for yourself. But if you would rather have me whisk a cake up for you, I’m always happy to do so too. Just drop me a line!

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Recipe: Whipped Right Up – Whole Wheat Halwa

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Every time that I had whole wheat halwa while I was growing up, it was mostly made in a jiffy. This was because whenever unexpected guests landed up at home and my mother had to make something sweet to serve them, this was her go-to recipe. Most people of that generation who cooked were extremely versatile. They knew what would work quickly, based on the ingredients they had on hand. It was also a time when those of my generation literally grew up in each others’ homes. So unexpected guests were always aplenty, and the Indian courtesy of feeding them was never forgotten, no matter how much of a surprise they may have been!

The base of this recipe is wheat, jaggery and ghee – items which would invariably be in any Indian kitchen. The additions like saffron and cardamom may not always be available, but the essential ingredient list is one that was quite reliably in every home while I was growing up, and most likely still is today. These are inexpensive ingredients. Not many could afford refined sugar back then, so the accessible and healthier jaggery was used, along with affordable staples like wheat and ghee.

Wheat-ghee-jaggery is an age-old combo, as can be seen in the auspicious sukhudi, which uses the same base. Sweets that utilise this combo are offered to the gods in many Indian homes, and it’s easy to see how the accessibility of the ingredients make them a logical choice for many.

The simplicity of such offerings is part of their beauty. In fact, aside from them being offered in worship, they were also the key feature of birthdays. Back when I was a kid, a birthday cake was not always guaranteed. What we would offer to the gods on that day, and then consume for ourselves, was the big question. “Birthday? Big deal. Get up and go to school!” was a refrain many of us heard! Still, our mothers would usually prepare our favourite Indian sweets that day. My brother liked rava kesari, so that’s what he would receive. As for me, it was this whole wheat halwa that was usually my birthday treat.

I loved birthday parties, and had been to a few of my friends’. There was one year when I decided to throw myself a surprise party – meaning, it was a surprise for my mum! I went back home after school with my whole class, with absolutely no advance notice, and announced that they had all come to celebrate with me. I knew that if I had asked her earlier, she would just have said No. But with all my friends already there, she obliged so very sweetly. Looking back, it could not possibly have been easy to muster up a party immediately. But the feast contained this whole wheat halwa, some standards like toasted sandwiches – and even some McRennett’s cake which she somehow managed to organise last minute. You may recall that I’ve never quite been a fan of what I call that smelly vanilla cake, but it is cherished by my generation. It was a hit at my party too, of course. But that whole wheat halwa was what shone in my mind, and still does, all these years later.

Whole Wheat Halwa

(Yield: 5)

¾ cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup jowar flour

½ cup ghee

½ cup jaggery

A pinch of saffron

1 tablespoon milk

A pinch of cardamom powder

1½ cups hot water

½ cup jaggery

 

Soak the saffron in the milk and set aside.

Heat a kadai and add the ghee. Once it has melted, add the flours. You will notice that I use jowar, or sorghum. This is my addition to the recipe, and another way for me to bring healthy millets into my desserts.

Stir on a medium flame. Stir continuously, else the flour will stick to the bottom. This will take approximately 12-15 minutes.  Stir until the mixture turns a dark golden colour. You never want a dull-looking halwa! Even if you skip the saffron or cardamom, you absolutely cannot skip the continuous stirring when it comes to this dish. The secret to it rests entirely in doing that well.

Then, add the jaggery and keep stirring until the jaggery melts.

Lower the flame and add the hot water slowly, continuing to stir continuously. Be careful as the mixture will splutter. Stand away from the kadai at this point. Once the water mixes well with the flour, then bring it back back to a medium flame – while mixing non-stop.

The mixture will thicken and the ghee will separate. Add the cardamom powder and saffron. Mix well again. Serve.

When I think back about my mother stirring constantly over the stove while a gaggle of hungry schoolgirls waited, I am filled with love. That love continues to be passed on in this recipe. I hope you’ll enjoy it too, and please do check out the various Indian sweets I’ve shared earlier on this blog as well.

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Recipe: Just In Time For Christmas – Date & Orange Cake

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A merry, merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate! Whether you are reading this post on that auspicious day or a little later, I hope that your home and your heart are both filled with all good things. Christmas is a time of feasting and of special delicacies, and as I prepared many re:store orders in the past few weeks, I gave a little thought to what I might want to serve at my own table during the festivities. As you may recall from the last few posts, travels to Europe are brightening my thoughts these days. A delicious dessert that I’ve eaten many times in the U.K. came to mind too on these memory-lane wanderings. That would be this date and orange cake, and I am sharing the recipe for it with you today.

My introduction to date and orange cake was through the commercial versions that are widely available in supermarkets in the U.K. They come in individual portions, in cups, just right for a quick dessert or a tea-time snack for one. I loved them, and I always wondered how much fresher the homemade rendition may be. Somehow, I didn’t have the chance to experience a homemade date and orange cake during any of my visits to the U.K., but I fondly recall baking some right here in Chennai when a group of us from school met after many years at one of our homes. As the baker in our friend group, I was placed in charge of dessert. I made individual portions of date and orange cake, in line with my London memories, and we all enjoyed them very much.

This week, I set about recreating that dessert again, realising that I don’t bake it often enough. As I am fortunate to have many people to share it with – loved ones, family and of course, you – I decided to bake a whole cake, serving the sauce drizzled on top as well as on the side.

I also decided to up the festive quotient a bit by adding a little Grand Marnier orange liqueur to the mix, which helps put us into the happy, grateful mood that this time of year is all about. I had some lovely serendipities in terms of the other ingredients as well. I get many orders for date squares, in general but especially when there are gifting needs, so I had a whole lot of dates in my kitchen. Plus, it’s orange season in Nagpur, so some of India’s best citrus fruits are on hand as well. These tend to be a staple in the house, and it was nice to put them to special use, in this wonderful cake that brings the year to a gentle close.

Date & Orange Cake

Cake

200 grams chopped dates

2 cups water

125 grams maida

2 eggs

150 grams butter (unsalted)

90 grams brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Topping

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed orange juice

 

Sauce

2 tablespoons butter (room temperature)

¼ cup sugar

½ cup cream

1 tablespoon orange juice

¼ teaspoon orange extract

1 teaspoon Grand Marnier (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 170°C for 20 minutes.

Prepare a 9-inch baking tin by greasing the edges and dusting with flour. Set aside.

Boil the dates along with the water, stirring until the dates become soft. You could use a hand blender and slowly mush them. Then, add the baking soda. The mixture will bubble up.

Combine and sieve all the dry ingredients except the baking soda. Set aside.

In a mixer bowl, cream the butter and sugar for approximately 3 minutes. Now, add the eggs and while stirring, slowly add the vanilla extract. Make sure the ingredients are well-incorporated by scraping down the sides occasionally. Then, gently add all the dry ingredients to the bowl, making sure the flour doesn’t fly around. Next, add the tender date mixture. Using a spatula, fold it all together. Pour into the prepared baking tin.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

In the meantime, prepare the sauce. In a pan, add the butter, salt, sugar and cream. Allow to boil while stirring. Once combined, add the orange extract and vanilla extract. Drizzle in the Grand Marnier for that festive and indulgent touch.

Once the cake is ready, top with the orange juice and spoon the sauce on top, saving some to serve on the side if you wish. You may give it a light dusting of cinnamon for more flavour, and add fresh cream as well for extra decadence.

Serve with a seasonal beverage of your choice. This boozy, orange-kissed hot chocolate may just be the perfect accompaniment, with more citrusy liqueur to really play up that zest.

To all my dearest friends and lovely readers, I want to take this opportunity to remind you that it is the festive season, and so it is a time to treat ourselves. Especially during these uncertain times, we must celebrate and give thanks for what we have. Let’s not lose out on joy by counting calories, at least this week (that, after all, are what New Year’s resolutions are for!).

As another year dawns, let me also take the opportunity to wish you all good health and happiness. I am reflecting at the moment on how we are each responsible for making this world a better place to live in. How we treat people and how we treat the planet are equally important. We are at a crucial point where we may lose the planet’s good health, and the pandemic we are still in is a reminder of how closely linked we are to Earth, as well as to each other. Let us heal together and return to safety, putting the worst behind us. I look forward to the way that food will continue to connect us all, and eagerly anticipate sharing many more dishes from my kitchen with you too.

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Recipe: The Next Best, Still Better Than The Rest – Saffron Crème Brûlée

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My absolute, all-time favourite dessert in the world is crema catalana. Barcelona is one of my favourite cities in the world as well, and to me the idea of a perfect Spanish meal simply must end with a delectable bowl of crema catalana. I can’t quite make it here in India, but fortunately for me, the next best thing to crema catalana is easy to make, and requires only easy-to-source ingredients. That would be crème brûlée, and I’ve added a dash of a regional element to pep it up, which gives us this week’s recipe: saffron crème brûlée.

Crème brûlée originates in France, and as with many dishes that one didn’t grow up with, I had the impression that it was very complicated to prepare. I can assure you that this was a misconception. The method is quite easy, the ingredients are basic, and you can make parts of it ahead of time, which also considerably speeds up the process. The original crema catalana is similar in all regards, except that it uses something we don’t get in India, an ingredient called farina (which looks like wheat rava).

I’m nostalgic for my travels at this time of year, and I love journeying through my tastebuds. So I thank you for joining me as I head back to Europe in my imagination! As I prepare this dessert, my mind lingers over happy memories of waking up in the mornings to go for a walk around the neighbourhood, finding a crowded café (a clue: if it’s popular with the locals, it must be good) where I would sit and people-watch over fresh, authentic coffee and pastries. This would be the same whether I was in Venice, in Santiago de Compostela or somewhere else.

If I was in Barcelona, this lovely day would later culminate with going out to dinner with friends. How I miss ordering a starter of deep-fried Padrón peppers sprinkled with rock salt, followed by delicious patatas bravas and saving the best for last with a tiny, well-presented portion of crema catalana! I love that culture and even tried to learn Spanish at one point. While studying the language didn’t go so far, I have had better luck with exploring and replicating European cuisines in my own kitchen. To be candid with you, I’ve never had a good crème brûlée in Chennai, which is one of the reasons why I tried my hand at it. So without further ado, here is my recipe, so that you can do so too!

Saffron Crème Brûlée

4 egg yolks

2 cups heavy cream

¼ cup sugar + 4 tablespoons

¼ teaspoon salt

2 pinches of saffron

Topping

2 teaspoons white sugar

1 teaspoon brown sugar

 

There are four parts to this method: preparing the custard, preparing the egg yolks, baking and then brûléeing. If you’re familiar with baking, you’ll find this method to be easy to follow. If you’re new to baking, keep in mind that the secret is in following the recipe to a tee.

Before we begin, here are a few more tips:

  • There are two key elements to a good crème brûlée: being mindful while adding the yolks to the custard and maintaining a continuous whisk, and baking only up to the correct moment so that the different textures of the dish are maintained.
  • Ovens vary and temperatures vary. I was literally sitting in front of mine with my eyes peeled, so that I would know exactly when to switch it off.
  • You can prepare the custard a couple of days ahead, then bake it and stick it back in the fridge, and then do the brûléeing just before you serve it. If you’re expecting guests, this paces the process well so that you can make the dish in a leisurely way.

Preparing the custard

In a pot, add cream, ¼ cup sugar and salt. Cook on a medium flame and stir often so the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom.

Midway through mixing, add the saffron. It adds a nice festive colour to the dessert, as does the flavour. Once the cream comes to a simmer, remove from stove and cover with a lid. Rest this for 20 minutes, during which you must open and stir again no more than twice.

Preparing the egg yolks

Meanwhile, take the egg yolks, add the remaining sugar and stir well.

After the custard has rested for 20 minutes, it’s time to add the yolks to it. Slowly and in a single steady pour, add the custard to the yolks. Beat continuously while pouring. At this point, you have to be careful that the eggs don’t become a scramble due to the heat. This is where you may wind up with breakfast rather than dessert! The key is to stir constantly. Once all the cream is added, mix the custard well and refrigerate until you are ready to bake. This can keep in the fridge for up to 2-3 days.

Baking

Preheat the oven at 150° C. In a wide enough tray with tall sides, arrange 6 ramekins. Now, it’s time for the bain-marie technique, used for delicate baked goods like this. You do this by simply pouring hot water into the tray. With the help of a ladle, gently fill the ramekins with the custard-yolk concoction to ¾.

Place the tray gently into the preheated oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the centre looks jiggly while the edges are not.

Remove the ramekins from the tray and allow to cool on a wire rack.

Once they are at room temperature, refrigerate for at least 5-24 hours.

Brûléeing

Remove the ramekins from the refrigerator and sprinkle 1 teaspoon each of brown sugar and white sugar on top. Brûléeing is the process of using a torch to heat the sugar until it melts and changes colour. Hold the torch longer to make it a nice crust on top and until all the sugar melts. You may add another spoonful of sugar if you like and repeat the same. Do this for each individually.

Serve immediately. The custard must be cold and the brûléed sugar on top must be warm. This play of temperatures, along with the play of textures, is what a good crème brûlée is all about!

It’s quite a simple recipe once you get a little practice at it. Remember to follow it very closely. The one place where you have room to innovate is in the flavouring. The authentic dessert is plain, but I have no doubt that others must also be playing with the taste additions like I am.  If you’re not a fan of saffron, you may want to try vanilla, rose or lavender. I also like to have the plain one with a little passion fruit on top of the brûléed sugar, which brings in a fun flavour interaction.

If you have any questions at all about the process, especially if you are still a little intimidated about trying out what is usually considered a somewhat fancy dessert, drop a comment below. I’m happy to help you figure it out. Trust me, you deserve to taste this loveliness!

On that note, more desserts are coming up here on this blog later this month, in time for Christmas, so do stay tuned! You may want to explore the dessert archive as you plan your menu as well. If you’re in Chennai and want to order from the re:store kitchen for the festivities, give me a buzz!

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Recipe: Better With A Jiggle – Saffron-Pistachio-Rose Panna Cotta

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Some years ago, I shared a recipe for a vegan lavender panna cotta, and this dessert has been on my mind yet again. This time however, the non-vegan variety is what I’ve been craving. Perhaps I am drawn to dairy in desserts because it is the basis of most Indian sweets, and therefore is a part of what I grew up eating. Although it is not Indian in origin, panna cotta certainly hits the spot as a milk-based, delicious sweet treat. It is light but satisfying, and I love that it lends itself to a range of flavours. While playing around with possible flavours, I hit on a combination that retains a sense of the regional. So here you have it: a saffron-pistachio-rose panna cotta.

While many people enjoy their panna cotta with a coulis made of berries, I prefer a pistachio topping. I find it complements the saffron. It’s is one of my favourite flavours, and when I make my pistachio cake at re:store (available in saffron, rose and classic variants), I often make a tiny cupcake for myself from the batter. This panna cotta therefore brings together all the flavours that I have tried, tested and tasted time and again and know work well with pistachio.

You may wish to use agar-agar if you prefer, but I find that this substitute just doesn’t give the dessert the jiggle that gelatine does. If you ask me, a good panna cotta should jiggle. Perhaps it’s just a matter of presentation, but as I’ve said often, presentation is key when it comes to sweet treats. The eye eats first.

Remember that you can make sugar-free and vegan panna cottas, using any medium (almond milk, coconut milk, etc). I often do. Today, however, I felt indulgent… The saffron I used was some absolutely beautiful Spanish saffron that dear friends who live in Spain gave me when they visited. So many friends of mine scattered across the globe tend to bring gifts that can be used at re:store or in my kitchen. The lavender in my previous panna cotta recipe was a gift as well. I’m grateful to have these delectable ingredients, alongside my local and seasonal ones.

A pinch of Spanish saffron, with distinctly Indian touches of pistachio and rose water… And yet it’s memories of a trip to Rome that emerged as I prepared this lovely dessert. Wherever we went, we gorged on authentic panna cotta, tiramisu and gelato. Reminiscing on my Italian sojourn must have been what inspired me to become interested in making ice cream. As I’ve said on this blog before, I consider myself an eternal student, and I’m literally going to sign up for a course. Isn’t it wonderful how food is a way to travel, especially in these difficult times when travel is sometimes not possible, or just not what it used to be? It’s all the more special when we are able to evoke memories or aspirations of travel right in our very own kitchens.

Saffron-Pistachio-Rose Panna Cotta

(Serves 4)

Panna Cotta

7 grams gelatine

3 tablespoons cold water (to soak)

1 cup cream

1½ cups whole milk

1⁄3 cup sugar

A pinch of salt

½ teaspoon saffron + 1 tablespoon milk

 

Pistachio Topping

¼ cup shelled, toasted and sliced pistachio

 

Rose Cream

½ cup whipping cream

1 teaspoon rose water

 

Soak the gelatine in cold water for about ten minutes. Soak the saffron in milk.

In the meanwhile, add the cream, milk and sugar along with the salt in a saucepan. Allow to cook on a medium flame, stirring occasionally.

When the mixture is ready to boil, add the soaked saffron. Bring to a boil and turn off the flame.

Allow to rest for about ten minutes, and then add the bloomed gelatine. Due to the heat, the gelatine will melt. Stir well, pour into a mould and set overnight in the refrigerator.

When you are ready to serve the panna cotta, prepare the topping of rose cream. Whip the ingredients together in a bowl until you get soft peaks, or the consistency that you prefer.

Now, it’s time to assemble the dessert. Dip the mould in which the panna cotta has set in warm water. Turn it upside down onto a serving plate. Garnish the panna cotta with a sprinkling of pistachio, a dollop of the whipped rose cream and rose petals if you have them. You will have an aromatic, alluring-looking dish, replete with a plethora of flavours. You can keep this saffron-pistachio-rose panna cotta in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. It’s a perfect dish to prepare in advance when you are expecting guests, and it is sure to wow them visually too.

Saffron, pistachio and rose are international flavours as well as Indian ones, and I hope that they are easily available to you. The panna cotta base is beautifully adaptable, so you’ll easily be able to swap any of them out if you don’t have something on hand.

Aside from how gorgeous it is to the eye and how delicious it is to savour, what I like most about this dish is that it is a symbol of how food can make the world a smaller place. As we span worlds and cuisines, here’s an ongoing wish for the end of the pandemic and for us all to be able to communicate, commute, share and care again as easily as we did before.

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Recipe: In The Pink Of Health – Vegan Strawberry-Rose Smoothie

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It’s an ongoing story of mine that I’m avoiding carbs, but I confess that I’m sneaking them in from time to time. To beat this craving, I’ve been reaching out for more smoothies than ever, as they are very filling, thus cancelling out the carb craving, and also take care of my protein needs. I always add a fruit of some kind, and with strawberries being in season right now, and a beautiful bounty of them in my fridge, they have been an obvious choice these days. Of course, this vegan strawberry-rose smoothie is also perfect for beating the summer heat!

This recipe features one of my all-time favourite elements – rose – and, all in all, it makes for a wonderfully uplifting and healthy beverage. Regular re:store customers will know that I’m obsessed with the flavour and that it’s a signature of mine. I have just not had my fill of adding rose to everything, and I hope that you will also enjoy its intoxicating aroma and delicate taste in this recipe just as much. But this is not just indulgence. This smoothie is vegan, and I usually use almond milk or oats milk (you can even just use water). It is also ideal for exercise enthusiasts like me, and lately I’ve been keeping a tall glass of it ready in my fridge as my post-workout boost each morning.

The rose plays so well with the strawberries, so while the drink itself may look a little bland, it is very flavourful. To offset the visual nondescriptness of the drink, however, I ensure that I serve it elegantly. The glassware that I use in these photos aren’t just props. During this lockdown, I’ve begun to use for our daily meals all the special crockery, cutlery and other serving ware that are usually saved for important occasions. I try to dress everything up, including myself. Even though I don’t leave the house, I put on clothing that makes me feel confident. Even though it’s just us family at home, I ensure the presentation of meals is just as attractive as it would be if we had guests over. I feel that these small things make a big difference. We should enjoy life, every day. Why wait? This is one of the many lessons of the pandemic.

So, my friends, let me encourage you to do the same. Don’t wait for the day when you will next be entertaining. Don’t wait for a celebration. Put up those beautiful curtains that you promised yourself you would deck your windows with when the lockdown lifts. Take the good porcelain out of storage, and see for yourself how it brightens the vibe at the dining table. Unfurl that gorgeous handmade bedspread you were saving for the guest bedroom and enjoy a hearty nap on it. All the carefully chosen things that have lain in cupboards for years deserve to be enjoyed, and you deserve to enjoy them! Use them, flaunt them, let them give you joy!

Bring more life into your home with small planters. A touch of green here and there not only adds beauty and freshness, but also helps purify the air. You don’t need a whole garden for this: old kitchen utensils are lovely spots to grow money plants and other low-maintenance greenery. The daily act of nurturing the plant is itself so fulfilling.

This is self-care, not selfishness. We must learn to do things for our own pleasure, to lift our own spirits. Live for today. Live for right now. We never know what may happen tomorrow, so we may as well enjoy what we have, when we have it.

So yes, this is just a recipe for a simple smoothie. But how I make it, how I serve it for myself (choosing a different cup or glass every day from my collection), how I set the table if I’m having it over a chat with a family member, how I put on some music as we share bigger meals together – these are the things that pep me up, keep me going, and help to create pleasant experiences even during a time that is frightening and difficult. This is what it means to bring positivity and hope into our day-to-day lives. It’s all about the small things, and showing gratitude by enjoying those small things. I really hope that the few minutes of your day in which you prepare and relish this vegan strawberry-rose smoothie will be one of those small things for you, too.

Vegan Strawberry-Rose Smoothie

(Yield: 2 small cups)

 

8-10 strawberries

2 tablespoons powdered almonds

Your preferred quantity of protein powder

2 cups almond milk (or milk of your choice)

1 teaspoon chia seeds

A drizzle of honey or maple syrup or a date (optional)

Rose extract

Rose petals to garnish (optional)

 

Simply put all the ingredients into a blender, and blend well. Make sure you use powdered almonds – that’s the trick to perfecting the texture, ensuring that there are no chunks. You may later garnish the drink with some whole or broken nuts, if you’d like more texture. You may eliminate the rose ingredients if you prefer and just enjoy the strawberries’ flavour on their own. The chia seeds make the drink deliciously creamy, in addition to bringing their numerous health benefits to it, so I would suggest that you retain them.

Pour into a glass and enjoy. Don’t forget to refrigerate it first, if you prefer it cool, or just add some ice if you’re in a hurry.

I hope this nourishing beverage brings some sweetness your way this summer. You may remember that I shared a different strawberry smoothie recipe last year too. I hope you’ll try both out and tell me which one you prefer and why, in the comments. One can never get enough of strawberry season – so why not?

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Recipe: Luscious Layers – Mango Twist

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Sometimes, you just don’t have the energy to do much in the kitchen at all, but that’s no reason to skimp on having a dessert that can make you feel better. Whether the heat has enervated you, or the ongoing pandemic has dragged your cheerful spirits down, the key to preparing a pick-me-up is in one aspect only: the simplicity quotient. I’ve been making this mango twist nearly every day, and you can too.

What I love about it is that ticks all the boxes: it satisfies my sweet tooth without the use of refined sugar, allows me to have well-rounded meals while I am off carbs, makes the most of the earth’s seasonal bounty, and is practically effortless to prepare.

Really, it’s so easy that anyone can make it. Which brings me to another reason that I thought this fruity dessert would be perfect to share right now. It’s that making it is just the kind of activity to keep your younger kids happy, and that’s something I can imagine many of you doing with the little ones being at home all the time now. Putting this dessert together is a simple way to get them to explore the vast world of cooking. The sense of achievement they’ll enjoy will taste almost as good as the dish itself. This is a beautiful way impart the value of a home-made treat or meal, and it shouldn’t surprise you if they graduate to wanting to try out more culinary experiments too. As I’ve said before on this blog, I consider my recipes my heirlooms. There’s no reason to wait till they are older to share an elaborate traditional method when you can instill the love of cooking in them from a very young age through simple dishes like this one.

Here’s yet another amazing tick on that check-list: this mango twist is vegan! Of late, I have noticed that cutting down on my dairy consumption really does make me feel better overall. While I am not a hardcore vegan, as much as I would like to be, I do love the coconut milk I use in this dish and enjoy consuming it in this delicious way. You can use dairy, if that’s what you have on hand. Or you can substitute the coconut milk with almond milk, which will result in a thinner dessert that you can plump up with nutritious chia seeds.

Variety is certainly one of the elements that keeps a dish like this interesting. When mango season ends, simply use any other fruit that you have on hand.

I think of this Mango Twist as one of those recipes that is so common that it hardly warrants a recipe. Surely, everyone already knows it, I pondered to myself when the idea of this post occurred to me. Then, I realised how in any hectic time, we often get so carried away that we neglect to notice what is right before our eyes. So this recipe is really more of a reminder, something that tells you to open your fridge and see for yourself – you probably already have everything you need to whip up something wonderful right away.

As a refrigerated dessert, you can also make it in advance so that it’s right there and ready for you when you desperately need something to cool off in this sweltering heat, or could use a pick-me-up. Some time in the hopefully not-far future, when we are back to entertaining guests as always, it’s also an ideal dessert to prepare earlier in the day so that you won’t have to take time putting a snack together after they arrive. Just take it out of the fridge and it’s ready to be served on a tray. It’s a visually attractive dessert, so presentation is key – what colours do you want to have pop inside the glass, and how will you layer the ingredients? You can go decadent, or you can keep it nutritious but still appealing by using fruits of different colours to create a tempting look.

Mango Twist

(Yield: 2 glasses)

1 cup coconut cream

½ cup mango pulp

Pecans or any topping of your choice

½ teaspoon maple syrup or honey (optional)

 

In each glass, add 2 teaspoons of coconut cream. I like to use small eatery glasses as they look very pretty. Layer this with the mango pulp. Freeze for sometime, then remove from the freezer. Now, top the pulp again with the coconut cream gently. Finally, add the pecans or any other toppings of your choice, and drizzle with some maple syrup or honey, as healthier sweetening substitutes. I only use these if I find the mango a little tart. Otherwise, the dessert doesn’t need it.

In lieu of coconut cream, you can also use pudding, fresh cream or other substitutes. Some other great toppings include caramelised nuts, maple syrup, honey, orange rind and seeds. Any kind of brittle, crumbled cake or re:store’s popular muesli will also add more taste and texture. Don’t forget that no matter what time of year you make this, you can use any seasonal fruit of your choice. When preparing it with your kids, indulge them with colourful jellies or cute chocolates that will make the smiles on their faces even bigger.

Given that this is a summer during which the simple pleasures are more important than ever, as we continue to collectively fight the pandemic, I intend to fully take all the joy I can get from the mango season. Do subscribe or connect over Instagram so that you’ll know as soon as my next few recipes go up – dishes that range from sweet to sour to savoury are coming, all thanks to this wonderful fruit!

As I said earlier, I think of this mango twist as a “reminder recipe” – is there anything similar that you’d like to share in the comments? I am sure we would all love to know more about each others’ summer go-to dishes and desserts!

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