Tag: cinnamon

MANSAF PILAF RICE..VEGETARIAN VERSION.

main meal

Mansaf pilaf rice..Vegetarian Version

This pilaf comes from the middle eastern region of Jordan. Also considered their national dish. Normally cooked in JAMEED( yogurt sauce) with minimum usage of spices.
This is a version I came across on the net long back( would like to credit the blogger, but sadly unable to find it, glad I had jotted down the recipe though)
,I have adapted a bit to our liking. The taste is not very far from Indian cooking.
Served with a garlicky yogurt sauce. Its a comfort food.
The non vegetarian version uses lamb  mostly.
My version of mansaf pulav tweaked to a slightly Indian taste..😊

2 cups of Basmati Rice..washed and soaked for an hour.

Cook the rice as usual adding

1 stick of cinnamon
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 cinnamon powder
2 tsps salt.

THE VEGETABLE LAYER
Heat 2bsps oil
Add..
2 finely chopped onions.. saute till pale gold.
Add puree of 2 tomatoes( blanched)
Add 1/4 cup of soya granules( boil, and saute in  little oil)
Add one chopped green paprika.
Add 1 brinjal cut into small cubes
( soak in slightly salted water, squeeze and saute lightly in little oil)
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
Mix everything well.. add little water and cook till  a thick gravy is left
1 tsp black pepper powder or red chilli powder.
Add 2 tsps of BAHARAT SPICE( recipe given below)
Salt to taste.
When done, keep aside.

GARLIC LABAN MOUTBOUK

Whisk 1 cup of thick yogurt with
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp besan.
( adding these will prevent curdling)

Heat 2 tsps oil and add 1 heaped tbsp of finely chopped garlic.
Saute till pale golden
Add whisked yogurt
And heat on low till you see bubbles appearing.
Shut the flame and season with salt.

To assemble..
Heap rice on a platter and top with the vegetables, drizzle some laban moutbouk on the top and garnish with roasted almonds, pumkin and sunflower seeds. And sprinkle some of the Baharat powder on top.

To make Baharat spice

Mix 1/2 tsp each

Cinnamon powder
Cumin powder
Corriander powder
Clove powder
Nutmeg powder
Black pepper powder
Ginger powder..

Sindhi Chicken/ lotus stem

main meal

The recipe which I will share today is usually the base for sindhi pawa(trotters, or paya) but I cook my mutton or chicken,or Lotus stem( beeh) using this recipe of my mother, its easy enough to follow..( had shared the mutton version of this long back in a post on this blog)

SINDHI CHICKEN
1 whole chicken cut into 8 or 10 pieces.
3 big onions, cut fine
2 tomatoes chopped
2 tomatoes boiled and pureed.
2 tbsps ginger garlic paste.
1 tsp shah jeeri
3 tsps red chillie powder( or to taste)
1 tsp haldi powder.
2 tsps dhania powder.
2 tsps home made garam masala( shared recipe previously.)
Salt about 2 tsps.

Take a square piece of muslin cloth, about the size of a man’s handkerchief and put these spices onto it

1 tsp cummin seeds
1 pc of cinnamon ( about an inch long) a 2 small dried bay leaves
4 cloves
12 black peppercorns 
4 green cardamoms
4 small shallots and 4 cloves of garlic
and a small piece of ginger
2 tbsps raw rice and 1 tbsp raw chana dal
Tie this into a secure potli and make a bouquet garni, put this packet of spices into a pressure cooker, add chicken into the cooker, add sufficient water and close the lid, cook for about 2 or 3 whistles on medium flame. Once pressure is released from the cooker,  Remove the bouquet garni, open it gently, and put the spices into a mixer and blend using about one cup of water, strain this thick spice water and keep aside. ( DISCARD CINNAMON STICK AND BAY LEAVES)

Now take a pot, add about 4 to 5 tbsps of oil, and add 3 finely chopped onions. saute until onions turn pale golden in colour.

Add shah jeeri or caraways seeds to the onions
Add 2 tbsps of ginger garlic paste and continue to saute.
Now add 2 sliced tomatoes and puree of 2 boiled tomatoes

Continue to saute till every thing comes together and then add dry spices like turmeric, red chillie powder, corriander powder and lastly the king of all masalas …garam masala., season with salt.

Now is the time to add the boiled chicken  together with the stock. mix well and let it cook covered for 10 mins, then add the strained spice mixture little by little. Cover once again and simmer till your kitchen is engulfed with the fragrance…abt 15 mins on a low flame, adjust the thickness of the gravy , it should be semi thick and slightly sticky due to the starch in the rice. The chicken literally falls of the bones…

** Tip, Its better to pressure cook the chicken a day before, if possible. Keep the stock, bouquet garni, and water from boiled chicken in the fridge, next day you will see that the stock has turned into jelly. It gives awesome flavours..then you can grind the spices in the bouquet garni. BUT, if time does not permit, then go ahead and cook directly.

Finally add lots of chopped corriander leaves , stir and serve hot with phulkas or bread slices( we prefer pao or bread buns, to soak up the gravy)… and some sindhi kechumbo .

Kechumbo

Rub some salt onto 2 sliced onions, and leave for 5 mins, then wash under running water, squeeze the water out and put the onions in a bowl . now add 2 sliced green chillies , 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar and 1 tsp vinegar. mix well and refrigerate.( I  even add grated raw beetroot and grated carrot to my kechumbo)

FOR VEGETARIANS I WOULD SUGGEST MAKING LOTUS STEM AND POTATOES,OR MUSHROOMS. USING THE SAME ABOVE METHOD.

Kue Bolu Sakura

snacks

KUE BOLU SAKURA
These cute little steamed cakes are a pleasure to see and eat. A no hassle recipe , which comes together quickly. These cute cakes are named after the sakura flower, because of the moulds they are made in.The texture of kue sakura  is very light and airy.
These  sweet cakes are  Included in the vast KUE  varieties available all over Indonesia.
KUE MANIS  to an Indonesian is what MITHAI  is to an Indian. Kue are small bite sized sweetmeats usually  made of rice flour, coconut milk, sugar etc and are mostly steamed. Milk is rarely used.
In todays recipe, I have also added a spice mix called SPEKUK. This spice mix has its origins from the Dutch colonial Era, and is used in some traditional cakes and biscuits here.
Familiar to the Indian taste buds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, cloves and aniseed are blended together,  with cinnamon and cloves being the dominant flavour. 
Use this mix to flavour your biscuits and cakes instead of vanila for a change.
Do try these little treats, use any tiny moulds if you can’t find the same. Any will do.

KUE BOLU SAKURA.

1st step..
Heat 125 gms of sugar with one tbsp of water to make a rich caramel.
Slowly add 250ml of hot water, and boil till caramel dissolves.
Remove from heat and cool completely.

2nd step.
Mix together dry ingredients
200 gms of  flour
25 gms cornflour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp spekuk spice mix
Sift and  keep aside.

Melt 75 gms margarine and keep aside.

3rd step.
In a mixing bowl add
2 eggs
125gms sugar

Beat till  sugar dissolves, and soft peaks form.
Add the caramel water slowly and whisk till mixed.
Now add  the sifted flour, beat once more till mixed.
Finally fold in the melted margarine.or butter.
Pour into lightly greased moulds and steam for 15 mins. Make sure the steamer is already hot.
( to prevent steam from dripping onto the kue, we normally tie a napkin on the lid)
The fragrance of spekuk will waft thru your kitchen, as the kue are being steamed.
As you open the lid, the kue looks quite puffed up, they will shrink within mins.

Cool for a few mins and remove from moulds.
Done. Enjoy with a cup of hot coffee .

Spekuk spice mix.
2 tbsps ground cinnamon
2 tbsps ground nutmeg( I grated it)
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground aniseed
Blend everything together and use.
Store the remaining in the refrigerator.

KLAPERTART

dessert

KLAPERTART

Klapertart is a popular baked custard pudding, which uses young coconut flesh  to give it a trademark  taste. The origins of this pudding are  in Manado,  Sulawesi regions of Indonesia, again the Dutch influence is Dominant here. Its a pretty simple and delicious dessert.

Having had a sweet tooth since childhood I loved this pudding when I first had it in Jakarta, a very familiar taste of the custard which my mom made when we were kids, of course my mother made custard the Indian or sindhi way, adding banana and chickoo.

This baked custard has a lot of other ingredients like coconut, raisins, almond flakes and not forgetting the main flavours of rum and cinnamon. These flavours come together and form a unique tongue tickling tasty pudding.

Ingredients for klapertart

• 300 ml milk
•
• 150 ml whipping cream

• 150 gms sugar

• 30 g all purpose  flour

• 15 g cornstarch
•
• 25 gms butter

• 1/4  tsp salt

• 3 eggs yolks

• 150 g young coconut meat, ( from drinking coconut)

• 25 g raisins ( optional to soak in Rum for few hours, I soaked for 2 hours)

• 25 g almond, chopped, or flakes( i used flakes)

• 3 tbsp rum or 1 tbsp rum essence

• 1 tbsp vanilla essence

Top layer

• 3 eggs whites
• 50g sugar
• 1 tbsp flour

Topping

• 25 g raisin

• 25 g almonds flakes

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preparation of klapertart

Step 1

• In a small container, mix a portion of the milk (around 100 ml) with flour and cornstarch. Set aside.

• Heat the rest of the milk with sugar. Keep stirring.

• Slowly pour the mixture of milk and flour, stirring continuously. Bring to boil and then turn the heat off. Add butter and mix well. The custard will be very thick at this point.
•
• Whisk the cream untill soft peaks are formed, add in the milk flour sugar mixture, and the egg yolks. Mix well and finally add raisins, almond flakes , coconut and essence.

• Pour the mixture into a greased  pyrex dish

• Bake at 160° C for about 25 minutes in a preheated oven.

Step 2
Whisk egg whites till soft peaks are formed, add sugar and flour, whisk again till stiff peaks form.

Remove the custard from the oven and pour the  egg white mixture over the custard, neatly.

Step 3
Finally, sprinkle almond flakes, raisins and cinnamon powder over the egg whites.  Bake once more for 20 to 25 minutes in the oven at 160°C until golden brown.

Cool, and refrigerate until serving time.

** I divided the pudding into 2..

Roses to indian culture and cuisine..

Uncategorized

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The rose in all its glory, is incorporated in various forms in indian culture, be it GULAB ATTAR adorning the wrists of the nawabs or the mughals, or the GULAB JAL or rose water used in beauty regimes when mixed with chandan for face packs. Not forgetting rajesh khanna singing to nanda..”gulabi ankhen jo teri dekhi” gulabi ankhen??? 🙂 nonetheless a lovely song…

. A few drops of rose essence added to any mithai or dessert makes a whole lot of difference.Think of the divine gulab jamuns actually named after this wonderful flower. Rose petals are great as a garnish in sweets like saturfeni and phirni. And of course not forgetting GULKHAND which is used in various preparations such as paan and icecreams.

But the one use of dried rose petals I learnt from my mother was to use it in the making of garam masala…for years my garam masala has been made by my mom. Using dried rose buds in garam masala balances out the heat of the spices used like cinnamon cloves cardamom nutmeg etc…some years ago , on a visit to Dubai, wandering around the spice souk I came across mounds of different colour dried rose petals which were a treat to the eye. I believe dried rose petals are used in middle eastern spice mixes..

The aroma of freshly ground garam masala with dried rose bud petals literally fills the kitchen with a divine fragrance..using just a teaspoon in any gravy is enough to infuse it with a wonderful taste and aroma…today i share with you this wonderful garam masala recipe…

GARAM MASALA ALA MUMMY
250 gms cummin seeds..(jeera)..washed and dried in the sun
100 gms each
poppy seeds..(khus khus)..
caraway seeds (shah jeera)
cinnamon ( dalchini) .. break into small pcs to make grinding easy
cloves(laung)
nutmeg (jaiphal)..tip..grate the nutmeg to make grinding easy
mace (javitri)
cardamom (choti elaichi)..i use whole elaichi
black cardamom ..seeds only..( badi elaichi)
bay leaves (kamal pat)..throw away the stems
baby rose buds..preferably pink rose..( pink gulab ki kali)

corriander seeds ( dhania)

METHOD..

pick and clean all the dry spices.. and grind them well… store in jar in the freezer compartment of your refrigerator..Use as required