WATERMELON RIND HALWA

WATERMELON RIND HALWA

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL MOTHERS

Thankfully spring is finally here, for which we Calgarians have waited for a very long time. It was supposed to be here beginning of March, but we waited till about the end of April. Even in past winter months, temperatures were much lower than average and the amount of snowfall was much higher than average. Even some people, like my neighbour, who loves snowfall and winter were tired of this year’s winter and said enough is enough. I have a habit of watching the evening news on the television, but this winter I was tired of watching the evening local news because after every five minutes they show the weather report, and it was depressing to watch the temperature in minus double digits (Celsius) for months.

This spring will also bring new leaves and flowers in the trees, birds have already started their conferences on the trees, snow is already melted. Soon we will be sitting in the gardens and enjoying the evening tea and dinner outside. This spring is also bringing some new fruits in the market like watermelon. Now I am already thinking about summer when we will get lots of more fruit, particularly my favourite one like cherries, mangoes and many more.

Last year, in the summer, when we were getting a lot of watermelons, as I was chopping it for everyone to enjoy, my daughter and I were chatting about how we don’t consume the rind of the watermelon and is actually so versatile to use. She informed me that she had once made a curry with watermelon rind, which was very tasty and everybody enjoyed it. I was surprised and couldn’t believe that I had not thought of that before. Soon after that talk, I decided to make something very nice with watermelon rind that is when I made this recipe the very first time, and it turned out fantastic.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 500 grams watermelon rind
• 200 grams red portion (fruit) of watermelon
• 200 grams sugar
• 200 grams khoya/mava ( solidified milk)
• 3 tbs ghee/unsalted butter
• pinch cardamom powder
• 2 tbs green pumpkin seeds/any other nuts

METHOD

• Slice watermelon rind and watermelon in small pieces and grate the khoya.
• Heat heavy bottomed pan and add ghee/butter in it, when hot add watermelon rind pieces and let it boil and cook on medium heat for 10-15 minutes till they are soft.
• Add watermelon pieces and sugar, let all the water evaporates, it can take 15-20 minutes then add grated khoya in it.
• Add pumpkin seed for garnishing and serve hot or cold as desired.

I am sharing this recipe as my blog post entry with Hearth and soul blog hop and with full plate Thursday and with Meatless Monday and cook once eat Twice and with Fiesta Friday and Sweet Inspiration link party

CHERRY TART

CHERRY TART

HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE CELEBRATING

My love for cherries is never ending, whenever they are in season, I am tempted to try new recipes with them. Cherry season is very short here in Calgary, though I do realise that frozen cherries are available throughout the year. This year I chanced upon farm stall that was selling fresh cherries in bulk for a very reasonable price, I bought lots, 12 bags in total, then I washed, pitted and froze them in small zip lock bags for future use. Now I know I will enjoy them through the winter.

Three years ago, when my daughter with her family, was coming back after a holiday trip, I wanted to give her a surprise with a new recipe made with cherries. That is when this recipe was initiated the very first time, but now it is made every year whenever cherries are in season. This recipe can easily be made with frozen cherries so even when fresh cherries are not available, this recipe turns out pretty good.

This is a fusion recipe in which I have combined an Indian cheese (Chena) with cherries. Chena is a homemade Indian cheese, which is very easy to make. You have to boil milk and while milk is boiling, add few spoons of vinegar; the acid in the vinegar will separate the whey from the milk solids which we have to extract. Sieve the whole thing to remove the watery whey, then leave the milk solids in the sieve for 30 minutes, Chena is ready. This Chena is used to make paneer, which is a well-known ingredient of north and East Indian cuisine. Many sweet and savoury items are made with paneer, including many restaurant dishes.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

FOR TART (For graham cracker crust)

• Two cups graham/digestive cracker (Finely crushed)
  
• One cup sugar
  
• 8 tbs butter
  

FOR FILLING

• I cup sliced cherries
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Chhena/homemade crumbled paneer
• pinch cardamom powder

METHOD

For crust

• Mix crushed graham cracker, sugar and butter thoroughly.
• Press mixture into small individual pie trays ( 3 inches )
• Bake in the oven for 6-7 minutes at 180 degrees C/256 degrees F
• The tart is ready, cool it well.

FOR FILLING

• Mix cherries and brown sugar together and heat in a pan to make compote.
• When compote is ready, mix Chena and cook further for 8-10 minutes so that water from the Chena can evaporate and mixture can thicken. Leave it to cool.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F/190 degrees C.
• Fill the mixture of cherry, sugar and Chena inside the tart and bake in the oven for 2-3 more minutes.
• Serve chilled as a dessert after the meals.

Note: - Ready-made tart can be used. If you are using readymade tart shells, first bake the tart shells in the oven for 7-8minutes and after adding the filling, bake for another 2 more minutes.

I am sharing this recipe as my blog post entry to Meatless Monday, Fiesta Friday, Hearth and Soul blog hop and Coo once and eat Twice and with Cook Blog share and we are pinnable. and with Full Plate Thursday and Sweet inspiration link party.

RICE PUDDING IN SLOW COOKER AND A POST ON A SPICE- SAFFRON

RICE PUDDING IN SLOW COOKER AND A POST ON A SPICE- SAFFRON

Saffron is an exquisite and luxurious spice which is the most expensive spice in the world. I checked the price if I can buy online, yes it is available but I will have to pay $20 only for one gram or $500 for an ounce. I was always wondering why the price of this spice is always high, though I am using it from decades in my recipes and even seen my mom using this spice. But never did the investigation why the price is so high.

(This is not an advertisement, just showing the spice to my readers which  I used in this recipe.)

When I started writing this post, the first question in my mind came is to find out, why it is so expensive, after so much googling I got the following answer. The price is so high because it is the most labour-intensive crop. It is stated in the following website that 80,000 crocus flowers must be grown, cared, hand harvested and processed to make one pound of saffron. This is considered to be the most precious spice in the world. Ccheck this website.

One more reason for the high price is that it is produced in very few countries, India is one of them. It is grown in the Kashmir valley of North India. Even though it is very expensive, it is worth using because of its color, exotic flavour and is qualities. It is popularly known as “Kesar” in the Indian sub-continent and it is also called a gold spice.

In Indian cuisine, saffron is used in many sweet items particularly those prepared with milk or milk products like puddings, milk fudge, beverage in which milk is used, smoothies, home-made ice creams and many more. Apart from milk products, it is also used in Mughlai vegetarian and non veg dishes, stews, rich curries and in rice dishes like biryani etc. Saffron is used in European, Indian, Pakistani and Arab cuisine.

The aroma, flavour and colour of saffron are unique. When I use in cooking, I mix few threads of saffron in a small amount of warm milk and leave it to dissolve its colour and then mixed in the recipe to release its colour and aroma. Very small amount of these threads are used in cooking.

Saffron is used as medicine in many traditional Asian, Chinese, Unani and African methods of healing. In Indian Ayurveda, which is the ancient healing system, and is a science of healing with natural herbs and natural means, it is the best and most unique medicine, which can suite anybody, which improves the body immunity and gives energy to the body. Saffron improves circulation and purifies the blood. Saffron has a lot of minerals and vitamins. This spice has a lot of health benefits and some other uses are also there, which are explained nicely and in detail in the following website.

Apart from food, saffron is used in many skin products and face washes for a smooth and healthy skin.

I enjoy cooking using the slow cooker; it is not only easy and convenient but also aromatic and healthy. In Indian cuisine, we use a lot of spices to get the maximum health benefits, taste and aroma of these spices. Slow cooking is best in many recipes like this one. I have experienced that whenever I use the slow cooker, the aroma of the spices are really enhanced and that is when we can get the real benefits of these spices.

This is my mom's recipe, I am glad to share her recipe on my blog. I used the slow cooker for her recipe to enhance the flavour of this exotic spice saffron. This is a very simple recipe with very few ingredients.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• One liter milk
• 100 grams white rice
• 200 grams sugar
• Few threads of saffron
• Pinch cardamom powder

METHODS

• Mix few threads of saffron in 2 tbs warm milk and mix it well, leave it for ten minutes to release its colour.
• Rinse rice 2-3 times in water, till you get the clean water.
• In a slow cooker add milk, rice, the mixture of water and saffron and cardamom powder and cook on high for four hours. Stirring after one hour.
• When the pudding is thick enough add sugar and leave it for 15 more minutes.
• This can be served hot or cold from the fridge depending on the taste.

I am sharing this recipe with Cook blog share, Meatless Monday  and with Happy, healthy and green party and with Hearth and Soul blog party and with Simple and in season and with Cook once and eat Twice blog party  and with Sweet inspiration link party and  with Full Plate Thursday and with I am pinnable  and with Fiesta Friday

SWEET POTATO PUDDING

SWEET POTATO PUDDING

EDITED : This recipe was featured at Healthy Living Link party on 9th February 2017, Check here.

 In my long stay in Africa, and before in India, I had only seen one colour of sweet potato flesh, that is white, with light brown skin colour, like potatoes. This off-whitish colour was a bit drab to use in recipes and because, as I’ve mentioned before, I do not use artificial food colour in my cooking, it was not very exciting. To my big surprise, when I came to Canada, I have seen two more colours of sweet potato flesh that is orange and purple, their skin colour ranges from shades of white and yellow to red, purple and brown.

 

I was glad that now I can have a variety of colours of this healthy vegetable to try and test in my kitchen. I really liked cooking with the orange coloured ones, because orange gives a warm feeling and it looks particularly good on sweet items like this pudding. Though the purple colour of sweet potato is also fine, but the colour is not that appealing for some items, which I make, like soup. Now whenever I buy sweet potatoes, the first thing I see is the colour of its flesh.

 

These days, sweet potatoes are ranked as having the highest nutritional value among other foods. It is considered as the best complex carbohydrate, and people are encouraged to use more sweet potatoes in their diet. It is considered as one of the healthiest carbs. Check this website

 

 

I used this recipe many times before and made this pudding with white sweet potatoes. But this time I really enjoyed cooking this pudding (with orange sweet potatoes), because of its colour. Using orange sweet potato is a different experience for this recipe, because this colour gives life to this pudding or maybe, I am the one who is attracted by this colour.

 

While I was planning to prepare this pudding, my daughter suggested, to use jaggery instead of white sugar, because jaggery can enhance the colour, aroma and taste of a sweet item like this one. Jaggery is used in Indian cuisine a lot in many sweet recipes.

  

For those readers who do not know jaggery, it is the traditional raw form of sugar which is golden in colour. This is a concentrated product of sugar cane which is used in Asia, Africa and South America. Jaggery contains many minerals which are healthy and not found in white sugar. (Source Wikipedia)

 

In Hindi, we call it ‘Gur’, in different languages different names are there for jaggery. In north India, people eat a small amount of jaggery after dinner in winter, not only to satisfy their sweet tooth but also to get the health benefits of it. There are many health benefits of eating jaggery in winter. You can check 15 health benefits of jaggery in this website.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 200 grams orange sweet potato
• 500 grams full-fat milk
• 100 grams jaggery or brown sugar
• 20 grams sliced pistachios
• 200 ml sweetened condensed milk

METHOD

• Wash, boil and chop sweet potatoes in small pieces or grate it.
• Boil milk in a heavy bottomed pot; let it reduce to half the amount.
• Add sweet potato and leave it to boil till it is thick enough like pudding.
• Add jaggery and mix well, boil for 2-3 minutes.
• Add condensed milk and boil again.
• Garnish with pistachios.
• This can be served hot or cold, depending on the taste.

I am sending this recipe as my blog post entry for Way wow link party, Hearth and Soul blog hop, Fiesta Friday, Meatless Monday, Cook blog share, Sweet Inspiration link party, Cook blog share and Real Food Friday. and Sunday Food and Fitness  and Healthy Living link party and Brag about it link party and Happy, healthy living party.