Zaiqa

Its not that guavas arent available here. Infact most of the desi stuff is available in Toronto, but they are not always actually affordable. Back home in India, tropical fruits as such like guavas, sapodillas etc are so easily available and a mediocre sight, that one doesnt give them their due importance. People been living outside India bereaved of such delectations I know can understand my pain.

Yellow Guavas

We even had a giant and very old but healthy green guava tree amid others in our ancestral house. In season the tree used to be full of chirping parrots, atleast a dozen of them, amongst many other visitors, that nibbled and destroyed most of the fruit for the annoyance of my dadi.

Yellow Guavas

So a couple of days back, I was thrilled to see a few those alluring guavas on sale at reasonable prices. First I thought to prepare some guava jelly using them. My dadi was an expert at it and her guava jelly used to be distributed among neighbours and loved ones during the season. Then, I recollected the classic kachalu that makes its appearance quite frequently at iftaar during Ramadan, and I just couldn’t resist making it. Kachalu is the name for guava chaat, made by adding flavorings such as sugar and black pepper power.

It was such joy to taste guavas (also called as jaam or amrood in Urdu) and to be able to fill my lungs with their characteristic musky odor after a long time. Can’t wait to visit Hyderabad and enjoy all that I have been missing inshallah.

Jaam ka Kachalu – Guava Chaat

Ingredients:

Ripe Guaves/Jaam/Amrood – 1.5 lbs
Granulated Sugar – 4-5 tbsp
Black pepper powder – 1/2 tsp

chopped guavas

Method:

Wash the guavas well. Top and bottom them. Now chop them into thin triangles and transfer to a bowl. Add sugar and black pepper powder to taste, or according to the measurements given and mix well. Do not worry if a few of the pieces mush up. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for a few hours the flavors to intensify until chilled. Serve as chaat at tea-time.

Kachalu (chaat)

Note: Use ‘just overly ripe guavas’ to prepare this chaat. Green guavas that are hard/unripe are not suitable for this preparation. Also, the seasonings such as sugar is needed according to the sweetness of the guavas and to your fancy.

Luv,
Mona

At the very onset, I wish all my dear Indians, a very happy Republic Day! Mera Bharat Mahaan!

During my childhood, somedays when suddenly cravings for this meetha would tingle my dear Papa’s taste buds, he would roll up his sleeves and get ready to prepare his favorite dessert, Ande ka Meetha (also referred to as Ande ka Halwa or Ande ke Lauz). My Ammi preferred it, because the preperation of this delicious dessert involves a rigorous stirring throughout the process which required a manly strength.

Papa often used to prepare this meetha in the winter months so that we get to enjoy it the season long. Crumbly, sweet with a taste of eggs and milk solids roasted in ghee, this meetha will surely become of your favorites.

So, here’s the recipe for Ande ka Meetha. Today I prepared a small quantity of this meetha, according to the instructions my Papa gave me on phone this morning. Love you Papa, this is for you!

Ande ka Meetha – Crumbly Egg Squares Dessert

Ingredients:

Milk – 500 ml
Home-made Khoa – 200 gms (or equal quantity milk powder)
Eggs – 6, large
Granulated white sugar – 250 gms (1 cup) (you can add more if you want)
Green cardamom/Elaichi powder – 1/2 tsp
Home-made Ghee – 125 ml (1/2 cup)

Method:

1. In a saucepan, boil milk. Once boiling, add the khoa and let it dissolve. Keep stirring continuously and let the milk cook until the amount is reduced to 500 ml, and the khoa has completely dissolved and the milk has slightly thickened. Remove from heat and let it cool.
2. Once the cooked milk+khoa is cool, pour into a mixing bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients and whisk using a fork until well blended.
3. In a thick bottomed non-stick saucepan at medium heat, add the above whisked mixture and cook it stirring continuously throughout. It takes about one hour of continuous stirring throughout the process at medium heat to cook this meetha. After every 10 minutes you will start observing the changes, first the mixture becomes thick, then it starts leaving sides and comes together, then it becomes dryer and dryer with a change in color, then it begins to get granular and browner as you keep roasting it.

Ande ka Meetha

Now is the time to remove the mixture into a thali or a flat platter/tray greased with a bit of ghee. Using the back of a spoon, immediately flatten it clean, and cut it into squares using a greased knife of pizza cutter. Garnish with varq and let it cool completely and store in air tight food storage boxes in the refrigerator. It keeps well for a long time.

Luv,
Mona

During season, when strawberries are seen flooding the market and are available at reasonable rates, I buy large stocks and freeze a few batches to work with them later on. This way I can enjoy them year long, even when they are not in season.

frozen strawberries in a zip-lock bag

To freeze fresh Strawberries: Wash the strawberries and drain them. Remove the leaves and spread them out on a kitchen towel for 30-45 minutes so that they air dry. Then, spread them on a rimmed baking sheet and freeze them for 2-3 hours. Once frozen, transfer the strawberries to a zip-lock bag and remove as much air as possible from the bags and seal them air tight. Freeze the frozen strawberries in the bags until needed.

Classic Strawberry Jam

Ingredients:

Strawberries – 850 gms (around 1.8 pounds), fresh/frozen
Granulated sugar – 2 cups
Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
Butter – 1 tbsp

Strawberry jam

Method:

Cut off the top stalk part of the frozen/fresh strawberries. In a large glass mixing bowl, add the frozen strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. Mix well and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Later, transfer it all to a food processor and pulse just until the strawberries are just chopped. DO NOT MAKE A PUREE. Transfer this to a saucepan, and bring to a boil and high heat, once boiling let cook at medium heat for 30-45 minutes or until a jam consistency is reached. Add butter to reduce the foam. Keep stirring and keep a close eye on it. During the last 15 mins, lower the heat to medium low. Remove from heat once done. Spoon the prepared jam into a sterilized Mason canning jar ( I recommend using 1 cup jars instead of one large jar for the jam) and seal the jar according to instructions. Once it is at room temperature, refrigerate the jar to store.

Note: This is a preservelike spread and not a true preserve and must be refrigerated to avoid spoilage, because it contains a higher proportion of fruit to sugar and retain more fresh fruit flavor.

Luv,
Mona

Rizruby, one of the very regular commentators, participant and reader of my blog had shared with me her recipe for this wonderful and nourishing drink of nuts and milk a few days ago. She also adds that back home in Hyderabad a beautiful aroma of ‘Oodh’ (Oodh ka dhua) is added to the drink that makes it even more flavorful.

Doodh ka Sherbat – Nuts and Milk Drink

Milk – 5  cups (8 ounce size)
Sugar – 1/4 cup according to ur taste
Cardamom/Elaichi powder – 1/4 tsp
Pistachio/Pista – 40, in number (I use samsclub pistachios without shells, I just wash in plain water to remove the salt)
Almonds – 20, in number (I use samsclub whole almonds)
Saffron – 1 pinch
Fennel/Saunf powder  – 1 tsp  (You can get this in indian stores)

Method:

1. Add almonds in a bowl and add water and microwave for 2-3 minutes. Rub off the almonds skins.
2. Grind the peeled almonds and pistachios to a fine powder in coffee grinder. Take this powder in bowl and add some milk to make a paste.
3. Boil the milk on a medium flame. Also add elaichi powder with sugar to milk and stir for a while. Add the nut paste and saunf  powder when milk is ready to be boiled. Stir milk a little. The saunf powder makes the milk taste less sweet, so add sugar now according to your taste. Also add pinch of saffron to boiling milk. Let the milk cool down. Serve cold and store the remaining in refrigerator.

The technique to infuse ‘Oodh ka Dhua’ into milk is as follows:
Place burning oodh onto a small aluminium foil, and invert a large vessel over it so that the vessel collects all the smoke from the burning oodh. In a few minutes, quickly turn the vessel and cover it with a lid. The vessel has all the aromatic smoke from the oodh. Now pour the milk into the vessel and close the lid. Gently swirl and serve.

Recipe and picture belongs to Rizruby

This yummy, creamy and nourishing sherbat is my contribution to Yasmeen’s ‘Healthnut Challenge 3‘ event that is hosting on her super healthy blog ‘Healthnut‘.

Luv,
Mona

Some comfort for this wintry day today with this vivid, tart, sweet and spicy quick mix of fresh fruits. Get creative and use whatever seasonal fruits you can get your hands on and enjoy a yummy fruit chaat, usually prepared for Iftaar during the month of Ramadan.

Fruit Chaat – Fruit Salad
Serves – 2 or 3

Kiwi fruit – 2, peeled, and chopped
Fuji Apple – 1/2, cored and chopped
Clementine – 2, peeled, sectioned and halved
Clementine juice – 1 tsp
Granulated Sugar – 1 tsp
Salt – a pinch
Black pepper powder – 1/4 tsp

Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Cover with a plastic wrap and let chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hrs for flavors to blend. Serve chilled.

Which are your favorite fruit combinations for fruit chaat?

Luv,
Mona