Coconut Burfi / Kobbari Burfi / Kobbari Mithai / Kaayi Burfi

So far in this series,
Malaadu / Hurigadale Unde
Dry Gulab Jamun

I have a big weakness for Indian sweets and I also happen to love coconut. And so here is coconut burfi, which my mother considers to be my most favorite sweets of all. It doesn't mean that I have no other favorites but among the lot that my mother prepares, I seemed to like it more while growing up. My sister grudgingly would remind her to prepare her favorite burfi too, whenever my mother prepared coconut one. Carrot burfi was and still is her favorite and my mother tells me that whenever she makes coconut burfi nowadays, my sister seems to remind her that she has got the wrong daughter 😉 and she needs to wait until my visit.  

I get to taste coconut burfi whenever I visit home in the recent years. In spite of reminders that I can cook almost anything I want these days, my mother wouldn't let us go without preparing each one of our favorite dishes. And coming to myself, I think I am making these burfis for the second time in my 20 plus married years. I kinda use coconut very sparingly and rarely make any coconut based dishes in my home, considering my husband's affinity towards coconut.😞 

South Indian style coconut burfi preparation doesn't need any fancy ingredients. It basically uses three ingredients - fresh coconut, sugar and cardamom. And a small amount of water if you have to consider it as well. The only skills needed for this burfi preparation are grating and stirring. If grating coconut is not for you, then use a good quality frozen section shredded coconut like I did. Just take care that the coconut is smelling and tasting good.  

All the ingredients are added to a thick pan and are cooked, stirring continuously until the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan and a thick mass is formed. In case one fails to set the mixture, they can be rolled into small balls / laddus and can be enjoyed. Just wait to roll into balls until they are warm enough to handle with bare hands. It tastes the same albeit in a different shape. It makes a great treat for for Indian festivals like Diwali.


This burfi always has a place among the assortment of sweets my mother prepares for 'Varalakshmi Vratham'. My mother sticks to this basic recipe but some happen to add milk, condensed milk, cream or khoya to the preparation. Some add nuts or safforn to garnish. One of my aunt adds chickpea flour as well to the coconut mixture at the end and the resulting burfi comes across as a cross between coconut burfi and mysore pak and it tastes awesome as well. 

Cook time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
2.5 cups / 300 gm / 11 oz shredded fresh coconut (I used frozen coconut.)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cardamom pods / 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

Directions:
* Grease a round or square shaped plate, with one inch depth and keep it aside.
* Scrape the coconut if using a coconut or use shredded coconut from the freezer section. Thaw the frozen coconut if necessary. If needs to be thawed quickly, transfer the coconut to a microwave safe bowl and heat it for a couple of minutes.

* Add sugar and (just enough) water to cover it in a non stick or a thick bottomed pan / pot. Add coconut and mix well and start cooking the mixture on medium flame, stirring frequently.

* The mixture becomes loose initially and goes on becoming thicker as it is being cooked. Add the ground cardamom and mix well, about 15 minutes into cooking.

* Lower the heat and continue cooking, stirring frequently. 

 * When the mixture starts leaving the pan and comes together, it is an indication that the burfi is cooked. One can specially notice it when not using a non stick pan to cook the burfi. I used a non stick pan and it took me almost 40 to 45 minutes to make the burfi.

* If not sure whether the coconut mixture has cooked or not to burfi stage, put a small spoon sized portion of the mixture on a greased plate and check after a couple of minutes. If it is done, the coconut mixture sets by hardening slightly. If has not set, it means that coconut mixture needs further cooking.
* Transfer the cooked mixture onto the greased plate and spread it  evenly using a greased spatula. (I did not take pictures for this step.)
* While the mixture is still slightly warm, score lightly with a knife vertical lines, spacing them 1.5 to 2 inches apart. And horizontal lines in a similar fashion.
* When the mixture has cooled completely, again run the knife along the lines and cut them into pieces. Store them in  airtight container.
* The coconut burfis stay fresh for a few days even left on the counter. Refrigerate for storing them longer.

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Chai Masala & Masala Chai

 Masala chai is tea brewed with chai masala. Though 'masala chai' and 'chai masala' contain the same words in them, they are not one and the same. The order in which those two words 'chai' and 'masala' are spelled makes all the difference. The word 'Chai' stands for brewed tea in Hindi and many other Indian languages, while 'Masala' refers to the spices/spiciness. 'Masala chai' refers to the spicy tea beverage while "Chai masala' indicates the melange of spices/herbs used to accentuate the flavor quotient in a tea preparation. Chai masala can be store-bought or custom made at home to suit one's taste buds. The quantity of spices/herbs used in a chai masala depends upon individual preference / one's favored spices. One can go with a basic version such as using only ginger and/or cardamom or go with a dozen other herbs and spices. My version is the one I had come up with after a few trials, to suit my husband's preferences. It can be taken as a guideline and the quantity of spices can be changed to suit your needs, as mentioned above. And also I add fresh ginger while preparing tea even though I add the chai masala since my husband prefers a strong ginger flavor.

Ingredients for chai masala:
2 tsp. cardamom pods / about 24 cardamom pods
2 tsp. dry ginger powder
10 cloves
10 pepper corns
1" cinnamon bark

Method:
* Add all ingredients to a spice grinder / blender and grind finely. It is not a big deal if you find the cardamom husks not properly ground. Store it in an airtight container and use as needed. 

Ingredients for masala chai: (1 serving)
3/4 cup water
1" peeled and crushed ginger root (optional) 
1.5 to 2 tsp. black tea granules / leaves
1/2 tsp. chai masala or as needed
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. full fat milk
Sugar to taste (or artificial sweetener)

Method:
* Add water and ginger to a sauce pan and bring it to a boil.
* Add tea leaves / granules and chai masala. Continue to boil for about 3 to 4 minutes more.
* Next add milk and sugar and continue boiling the mixture until it starts to boil over.
* Pass it through a sieve and serve immediately.
 
Check here to see what other marathoners are cooking for BM #61.

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Cardamom Flavored, Egg Less Chocolate Chip Muffins

This recipe is adapted from Nava Atlas' 'The Vegetarian Family Cookbook'.
As it promises, the book has some wonderful recipes for a vegetarian family. We had earlier tried and enjoyed some soup recipes from the other cookbook of hers and so this time, brought this one.
When I was flipping through the pages, a basic egg less muffin recipe caught my attention and I immediately tried it. The first time, I added strawberries and tried making some berry muffins following the recipe. The batter appeared too dry but I went along according to the directions and it was a huge disappointment. In spite of baking them over an hour, they were half done while the tops were on the verge of burning and they ended up in trash.
I still wasn't ready to give up on the recipe and thought of trying it one more time with slight variations. This time, I increased the liquid and sugar quantity, added banana, chocolate chips and of course cardamom. They turned out good with that lovely aroma and flavor borrowed from the cardamom.
We enjoyed these muffins and our little one who loves chocolate chip muffins gave a thumps up.



Ingredients needed for 12 muffins:
(Ingredients mentioned here are what I used and in the parenthesis are the ones used / substitutes mentioned in the book)
2 cups flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
2 Tbsp ground flaxseeds (or wheat germ)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar (or natural granulated sugar)
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 banana, mashed
2 - 3Tbsp oil
1 cup homemade yogurt (or apple sauce / soy yogurt / vanilla yogurt)
1 cup milk or as needed (or rice milk / soy milk)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

How to make them:
Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Place the liners in the muffin cups.
Mix the dry ingredients (the first six ingredients) together in a bowl.
Then mix in the banana, oil, yogurt and slowly go on adding milk as needed to form a batter of dropping consistency.
Then stir in the chocolate chips and divide the batter among the muffin cups.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes clean.

These yummy muffins go to
1. Bangalore Baker's Baking from a Book - Breakfast
2. Priya's Cooking with Seeds - Cardamom Seeds.

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Microwave Pineapple - Almond Kheer

When I was taking out the milk can to prepare payasam neivedyam, I noticed that M had neatly stacked 2 boxes of  leftover pineapple cubes in the refrigerator. Since I use pineapple to prepare halwa regularly, this time thought of using it in the payasam. 
I started with pineapple and along the way, some almonds went in and so the brown specks that you notice in the pic. This simple, quick kheer can be prepared in around 10 - 12 minutes in a MW.
Fruit, nut and sugar combination can never go wrong and this pineapple almond kheer when chilled made a delicious dessert.  



Ingredients needed for about 4 servings:
1/2 cup pineapple cubes
1/4 cup almonds
2 cups full fat milk or as needed
Sugar to taste
1 Tbs dried cranberries (substitute raisins)
1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Making Kheer:
* Cook the pineapple cubes with little water in a microwave safe bowl for about 7 -8 minutes.
* Grind the cooked pineapple cubes, almonds with a little milk.
* Heat the milk in the MW for about a minute. Add the ground mixture, sugar, cardamom powder, cranberries to the milk and mix well.
* Again put back the bowl in the MW and cook for 2 -3 minutes more.
* Serve warm or chilled.

Note:
For more pronounced fruit flavor, use pineapple essence instead of
cardamom powder. Also yellow food color can be used. 

This goes to
1. Priya's Cooking with Seeds - Cardamom. 
2. Priyanka's MEC - Kids Party Food, the event creator being Srivalli.

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