Caakiri ~ African Pudding

Caakiri is a pudding from Western Africa prepared using a grain and a local version of fermented milk. The word 'caakiri' refers to the grain from which the dish is made and as well as the finished pudding. It also goes by other regional names of chakery, chakrey, thiacry, and tiakri. The preparation is similar to a rice pudding though it do not contain eggs. This can be eaten both as a snack or a dessert, though it is on the sweeter side. 

It was traditionally made using local African grains such as fonio which happens to be a super grain like quinoa, millet, maize or even black eyed peas. The modern version uses couscous though I used millet here. If using couscous, cook according to package directions. It is speculated that the modern version sweetened caakiri might have it's origins in a similar unsweetened dish that once might have been served as a main course. It might have evolved into the modern version with the passage of time and the easy, increased available ingredients like sugar. The dairy combination used here is a substitute for the African version fermented milk used to prepare the caakiri. I got the info and recipe of caakiri from the congocookbook. I have tried few recipes from this site before and the site offers a wide variety of everyday African recipes that are traditional and rustic. 

Ingredients:
1 cup of millet
A pinch of salt (optional)
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 cup plain / flavored yogurt (I used Greek yogurt.)
1/2 cup sour cream
3 - 4 tbsp. sugar (adjust the quantity as needed.)
Any preferred flavoring (like vanilla, nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon or any others.)
Optional garnishes - Raisins / Crushed pineapple / Mint

Method:
* Wash millet in two exchanges of water and drain. Pressure cook millet adding 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt for 3 whistles. If not using pressure cooker, add millet, salt and 3 cups of water to a sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Cover and cook until all the water evaporates, about 17 to 20 minutes. Let cool a little and fluff with a fork. 
* Combine evaporated milk, yogurt, sour cream together in a bowl. Next add millet and mix well. Add sugar according to taste and mix well. Add flavoring of your choice.
* Scoop caakiri into serving bowls and garnish with raisins / crushed pineapple / mint. 

This goes to Blogging Marathon under 'Recipes from Southern Hemisphere' Theme.


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Bionico

I came across bionico when looking for an easy dessert recipe from the Latin cuisine. It is one of the popular street snacks from Mexico and is a perfect treat to serve on a hot day. It is along the similar lines as the popular fruit custard from India though no cooking is involved in the case of bionico. A medley of chopped fruits are drenched with a sweetened sauce, made primarily with dairy products and  coffee granules.
 
It takes only a couple of minutes to prepare the sweetened sauce but it is a very delicious and interesting base to the fruit medley. Any combination of fruits you have on hand can go into this recipe as long as they are sweeter. Similarly, any toppings of your choice can go into bionico. We didn't feel that granola complimented bionico well but it can be included if proffered.
 
Recipe source: Here
Ingredients: (Yield 4 servings)
About 5 cups of chopped mixed fruits
(The original recipe had banana, apple, papaya, strawberries and grapes. I used banana, cherries, mango, peaches and strawberries.)
 
Ingredients for the sweet sauce:
Half of 14 oz. condensed milk can
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup Greek yogurt / low fat sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 to 1 tsp. instant coffee granules

Ingredients for toppings:
Raisins
Chopped pecans (I used walnuts instead.)
Sweetened coconut flakes
Granola
 
Method:
* Add all the ingredients mentioned under the sweet sauce into a bowl and whisk to combine.
* Add fruit pieces to parfait glasses / bowls. Pour the prepared sweet sauce as needed over the fruit pieces and garnish with preferred toppings.

This post goes to Blogging marathon #77 under the theme "Latin American Recipes". Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.

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Tuesday 'Treats' ~ Bhapa Doi (Baked Version)

'Bhapa Doi' is a fuss-free sweet dish from Bengali cuisine that can be whipped up in short time. It literally means 'steamed yogurt' and prepared using hung yogurt. The hung yogurt of course can be substituted with Greek yogurt to cut down the preparation time. Traditionally bhapa doi is steamed in a closed container inside a pressure cooker filled with water at the base but here I followed the baking method. The container with the mixture of yogurt and milks is placed in a water tray while baking, to mimic the traditional method of steaming. The final steamed mixture would be melt in mouth kind with a thick and creamy consistency. If you are fan of yogurt based desserts like shrikhand, then you are definitely going to like it.

Ingredients: (4 servings)
1 cup Greek yogurt / hung yogurt
1 cup evaporated milk / full fat milk
400 gm sweetened condensed milk (use less if you prefer the final dish to be less sweeter.)
Nuts and raisins to garnish 
Saffron soaked in 1 tbsp. warm milk
* I halved the recipe to make 2 servings. I used 5.3 oz / 150 grams / 1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup evaporated milk and little less than 200 grams sweetened condensed milk (less than 1/2 of the standard condensed milk can.)

Method:
*  Combine yogurt, milk and condensed milk in a bowl and whisk well until combined. Add sliced nuts and raisins if using. (I sprinkled some saffron on the top without soaking in milk.)

* Preheat the oven at 350 deg F / 175 deg C.
* Pour the mixture into a baking dish or in ramekins if serving individually. Note that the mixture doesn't rise at all during baking and so can use any baking dish accordingly.

* Pour boiling water in a baking tray and place the ramekins in the tray. The ramekins should be immersed in the water halfway up. This is to mimic the traditional steaming method to prepare the bhapa doi.
* Place the tray in the oven and bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until the mixture is set. Remove before the top starts changing color. (Mine were done in 35 minutes.)

* Let the mixture cool to room temperature. Cover and put in the refrigerator for a couple of hours or overnight. Serve chilled.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 51.

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An InLinkz Link-up

Creamy Tomato Pasta

Any colored pasta turns into a orange/red hued one as soon as it hits my husband's plate. He adds oodles of tomato based condiments to his pasta and tells me that he is making it more flavorful. I stopped complaining long ago and keep making tomato based pastas more often instead. Today's recipe is the standard one I make but added some evaporated milk to make it creamier. I used evaporated milk instead of cream / milk just because I had some leftover evaporated milk that had to be used. The evaporated milk lends a nice, creamy background for the tomato sauce based pasta and makes it more flavorful. I used twisted elbows that was a carrot, corn, squash pasta blend. Penne, shell pasta or any long pasta can be substituted for elbow pasta.

Ingredients:
1 & 1/2 cups twisted elbows
1 to 2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely minced
8 oz / 225 gm / 1 cup tomato sauce (I used store-bought sauce.)
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
About 1/2 cup evaporated milk / cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (optional)
Chopped basil leaves to garnish (optional)

Method:
* Heat oil in a saute pan and add minced garlic and onion. Saute until light golden. Add tomato sauce and ground pepper to the pan and let it simmer on low flame, just to let the flavor build up. Taste and adjust the salt if needed.
* Bring a big pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta in a colander and return it back to the pot in which it was cooked. Add evaporated milk or cream and gently give a stir to mix.
* Pour the tomato sauce mixture over the pasta and stir to combine.
* Garnish with Parmesan and basil and serve warm.

This goes to Blogging Marathon #50, under the theme of "Pasta". Check out the link to find out what other marathoners are cooking.

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Winter Melon Halwa / Gummadikaya Halwa - Microwave Version

Kashi halwa, dumrot, kumbalakayi halwa - few names in Kannada for the wintermelon halwa

A cheery November is here after a dreadfully, drab month. The sunny weather also brought the urge to do some back-breaking, fall clean up. After all the hectic work this week, I had some free time today. M, who doesn't care for sweets is away on an official trip and so I thought of some 'self indulgence'. I went ahead and prepared one of my favorites, wintermelon halwa.
In Bangalore (& other regions of Karnataka), the wintermelon halwa is almost a mandatory part of a decadent breakfast at most of the social gatherings, irrespective of whether the celebration is of a smaller range or enoromous. This delicous dessert has been one of my favorites since my child hood and kashi halwa was (& still is if I am in India) one of the menu items that I always look forwarded to whenever I attended any functon in Bangalore. This sinfully tasty dish has been a part of the celebrations associated with my life - Our engagement, wedding, gruhapravesham to name a few.
Both white or yellow-orange hued wintermelon flesh can be used to prepare the halwa. The wintermelon used to prepare halwa usually is of the white variety (ash gourd) in Andhra. However, the kashi halwa I grew up eating was always yellow in color and I therefore go with the yellow-orange hued one.
This time, I prepared the halwa in a microwave which is quicker than stove top method and needs less supervision & stirring.



List of Ingredients to make about 2 cups of halwa:Grated wintermelon - 5 cups
Sugar - 1/2 cup or as needed
Evaporated milk - 5 oz *
Ghee - 1 tbsp
1 Tbsp of raisins & cashews
Few saffron strands (optional)
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
* Half & half/whole milk can be substituted. Quantity of milk can be reduced.

Cooking:
. Begin with the usual exercise. Peel the wintermelon, remove the seeds and grate it.
. Take a microwave safe bowl which is big enough to cook the quantity of wintermelon being used. Heat the ghee in it and add the cashews and raisins to it. When rasins turn plump and cashews turn golden brown, remove them with a slotted spoon and save them to use later. Add the grated wintermelon to the same bowl with ghee and fry it for about 5 minutes. Stir once or twice in between.
. Then add the evaporated milk to the bowl and continue cooking till the wintermelon is done. The milk would be incorporated into the wintermelon and the mixture would have attained a thicker consistency by now. This would take around 15 minutes (or a couple minutes more) and need some stirrings in between.
. Then add the sugar, cardamom powder, saffron strands to the cooked wintermelon and cook for another 5 minutes (or more). It is done when the sugar has melted, and got incorporated into the cooked melon mixture and the final product, halwa is almost a solid mass.
. Add the toasted raisins and cashews and serve warm or chilled.


Kitchen tip:
Always keep an eye while cooking in a microwave. This is especally important at the final stages, when there are more chances of unsupervised food getting burnt. Also the timings mentioned above holds good for my MW and your's may take little lesser or longer since the MW strengths vary.

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Chayote Payasam / Seema Vankaya Payasam

 

Source: My own, inspired by sorakaya payasam.
Chayote payasam was an experiment on M's birthday which turned into a delectable experience. When I prepared sorakaya payasam for the first time, the idea of substituting chayote in the recipe struck. I knew it would work since chayote has a delicate sweet flavor and I was not wrong. At last, I could make this last month and it was a hit among our guests. As M's nephew mentioned, it was very unique and a special treat though the preparation was quite simple and quick.

Ingredients required:
1 Small chayote (or 1 cup of grated chayote)
Sugar as needed
2-3 cups of whole milk 10 oz evaporated milk (or add one more cup of milk)
a pinch of cardamom powder
2 Tbsp ghee
1 Tbsp of raisins and cashews

The cooking part:
Peel and quarter the chayote, remove the center core and grate it. Fry the grated chayote using a Tbsp of ghee for about five minutes on low - medium heat. Add the milk and cook the chayote till it is done. Keep stirring in between. Then goes in the evaporated milk, sugar and cardamom powder. Cook till all the sugar is melted and turn off the stove. In another small pan, heat a tbsp of ghee and add cashews and raisins to it. When cashews turn slightly brown and raisins become plump, remove the pan from heat and add the contents of the pan to the cooked chayote payasam. Tastes good warm or cold. 

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Carrot - Evaporated Milk Payasam

Replace the milk with evaporated milk in this recipe for a more creamier, richer dessert.


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Aval (Poha) Payasam & Thenkuzal

My husband's family celebrates Sri Krishnastami with great devotion and fervor. They fast the whole day and perform the pooja in the evening. Various savory and sweet dishes are prepared for the occasion. Some of the commonly prepared dishes in the evening are various kinds of chaklis, paalakayalu and poha dishes.

The usually preferred and prepared chakli happens to be thenkuzal or thentharlu, one of our family favorites. Though aval or poha payasam is not prepared at our home, I thought it would be a perfect dish on this asthami. I got to try them both for the first time and they turned out fabulous.
Aval Payasam and Thenkuzal are my contributions for Sri Krishnastami - RCI - Tamil Festival Foods, hosted by dear Viji of Vcuisine.

Aval Payasam:
Payasam lovers would just fall in love (as we did) with this simple yet scrumptious dessert. I have used evaporated milk to make the kheer extra creamier and thicker. It is optional though.


Ingredients:
Poha - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1 cup (Whole milk is preferred)
Evaporated milk - 12 oz / 1.5 cups (or substitutewith whole milk)
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Cashews and raisins - 1 Tbsp
Ghee - 2 Tbsp

Preparation:
Fry the poha in one Tbsp ghee till it turns golden brown. Add the milk to poha and cook it till it is done. (If the mixture has become solid before getting cooked, add sufficient evaporated milk). Then add sugar, cardamom powder and the evaporated milk (if not added already) and cook till the sugar melts. Then simmer it on low flame for about 10 - 15 minutes and turn off the stove.
Heat the other tbsp of ghee in a small pan. Add cashews and raisins to it. Fry till the cashews turn golden brown and the raisins turn plump. Add this to the above cooked poha. Stir well.


Note: The above measurements would yield a payasam with a thicker consistency, which I personally prefer. 1/2 to 1 cup of extra milk may be added, if more liquid is preferred and the sugar level may need to be adjusted as well.
Thenkuzal / Thentarlu

This heavenly tasting, crunchy, munchy snack is called thentarlu in our family. It is paler in color compared to murukku, simple to prepare and is perfect for every occasion. My mom or MIL would have gone with a freshly milled batch of flour. I have used the store bought rice flour and urad flour and thenkuzal were great.


Ingredients:
Rice flour - 2 cups
Urad flour - 1/2 cup
Melted butter - 1 Tbsp
Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
Sesame seeds - 2 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
A pinch of asafoetida
Water - 1 & 1/4 cups (I needed this much. This may vary)
Oil to fry
A deep frying pan & a Chakli press
Making Thenkuzal:
Mix well all the ingredients (except water & oil) in a mixing bowl. Then gradually add water to the bowl and make a dough, almost like rice flour rotti dough. It should not be watery or very hard, should be somewhere in between.
Heat oil in a small wok / deep frying pan. When the oil is hot enough to fry, turn down the heat to medium flame. To know whether the oil is hot enough do this little test. Put a pinch of the dough in the hot oil. If it sizzles and come to the surface of the oil immediately, then it is ready. If the pinch of the dough stays at the bottom, then the oil is not hot enough.
Usually the chakli press is sold along with several plates which are interchangeable. For Thenkuzal, use the thenkuzal plate, the one which has bigger perforations than a sev one or simply, the one with plain holes. After fixing the plate, take a small portion of the dough and fill it into the chakli press and in a circular motion, press out the dough into the oil. The coils of dough would form a concentric circle. This dough is easy to work with and you can make two to three separate circles at a time or a single one.
Fry till they turn attain a slight golden tinge. You don't have to fry them till they turn golden brown as murukku. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on paper towel covered plates.
Repeat the same process with the remaining dough and fry them in batches. Frying thenkuzal takes very less time, if you do it on a medium flame.



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Aloo - Soya Korma

Soybean products are undoubtedly, the most efficient source of vegetable protein in the food world. They are good meat substitutes as well. It is therefore beneficial for vegetarians / non vegetarians alike to include them in their meal plan on a regular basis.
A few months back, for a change I bought a box of textured soya protein instead of my regular soy chunks from my local Indian grocer. To people who have not heard the term, Textured soya protein (TSP) is made from defatted soy flour. It is high in protein (50%), low in fat and sodium. It is also a good source of of fibre and isoflavones. They are flaky as seen in the picture. These flakes are quick to cook and need hydration before usage. They are almost neutral in taste and can therefore be added to any dish. (Info from WIKI)
I replaced soya chunks with TSP in korma. TSP flakes give texture to this dish and the final product was a hit in my family. I am going to include this more in my diet. Here is a nutritious side dish, rich in protein, calcium and vitamins.

Textured Soya Protein with veggies

Ingredients:
Baby white potatoes, peeled - 12
Textured soya protein (TSP) - Heaped 1/4 cup
One big sized tomato or 1/4 cup tomato paste
One big onion, chopped fine
Frozen peas - 1/4 cup
Ginger (grated/finely chopped) - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves, finely chopped - 1 Tbsp
Sesame seeds - 1 Tbsp
Poppy seeds - 1 Tbsp
Coriander seeds - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Cloves - 4
Cardamom seeds from two pods
One inch pieces of Cinnamon - 2
Chillie powder & Salt - Accordingly
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Yogurt - 3/4 cup
Evaporated milk - 1/4 cup (I had to use my evaporated milk. It can be substituted with cream)
Oil - 2 Tbsp
(Garlic can be added to the above recipe)

Method:

• Soak TSP in hot water for about 15 - 20 minutes. By the time, they would be more than doubled. Squeeze all the water out of it and keep the TSP aside.
• If not using tomato paste, put the tomato with little water in a microwave and cook it. Let it cool and then grind it into a puree. Save it.
• Add sesame seeds, poppy seeds, coriander, cumin, clove, cardamom, cinnamon to a small pan and dry fry them on low heat till they turn light brown. Remove from flame and let them cool a bit. Then grind them into a fine powder.
• Add the ground spices, chillie powder and salt to the yogurt and whisk it till smooth.
• Mean while, heat oil in a pan and add ginger and onion to it. Fry the onions on low flame, till they turn brown, add the soaked TSP and fry for a couple of minutes. Then add the yogurt mixture, potatoes and add any water if needed. Let it cook on low to medium flame till the potatoes are fork tender. Alternatively, You can add this mixture to a pressure cooker and cook it till you hear one whistle.
• Then add tomato paste, frozen peas and the evaporated milk to the potato - TSP mixture. Adjust the amounts of salt and chili powder now, if needed. Simmer it for about five minutes. Turn off the stove.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro.
• Serve with rotis / tortillas.

Recipe idea from the cookbook 'Indian flavor'

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