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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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I have been noticing the health buzz that is going on about chia seeds for years now and decided only recently to join the band wagon. I had stuck mostly to breakfast puddings or shakes using chia seeds until now and decided to post today one of those as part of the blogging marathon under the theme of 'puddings'. This is not one of those traditional puddings but an uncooked one that takes about two minutes to put together and can be eaten as a healthy breakfast or even a hassle free dessert.
My daughter just stepped into the kitchen the night I was putting together this pudding for my next morning's breakfast. She took a look at chia seeds and asked what those were and then started to freak out. Turns out that she had assumed that they were not edible, thanks to those TV commercials of foliage heads. 😊
A chia seeds' based pudding is quite flexible and can be customized according to one's diet preference or the ingredients on hand. For today's version I have used milk and yogurt as the base and added strawberries and almonds.
Ingredients: (Yield 1 serving)
1/2 cup milk + 1/2 cup Greek style yogurt
or
1 cup diary or non dairy milk
2 tbsp. chia seeds
Vanilla extract for flavor
Sweetener to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup hulled and chopped strawberries
1 tbsp. slivered almonds.
Method:
* Blend milk, yogurt and vanilla together. Add chia seeds and stir. Refrigerate the mixture for about 4 hours or overnight.
* Before serving, taste and add sweetener as needed and stir in berries and nuts.
* Or all ingredients can be blended together and refrigerated.
This goes to Blogging marathon #74, under the theme 'Are you Pudding me' Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.
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'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.
While hunting for Russian recipes during "Around the World" marathon, I came across a quick and easy dessert from the region. It had some walnut stuffed prunes served in smetana. Smetana is the central and eastern European version of sour cream and in absence of it, can be substituted with yogurt, sour cream or crème fraîche. Walnuts are stuffed into dry prunes and a sweetened sour cream is poured over them. Then they are refrigerated overnight or until the sour cream solidifies.
I goofed up somehow while noting the recipe and got fresh prunes instead and kept wondering how to stuff them with walnuts. I couldn't do it obviously and so chopped the fruit and added it to lightly sweetened yogurt along with some chopped walnuts. I refrigerated it overnight and it made a yummy breakfast next day. I am not posting the original recipe as it just involves the steps I mentioned above. The recipe requires only four ingredients - sour cream / yogurt, some icing sugar to sweeten the sour cream, dried prunes and walnuts.
This goes to Blogging Marathon #49, under the theme of "Weekend Brunch".
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