Culinary Tour of the World: Episode 6: Antigua and Barbuda - Ducana

Welcome to our sixth episode of the Culinary Tour of the World. This post takes us to the Carribean islands of Antigua and Barbuda (Antigua is pronounced as "Antigah"). Antigua and Barbuda are islands in the West Indies.  As I was researching the cuisine, I learnt that there are many dishes which are similar across the various Caribbean islands like fungie. There are many seafood and other meat dishes which have a variety of vegetables too and and fresh tropical fruits are aplenty! A couple of dishes that I observed were spoken of when speciality from Antigua was discussed in some Caribbean food groups, one was home made ginger beer and the other was ducana. I bought the ingredients to make ginger beer, which was essentially a lot of grated ginger, sugar and water to create a ginger drink (non-fermented), but then realized that this is a commonly brewed drink on other islands too. So, finally I decided to make ducana which is a speciality made with coconut and sweet potato and usually served along with saltfish and vegetables. 

It was absolutely delicious!! We topped it with a little ghee (clarified butter) and oh my goodness, it made a delicious dessert. The taste is very similar to the coconut dumpling (modak), except here all the ingredients are cooked together.  It is always exciting to find similarities between known dishes and new ones I am exploring through this project!

Link to the video recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup coconut, grated (fresh or frozen and thawed)

1/2 cup sweet potato, grated (Japanese sweet potato or one which has cream colored flesh)

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp water

1/2 to 2/3 cup all purpose flour 

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

1/4 tsp ginger powder

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

banana leaves and foil to wrap the ducanas

water to boil the ducanas

Method

In a bowl, mix together the coconut, sweet potato and sugar. Mix well and then add the water, then add the spices and vanilla essence. Then mix in the all purpose flour. Add only a little to begin with and mix it to see how thick the mixture gets. It should be like a thick cake batter. I needed to use only about 1/2 cup of flour. If you live in a humid climate, or if there is a greater moisture content in your ingredients, you may need to use more flour. 

Place a banana leaf (about 8"X4") on top of a foil which has similar dimensions.  Add some batter (1/4th of the total) to the center and shape it into a rectangle (see video). Then fold the leaf over the batter, to create a rectangular packet. Then fold the foil to create a rectangular packet. 

Boil water in a saucepan or large pan. To this add the foil packets and cook for about 45 mins to an hour.  Remove the packets from water and drain well. Serve warm. It is not usually topped with butter or ghee, but adding a dollop really enhances the dish.  

Tips

Double the ingredients to make 8 ducanas. This recipe will yield 4 ducanas which are about 2 inches by 4 inches in size. You can use desiccated coconut too, if you cannot find fresh coconut. However, soak it in a little milk before using it. The amount of flour you use will depend on the moisture content of the rest of the ingredients. You need enough to create a thick batter. Too much may yield to a stiff dumpling. 

Culinary Tour of the World: Episode 4: Andorra - Torrijas

 Welcome to our fourth episode of the Culinary Tour of the World. This post takes us to Andorra. Andorra is a very small country, described as a tiny independent principality, in Europe. It is between France and Spain in the Pyrenees mountains. I had not heard about it till I started this project. So far, this has proven to be the a difficult one to choose a recipe from, because there are just a handful of recipes that are called out as traditional Andorran foods. Of those, the majority of them are meat dishes and include delicacies like snails. Also, I really wasn't able to find a blog which was written by a person from Andorra. As I researched vegetarian recipes, I kept coming across just 2-3 recipes which were common across travel sites, blogs and even books. One of them was Pa amb Tomaquet, which is bread rubbed with garlic and tomatoes, and another was spinach with pine nuts and raisins. There was a third once called Trinxat which is potato and cabbage cake or like hash  browns which is topped with bacon. I thought I could make all these (skipping the bacon) and make a small meal. However, they were all sides and given how meat heavy the entrees were, taking the meat away would not give the same experience.

So, I asked a friend who lives in France who suggested that I look for Catalan recipes. That was a great suggestion and that took me to menu cards of Andorran restaurants. Since I couldn't find a vegetarian entree, I started looking for desserts and breads. I found a mention of a bread called Coca de Massegada which was listed as a very traditional bread but I was unable to find an authentic recipe for it. I found a list of ingredient, but there were no measurements and I did not want to experiment a lot. Finally, I settled on two choices Bunyols de vent which sounded like doughnuts made from a pate choux dough and Torrijas which is a dessert French toast which has a Catalan/Spanish influence. 

The plan was to make the Bunyols de vent, but I was inspired to make Torrijas for breakfast and the family absolutely loved it. So this is a delicious french toast, where the difference is that the bread is not soaked in an eggy batter like the traditional French toast. Instead the bread is soaked in milk and then dipped in whisked egg and pan fried. Then it is coated with cinnamon sugar and served with syrup. The milk can be boiled with fragrant spices to add more flavor. The end result is similar to churros. The outside gets crispy and the inside is soft and delicious. While this is meant to be a dessert, it is delicious as a brunch too and we have enjoyed this so much, that it has been added to the weekend brunch repertoire. This is a very simple and delicious recipe. Do give it a try!

Here is the video link to the Torrijas recipe

Ingredients

6 slices of Italian bread, stale (any type of bread which is cut into thicker slices than sandwich bread. Can also use sandwich bread bread but make sure it is a little stale and dry)

1 cup milk

4 tbsp sugar (adjust to taste)

1.5 tsp cinnamon powder

2 tbsp oil

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

Mix the cinnamon and sugar together to create the cinnamon sugar. 

Whisk the eggs and vanilla essence together. Warm up the milk till it is lukewarm. If you want to add more fragrant spices to the milk, boil them with the milk and then let the milk cool for a few mins till lukewarm. Add 2 tbsp of sugar to the milk. Pour the milk into a tray and lay the bread slices in the milk. Let it stay till the milk is absorbed, up to 30 mins. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan and then dip the bread slices in the whisked egg and then place it in the pan. Fry the bread on both sides till golden brown at medium heat. Then place it in the cinnamon sugar and coat it on both sides with the cinnamon sugar. Add more oil and fry the rest of the breads. 

Serve with syrup. It was delicious warm as well as cold. As a dessert, it is eaten cold per what I have been able to determine. 

Tips

I add vanilla essence to the eggs so that there is no eggy smell. You can skip this or add the essence to the warm milk. Fragrant spices which can be added to the milk are cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, vanilla, and lemon rind/zest.

Wheat Halwa, Lapsi, Kadah Prasad

I lovingly remember the wheat halwa or as she called it "lapsi", that my mom used to make for us when I was a young child and I remember relishing it. She used to make this especially if we were hurt because of the simple and nourishing ingredients. I also recently got to know that the same is also offered as "kadah prasad" in gurudwaras. 

I hadn’t made it because it felt too much of a guilty indulgence given the amount of ghee and sugar/jaggery that are needed. However, I finally caved into my craving and made it. My mom used to make it using jaggery, but I didn't have the time to grate jaggery, so I added blackstrap molasses to the sugar to get a similar taste. The fragrance and the taste catapulted me back to childhood. A delicious and satiating dessert.

Ingredients
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup ghee
1/2 cup minus 1tbsp sugar
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
1.5 cups water

Method
Heat ghee and wheat flour together and roast the flour till golden brown and fragrant. In another saucepan, add the sugar, water and molasses and stir and warm till sugar is dissolved.
Now slowly add the water solution to the browned flour and stir it in, taking care to protect yourself from any spluttering of the ingredients that occurs.

Stir well till thickened and you can see the ghee staring to separate. At this point the halwa will easily move away from the edges of the pan and will freely move in the pan. The halwa is ready. Enjoy warm.

Tips

When water is added to the fried wheat flour, it will splutter, so make sure you are far away from the pan and if possible hold a cover over the pan so that it doesn't spoil the cooking surface.

Mysore Pak

I hadn't made this before because everyone said it was too tricky and laborious, but finally decided to give it a try and it turned out great. I was very happy to see the perforations/lattice as well as the color gradations in the Mysore pak.

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/2-3/4 cup water, enough to cover the sugar
1 cup besan/chickpea flour
1 cup ghee
1 cup sunflower oil

Method
Grease a deep tin and set it aside. I used a 8x4 bread baking tin.

Pour the sugar into a broad pan and the water, stir them together and heat. Heat this on low- medium heat (3-4 setting on electric stove). Also, in a sauce pan, mix the ghee and oil together and start hearing this mixture at the same low-medium heat setting.

As the sugar syrup is cooked, sieve the besan to remove all lumps. Check the syrup and once it gets sticky but before reaching the single thread consistency, add 1/3rd besan and mix well till lumps are dissolved. Do this in a couple of batches till the besan is completely mixed into the syrup. If they are any lumps, use a sieve or strainer to push the lumps out by pouring the lumpy syrup through it.
Now keep stirring this mixture. After a couple of minutes, you will see bubbles in this mixture as you stir it.  At this stage you are ready to add the ghee oil mixture that is being heated.

Add one ladle at a time and stir it into the besan syrup mixture. Continue this till you reach the stage where the ghee oil mixture is no longer absorbed into the besan. When you are nearing this stage, you will notice that as you add the ghee oil mix into the besan syrup mixture, it starts to froth. Add the last ladle of ghee oil after you see that it is not really getting absorbed and let the froth form. Then pour this mixture into the tin to create a tall slab. My tin was much bigger and so I filled it just halfway (see pic for reference). Gently level the top to make sure not to destroy the lattice structure formed by the frothing. Now let it set for 5 minute and then make the cuts in the Mysore pak to form rectangles. Make sure to cut t through and completely. I didn't cut it entirely and once it was cool it was difficult to separate and cut it out. Now let it cool for a couple of hours, and remove the Mysore pak slices from the pan.

Tips
All the ghee oil mixture didn't get used up. About 1/2 to 3/4 cup remained. Make sure to add the besan before the single thread, so that it doesn't become too dry. The reason to go for a tall thick slab is so that the central part continues to cook at the part of the
Mysore pak exposed to the air and at the bottom of the tin start to cool first. This is needed to create the different shades/color striations in the mithai.

Upside Down Fresh Fig Cake

We have had a great fig harvest his year. Other han enjoying the figs straight off the tree, I have been using them in various desserts. I made a fig crostata (recipe on the blog), fig icecream, fig danish braid.  Then I thought an upside down cake would be delightful. The result of the experiment was delicious!! 

Ingredients 

10 ripe fresh figs, cut into eighths or small pieces

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp sugar

1 and 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

1/2 cup milk

Method

Butter a baking pan and cover the base with parchment paper.

Preheat the often to 350F.

In a saucepan, heat the butter. Once it melts, add the figs and sugar and give it a stir. Cover with a lid and let it cook for a couple of mins and then stir again. Cook covered for 5-10 mins, stirring frequently, till the figs release their juices and soften and start to caramelize.

Pour this into the baking pan and spread in a layer on the parchment paper.

Sift or whisk the flour, salt and baking powder so they are mixed well and the baking powder is evenly distributed.

Whisk together the butter and sugar. Once the mixture stars looking fluffy like icing, add one egg at a time and mix these in. Then, add the vanilla essence. Next fold one third of the flour into the batter, followed by half the milk. Alternate between the flour and milk incorporated into the batter using the folding motion.

This is a thick batter. Now pour or scoop this over the fig layer. Use a flat spatula to spread it out. Then bang the pan on the counter a couple of times to remove any large air bubbles. 

Bake for about 30 mins (check at 20 mins). Use  a toothpick or knife to check for doneness. Pierce the cake in the center. If the knife/toothpick is clean, the cake is done. 

Let the cake cool for a few mins in the pan and then invert it onto cooling rack. Peel off the parchment paper.  The cake doesn't need to be inverted again as the fig layer comes on top of the cake. Cut after the cake cools.

Tips

Let the figs caramelize. When you start cooking them it may seem that there isn't much moisture of they are not getting sweet, so cook with the lid on and let them stew in their juices. Figs become very sweet once they release their sugar which converts into a delicious syrup. Do not add more sugar unless you are using figs which are under ripe.
If you do not have fresh figs, you can use dried figs too. Soak them for a few hours to rehydrate. Once they are plump cut them into small pieces and follow the recipe. 

Mango Kalakand - Pressure Cooker Version

This is a delicacy and usually requires several hours when made traditionally. You start with whole milk, separate it into whey and paneer, then add the paneer to whole milk and reduce this down till thickened and then add the sugar, stir it for a little longer till thick enough to set and then set it on a greased plate. There are several short cut recipes that I have seen by baking ricotta cheese or making it in the microwave, but I have always found that these fall short of the authentic taste, especially for me. I have a sensitive palate and am able to taste the ricotta cheese in these recipes which annoys me terribly. So, I end up spending long hours during Diwali time (the only time I make elaborate sweets) making this.

Since I have been on a pressure cooking experimentation spree, I broke down the basic components of the traditional recipe and decided substitute milk with milk powder and see if this would set in the cooker when cooked under pressure, similar to a caramel flan. Thus far, I have experimented with cake and waffle batter and they have cooked well under pressure in less than 20 minutes. So again with a motivation to simplify the recipe with respect to the length of time and effort, I set forth with my experiment. In addition, I decided to flavor it with mango as I hadn't made mango kalakand before. And the result was terrific! Absolutely delicious, soft and well set kalakand. I can now whip this up easily for any dinner party now and so can you.

Ingredients
1 cup freshly made crumbly paneer
1/2 cup milk powder
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp mango pulp, canned
1 tsp ghee plus more to grease the container
1 cup water for the cooker

Method
Take the crumbly paneer in a bowl and mash it a little to make it slightly smoother. We still need a little granular structure to give kalakand the right texture. Then add the milk powder and sugar. Mix these well and then add the mango pulp. Add 1 tsp ghee and mix well. This mixture should be quite thick. If the pulp is very watery, then add some more milk powder to thicken it.

Grease a cooker safe container with ghee. Pour this mixture into the container. Cover this container with foil or a lid. This is to prevent water from condensation falling into the kalakand.

Pressure Cooker
Pour a cup of water into the cooker and place the covered container into the cooker. Cook this on medium low heat (4 setting on my stove) for 15 minutes (you can steam it or pressure cook it, it does not matter). Take it off the heat. Let the pressure fall and then open the lid.

Instant Pot
Cook it in manual mode for 15 minutes with vent closed. Let the pressure fall and then open the lid.

Now carefully remove the covered container making sure to not disturb the lid of the container. Then wipe it down nicely and once assured that there is no water, open the lid. Check that it is well set by inserting a toothpick or a paring knife into the kalakand and if it comes out clean, it is done.

Then let this cool down completely, cut this into squares. Refrigerate for a few hours. Then separate out the squares and serve them.

Tips
Paneer was made from whole milk and I had non-fat milk powder on hand.
If using fresh mango pulp, thicken it a little by cooking it a couple of minutes and add sugar if needed.  If this makes the mixture runny, add milk powder. The mixture must be like a thick cake or idli batter to set well.
To make normal kalakand, instead of mango pulp, add 1-2 tbsp of yogurt to bring the ingredients together in thick batter/paste form. Add cardamom powder for flavoring.
If you use a mango pulp that is too watery or if you haven't drained all the water from the paneer and it is too soft after refrigeration and you cannot make pieces out of it, pour the mixture into an open pan and heat it up for a couple of minutes till thickened and put it back in the greased plate to set it.

Gulab Jamun using Mava/Khoya

We love gulab jamun! I have made them from readymade mixes and tried the milk powder based recipes, and we enjoy them all, but I always wanted to try out a recipe using mava/khoya. I could imagine what a rich taste that would have. I make mava/khoya at home from ricotta cheese during the festival season and this time I froze some to use later to make gulab jamun. I had called some friends over for dinner and it seemed to be a perfect time to try this out as a dessert.

The gulab jamuns turned out very good. The best compliment was that everyone ate seconds and some even eat thirds and they were all gone by the next day. They were soft, infused with syrup and they melted in the mouth. I also had a few learnings while making it. It is easier to fry these in oil as the temperature of ghee is tougher to maintain. Fry the gulab jamun at a consistent medium high temperature else the soft dough can disintegrate in the oil. That is the main difference between mava and milk powder gulab jamun. The milk powder ones must be fried at a medium low temperature for the jamuns to get cooked well. Also, remember that these will absorb the syrup and swell up to one and a half to two times the fried size, so roll the gulab jamuns accordingly. Try frying one gulab jamun to ensure that it doesn't melt in the oil and then fry the rest in batches.

Here is the recipe to make mava/khoya at home - Mava/Khoya/Kava recipe

Ingredients
3 cups sugar
2.5 cups water
few saffron strands
¼ tsp cardamom powder
1.5 cup mava/khoya grated
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/8 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp fine rava
oil to deep fry the gulab jamun

Method
Put sugar and water in a deep and broad saucepan and heat it. Stir so that the sugar doesn’t caramelize. Once the sugar dissolves and water starts boiling, let it boil for a few minutes and turn off the heat when it starts looking syrupy. It doesn’t need to be thickened to get any threads. Add saffron and cardamom powder. Stir well. Keep this warm syrup ready for the gulab jamuns.

Knead the mava thoroughly. Add the all purpose flour, rava and baking soda and mix this thoroughly with the mava so that it is well dispersed. Knead this into a dough. Then make small 1 inch diameter balls of the mava mixture. Make sure to keep the dough and the balls with a damp cloth or paper towel, so that they do not dry. If you find the dough cracking, then add a few drops of milk at a time into the mava mixture and knead it till smooth. Make sure the gulab jamun balls are smooth and do not have any cracks. Once a large batch is ready, heat the oil. To test if the oil is hot enough, drop in a little dough and if it comes up immediately, then the oil is hot. Keep it on medium high heat and then add the gulab jamun balls. Add as many as the pan can accommodate. They will start coming up immediately. Cook them till they are nicely browned on all sides. Be careful while frying and turn them just a couple of times using a slotted spoon. If you over handle them, they may break. Once browned, remove them with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel for a couple of minutes. Then put them into the warm syrup. They will float. As they get heavier and soak up the syrup they will sink a little.

Tips
These are delicate and if the temperature of the oil is low and they don’t get cooked quickly, the gulab jamun balls will start breaking up and separating up. Before you add all the gulab jamun balls in the oil, test with one to see if it fries up without breaking. If it breaks, then adjust the temperature and try again. It it still breaks then add a tbsp of maida rava mixture (without baking powder) to the dough and knead it again and then make the balls.

Bottle Gourd/ Dudhi Halwa/ Lauki Halwa - Instant Pot version

I got my Instant Pot a couple of years ago and use it on a daily basis, but these days I have started using it to save time, reduce the amount of fat in the recipe and to do a lot of precooking which takes a lot of time the traditional way. I am starting a separate section of recipes that can be cooked in the pressure cooker to reduce the amount of time needed to spend on the recipe. I will keep updating the techniques as I experiment and find more shortcuts.

One of the recipes that takes a lot of time on the stove top is bottle gourd/dudhi/lauki halwa. Since this is a very water vegetable, it takes a  lot of sauteing to get it cooked and the water evaporated. This method also requires more ghee to sautee it to get a nice cooked flavor before you can add milk to it. If the ghee is less or if the lauki is not well cooked, the halwa may not turn out that tasty. The 30-40 minutes traditional cooking (on low heat to avoid burning) and monitoring is reduced to about 15 minutes hands free process when using the pressure cooker. 

For reference: Here is link to the traditional Dudhi halwa recipe.

Ingredients
2 dudhi/lauki/bottle gourd (had about 3.75 cups), peeled and grated 
1/2 cup liquid from the dudhi/lauki
4 tbsp (1/4 cup)  cup ghee/clarified butter
1.5 cups whole milk
1/8 tsp cardamom
1/8 cup raisins - soak this in a little water
sliced almonds/ cashews 
1 cup sugar (to taste)
Ricotta cheese/ khava - optional

Method
Peel and grate the lauki/dudhi. Keep it aside for 10 mins. It will release a lot of water. Place this grated gourd in a large sieve and drain the grated dudhi and press it to make it a little dry. It doesn't need to be squeezed dry. The intent is to reduce the liquid so that there will be less to evaporate later. Save the liquid. 
In the Instant Pot liner, add 1/4 cup of the saved dudhi liquid and 1/4 tbsp of ghee. Then add a layer of half of the grated dudhi. Then spread a tbsp of ghee on top of this layer. Then add the rest of the grated dudhi in a layer and spread a tbsp of ghee on top of this layer. Add another 1/4 cup of liquid and then close the lid with vent sealed. Cook on manual mode for 5 mins. Then let it stay in warm mode for 2-3 minutes and then release the pressure. Stir it well. The layer touching the bottom may be lightly browned. It will also release some liquid. At this stage if the dudhi is not cooked (it may need more time if it is old) then put it back on manual for a couple more minutes.

Now, switch to the saute mode and let the water evaporate, stirring occasionally so that it doesn't get caught at the bottom and start browning. Then add the milk and stir and cook the dudhi in it, till it evaporates. The milk curdles a bit and the solids are left behind to give a rich mava/khoya flavor. Add mava/khoya if using at this stage. If using ricotta cheese, add it before adding the milk and cook it a little. Then add the sugar. It will melt making the mixture liquid again. Again cook this till the water evaporates. 
Add the last tbsp ghee to give it a rich flavor. Then add the cardamom, raisin and almonds and stir. The halwa is cooked. I prefer to let it cook further so that it caramelizes as I like this flavor better. To do that keep cooking it till it starts to get golden brown. Serve warm or cold.

Tips
You need not squeeze out the liquid, but if you don't then it takes much longer to cook the water out before adding the milk. 

Gulkand Barfi - Rose Fudge

Gulkand are rose petals preserved in sugar. It is made by preserving rose petals with sugar and kept in a glass bottle in the sun till the sugar melts. This preserved mixture is extremely fragrant and delicious and a delicacy. It is meant to give a cooling effect during the summer months.

This sweet recipe came about in an interesting way. My husband had brought Gulkand Barfi from India a few years ago and when we were discussing the menu for Diwali treats this year, he suggested I make it. I had only eaten this sweet that one time. And it had been quite a while since then and I couldn't remember what it was made of.  He told me that it definitely had gulkand and coconut and I would need to figure out the rest.

Well, I started off with sugar and coconut and then added the other ingredients based on the description of the sweet. The end result was extremely delicious and finger licking. I just cannot stop eating it.

Ingredients
3 cups shredded fresh coconut
2.5 cups sugar
1/2 cup gulkand
1 can evaporated milk (12 oz can)
1 packet milk powder (90 gm pack)
2 tsp of milk
2-3 drops red/pink food color (optional)
1-2 tsps of ghee to grease the plate
1-2 drops of rose essence

Method
Take a plate or tray in which you will pour out the barfi and set it and grease it well with ghee.

Mix together the sugar and coconut and heat this. Once the sugar has melted, add the evaporated milk and the milk powder and cook this on low heat, stirring often.  Keep stirring and cook it down till you can see the base of the pan. Add a couple of teaspoons of warm milk to the gulkand and stir it in. Stir it well so that the gulkand liquefies a little so that it can easily be stirred and incorporated into the mixture that is being cooked.

When the mixture thickens enough that when you stir it, the base of the pan can be easily viewed for a few seconds, then the mixture is ready to be poured into the greased plate. At this point add the gulkand and then increase the heat and stirring continuously again cook it down to the consistency where it is ready to be poured onto a greased plate. Turn off the heat, add  the color and essence is using and mix in it thoroughly. Pour the mixture onto the greased plate and using a bowl or measuring cup spread the mixture out into the plate. Make sure to grease the base of the cup with ghee, so that the mixture doesn't stick. Use it to level the mixture and flatten it. Now, let the mixture cool.  When it has cooled to a luke warm temperature, it will solidify a little. At this stage, you can cut it into squares.

Tips
If you want to speed up the cooking process, you can increase the heat but be sure to stand at the stove and keep stirring so that it doesn't brown or stick to the pan.  An alternate method to check if the mixture is at the right consistency is to take a  drop full of the mixture into a plate and as soon as it is cool enough to touch, try to roll it into a ball. If you are able to roll it, then the mixture is ready to be poured. The gulkand is added at the last step and cooked for a minimal time so that is maintains its fragrance. If you take this off the heat a little early and the barfi ends up being soft after cooling completely, you can reheat the mixture. However, you will end up losing the fragrance from the gulkand. So definitely add the essence before you put it into the greased pan. The taste will be the same.

Rose Cashewnut Fig Almond Barfi - Rose Kaju Anjeer Badam barfi

This year I have challenged myself to make some complex sweets which I had usually bought in the past. I have realized that the taste of homemade sweets is so good and I have so much control over the quality of the ingredients that we enjoy it more than the store bought version. This is another decadent sweet. The outer covering is made using cashews and sugar and the process is similar to that of Kaju Katli, which is a Cashew sweet and once you cut into it, you see the inside filling of figs and almonds. This is also a labor and time intensive recipe and you need to keep a close eye on the ingredients but oh so delicious!

Hope you like the recipe and give it a try. If you do, leave me a comment.

Ingredients
1 cup raw cashewnuts
red food coloring
rose essence or rose water
12-14 dried figs
1 tsp ghee
1/4 cup of mava/khoa
1/8 cup of sliced almonds

powdered sugar (measurement in the recipe for cashew covering)

3-4 tbsp powdered sugar for fig mixture (it depends on how sweet the fig paste turns out to be)

Method
Soak the cashews with enough water to cover them completely. Soak the cashews for at least 4-5 hours, overnight would be best. Then drain the water and remove any peels that may have been on the nuts and then rinse them out. Process the cashews to make a fine paste. Add just a little water when you make the paste, just enough to let your grinder function properly. Then, measure an equal quantity of powdered sugar. Mix the cashew paste and sugar and start heating it in a open pan.

Keep stirring the mixture and let it cook. Keep the temperature at a very low level while cooking to avoid any browning. Make sure to keep stirring the two mixtures so that they don't stick to the base of the pan and brown. As the mixture starts thickening, it will get more difficult to stir it around as it gets heavy and sticky. However, it is crucial that at this stage you stir it and do not let it stick to the base and brown. At this stage, test the consistency of the mixture. Take a small drop (it will be hot so be careful) and roll it between your fingers. If you can mould it into a ball (it will be like molten wax) and it retains its shape, then you can take it off the heat. Make sure that the ball is not at all sticky. If it sticks to your fingers even a little, cook it a little longer.

Soak the dry figs for about 15-30 mins and then heat them on the stove top for a few mins till they soften. Then process this through the grinder and make a paste. In a pan, heat the ghee and add the mava. Heat it till it softens and you get the smell of roasting it. Then add the fig paste, sugar and stir well. Cook this mixture till it starts to thicken and then add the sliced almonds. Cook this till it cooks down and becomes pliable like a dough. Remove a small quantity and let it cool down till you can touch it and then try rolling it. If it is not sticky and can be easily rolled into a ball then the mixture is at the right consistency.

Let the mixtures cool to a temperature where you can handle it. Add a couple of drops of red food coloring to the cashew mixture and a couple of drops of rose essence. Knead this into the cashew dough till it is evenly mixed and you have a nice pink color and the dough is a smooth ball.

Then take a fistfull of fig mixture and roll it into a ball. Make a bigger ball of the cashew mixture and then using your fingers make a depression in it and then roll this cashew ball around the fig ball. Cover the fig ball completely with the cashew and then roll this to get a smooth finish. Then flatten it into a thick disk. Slice this into sectors by cutting the disc into eighths along the diameter of the disc. You can make about 4-12 slices based on how big you make the disc.

Garnish with silver foil if available. You can do this before cutting the disc.

You can store it in an airtight container for a couple of weeks. It lasts in the refrigerator for upto a month.

Tips

If you add a lot of water when you grind the paste, then the sugar proportion will be off. Also, since you need to cook it down to a dough consistency, it will take much longer to cook it. The nut paste must be very fine and there shouldn't be any grainy texture. If you are in doubt, use 1 cup of powdered sugar for 1 cup of nuts and if it is granulated, use 3/4 cup of sugar. Granulated sugar will take much longer to melt, and if you process it in the grinder, you can turn it into powdered sugar and use that.

Use a large pan so that the evaporation rate is faster and that will make the cooking process faster. Use a non stick pan so that the mixture will not stick while cooking. The color should not change. Also, as the sugar melts, the mixture will start getting sticky and as the the cooking process comes closer to completion, it will get more difficult to stir it around. If you are cooking a large quantity, then it is advisable to take turns with someone else to stir it. Grease your hands with some ghee/clarified butter before you knead the cashew mixture and also when handling the fig mixture to keep it from sticking to your hands.