Blanc Mange with Indian Flavors

Almond Blanc Mange

What u need...

       3 cups        - Milk, divided

   1/4 cup       - Cornstarch

   2 tbsp        - Badam (Almond) powder

   1/2 cup      - White Sugar

   1 teaspoon - Vanilla extract 

   2               - Cinnamon sticks

   1               - lemon peel, cut into strips

   1 pinch       - ground cinnamon (optional)

   3 ounces     - shaved semisweet chocolate, for garnish (optional)

What u do...

• Place 1 cup of the milk into a saucepan. Add lemon peel and cinnamon sticks. Bring milk to a simmer over medium heat. 
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, badam powder and sugar. Whisk remaining milk into this cornstarch & badam mixture. When the milk in the pan begins to simmer, pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan in a thin steady stream. Whisk vigorously and increase heat just a bit to bring the mixture to a gentle boil. Allow the mixture to boil for about 20 seconds while continuing to whisk, then remove from heat. Remove the lemon peel and cinnamon sticks. Stir in the pinch of cinnamon and the vanilla. 
• Pour into a dish or mold, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight. Garnish with shaved chocolate just before serving.

Tips:

1. Almond Powder or Badam Powder is readily available in market. or u can even make it at home and prepare as below,

        [ 1 cup almonds lightly roasted and grinded into fine powder, 1/2 cup sugar, 5-6 pods of cardamoms, a pinch of saffron (optional). Mix all the above mentioned ingredients and grind to fine powder and store in airtight containers. ]

2. You can use fresh milk or boiled milk for the dessert, though i prefer fresh milk.

3. Don't forget to strain the milk before the mixture starts to turns thick, for the removal of cinnamon sticks

4. You ca also use cardamom instead of cinnamon sticks as each has its own unique flavors 

5. Garnishing can be according to you wish , u can even serve with fresh cream , whipped cream or even fresh fruits

Cream Pudding with Mixed Fruits stew in Strawberry puree

For all the sweet tooth's here's my recipe for a simple dessert...

Cream Pudding with Mixed fruits stew in Strawberry puree

What u need is,

for Cream base:

      condensed milk  - 1 tin

      milk                      - 2 tins

      china grass         - 10 gms

      fresh cream         - 1/2 tin (optional)

      water                    -  1 cup

      vanilla extract      - 1 tsp

for the fruit stew:

      All seasonal fruits  - diced into small pieces

      Strawberries          - 200 gms

      milk                         - 11/2 cup

      sugar                      - 3 tbsp

What u do!

Firstly u can decide if u need the fruit stew as a sauce or as a layer for your dessert. Here i have taken it as layer for my dessert.

for the base cream layer,

• First mix the milk and the condensed milk in a skillet (a heavy bottom pan)
• Soak the china grass sheets in the one cup water ((wash the sheets in running water before soaking))
• Place the milk mix on medium heat and keep stirring continuously 
• Once warm whisk in the fresh cream and mix thoroughly by stirring continuously
• Meanwhile bring the soaked china grass into a liquid consistency by a double boil 
• Now when the milk mixture is homogeneous and warm add in the china grass to it and keep stirring and make sure that it melts in completely and homogeneously
• Once the mixture starts thickening remove form heat and add vanilla extract and mix well 
• Cool down the mix to room temperature by placing on cold water and keep stirring 
• Transfer this mix into the dish and refrigerate till it sets

fruit stew: 

• take the strawberries and puree them 
• take the puree in a pan and add milk and sugar to this and cook on medium heat for about a minute
• add the finely diced fruits to the above mix and cok the fruits in the milk plus strawberry mix
• once the mix gets curdy, take from heat and cool to room temperature
• then pour the cooled fruit stew over the cream layer that will be already set by now and refrigerate
• The dessert can be dressed with fresh cream and fresh strawberries

My notes:

1. u can use gelatin instead of china grass, ((use about 2 tbsp gelatin powder soaked in 1/2 cup cold water))
2. u can use any seasonal fruits available and i used strawberry for puree as kids would love them
3. the fruit stew can be used as the base layer and can be freezed before adding the cream layer on top
4. if u need to set the fruit stew u can use gelatin in tat mix too instead of freezing it..
5. Enjoy!! :)

     

The beginning....

I always wanted a perfect ending... Now i've learned the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle and end. life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it all, without knowing what's going to happen next....

in my case it all started with a dream..a dream that woke me up into the present..my life..my reality......that gave me strength to live through this ..and when its over i shall be all happy and secured...and eventually i'll get to be myself...

Hence as a part of being myself...in this new year 2012 i am starting to blog and as one of my good friend told me if i plan to start bogging then The best way to learn it, is by trying it.. feel free to experiment, feel comfortable to make errors.. and so i am here to learn ..and to make mistakes... ;)

Firstly lemme start by my favorite hobby..cooking... its been an amazing feeling whenever i get into my kitchen and start cooking from scratch...cooking makes me feel good in fact more than happy when i see my dish taking its shape....

I have been watching all the wonderful and gifted chefs around the world for long time and have always been fascinated by their ways in the kitchen and awestruck by the beautiful dishes they produce...

Thus i start by thanking God for all the wonderful cooks at my house starting from my dear mother & Indira,my nanny, who taught me the first lessons of cooking and helped me through the pains of cuts & bruises of a beginner and finally made me feel proud when i created a dish of my own... Your lessons and guidance is my one step to success.

Secondly to all my wonderful aunties who have been renowned cooks who inspired me into world class cuisines..who taught me how to bake my first batch of dough's...

Last but never the least my loved ones, my friends, who have always loved me for who & what i am and has been with me whenever i needed them and helped me into becoming a better person.