Amarula Phirni

Phirni is India's version of rice pudding. Made from ground rice and served in traditional earthen bowls called shikoras, it is a bowl of nostalgia for any Indian. I pondered hard on how to spin this lovely dessert without losing its integrity. And for that I turned to my favourite liqueur - Amarula.



Being in New Zealand, I couldn't really find traditional shikoras, but I thought these tart shells are the perfect vessels. It provides a nice crunchy texture and cuts the richness of the dessert. And I am a big fan of edible bowls.



Recipe:

1. Rinse 1/4 cup basmatic rice and drain. Grind the rice till the consistency resembles coarse semolina
2. In a saucepan, bring 1ltr of milk to boil
3. Once the milk boils, add ground rice and 1 cup of sugar and stir
4. Stir till the milk reduces to about 50% and turn off the heat
5. Once the mixture is cooled to room temperature, add a generous amount of Amarula and stir
6. Refrigerate for 2-3 hrs to let it set
7. Serve on store bought tart shells with a sprinkle of cinnamon or cocoa  

Amarula can obviously substitued for any cream based liqueur you have, like Irish Cream or Sheridan.

You can also flavour the milk with cardamom. In case you cannot find tart shells I'd recommend serving these on Biscotti

#Foodventures!

It's been a while since our last post and a lot has changed in that time. We packed up and moved 14500kms east. We moved from a country with the world's second largest human population, to a country with more sheep than human beings. New Zealand is a land of beauty, fresh produce and adventure. And keeping New Zealand in mind, we have decided to share a recipe that we feel best represents the country - sweet, pretty and adventurous.

Tres Leche cake with candied bacon frosting

A Tres Leche ( Spanish for 3 milks) cake is a sponge cake soaked in three variations of milk; condensed, evaporated and full cream. What sets this cake apart (besides how awesomely delicious it is) is it's unique texture that makes it moist without being soggy.

For the cake:
1/2 cup of melted butter, cooked to room temperature
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
5eggs
1 cup castor sugar
1tsp vanilla extract

For the soaking liquid:
1 can condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk*
1 cup whole milk (full cream milk)

*evaporated milk is milk that is cooked down to allow more than 50%of it's water content to evaporate. If you can't find a can, you can make your own or use a substitute:

Make your own: Simmer 2 cups of regular milk down to 1 cup to give you one cup of evaporated milk
Substitute: Take some milk powder and reconstitute it using only 40% of the recommended water.

Preheat the oven to 175°C

In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients. In a larger bowl, beat eggs and sugar till well combined. The eggs would turn a pale yellow colour. Add vanilla. Now gradually add the flour mix and fold to combine. It's always a good idea to add the flour in batches. Fold in the melted butter until incorporated.

Butter a baking dish and transfer the batter. Bake for 30-40 mins or till a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Whisk together the milks. With a fork or skewer, poke the warm cake all over. Make sure you make sufficient holes as the luscious milk mixture will drop into the cake through this. Now pour the milk mixture over the cake. Don't panic if the cake is fully submerged in the milk, it will absorb all the liquid eventually. Set aside as let it cool.

For the frosting, whip 250 ml cream and 1/4 cup sugar together. Spread it over the cooled cake.

Finely chop the bacon. Add it to a hot pan and let it cook till the fat renders and becomes crispy. Add sugar and let it caramelize with the bacon. Remove from pan and let it cool on a silicon mat. Once cool, using a rolling pin, crush the bacon. Dust the crumbs on the frosted cake.

We have just given you the first taste of our food adventure. As we start our new adventure, we want to hear about yours as well. We would like to hear about your adventures with food - it could be anything from interesting anecdotes to tips to recipes. We like to hear anything out of the ordinary that you experienced with food, like my Tres Leche cake with bacon. Remember to use the hashtag #foodventures. For more information check out Youtube http://bit.ly/fvvideol or the website  http://bit.ly/fvmsl  

Aamras Tarts

Look at these beauties! Just the sight of them make me smile. I think these pictures will brighten up anybody's gloomy day. And to think I clicked it during Mumbai's dull rains. I am extremely proud of my photography skills in this post. So proud that I've forgotten to talk about the actual recipe...oops!



So I had the last of the mangoes lying in my fridge. My father went on a mango hoarding spree once the monsoon set in. He actually bought 10kgs of mangoes! By the time I was down to my last on I couldn't stand to eat another bite. So I thought, how could I innovate with this poor fella. I didn't want to make the same old boring cheesecake. Then it struck me...why not aamras with a twist? I basically had ready made tart shells that I bought from a local farsan shop, so I whipped these up for a quick tea time treat

If you're not from India, aamras is basically mango pulp that's whipped to a silky, deliciously thick puree and sometimes sweetened with sugar. It is just divine!



Makes approx 10 tartlets
1 large mango
1tbsp honey (replacing sugar with honey to make this healthy!)
10 tart shells*

*You can buy these at any local bakery or the bakery section in the supermarket. I got mine from Trupti Farsan.



Cut the mango in half and scoop out all the pulp. Make sure you don't lose any of the oozing juices. In a blender, add the pulp and a spoon of honey. Blend for 30secs till the pulp is nice and creamy. Spoon it over tart shells or nacho chips or toasted bread or what have you. Sprinkle some chilli flakes (mango and chilli are like Adam and Eve) to give a nice kick (optional) and enjoy!

Pork Vindaloo Spare Ribs

Yes you heard that correctly. Your favourite goan dish also makes a pretty kickass spare ribs. Think of it like vindaloo on a stick. Shrey and I greedily chowed on these babies on a dull rainy day...and it's really really yum!

The authentic vindaloo is not fiery, its supposed to be spicy and tangy.I hope a bite of this will take you back to Goa or Christmas celebrations.



Serves 2

Approx. 6 pieces of pork ribs
For the vindaloo masala:
15 Kashmiri chillies
2 large onions
6 cloves of garlic
1" ginger
2 tsp jeera (cumin)
1 tsp haldi (tumeric) powder
1" bark of cinnamon
6-10 peppers
3-6 cloves
150ml vinegar



Goans use a tradional vinegar made of either coconut or toddy. If you can get your hands on some, use it instead of the regular  white vinegar. It will really elevate your dish.

In a mixer, grind the masala ingredients to form a paste. Rub this masala on the ribs and allow to marinate over night.



Cook the ribs in a pressure cooker for approx 30mins. The meat will be so tender that you can literally pull the bone out. Now you can serve the ribs as in, or brown it off in a pan with some oil.