Leek risotto tonight*. Cheated and put some real parmesan in as non-rennet hard cheese is becoming hard to find again and I can sort of persuade the wife its akin to wearing leather shoes. Sproglets were not impressed but at least liked my first attempt at mango kulfi.
*Thank you instant pot. Makes it so easy.
*Thank you instant pot. Makes it so easy.
A man after my heart.
Now I have to clean my screen again.
I then looked it up.
Love the name, had no idea,
Look up 'Aam Ras', typically pulped mangoes, milk, a touch of ghee, and about one crushed cardamom per liter of finished product.
That is the basic version, many more fancy / complex versions exist.
It should be available in the UK as ready packed item in the frozen goods section of the supermarkets where Indians do their shopping, it is a Gujarati origin preparation.
You may have to look around, or ask the Indian store people.
Cans, I don't know, it is sold in pouches or ice cream like cartons here, very popular as freshly prepared in summer here in Gujarat.
The prepared and packed product uses different mangoes than the ones I like, so it feels off to me, that is my opinion really.
You can try adding mango pulp to condensed milk and freezing it as kulfi.
The proper way used to be 'Rabdi' / 'Rabri' / 'Rabarhi', basically sweetened milk, reduced to granular consistency, cooled to ambient, mango pulp blended in, and then frozen.
Expect three hours of constant stirring and simmering to make a proper 'Rabdi'....
I know your wife is of Indian descent, I have the other members in mind.
That is the basic version, many more fancy / complex versions exist.
It should be available in the UK as ready packed item in the frozen goods section of the supermarkets where Indians do their shopping, it is a Gujarati origin preparation.
You may have to look around, or ask the Indian store people.
Cans, I don't know, it is sold in pouches or ice cream like cartons here, very popular as freshly prepared in summer here in Gujarat.
The prepared and packed product uses different mangoes than the ones I like, so it feels off to me, that is my opinion really.
You can try adding mango pulp to condensed milk and freezing it as kulfi.
The proper way used to be 'Rabdi' / 'Rabri' / 'Rabarhi', basically sweetened milk, reduced to granular consistency, cooled to ambient, mango pulp blended in, and then frozen.
Expect three hours of constant stirring and simmering to make a proper 'Rabdi'....
I know your wife is of Indian descent, I have the other members in mind.
Last edited:
Premature pic of tonights dinner. Julia Child's casserole roasted chicken with aromatics. Just finished on the stove top and headed into the oven. Sweet potato mire poix, garlic, rosemary, sage, bay leaf. Deglaze with dry vermouth and into the oven, covered to keep in all the good aromas!
I know my choice of using vermouth is different, however I hosted a black tie "Dirty Marty" party and of course guests brought various gin and vodka for their favorite drinks. One friend of mine brought me a 1.5L of Martini & Rossi. Well, I still have over half that bottle of vermouth and even though I enjoy a Django Reinhardt cocktail, I still can't fathom using 1.5L of vermouth!
Then it made its way from my bar to the kitchen. It's essentially an aromatic wine. Thought about it and honestly any recipe where white wine is used as an ingredient dry vermouth works very well. French onion soup, especially. Just for scale, this is what 1.5L of vermouth looks like, lol
Chicken is about done. Late dinners are my favorite. Have a few drinks, eat good, feel good, listen to records, enjoy life!
Cheers!
I know my choice of using vermouth is different, however I hosted a black tie "Dirty Marty" party and of course guests brought various gin and vodka for their favorite drinks. One friend of mine brought me a 1.5L of Martini & Rossi. Well, I still have over half that bottle of vermouth and even though I enjoy a Django Reinhardt cocktail, I still can't fathom using 1.5L of vermouth!
Then it made its way from my bar to the kitchen. It's essentially an aromatic wine. Thought about it and honestly any recipe where white wine is used as an ingredient dry vermouth works very well. French onion soup, especially. Just for scale, this is what 1.5L of vermouth looks like, lol
Chicken is about done. Late dinners are my favorite. Have a few drinks, eat good, feel good, listen to records, enjoy life!
Cheers!
My God Man... you are a chef and drinker after my own heart.
Martini Dry, Lagunitas Maximus IPA and that chicken.
You sure we're not related? ;-D
Tomorrow I'll post pictures of tonight's dinner... lentejas con chorizo ( lentis with Spanish chorizo )... this "cold" weather is good for stuff like this.
Ever done pot chicken Japanese style? With winter melon, daikon, dashi, soyu and sake? It's also fantastic.
I'm thinking of making a chicken like yours but I'll add pearl onions and okra towards the last hour.
We're about 360 miles from each other!
Martini Dry, Lagunitas Maximus IPA and that chicken.
You sure we're not related? ;-D
Tomorrow I'll post pictures of tonight's dinner... lentejas con chorizo ( lentis with Spanish chorizo )... this "cold" weather is good for stuff like this.
Ever done pot chicken Japanese style? With winter melon, daikon, dashi, soyu and sake? It's also fantastic.
I'm thinking of making a chicken like yours but I'll add pearl onions and okra towards the last hour.
We're about 360 miles from each other!
Last edited:
Sort of. I should note I cheat and do not make my own condensed milk. Life is too short. But I said sort of because I didn't freeze the bowl long enough so it only really chilled it down, but enough to then freeze. Of course the pukka way is to freeze the dalek moulds and pour the mixture in, but I don't have the moulds.
@NareshBrd unfortunately Rabri to a western ear sounds like 'rubbery' and to the western palate tastes rubbery. I eat eat when my mother in law makes it, but wouldn't do it at home. I learned a long time ago that the way to be a good son in law is to turn up hungry, eat everything put in front of you and say it is delicious. Has worked for me for last few decades.
Today we've made some Palak paneer to go in the freezer for during the week and Pav Bhaji for tonight or tomorrow. Missed a trick as could have saved some time doing in the instant pot, but will try that next time. From what I understand Pav Bhaji is a street food originally from the portugese sector of India (around Mumbai). When the invaders left they had introduced fluffy white bread rolls to the area which are fried with butter and used as edible spoons. I've got a loaf of semiwhite bread in the bread machine (about 7% bran left with some sesame seeds chucked in for good measure). If you are on a low carb and low fat diet this is not the meal for you!
Pav Bhaji is said to have evolved as a walking to and from work food for the textile mill workers of Bombay, they used to live in buildings called 'chawl' or 'chaali', there was sometimes running water, and toilets were at one end of the floor.
The rooms were tiny, barely enough for a couple, a platform along one wall served as kitchen and storage area.
Closest analogy would be railway compartments...passage on one side, and toilet / bath at the end.
The buildings were owned by the mill owners or labor suppliers for the most part, and in the starting days most workers were young bachelors from distant villages who could barely cook.
So they ate off the street from low priced shops, and main meal was in the mill canteen.
Pav is basically a square bun, the bhaaji has many variations, basically mashed potatoes, tomatoes and seasonal vegetables in a spicy base.
Cheese is a popular add on, and many places offer Amul butter as the cooking medium (as an option).
Amul is a salted rennet butter, very popular here, more or less the reference butter in India.
There is a close relative of Pav Bhaaji in South Africa, called 'bunny chow', a whole (unsliced) loaf of bread is cut from the top, and a choice of spicy gravy dishes poured in...vegetable, chicken, lamb, beef etc. and served on a paper plate, again a stand-up or walk away dish.
Cal, we do not have a tradition of churning our milk based sweets, that is a rarity, as are mousse like items.
Churning equipment is used for separating butter from milk, or to make buttermilk / lassi.
Sweets are served at room temperature, , sometimes warm or chilled, and except Kulfi they are rarely frozen.
Kulfi to me tastes best above melting temperature.
'Barfi' and similar items are made from milk solids, there is a large range on offer, with ingredients like rose petals and pumpkins (!) at times, depending on season and region.
The rooms were tiny, barely enough for a couple, a platform along one wall served as kitchen and storage area.
Closest analogy would be railway compartments...passage on one side, and toilet / bath at the end.
The buildings were owned by the mill owners or labor suppliers for the most part, and in the starting days most workers were young bachelors from distant villages who could barely cook.
So they ate off the street from low priced shops, and main meal was in the mill canteen.
Pav is basically a square bun, the bhaaji has many variations, basically mashed potatoes, tomatoes and seasonal vegetables in a spicy base.
Cheese is a popular add on, and many places offer Amul butter as the cooking medium (as an option).
Amul is a salted rennet butter, very popular here, more or less the reference butter in India.
There is a close relative of Pav Bhaaji in South Africa, called 'bunny chow', a whole (unsliced) loaf of bread is cut from the top, and a choice of spicy gravy dishes poured in...vegetable, chicken, lamb, beef etc. and served on a paper plate, again a stand-up or walk away dish.
Cal, we do not have a tradition of churning our milk based sweets, that is a rarity, as are mousse like items.
Churning equipment is used for separating butter from milk, or to make buttermilk / lassi.
Sweets are served at room temperature, , sometimes warm or chilled, and except Kulfi they are rarely frozen.
Kulfi to me tastes best above melting temperature.
'Barfi' and similar items are made from milk solids, there is a large range on offer, with ingredients like rose petals and pumpkins (!) at times, depending on season and region.
Last edited:
Great minds think alike! Maybe its because we're both Californian, lol!
I don't cook a lot of Asian foods as the sauce and spice base is not normally in my inventory aside from the basics like gochujang, sesame oil, rice vinegar, hoisin sauce, etm. I do enjoy a good bowl of ramen, though! Its just not in my wheelhouse. European dishes are my mainstay. French, Italian, Portuguese, even some German, but mostly Mediterranean as I'm at the same latitude and have the same ingredients available.
I do enjoy a good burger and thankfully have a great BBQ place close by. This is an off menu burger, 1/2lb patty, brisket, tri-tip, bacon, rib meat, fried onions, etm. Was a damn good lunch and the heartburn and indigestion lasted me to cover dinner too, lol!
(1) We got an In;N;Out about a mile from home... so that covers our burgers and fries. We'll go get a pile of protein style grilled/raw onions Double Doubles and a bunch of their fries. Bring them home and open a good bottle of wine ( or beers )... grab the ketchup and sriracha and that makes a pretty good dinner.
A couple of times I bought some Prime Grade rib eyes and I made burgers with them... used my meat grinder and generous with Lawry's salt. Being freshly ground I grilled them to medium rear only. Those were the best burgers I've ever had. Only 8 oz per person was all we needed.
(2) I have a prejudice with onion rings. When we came from the Old Country, I recall being served onion rings... I thought they were calamari (which I love)... on the first bite, I was so shocked and disappointing that I developed a reflex on them. I mean, I like them, but calamari... aahh....
(3) As I got older, I quit eating lunch and breakfast. Only on weekends will I do breakfast.. usually a croissant with my own home made (low sugar) jams. I exchange the food for coffee.... God Bless my Profitec 500.
Good food for COLD WEATHER...
I know how cold it is up there today. Been hearing it from family in the Puget Sound.
Yes, cold is the right word.
I'm starting to smell. Someone, in their infinite wisdom, decided to reposition the hot water tank in the laundry room and ran the pex pipes up into the attic, over and back down. With this cold spell, we've been without hot water since Thursday.
Yes, the lasanga went over quite well. Hanh's two sisters and their families plus our next door neighbour all got some and the reviews are more than encouraging.
That alone warms the heart.
I'm starting to smell. Someone, in their infinite wisdom, decided to reposition the hot water tank in the laundry room and ran the pex pipes up into the attic, over and back down. With this cold spell, we've been without hot water since Thursday.
Yes, the lasanga went over quite well. Hanh's two sisters and their families plus our next door neighbour all got some and the reviews are more than encouraging.
That alone warms the heart.
Cal,
I would be worried about a leak after the pipes thaw.
So I would actually shut off the hot water valves, open their side drains and a bathroom faucet. But I suspect you know all that already.
Of course for the future a heat tape might be in order.
Best of luck.
One place I briefly lived got me heating a large pot of boiling water every morning to get ready for the day.
ES
I would be worried about a leak after the pipes thaw.
So I would actually shut off the hot water valves, open their side drains and a bathroom faucet. But I suspect you know all that already.
Of course for the future a heat tape might be in order.
Best of luck.
One place I briefly lived got me heating a large pot of boiling water every morning to get ready for the day.
ES