An Invitation to Indian Cooking - Madhur Jaffrey [111]
To serve: Run a warm knife along the inside of each cup or container to remove the kulfi. (You may need to pour warm water on the outside to loosen it.) Serve individual portions on small chilled plates.
Gajar-ka-halva
SERVES 8
In this carrot halva, the carrots are completely unrecognizable. Milk and grated carrots are cooked until they become a dryish homogeneous mass. Sugar (and, if you like, lightly fried raisins and nuts) are then added, and the dish is served warm or at room temperature.
4 cups milk
2 pounds carrots, peeled and grated
2 cardamom pods
10 tablespoons vegetable oil or usli ghee
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon each lightly fried raisins and almonds (optional)
1 cup heavy cream (optional)
Put the milk, grated carrots, and cardamom pods in a 10-inch heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until no liquid is left. This may take about 30 minutes.
Add the oil, turn the heat down slightly, and start frying the carrot-milk mixture, stirring all the time. Continue until the carrots turn a reddish brown. This may take 30 to 40 minutes.
Add sugar and, if you like, raisins and almonds. Cook, stirring, another 2 minutes. Turn off heat. Allow halva to cool. Cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.
To serve: This halva can be warmed or served at room temperature. In India, it is often served with clotted cream—the cream that forms when unhomogenized milk is boiled. You could, if you like, serve it with heavy cream just lightly whipped so it doubles in bulk.
Broiled bananas
SERVES 4
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 very firm large bananas
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon blanched slivered almonds
Preheat the broiler.
Brush a small, flameproof baking dish (a small aluminum or foil tray will do) with half the butter. Split the bananas in half, lengthwise, and lay them in the dish. Mix the lemon and orange juice and pour it over the bananas. Brush the bananas with the remaining butter, and sprinkle with brown sugar.
Place under broiler for about 4 minutes or until bananas are lightly browned. Sprinkle almond slivers over bananas and put them under broiler for another minute or two, or until almonds are browned. Remove from broiler.
To serve: Serve the bananas hot. This dish should be prepared just before eating.
Fried dates
SERVES 4–6
This simple dessert is popular among the Bohris of Gujarat. If you like dates and chewy, sticky caramely things, you will love this. It takes just a few minutes to make and should be cooked just before serving.
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or usli ghee
2 cups (8 ounces) pitted good-quality dates
1 tablespoon slivered unsalted pistachios
1 cup heavy cream
Heat the oil in a 10-inch skillet over a medium flame. When hot, put in the dates. Stir them around for 10 to 20 seconds. Remove with slotted spoon and place in serving dish.
Add pistachios to cream and put in serving pitcher.
To serve: Pass around the dates as well as the pitcher with the cream and nuts. The cream should be poured over the hot dates.
Shahi tukra
SERVES 4
This popular dessert is made out of white bread rectangles, milk, and saffron.
3 whole cardamom pods, slightly crushed
4 cups milk
2 teaspoons sugar plus 1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon leaf saffron, roasted and crumbled
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 slices of stale homemade-type white bread, ¾ inch thick, crusts removed, and each slice cut into 4 rectangles
GARNISH
Vark, if available
1 tablespoon sliced blanched almonds
1 tablespoon slivered unsalted pistachios
Put the cardamom pods and 1 cup of the milk into a small pot and bring to a boil. Turn off heat. Add 2 teaspoons of sugar and the saffron. Mix. Set aside.
In another pot (heavy-bottomed) bring the other 3 cups of milk to a boil. Turn heat down and reduce milk by half to 1½ cups (see note). This may take 35 to 45