1,000 Indian Recipes (318 page)

Authors: Neelam Batra

2.
Place the milk in a medium wok or saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the puréed almonds and cook, stirring, over medium heat, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the pudding thickens, 20 to 25 minutes.

3.
Mix in the sugar, cardamom seeds, and saffron and continue to simmer until the pudding is the consistency you desire, 10 to 20 minutes. Add more milk if the pudding is too thick. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with dessert masala. Refrigerate at least 4 hours and serve chilled.

Yellow Split Chickpea Pudding

Channa Dal Payasam

Makes 4 to 6 servings

This
payasam
is made with yellow split chickpeas (
channa dal
) and coconut milk. Thanks to the nutritional content of the
dal
, this pudding is considered an appropriate way to break a religious fast. Its smoky-sweet taste comes from the jaggery and is so good, it has to be tasted to be believed.

¹⁄
₄cup
Coconut Milk
(or store-bought)

3 tablespoons dried yellow split chickpeas (channa dal), sorted and washed in 3 to 4 changes of water

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped raw cashews

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped golden raisins

¹⁄
₄cup water

3 cups whole milk

¹⁄
₄cup ground jaggery (gur) or dark brown sugar

¹⁄
₂teaspoon ground green cardamom seeds

1.
Prepare the coconut milk. Then, in a bowl, soak the dal in water to cover by 2 inches, 3 to 4 hours. In a large, heavy wok or saucepan, dry-roast the cashews and raisins over medium heat until golden.

2.
Add the dal and the water and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan, and simmer until the dal is soft and the water has evaporated, about 5 minutes.

3.
Add the milk and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until reduced by O, 25 to 30 minutes. Add the coconut milk and jaggery and cook, stirring, until the pudding is thick and creamy, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish, sprinkle with the cardamom seeds, and serve warm, or refrigerate at least 4 hours and serve chilled.

Traditional Bread Pudding Bites

Shahi Tukri

Makes 24 pieces

Shahitukri
, the Indian name for this dessert, translates literally as "royal pieces"—the royalty in this case coming from the calorie-rich, creamy interior of each bite-sized morsel. Its richness is the reason why
shahi tukri
is served in small pieces.

Shahitukri
is not a true pudding, but I'm calling it one because it has the feel of a pudding due to the addition of
rabdi
(creamy, sweet, thickened milk).

¹⁄
₂cup
Dessert Masala

1 quart half-and-half

1 teaspoon coarsely ground green cardamom seeds

1 cup sugar, or to taste

2 drops rose essence

2 to 3 cups peanut oil for deep-frying

18 slices thin white sandwich bread, crusts removed, cut into 4 squares

1.
Prepare the dessert masala. Then, in a large, heavy wok or saucepan, bring the half-and-half to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring and scraping the sides of the wok often, until the milk is reduced by about half, 25 to 35 minutes. Mix in the cardamom seeds, sugar, rose essence, and all but 1 tablespoon of the dessert masala, and remove from heat.

2.
Heat the oil in a large wok over medium-high heat until it reaches 325°F to 350°F on a frying thermometer or until a piece of bread dropped into the hot oil rises to the top after 15 to 20 seconds. Add as many bread squares as the wok can hold at one time without crowding, and fry until golden. (This will happen almost instantly.) Transfer to paper towels to drain.

3.
In a large flat-bottomed serving dish, arrange 24 of the fried bread pieces side by side in a single layer. Spoon a little of the thickened half-and-half mixture over each piece. Top each with another piece of fried bread and spoon some half-and-half over once again. Repeat one more time, using up all the bread pieces and the half-and-half mixture, making a total of 3 layers. (The pudding may seem a little watery at first, but the bread with absorb all the sauce as it cools.)

4.
Garnish with the reserved dessert masala, cover with plastic wrap or the lid of the dish, and refrigerate at least 4 hours until chilled. Serve straight from the dish, or remove the pieces, keeping the stacks intact, and arrange them on another platter.

French Roll Bread Pudding

Lambi Dubble-Roti kae Shahi Tukrae

Makes 4 to 6 servings

A specialty of my sister-in-law, Reita, this variation of
Traditional Bread Pudding Bites
uses crusty, long, thin French bread instead of regular white bread. The chewy
tukris
(pieces), piled one on top of the other, create a lovely presentation and taste divine.

Deep-fried and soaked in a fragrant condensed milk syrup, this recipe is what I call a calorie grenade.

¹⁄
₄cup
Dessert Masala

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

¹⁄
₂teaspoon ground green cardamom seeds

2 to 3 cups peanut oil for deep-frying

1 pound long French bread or rolls, cut into 2-by-1-inch pieces

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

4 to 6 (4-inch) silver leaves

1.
Prepare the dessert masala. Place the evaporated milk in a large microwave-safe bowl and cook on high power 4 minutes, to reduce the milk by about a third. Mix in the condensed milk and cook another 4 minutes on high power. Remove from the microwave and mix in the cardamom seeds.

2.
Heat the oil in a large wok over medium-high heat until it reaches 325°F to 350°F on a frying thermometer, or until a piece of bread dropped into the hot oil rises to the top after 15 to 20 seconds. Add the bread pieces, in 2 or 3 batches, and fry, turning each piece until crisp and golden, about 1 minute per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

3.
Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan and boil over high heat, 2 to 3 minutes. Keep the pan on low heat and, using tongs, dip each fried piece of bread in the sugar syrup and transfer to a serving platter. Arrange all the pieces in an overlapping manner, making a mound or a plateau.

4.
Pour the thickened milk mixture evenly over the mound in a thin stream, making sure all the pieces are covered. Garnish with silver leaves and dessert masala. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate at least 4 hours, and serve chilled.

Traditional Thickened Milk Pudding

Rabdi

Makes 4 to 6 servings

True
rabdi
is simply milk that has been brought to a boil and then simmered until most of the water evaporates, and it is thick and creamy. Mixed with sugar, nuts such as almonds and pistachios, and flavorings,
rabdi
is a dessert in itself. It is also used to make other Indian desserts.
Rabdi
is incredible when served as a sauce over grilled, stewed, or poached fruits—try it with pineapples, apples, pears, mangoes, peaches, and nectarines. When frozen, it transforms into
Kulfi
(
Indian Ice Cream
).

¹⁄
₂gallon whole milk

¹⁄
₄cup sugar, or to taste

¹⁄
₂teaspoon ground green cardamom seeds

2 to 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped raw pistachios

1.
Place the milk in a large, heavy wok or skillet and bring to a boil over high heat. Continue to boil, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring and scraping the bottom and sides of the wok often, until the milk is reduced by at least I, about 45 minutes. You should be left with about 2 cups of thickened milk. (It should have a few lumps.)

2.
Mix in the sugar and cardamom seeds and cook, stirring, until the sugar melts and thins down the pudding, and then until the pudding thickens again, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with the pistachios. Refrigerate at least 4 hours and serve.

Microwave Milk Pudding

Microwave mein bani Rabdi

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ever since I discovered the microwave oven, making
rabdi
has become very easy. You still have to watch carefully and stir, but much less frequently, and there is much less clean-up required.

My modified
rabdi
still reflects the authentic grainy texture that results when raw milk is used, as it is in India. (Raw milk develops a characteristic light grain as moisture evaporates and the milk thickens.) Here in America, with the widespread use of homogenized milk, I include some ricotta cheese, which adds a grain—or
daana
as it is called in Hindi.