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I’m pretty sure I don’t have much to say in this post, so of course I’m going to try and say it in as many words as possible. It’s obligatory to do so, the First Law of Writing (except that it’s always been an unwritten law, ironically) which I am now vocalising via the written word. The self-styled “expert” analysts who contribute to newspapers, especially in the political and economic areas, are the most obvious propagators of this law. The less you have to say, the more verbose you get. You might have noticed that your favourite writer pretty much always leaves you wanting more. On the other hand, the boring ones just as predictably can lay an entire rainforest’s worth of trees to waste with just one article.
Now I’m beginning to feel like A A Gill, the food and restaurant critic of The Times. He’s supposed to review different restaurants but usually writes for more than half the article (every single time, too) about something completely irrelevant and as far off the topic of food and restaurants as... let’s say, as far off as Big Brother is from an intelligent programme. As one of his readers put it: “I think I finally have the hang of an AA Gill "restaurant review". Talk about something that has nothing whatsoever to do with restaurants (hernia operations, personal loves and loathes, politicians, etc.) and then, at the end, write the name, address and a brief, caustic opinion.
Louise, London, UK”
So, now that we have the “nothing much to say” out of the way, let me say a few brief words about this biscuit/cookie: It’s eggless, it’s nice, it was made by my cousin Hema during her visit to Shrewsbury, and she took it home with her so that her lucky parents could have a taste of her first baking efforts.
That’s all I really had to say in the first place.
Recipe for: Cranberry orange cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/8 cup milk
3 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tbsp yogurt
1-1/2 cups plain/all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped nuts (we used pistachios and cashewnuts)
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.
2. Cream together the sugar and butter in a large bowl.
3. Stir in milk, orange juice and yogurt.
4. Stir in flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
Add cranberries and nuts
and stir lightly into the dough.
4. Form dough into balls (approximate will do) with slightly wetted fingers and drop onto cookie sheet.
5. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until light brown around the edges.
Immediately remove from cookie sheet and cool.
I wont beat around the bush re the milestone (Hey, I HEARD those sighs of relief!) - this is my 250th post! A record that wont mean much to anybody but me, but it IS a personal achievement because I've kept this blog going for quite a while. It's a good feeling because I'm not normally known for sticking with something once started. Doing this blog has been a lot of fun, and I expect I'll be going for a while yet.
I decided to make carrot halwa for my 250th post for two reasons - one, I dont make too many Indian sweets, and two, this recipe comes from my friend KiwiGee, in New Zealand. I'd pestered her for more recipes to try, and she sent me some. Of course what happened was that I sat firmly on those recipes, waiting for an opportunity to make them, in the meantime making her wonder if I'd forgotten! But then she sent a completely unsolicited recipe - for carrot halwa, and I decided that would be the perfect way to salute both my milestone and her contribution.
This is the first time I've made carrot halwa and I found the recipe very easy. It's also fairly quick to make, plus the ingredients are easily available abroad. A boon for those who arent close to Indian shops.
I made two slight changes to the recipe - one, I halved the quantity. One kilo of carrots would have been way too much! As it turned out, even half a kilo was a lot. And two, I added golden raisins along with the cashews. Carrots are just MADE to go with raisins (or possibly the other way around... whatever). And the halwa was gorgeous. Dont take my word for it, try it and see for yourself.
Recipe for: Kiwi Gee's carrot halwa
Ingredients:
1/2 kg fresh carrots (washed and grated)
1 tbsp ghee
Clove, cardamom powder (1/2 tsp)
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk (I used Nestle Light)
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
Cashews - 10
Golden raisins - about 20
Method:
1. Put the ghee in a kadai and fry the cashews and raisins till they go light brown.
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Keep aside.
2. In the ghee remaining in the pan, add the grated carrot in and keep ‘frying’ until all the ‘liquid’ in the carrot has evaporated and it is almost cooked (the carrots will change colour from bright orange to pale yellowish-orange - see photo below).
3. Then add in the ricotta cheese (if in India, you’d be adding maava, but unfortunately we are in NZ - or the UK) and keep turning the mixture on low flame.
Mix well and cook on medium heat for a couple of minutes, mashing the carrots a bit.
4. When the cheese is well mixed, add condensed milk (this has to be the sweetened variety, as we are not adding any sugar, remember).
5. Cook for a further couple of minutes (or till the mixture turns thick - it shouldnt be runny) and then add the clove/cardamom powder and then turn off the hob.
6. Decorate with cashews and then, what else, eat!
From start to finish, should not take more than half an hour (if you already have the carrot grated, that is)!!
