Eating by hand - Intimate, essential, complete

Someone once said that eating with fork and knife is like making love through an interpreter. While I have no idea what that feels like, I do believe that it is something horrendous and as ridiculous as it sounds.

I believe that every meal is a complete experience that must be enjoyed with all five senses. The anticipation that the sense of touch creates before the food enters the mouth makes it all the worthwhile. The texture of the rice between the fingertips - the beautiful pearly roundness, the softness of the potato- the mushiness of it all, the flakiness of the fish, the snap of the papadam between your fingers - sublime. The dhal curry is liquid and smooth between your fingers, the cooked carrot hard yet yielding and in the end, beautifully pulpy. The cabbage is flowery and not so giving while the brinjal is appropriately soft yet with seeds to make it not too yielding. The coating of the gravy upon the fingers - oh so sensual, so complete. Silky smooth and invitingly moist. Oh how your mouth longs for these sensations next! It is like the sweet anticipation of your lover's touch, the nearness and yet the distance, but all the time enjoying the knowing pleasure that satiation will be yours. The reward is somewhat greater if you wait.

And when the food is being mixed, the aromas tend to come out better, thereby igniting your sense of smell. And I do not have to deliberate on the effect of smell on the overall enjoyment of food. It's like the smell of perfume on the nape of your lover's neck that you strain to get a better whiff of yet not touch, not just yet. Appetizer. Aphrodisiac.

I just cannot understand how one can bear to eat with strange clinical objects on every day basis. It is hard for me to imagine the utter blandness of this almost sterile eating, dismissing something as beautiful and exotic as food with a nonchalant shrug and a clinical clang of utensils. Does one not enjoy the feel of food between one's fingers? Does one not enjoy the feel of the coarse linen of a lover's trousers, the smooth satin of a lover's garments, the crisp cotton of a lover's shirt collar, the flimsy lace of a lover's lingerie between one's fingertips? Does one not enjoy the warmth of the skin underneath?  

I believe I have made my point abundantly :D

It is your own fingers, warm from the blood flow of your own veins, pumped by your own heart, with which you ball up the food and put it in your own mouth. Your fingers know the right quantity that fits in to your mouth, your fingers know the right textures that your mouth will love. Simply, you know what is best for you, not some alien utensil that you plucked out of a drawer and ran under the tap.

Also, I must concede that there are certain food that cannot be had by hand, like porridge, soup, salad and other such things. But we live in a country where I've seen people eating pizza with fork and knife. Really, I don't think even the British do that.

Bottom line, everything just tastes better when had with hand. There's this sense of intense intimacy, of greater affinity to food. By eating with hand, one agrees to spend more time with one's food, thereby understanding it better.

Do not appreciate, respect and admire the full beauty of your lover? Then you don't deserve him or her. Afraid to get your fingers dirty? Then you don't deserve your food. 

Eggless butter biscuits!

This has been a long time coming.

I cannot bake without eggs. Let me rephrase that. I couldn't even IMAGINE baking without eggs. But I had to, a challenge that I reluctantly accepted because of a vegetarian friend (no, not one of those hipster vegans who are vegans cz it's cool to be vegan, a kind that I absolutely hate but a real, true vegetarian). It turned out great! The recipe *drumroll* unrolls.

Ingredients

• 250g butter
• 400g flour
• 100g (or as per taste) icing sugar
• 100g cornflour
• Few drops of vanilla essence 
• Mixed ground spices (optional) 

Method

- Sift together flour and cornflour.
- Beat together butter and icing sugar until well combined.
- Add the flour mix to the butter mixture. Add a few drops of vanilla and a few spoonfuls of spice. Mix well.
- Cover in clingfilm or plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
- Flatten with a rolling pin (about 1/2 cm thick) and cut into desired shapes.
- Bake till golden brown in colour.


The result is buttery, crunchy and deeply gratifying. The nose is immediately taken over by the sweet vanilla first, giving out that particular smell that spells of home, hearth and love. For me, this is the smell of beautiful afternoons of teatime goodies and simply, happiness. The first bite registers the butter and then the sweetness of sugar with a thin lacing of spice that is faint but is very much there. The warm notes of vanilla embraces the entirety of the mouthful leaving your senses enveloped in a beautiful vanilla cloud. Convaincu, one can only sigh in sheer pleasure while reaching for another and then, yet another.

I made it plain this time since I did not want to complicate the dish as I was already freaking out due to the absence of eggs (yeah, I'm not kidding). Well, what do you know, baking without eggs IS possible after all!

You can add peanuts, cashews and whatever additions you want to make the cookies yummier or you can just make it buttery and biscuity plain. I added a pinch of spice (I love spices and love spices in everything) so that you can just about sense a faint whiff of cinnamon as you munch on these. The perfect teatime treat!

I shall now make a confession. I make cookies so that I can eat the batter. There. You can now imagine where about half of the cookie batter went.

  

Bread pudding a la Sri Lankan

I <3 Bread pudding :)

Cold bread pudding, screwing my face up as I bite into pieces of lemon peel, cardamom pods and sorting through raisins are amongst my most fondest memories of childhood. And that is exactly what this blog is about - Nostalgic food that are close to the heart.

Of course this is a different recipe than what my mother used to make for us when we were small. I don't remember the exact differences but I do remember this; she likes to serve it cold, I like my bread pudding hot.

Derived from the British, the classic bread-and-butter pudding becomes plain old bread pudding when it comes to this tiny island. How do we like it? Very Sri Lankan. And here is my recipe.

Ingredients

• 12 pieces of bread (approx.) top crust removed
• 4 eggs
• Sugar (as per taste)
• 500 ml Sweetened condensed milk (can be alternated by 500ml regular milk)
• 1 rind of lime
• 4 tablespoons powdered spice (cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, clove) 
• 200 g butter
• 200g raisins/sultanas
• Vanilla essence

Method

- Beat the eggs and sugar together until well combined.
- Add the milk.condensed milk and beat.
- Add the ground spice, few drops of vanilla essence and the rind of lemon. Keep mixture aside.
- Butter both sides of the bread and layer the bottom of a baking dish with a layer of bread.
- Sprinkle raisins/sultanas over the bread. Then pour a part of the egg/milk mixture to soak the bread.
- Spread another layer of bread over this. Keep layering till all the bread and the mixture is gone.
- Bake in a moderate oven till the top is crisp and a skewer inserted in the middle of the pudding comes out clean.
- Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream melting over the top.

The result? Beautiful, soft, yielding pudding with a moist middle that is buttery, milky and not too sweet. The top is browned wonderfully so as to give a buttery crunch to the otherwise spongy treat. The finely grated lime rind gives the pudding the distinct citrus taste and aroma while the spices add a certain fragrance while also cutting through the buttery sweetness of the pudding. Ah, decadence!

I like this warm with a bit of vanilla ice cream melting over the top. It's just fine without the ice cream too and would serve very well as a teatime treat on its own as well as an indulgent dessert after a meal. Get creative with it as this is a very versatile dish. Fruit sauce, fresh fruit, custard anything goes.

A warm bowl of this on a rainy cold day, cuddled up on a couch. Heaven just heaved a longing sigh.

I like this very Sri Lankan bread pudding for the fact that is unimaginably simple. Uncomplicated, clean flavours and a myriad of textures for your whole being to wonder and ponder over. What is more, it can be made out of the ingredients that can be found in any household without having to splurge on expensive ingredients. It also appeals to the lazy person that I am, taking literally just minutes to make. And the sweetness isn't too overpowering either. This can be downed in bowlfuls and while it is very filling, one would not feel sick from too much sweetness as is the case with other desserts out there.

What can I say? This is a taste from childhood that I still crave for from time to time. Mother, the best cook that I know in this world said that this particular one was exceptionally good. Made meself proud :)

  

Oh Christmas Cake!

Probably too late for this post, but what the heck. It's never too late for the good things in life. Like food.

So the infamous Christmas cake. Or the "Rich" cake as we know it. The deceptively simple yet notoriously difficult to get just right. A recipe that requires patience and almost ritual-like dedication. It's best to start making the cake about 2 months ahead of Christmas as it is a famously known fact that the older the cake gets, the better it tastes. There are a number of recipes that you can find online that may or may not work (most are inconsistent with a number of components missing) but knowing my inability to stick to a recipe to save my life, this particular combination has been tried, tested and perfected over a number of years. For me, this works so I stick to it every time. 

Ingredients 

(Part 1)

250g Sultanas

250g Raisins

250g Blackcurrents

250g Cashews (or almond or both)

300g Cherries

200g Pumpkin preserve (or puhul dosi as we Sri Lankans know it)

150gs Chow chow

250g Dates 

150g Candied peel

150g Ginger preserve

250ml Honey

250g Strawberry jam (optional)

500ml Brandy/Arrack

2 teaspoons almond essence

2 teaspoons Rose essence

4 heaped tablespoons powdered mixed spice(cinnamon, cardamom, clove, nutmeg)

(Part 2)

500g Sugar (I opt for brown sugar as I like the sort of caramel flavour it gives. Plus it's healthier!)

500g Semolina (If you like a fruitier cake, opt for around 300g)

250g Butter

15 egg whites

25 Egg yolks

Method (Part 1)

• De-seed and chop the dates into small pieces. Chop the cherries and chop the pumpkin preserve, chow chow, candied peel, cashews and ginger preserve as well. 
• Combine all ingredients in part 1 in a large bowl or basin. Give it a good stir.
• Put it in large jars or containers and leave aside in a cool dry place for about 1 month. Me being me, only had time to leave the fruits for about 2 weeks this time, but the cake came out just fine.   
• Feed it about once a week with brandy or arrack and give it a good stir. 

After the steeping period for the fruits is done, you are ready to bake the cake. After baking, it is best if you can leave the cake for at least a week before eating it, so that the ingredients can settle, merge and diffuse flavour. So the advise is to bake well before Christmas.

Method (Part 2)

• Roast semolina in a pan until it becomes slightly grainy and turns a golden brown in colour.
• Once it is cool, mix butter and semolina in a bowl until well combined.
• Beat the egg yolks and half the sugar in a bowl until well combined. The mixture should have a creamy, custardy texture which would ideally double in size upon beating.
• Beat the egg whites and the sugar together until stiff peaks form.(A tedious task with a hand beater, be warned!)
• Combine the egg yolk mixture and the semolina mixture together. Mix well. 
• Tip the steeped fruit into a large bowl/basin that has enough space for mixing. Give it a good final stir.
• Combine the semolina and egg yolk mixture and the fruits. Stir well until properly combined.
• Taste the mixture. Add more spices, almond or rose essence as desired if you think that the flavour is not sufficient.
• Fold the egg whites into this mixture. Be careful so as to not stir it too much.
• Prepare the cake tins. It's always good to double line the cake tins with oil paper. Apply plenty of butter as the cake tends to be quite sticky.
• Bake till a skewer or a knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
• Rest the cake. Every two days or so, mix together honey with some brandy or arrack and brush the cakes generously with a thick brush. 
• Cut on Christmas day and enjoy!

This is the very Sri Lankan version of the British Christmas cake which I find to be too dry and well, not too "rich". Many use arrack and make it essentially Sri Lankan, but I prefer brandy or a fine aged cognac in mine as it gives this unique aroma to the cake that I have grown to love. 

Traditionally, all the fruits, including the sultanas, raisins and blackcurrants are chopped into tiny pieces or minced with mincing machines which makes the cake go all mushy. I like a chunkier cake and hence I do not chop the sultanas, raisins and the blackcurrants at all. I quarter the cherries and chop only the dates, the ginger preserve, candied peel. pumpkin preserve and the chow chow into fine pieces simply because biting into a large piece of those would be quite unpleasant and off-putting. The result is a moist, "rich" and chunky cake with a delightful bite!

One immediately senses the almond and the rose in the cake, both on the nose as well as on the tongue. As you bite into it, the slightly grainy texture of the semolina contrasts well with the juiciness of the sultanas and raisins that have grown plump with the steeping, bursting forth with their sweet juices against the teeth. The cherries add that distinct flavour and a stubborn bite to the cake while the spices really come through and counteract against the sweetness of the rest of the cake. The ginger preserve adds a certain piquancy that is very much welcome to the sweetness that is on the verge of being slightly overpowering. The candied peel contributes with its due amount of citrus acidity, adding yet another layer of flavour to this already complex dish, fragrant with the piercing notes of brandy, ever present like a background tune right throughout the experience. Sweet, sweet decadence.   

The cake certainly does taste better as it ages and this I can confirm to be no myth. I suppose the fermenting does not stop even after baking. However, store the cakes properly where ants or other animals cannot get to it. Humidity too spoils the cake, so make sure that the place you store the cakes is dry and clean. You can keep the cake for years if I am not mistaken. That is, if you have the kind of eating discipline to make it last that long.   

It's surprising how little sugar you need for the cake though. The ingredients in themselves are sweet enough that extra sugar is considered unnecessary. However, you can always put the almond icing on the cake as well if you prefer, but I just couldn't be bothered. Why ruin a perfectly alright cake with another layer I thought. It already tastes pretty amazing as it is. Quite a mess to cut and serve though when it is chunky. If I do get the time, I make it a point to individually wrap pieces and keep. Less messier to serve that way, much easier to distribute. Besides, what's a Christmas cake if it isn't shared! 

Milk Wine - Essentially Sri Lankan

It's that time of the year again! Despite the occasional gloominess and rain in the evenings, mornings are unarguably golden. The air is festive. Oh, you can almost touch it, the sense of happiness permeating the air.

Which gets me to the next point; inspiration. Christmas is a time of celebration and sharing. It has always been so for my family. We are all about celebrating and December is usually the time when there are constant baking, frying and fermenting smells wafting about, getting us all excited in general.

And the Milk Wine. Essentially Sri Lankan, Milk Wine is a seasonal specialty that is slowly fading out of the scene. When the Dutch invaded Ceylon sometime back, some took treasures away from us while a few who fell in love with the island settled and adapted, adding to our culture, many vivid things. As a result, we have some very cool food amongst us such as breudher, the Sri Lankan Christmas cake, milk wine, Lamprais and the like that are specialties of the Burgher community of Sri Lanka.

Keeping to the Sri Lankan spirit, I have used Ceylon Coconut arrack in this recipe. It's super strong and with my family not being much of alcohol people, I have altered the recipe to taper down the hit of arrack.

Ingredients 

• 1L Ceylon arrack (I've heard of people trying this with brandy but I don't think that it would be the same)
• Rind and juice of 3 limes
• Rind of 1 orange
• Large stick of cinnamon
• 12 cloves
• 12 cardamoms 
• 3 teaspoons coarsely ground nutmeg
• 2 cups orange juice
• 2 cups pineapple juice
• 2 cups milk
• 500g sugar
• 1 and half cups of caramelized sugar

Method

- Grind together the lime & orange rinds, the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg, but don't powder. Mix it all with the arrack. Let it steep for 3-4 days. Shake the bottle well twice every day.
- Warm the milk and add the lime juice. Let it stand a while.
- Combine sugar, arrack, pineapple juice, orange juice together. Mix well till sugar dissolves.
- Once cooled, add the caramelized sugar as well. add to it the milk. Mix well.
- Strain with a thick cloth. After a while, strain twice with filter paper.

- Cork the bottles well. Open them up for Christmas!

These pictures were taken after I had only strained it once with the thick cloth, and so, sediments can still be seen as a result. After it has been strained all 3 times (a tedious, tiring task that I am not looking forward to) it will be a beautiful, semi-clear golden colour. It's still yummy though! And quite strong. The spices really come through, sweetened by the sugar and the caramelized sugar that have nicely steeped within the arrack. 

If however, you like the brew stronger, you can add more arrack. The recipe amount is 1 and half bottles of arrack but I've only used one bottle while adding double the quantity of juices. Play around with the quantities. Soften or strengthen it up as desired. It really is that easy. And remember, the longer you keep, the yummier it gets!   

    

Chocolate Mousse with mint and strawberry - Yum!

Warning - It is advisable to not make this more than twice a year. It is super yummy and addictive and therefore, extremely dangerous. Do not give in! If you do, chances are that you will probably die with a massive cardiac arrest. But it will be a very happy cardiac arrest nevertheless.

Ingredients have been lying around for a while now. It was on Saturday night, after a whole day of chocolate craving that I finally decided to get off my bum and get whipping.

I don't believe in that sorry excuse of chocolate mousse that you find in every nook and cranny. Set with gelatine, it is rather a watery excuse bland in flavour. The real chocolate mousse does not need gelatine to set as it sets by itself. That is, if it is properly prepared.

Chocolate is heavenly to eat but it can be a b**** to work with. One has to be very careful with the mousse as well since if not properly prepared, it tends to be either too thin and watery (I believe that this is the kind that hotels all over set with gelatine and wash their hands off it) or rather heavy and gluggy. The proper chocolate mousse is airy and light while also being rich and filling. It should burst with flavour in your mouth, lathering your senses with blissful chocolatey oblivion. It should hit you with force at the back of the head. The one in the picture does just that.

Ingredients 

• 200g Cooking chocolate (I almost always use Ritzbury. Those of who are too posh for Ritzbury, shoo! No really, Ritzbury works for little everyday chocolaty indulgences like brownies, mousse and choco chip cookies. But it is rather low in cocoa mass so for more refined chocolate dishes [or when I'm feeling particularly finicky and extravagant], I swear by the Hansa dark chocolate 80% - 100%)    
• 4 eggs - Yolk & white separated 
• 4 tblsps Butter
• 250g Sugar (This is a rough estimate. If you are using unsweetened chocolate, you may need more than this)
• 200ml Whipping cream
• Strawberries (optional)
• Mint leaves (optional)

Method

• Melt the chocolate. butter and quarter of the sugar in a pan (Ideally over a bowl of water but pfft! who has time for that?) However, if you are doing this over an open fire, be careful not to burn the chocolate.
• Beat together quarter of the sugar and egg white until stiff peaks form. Keep aside.
• Beat the whipping cream with the rest of the sugar till stiff peaks form. The idea is to aerate, aerate, aerate! 
• Once the chocolate has cooled down to body temperature, add the egg yolks and beat the mixture well together. 
• Now add the chocolate mixture into the beaten egg whites and gently fold through with a metal spoon until thoroughly combined.
• Add the whipped cream as well and fold through. You can either pour the mixture into individual molds/ramekins and refrigerate to set or just pour it into one large bowl to set.

Serving suggestions

For the chocoholic, this can easily be consumed (and wiped off clean in several large spoonfuls) by itself. Add in a few chunks of chocolate for texture and voila! Pure chocolate extravaganza. But for someone like me who appreciates layers of flavour and contrasts of taste in my food, I'd recommend the strawberry-mint combination. Minus side is, you cannot really preset with strawberries since the strawberries tend to bleed out moisture spoiling the mousse in the process. What I've done here is I've chopped up the strawberries and a few mint leaves, tossed them with some brown sugar and layered the mousse upon serving. One spoonful of mousse, one strawberry-mint layer topped off with more mousse. And then I've given it a good sprinkling of chocolate shavings. Works like magic.

Ah, that smell you get when melting the chocolate. So beautiful! Essentially Christmassy. This is the smell of happiness.

I was going to do a bitter coffee jelly to counteract with the rich mushiness and as usual, the laziness came over me. Couldn't be bothered. Oh well.....

The mousse in itself is smooth, velvety and very very airy. It simply evaporates in the mouth, but not before coating your entire mouth with its rich and overwhelming fullness of flavour. The strawberries add a tanginess and a beautiful floral finish while the mint adds a leafy freshness leaving the palate blissfully cleansed. However, everybody may not like the addition of mint, so test it out, take preferences before heaping up the bowl with spoonfuls of it. As for chocolate and strawberry, they are a classic combo that everybody likes.

However to my surprise, I realized that it's been a while since I've made something this chocolaty. I'm thinking, I just might be growing out of chocolate. I've come to appreciate more subtle tastes and layers now and somewhat avert myself from too strong tasting food. Could this be? I think my taste buds are finally growing up!

Two minute pudding - Chocolate chip & salted caramel mug cake

This is all Nigella's fault.

It was pouring outside that night. Just out of the shower, I was snugly curled up in front of the laptop, writing the night away as usual. And as is always the case, writing makes me hungry. And being hungry makes me distracted.

I was absentmindedly browsing through FB when I came across Nigella Lawson's update about some warm chocolate pear pudding. That had me craving chocolate.

I wanted something chocolaty and I wanted something warm. And I needed it now. This is what I came up with. 

Ingredients 

• Handful of chocolate chips (I simply chopped up some cooking chocolate)
• 1 egg
• 5 tablespoons of milk
• 6 tablespoons of sugar (I used brown. I always use brown)
• 10 tablespoons of flour
• 3 tablespoons of butter (or 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil)
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
• Few drops of vanilla
• 1 tablespoon of salted caramel (Optional. I have jars of this prepared in the fridge and I thought might as well add this for some extra moistness. Will give the recipe for this later)

(Word of warning - Don't take the quantities seriously since I could not bother measuring anything at all. These are all rough measurements just so that you may have an idea)

Method

• Chuck it all in, give it a good stir, whack it in a mug and pop it in the microwave.
• Microwave till it's no longer liquidy. 

Yes, really.

The result - ooey, gooey chocolaty goodness that is so good that you look around ridden with guilt as you are eating it. The vanilla cakey layer remains intact while once you dig in, the chocolate chips have melted just about right to give an oozing gooeyness from within. The salted caramel will have melted at this point and besides serving as a natural sauce, it will add a salty kick to the otherwise sweet and mellow mixture. Although when adding this, you need to be careful with the amount of sugar you are adding since all the sweet elements come together can end up making this dessert too sweet.  

Of course you can make it without the salted caramel if you don't have any at hand. Just add a bit more of chocolate chips, a drop or two more vanilla and you will have a perfectly oozy chocolate chip vanilla pudding. 

You can be posh and put this in ramekins as well. I suppose it would serve as a formidable dessert at a dinner party even. I do not own ramekins and I wasn't feeling too posh in my cosy old pajamas. Besides, a late night writing session is hardly an occasion. Hence the use of the oversized mug.  

Enough has been heard about mug cakes but I never got the chance to try one out. This really is a breeze. Even a lazy bum like myself can whip this up in a jiffy without batting an eyelid. Although you will probably be bouncing off the walls with the sugar rush after polishing this off like I was that night. I killed off one character in my novel and revived her again later on in the night. It's all Nigella's fault. 

Imagine - Rain is pattering on outside. Inside is cool and cosy with the winds bellowing about, making the curtains dance on the windows. You are nicely snuggled in, both feet up while digging into this warm and oozing pudding, probably dribbling chocolate and salted caramel off your chin. You are trying to lick the chocolate off the spoon but smears chocolate on your nose instead. Warm and sticky. Rain creates music outside. You softly drift away and lose yourself in the sensations.   

Don't look at me. Nigella did this.