The Saffron TouchAndhraWorld cuisine with an Indian touch...

Saffron Toast with Beet Halwa

Beetroot Halwa

500 grams Beetroot, peeled and grated 3 cups milk ½ cup condensed milk 2 tablespoons ghee (Clarified butter) 1/2 tsp cardamom (elaichi) powder 4 drops rose water / essence Rabdi 2 cups of whole milk 10 strands Saffron 3 teaspoons milk Toast 10 pcs. Bread slices 2 tablespoons Ghee/Clarified Butter 2 tablespoons Sugar Method: Beetroot Halwa: Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a pan, Add the beetroot to the pan and saute on medium flame for 8 – 10 minutes.

Once it is tender, add the hot milk and keep stirring till it reduces and becomes thick.

Add the condensed milk, 1 tbsp ghee and cardamom powder and mix well. When the halwa is cooked and becomes thick, add the rose water and mix well and keep aside. Rabdi: Now in 3tsp warm milk mix saffron strands.. After 5 minutes add Rabdi to this saffron milk and simmer for 2 mins. Rabdi will get a beautiful saffron colour.

Toast: Cut bread slices into bite sized round/ square shapes. I used a flower shape cookie cutter. Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a pan and add 2 tbsp sugar to it. Once it’s hot and sugar starts to melt. Start cooking the bread slices until they’re golden brown from both sides. This is exactly what I do when I make another yummy Hyderabadi Dessert ‘Shahi Tukda or Double Ka Meetha’

Assemble the dessert, spread saffron rabdi on toast, place beetroot halwa on top of it and serve.

I also made a variation by rolling the bread slice and cutting it in circles. I stacked them with rabdi and halwa. There is no doubt that you need patience to make the rabdi and the halwa, but the taste is surely worth it.

Tamarind Rice ( Puliyodharai)

I love authentic, traditional recipes. Agreed that sometimes they can be very involved and time consuming but I feel the taste after all that effort is unbelievable. Some of the old methods of cooking or prep work may look tedious, but those also have a great way of bringing people together. Imagine making raviolis together, or making papad in summer, or making pickles together, when you are working together teh work does not seem boring. So i love collecting recipes that are authentic, passed down from generation to generation, this is my way of preserving my culture and heritage, hoping to pass it to the future generation.

Today’s recipe is something I learnt from my friend Usha, who had leant it from her Ammamma( grandma).

Tamarind rice is very popular in Andhra Pradesh as well as Tamilnadu. This version I feel has both Andhra and Tamil influence on it. It is a typical brahmin recipe, and is used as Naivadyam on many auspicious ceremonies. I had eaten this the very first time in the famous Tirupati temple, so anytime I make it invokes the same feelings.

Although the recipe may look complicated it is not, it is complex. I will try to simplify the instructions as much as possible.

Tamarind Rice

There are four steps to the recipe.

Step 1:

Make a tamarind chutney – This chutney is pretty much jam like consistency.

Part A ( tempering 1)

2 tbsp oil

2 tsp mustard seeds

6 red chilies

Few curry leaves

Part B (Wet ingredients)

1 handful dry tamarind, cleaned and soaked in 2 cups of hot water

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tbsp jaggery ( gud), you can substitute dark brown sugar as well.

Extract the tamarind pulp and discard any seeds or hard shells. Mix jaggery and turmeric in it.

Part C ( Dry powder)

1/2 cup coriander seeds

6 dry red chilies ( or more if you like it spicy)

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp cumin(jeera) seeds

1 tsp fenugreek( methi) seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp chana daal

1 tbsp urid daal ( skinless)

Few curry leaves

1/2 tsp asafoetida( hing)

Dry roast the these and grind it in a coffee grinder( or a blender) to make a fine powder. Make sure you add fenugreek seeds and hing towards the end else it will burn and give bitter taste

To make chutney:

Heat the oil for tempering, add the red chilies until they are nicely browned. Add the remaining things and saute till the mustard seeds splutter( Part A). Now add the tamarind-jaggery mixture( Part B). Cook this on a low flame until you get a nice jam like consistency. Add the dry masala powder ( Part C) and mix well. Keep it aside.

Step 2:

1 .5 cups of rice

1 tsp oil

1/2 tsp turmeric

Cook rice with salt and set aside to cool. Once cooled add a tsp oil and turmeric and mix well.

Step 3: Make tempering 2

Ingredients:

1 tbsp oil

1 handful ( or two) peanuts

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tbsp urid daal

1 tbsp chana daal

1/2 tsp asafoetida

A few curry leaves

Roast/fry the peanut in oil on a low-medium heat. Add mustard seeds, urid and chana daal and saute well. Now add curry leaves.

Step 4: Mix it together

Mix the cooked rice with a few tbsp of the prepared Tamarind chutney. Typically 4-5 tbsp chutney is enough for 1 cup raw rice cooked.

Add Tempering 2. Mix well.

Garnish with chopped cilantro if desired.

You are done. Enjoy the authentic Pulliodarai

Notes:

This tamarind chutney lasts a while even outside and if you refrigerate it, it can last upto a couple of months.