FOR THE PAST FEW YEARS I HAD BEEN WILLING TO BLOG ABOUT THIS FAMILY DESSERT RECIPE!
Two common and tasty family summer dessert recipes had been with the mango and jackfruit. The three major fruits that visited our home the entire summer seasons were mango, jackfruit, litchi. The rest came in turns. The parents were fruit lovers, the mother particularly would bring home different variety of fruits. I do not remember if the brother liked having those. I loved the commonly eaten fruits, the rest we were made to eat. How vividly I remember about the "jam makha", "batabi lebu makha", "lankar guro, noon diye dasha peyara". We never had ripened guava, we loved the unripe ones tossed in salt & red chilli powder. The only fruit of choice that I do not get here is the "jamun". In fact, few shops in the Little India area sell it here for a short period, the price is pretty high. I do not buy, neither other pricier fruits. It is okay for a Bengali from Kolkata not have cherry, there are cheaper substitutes with equal or more amount of goodness. I am not the kind who would buy and click cherry to show off! Unless your country produces cherry and you have grown up having it or unless one really likes it, we can survive without it. I never did get my son cherries, what is wrong in that? My Blog should reflect the person I am. Even if the entire virtual world is superfluous and fake, I need not be, I would be what I am.
WOULDN'T YOU ALL WANT TO KNOW WHAT FOOD WE HAVE EATEN YESTERDAY?
It is now over a year I do not get outside food for the man on Sundays. It is not about my misery, he lacks the interest, I feel lethargic to go out to the mall. The man hardly has any interest, only some days he would ask for a Biryani from a good restaurant and refuse to have my homemade lighter biryani. The daughter like from Lahore did say my Biryani is good in taste. I cook biryani in less frequency, I get stressed out whilst doing it. Sometime back, I cooked the green peas rice for a young adult student. I tasted a small spoonful of it, felt I should not have added the sugar. The boy did not say anything, though I feel he does the right review of my cooking, I do not mind it given I am married to an outspoken person. I was angry with the son when he did not go and talk with their IB Coordinator and request the board for a recheck, many students' marks got increased doing that. Last month too we asked him to talk to his own university requesting to secure a sit for MS in the same city, he did not. Why he has to be like his mother in this matter? He hardly talks to mumma.
Cristine made egg-cheese sandwich for herself and her sir too, I won't have that. Some day, I have to try the Mumbai roadside style sandwich, Kailash Parbat sells. Their plates seem big to me, I find them difficult to finish. However, it is my most favourite place for chaats and street food.
Cristine cooked Vermicelli Upma for me, the tea has to be made. I enjoy this kind of food for my first meal these days. I eat outside on a budget and I am off pork and beef, the choice got limited. I think I have eaten outside way too much, but I would not stop having food outside.
Yesterday, I served the man King fish curry at the lunch time, I would not have this big variety of sea-fish. I made myself lemon rice and had it with a "mamlet" and paneer stuffed potato kofta. I loved my meal.
For dinner, I prepared some vegan flatbreads using pearl millet flour, gram flour, roasted gram flour, refined flour, salt, 1 tbsp oil. They tasted good.
I have hypothyroidism, as of now I am stocking only oats, Barnyard millet, sattu, vermicelli, dalia besides refined & whole-wheat flours, semolina, noodles and rice grain.
WHAT IS BENGALI MANGO KHEER?
A Bengali's kheer is sweetened milk reduction, less complex than the Rabri making but it is time consuming. The other states of India consider rice pudding or any desi kind of pudding as kheer whilst it is payesh among us. I do not know what the other Eastern Indian states address this milk reduction as. This sweetened milk reduction / kheer was done at least 1-2 days a week in our home when we were young. Following any other Bengali middle class home, our parents also considered there has to be enough milk, rice grain, fish in a home. Hence, every day a litre of fresh cow milk would come from "Shibu Kakur Khatal". Either he would come or we would go to the dairy farm in the evening, just before the sundown. I remember that home with the dairy farm with cows and buffaloes at one end, the big mosquitoes [deyo mosha] hovering above the cows and buffaloes. I was force fed buffalo milk too, you can see the result in me. I disliked having milk every evening, it was the father who loved milk, to scrape the residual hardened cream from the container it was boiled in. Every day there would be an excess of boiled milk, yet one litre of milk per day had to come home because it signified prosperity. With that excess the mother would prepare the kheer / milk reduction adding sugar. I did not like kheer neither could digest it. After we got home a refrigerator, I found out a limited intake of the chilled puddings were not causing me wind or stomach ailments. Actually, I enjoyed only the two summer kheer puddings with mango and jackfruit the most; Aam Kheer and Kathal Kheer. This vegetarian gluten-free pudding made with the ripe Mango and milk is called the BENGALI MANGO KHEER. This is our family recipe that would not have any mango chunks added or dry fruits. This was made mainly for the father who would have it with the puffed rice, chapati. The other day I had it with beaten rice, loved the chilled bowl.
I remember for hours the mother would slow cook the leftover cow milk, stirring constantly to get this kheer. I have done with a little amount of milk, added powdered milk to get it done swifter. I cooked the mango puree for sometime and thereafter added it to the milk. I cannnot remember the mother directly added the mango puree to the boiling milk or not. I am not in the habit of calling her for every matter.
FULL CREAM MILK : 1 LITRE
MILK POWDER : 2-3 TBSP
FRESHLY MADE MANGO PUREE : 1 & 1/2 COFFEE MUG
SUGAR : 3 TBSP [YOU CAN USE MORE]
GREEN CARDAMOM POWDER : 1/2 TSP
PROCEDURE :
Mix the milk powder with some milk and beat well.
Put the full cream milk for boil, set the heat at minimal.
While the milk is boiling, get the puree of the mangoes. Strain the pulps to get a smooth, fibre free mango puree.
Cook it with 2 tsp of sugar for 4-5 minutes stirring constantly. Switch off the gas stove, we need not get a jam like consistency.
As the milk starts thickening, we are to constantly keep stirring it, else the bottom would burn and get sticky.
When the milk gets less than half, we would add the green cardamom powder and the sugar.
We would stir cook for few more minutes and switch off the gas stove.
Once a bit cool, we would add the cooked mango puree to the reduced sweetened milk and mix thoroughly.
Thereafter, I simmered it on the gas stove for 3-4 minutes, you may skip.
Our mother's kheer recipe had been thicker, creamier as she used fresh cow milk, I made it lighter as I wish to have a bowl or two.
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