Gur papdi (wholewheat and jaggery sweet)

There are some foods that are just magic: they have the Proustian power to transport you through time and space, to where you began, to when you felt most loved, and most safe.  That warm kitchen, that sweet food, the murmuring of women talking as they cooked.  We all have comfort foods that take us back to our childhoods, and this gur papdi is one of mine.

Gur papdi is the simplest of sweets made with the simplest of ingredients, a mix of ghee, atta flour, nuts, jaggery and spices, and a recipe that has been handed down by many grandmothers past.  To make a large tray of gur papdi, you will need:

2 cups atta flour

1 1/2 cups ghee

3/4 cup of ground nuts (any or a mix will do: almond, pistachio, cashew)

1 1/2 cups jaggery

cardamom to flavour (optional)

Heat the ghee in a large heavy based frying pan, and when it is hot add the flour.  Stir fry the flour and cook until it is golden brown, then stir in the nuts and keep cooking for a minute or two.

Take the pan off the heat and stir in the jaggery.  Keep stirring to mix well.  Add a couple of pinches of powdered cardamom now too, if you like.

When everything is well mixed, tip it out into a large flat tray like a thali, and spread it flat.  You want it to be as compressed as possible, my mum uses the bottom of a saucepan to 'thump' it into place (clearly a refined cooking technique).  

Cut the gur papdi into squares or diamond shapes, and keep in an airtight container.

Simple paneer cheese

Making paneer is one of life's small simple joys.  I think we're so used to buying all our food we sometimes forget how easy it is to make things yourself: I'm thinking bread, butter, cheese... recipes our grandmothers used to know by heart.

We've made paneer at The Bombay Cook Club a few times, and have been experimenting with adding flavours to it.  Here are suggestions for three we made recently, but you can experiment with adding things according to your own preferences once you've mastered the basics.

To make one small round of cheese you will need:

2 litres of full cream milk (you can also add cream as a portion of this for a richer cheese)

3-4 tablespoons of vinegar (we use apple cider vinegar but you can use any type)

1 teaspoon of salt

Bring the milk to boil in a large pan, stirring frequently so the bottom doesn't burn. Once it is boiling, add salt and any flavourings, then add the vinegar and keep stirring. The milk will split into curds and whey very quickly.  When it does, take the pan to the sink and strain the curds into a strainer lined with a muslin cloth, or nut milk bag.  If you'd like to save the whey, do so, it can be used in baking in place of buttermilk.

Wrap the muslin cloth tightly around the curds and squeeze as much liquid out as you can.  Form a pat and place it back in the strainer, with a heavy weight on top of it. Leave for half an hour, then unwrap: you should have a firm block of cheese you can slice, eat immediately, use to make palak paneer, or fry like halloumi.

To make flavoured paneer, you basically need to add your extras to the milk at the same time as you add salt as follows:

RED CHILLI AND CUMIN SEED PANEER

Use 1 teaspoon of red chilli flakes and 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds.

FRESH HERB PANEER

Use 1 tablespoon of a couple of different herbs: we used basil and garlic chives.

SWEET PANEER

Don't add salt to this one.  Instead add 2 teaspoons of brown sugar, a good pinch of cardamom powder and as much saffron as you can spare: around 1/3 of a teaspoon works.  We also added a tablespoon of finely chopped walnuts.  

We served our sweet paneer with honey.

You can use your paneer to make palak paneer, from the recipe on this site. 

Almond and saffron kulfi

Sultana made her famous kulfi for our first Spice Mama pop-up Masala Chai morning tea on Friday, and as always everyone loved it.  The version pictured here is of her pistachio kulfi, but yesterday's was almond, cardamom and saffron... yum!  

The recipes for both are below:

ALMOND AND SAFFRON KULFI

1 tin of sweetened condensed milk (395 grams)

Tin full of ground almonds

2 tins full of whipping cream

1/4 teaspoon of saffron strands

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Pour out the condensed milk into a bowl and use the empty tin as a measure for the rest of the ingredients.  

Whip 2 tins worth of cream until soft peaks form. Mix the ground almonds, cardamom and saffron with the condensed milk, then gently fold this mixture into the cream.  Cover bowl tightly and freeze until set.  

This is traditionally a non-whipped ice cream, but you can also put it in an ice cream maker at this point if you want a lighter texture.

PISTACHIO KULFI

1 tin of sweetened condensed milk (395 grams)

Tin full of shelled, roasted pistachios

2 tins full of whipping cream

1/4 teaspoon of saffron strands

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

Pour out the condensed milk into a bowl and use the empty tin as a measure for the rest of the ingredients.  

Fill  the tin with shelled, lightly roasted pistachios (around a cup) and then grind these in a blender with the cardamom and saffron strands until the mixture is finely powdered. Whip 2 tins worth of cream until soft peaks form. Mix the pistachios with the condensed milk, then gently fold this mixture into the cream.  Cover bowl tightly and freeze until set.  

This is traditionally a non-whipped ice cream, but you can also put it in an ice cream maker at this point if you want a lighter texture.

Pistachio, saffron and cardamom kulfi

Here is the recipe for true happiness.  Or as close as you might get... this pistachio kulfi is rich and delicious, a traditional Indian dessert first made in the courts of the Mughal Emperors in the 16th century using ice from the Himalayas.  

1 tin of sweetened condensed milk (395 grams)

Tin full of shelled, roasted pistachios

2 tins full of whipping cream

1/4 teaspoon of saffron strands

3 green cardamoms

Pour out the condensed milk into a bowl and use the empty tin as a measure for the rest of the ingredients.  Using a mortar and pestle crush 3-4 green cardamoms and save the seeds.

Fill tin with shelled, lightly roasted pistachios (around a cup) and then grind these in a blender with the cardamom seeds and saffron strands until the mixture is finely powdered. Whip 2 tins worth of cream until soft peaks form. Mix the pistachios with the condensed milk, then gently fold this mixture into the cream.  Cover bowl tightly and freeze until set.  This is traditionally a non-whipped ice cream, but you can also put it in an ice cream maker at this point if you want a lighter texture.