Banana leaf parcels (Elai Adai)

I'm back from a wonderful trip to India and already suffering serious withdrawal symptoms from all the delicious food I enjoyed there! On any trip home, I make sure to load up on all the once-common, now-exotic fruits and vegetables that are hard to come by here in the US. Sapodilla (sapota), limetta (sathukudi), elephant yam (chenai), and tender coconut juice (elaneer) to name just a few.

Possibly the most exotic of these is the jack fruit (chakka), the largest tree-borne fruit in the world, sometimes weighing in at a massive 100 pounds! The fruit has a spiny inedible skin that encases bright yellow, highly perfumed fleshy pods. These taste like a cross between a pineapple and a banana. The pods contain large round seeds that are also edible.

In my native state of Kerala, jack fruit trees are found in every backyard and the plentiful fruit are used in myriad ways, both when raw and ripe. Most of these are rustic, homey dishes that you will never find in any restaurant! The flesh of the raw jack fruit has a meaty texture that makes it suitable for many vegetarian curries, some of which also include the boiled seeds that are an excellent source of protein. The ripe pulp is cooked with unrefined cane sugar (jaggery) to make a fruit preserve known as chakkavaratti. This fruit paste keeps very well in the freezer and is delicious by itself, or caramelized with fresh coconut. It is also used as a base for many kinds of snacks and desserts.

One of my favorite recipes using jack fruit is elai adai, a rice dumpling filled with sweet jack fruit paste and coconut. A thin batter made with ground rice is first spread on a banana leaf. Next, a spoonful of the filling is spread on one side of the batter. Now comes the tricky part: folding the leaf over so that the batter encloses the filling, while tucking in the sides so that it does not ooze out! The banana leaf parcels are then steamed over boiling water for 15-20 minutes, or until done. My sister turned out to be a dab hand at it, so I was able to click happily away as she deftly spread, filled, folded and stacked.

These dumplings make a great breakfast, snack or anytime treat - the moist, chewy and slightly salty rice covering provides a nice foil for the sweet, fruity filling. Try them with other sweet or savory fillings as well!

Recipe: Elai Adai (Banana leaf parcels)

Makes about 15 parcels, approximately 4"X2"

1 cup raw rice

Salt to taste

A few teaspoons all-purpose flour

Filling of choice: The pictures above show the traditional jack fruit paste caramelized with coconut and jaggery. Other ideas include savory curried vegetables, or grated coconut caramelized with brown sugar or jaggery.

Soak the rice in water for at least two hours. Grind to a fine paste, adding more water to thin the batter as necessary. Season with salt and mix in a few teaspoons of al-purpose flour to make the batter more spreadable.

To fill and shape:

Spread a couple of tablespoons of the batter evenly in a circle on a banana leaf or parchment paper. Spoon a little of the filling on one half of the circle. Working quickly, fold the leaf over and tuck the sides in so that the filling is enclosed completely. Repeat with remaining batter and filling. Stack the leaf parcels in a steamer and cook over boiling water till firm.

Mad about mangoes!

Langra, banganapalle and chausa mangoes

I'm back in Madras, enjoying the company of my family and plenty of delicious home-cooked food! It is funny how only food from my mother's kitchen seems to merit that description, even though I can safely say I have a larger culinary repertoire than hers. Food is always a huge part of any visit home - I always have a long list of foodie experiences to catch up on that I don't have access to in the US.
India is home to the best mangoes in the world, hands down. There are literally hundreds of cultivars in the different growing regions, with eager mango growers developing new and delicious hybrids each year. Alphonso and Pairi mangoes from the west, Chausa and Dashehri from the north, Langra and Himsagar from the east, and Mulgoa and Banganapalle from the south to name just a few. I was doubly excited about this trip home because it meant I could catch the tail end of the mango season here in Madras. Growing up, this was the time of year to look forward to, a time of holidays from school and long lazy days, a precious few months when I could eat my fill of ripe, juicy golden goodness, and savor the memories for the rest of the year.

I arrived in Madras thinking I'd get two weeks of mango eating at the most, since the season ends in mid-July. Happily for me, though, a friend of my father's sent us a box each of two cultivars from other growing regions in India, where the season ends later! This makes for more mango madness. I thought it would be fun to share my tasting notes of the three different types in the picture above.

The langra mango from East India has green skin even when ripe. The fruits are small, weighing less than half a pound each.The flesh is a vivid orange yellow and fibrous in texture, somewhat like a plum. A peppery top-note yields to a tropical pineapple-banana flavor profile.

The chausa mango from North India is small, elongated in shape and has pale yellow skin. The flesh is a medium yellow-orange and buttery-firm in texture, like an avocado. It is perfumed, with hints of honey, lemongrass and vanilla.

The banganapalle mango from South India is large, with some specimens weighing in at over two pounds. The skin is thin and edible, a speckled pale yellow. The flesh is a bright yellow and impossible to eat without juice running down your chin! It has a highly perfumed, almost floral bouquet, with notes of rose, litchi and peach.

A big shout-out to my 6-year-old niece who assisted me on the photo shoot!

Daring Bakers' Challenge #7: Chocoholic heaven!

The June 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. Dawn challenged the Daring Bakers to make Chocolate Pavlovas and Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. The challenge recipe is based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.

I took some liberties with the challenge recipe since I have never been a huge fan of plain meringue. I do, however, love all nut-based versions, so I picked Francois Payard's dacquoise recipe (also from Chocolate Epiphany) to use as the base, substituting hazelnuts for almonds. Thanks to a previous challenge, I now know how to make my own mascarpone, so I'm never spending $10 on a teeny tub again! Of course, that meant adding another step to the many involved ... ... I also made three different chocolate mascarpone mousses to top the dacquoises with, using dark, milk and white chocolate. The dessert brought tiramisu to mind, so I dipped the bases in rum-spiked coffee to keep with that theme.

The final component of the dessert was a Sambuca-spiked mascarpone cream to drizzle on top, which I swapped for a plain crème anglaise instead, since I felt the dessert was rich enough as is. I bet it would taste great with some juicy summer fruit, so I've saved the recipe (and some mascarpone!) for later. Overall, it tasted wonderful, and looked pretty as well. Definitely a dessert to please all the chocolate lovers out there.

This was a fun challenge, even though making it in the peak of summer meant that my mousses started melting before I could finish piping them. Nothing that a short spell in the fridge couldn't fix, though! Looking forward to the next one.

A visit to a farm and some shortbread

Guernica peppers
Photo by Tammy Gordon

Last Sunday, I went with the DC Food Bloggers to Eco Farms, an organic, bio-intensive farm in Lanham, Maryland. Eco Farms is a family-run operation that's been proudly serving up fresh local produce to some of the best restaurants in the region. I have always been keen to learn more about farming, and to do this with a bunch of food bloggers - Elyssa, Mary, Olga, Tammy, Luke & Joe - made for some great company as well!

Our tasks for Sunday were to weed lettuces, prepare some beds for planting, and to transplant some tiny seedlings out in the beds. One of the fun things I learnt was how to use the U-bar, which is essentially a pitchfork on steroids :) I will admit to having only mixed success with it, though. I found that being tiny is an advantage when performing some farm tasks, like hoeing, raking and planting, since most of the others were complaining of backaches, but working the U-bar, alas, is not one of them!

We planted beets, which have the most adorable red-tinged roots; guernica peppers, which I'd never heard of, but am now keen to try; epazote, which, we discovered, smells like lead pencils when fresh (Laura took one sniff and pronounced that it reminded her of elementary school!); and four different types of basil. We had a surprise visitor, too, when a snapping turtle wandered in from the nearby woods! She is a regular visitor to the farm, but that was her first appearance of this year. She sat patiently on the gravel while we oohed and aahed and examined her from every angle; then, she disappeared into the woods as silently as she had arrived.

Snapping turtle
Photo by Tammy Gordon

Pretty soon, we were done for the day, and headed back into the farmhouse where Laura and Mike had laid out a fabulous spread for us. Grilled vegetables, salad greens from the farm, and couscous made for a healthy and delicious meal, accompanied by zesty dips and condiments like Laura's eggplant-red pepper hummus and Mike's stinging nettle pesto. I took along some pecan shortbread for a nutty, buttery sweet end to the meal. Recipe posted below!

A big thank you to Mike and his faithful crew at Eco Farms for a wonderful experience, and to Tammy for generously sharing the above photographs. Looking forward to the next time!

Recipe: Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread (Makes about 3 dozen cookies)

Adapted from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I replaced half the quantity with white whole wheat flour. My "healthy" version!)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup pecans, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 tsp dark rum (I bet bourbon would be great too, but this is optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Fleur de sel (optional)
Stir the flour(s) and salt together in a small bowl. Cream the butter and sugar together till fully combined. Mix in the vanilla and rum, if using, then beat in the flour till thoroughly incorporated. Stir in the pecans. On a floured piece of plastic wrap, shape the dough into a round or rectangular log about 9 inches long. I used a dough scraper pressed against the sides to approximate right angles. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least for an hour or even overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350F(180C). Using a sharp knife, slice the dough log crosswise about 1/4" thick, spacing them an inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. If using fleur de sel, sprinkle a few grains on each cookie, pressing them in gently. Bake for about 15 minutes, rotating the sheets halfway through, until a deep golden brown. Allow to cool on the baking sheet till firm enough to handle, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Store in an airtight container.

Daring Bakers' Challenge #6: Sticky Toffee Puddings

The April 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Esther of The Lilac Kitchen. She challenged everyone to make a traditional British pudding using, if possible, a very traditional British ingredient: suet.

I grew up in India reading the very British books of Enid Blyton, and their puddings always sounded so exotic and delicious to me - Treacle sponge, Spotted Dick, you name it. I was excited to try my hand at one for the first time. Being vegetarian, though, I wasn't wild at the idea of using suet, even a veggie version, so I stuck to a butter-based version. I'm in the camp that firmly believes everything tastes better with butter!

I based my pudding recipe on one for Sticky Toffee Puddings from David Lebovitz's new book, Ready for Dessert. Yes he's American, but I've always had great results with his recipes. I used a bit more dates than he calls for, so that the puds would be nice and sticky, and reduced the amount of sugar. His version also uses kumquats for a tangy contrast to the sweet pudding, but I couldn't find any, so I made the recipe without them. Instead, I added some chopped crystallized ginger, and a bit of ground ginger, for some spicy undertones. I steamed mine in individual cups, and then poured a generous ladle of toffee sauce over the top and broiled them for five minutes.

I have a feeling the suet crust puddings may have been more of a challenge to make, but these were so delicious I'm not about to complain! This dessert really begs to be eaten warm, and it was just perfect for a chilly, rainy spring day. Gooey caramelized toffee with moist, buttery cake - what's not to like? The dates melt into the background, allowing the spicy zing of the ginger to shine through. The broiling really boosts the caramelized flavor as well. I would love to experiment with adding a boozy flavor, such as bourbon or cognac. This would be fabulous with some vanilla ice cream on the side, too, but sadly, I didn't have any on hand. Now that's an excuse to make these again!

Recipe: Sticky Toffee Puddings (Serves 6)
Adapted from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz

1/2 cup finely chopped dates
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp finely chopped crystallized ginger
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Sauce:
1 cup half-and-half (or heavy cream)
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp molasses
Big pinch salt
Prepare 6 individual cups by oiling them lightly and get your steaming apparatus ready. You can also bake these puddings, in which case you could use a 6-cup muffin tin and preheat the oven to 350F(190C).
Combine the dates and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, add the baking soda and the chopped ginger and set aside for ten minutes. Mash up the mixture till it's almost fully smooth.
For the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Place about a tablespoon of sauce in each cup.
For the puddings, sift all the dry ingredients together. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the egg and vanilla. Gently stir in half the dry ingredients, the date mixture, and then the rest of the dry ingredients. Divide the batter among the cups, secure the top with two layers of foil, and steam over boiling water until fully set, about 30 minutes. While the puddings are steaming, preheat the broiler with the oven rack set close to the top.
Invert the puddings on a baking sheet, pour a generous helping of the toffee sauce on top and broil for about 5 minutes, until the tops of the puddings and the edges of the sauce are dark and caramelized. Allow to cool briefly and serve warm with extra sauce and a sprinkling of extra chopped crystallized ginger.
If not serving immediately, allow the puddings to cool and then cover with foil. When ready to serve, reheat in a moderate oven (300F) and proceed with the broiling as above.

Daring Bakers' Challenge #5: Orange tian

The 2010 March Daring Baker’s challenge was hosted by Jennifer of Chocolate Shavings. She chose Orange Tian as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.
I had never heard of a tian before, but it looked light and delicious, so I was keen to give it a try. The recipe required a few different components: Pâte sablée pastry circles, orange marmalade, stabilized whipped cream (I flavored mine with Grand Marnier) and orange segments for the top, all finished off with a drizzle of orange caramel sauce. To make it easy for myself (and to make a smaller portion) I used leftover pâte sablée, so I just had to make the other components. However I also had some lemon cream leftover from this tart, so I wanted to make a version with that as well, simply because it's the most delicious lemon cream ever. So I ended up making lemon and orange marmalades, one for each.

This dessert is quite easy to do, and is pretty as a picture, but a bit messy to eat. Even though the cream stands up to the weight of the fruit quite well, it's difficult to cut with a spoon without squishing all the cream outwards.

The lemon cream was not really intended for this use, as you can see from the picture below - but it does taste really good.

And finally, the cook got to enjoy this bite-size tian sandwich, made with pastry scraps!

Pierre Hermé's extraordinary lemon tart

Spring is finally here! Flowers are blooming and temperatures are climbing - and not a moment too soon! So when I was wondering what dessert to take to a party this weekend, I knew I had to make something light, cool and refreshing, to herald the warmer weather ahead.
Pierre Hermé, pastry chef par excellence, has invented a unique lemon cream that seems to have wowed all the pastry lovers in the blogosphere. The filling is made using the same ingredients - eggs, butter, lemon juice and zest, sugar - as you would find in lemon curd, the custard filling normally used in lemon tarts. Only, in his version, the butter is not melted into the lemon custard. Instead, you cool the custard for ten minutes and then emulsify the butter, by adding it bit by bit while blending the mixture at high speed. The result: a light, silky cream, which dissolves into your mouth with a burst of citrusy flavor. It doesn't have the vivid yellow color of traditional lemon curd, but the texture is far superior. I think this technique would work well with any citrus fruit, and I am also wondering how a mango version would turn out.

Recipe: Pierre Hermé's Lemon Cream Tart
Dorie Greenspan's tips for how to get it right

I used a pâte sucrée made with a bit of ground almonds added to the flour for the tart shell. The only changes I made to the filling were: I didn't use a thermometer (I don't have one) and I used only one stick of butter. The original amount called for seemed like the product would be too rich for me. I blended the mixture a bit longer to compensate! Everyone seemed to like it, so I plan to stick with the lesser quantity.