What's Cooking? Basundi, The Gujarati Classic Slow Cooked Dessert.

    

    
   Dealing with the new house and a whole bunch of other stuff I'll get into later has been a lot of work. Last week finally, the last of the boxes left the living room and we started to get an idea of just what goes where, and also what that "what" should be. There's also the issue of how the house works with people besides ourselves in it. One of the things that appealed to us about the place was how it would work for entertaining. The way we designed the place was with friends and family in mind and we were eager to take it for a small test spin. Each weekend we've been having a few friends over to see how everything works.
 
   One of the major changes has been in the dining room table. Instead of the long  reclaimed barnwood table we had, (now out on the deck) there is a new hammered copper dining room table, square shaped that seats 8 or 10.

Turns out people like that shape better than hollering down a long table. But what to put on that table? Last weekend moving with baby steps we had a few people over for dessert. After 3 months away from them I wanted to get my mitts on my clay pots again.

  
What better way to break in the table and re-christen one of my clay pots then with famed Gujarati chef Tarla Dalals recipe for the slow cooked milk pudding known as  Basundi.

    Basundi and variations of it are found all over India. The best way to think about it is as a slow cooked rice pudding.... without the rice. It's one of the easiest recipes you'll find anywhere. With just a few ingredients it's simple in preparation. The thing that makes Basundi special is that it's true slow cooking. With a little bit of effort and bit more investment of time, you can easily make this Indian classic. With the weather starting to change around here, it's the perfect dessert to make on a cool and rainy fall afternoon.

Basundi

Here's What You Need:
2 litres of milk (full fat)
1 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 cup chopped pistachio
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 tsp saffron

Here's What To Do:
Pour the milk into a wide bottomed pot, or a clay pot.

Turn the flame up.

 Bring the milk to a boil.

When it boils turn the heat down to low and cook it until the volume is halved. Keep a spoon nearby and stir the milk occasionally so nothing sticks.

If you're using a clay pot, always use a silicone or wooden spoon to keep from damaging the clay.
When the milk is reduced by half you're ready for the next step.
Add in the sugar.

Keep cooking it on a low flame and keep stirring until the milk starts to thicken.

Remember to scrape down the sides of the pan as you stir to prevent sticking, scalding, or burning. This should take about 25 minutes.
When the milk has thickened, add in the ground cardamom.

Stir the cardamom in well. Keep cooking and stirring for another 20 minutes.

When the basundi has thickened, it's ready to serve. You can serve it warm or let it chill a while and serve it cold as I did.
To chill it, take it off the flame and let it cool a bit.

When it's cooled enough, pop it in the fridge until you're ready to serve it.
Before serving, toast the saffron in a small cast iron pan, then crumble it.
Set it aside.
Chop the pistachios.

Ladle the Basundi into small serving cups. I used katoris.

Crumble a bit of the toasted saffron on top of each serving, followed by a bit of chopped pistachios, and a few slivered almonds.

 Serve it up.

I served it with a hot unsweetened spiced tea. Basundi is thick and rich so you don't need large servings to satisfy.  This recipe made 8 servings.

 
   It felt great to get back behind the stove working the clay pots again. Now that I have them out of their boxes, and safely stowed in the kitchen it's time to break out the dal. Fall's a coming as is my first crop of pineapple guava.

A spicy sorbet, or a chutney, I haven't quite decided. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

Simple Sweet Payasam Dessert...Got Milk?

 It stormed and blew all day yesterday in Sonoma. Patsy was packed off to dog camp for the day at Vintage Kennel Club. Huskys need a lot of exercise and for the last couple of weeks the dog park has been closed due to sodden turf. Our property is not fenced, and I've written before about what can happen when a Husky is in an area that's not fenced. It isn't pretty.  Just plain walks, no matter how long just don't cut it. She's used to off leash time every day for play. So a day at the dog camp seemed a good investment. Large play yards to run in, tubs of water to jump in and lots of her friends to play with.  It also seemed a good day for a dessert. Patsy got a treat, why not us?
I always look for what's at hand when making a dessert and we had plenty of milk. I'd been meaning to make some chenna cheese but got distracted, so I thought what can I do with this? Milk pudding anyone??
  I decided to make a Payasam. It's a South Indian milk pudding and there are a million varieties of it.
   The ingredient list is pretty simple and cooking time is fairly minimal. It involves about 30 minutes or so of stove time and stirring, so it's not as fast as a box of instant pudding, but it tastes a whole lot better!
  It starts as many desserts do, with Basmati rice .
 1.)  Take  1/4 cup of Basmati rice. wash and rinse it then soak it in water to cover for about 30      minutes.
  Drain the rice.
  Place it in a blender or grinder with :
2.)  2 Tbs of water  and grind to a thick paste.
 3.) Place 4 cups of whole milk in  a heavy pot or kadhai
   Bring the milk to a boil and when it is boiling add in :
4.) 1 and 1/4 cup of sugar
 5.) The rice paste
   Stir it well with a whisk , and then lower the heat and cook it down until it's reduced in volume. Keep stirring so no lumps form and it doesn't stick and burn on the bottom of the pan. About 30 minutes or so.
 6.) Add in 1 tsp of saffron dissolved in 1 Tbs of warm milk
7.) 1 tsp of ground green cardamom
8.) 1 tsp of rosewater
  Pour the Payasam into individual  small glass bowls or ramekins, or little clay pots if you have them.
9.) Sprinkle a mixture of 2 teaspoons chopped blanched almonds and 1 tsp chopped raw pistachios  on top of the pudding.
10.) Let cool  a bit and place in the fridge to chill. This dish can also be served warm as a soupy dessert pudding. Last night I served it chilled with spiced Chai.
  This is also one of those dishes where one can let the imagination run wild. Got raisins? Add 'em. Some other nut?  Toss 'em in. A bit of mango? Why not? Get creative.
  This recipe left me with 6 little ramekins of Payasam. Guess how long they're going to last.