Soya rose halwa

Many moons back, I had made a protein rich vegan dessert which we all loved. Today, I made the soya-rose halwa again, and liked it just as much.

Fhjj

Hibiscus syrup

Cooking with flowers is always therupatic, but cooking with hibiscus is doubly so because of the rich colour, and the burst of flavours. The way the colours change is also wonderful. This time, I found a few more flowers than usual, so decided to make and bottle hibiscus syrup.

6-8 hibiscus flowers

3/4 cup sugar

4 limes

1 1/2 cup water

(The proportions are 1:2:4, juice-sugar-water, with 2 flowers for each lime)

Method:

Bring the water to boil, take off the flame. Add the hibiscus petals and let it infuse for 30 minutes. 

Squeeze in the lime juice, add sugar, and heat till the sugar dissolves. Keep heating, till the syrup reduces to 3/4th of original volume. 

Bottle in a dry glass bottle. 

To make the juice- add water or soda according to taste. 

Hibiscus brittle

Once you start cooking with flowers, it is hard not to get addicted. And hibiscus flowers are one of the best to cook with because of the almost magical way the colours change when you add the lime juice.

So when I saw two juicy hibiscus flowers while taking the dog for a walk, I had to make myself some brittle. The flavour is quite incredible. 

4 hibiscus flowers

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 lime

Method:

Bring the water to boil. Add the hibiscus petals, and let it infuse for 15-20 minutes. 

Squeeze in the lime juice and watch it change colour to a deep red. 

Return the water to the fire, add sugar. Stir till add the sugar is dissolved, and keep heating till you get a two string consistency. 

Pour onto a greased surface and let it cool. Break into pieces, and use. 

I used it to sweeten my oats, but you can use it anywhere.  

Jasmine tea

I do so love my daily cuppa, and it's ever more pleasant if it is homemade jasmine tea.

Jasmine syrup to taste

1 tea bag

Water

Method:

Boil the water and dip the tea bag till you get the desired strength. You can use green tea or a mild black tea- Earl Grey is best. 

Add jasmine syrup to taste, breathe in the aroma and relax. 

Hibiscus tea

I saw a recipe for hibiscus tea, and rued the fact that my plant had got infected by a fungus and was no longer flowering. But after shifting here, I see a profusion of hibiscus flowers, and gathering courage, I plucked a couple to make tea. It was so lovely, I'm sure many more flowers will disappear!

2 hibiscus flowers

1/2 inch piece cinnamon

2 tsp palm sugar*

1 lime

Method:

Boil 2 cups of water. 

Tear the petals into inch square pieces. Pour the boiling water over the petals and cinnamon stick. 

Allow it to infuse for 20-30 minutes. 

Squeeze in the lime, and watch the colour turn from pale pink to deep red. 

Add sugar and mix well. 

Can be had hot, or cold. 

*- to taste. Can use honey or regular sugar too. 

Jasmine syrup

The advantage of having a plethora of blooms is that you can really indulge in your passion for cooking with flowers. Jasmine syrup is something I encountered last year, and finally got to make today!

1 cup jasmine flowers

1 cup sugar

2 cups water

Method:

Wash the flowers well and keep aside. 

Boil the water, add sugar and stir till dissolved completely. 

Add jasmine flowers and let it seep for 2 hours. 

Strain out the flowers and bottle

To use, add water to taste, or use in hot/ cold tea

Panazella salad with home grown basil

I've been itching to make panazella salad for a really long time, but even though I always have leftover bread, I never really got down to making it. It was when I was looking at my brand new Italian basil plant, that I decided to inaugurate it by making this Italian staple dish.

3 slices day old bread (I took the bread out and kept it in the fridge to dehydrate overnight.
Garlic cloves,1-2
1 tsp butter
2 tomatoes, cut into big chunks
1 cucumber, cut into small chunks
Fresh Basil leaves, torn in half
1 onion, cut into chunks


For the dressing- 1/4 cups olive oil
2 tbsp vinegar (I used sunkissed vinegar to get an additional kick)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:
Rub the bread lightly with mixture of grated garlic and butter, and tear into bite sized pieces. Spread on a baking tray, and bake for a few minutes till golden.
Meanwhile, place the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olive oil, vinegar and salt and pepper in a bowl, and mix well.
Add the basil leaves and bread. Toss well, and refrigerate for about 15 minutes to allow the bread to absorb the flavours.

Rose Soya Delight

Sometimes, you look at a recipe and decide you need to try it right away. This recipe by Ros Ruby was one of them, and since all the ingredients were available at home, there was no reason not to make it right away. Frankly, I had no idea what to expect, but when the flavours exploded in my mouth, for a moment, I was in heaven. Definitely a keeper.

Soya Chunks -100gms (I used granules)
Carrot grated-40gms
Yellow Split Lentils-10gms
Jaggery-150gms
Cardamom-7 Pods (Powdered)
Cashew nuts-20gms
Raisins-20gms
Rose Essence-1 Tsp (I used rosewater, because it was available at home)
Salt-1/2 a pinch
Vegetable Oil-4Tbsps

Method:
Powder the Soya Chunks. Set aside. (even if you are using granules, like I did, powder it well)
Melt the jaggery in 200-225 ml of water. Set aside.
In a thick bottomed vessel, fry the yellow split lentils in oil, drain and set aside.
Into the same oil, add the powdered soya chunks and sauté until lightly fried.
Into this add the melted jaggery followed by the grated carrot.
Keep mixing. Add the salt.
Soya tends to absorb water, so add a little more water, if necessary.
To this add broken cashew nuts and raisins.Keep mixing at intervals until the mixture become soft and cooked.
Add the powered cardamom and turn off the heat source.
Sprinkle the rose essence and garnish with a few split cashew nuts.
Transfer the mixture into a greased container.

Summer Salad- with marigold petals

I loved the idea of making a Summer Salad with marigold petals, and impatiently waited for my sunkissed vinegar to mature so I could use that as a salad dressing. The day finally dawned when I could bring the vinegar out, and we had this light Summer Salad to celebrate!

3 or 4 large lettuce leaves per person
1/4 of a cucumber per person, washed and diced
1 large hard boiled egg per person, peeled and halved
2-3 cherry tomatoes per person
2 tbsp sunkissed vinegar
The petals of 1 marigold flower per person
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method
Arrange the lettuce leaves in a bowl, shredding them if they are very large.
Place the cucumber in and amongst the lettuce leaves and then add the hard-boiled eggs and tomatos.
Sprinkle salt and pepper, and spread the vinegar evenly over the salad
Scatter the marigold petals over the salad.

Sunkissed- Marigold infused Vinegar

I almost always have marigolds blooming in my pots, so when I saw a recipe for Marigold infused Vinegar, I was tempted to give it a try. After plucking a few plump blossoms, I washed them clean, and proceeded to tear them open so the florets could dry in the sun. And I ran into trouble immediately- the wet florets stuck to the fingers, and spreading them out became a mammoth task. And after they were sundried, separating the orange flowers from the black and white seeds was another huge effort.
Next time, I shall definitely do it differently. And a next time there will be, because I did like the flavour of marigold in vinegar.

2 cups marigold flowers
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups vinegar

Method
With a sharp pair of scissors, chop off the orange part of the marigold flowers, and wash them in a steel colander. Once the water drains out, spread them out on a newspaper and let them dry in the sun for 4-5 hours (reserve the seeds for planting- you want the cycle of life to continue, don't you?)
Stuff the petals into a bottle, add the salt, sugar and vinegar, and shake well so it all dissolves. Keep it in a cool dry place for two weeks.
Decant the vinegar, throw away the petals and store.
Can be used as a salad dressing.