Gastronomic tours with Swiss Cheese

This morning S felt like Upma for breakfast, so I got into the kitchen, and quite accidentally made the best Upma we've tasted in a long while. I thought I'd write down the recipe before I forget.

Now I'm not someone who normally makes Upma. Growing up, the only use of rava/sooji/semolina was to make a porridge with milk, sugar, raisins and nuts. It was only when I got older and left home that I realised that the basic concepts were similar for Sheera Halwa and Upma. This recipe somewhat comes out of my experience making sooji porrige.

Ingredients

• 1 cup rava (semolina)
• 2½ cups water
• 1-2 tsp salt (to taste)
• 1 tsp sugar (to taste)
• 1½ tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
• ½ tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp jeera (cumin) seeds
• 1 tsp urad daal (skinned & split, not whole)
• 5-6 cashews (unsalted)
• 4 curry leaves
• 2 green chillies sliced into thin circles
• ¼ inch ginger root diced into small pieces
• 2 tbsp lemon juice + some more to add while eating
• 3-4 sprigs of fresh coriander coarsely chopped

Procedure

1. Roast the rava in a non-stick saucepan/kadai until you smell the fragrance of the rava (3-4 minutes), stir frequently to prevent browning.
2. At the same time, start boiling the water, along with 1 tsp of salt and sugar, once it starts boiling, reduce to low heat.
3. Once roasted, move the rava into a bowl for later
4. Now heat the ghee in the same saucepan on low heat
5. Add in the mustard seeds
6. Once the mustard begins to crackle, add the jeera and fry for about 10-20 seconds
7. Now add the urad daal and fry until it just starts to turn brown
8. Add cashews and stir often until brown. (At this point I actually turned off the heat as the ghee was quite hot)
9. Add the chillies, ginger and curry leaves and fry for about a minute (I turned the heat back on about halfway through this)
10. Now add the roasted rava into this mixture and let it fry for a bit. Stir it up so that everything is mixed and the remaining ghee is absorbed
11. Now add the boiling water to the rava and stir until completely absorbed. You can turn off the heat halfway through this stirring
12. Lastly, add 2 tbsp lemon juice and mix it up
13. Taste and add more salt or sugar if required.
14. Serve into bowls and garnish with chopped coriander leaves

Unfortunately we finished eating it before I could get any pictures, so I'll do that the next time, but if you try this, let me know how it works out.

Update 2: Tried the same recipe with Almond Slivers and Pine nuts and they work just as well.

This Christmas, my dad taught me to make Macroons. They're surprisingly simple and quick to prepare and require very little practice. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 250gm powdered sugar
• 125gm broken cashew nuts
• 1tsp baking powder
• white of one egg (and perhaps a tad more)
• 1tsp vanilla essence

10 step procedure:

1. Mix the sugar and baking powder, and pass through a strainer to get rid of lumps. Break all lumps into powder. It has to be really powdery. Strain twice.
2. Pour into a bowl, add vanilla essence, and the white of one egg.
3. Mix the egg and sugar into a single mass, thick, but flowing.
4. If the mixture is too dry, add one more teaspoon of egg white.
5. Add cashew nuts, mix again.
6. Take a baking dish, place butter paper on the base, and sprinkle powder sugar to cover it completely
7. Drop 1tsp blobs at equal intervals on the butter paper, leaving space for expansion.
8. Put into a preheated oven at 165°C (330°F) for 5-7 minutes until it starts to turn brown.
9. Take the dish out, turn it around, and put it back in for another 5-7 minutes.
10. Take dish out, cool, and remove macroons from the butter paper, ready to eat.

NOTE: Do not beat up the albumen (egg white). Pour it in as it comes out off the egg.

Also known as Macaroons.

Other macroon recipes:

Coconut Macroons
Coconut Macroons
Almond Macroons

Update:
I did try coconut macroons, but my attempt flopped. Dad tried it while I was away, and his came out really well. Here's his recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup self raising flour
• 1 grated coconut (not dessicated) - should not be moist
• one egg
• 1tsp vanilla essence
• nuts or raisins if desired

10 step procedure:

1. Mix the sugar and self raising flour, and pass through a strainer to get rid of lumps. Break all lumps into powder. It has to be really powdery. Strain twice.
2. Pour into a bowl, add vanilla essence
3. Beat up the egg thoroughly, and add it to the mixture.
4. Mix all egg and sugar is a single mass, thick, but flowing.
5. Add coconut, mix lightly (the coconut will leak moisture if you get too rough)
6. Add nuts and raisins if desired
7. Take a baking dish, place butter paper on the base, and sprinkle powder sugar to cover it completely
8. Drop 1tsp blobs at equal intervals on the butter paper, leaving space for expansion.
9. Put into a preheated oven at 130°C (265°F) for 20 minutes until it starts to turn brown.
10. Take dish out, cool, and remove macroons from the butter paper, ready to eat.

Note the differences: full egg, beat up, 130°C, 20 mins