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Tag: shredded coconut

Besan and Nariyal Barfi (Indian Confection Made with Chickpea Flour and Coconut)

Here is one of my favorite Indian sweets! Happy Diwali! Enjoy..

  • 1 cup besan (chickpea flour)
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • ½ cup fresh ricotta cheese
  • 4 to 5 green cardamoms (seeds taken out and crushed)
  • 1¼ cups sugar
  • Sliced almonds
  • Pistachios, chopped

Heat a medium frying pan and add the coconut oil. Add the besan and sauté on medium heat for at least 30 minutes (or more) till the mixture turns a light caramel color.
Add the ricotta, coconut and cardamom seeds. Mix well and let the moisture from the ricotta cook out- about ten minutes.
Turn the heat off and add the sugar. Mix well until all is incorporated.
Spread the mixture on to a shallow platter with edges. Smooth with a spatula and sprinkle the almonds and pistachios and press down with fingers. Keep in fridge for half an hour to set. Take out and cut into small squares and serve.

Coconut Cranberry Dumplings

This is completely thinking out of the box… sweet dumplings drizzled with chocolate ganache. They are absolutely delicious and a great thing to make with your kids.

  • 1 cup shredded, sweetened coconut
  • ½ cup toasted walnuts, chopped
  • ½ cup dried cranberries, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 pack wonton skins

Mix the ingredients in a medium bowl until incorporated.

Take one wonton skin, wet the edges with a finger. Place one to two teaspoons of filling in the middle.  Fold the wonton skin in half and seal the top while pleating at the same time. Repeat the process using up the remaining filling.

  • ¼ cup coconut oil

Heat a frying pan with 1 teaspoon oil. Add enough dumplings making sure not to over crowd. Brown the dumplings on both sides on a medium heat. Add ¼ cup of water to the pan and cover with a lid. Cook the dumplings on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Take the lid off and cook any excess moisture. Transfer the dumplings to a platter and cook the remaining dumplings. Serve with chocolate sauce.

 

 

South Indian Fish Curry

South Indian Fish Curry We were in the city on a Monday for lunch and as usual even after a delicious meal- I was thinking about what to cook for dinner. I asked my husband for ideas and he suggested some thing South Indian. I reminded him Mondays are my busy day since our daughter has some activities after school and we don’t get home until about 6 PM. I don’t get a lot of time to cook and my daughter is super hungry when we get home. So, I need to prepare something in the afternoon and put it together quickly once we get home.

I ended up making a South Indian style fish curry- I happened to have cod in the freezer which I took out as soon as I got home. I processed shallots and ginger together. I roasted cumin, fenugreek and mustard seeds and ground them up. The spice mixture holds the key to this curry- it gives it great flavor.

I marinated the fish with some shredded coconut, tamarind concentrate, coriander powder, cayenne pepper, turmeric and salt. Remember to keep the fish in the fridge and only marinate for an hour. The rest was easy- I started with sauteing the shallots and curry leaves and then added the spice mix. I then added the coconut milk and fish stock.

The curry was delicious, especially with the Indian style polenta- yes, you read it correctly.. recipe to follow tomorrow…
read more …

Coconut Rum Flan

Coconut Rum FlanFlan is my all time favorite dessert. I grew up eating it and love everything about it. My Mom would serve it to us with a drizzle of fresh cream. It was the most glorious dessert ever.

Over the years I have tried making it- but have not been very successful. The flan usually doesn’t invert well and breaks apart. The reason is not enough eggs- I don’t like the custard dessert too rich so I don’t end up adding too many eggs. So my solution is to have my Mom make it for us every time she comes to visit. She doesn’t have a set recipe for me to follow and I have never watched her make it.

Last year I modified a recipe and tried it- no luck- it broke apart. Finally the other day while I was cooking for some friends, I decided to make flan. I was watching food television and saw someone make coconut rum flan. That is all I needed to get inspired. I tweaked the recipe to my taste and came up with this recipe.

I am thrilled with it. The texture is perfect- soft yet firm. It is not too sweet- exactly the way I like it. Everyone enjoyed it a lot. I also like it because I can make it with low fat milk and although it has quite a few eggs- at least the dessert has protein.

For caramel

  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¼ cup water

Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then wash down any sugar crystals from the side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Boil, without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so caramel colors evenly, until dark amber.
Pour into the glass dish and swirl so caramel coats the bottom.

For flan

  • 1 cup 1% milk
  • 1 (14 ounce) low-fat coconut milk
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 5 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons dark rum
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
You will need a round 9-inch glass dish and a large roasting pan.

Heat the milk and coconut milk with the sugar until the mixture simmers. Whisk the eggs, add the rum, salt and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Add ½ cup of hot milk mixture to the egg mixture and mix well. Add the tempered egg mixture into the milk mixture mixing well. Strain the entire mixture before pouring it into the glass dish.
Place the glass dish into the roasting pan and fill the roasting pan with hot water- about ½ inch high. Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes until just set but still wobbly in center. Refrigerate over night or at least 2-3 hours.
Top with the coconut and serve chilled.