A Cheery End to the Year

"What's the big deal?", I asked my agitated brother when he excitedly informed about his trip to "Goa" and checking himself into the craziest, wackiest, party of the year, with pure music indulgence called "Sunburn" -that too for the umpteenth time. He was lost behind his trance-tinted glasses, so he chose not to answer my dowdy sounding question. 

I clearly recollect my December visits to Goa, they used to be enjoyable enough with family and friends depending on who was available, especially during the Christmas week and ending it all with a New Year's showdown - typical Goan style. My Mother a half-goan, technically speaking, as being born and brought up there,she still prides in calling herself a full out Goan, dont blame her though, the tag itself is relaxing enough. It used to be a delight to spend the holidays in Goa. Christmas Eve would all be about dressing up after dinner and being ferried across the river to the city to attend Missa de Galo and then partying into the wee hours with practically the whole city spilling out on the streets. Driving off to the Miramar beach (with a bottle of rum to keep warm) when the only thing with us at 4 a.m. would be the the sea and the sand. Christmas day would be all about meeting our Catholic friends and visiting their homes which were done up tastefully to compliment the season. Wine, Food and Cheer was the agenda and Goa has never seen better days than what I have seen through my eyes. 

I do agree, it's still maintained much of its charm, but people who visit there nowadays have not an inkling of what they are actually missing. This charm is still hazily in focus with stories told to us of what Goa was before liberation and the memories still hold intact of what Goa once used to be. 

As the season recommends, I do love to indulge in cooking up some Christmas delicacies. Sweets are usually the call of the season and every year I try and make something new to bring in the celebrations. Indulgence in the form of Christmas Cakes and Marzipans are fun, I love making the quintessential eggnog too. This year, in fact, I was quite bored of the quintessential stuff as had been loaded delicacies from around the world by house guests, but I still wanted something sweet to whip up and bring on the cheery mood. So thought to myself why not "Churros"?. I came across this dish in a French Food Magazine, A famous Spanish dish which is typically deep fried dough, crisp on the outside and soft on the inside with loads of sugar and drizzled with honey or my favourite - dipped in Chocolate. With the sound of it, I could not get closer to being any more Christmas-y than this? 

Even though this is not traditionally a Christmas dish, It still was a hit amongst many the visitors on Christmas day, all the more - now I have something new to dish out the next time I am in Goa. 

Ingredients:

2 cups Flour (Maida)

1/2 cup White Butter

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Salt

2 tablsp Brown Sugar (Granulated)

4 large eggs (whisked lightly)

2 cups water 

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract / essence

Several Tablsp of white granulated sugar to sprinkle 

Bowl of Nutella (Optional)

Heat a 2 inch tall pan with enough oil till its 3/4th up the edges of the pan. 

In a deep dish sieve the flour with baking powder and keep aside.

In a saucepan, mix the water, butter, brown sugar and salt, place on high heat and give it a good boil. Pour the boiling water-butter mix slowly onto the flour and with a wooden spatula mix well. The flour will immediately absorb the water and turn into a heavy lump. 

Whisk the eggs with the vanilla and then add to the flour mixture. Mix well till well incorporated and till the mixture resembles a thick paste. 

Test the oil heat by dropping a small drop of this mixture, it should rise straight up like a tiny bubble. 

Ideally, I use the thickest mould of the cake icing decorator / piping bag / injection to get the perfect Churro shape with the ridges and all, but if you dont have easy access to one, simply fold a large handkerchief into a square fold and cut tip to get a large hole in the middle of the handkerchief, pour some mixture into the handkerchief and gather the edges to form a bag. Squeeze the dough gently into oil in parallel lines about 5 inches long and deep fry for about 4 minutes or till they are golden brown. 

Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel release all the excess oil. 

To serve, spread on a large serving platter, pour some powdered sugar into a tiny tea sieve and sprinkle over the Churros. You may also serve it drizzled with honey or better still with a bowl full of Nutella to dip and go. 

Tryst With a Sizzle

I was at a Mumbai Food Bloggers meet last week (first of a kind for me) and an interesting one at that. I have not got around to writing a post of my own for it considering I have been busy reading the other blogs being posted practically everyday by the 15 odd fantastic Bloggers I met at the do. But it wont be long before my readers get a glimpse of what I experienced that night! till next time...

Meanwhile, a lazy Sunday afternoon, woke up late, bored to make lunch - so I get down to rummaging my refrigerator for something to nibble. Considered a TV meal? Popcorn was the only thing available. Considered salad? the iceberg had frozen over in the vegetable compartment (check, to call the Samsung tech assist tomorrow). Even considered stepping out for a fun brunch? but too lazy. Well the only thing which caught my eye was a leftover piece of Brownie from last night's post party takeaway. I had decided - it was going to be a dessert lunch.Why not indulge and skip lunch altogether, a tryst with sizzling brownie was exactly what the doctor had ordered.

I usually am not too fond of Ice-creams, Gelatos to an extent are good but only if made well. But my favourite combination has always been warmed or heated brownie or any baked base, topped with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice-cream and doused with home-made chocolate sauce. Simple, Sinful, Decadent and Sizzling.

Of course, I wont bore you with a whole baking session of making this dessert from scratch this time, but you could skip over to your phone to order in a brownie(s) and whip this delightful indulgence to enlighten your weekend.

Ingredients:
1 Brownie
1/4 cup Chocolate Sauce
1 scoop Vanilla Ice-Cream
Roasted Nuts (Optional)
Sizzler Plate

For the Chocolate Sauce:
1/4 cup Drinking Chocolate
1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
1/4 Bar Dark Cooking Chocolate (broken into little pieces)
3 tablsp Sugar
1/4 cup Milk
1 tsp Cornflour (mixed with 2 tsp of water)
Chilled Water
A drop of Vanilla Essence
1 tsp Butter

In a large bowl, mix the powders and sugar together. Slowly add the milk and mix well to ensure all the lumps are removed. Add the chocolate bits and about one fourth cup of chilled water and mix well till you get a thin consistency. Do not worry about the chocolate bits they will melt in the next step.

On a low flame, heat the chocolate mix and gently stir till it is simmering and the chocolate bits have melted. After about a minute, it will start to bubble, immediately add the cornflour-water mix and turn off the heat. Stir well till thickened, add the vanilla and butter. Stir again and leave to cool.

Note: You can avoid the cooking chocolate, it just adds a bitter-sweet taste to the sauce, but turns out perfectly good without it as well.

To Proceed:

Heat a sizzler plate (or in case you don't have access to one, use an edged dosa tawa). Remove from the heat and place the brownie on it, top with a scoop of ice-cream, nuts and drizzle the prepared chocolate sauce allowing some of it to fall on the sizzler plate/tawa. Enjoy hot but be careful of the brownie - these thing's get quite hot.

Choc A Block

Addiction to anything is a rule by nature. We are such complex beings that making a habit out of something is our birthright, and in a way it works out fine, because this way you always have a fall back in case you are not yourself. Every person has a fix, be it chocolates, alcohol, mint, music, smokes, etc. and some people are spontaneous addicts.

I am a spontaneous addict. If I crave something, I need it at that very moment. A simple example, a lot of people know I am not a chocolate fan, but not a lot of people know, that when I indulge, it continues inexorably for over a week, indulgence to its maximum till I am actually filled to the brim with chocolates and I never want to see or smell anything remotely close to cocoa.

A similar spontaneity situation arose the today, and I had an unexplainable urge to have Irish coffee. I like my Irish coffee with a shot of Bailey’s Irish Cream. Now, as usual, when you want something so bad, you always seem to be out of it. I brazenly picked my keys and drove off to my local liquor store to purchase it. As you may have guessed, it was out of stock, I went to a not so local liquor store and they too were out. I was in agony with the thought of no Irish coffee the way I liked it and had half a mind to visit the nearest hotel and pick up my fix. Just when I had given up all hopes and driving a beeline to The Hyatt I saw an advertisement which boasted of a chocolate flavored vodka. I faintly recollected a bottle right at the back of my collection which I had picked up a while ago and never bothered to open. My talent juices acted up and I had thought up an excellent brew which, I felt, would ape the Bailey’s to the “T”.

I reached back home, positively shaking (with excitement at my discovery or a kickback of not getting my fix, ill never be able to tell), and whipped out the ingredients I needed and settled back to make what I assumed would satisfy my urge.

I give you a cocktail version of the concoction I made up, and you can use it the next time you brew yourself a cup of coffee. I’ll leave the Irish coffee recipe for some other time as I am still gloating over my Bailey’s piracy.  

Ingredients:

1 shot of Chocolate Flavored Vodka (‘Remix’ in India)

1 cup Vanilla Ice-Cream

1 drop Vanilla Essence

1 tsp Caramel Flavored Syrup

Ice as required

Chocolate Sauce

Cocoa Powder

In a blender combine the ice-cream, essence, syrup, ice and a shot of Vodka and give it a good whip till smooth.

Take the cocktail glass, and with your fingers, rub the rim of the glass with chocolate syrup. Dip the rim in cocoa and stand upright. Pour a spoon of chocolate sauce haphazardly onto the insides of the glass.

Proceed by pouring out the vanilla–vodka mix carefully straight in the middle of the glass and serve immediately.

This recipe may not beat the real Bailey’s but it certainly is lighter on the stomach and calories (as no excess sugar or heavy cream is used) and you might just land up having a couple of glasses more.