Not quite so popular as the Red,Green & Yellow Thai Curry, but a little milder & a lot more aromatic is the Unique Massaman Curry. The flavoring for Massaman curry is called Massaman Curry Paste (nam prik kaeng masaman), which contains very warm & aromatic spices like cinnamon, clove, cardamom, & nutmeg. These popular spices of the Indian Subcontinent combined with the Asian flavors of Lemon grass, Galangal, Kaffir lime leaves, & Fish Sauce, makes it a rich & brimming part of the Thai cuisine.
I did not dare to cook Thai at home for so long, for I am not very comfortable with the strong smell of the fish sauce & shrimp paste. This Massaman curry paste, however inspired me to give it a try. I read thru’ & I realized that I could easily leave out the fish sauce & still have a very authentic & flavorful touch of authentic Thai. Right when I was planning on this, I found some Thai Eggplants & used these for the Massaman Curry. (Any kind of eggplant can be used for this.)
This dessert is an adaptation of some pretty well known names.. Mousse, Panna Cotta & the Shrikhand. It is light like a mousse, creamy like a panna cotta & flavored like a shrikhand with the ingredient here being the yogurt. I love mousse & panna cottas but if I really think about making those my everyday desserts, I have to think twice. All the eggs & cream that goes in there do not suit my kind of life style… & my sense of reason & guilt overpowers the desire to enjoy.
Every Indian is familiar with these cute brittle candies made with Jaggery/Gur & nuts (peanuts, cashews, almonds..), sesame seeds, puffed rice or even dessicated coconut, peanut/groundnut being the most common of all. When we were kids, this was one sweet sought after treat we could easily afford with our pocket money. I remember these being available at every street corner vendor, & we would run down to the stores & buy these little rectangle pieces wrapped in clear wraps for 25 paisa a piece.
This is one bowlful where the simplicity leads the flavors, a very Bengali recipe, made with very Bengali seasonings & cooked by not so Bengali husband. This is a recipe well loved & perfected by my hubby after many trials. The taste of childhood still lingers with him, when his Bong neighbors would sometimes treat them with this cauliflower. But when you are a kid, you do not ask for recipes. Ever since we got married, I heard him talking about this, expecting his Bong wife to recreate his fond memories, but the magic in my hands did not match the magic of his neighbors. At last he gave up on my trials & picked up the task himself. I will proudly say that he nailed it this time & we did have a very lovely treat with “Luchi” (Poori is called Luchi in Bengal & it is made with maida instead of the regular wheat flour).
I have these attacks of weird cravings at weird times. One evening I wanted to have the cranberry jelly. Not the sweet kind, but kind of wanted that feel of that cranberry jelly, that smooth texture… Well instead of wandering away with that, let me tell you that this tomato jelly was created out of that craving 😀 I found out that this is actually called a Tomato Aspic. I am glad I made it. Not only does it look pretty, & colorful, tomatoes are loaded with all those lycopene, one of the most powerful natural antioxidants.
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