Ganga Jamuna Ice Cream

There is something about zest that I love so much. If I had a choice I would have used it to flavor almost everything. I love the thick skinned oranges and always harvest the zest for various uses like the Candied Orange Peel I made sometime ago which are ubiquitous in my baking. Here however the zest is in all its splendor fresh and full of life burst. This is the easiest ice cream you can make. It's texture is like ice candy crushed in ice cream. It coulld be creamed to smoothness but that is not what I wanted because I like orange duets and I like scoops too. So here you have a fun flavor and texture. Now it is candy and now it is creamy.

It gets its name from a childhood favorite juice we'd have at Kandeel's juice center while walking back from school. Hrushi would walk down from Scholar at Electric House along with V bhau and pick me up at my school, St.Annes Fort and then the long walk home. Both Hrushi and me loved Ganga Jamuna the name given to a combo of equal parts of orange and sweet lime juiced together. It draws inspiration from the confluence of the two revered rivers in the Indian sub-continent.

We were celebrating Hrushi's birthday together after 6yrs so I wanted to make all the things associated with our childhood. So this was the chosen flavor for the ice cream. I even fed him a spoon of this ice cream when he left for Mumbai in lieu of curd which we feed to family when leaving home.

The recipe is too simple and you will love it.

Ingredients

Zest of 1 orange

Juice of 1 orange + 1 sweet lime

2 cups Amul cream

0.5 cup sugar (more if you like)

In a blender fix the whipping blade. Add the cream and sugar and whip till frothy. Now fold in the zest and juice. Pour out the mixture into a freezer safe box. I kept the height of the liquid to 1 inch to get quicker setting. 

Once frozen, a min of 4 hrs scoop out and serve. This ice cream melts fast due to the juice content. So serve just before eating. My bro loved it hope you do too.

We enjoyed it on it's own and was also paired with something else. Won't you come back to see what else I did with it.

Bel Phal and Nectar

Bel phal is called Wood apple in English. Many times as a child I have seen my mother use certain fruits that  she associated with her childhood and she enjoyed them in different forms. I never ventured near some of them. Bel phal is one such fruit. It is the first time 2-3 weeks ago I saw wood apple in the supermarket and picked it up for experiments. I knew I could make a chutney or a drink. Chutney would go waste if it smelt strong I thought so the safest was a drink. We can always dilute drinks right!

Now after bringing it home the fruit lay in the tray for weeks. I was seeing it every day and was very sure I would have to throw it out. However this one is a tough nut, literally and metaphorically. It has a hard woody shell. It does not go bad so easily. I used a pestle to break it open just like a coconut. The pulp was ripe brown and very aromatic with a very faint fruity sourness. This fruit is know to be a cure for all ailments of the digestive system.

I went to my bookshelf and referred to "Annapoorna" by Mangala Barve. It gave a recipe that I knew I would atleast like if not love. Enumerating it here for you.

Ingredients

1 bel phal / wood apple

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup water

2-3 cardamoms powdered

1/2 teaspoon pepper powder

Juice of 1 lime

More water to make the drink

After breaking the fruit with a spoon scoop out the pulp. In a steel box put the pulp and add sugar. Mix it a bit add a cup of water. Close the box and put it in the fridge. The sugar will dissolve over a couple of hours and will make the fibrous pulp easy to extract. The fibrous pulp has a lot of seeds embedded in it. To remove the seeds the pulp has to be strained through a mesh. 

Pour the pulp in a juice strainer and press it down with the back of a spoon or spatula. Tap the strainer a bit to remove all the pulp. Spice up the drink with powdered cardamom seeds and pepper powder. Add the   lime juice to impart a freshness. Now this pulp can be refrigerated and used when needed. 

To serve in a glass take thick pulp and top up with chilled water. Adjust the consistency of the drink as you like. I wanted to consume all of it so made just three glasses of the juice. It was very thick hence you can call it Bel Nectar!

Papanus Antidote for Maiyya's Gujarati Thali

In Marathi we call it Papanus, it is seen growing in the Konkan area. Papanus is a large fruit anything between 10-15 cms diameter. It's appearance in the bazaar beckons the Ganpati festival for me. The Ganpati sthapana is incomplete without this fruit. Like all fruits and large sized ladoo and Modak this is a must have display in front of the Lord.

We await the cutting up of the Papanus and separating the segments. Sprinkles of fine sugar or salt or a dash of chili powder and it is ready to be relished.

The fresh flavors of mild citrusy flavor with a tinge of bitterness is characteristic of this fruit that the Englishman call Pomelo.

We found a fresh looking Papanus and got Dad to cut it immediately after we returned from the grocery shopping and eat out at Maiyya's, Jayanagar. I prepared it and kept it for chilling in the fridge for our evening meal. Yes we went raw that evening.

Maiyya's has started a Gujarati Thali. This place is neat. They serve the food in copper thali and katoris. (It reminded me of  the olden days when we would hear Kalai-wala shouting out and women rushing out to get them tin plated.)

The waiters speak Kannada, what should I expect. No special dress code. A welcome drink of Jaljira with South Indian boondi floating on it. I ignored the glitch. The rhythmic service of plonked bhaajis on your platter and rest of the many items.

There was small katori of soup, Cauliflower dry, Mutter Paneer, Channa Masala, Khati Meethi Dal, samosa, they called it Kachumbar it was zunka!, cookie sized Puranpoli, biscuit sized bhakari and brittle too, Thepla was authentic- I had 2, plain rice, veg pulav, dahi vada, boondi raita, green chutney was good, pickle with vinegar - not gujjju, 1 small kala jamun, 1 cham cham, curd, their usual fruit cubes with icecream and badam milk and concluded by paan.

Everything was very good quality was sweet tasting and made with ghee. Both me and Dad could not eat half of the food. It was a confused wanna be Gujju Thali meant for a Gujju born and brought up in South India. I found the flavours were something I could not identify with. Having grown in Gujju dominated Fort,  Mumbai for 8 formative years of my life, the Gujju food I know is different; adding jaggery and ghee and  using South India sambar powder for the curries does not make it Gujju.

Koi emne Maharaj moklavi dio. Someone send them a true blue Gujju Maharaj (cook) please.

Chaalo even if they lack authenticity, Maiyya's food quality is very good. Power to pure ghee, long live the Indian Paula Deen. We love their authentic South Indian Thali more. They should stick to it. 

Well well but who cares what I feel I guess because We went there at 1 pm, went straight to the 3rd floor for  the Gujarati Thali. When we came down around 2pm there were hoards of Bangaloreans lined up and  We almost felt like a celebrity trying to find our way out through the indisciplined Deshwasis, my bros and sis.